Yeah bud, you are the one who missed the point. Without the current, active subscribers, this game is dead already. And you think charging for vault space and chance to recycle some old names will bring in droves of new people?

This game is too easy as it is. Sure some people will pay, but unless you can convince the current player-base to also pay for items, F2P for DAoC is dead in the water.

 

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I am cash rich and time poor. I'd be quite happy to spend £100 to automatically Lvl 50, ML10, CL10 etc whichever character I wanted. I think they should make the change to F2P. If you're poor then that's not my fault - life's harsh.

No.

The fact that the game is FREE will de facto bring in new players. Reference: Article in OP, Runescape, LOTRO, etc.

Free to Play brings in new players. There is no arguing with it.


Once the game is free, and new players are here, the money comes from charging for things that we mentioned.

Understand?

There's a lot of good ideas and thoughts on this thread...both arguing for and against F2P. Do I think that F2P could work? Yes, yes I do. I also think there are a lot of challenges that would have to be overcome before such a model could be made to work.

The easiest way to start, is like a previous poster suggested: Pendragon is F2P. Restrict the ability to level to rr13 to "premium accounts" and remove the unlimited glass/scales. Wipe the server of characters and start it from scratch...if people want to char copy there again, they can. Implement classic buffbot rules for non-premium accounts. Perhaps cap the RPs at rr5 for non-premium accounts, and disable expansion classes for non-premium accounts.

There are a lot of benefits to this. First, it gives them free testing that isn't going to happen otherwise. Second, they don't lose a drop of revenue from ywain, as most people won't want to give up their high realm rank toons, to simply not pay. Even if they move to Pendragon to play, they'd keep paying for their bots and realm rank. It also gives them a way to determine if F2P is the way they want to go in the future for their entire business model. If it doesn't work, then nothing really is lost.

 

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UnscrupulousDulu posted:

<<Gervaise, you do realize that DAOC is essentially dead, right?

A few hundred live players during primetime is not a sustainable business model, and certainly not going to rake in the money for there to ever be any positive overhauls. (Like to the UI)>>

Absolutely!

Leaving aside Meddyck24's (valid) point that implementing a F2P model for DAoC will cost money it doesn't follow that DAoC would then be profitable.

F2P offers the prospect of reaching a wider audience getting more people to try the game.
But will they stay around? Will they spend any money?

It is pretty clear that F2P can be profitable - at least I assume that Runescape is.
But a lot of F2P games - mostly Asian have been 'fade away'.

Ultimately - I suspect - good games will make money, bad games and ones that are essentially dead - won't.

Understand that you refuse to accept reality? Yeah, I'm starting to realize that about you. Look, I never said people wouldn't come. I think many would. But what would they buy? Glass/Scales are a GREAT idea to sell - but there is a problem, they are EASY to farm for free.

C'mon now, do I have to spell it out? Did you not read Docmandu's comment above? Read it again, and change the word "gold" to "scale/glass"





I don't know much about the hacks and cheats, but I do know I've had my fill of outsourced workers who will farm glass/scales/gold and sell it cheaper than the "store." Don't you realize that this will happen with virtually everything, including every conceivable item that can be farmed or created in game? DAoC switching to F2P would make me tingle in my happy place, but the F2P system for DAoC is not as simple as coming up with a neat-O list of items to pay for.

The cost of glass/scales/gold will plummet, as farmers will flood the market. Without glass/scales/gold, you're losing critical "consumable" currency that players use over and over. Not only that, but do you have any idea of the millions of plat that is offline right now that would be re-awakened if DAoC ever got re-populated?

So do you make up for it with high prices of MLs? How much can you charge for a full set of ML's when you can currently buy them for 10p from bounty points?

So if MLs won't be worth anything, do you sell RR's? Do you risk pissing off your long-time player-base by essentially giving away the one thing in this game that has to be earned? You can always sell CLs, even though you can level 1-10 in a couple hours of farming mobs in NF. Bet those CL's will be a big revenue generator.

edit: And what about buying levels? What would one auto level 50 toon cost? $50? That would be cheap imo, but how long before you see people offering PL services for $30? My god, you can take a toon to 40 in about 6 hours playing through BG's and have a hoot doing it! Sure, some people would pay to save the time, but once again, the farmers would trump
your good intentions.

I realize I sound pessimistic; believe me I'm not. I just refuse to live in lala land where unreal things become real because some children's show taught me it will happen if I just believe it can. There are just not enough people who will pay for extra vault space or naming rights that will make this game float.

Naming rights is worth paying for when a game is about to release, not when it's been out for 10 years. With 8 vaults in a mansion, a personal vault, and 100 potential characters in 3 realms, vault space would not be a hot seller, sorry.
And worse, is the idea of taking things that are essentially free now and charging for them. WTF idea is that?!

Sorry man, like I said...unless you overhaul several areas of this game, F2P will not happen for DAoC. That ship has sailed.

 

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Have you not learned the lesson of classic? or god forbid, Origins when it was being salivated over?
I suppose if enough people came back, or started new, it might not be as much as a problem, but there are many people
who would "start over" on pendragon because its "free."

You'd split the current population and the quality of the game experience would drop again. Like I said, if enough
people came to the F2P it might not be as much as issue, but then you still have the problem of how easy everything
is to acquire.

I know for a fact that there would be many people who know this game inside and out that would start over on pend (the same
appeal of origins is in play here) and they'd be essentially playing for free because there is nothing DAoC currently has to
offer that they couldn't acquire themselves with a minimal amount of work.

Also, you still have all the other issues I and others have raised...especially hacks and farmers. I do know that hacking is
much easier to do on Pendragon so there are behind the scenes issues that would have to be resolved.

Not trying to be a force against F2P DAOC here, I would love it, honestly. I'd love fiscal responsibility from the US gov't too,
and both have about the same probability of happening.

 

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I personally do not think that F2P will happen for DAoC, but with the right thought and effort it could happen. I just dont think it will.

 

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"ou can always sell CLs, even though you can level 1-10 in a couple hours of farming mobs in NF. Bet those CL's will be a big revenue generator."


Where are you getting that kind of xp doing CLs? Cause nothing I have done has lvled them that fast other than rvr.

 

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