The only F2P model I would find acceptable would be a limited free account where:


A player could only create two characters

No bot characters would be available

No ability to purchase housing

Minimal crafting available (level 200)

One crafting profession per character

No ability to transfer money or gear from or to other accounts/other players

No ability to purchase a horse

No port stones

No ability to use respect stones

Limit on RAs to level 5


But with the ability to:


Use taxies

Access CMs and MEs to spend their own money

Level to 50

Have full access to TOA gear/abilities

Have full grouping ability

Join guilds


Free accounts would also have low priority log in access. If a server was almost full then free accounts could not log in (they would get a polite message informing them that the servers were full and to gain full access during heavy server usage they only need to subscribe) and if paying accounts needed to log into a full server then free accounts would get a message stating that within 5 min they would be logged out in order to make room for paying accounts.


This free system lets players try out the game, join guilds, build friendships, get tied to the game, gear up enough to become fodder in the Frontiers, etc. . . but it does not prevent paying accounts from logging in when huge numbers of free accounts are playing.


This free system does not have players constantly paying IRL cash every week for items or abilities and this system does not give Mythic/Bioware/EA an incentive to create a huge/gargantuan arms race in order to make money selling weapons/abilities.


The free system has limits that should eventually push Free account players to subscribe so that the player can gain the subscription benefits. Not everyone would subscribe, but $15 a month is a small price to be able to use port stones, use a horse, transfer money, purchase housing, respec, sell things to others, get items/gear/plat being given away by the guild, create more than two characters, etc. . . .


One important thing this system provides is fodder for the Frontiers.


Clustering was done by Mythic primarily to keep the Frontier populations up. If this system had been put in place long ago there never would have been the need to cluster. This system provides for a constant stream of fodder for the Frontiers to ensure the Frontiers always stays viable and this system allows players to build two characters, join a guild and build ties to the game (locking them into the game long term).


But for any Free system to work, the game would need extensive repairs/changes/fixes.

 

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Cap free accounts at level 24.
Unlock to level 39 or 50 is something they can buy, or subscribe to get.

Limitations must include:
NO trading with other players.
NO ability to use player crafted gear unless self made.

Let them use the basic craft skill (which is 200-300 for all crafts?)
but must unlock a trade skill (buy) to raise skill.

You have to give them Thid tho. We're not selling the game on the strength of its PVE.

Free account peeps can level to 20-24 in about 2-4 hours depending on class. Thid is a blast. Give em a taste
and they'll re-up or pay for goodies.

But agreed with Semi4....much to be done to make it work

 

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The challenge that I see with limiting their ability to level or gear up, it prevents the Frontiers from being populated by the free accounts.


There are only two primary reasons for the free account that I described.


1. To populate the Frontiers with noobs/fodder to ensure the Frontiers stays viable.

2. To bring in noobs that will eventually pay/subscribe.


Without fodder the Frontier dies and when the Frontier dies the game dies. Clustering only happened to increase the Frontier population, not for any other reason.


Any restriction to the free accounts that prevents the free accounts from feeding the Frontiers with fodder is imo not fulfilling a primary objective. The Frontier population must be maintained, it is paramount or the game dies.


The game does not need more players in Thid but the game does need more fodder running around in the Frontiers. There are other restrictions (other than a level restriction) that can be used to limit a free account, restrictions that will motivate players to subscribe, and still allow free accounts to populate the Frontiers and help keep the Frontier population at necessary levels.

 

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most of the people you see advocating free for up to level 24 or other low level caps, are career BG players wanting to play for free, not people actualy interested in the viability and sustainability of DAoC

thats why i say if theres any sort of level cap, its sub 20... so BG players dont get a free ride.

 

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Let me expand on why limiting the free accounts to 24 is necessary and will be good for the game.

First, lets look at why exposing them to the full force and fury of level 50 RvR is a bad idea.
Age, or experience level of the current population is high, on average. New players in this
environment is bad. They will be thrashed and destroyed like a wave crashing against rocks.

There is a learning curve to DAoC, but due to rapid leveling, most players never learn how to play
their toons. This will be further magnified when they try to RvR and get repeatedly rolled. It will
leave a bad taste in their mouth, and they'll perceive DAoC as another pvp gank-fest.

One of the reasons daoc is so fondly remembered in the hearts of its former players is that is was in many
cases, someone's first game, but also, it exposed them to PvP in a new way, something most of them would have never done.
As an example, I came to DAoC as someone who hated PvP. I played Asheron's Call before this, and had no
desire to ever PvP. But DAoC was a better game, I enjoyed the playstyle, fell in with a good guild on
Galahad-Hib <Roisin Dubh>, and eventually went to RvR with my guild.

I can't stress how important that last part was to my accepting PvP. I needed that safety net. My first experience ended in disaster, but because I was with my guild and we did it together, it was fun in the purest sense.

If you incrementally expose players to RvR, for example, Thid, where not much has been invested yet, they can enjoy getting whooped on as long as they taste a little success from time to time - much easier to do at level 24 than 50. And you know, if there is no cap, a large percentage of new players will grind till they hit a cap.

But here's the other part of it. They get to join guilds. They'll socialize and be exposed constantly to players with no limitations on the game - and eventually they'll want to join their guild mates on raids, and RvR. You build DAoC from the inside out again. That way the existing subscriber base becomes your sales force.

But I can't stress enough the importance of letting new players get familiar with the speed of DAoC. DAOC is a complex game compared to many new games out there. If you can limit their need to understand the complexities of the game, you'll raise their entertainment value and increase the chance they'll stick around.

I do not believe the majority of players will stop at level 24. They will want to unlock 39 and 50. So that is not really a concern. As it is, I believe permanent thid/molvik players are probably less than 1/10th of 1% of current players. No reason to believe this small percentage, whatever it is, will increase.

I think if you populate the two BGs mentioned, it will prime DAOC with new blood, strengthen the community, and ultimately improve the RvR experience at level 50. There are still many things that need to be done to make it a success, but I don't think it works if you let them grind to 50 then get thrown against the rocks like the waves of the sea.


Edit: removed a small portion that
was remnant of a different thought
than the one I finished with.

 

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so instead of going out in rvr, were they could at least zerg surf there way to being self sustaining...

you want them to learn how to play daoc in thid, were the game play is completely difrent then the end game, and seriously unbalanced

thats not very smart at all.

 

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That's not what I said, but nice try twisting my comment so you could make a smartass remark! Your VN score just went up +1

 

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I think that mostly you are correct and I have always been torn between 24 and letting the free account go to 50.


All of what you say is mostly true. Where I feel there are challenges and why I still feel the evidence points to letting them go all the way to 50:


1. Free accounts that are allowed to level to 50 will stop at the BGs along the way to 50 (‘almost’ everyone goes to Thid) so they will get a feel of the BGs anyway. If stopping at Thid is intensely important then make some Thid accomplishments mandatory before leveling onward to the Frontier.


2. Thid has tweaked out gank groups that will smash any noob that only has moderate gear, just like the noob would get smashed when they get to the Frontier. So as far as protecting them from getting hammered by great players that are tweaked out, stopping them at 24 will not prevent that from happening.


3. I know you want to believe that players will subscribe after they try out Thid but the evidence is not there for it. Most players that try out the game today do not subscribe and leveling is so quick today that any noobs should be able to level to Thid while they are still in the trial period. If the typical lookieloo would subscribe then subscription numbers would be rising, but the sub numbers are still falling.


4. My plan increases the Frontier fodder even if most free accounts do not subscribe. I do not expect most that try out the game to subscribe. Some will subscribe but I expect that with the psychotic hodgepodge of a game that exists, most will only stay if the game is free. Some will subscribe, but most will not.


5. If most do not subscribe, and evidence shows that most will not subscribe, if the free accounts are stopped at level 24 then as Frontier population declines the Frontier still dies and the game still dies.


6. Letting the free accounts level all the way to the Frontier puts more players into the Frontier, it just does. Stopping free accounts and only allowing the small trickle that subscribe to move on to the Frontier only puts a small trickle into the Frontier and a small trickle may not be enough to keep the Frontier alive.


7. For the survival of the game, it is paramount that the Frontier population be dramatically increased.


If the game were to be truly repaired/fixed/etc. then stopping free accounts at Thid would be fine because the Frontier population would not be at risk. Heck if the game were truly repaired/fixed/etc. then there would be no need for any kind of free account because the game population would skyrocket.

 

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Make Mordred free to play ...plenty of space there.

Just think of all the hapless noobs running around to slaughter at will .

I'd probably have to roll up a new Troll skald for that one, can't even remember what toons I have on Mordred right now.

 

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