Should Guild Wars 2 go free to play?
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This game better not go F2P… Why do you care about their revenue? As players all we should care about is the content
Imagine all the crazies that would flood this game if it was F2P… Sweet Jesus
well, what kind of craziness would bother you from an increase in playerbase?
The trolls would come about in drones. When Rift went F2P not long ago the map chat blew up with random bs from every direction, a lot of people would download it just to have fun in chat. (Resulting in turning off chats to clear spam)
Let’s keep in mind overflows are already kinda bad (World boss’) on some servers and the WvW skill lag would become far more frequent with a F2P crowd and the whole “leave your community and transfer to a lower server fix” wouldn’t even be probable.
(edited by KingClash.3186)
I don’t really see a need.
No.
B2P acts like a filter for a lot of trolls and idiots who float from one f2p MMO to another.
Not having any box sales at all also means more cashshop, which in a fully f2p game is becoming more common to be able to buy end gears/items at which point the game becomes pay-to-win. Then its a quick downward spiral from there. In that case, count me out. The model Anet is using now is great. The filter that the box sale represents is more than worth the price.
….What? This game IS f2p as far as Im concerned. Cant pay for one game? Seriously. F2P games are scams anyways. If it changed to that, we’d end up PAYING for everything, and then the game will fail for real, tleast in terms of integrity. Who wold making it free try to attract anyways? Facebook gamers? Ive spent a bit less than I have spend on most games I own, and yet have gotten more playtime on this game than I have Skyrim.
I dont usually flip like this, but before GW2 I only played “f2p” MMOs….and I dont want to go back there… my biggest draw to this game is how its a FULL game without a sub fee or overbearing cash shop. Anyone who thinks the gem store is that bad has never been told they had to buy a class, race, or region.
It shouldn’t go free to play till well after it’s released in China. I’m pretty sure the Chinese wouldn’t like it free to play here, while they have to pay for their copy.
Let’s say 1 million people in China buy it (which is a pretty low number considering their population…that’s still a ton of profit.
Maybe after it’s out in China for a year, then it can go “free to play”.
I am not sure how beneficial going ftp would be. I am sure some of the new players would buy stuff from the cash shop occasionally but if they’re not willing to pay $50 for the game I would imagine many of them wouldnt be willing to pay anything either. On the other hand you’d need to expand servers, deal with heavy loads so possibly also upgrade infrastructure and all that.
It would be a very bad idea to go F2P before releasing in all of the markets for sure.
Lets no forget that the game will keep on selling even at a slower pace and thats a guaranteed income. Gw1 sold what? an average of 1m a year when there were no more releases? thats $50m hard to say how many f2p players who arent willing to pay $50 up front you need to match that income and thats provided they can only sell 1m per year like gw1 did.
Why in the world would they go F2P when they can get away with both an initial price and a F2P-like cash shop?
Aed f’haeil moen Hirjeth taenverde.
Every region can have it’s own payment model. In 2008 in Korea, Japan and Taiwan, GW was sold either B2P like here or with monthly subscription but with no game purchase. So whatever the popular method to pay for MMOs in China will likely be supported.
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RIP City of Heroes
RIP City of Heroes
I would also point out, Guild Wars 1 still cost money to buy it. That would have to go free before GW2 ever did.
GW1 never went free to play and they had only 3 boxes in 7 years plus game shop.
I don’t expect the same thing to happen to GW2.
Going F2P???Why should they?Anet is doing quite well as it seems.The game is still waited to be released in China and Corea.And those two countries have big player base.
GW2 will never go F2P,i’m certain
TxS – Tequatl Slayer Alliance (EU)
It might as well, most cash shop games dont have a box price, getting rid of that cost to get in will bring in more gem store addicts. Make Guild Wars 1 F2P too.
It might as well, most cash shop games dont have a box price, getting rid of that cost to get in will bring in more gem store addicts. Make Guild Wars 1 F2P too.
That would be a bad thing. Cash Shop games are a blight on gaming.
It might as well, most cash shop games dont have a box price, getting rid of that cost to get in will bring in more gem store addicts. Make Guild Wars 1 F2P too.
That would be a bad thing. Cash Shop games are a blight on gaming.
This is a cash shop game, it sells in game currency for cash.
It might as well, most cash shop games dont have a box price, getting rid of that cost to get in will bring in more gem store addicts. Make Guild Wars 1 F2P too.
That would be a bad thing. Cash Shop games are a blight on gaming.
This is a cash shop game, it sells in game currency for cash.
Do you have to use it to buy races? How bout classes? Or whole regions? Maybe some quests require gems? No? Then its not. Play Marvel Heroes if you want a cash shop game. Or Runescape.
It might as well, most cash shop games dont have a box price, getting rid of that cost to get in will bring in more gem store addicts. Make Guild Wars 1 F2P too.
That would be a bad thing. Cash Shop games are a blight on gaming.
This is a cash shop game, it sells in game currency for cash.
Do you have to use it to buy races? How bout classes? Or whole regions? Maybe some quests require gems? No? Then its not. Play Marvel Heroes if you want a cash shop game. Or Runescape.
Each cash shop game is built differently, but just because they sell a box doesnt hide the fact that this game is a cash shop game like the rest, who do not sell a box. Albiet this one has the most production quality , i think the box sales have paid for that and then some, they’re not needed anymore and if anything prevent people from playing this game and spending money in the cash shop, probably spending the same amount theyd wouldnt spend on a box.
It might as well, most cash shop games dont have a box price, getting rid of that cost to get in will bring in more gem store addicts. Make Guild Wars 1 F2P too.
That would be a bad thing. Cash Shop games are a blight on gaming.
This is a cash shop game, it sells in game currency for cash.
Do you have to use it to buy races? How bout classes? Or whole regions? Maybe some quests require gems? No? Then its not. Play Marvel Heroes if you want a cash shop game. Or Runescape.
Each cash shop game is built differently, but just because they sell a box doesnt hide the fact that this game is a cash shop game like the rest, who do not sell a box. Albiet this one has the most production quality , i think the box sales have paid for that and then some, they’re not needed anymore and if anything prevent people from playing this game and spending money in the cash shop, probably spending the same amount theyd wouldnt spend on a box.
A cosmetic panda hat doesnt really compaire to other games. Yeah, ideally Id prefer it not there at all, but when its just stuff I can easily do without, its not so bad. But still, making it f2p is only going to make everything worse since it will encourage things besides cosmetic fluff.
It might as well, most cash shop games dont have a box price, getting rid of that cost to get in will bring in more gem store addicts. Make Guild Wars 1 F2P too.
That would be a bad thing. Cash Shop games are a blight on gaming.
This is a cash shop game, it sells in game currency for cash.
Do you have to use it to buy races? How bout classes? Or whole regions? Maybe some quests require gems? No? Then its not. Play Marvel Heroes if you want a cash shop game. Or Runescape.
Each cash shop game is built differently, but just because they sell a box doesnt hide the fact that this game is a cash shop game like the rest, who do not sell a box. Albiet this one has the most production quality , i think the box sales have paid for that and then some, they’re not needed anymore and if anything prevent people from playing this game and spending money in the cash shop, probably spending the same amount theyd wouldnt spend on a box.
A cosmetic panda hat doesnt really compaire to other games. Yeah, ideally Id prefer it not there at all, but when its just stuff I can easily do without, its not so bad. But still, making it f2p is only going to make everything worse since it will encourage things besides cosmetic fluff.
Id hate to see the game go that far, and personally i think cosmetics is too far already. In Guild Wars 1 it was impressive to see someone with chaos gloves, you knew what had to be done to get them , now everything that looks cool is like, whatever, someone spent cash on it. Cosmetics used to be a show of how well you did in pve, which made the game replayble , now that you can buy youre way to the coolest cosmetics, that competition is dead. Cash shop games ruin all apsects of gaming, not just competative pvp for items, but also pve for cosmetics.
No, doesn’t seem to be a need for it at the moment. If people wan t to play the game they can get it when it’s on sale.
Also, if it goes F2P, if you thought the community was bad now…
“Caithe, someday you’ll see, Tyria needs me. -Scarlet”
NOT NOT NOT! I personaly don’t like F2P games! ;-)
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NO! It shouldn’t!
Sales of Gw2 have reached well over 2million at preorder. 1 million units have been sold in over 6months after that. As a game ages, so does the rate at which copies will sell. Do you guys think there’s still a lot of juice left in direct sales?
Even if it can sell 1million units in 6months(which i highly doubt at this point in time).
thats only $50million in revenue(tops and not taking retailers into account/other expenses), do you guys honestly think the gem store can’t pull more than that from the playerbase increase of F2P in the same timeframe?
Yeah, cause they are only gonna sell a million in when they release it in one of the largest markets in the world. And monkeys fly out of my butt on a daily basis.
I don’t support them going F2P but really, they already went F2P with the exception of having to pay to buy the game.
However in-game mechanics are now looking like a F2P game. gem-store focus, temporary and time-gated content to get people to log in and buy stuff, gold-driven system to prevent people from farming, we even did see some P2W with the politics vote boost and so on. Exactly the reasons why I don’t like F2P games and exactly the reason why I was interested in GW2 as a B2P game that makes it’s money mainly with box-sales / expansions. To bad they turned into a F2P game. Expansion had been off the table but are back on the table again however looking at what they have done with the last patch and the plans for the future it becomes more and more a F2P game.
I don’t support them going F2P but really, they already went F2P with the exception of having to pay to buy the game.
However in-game mechanics are now looking like a F2P game. gem-store focus, temporary and time-gated content to get people to log in and buy stuff, gold-driven system to prevent people from farming, we even did see some P2W with the politics vote boost and so on. Exactly the reasons why I don’t like F2P games and exactly the reason why I was interested in GW2 as a B2P game that makes it’s money mainly with box-sales / expansions. To bad they turned into a F2P game. Expansion had been off the table but are back on the table again however looking at what they have done with the last patch and the plans for the future it becomes more and more a F2P game.
Anet said long before launch that the cash shop was a big part of their business model. They never said nor expected box sales to be all (or maybe even most) of their profit.
The reason Guild Wars 1 was able to get away with it is a much lower budget (which no game today could afford to get away with and be successful). 50 employees vs over 300 for starters. Bigger offices. Voice acting (which is very expensive).
Box sales were never going to cut it.
Guild Wars 1 still isn’t free to play. No reason to think why this game would either.
This sums up almost everything I wanted to say.
Exactly. No need at all.
Cyan Graceland — Elementalist
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
However, it is without doubt that sales of this title has now ceased to insignificant numbers.
Based on what exactly? The voices in your head don’t count as a viable source.
No
/15characters
I don’t support them going F2P but really, they already went F2P with the exception of having to pay to buy the game.
However in-game mechanics are now looking like a F2P game. gem-store focus, temporary and time-gated content to get people to log in and buy stuff, gold-driven system to prevent people from farming, we even did see some P2W with the politics vote boost and so on. Exactly the reasons why I don’t like F2P games and exactly the reason why I was interested in GW2 as a B2P game that makes it’s money mainly with box-sales / expansions. To bad they turned into a F2P game. Expansion had been off the table but are back on the table again however looking at what they have done with the last patch and the plans for the future it becomes more and more a F2P game.
Anet said long before launch that the cash shop was a big part of their business model. They never said nor expected box sales to be all (or maybe even most) of their profit.
The reason Guild Wars 1 was able to get away with it is a much lower budget (which no game today could afford to get away with and be successful). 50 employees vs over 300 for starters. Bigger offices. Voice acting (which is very expensive).
Box sales were never going to cut it.
Oow please don’t come with the “they can not afford that” story again. It’s nonsense. It’s exactly the way single-player games makes there money and usually release a new part after 3 years while an mmo (because it’s ‘only’ an expansion) would be able to do it in 1 year. That difference in benefit might go away because expansions are usually cheaper and they have higher cost maintaining the server / game. But they will end up with the same profit as single player games do however they can more more sure to make money in the ling run. And then there is the cash-shop as an extra.
I never read a statement that it would be a big part. I did look at how Anet did it with GW1 and that was the reason I went for GW2. If I knew they would adept a F2P model like they are doing now I would have never looked at it in the first place.
Guild Wars 1 still isn’t free to play. No reason to think why this game would either.
This sums up almost everything I wanted to say.
Exactly. No need at all.
Why are you against F2P? Because of the way F2P games handle the game. Then I don’t understand your point because GW2 is already acting like a F2P game. With the difference that you also have to pay to play the F2P game.
I really can’t understand how you can be a fan of B2P and don’t see this game really isn’t B2P anymore.
I don’t think GW2 should go F2P. It’d mean they’d have to market their cash shop items much more aggressively: currently they’re rather benign, all told. The worst they get is RNG items like Black Lion Chests containing event-specific unlocks. But if you turn the game F2P, I’d expect a lot more of the boosts becoming ‘essential’ with steeper XP curves and boosters for things like dungeon tokens and WvW badges.
Edit: You’d also see the gold:gem trading eliminated completely in legitimate venues.
Mixing insults with your post is like pooping in a salad.
It’s pretty obvious, and nobody’s impressed.
It’s pretty obvious, and nobody’s impressed.
I don’t support them going F2P but really, they already went F2P with the exception of having to pay to buy the game.
However in-game mechanics are now looking like a F2P game. gem-store focus, temporary and time-gated content to get people to log in and buy stuff, gold-driven system to prevent people from farming, we even did see some P2W with the politics vote boost and so on. Exactly the reasons why I don’t like F2P games and exactly the reason why I was interested in GW2 as a B2P game that makes it’s money mainly with box-sales / expansions. To bad they turned into a F2P game. Expansion had been off the table but are back on the table again however looking at what they have done with the last patch and the plans for the future it becomes more and more a F2P game.
Anet said long before launch that the cash shop was a big part of their business model. They never said nor expected box sales to be all (or maybe even most) of their profit.
The reason Guild Wars 1 was able to get away with it is a much lower budget (which no game today could afford to get away with and be successful). 50 employees vs over 300 for starters. Bigger offices. Voice acting (which is very expensive).
Box sales were never going to cut it.
Oow please don’t come with the “they can not afford that” story again. It’s nonsense. It’s exactly the way single-player games makes there money and usually release a new part after 3 years while an mmo (because it’s ‘only’ an expansion) would be able to do it in 1 year. That difference in benefit might go away because expansions are usually cheaper and they have higher cost maintaining the server / game. But they will end up with the same profit as single player games do however they can more more sure to make money in the ling run. And then there is the cash-shop as an extra.
I never read a statement that it would be a big part. I did look at how Anet did it with GW1 and that was the reason I went for GW2. If I knew they would adept a F2P model like they are doing now I would have never looked at it in the first place.
No, it’s not exactly the same. Single player games cost a whole lot less to produce than MMOs. There’s no comparison in cost or length of programming time.
How many single player games do you know that have a staff of 300 in the first place?
No way it should be F2P for another 3-4 years. Not without some kind of reputation system where we can vote out trolls and farmer bots on F2P accounts. It would be terrible and wreck the game’s community (at least somewhat.)
Guild Wars 1 still isn’t free to play. No reason to think why this game would either.
This sums up almost everything I wanted to say.
Exactly. No need at all.
Why are you against F2P? Because of the way F2P games handle the game. Then I don’t understand your point because GW2 is already acting like a F2P game. With the difference that you also have to pay to play the F2P game.
I really can’t understand how you can be a fan of B2P and don’t see this game really isn’t B2P anymore.
I have no idea why you are quoting me, I never said I dislike F2P (although I have some serious issues against it). The one-time payment to get the game is actually a good thing in my eyes. And, like GW, there is no need to break the B2P method, it’s working just fine.
Cyan Graceland — Elementalist
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
The Knights Temple [TKT] — Aurora Glade
This game better not go F2P… Why do you care about their revenue? As players all we should care about is the content
Imagine all the crazies that would flood this game if it was F2P… Sweet Jesus
If you read the very last part you might get a better idea of why.
You can get EVE for like $5 during Steam sales. That’s barely B2P.
Eve is P2P.
That was in reference to the fact that you can buy play time in EVE using in game currency, making B2P/F2P a definite possibility. You do need to buy the game, though. You can’t get the play time on a trial account (our at least that appeared to be the census above).
Actually no you don’t, you can upgrade a trail account with plex.
So if you are dedicated eve online can be 100% free to play…
It is.
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l80 Asuran Thief – Universal assassin l80 Charr (?!) Necro – Deadly melee ranger
l80 Human Engineer – Expert of explosions l80 Sylvari Mesmer – Phantasmal Assassin
l80 Human Engineer – Expert of explosions l80 Sylvari Mesmer – Phantasmal Assassin
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