Global Chat: Free-ish Wasteland edition
The craziness of Gamescom and PAX is over, but that doesn't mean there's nothing left to look forward to in MMO-land. With the anticipation over upcoming game launches and free-to-play conversions, our readers have lots to say about the near future -- particularly Fallen Earth's near future. Follow along the jump and check it out!
GamersFirst gave the long-awaited date of Fallen Earth's free-to-play switch Friday night. There was plenty of discussion of the pricing structure, with strong, well-explained opinions on both sides of the fence. Thorium88 feels that the planned setup fares pretty poorly in comparison with Lord of the Rings Online's model:
So this F2P turns out to be another Champions Online-style freemium ploy? They let you play a crappy version of the game in the hopes you'll cough up subscription money for the not-so-crappy version? It's misdirection like this that gives F2P a bad name -- these things are not what I would call user-friendly business models.
I am currently liking the way that Turbine allows me to pay-as-I-go through LotRO. The lack of a recurring subscription suits my irregular playing hours. I had been looking forward to a F2P Fallen Earth, but it certainly looks as if GamersFirst designed the "free" part to be a PITA.
I wish these companies would be honest about this and either let me support the game through the cash shop or just come out and say it's still a subscription game but with an added unlimited trial version.
Omali has a very differing opinion:
LotRO has you pay as you go through content blocks. In Fallen Earth you can play the entire game for free -- you'll just get there a little slower than people paying a monthly fee.
"It's misdirection like this that gives F2P a bad name -- these things are not what I would call user-friendly business models"
No it isn't; it's exactly what the free-to-play advocates have asked for: 100% of the gameplay and zero content blocked behind single purchase/subscription cash shops.
The only people who are going to be angry at this are the uber-cheapskates, who not only want the game for free but smash their keyboards in frustration that the company dares monetize any aspect of the game whatsoever, however small it is.
Both opinions, of course, are completely valid according to the individual's preferences and playstyle, and they bring up long-running arguments about what does and does not constitute "free" as well as what's reasonable for a developer to limit. It's a discussion that's certainly not limited to a single game, so jump in and let us know what you think!
Global Chat is the weekly feature that's all about you, our readers. Every Sunday we collect the best, funniest, and most thought-provoking comments from the Massively readers and round them up into Global Chat for discussion. Read over them for yourself, hit the comment button, and add your own thoughts!
