The Daily Grind: Are there too many F2P choices?
You'll have to forgive us for using the Age of Conan Unrated announcement as fodder for yet another Daily Grind. Western free-to-play conversions are a big deal, both because they're changing the genre and because there are so many of them (with more potentially on the way).
It's this last bit that begs a bit of discussion this morning. By all accounts, MMORPGs are time-consuming beasts. Even if you do manage to reach endgame in a particular title, you've usually got raiding or some sort of gear grind to occupy you for months on end. Put another way, rare is the gamer who manages to actually see all the content that a game has to offer.
The explosion of F2P titles, then, may offer more choice in terms of what titles are available, but it can also lead to gamers experiencing bits and pieces instead of the whole enchilada. There's only so much time in the day, after all, and a gamer can only play so many games even if they're all free. This also leads into the long-term profitability of F2P, particularly since so many players swear they never spend a dime on these titles.
For today's early morning discussion, we'd like to know whether you're struggling with all of the AAA options that F2P may be opening up for you. And do you think the market will continue to bear an ever-expanding roster of titles?
Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
