WRUP: Not now, I have a headache edition

Wait, is it the weekend already? I need to do a WRUP for the week? Not now. I have a headache right now; this is a terrible time. Look, I understand that things need to happen, but this is a really bad headache. Can it wait for just a few days? A few hours? I don't know how long I'm going to have this headache.

You don't have some ibuprofen I could cage off you? Better yet, some Excedrin? I hate having a headache.

All right, all right, I'll just focus on WRUP. This week's installment is about whether or not the F2P switch of basically every game in the world gives you added financial headaches compared to the old style of subscription games. Oh, and it covers what we'll be playing over the weekend. So check out our plans past the break, and let us know what you'll be up to in the comments.

@Beau_Hindman: I'll be switching to Mortal Online for Rise and Shiny. I'm pretty excited; I always look forward to officially looking at a title that everyone sort of badmouths. It deserves a chance like any other!

I can easily spend more in a F2P title simply because they give me the chance to buy. If sub games had great cash shops attached, I'd probably spend more there as well. I don't see it as some sort of rip-off. If a game is fun and offers fun stuff to sell, it's a simple and optional transaction.

@nbrianna: Guild Wars 2, I hope, for me; I've been slowing down a bit, and I need to get back into it. I'd also like to really get more into Torchlight II! I rolled an Outlander because pirates, but I've been thinking about rerolling as an Embermage.

I'm not really sure whether I spend more, honestly. I have a lot more disposable income now than I did 15 years ago, so $15 was a far more significant chunk of change as a percentage of my income. There are also now a lot more games on which it's possible to spend money as compared to what was offered at the dawn of the genre. And in all that time, the flat subscription rate hasn't really budged, so if you think of the cash shop as a factor of inflation... hmm. I guess for me it's gone up and down. I used to run four Star Wars Galaxies accounts, and I'm not spending as much on MMOs monthly period as I was then, not in money or in time. Unless you count this job! :D

@Eliot_Lefebvre: There's some Star Wars: The Old Republic roleplaying that needs to happen and some Final Fantasy XIV roleplaying that needs to happen. I'm told there are actual games to play in both of the above, but I suspect that may just be a rumor.

I spend more on MMOs now than I did before anyway, simply by virtue of playing more games and trying more things. Free-to-play doesn't really factor into it. I have more options to spend extra money on games I enjoy, but I can't think of any times when I've really sunk a lot more money into a game than if I had just dropped $15 on a regular basis. Perhaps I'm the wrong person to ask.

@elixabethclaire: I'm playing Guild Wars 2 some more. I hit 80 some time last week and just yesterday went into the final bit of the storyline in Arah, so I'm a little bit at loose ends as to what I want to do. I'll probably spend some time on alts with the intention of elevating them from the realm of alts into the realm of also-mains.

@jefreahard: Still working on Egypt and a couple of deck outfits in The Secret World. And I'll probably pony up for Dawnguard since I finally beat the main quest in Skyrim.

And sure, free-to-play has made things more expensive for me. The flat fee used to get you 100% of a game's content. Now it doesn't. Pretty simple and predictable, and it sucks for completionists (completists?).

@Jeremy_Stratton: I'll be playing Guild Wars 2, Guild Wars 2, and oh, Guild Wars 2. I'll try to make some time for Vanguard, too.

I've probably spent more on a traditional free-to-play MMO than on any one subscription I've had. Hey! It's hard stopping yourself from buying all those cool mounts. Try not buying all those shoes or getting your mom to stop buying all those clothes. It's hard, I tell ya.

@Sypster: I've dug my Lore-master out of retirement in Lord of the Rings Online to see if I can get him in shape for Riders of Rohan. Apart from that, I'd love it if my Guild Wars 2 Engie could hit 50. I'm also still mired in Egypt in The Secret World, since Funcom seems to be adding content faster than I can chew through it.

I don't spend that much on games at all these days, so probably not.

@terilynns: I'll be working with my low-level Andorian in Star Trek Online and playing some Foundry missions. I will also be knee-deep in the Autumn Festival in Lord of the Rings Online; a couple of my characters need the Autumnfest Steed.

To be honest, I don't like to be bothered with monthly subs. I've actually decided not to play any game that requires a subscription. It's no secret that I like to buy things in games, especially stuff that customizes the look of my character. I don't know of any game that gives subscribers costumes for free as part of the subscription, so I rationalize it off as actually saving myself the cost of a sub that I can now spend in game. I think it winds up as a wash.

At the start of every weekend, we catch up with the Massively staff members and ask them, "What are you playing this week?" (Otherwise known as: WRUP!) Join us to see what we're up to in and out of game -- and catch us in the comments to let us know what you're playing, too!