payment-models
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Flameseeker Chronicles: November is controversy month in Guild Wars 2
November sucks. The only good things about it are food, my wife's birthday, and the birthdays of any other November babies (happy birthday). Halloween is over, Thanksgiving is at the end of the month, and Black Friday is a thing that still happens. Thank the Six it's December now. Get out of my face, November. We've had only two Novembers' worth of Guild Wars 2 so far, but historically it has been a dark time. Last year we had mixed reception of the Lost Shores karka invasion event and the implementation of Ascended gear. This year we have a baffling marketing campaign and extremely unfortunate gem store armor skins. At this rate I'm predicting that next November will bring an entire set of novelty weapon skins patterned on Scarlet Briar's hair and a kissing booth that awards precursors with Zhaitan's ugly mug as the main attraction.
ArcheAge to start Russian closed beta in December
Good news for Russian ArcheAge fans eagerly waiting to dive in and experience the upcoming fantasy sandpark: closed beta begins next month. Mail.ru has announced that the closed beta testing for the game is scheduled for the end of December; exact dates, however, will come later, along with more information about the beta. Other news that the publisher did include in the announcement was the implementation of a new payment model. Players will be happy to know that after the successful petition to nix Mail.ru's initial plans and the subsequent player voting, ArcheAge in Russia will be launched with the very same economic model that is used on the Korean servers. [Thanks to James for the tip!]
The Soapbox: Free-to-play wasn't our idea
Free-to-play is surging. In just a few short years, free-to-play has become the go-to mechanism through which studios broaden audiences, entice players, and build revenue. No other method of monetization has proven to be so lucrative and effective with such consistency, whether it be a monthly subscription fee, a one-time purchase price, or some combination of the two. Free-to-play's growth has created a world in which non-free games are the exception, not the rule. Of the most popular MMOs and online games as of my typing these words, the vast majority are free-to-play. Games that are bold enough to buck the trend and launch with a sub fee are met with derision and suspicion from the online gaming community; the many thousands of words dedicated to ZeniMax Online's decision to require a subscription for The Elder Scrolls Online are likely the most recent and high-profile examples of this trend in action. When players complain about a game launching with a subscription, their opinions are often countered by a self-appointed gaming elite who believe that things were better in the good old days, when games cost money and poor people didn't ruin everything by demanding free stuff. The argument summarized is something like, "I am sick and tired of lazy, entitled gamers wanting everything for free." There's just one problem: Lazy, entitled gamers didn't invent free-to-play. Studios did.
Black Gold Online changes business model for NA
When Black Gold Online's monetization model was introduced, you could say that it caused a bit of a stir. A very big stir of unhappy once-potential players. Now, Snail Games has attempted to quell the dissatisfaction by clarifying a few points, first and foremost by announcing that the previous model was geared only for China and revealing a different plan for North America. Producer Kee Zhang stated, "We're refining this new system and our top priority is [to] develop a transparent and accepted F2P model for the North American audience." The studio insists that Black Gold's time save system is a completely optional bonus to supplement game progression; players can still acquire all equipment and materials from normal in-game means of questing, drops, and auctions. This system will not affect PvP or PvE rankings. The system appears to work this way: The game will auto-save the player's loot index (which is based on your actions during that saved time) every hour, and players can claim that loot index -- through either the free saves or purchased ones -- in the form of a vial of time that can be traded for credits or opened for the random loot within.
Tamriel Infinium: The one where we talk about the Elder Scrolls Online's payment model
It's difficult to watch another beloved game developer make the same mistakes a previous beloved game developer did. I cannot express the depth of my sincere disappointment in the subscription payment model announcement coming from ZeniMax this week. I'm interested in seeing games succeed, but I'm especially interested in seeing The Elder Scrolls Online succeed, not just because I'm doing a column on the game but because the franchise is wonderful and the fans deserve an amazing online experience in the world of Tamriel. But I was floored when the ESO team announced it will be a subscription-based game.
Gamescom 2013: Firor says ESO's sub will ensure players get '100% of the game' (except for the parts in the cash shop) [Updated]
ZeniMax Online's (or Bethesda's) decision to make The Elder Scrolls Online a subscription-based game certainly drew the ire of a few Elder Scrolls and MMO fans, but game director Matt Firor believes a sub-based payment model ensures the best possible experience for all players. Speaking with Eurogamer, Firor walked through ZeniMax's reasoning in choosing subscriptions as TESO's primary method of generating revenue. He listed two primary motivators: one, to ensure monetization did not interfere with the traditional Elder Scrolls experience, and two, to keep money flowing for future content. When you're in an Elder Scrolls game, you're in a world. We don't want players to hit monetization fees when they're in the world. It's like, I go into a dungeon, if I don't have access to the dungeon it pops up a window: you don't have access to this, go buy 50 credits. We didn't want that experience. That's not an Elder Scrolls experience. Instead, Firor believes charging a monthly subscription ensures players have "100% of the game" and never run into payment walls. He also explained that the forecastable revenue stream created by subs helps the team better plan for content updates. ZeniMax is aiming for new content releases "every month or six weeks, for as long as people want to play the game." Firor mentioned the addition of the Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood quest lines as examples of content players can expect, saying, "And those are 15 hours of content a piece. We're talking major new stuff, which is going to be coming out constantly." Make of that what you will. In the meantime, check out new screenshots from Gamescom in our TESO gallery: %Gallery-168863% [Update: Reader Pavel points out a German-language interview from Gamescom that claims Firor indicated there will be a cash shop selling at least "fun items and character services like character renames" in the game. Here's the exact sentence untranslated: "Laut Matt Firor wird es in The Elder Scrolls Online einen Itemshop geben, wo ihr Spaß-Items und Charakterservices wie eine Umbenennung des Charakters kaufen könnt."]
World of Warcraft could 'end up being free-to-play'
Despite the caterwauling of a few internet trolls, World of Warcraft has yet to go free-to-play and remains the dominant subscription-based MMO in the world of gaming. But current success doesn't guarantee future success, and game director Tom Chilton is well aware of the shifting tides when it comes to new and existing MMOs. In an interview with NowGamer, Chilton talked a bit about whether the subscription model is dead (it isn't) and whether or not World of Warcraft will go free-to-play (it might). I definitely think that free-to-play MMOs will be around for a very long time. At some point it's possible that World of Warcraft could end up being free-to-play, but I do think there's always room for there to be subscription games. Chilton continued by expressing that he believes subscription MMOs can still work as long as devs keep content coming to players on a regular basis and make it worth that monthly credit card charge. I do think that as time goes on subscription MMOs might evolve toward becoming a little bit more dynamic and making sure that within a month time span it feels like new events and new episodes happen to keep it fresh. Quite a few new-ish MMOs have launched with subscriptions only to turn free-to-play within a few months; we'll get a chance to see how the sub model fares again when The Elder Scrolls Online hits the market in 2014.
WildStar business model reveal coming 'in the next month or so'
WildStar's business model is still a mystery, and even though executive producer Jeremy Gaffney recently hosted a Develop panel on game monetization, he didn't provide any details relating to Carbine's upcoming sci-fi title. Develop interviewed Gaffney following the event, and while he avoided specifics, he did say that Carbine is gearing up for a "big reveal here in the next month or so about what we're doing that's really compelling." "We're trying to find our own sweet spot in this market where people aren't feeling like they're getting screwed over," Gaffney continued. You can watch the interview clip after the cut.
Bungie talks Destiny, evades RMT question
Bungie's latest Mail Sack column is up, and the bulk of the conversation centers on its upcoming open-world sci-fi shooter, Destiny. Revealed (or clarified) in the post: fireteam sizes (three), total player allowances for public events (a lot, but not too many), and which month the team is most looking forward to in 2014 (the one in which Destiny comes out). Also discussed were real-money transactions, though the response from Bungie is about as PR-fluffy as it gets. When asked to what degree real-life money will be used in the game, this was the response: What we can tell you right now is that the rewards you will gain by playing Destiny – and playing it well – will be earned. You will carve them from the hides of your enemies, after you stomp them into the ground of your favorite destinations. It makes sense that the folks at Bungie would play that one close to the chest; Destiny is still in a pre-alpha state and anything could change about the game at any time.
Blizzard 'actively working' on All-Stars MOBA
Last spring there was a brouhaha over the name DotA that was ultimately settled with Valve keeping the four-letter moniker and Blizzard changing its upcoming MOBA to Blizzard All-Stars. But after that, the newly rechristened game seemingly fell off the radar. Even the official website only offers the tease "coming soonish." Despite the lack of information, however, the game is still being developed. A recent statement by StarCraft II's production director Chris Sigaty notes that the studio hasn't forgotten about Blizzard All-Stars, but is focusing on its free-to-play business model. "We're actively working on it," Sigaty said. "That I can confirm. A lot of the stuff that's remaining right now that we need to focus on are the systems necessary to pull off a game with a different business model than StarCraft II."
ArenaNet's Chris Lye talks about the impending death of the subscription model
In a recent interview, ArenaNet's global brand manager Chris Lye sat down and talked about the future of payment models in MMORPGs. Lye advised up-and-coming businesses to avoid the assumption that the subscription model is the best as that model is past its prime and on the decline. Guild Wars 2, set to launch on August 28th, adheres to the "pay to own" model, in which players simply make a one-time purchase of the box in order to play the full game. Lye remarks that he understands why developers wouldn't want to add the risk of trying a new business model on top of the risk of developing an MMO. However, he believes that "any developer who wants to be successful in today's market needs to take a really hard look and say 'Do we really want to use a subscription, is that the best thing for this game?' In many cases I don't think it is." The subscriptionless model, however, isn't without possible drawbacks. Lye acknowledged that ArenaNet has some concerns about whether the community will be more difficult to police due to the sheer numbers of players.
Aion Europe going F2P on February 28th
We told you earlier this week about Aion's incoming North American free-to-play transition (not to mention a little ditty called Ascension/3.0), but today we've got word that Gameforge AG has released the official date for Aion's European payment plan switcheroo as well. The change-over will occur simultaneously on February 28th for the English-, German-, and French-language versions of Aion's EU client, and you can download said client right now at the game's official website. Gameforge also says that the Ascension patch will hit Europe "in the spring," but there are no more specifics. We'll bring you more definitive info from the world of Atreia as soon as we have it. [Source: Gameforge press release]
Free for All: Comparing the payment models of RuneScape and Illyriad
Last week, I introduced you to two of my favorite free-to-play or freemium payment models. Payment models are endlessly fascinating because so many players normally didn't think about them until free-to-play and freemium models stopped being something that only came from foreign shores. Now, everyone has an opinion about which payment model is the best. I tend to love simple ones, as close to simple as I can get. If a game is truly wonderful, however, I don't care if the developers ask players to cut off their right arms. I've paid my fair share and continue to do so. In fact, in one of the most disturbing trends of the last few years, players have begun bemoaning the lack of a free version of their favorite game. I see it all the time: players publicly wishing for the time that their favorite game will go free-to-play so they can return without paying a dime. Sure, I can understand being strapped for cash and needing an easy way to get back to an old title, but come on... those titles might not be around much longer if players do not support them in the first place. I am not a fan of free-to-play because I am cheap or because I need to avoid paying developers what they deserve. I have said it before, and I will say it again: I am a fan of free-to-play because it lets me decide when I want to spend my money. There's a big difference. So let's chat about two of my favorite game's payment models.
Massively Exclusive: World of Warplanes producer talks mechanics
Wargaming.net is working overtime of late, and how could it not? The company is responsible for three separate MMORPGs, beginning with 2011's successful World of Tanks and ending with the recently announced World of Battleships. Sandwiched in the middle is World of Warplanes, an ambitious aerial arcade shooter married to traditional MMO progression mechanics. The game is currently in closed alpha testing and looks to be on track for a 2012 release. This week saw the release of the game's first advancement tree, and we took the opportunity to ask producer Anton Sitnikov a series of questions covering everything from game mechanics to player perceptions regarding the pay-to-win stigma.
Vindicia CEO: MMOs are launching with the wrong business model
Chances are you've never heard of Gene Hoffman, CEO of Vindicia (which may or may not ring a bell, either). MMO companies have heard of him, though, as he's something of a veteran when it comes to online content distribution and payment models. His industry experience dates back to the founding of eMusic, a subscription-based digital music retailer that popped up in 1998. Now he advises companies regarding online business models, distribution, and monetization, and he casts a critical eye on the MMO industry and its slow march toward more flexible payment schemes. "Look, some of these MMOs are launching and they're really bad," he tells GamesIndustry.biz. "You don't want to say that too loudly to them, but seriously, these guys need to do a lot more content before they launch. So why not price it that way?"
Free for All: Explaining the free-to-play hold-outs
Well, it's official. Free-to-play is not the wave of the future; it is the payment model of today. Games left and right are transforming themselves into free-to-play versions, and the never-ending stream of free-to-play games from foreign lands (a wave that started many years ago) is continuing at its usual breakneck pace. It's quite the understatement to say that we have almost too many choices in the market today. Developers have to fight harder than ever before (yes, even the big ones) for your time and money. But there are a few old-school holdouts that still refuse to offer some kind of free access, games like Ultima Online, EverQuest, and Asheron's Call. Why is that? What could they possibly achieve by ignoring the latest trend in payment models, and why does the payment model even matter? Click past the cut and let's discuss it.
Atanas Atanasov talks Earthrise PvP, crafting, and payment models
GameOgre has scored an interview with Masthead Studios director and Earthrise producer Atanas Atanasov that's worth a read (and not just because Atanas Atanasov is quite possibly the coolest game dev name in history, with all due respect to Tasos Flambouras and Ragnar Tornquist). Anyhow, Atanasov answers a hefty number of questions covering a wide range of topics including the inspiration and backstory for the game, the purpose behind the title's open PvP, and a few details on the crafting system. "Almost every item in the game comes from crafting and the whole economy and combat system is aimed at conquering territories and supplying resources to the guild and friendly crafters," he says. Atanasov also weighs in on the decision to go with a subscription model for the sci-fi sandbox, a move that bucks current industry trends and is something the Masthead dev team has alluded to before. "A subscription-based game puts players on level ground by giving them all access to the whole world and every game feature. We want to make sure that every player in Earthrise will be treated equally and there will not be paying and non-paying players, players with purchased gear, and players with free gear. Earthrise is an all-inclusive title, pay once and enjoy everything that's included," he says.
Behind the Mask: Two layers of toppings
"Microtransactions" is almost a taboo word in the MMO community. Everyone has a different opinion on it. Even here at Massively, our ideas on microtransactions vary widely. But perhaps even more frightening than the label of "F2P" is "double-dipping." Some games continue to charge a normal subscription, while still having some content featured as microtransactions. All of Cryptic Studios' current games support a double-dipping model, and Champions Online is no exception. A lot of players think this is a terrible, terrible thing. As a gamer, I understand that players want things to be free. I also understand that developers have to strike a real balance between content that's given for free and content that is sold as paid expansions or unlocked via microtransactions.
Free for All: Assumptions based on assumptions
I decided to write this article based on a nagging feeling. It's not something I would normally look into, being that the questions I have are not that easy to ask, or not that easy to clarify. But, as I sink deeper and deeper into the world of international websites, games and toys, I always find certain attitudes pop up during my conversations about my findings. Perhaps it is because I am used to the sights, sounds and styles of free-to-play titles, and have learned to look beyond some of the long titles and odd descriptions. I no longer see games divided into groups and sub-groups. When hearing the complaints about "foreign" games, I rarely see the counterbalance to the comments. If "Asian" games are grindy, that would mean that North American games are not? If free-to-play games "force" you to spend money, then that means that North American subscription titles do not? The descriptor "free-to-play" is accurate, nine times out of 10, yet there seems to be an issue with using that term, because at some point the player might need to spend money to go at a pace she wants to. In fact, I am confused by the constant use of the words free-to-play to describe, essentially, a class of game. Where is the counterbalance to that? Does that mean that all subscription games are from a different world of higher quality?
Free Realms offers lifetime sub for a limited time
Sony Online Entertainment has just announced the availability of lifetime memberships for its family friendly virtual world Free Realms. The deal will only be available from Friday, July 16th through Monday, August 2nd, and will run you $29.99 per membership. The lifetime package offers subscribers the chance to partake of the freemium title's huge variety of quests, minigames, exploration, and house decorating options sans the worry of membership dues. Full membership also unlocks all jobs, offers access to members-only items, and gives you a 10% discount in the Station Store. Additionally, SOE has alerted to us to its new daily activities feature, whereby players are guaranteed a reward of some sort simply by participating. The first in a planned series of dailies is called "Rob Robbie," and will net players a valuable prize if they manage to complete the activity for six straight days and then log in again on day seven. Visit the official Free Realms website to learn more about the game, and don't forget to mark your calendars to take advantage of the limited lifetime deal.
