The title to this post may be a little bold, and I admit up front, the thoughts below come from the perspective of a longtime “hardcore” P2P MMO player. That said, RL has made gaming life drift toward the casual side, and I’ve taken to trying out various F2P games. Further, since SW:TOR has been rumored to be RMT-based, one can hardly see F2P games as falling only into the low-quality section of the MMO market. Factor in the recent SOE offering of FreeRealms and the WoW-clone Runes of Magic and the F2P scene starts looking rather enticing.
However, what exactly does F2P mean? How does profitability factor into a “free-to-play” game? What can and should a player expect from such a game? And finally, how can a F2P system be designed to make both the company and the playerbase happy?
First of all, what does F2P mean? F2P, in short, stands for “free-to-play”. Often, these are very plain browser-based games, no frills. Think of those ads you see on MMOPRG.com or allakhazam – 2D, typically ugly, shallow, and not fun (in my experience). I really don’t see how people play them. However, there’s also the Neopets and Wizard101 side of F2P – games targeted to the tween, young teen audience. Compared to a full-fledged AAA MMO, they’re certainly less substantial. However, though graphics are not top notch and gameplay may seem to focus too heavily on pets (seriously, why do seemingly ALL F2P games have pets? Is this how they target young girls?), they can actually hold one’s attention and provide a fine, casual experience. I’d call those mid-quality – fun enough for their demographic, not very deep. Now, though, two heavy-hitters have entered the F2P market – FreeRealms and Runes of Magic. They have all the features of a AAA title (combat, crafting, exploration, social interaction, and yes, pets), but are “free”. How does this happen? How do these companies make a profit off of these free games compared to subscription-based ones?
So, second topic, how profitable can F2P games be? Apparently, very profitable. If SOE offers a F2P title, you know it must make money. Sony is not a company of philanthropists. RoM is just plain shiny, too shiny to be free. They must be making money. But how much? Check here for numbers – read on for qualitative anecdotes. While reading the FreeRealms forums since launch a couple of weeks ago, I’ve noticed some interesting trends and ideas surfacing among their playerbase. The FreeRealms official forums are divided between members (who pay the $5/month for extra features) and players (those who play for free). Although players can see the member forums, they cannot post. Further, poster’s avatars are labeled either member or player. This makes it very easy to judge player’s reactions to the cash shop, the subscription fee, and/or the lack thereof in their playing experience. What I’ve noticed is an extreme lack of hesitation to spend money in the cash shop. Of course, that’s the only way to get pets! Pets, pets, pets and pet clothing! Besides that though, there’s also weapons, potions, armor, etc. and people seem to be spending at least the amount of a monthly subscription for cash shop currency. In fact, more than one player has stated that they’ve spent $20 or more already in the first two weeks. Of course, maybe this won’t last, but SOE likely knows it needs to keep the content pumping to keep people buying, but more on that later. FreeRealms runs from the browser and downloads while you play. This means the player didn’t have to pay the $50 for the box and that SOE didn’t have to burn, press, and ship. RoM has a full client, but still is free to download.
Perhaps, as you can see, one of the greatest benefits for the player of F2P games is the “try-it-before-you-buy-it” aspect. Considering the crap that sometimes gets released to a box-buying market (I’m thinking of AoC if you can’t tell), it’s amazing to be able to see if you’re about to play something worth your time. For the company, perhaps it puts a little more accountability on them – the game actually needs to work and be fun. Really though, that shouldn’t be asking too much from a company and I think the market has needed something like this to hold AAA companies responsible for what they release. Amazingly, SOE did something right with FreeRealms – it works and it’s fun.
Ok, so despite no box sales, people still spend money beyond a normal monthly subscription ($10 for LOTRO, $15 for WoW) for a “free-to-play” game. Make it fun, make it work – people will pay.
But then, if I’m actually paying money for a free game, what should I as a player expect from a F2P title? Well, as I’ve said above, it should work and it should be fun. Basically, what gamers everywhere require of any game is needed more than ever in F2P games if the company wants to make any movie. This is good news for a playerbase! What else, though? What if I really don’t want to pay any money? Some games tend to offer a bare view of what the game is like, hardly even a trial. Consider Chronicles of Spellborn, for example. Even Wizard101- you just can’t do much unless you pay. Then, there’s something like Runes of Magic. You can do pretty much everything, albeit with less bag space and more time commitment. FreeRealms straddles the line – you can experience more than half of the game without paying, but the best equipment, a lot of the most interesting cosmetic items, and, of course, pets cost money. (And if you’re scoffing right now about people paying money for pixels, read this for a different perspective). Further, RoM has really raised the bar as far as content release goes. Players of a F2P game do not need to settle for the same old experience they’ve been having for a year and developers of F2P games cannot slack off and sit on their haunches watching people by cash shop pets. As a player, you should still expect regular updates and patches. From a company’s perspective, new content is absolutely necessary to keep people playing. This is clear from normal subscription-based games, but in F2P games, it may be even more important. People who aren’t playing definitely aren’t paying. Only with new shinies will you keep pocketbooks interested and players around to open them.
So, this line I mentioned. Where is it, and what side of it should a company fall on? How can a company design a F2P model that satisfies both its profit margins and its playerbase? We’ve seen a few models above, but let’s go over them in detail.
The “It’s Free to Window Shop” Model
This is the model of Chronicles of Spellborn and Wizard101 as I like to call it. It’s also the model of any 7-day trial you can get from such AAA titles as LotrO and WoW. Basically, you can do very limited things in the game – once you pay, you have full access. Very simple. (To be fair, the Wizard101 is probably the most complicated of this bunch – you can buy normal monthly access or simply pay for chunks of the world at a time).
The “It’s Free to Be Casual” Model
Here is where FreeRealms falls. You can do almost everything in the game (ok, well about 70%) without paying a penny. However, if you really want to be the best, have the best gear, top the leaderboards, etc., you will have to pay. Whether subscription model or cash shop, it’s the same ideology. If you don’t care about being the best, you don’t have to pay.
The “Work Hard or Pay Money” Model
This is a model that Runes of Magic subscribes to. None of the cash shop items are required to have the best gear or make the best items. They certainly make it faster and even easier (xp potions, for example, or instant teleportation runes – oh yes, and bag space), but they’re not required. There are also purely cosmetic items available in the cash shop that you can’t get anywhere else. Again, purely cosmetic so not required if you’re just trying to be uber leet – however, if what matters to you is looking cool, maybe you would consider these items required for a valuable experience.
Which is best or do we need something new? Personally, I prefer the last model but that is mostly because I tend to hate spending money on things I could just get myself. I don’t even buy materials with in-game currency that I can harvest myself. Maybe I’m just cheap – but it has always seemed a bit greedy to put the best items in a cash shop. It’s a game – shouldn’t I be able to “beat” it by playing it? Oh, sure, but then how is the company going to make money? I can be the best in WoW without paying for my swords, but I still pay $15 every month. Why is it different? Or, if it’s not, why does it feel different?
One of the distinctions I think can be made between subscription and F2P models and the psychology of the player is the product versus service distinction. When I pay $15/month for my WoW subscription, I feel like I’m paying for a service. I’m paying for the opportunity to use Blizzard’s servers to play a game with other people. When I have to pay $8.50 for the equivalent of StationCash to buy a sword for my Ninja in FreeRealms, I feel like I’m buying a product but that I shouldn’t have to because I’m using a service. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been conditioned after 12 years to see MMOs as a service, but regardless, I think it’s a block a lot of people share.
I think the best way to manage the F2P system for both new gamers who don’t mind paying for virtual products and older gamers who would rather pay for a service (and then get out of it whatever they put into it) is to have multiple payment options. I think having a cash shop for purely cosmetic items is fine – buy your turtle mount there or whatever, but be able to get some other kind of mount in the world so your travel time doesn’t suffer. Make portions of the game unlockable for a fee (kind of like the Wizard101 model or even the FreeRealms class model) or let the whole thing be open for more substantial monthly subscription.
A game like this would work as follows.
One option would be to pay a typical $10-15/month. With that, the player would have full access to all areas of the game, all classes, and all items that are not purely cosmetic.
Another would be to not pay and have access to a limited number of classes, quests, and areas (pick and choose), but would be able to supplement with further unlocked classes/quests/areas for a fee (say $3/month for a priest class).
There would also be an itemshop. In the item shop, there would be cosmetic items like fancy mounts or exotic pets. (I’m sorry, Belli, this would kill your pocketbook). One could also exchange RL money for in-game currency and could purchase, to an extent, consumables and other items that are also attainable in the world. This would be good for people who have a limited amount of time, but more money they’re willing to spend. In the end, if someone chose to purchase in-game currency each month and pay for potions, they would likely end up spending more, perhaps even much more, than a normal monthly subscriber, but sporadically.
Perhaps, things like exotic pets and mounts could be available in-game to monthly subscribers but only with very difficult/time consuming quests or objectives. I am not adverse to having everything in the item shop available in the game, but I think there needs to be some research done on how profitable such a system really is. Personally, as a player, I would prefer it I think. But another problem becomes an issue then. If a mount is a symbol of prestige and one can simply pay $10 for it or else work 60 hours, will players be concerned about feeling like they are working for something that ends up being meaningless because others can simply put in their credit card and have it all the same? I’m getting off on a tangent, but I think it would be interesting to have items only available in the cash shop simply to see what effect this would have on player’s ideas of status, elitism, etc. Perhaps skill really would be the determining factor in prestige if money and time cancel each other out. (Meaning, if I spend 60 hours and you spend $10 and we get the same result, it doesn’t really matter to either of our statuses that we have a red flying phoenix. There would have to be something else to separate the elites from the peasants.)
To get back on topic, a game that offered both a service and products could perhaps bridge the psychological gap between the older and new market generations, while also netting a reasonable (if not substantial) profit.





























































