make the game free to play
MrFlip
Join Date: 2013-01-03 Member: 177299Members
Join Date: 2013-01-03 Member: 177299Members
in this video they explain that they can't make the game free to play because it would have to been f2p from the start and they don't want accounts and what not. team fortress 2 was not free to play from the start and there is still no account log in for tf2. your arguement is invalid it seems, unknown worlds.
youtube.com/watch?v=WFPkJZL3i54
youtube.com/watch?v=WFPkJZL3i54
Comments
Thank you for bringing that up. I was going to as well, but didn't feel like it.
Currently most players are basically jumping on the hate-F2P bandwagon, and I don't actually understand why it is looked down upon so much.
Is it because F2P implies and pay-to-win?
Well, League of Legends has shown how you can have a successful F2P model basically with no pay 2 win (or very little arguably with their IP system)
Is it because F2P will bring in a flood of rookies and decrease the quality of the average game?
Well again LOL and Dota2 has solved this by having matchmaking and a separate ranked match system for the hardcore players.
Is it because F2P and microtransactions are "dodgy" somehow in the way it that it gouges players by forcing them to pay to unlock more content once they're hooked?
Well, that's certainly the predominant way many F2P games are marketed, but there are prominent exceptions.
In my opinion, there are creative solutions for F2P as long as UWE are willing to look for them. For instance TF2 has tickets that people can buy to play in higher quality servers.
I think that if NS2 were to go F2P the best justified way of getting revenue would be through the upcoming Organised Play Systems.... basically let players pay to play in the best quality, best organised servers.
In fact, as I've suggested elsewhere, try having specially organised weekly "campaigns" where players can buy tickets to play on teams in sanctioned matches. The level of play will likely be very good as you are playing with other players who have willingly paid, and the game experience is bound to be more even and exciting, since these kind of games will draw in a self-selected crowd.
TF2 has a massive and complex system of hats, weapons, etc... that I doubt UWE has the time or money to implement.
Also, a lot of people have invested a lot already, and you don't want to upset a loyal community who have really helped to build and sell this game.
Every game that has some kind of ingame (or maybe even "out-game") store makes it look greedy. There is this itching feel "You don't experience the whole game. There is some part missing. You should PAY". But I'm absolutely against paying for anything in a game.
Also, it's immersion breaking. It's hard to see the game world as a unique cosmos when there are dollarsigns everywhere.
Does not "2 free map dlc - now Plz give us 550.000$" sound greedy to you?
If you don't like it, DON'T spend money on it.
I'm PRETTY sure UWE wouldn't like the idea that you have to pay more than just buying the game to have full enjoyment
Those communities are the absolute worst, their pay structures are a plague on modern gaming, and the inevitable 50,000 skins and collectible items make games an eyesore. I would rather donate a few hundred every few months than deal with that complete garbage. And YES, I'm still upset about TF2: I actually spent money on the orange box, they then turned around making TF2 a F2P cash cow, and tried to placate me by giving me a premium account (which any one can acquire now as long as they spend a little money in their TF2 store).
I effectively provided them with the capital to whore out the game, and received no compensation or share in their ongoing profits. If that happens with NS2 I will demand every single dollar back. That means the original game cost, the amount spent buying copies for friends, the amount donated to the reinforced program. It's one thing if you set out building a game that is F2P it's a whole other shit pit if you start out paid by fans and then turn it into F2P.
And this is better than the current state of the game "You can only get full enjoyment on a handful of servers where vets frequent, the rest are full of one-sided stomps"
This IS the current defining problem of this game right now for anyone who can jump over the performance hurdle.
The quality of experience is so rough and uneven; most newcomers will probably abandon the game after they are repeatedly camped when they join a losing game, or keep joining the losing side because they don't pay attention to stacking, and this is before they discover how fun the game can be.
My proposition for F2P is that it would be best justified if UWE figured out a way to deliver a 100% consistent, AWESOME game play experience, which could possibly be done through player self-selection.
The non-payers can continue to play on the same usual servers.
The payers can buy "tickets" or "passes" for servers that guarantee quality of latency and in player match-making.
And please, In b4 someone goes "but this will split the community!" The community is already split.
The vets tend to join the same servers, ALWAYS, while the casuals never get into those servers because they are always full.
At least that's how it's like for Aus.
Anyways, considering how fast the $333 Onos packs sold out Unknown Worlds should make a Gorge version of the following and include it in a $750 Reinforcement pack to see what happens.
(assuming it wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg to produce one)
I don't want that happening to NS2.
Everything TF2 does is open for every developer on Steam.
http://www.steampowered.com/steamworks/
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/Steamworks
I wouldn't want it though.
Well, actually not, as they ask politely for it
And somehow I think they have a point. But that's just my opinion.
It's the difference between "Wanna support us? Here's how you can do it!" and "theres the store RIGHT IN YA FACE now gimme money!"
I know this debate from the Star Citizen forums. It's mostly about semantics, while it should be about emotion. We could go on debating for months, but let me just say it may be uncritical from a rational point of view, but it feels wrong.
People SHOULD cough up some coin for NS2 not just because it's an over-the-top awesome game, but also because of the very VERY high product quality, yeah sure there are some issues currently but UWE are tinkering with those issues as we speak and always will should the need remain to be there.
If anything UWE should charge more for NS2 but I guess it's easier to sell a game that's essentially 2-3 times cheaper than all these "triple A" releases that varies from being absolute garbage like "Aliens: Colonial marines" and "call of duty" to being good/okay like "Xcom: Enemy unknown" and "bioshock infinite".
Lastly as of the whole "herp derp they're greedy asking for 550.000 bucks for the two free DLC releases" I only got this to say:
I played natural selection 1 back in the day and even to this day I have very fond memories of that, now imagine if Natural selection 1 wasn't a mod but a game which was bought just like any other game back then at the price of say 30-40 bucks.
Now we all know Natural selection 1 was a mod for half life 1 the best and most popular of them all mind you and even years after the public release of natural selection 1 back in 2002 they kept working on their mod for free.
All in all it's not a question about UWE "want 550.000 bucks for the last 2 pieces of DLC" but about whenever or not you would like to see more major updates being made for NS2 and in addition want UWE to keep working on NS2 full time.
I chose to donate 75 bucks because not only do I wish for UWE to keep making NS2 even more awesome than it already is but also because I wanted to make a donation to their reinforcement program as a THANK YOU for natural selection 1 and their continued support of both NS1 & NS2.
So why don't all you 'sour apples' not watch this wonderful clip with Obie the walrus while UWE tinkers with NS2 eh?
Team Fortress 2
Game Concept --- Implausible situations and scenarios that exist purely for the game-play
Tone --- Slapstick humor and dark humor
Complexity and learning curve --- Fairly simple to learn
Natural Selection 2
Game Concept --- Engagements have reason and purpose because they're set against the backdrop of a science fiction universe and story
Tone --- Mostly serious
Complexity and learning curve --- Quite complex with many nuances to learn
Although Team Fortress 2 didn't start as F2P, it was in a much better position to go F2P from the start. The light-hearted, non-serious style lent itself to all manner of crazy cosmetic add-ons. Some would argue that even TF2's style was ruined with the cosmetic items. I, personally, don't feel that way but I believe that it would be a lot easier to mess up NS2's style with cosmetics.
Team Fortress 2 is also a fairly simple game. You shoot other players with guns and explosives and stand in certain locations to complete objectives. This makes it a much easier game to balance and so the addition of new weapons is not such a big deal.
Aside from performance, balance is one of the hottest topics on these forums. NS2 is much more complex to balance than TF2. Can you imagine how hard it would be if they started adding all sorts of new weapons for marines to slaughter aliens with? And what about alien unlocks? They don't carry weapons so would you end up buying new abilities?
Also, think about NS2's already steep learning curve. Adding more unlockable weapons and abilities would only make it more complex.
To be honest, I would have thought the points that I've just made would be obvious. A TF2-style store would obviously not work well in NS2.
Actually F2P just brings more players who will just troll 24/7 and ruins games, so... no thanks. Let it just stay pay once to play. Last thing we need is bunch of morons like most F2P games (APB:Reloaded being one example)