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Reader Comments (53)

Posted: Jun 22nd 2010 6:37AM DancingCow said

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Samael - I don't think CO can be held up as a good example of anything. MTs were always a major sore point in that game and the game as a whole seems to have bombed spectacularly.

And CoH is a special case when it comes to MTs. Unlike every other MMO on the market, they release regular, substantial FREE updates as opposed to selling expansion packs. You could buy every single one of CoH's fluff MTs and still not have paid anywhere near as much as you would have for expansion packs in most other MMOs.

Have SOE committed to doing the same with DCUO?

Don't forget that when CO suggested that their first big update was going to be released as a paid expansion pack, there was such an uproar on their forums that they decided to release it for free.

Posted: Jun 22nd 2010 8:51AM blomma said

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@Tempes Magus Actually we do get both f2p games and p2p games, the problem most of us have is the concept of p2p + mt shops. I personally see p2p as a better choice since it theoretically allows a smoother stream of revenue for the company and as such should allow more resources for developing the game further.

The problem nowadays seems that a lot of companies have just gone greedy. Take wow as an example, they generate insane revenues, yet they pump very little of that back into the game and yet they felt it necessary to add a mt shop to it. Not because they needed the cash but more to the fact that they felt they could get away with it. And wow isn't alone in this, cryptic comes to mind as a prime example also, altho why anyone would play their games is beyond me.

So no, there isn't anything inherently wrong with either a f2p or p2p model, the problem is simply that game companies are getting greedy.
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Posted: Jun 22nd 2010 10:17AM (Unverified) said

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But it's SOE... The 'launch a game, let it tank due to benign neglect, then release a new game' company.

Posted: Jun 22nd 2010 11:03AM Kcirrot said

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It always amazes me that people whine about $15 for a month of play. With movie tickets going for $10+ these days, who the hell sweats $15? It's the cheapest entertainment out there.

Now I don't have any problem with F2P. I don't have any problem with alternative subscription models either. But I have this hard time seeing why people don't get that subscriptions don't cost that much.

I've played WoW for a month or two, paid my $15-30 bucks and moved on to other things. I've played EQ2 and CoH continuously for 6 years each because I feel that they're worth my continuous sub. Either way, I've paid these companies less than $1/hour for play.

F2P is fine, but we're talking about small change either way. If you're sweating the cost of these games, then IMO you probably should be spending more time earning money (or studying for better grades; if you're in school) than playing MMOs anyway! :p

Posted: Jun 22nd 2010 11:37AM Kcirrot said

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"Also, $180, $15 * 12 months, is actually pretty expensive compared to many things that money could have bought."

I took my family to Red Lobster for dinner recently and spent $180. I think we were there an hour. Dinner was good, it was a night night. But it was over that night.

Over the course of the last year, I've played CoH at least 20 hours a month.

20*12=240

$180/240=75 cents an hour.

Yeah, I'll pay that. I can respect that you don't find value there. Your choice, of course. But for me, it's stupid cheap. Since I got into MMOs, I've stopped buying console games. I used to buy 1-2 a month. That's another $100-$120 I'm not spending.

"It's not cheap if you want to play more than one month."

No, it's still cheap. It's only not cheap if I don't play. But then if I'm not playing, then I just cancel the sub. That's why I don't buy multi-month subs even with the discount.

Posted: Jun 22nd 2010 12:01PM Jef Reahard said

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@Tempes:

I don't post a lot in the comments of news articles, as I prefer to separate them from opinion pieces like columns. That said, because of a question that you asked me in another thread, and your level of prolific posting when it comes to anything to do with F2P versus P2P, I have to turn the question around and ask it of you.

Are you getting paid to espouse the merits of F2P?

Posted: Jun 22nd 2010 10:03PM (Unverified) said

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You guys are neglecting what I think is one of the positive things to come out of eastern mmo's. They have hourly subscription plans. The norm overseas seems to be $6 for 100 hours which I think is a great way to encourage subscriptions to multiple mmo's. Its not as good a deal if you are hardcore in a single mmo but it can help out casuals and families. The hours don't expire so if you only play 10 hours 1 month you have 90 more hours to spread around any amount of upcoming months. If you do use up 100 hours in a month, just pay another $6 when you feel like playing more.

Its also a great way to try out some games for longer than the free month with the boxed copy.

And from a developers point of view, I'm sure $6 may not be $15 a month but its certainly better than $0.

Posted: Jun 23rd 2010 8:03AM Kcirrot said

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"F2P is $0.00 per hour, how is that more expensive?"

Who said it was MORE expensive? I said I don't find either P2P or F2P to be expensive.

Frankly, I find both sides of the F2P v. P2P argument to be tedious. If the game is fun, then I play it. If it's not, then I don't. The money involved tends to be trivial in any event when compared to most other entertainment options.

Posted: Jun 24th 2010 7:06AM tenfootgoatman said

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As a long term reader of DC Comics I wish this game well but like other in this forum I have serious doubts that the usual 14.99 subscription fee will be acceptable to large enough numbers of players to make this game successful . I would agree with franklejp a 6 dollar subscription would be far more attactive and proberbly make SOE a lot more money in the long run .Sometimes you can be too greedy and lose out because of it . I wont be playing @ 14.99 a month or buying the game (well at least untill it is in the bargain bin) . Another example of stupid company policey making it likly an mmo will fail before its even released . The DDO hybrid model or the Guild Wars model are the way to go for most new games espeacially niche ones .

Posted: Jun 24th 2010 7:38PM (Unverified) said

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this is going to be interesting, i think F2P would be better though

Posted: Jun 25th 2010 5:46AM (Unverified) said

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Are people like sheep? I never had a problem in F2P, that it "milked" my cash. If you buy everything you want but don't need, they you're the problem, not F2P.

Once again, DDO (other F2P are worse, trust me) doesn't force you to buy anything. That's your conscious choice if you want something ADDITIONAL. Yes, you pay for ADDITIONAL content or convenience (generally useless items, but if you run out of _any_ ammo _and_ you're soloing, you might need them).

If you say F2P = milking players, your opinions are very outdated. Check out DDO.

Posted: Jul 29th 2010 3:35PM (Unverified) said

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why can't it just be 60$ for ps3 and if you want add on content buy it that's the smartest way 2 go because 180$ amonth can buy me 3 games which wont get as boring as one and wont charge me jack besides the 60$ and maybe if i got a used game i could buy up to 8

Posted: Sep 2nd 2010 2:19PM (Unverified) said

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This news sucks for me.
I remember them announcing last year it was going to be F2P, and now its changed to a sub model?
Like many, I really am not going to give up the games I play in order to be paying into yet another game that has a monthly subscription.

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