Curse

Improvavel · Jun 17, 2012, 10:07 PM // 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Commander Ryker

Why do you say that?

Why not?

Look at SC2 and Diablo 3 giving SC and D2 for free with the CE.

With the HoM it would be something really cool to give with the CE for new GW2 players, if they actually planned on making GW free to play.

If they didn't, there is no way they planning on making GW box free in the near future.

Also the GW shop isn't that really deep - the most "must have" thing in the shop is probably the storage panes, and that doesn't really make for a box loss.

coil · Jun 18, 2012, 02:27 AM // 02:27

you can find factions for ~5$. gw practically is already free.

Lordkrall · Jun 18, 2012, 06:13 AM // 06:13

Keep in mind that all those NCSoft games going F2P was P2P before, not B2P.

Ayuhmii Shanbwa · Jun 18, 2012, 07:28 AM // 07:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lordkrall

Keep in mind that all those NCSoft games going F2P was P2P before, not B2P.

this yes

and remember that GW is a game of itself, even for newbies

i see older games coming back everytime again, and GW is a different game than GW2

GW for free? nah, just cheaper (as it is now prolly), and maybe store stuff will be cheaper too

people keep buying GW and ingame store stuff
people also keep buying older games in series, even if they werent even born when those came out, so i doubt the sales will stop anytime soon

and GW will prolly be a product bought by people when i'm 80 (hoping i get to that age at least)

veterans are leaving (you know, people who played it when it was just proph), but thats not the same as people not buying GW

GODh · Jun 18, 2012, 04:31 PM // 16:31

tbh i hope gw 1 and 2 never will be completly free... i think there will be a huge bot explosion when they do.

Skyy High · Jun 18, 2012, 04:38 PM // 16:38

You can't just flip a switch and make a game F2P. You need content that is worth buying, and generally that means:
a) dividing up the content and selling it piecemeal (LotRO's model),
b) restricting classes or abilities to free players (CO's model),
c) the leveling process is painful / long enough that XP boosts and other convenience items are worth using for a not-insignificant portion of your playerbase (most F2P MMOs, honestly, including ones that have transitioned from a P2P model), or
d) the game is so popular that players buy aesthetic items out of gratitude for the game they're playing (eh...Aion? I don't really know what's in the cash shop in that game now).

GW1 is not built with any of these in mind. Leveling is fast, skills are easily unlocked and available to everyone, classes are only restricted by campaign owned, and aesthetic items...well, they have those, and people certainly buy them, but only ANet knows if they make enough from those to make the transition to F2P worthwhile.

$20 gets you all the campaigns, and everything else (except the costumes and such) is free. There's more content here, particularly as a single-player game, than you'll find in a F2P game, and you don't have to pay to make progression less frustrating. If the game ever goes F2P, it won't be for a long time. I imagine GW2 is going to bump up sales of GW1 as well, so they're not going to forego that profit.

Daltanis · Jun 18, 2012, 04:56 PM // 16:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyy High

You can't just flip a switch and make a game F2P. You need content that is worth buying, and generally that means:
a) dividing up the content and selling it piecemeal (LotRO's model),
b) restricting classes or abilities to free players (CO's model),
c) the leveling process is painful / long enough that XP boosts and other convenience items are worth using for a not-insignificant portion of your playerbase (most F2P MMOs, honestly, including ones that have transitioned from a P2P model), or
d) the game is so popular that players buy aesthetic items out of gratitude for the game they're playing (eh...Aion? I don't really know what's in the cash shop in that game now).

Oh wow that is a whole lot of wrong there. A/B/C are not remotely required to go F2P. You seem to have been duped by the other major MMO companies that have abused the term F2P, like LOTRO, Everquest 2/1, etc. Those games are not actually F2P, as they still have subscriptions, and that is still the end goal. They simply misuse the term. At best, they have "expanded trials" or something like that.

The selling of actual content is not remotely required for a F2P game to make large profits. In fact, Guild Wars is the best example of that, as it makes significantly more money from the micro system then it does actual "box" sales.

You got it partially correct with d, however popularity isn't really a requirement. Guild Wars 1 could go F2P right now, and not change a single thing, and it will continue to make money. You really can just "flip a switch". Just because the other companies make such a big deal about it, doesn't mean thats the only way it will work, and in fact, it doesn't work as well as it could because they do it in such a greedy way.

Quote:

I imagine GW2 is going to bump up sales of GW1 as well, so they're not going to forego that profit.

This is correct. When GW2 comes out, people will see stuff they can't get in game, and a lot of people will buy GW1 to get it. There is no reason for them to make it F2P for the foreseeable future.

This will be a problem however. When the general MMO community comes to GW1 for HoM, and they see how difficult the game is compared to what they are used to, and how long it will take, they will be furious. I expect Anet will be forced to put in mass nerfs to the game. This would be fine by me, but I imagine some of the veterans will be unhappy with that.

Mokeiro · Jun 18, 2012, 06:25 PM // 18:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyy High

$20 gets you all the campaigns, and everything else

You guys keep saying that, but i cannot find any store selling the trilogy at that price, im thinking about buying another account to mule.

Could you please post a link to a digital sale GW?

Nekodesu · Jun 18, 2012, 11:08 PM // 23:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mokeiro

You guys keep saying that, but i cannot find any store selling the trilogy at that price, im thinking about buying another account to mule.

Could you please post a link to a digital sale GW?

Trilogy:
http://www.gamesrocket.com/download/...1&currency=GBP

EoTN:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1208963980...#ht_500wt_1413

Yes, I have bought from these people, they are genuin.

Marverick · Jun 19, 2012, 02:46 AM // 02:46

Just prevent people from trading entirely with the free PvP accounts.

I mean, why do you need to trade with a PvP only account anyway.

There, no botters abusing it anymore.

Skyy High · Jun 20, 2012, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daltanis

Oh wow that is a whole lot of wrong there. A/B/C are not remotely required to go F2P. You seem to have been duped by the other major MMO companies that have abused the term F2P, like LOTRO, Everquest 2/1, etc. Those games are not actually F2P, as they still have subscriptions, and that is still the end goal. They simply misuse the term. At best, they have "expanded trials" or something like that.

The selling of actual content is not remotely required for a F2P game to make large profits. In fact, Guild Wars is the best example of that, as it makes significantly more money from the micro system then it does actual "box" sales.

I'd love some examples, because I've sampled a few smaller MMOs that were specifically made F2P, not converted (Spiral Knights comes to mind as my favorite), and all of them followed some number of these rules.

I'd also like a citation for the GW microtransaction comment. Maybe now they make more in microtransaction content than box sales, but over the life of the game I highly doubt that's the case.

I think (particularly with GW2 coming out) that they stand to make much more from box sales in the next year or so than they would from F2P players buying stuff in the cash shop. Remember, cash shop transactions from players who already purchased the game don't count; they already bought the game. The necessary comparison is:

(money made via new box sales) >/=/< [(money made via cash shop transactions) - (money that players would have spent in the cash shop if GW hadn't gone F2P)]

You need to make a strong case to me that the right side of that equation is going to be significantly greater than the left side.

Quote:

This will be a problem however. When the general MMO community comes to GW1 for HoM, and they see how difficult the game is compared to what they are used to, and how long it will take, they will be furious. I expect Anet will be forced to put in mass nerfs to the game. This would be fine by me, but I imagine some of the veterans will be unhappy with that.

Wut? GW1 PvE difficult? With all of the guides on the various forums and reddit and such? Hah, no. It's pretty difficult if you're trying to learn it all yourself and come up with your own builds and strategies, but if you just copy a 7 hero builds that works you'll be hard pressed to not beat most content with a modicum of effort.

MithranArkanere · Jun 22, 2012, 02:06 PM // 14:06

They could make it free to play, and it could work.

They could even put it on steam with a gem shop.

But first, they'll would have to get rid of farming and SCs, so people can't generate gold too fast.

As for PvP, it could be F2P already, while keeping the F2P players unable to trade.

But there's still a lot of time left before that should be done.
And with GW2 being released, it could hold players in GW1 F2P that would go to GW2 instead.

WinterSnowblind · Jun 25, 2012, 03:47 PM // 15:47

No, there'd be no profit for them in keeping the game running and at the moment there's an increased amount of activity thanks to the GW2 HoM items. I expect that to increase even more when GW2 is actually released and many more new fans realise they're missing out on items by having not played the first game. They'll definitely see a bit of a sales boost, so making it completely free would be a huge mistake. GW2 already has enough hype to sell.

By late 2013/early 2014 though, I could see the game shutting down.

LifeInfusion · Jun 27, 2012, 01:20 AM // 01:20

And attract a shitton of goldsellers in the process?

It should be at least $10 to make use of credit card verification.

yitjuan · Jun 27, 2012, 04:21 AM // 04:21

Guild Wars F2P conversion:

Characters are limited to backpack + belt pouch only. Each bag slot costs $1.99 and is character-based.

Characters start with 2 Xunlai panels and can purchase additional ones at $9.99. This unlock is account-wide.

F2P characters are limited to 50k on character and 100k in Xunlai.

F2P characters can only have 2 weapon sets. Unlocking a weapon set costs $1.99.

F2P characters are capped at 50 Skill Points per character.

F2P characters cannot exceed Rank 5 of any EOTN title track. Due to recent game updates, that is sufficient for PVE purposes.

F2P characters do not get 10 free ZKeys.

What else should we add?

Mintha Syl · Jun 27, 2012, 01:27 PM // 13:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by yitjuan

Guild Wars F2P conversion:

Characters are limited to backpack + belt pouch only. Each bag slot costs $1.99 and is character-based.

Characters start with 2 Xunlai panels and can purchase additional ones at $9.99. This unlock is account-wide.

F2P characters are limited to 50k on character and 100k in Xunlai.

F2P characters can only have 2 weapon sets. Unlocking a weapon set costs $1.99.

F2P characters are capped at 50 Skill Points per character.

F2P characters cannot exceed Rank 5 of any EOTN title track. Due to recent game updates, that is sufficient for PVE purposes.

F2P characters do not get 10 free ZKeys.

What else should we add?

That's right. f2p games work because they sell power things on cash shop, sorta free to play but pay to win.

In NA-Aion case, the game lives with f2p and without a too lame shop (still quite lame though ofc) only cause in Korean and the other one are still under subscriptions and are still having a huge success, so NC mostly keeps NA version as a pet and even gave away EU one to certain dead.

GW is so cheap to buy nowadays that really, if it dies is sure not cause of the price. Making it free to play would only ruin it more.

Chrisworld · Jun 28, 2012, 12:21 AM // 00:21

I'd say no, because there will be a period of time for players new to the series starting with guild wars 2 to buy the first trilogy to play the prequel. I would assume that number may actually be large but who knows until it happens, am I right?