is it time for F2P players to pack the bags and leave?

[Unknown soldier]

so i came here after i got the message on the firefall forum about ember, like many i was excited. However after i saw the stream (and saw the thread about F2p) i realized that ember, unlike firefall, is going to be buy to play, with a cash shop and all.
So now i was wondering if there will be a place for F2P players in that model, for example in early testing being free or the like, or following the blizzard model in SC2 (pay to play, but free to play get a limited starter edition). It would be nice for poor us to have a place in ember, but if not, we probably will just pack our bags and leave

Edit: thank you everyone for your ideas and suggestions (although they wont work in Egypt ) and thanks grummz for the reply. guess i will just wait around for the free weekends. thanks everyone (if a moderator wants to close it, go ahead)

 

[TankHunter678]

Mark Kern is trying to aim for a price of 30-40$, which should be quite affordable.

It can be maybe that if we get into Steam Early Access the price could be lower perhaps? Many early access games have a lower starting price that grows as the game reaches a more complete state.

 

[EvilKitten]

The free to play model is a joke, and anything but free. It needs to die a swift and painful death.

 

[ChinoGreen]

You can save enough money to buy this game whenever it gets released.
There is plenty of time to save up.
Also a weekend or a part time job is very helpful If your schedule allows it.

Maybe there will be an option for people who might want to play a little of it to get a taste of the game.
Or like what you mentioned.
Either way will just bring in more players really

 

[Unknown soldier]

Mark Kern is trying to aim for a price of 30-40$, which should be quite affordable.

It can be maybe that if we get into Steam Early Access the price could be lower perhaps? Many early access games have a lower starting price that grows as he game reaches a more complete state.

affordable is a relative thing. Over here the wages are so low that paying for games is not affordable. And to make things worse stupid government is putting a limit on foreign funds so you can't get them except if you are travelling. funny eh?

The free to play model is a joke, and anything but. It needs to die a swift and painful death.

i have to disagree. F2P is the only model that allows us to play games, otherwise we would have to use piracy, and no one wants that eh?

 

[TankHunter678]

I kinda wonder what country you are in to have such restrictions...

 

[Nunaden]

Well... F2P games got still place, but they got to offer content etc. to survive. The F2P model is in my opinion kinda shit...
F2P should be there only for games that are not meant for earning money (like Cube 2, you can download it free, and than can you do what you want xD It's open source after all D), or for "starter" projects.
even when there are still successful F2P games (TF2, LoL, Dota 2 (lol and dota are shit! - don't mind that comment xD), WoT etc.).

 

[Silv3r Shadow]

F2P doesn't support the game enough and puts many players off from it because of the F2P game model the game industry has portraid.
Companies are meant to make profit and lots of F2P models now die a month after release.
The realisation of buy to play actually benefits the consumer and customer.

Here in Australia it costs $110 for a new game, which you can finish in 6 hours on the hardest difficulty with no replayability.
Maybe I support games too much and with their cash store, but it might be too early to make any proper calls if there is a chance to play for free. ;-)

 

[Fac3man]

bye!!

 

[avalon1k]

Buy to play is a fair deal. You wouldn't work for free would you? With a cosmetic only cash shop.

 

[Bl4ckhunter]

The free to play model is a joke, and anything but. It needs to die a swift and painful death.

so do the dlc-based b2p one, i for one won't be putting any money in this until i'm assured that it isn't a dlc fest, there are a few f2p games with acceptable monetization (poe/warframe etch) but i've yet to see one of these so called b2p games with dlcs that isn't complete bullshit.

 

[Btabc]

I have to say that I was expecting a F2P entry zone with new zones that are bought (similar to Wizard101). However there are other games that have gone F2P now that weren't before. I posted them in a previous thread. I understand that this game NEEDS to be funded, but I would like to see something along the lines of Warframes method of paying, you've got multiple methods. You can pay with credit card (which I unfortunately cannot do), or you can use gift cards.

I don't know what the problem is with my computer and steam, but the client slows down my computer significantly. I have to download their client, start that, and then start the game while the client is still going MIGHT be what's slowing my computer down, but I don't know. That aside it's easier to get a steam gift card which makes me feel A LITTLE better... if that's the route that Mark is wanting to go. I can still do that. The only thing I WON'T do is a Sub, but I think I heard he wasn't going to go that route.

 

[phoenix]

Timegating? f2p between monday and thursday and b2p for the rest? This stabilizes the player count during the week.

My expectation of bought expansions each update is very low. Lets say that the game has had an expansion every 3 months. After two years we have 8 expansions. Lets say that an expantion costs 9.99$ and the bases game 29.399$ together the whole bundle will cost 8*9.99+29.99= 109.91$ (excluding import taxes etc.) With each update the value of the game as a whole just keeps on growing and that will scare new players. The price will probably be much higher.

If you want to do paid DLC then you should sell the latest at a normal price, the second latest for a discount and all the DLCs before that for free. That'll segregate the player base but won't burn out the players pocket.

 

[Bl4ckhunter]

You can pay with credit card (which I unfortunately cannot do), or you can use gift cards.

the only reason ever you would want to use credit card is that you can get chargeback if a game is really garbage from the get go, otherwise gift cards are safer, personally when i have to buy games i charge a paysafecard then transfer the money to skrill or some other e wallet site and buy it with usd directly from the site, usually you end up saving like 10€ fees included but that can vary depeninding on where you live and the current , i don't know if it works in all countries but it's worth taking a look at

Timegating? f2p between monday and thursday and b2p for the rest? This stabilizes the player count during the week.

that's not a bad idea, it could work so long as there aren't time exclusive events, maybe even subscription for weekends could work out in this case, also it migh help with player burnout

My expectation of bought expansions each update is very low. Lets say that the game has had an expansion every 3 months. After two years we have 8 expansions. Lets say that an expantion costs 9.99$ and the bases game 29.399$ together the whole bundle will cost 8*9.99+29.99= 109.91$ (excluding import taxes etc.) With each update the value of the game as a whole just keeps on growing and that will scare new players. The price will probably be much higher.
If you want to do paid DLC then you should sell the latest at a normal price, the second latest for a discount and all the DLCs before that for free. That'll segregate the player base but won't burn out the players pocket.

Dlcs are cancer and should burn in hell, i wouldn't pay for a sub and i don't think it's viable but at least subscriptions are honest about it, dlcs are borderline scams.

 

[yapushkin]

How about this system:
F2T player can download and play evaluation version оf the game with only few starter zones and few instances that he can visit without any limits. To be in other zones and use other instances please buy full version. Looks fair for me.

 

[Btabc]

the only reason ever you would want to use credit card is that you can get chargeback if a game is really garbage from the get go, otherwise gift cards are safer, personally when i have to buy games i charge a paysafecard then transfer the money to skrill or some other e wallet site and buy it with usd directly from the site, usually you end up saving like 10€ fees included but that can vary depeninding on where you live and the current , i don't know if it works in all countries but it's worth taking a look at

This is a good point! I just don't want to spend money on a game that I won't really play. NOW that being said, I do like what @phoenix says about time gating! That's an interesting concept and gives the ability to "Play for free" and if I/we like it we can buy the full edition at our own leisure. I haven't used paypal... too hesitant to use it, but using a prepaid gift card is a option as well!

If you want to do paid DLC then you should sell the latest at a normal price, the second latest for a discount and all the DLCs before that for free. That'll segregate the player base but won't burn out the players pocket.

Now I do like the thought about DLC, but I personally haven't had "great" experiences with them. They burnt me out fast with Monster Hunter and it became the ONLY thing I looked forward to because the game got stale fast. I'm not opposed to DLC, but I don't know if I'd do something along the lines of paying for them or the game right up front?

What I propose is to have a initial "free to play" area (could be a set area) that gives players the chance to experience a LITTLE bit of everything Ember has to offer, but if we want to go beyond that area we'd have to pay to go beyond that (which is paying for the game). This would still give players the option to try the game for themselves and see if they like it, and if they do they can buy it. OR if new players come in WAY down the road they could buy a pack (which is what I think you were referring to) that would be a bigger price, but include all the other areas below it as well.

Now when I say this, I wonder if what Mark is wanting to come up with is similar to this? He said that he's wanting to make a mock-up where we experience a thumper scene ourselves, so perhaps THIS is the "F2P" thing that'll get us hooked? I don't know so I'll wait for official word from The Boss

 

[Btabc]

How about this system:
F2T player can download and play evaluation version оf the game with only few starter zones and few instances that he can visit without any limits. To be in other zones and use other instances please buy full version. Looks fair for me.

^
Ninja'd by this person lol!

I put too much thought into my comment haha

 

[yapushkin]

^
Ninja'd by this person lol!

I put too much thought into my comment haha

(>_>) - i was there first

 

[MattHunX]

You can save enough money to buy this game whenever it gets released.
There is plenty of time to save up.
Also a weekend or a part time job is very helpful If your schedule allows it.

Maybe there will be an option for people who might want to play a little of it to get a taste of the game.
Or like what you mentioned.
Either way will just bring in more players really

Actually, if it is going to be 30-40 US dollars, one won't need a weekend or even a part-time job, just to save up. That's...for me...is around 12.000 Ft (Hungarian Forints), which is nothing. Even if it would be twice that much I could easily pay it, once. A demo-run wouldn't hurt, though. Allow potential paying customers to get a 1-3 day-trial to play a bit and get a feel for it, then buy the game if it's, at least, promising. And get updates for free.

 

[Squid Boss]

so i came here after i got the message on the firefall forum about ember, like many i was excited. However after i saw the stream (and saw the thread about F2p) i realized that ember, unlike firefall, is going to be buy to play, with a cash shop and all.
So now i was wondering if there will be a place for F2P players in that model, for example in early testing being free or the like, or following the blizzard model in SC2 (pay to play, but free to play get a limited starter edition). It would be nice for poor us to have a place in ember, but if not, we probably will just pack our bags and leave

At this point save $2 a month from here on out and you may have a few bucks left over when it launches.