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What came across my mind today

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Busted_stuff89

Busted_stuff89

Busted_stuff89

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I've seen many of the paid online games out there go free to play, you know like champions online, Everquest 2, Lord of the rings online and now fallen Earth will go free soon D&D online ETC. but my biggest controversy is "are they really free to play?" yea you can create a account and play it..but the thing is in order to get "BETTER" stuff or to move on and advance to see more stuff in the game to be with other "PREMIUM" players you have to "BUY" a premium or gold or silver whatever you want to call it account. i played all of them when they were paid but got bored after a month of playing them because of a lack of "end content." to be blunt here is my opinion they aren't free to me until its completely free without all that premium account crap..yes I'm fine with micro-transactions but otherwise restricting players of things like getting more gold or gaining levels really bothers me. for example LOTRO, if you have a free account you have a gold "LIMIT" you have to pay real money for a subscription to exceed the gold limit or something like that i don't really remember. yes they have to make money somehow. that would be through micro transactions instead of a monthly subscription to be "BETTER" and not just a free user. and i thought they got rid of the monthly subscription entirely hmm? take a look at league of legends its free and they make TONS of money off micro transactions but at the same time you don't have to use micro transactions because they are for none required or essential stuff that you can get like skins for champions. when it comes to free it needs to be completely free with NO RESTRICTIONS what so ever. I'm only but a mere man on this Earth and me alone cannot change a whole companies thinking. I'm not asking them to change it or anything or do it. concluding to this, this is my opinion you don't have to agree with it or you can, about free to play games. if you feel like trolling me do as you wish, I'm just stating what came across my mind today. i could be more mean and rant alot harder and act like a child in this thread but i thought "Naw that won't get me anywhere" heh, i did it once and i really felt stupid in the end. i'm not trying to be aggressive towards anyone or anything so don't assume that.

P.S. one more thing i forgot to add in the free to play games, Global Agenda.

:fp: Busted_stuff89
 

WhitePhoenix

WhitePhoenix

WhitePhoenix

Level 7
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210
If the company is not making a profit the game wouldn't exist. If you want a free2play game then play Armor Games, or other small flash games.
 

Tleno

Tleno

Tleno

Level 27
Joined
Jul 6, 2008
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11,325
Steel_Stallion said:
Team Fortress 2 is now free to play. Just thought I'd throw that here.
Click to expand...

Holy heavy, I should definetly get it nao!

Well, you see, the whole "better stuff" thing was discussed for quite ome time, at first this was the only way to get some real good stuff, which made the game imbalanced, but people didn't enjoyed getting "pwned by the richfags".

Now in some Asian games, it is popular that you can buy some fashioable but useless in combat "Show-offish" clothes. They pretty much bring some profit, esspecially if there are lots of player who are ready to pay to look cooler than others.

Also, it's quite popular that you can buy stuff that can be bough with ingame money, or that you can just buy game cash for real. That's pretty much fair - you can earn the money ingame already, of course it will take much more time, but hey, "time is money".

Also there is a thing that the game is pretty much limited for free players and those who pay can get more stuff, earn higher levels and see more palces, but hey, this is same thing as with Demo versions - free to play but limited and it's pretty much made just to advertise the full version.
 

leet.firefox

leet.firefox

leet.firefox

Level 17
Joined
Nov 18, 2008
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1,538
Generally speaking, premium players usually receive larger rewards in terms of in-game currency and experience for completing quests and finishing dungeons. They also occasionally have access to exclusive areas, items, and character slots, depending on the developer's discretion.

For example, City of Heroes' free users will be limited to two character slots and 8 character archetypes instead of being able to create their own avatars from the ground up. Global Agenda's free users receive experience and currency at around half the rate of premium users, and premium users receive bonus items at the end of dungeon runs. In both cases free users still have access to the basics of the game, but to get the full experience you will have to shell out some dough. This to me is where the line is blurred between "free to play" and "extended trial". Technically speaking, yes the game is free to play as you are not required to purchase it to log in and play, and you are (generally) not restricted by a level or time cap as found in most trials. But you're also not getting access to the entire game. You're missing out on currency, experience, and items among other things that players who purchase the "full" game have access to, which means you are not, ergo you do not have the full game and it is not completely free to play. However, a lot of those bonuses lean more towards incentives to send some money the developer's way in order to keep the game up and running than parts of the game that have been cut out and barred from free users. And in most cases you're not missing anything too essential to enjoy the game. It's really up to the player to decide.

There are cases though where crucial aspects of the game are kept away until bought, with Team Fortress 2 being the most recent example. 2 way trading and large backpacks must be bought, making the game not free-to-play at all for anyone who wants to fully experience the new trading/crafting model that TF2 has adopted as of late. Anyways, I've rambled on for too long and I'll go back to my corner now.
 

Steel_Stallion

Steel_Stallion

Steel_Stallion

Level 17
Joined
Nov 26, 2007
Messages
1,964
fladdermasken said:
Free as in a limited offer or trial?
Click to expand...

nope, 100% free. Valve is relying on microtransactions and stuff so as long as you don't really care for hats and shiny new items it's totally free


tleno said:
Could you please tell what differences exactly?
Click to expand...

Premium accounts have a few extra features, including access to rare and cosmetic items through random item drops, the ability to store more items in your backpack, and more powerful trading and crafting abilities. Otherwise, the gameplay experience will be identical for both accounts.
Click to expand...

http://www.teamfortress.com/freetoplay/faq.php
 
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