21 replies to this topic

[Leyana]

F2P with cash shops isn't the ultimate evil. It's when it goes pay2win that the torches and pitchforks start showing up. Sadly, a lot of F2P MMOs on the market are P2W which gives a bad impression to the community and just tars all the other F2P games with the same brush. Two good examples of cash shops that worked (in my opinion).

Dungeons and Dragons Online - Even though you had to buy stuff from the cash shop to progress at any reasonable rate past a certain point, Turbine still allowed you to earn cash shop currency through normal play. Sure it might be a little more difficult than just paying them, but it the principle is still that if you have more time than money, you could still progress.

Guild Wars 1 - Completely cosmetic/convenience items. The cash shop here functioned as a way for you to pretty up your characters or as a shortcut with skill/hero unlock packs if you didn't want to bother playing through to a certain point in the game. Didn't give you any advantage over someone who used the cash shop, just let you catch up with them. The shortcuts were introduced quite a while after launch too.

Microtransactions are a business model. The company is here to earn our money. The best thing they can do is make the cash shop acceptable enough to the players that they keep customers and keep them spending. A good start is not making it P2W.

[terminator]

I think LoL has probably the best F2P system right now.. I do think the champs are a bit too expensive and should have more discounts, but LoL definitely. I have spent over $150 that i never noticed. 10 bucks here for a champ or 2, then "oh this looks cool". Play the game to earn the ingame currency and buy another champ, New champ out, "Mmmm I think I'll buy that one"...... months later... $150 gone.