105 replies to this topic

[Dr Killinger]

PC Gamer just reported on C&C Generals 2 being F2P:

http://www.pcgamer.c...-and-price-tag/

...and reading the comments, people are angry. Very angry. One even commented angrily towards MWO, without really substantiating his anger. Why are these people so against F2P? Granted, EA will probably make an absolute mess of the game, and even if they don't, it's incredibly fashionable to hate EA at the moment, so people will do everything they can to pull the game under.

Is the general gaming populace just not familiar enough with the F2P model yet? Have they been exposed to too many cheap pay-to-win iOS games?

[Steel Prophet]

Dr Killinger, on 15 August 2012 - 05:06 AM, said:

Have they been exposed to too many cheap pay-to-win iOS games?

I think that is it.

[AlexEss]

It is a change in how things are... the average person does not like change, someone pasionate does really not like change, especially if it is within his own sphere of interest.

That is why they are angry. Most people just roll with the changes but they go unseen,only the load one make a imprint.

[Perigren]

Personally I do not like the f2p model at all. I much prefer buying the game either on disc or electronically with ALL the content available.

I tried out WoT did not like the game in general never mind having to unlock upgrades and was part of Tribes Ascend closed beta, paid for gold to help support the development of the game and less than a month after release I stopped playing altogether because the devs ruined the game in so many ways I will not go in to here and also because the unlock tree is a turn off to me.

My .02

[cipher]

F2P is the future of gaming. It's a two-way contract that works better than subscription models. Developers and publishers generally make more money from F2P. And in turn it holds the developer responsible for adding content more frequently to keep people buying new virtual items/services.

As for people freaking out about it, I guess they don't see that there are VERY FEW subscription MMOs left. Most of them switched to F2P (and no, it's not a mark of failure) or some blending or hybrid of F2P and subscription/initial purchase.

[xBlaqkDeathx]

F2P is a million times better then what is going on with consoles right now. Paying $60 for a game and then being expected to pay another $30-$40 over the corse of roughly a year for mutiplayer content kinda sucks if you ask me.

The F2P model (and more specificly this game, but there are other games, and reasons) is one of the reasons I'm plaining on comming back to pc gaming after playing only consoles for 8-10 years.

before anyone asks, yes I do plan on spending money on this game for things like garage slots, mc / xp boosts, and maybe skins as well. When you spend money on f2p as long as the game is still alive you have what you paid for. Thats not the case on consoles when a new game in the series comes out every 1-2 years.

[Chihuahua]

well a lot of players dislike f2p b/c the kids just rush these games and mess up the community completely. that's what i heard most of from players argueing against f2p games.

Edited by Chihuahua, 15 August 2012 - 06:04 AM.

[Nikijih]

People don't hate F2P, people hate P2W. The problem is that a lot of those kneejerk reactionists seem to think they are synnonyms.

[Plasticcaz]

I have no problem with MechWarrior Online, but C&C? Eh... I'm just remembering the nightmare of Age of Empires Online that has only recently begun to get better.

[ENDMYSUFFERING]

Perigren, on 15 August 2012 - 05:17 AM, said:

Personally I do not like the f2p model at all. I much prefer buying the game either on disc or electronically with ALL the content available.

I tried out WoT did not like the game in general never mind having to unlock upgrades and was part of Tribes Ascend closed beta, paid for gold to help support the development of the game and less than a month after release I stopped playing altogether because the devs ruined the game in so many ways I will not go in to here and also because the unlock tree is a turn off to me.

My .02

My .02: Tribes: Ascend sucks.

[Rixx]

People hate F2P games because they are typically anything but free.

All the various styles of F2P business models fall under the F2P tag, so they all get lumped together. I personally love the MWO model. No major advantage for those that pay. It's a great model where no one feels like they have to pay, and hopefully this will mean large groups of players.

Models like WOT give advantages in battle to those that pay. Games like LOTR are 'free' but you really can't get anywhere near max level for free. SWTOR won't allow end game play unless you pay the full monthly price.

C&C G2 was announced and everyone was happy. Drop $50, get disk, play a nice long campaign. Play some skirmishes against the computer to test things, and then go for multiplayer. Now it's going to be F2P, so what does that mean? A campaign that's half as large as before? Only get 1/3 of the campaign for free, and have to pay $15/each for the others? Drop another $10 for a skirmish mode? How much for multiplayer options? Will they introduce new units over time and make some of them purchasable? New maps? Lord knows EA isn't going to give stuff away for free.

Going one step further, by making the game a browser based EA server dependant game, we lose a lot of options. People created a battletech mod for C&C Generals. It was pretty cool for the time. Will you be able to mod G2? Absolutely not. There goes a lot of creative fun. Player created units, gamemodes, and maps are a thing of the past. And what happens when EA isn't making enough money for them to justify the servers, they shut them down and we can't play anymore.

F2P can be a good thing like in MWO, but more often than not F2P is a huge negative in multiple ways.

[ZI0N]

I thought I would hate F2P but Star Trek Online did it right. lock boxes are kind of annoying, but how they sell ships with an equipable ability and slightly better stats without becoming pay to win has really worked out for them.

[Feindfeuer]

I kind of had a similiar mindset a few years ago to all the F2P haters, thinking F2P must end in P2W and that i'll stick to standalone titles, cause they are free of the P2W formula. But nowadays many titles you buy in a store or online will release a steady supply of DLC, that is either needed to play the full online part of the game or gives the player who buys it an advantage over the vanilla gamer. Standalone games are often just as much pay2win or pay 2 keep playing as the F2P counterparts.
This of course does not mean that there are no standalone titles and F2P titles that are free (or almost free) of P2W content, but people associate the P2W formula almost exclusivly with F2P titles... and seeing ast OPs example is an EA title and me myself not beeing quiet happy about what they did with BF3 post release, i'll agree with the mob and boooh and hisss at the new C&C Generals F2P release....

I'll still try it sometimes, cause i'm weak.

[Adridos]

My world has fallen on its head when I saw the trailer.

You know I'm not against F2P, I like the model, but I still want some 100% done AAA RTS experience.

Yes, I gave it a chance, I played a bit of AoE:O and it turned out... very, very badly for me, because I lost a franchise I loved when I first started a PC in my life. And now C&C will end up like that as well (they already said they will make all 3 universes on this for ***'s sake!).


I need a minute to calm down.

[Argie]

Most of these comments come from shell shocked players from c&c franchise and age of empires.

The whole fear of the "pay2win" has really strong roots. But since League of Legends was brought up to light as -the- example on how to do a free 2 play game I think people need to update their fears to other things..

[SakuranoSenshi]

The problem is "free to pay" is a very vague concept. Some games have done it well, others have not. If you can download the client and log in without paying the publisher any money, then it's a "free to play" game, however; unless the game can be meaningfully played without serious restrictions, it's not really "free" to play at all, it's an indefinite trial (which is the sort of language that was used for this for a long time).

I love LotRO, which was a pure subscription game for a long time, in fact I have a lifetime subscription... or rather I did, until it was converted into a continuous "VIP" account status when they made the game "free to play". Problem is... it's not free at all. You must buy all the content beyond the original release, so unless you never want to progress the story beyond the first few chapters you're definitely going to have to pay and we're not talking $10 either, we're talking 30 to 60 dollars depending on what you buy, exactly and that's per expansion. That sort of thing frustrates people; on the one hand I wish they'd simply left it as a monthly subscription so I didn't have the stupidity of "VIP points" (I forget what they call them right now) and the endless adverts for yet another re-skinned horse, on the other hand players who like the look, feel and setting find out they have some serious outlay if they really want to play and feel lied to.

[tyrone dunkirk]

Perigren, on 15 August 2012 - 05:17 AM, said:

Personally I do not like the f2p model at all. I much prefer buying the game either on disc or electronically with ALL the content available.

I tried out WoT did not like the game in general never mind having to unlock upgrades and was part of Tribes Ascend closed beta, paid for gold to help support the development of the game and less than a month after release I stopped playing altogether because the devs ruined the game in so many ways I will not go in to here and also because the unlock tree is a turn off to me.

My .02

... I like Tribes Ascend...

[ZI0N]

to be honest C&C has been going dowh hill for years now.

[Dredhawk]

I love unlockable tree like WoT did...Thats what make me keep going back to the game got unlock the next tank oh no they got new tank got unlock those to.....LOL......I hate haveing all the stuff pretty much unlocked from the start I like having to work for it....

Edited by Dredhawk, 15 August 2012 - 06:51 AM.

[Reported for Inappropriate Name]

the problem with f2p is so far history has proven all developers are sellouts, willing to ***** their ip's for every dollar.

The only question is how long will PGI retain their morals before inevitably falling to the same level as everybody else.


after all eventually it becomes about how much money you can make, not quality.

Edited by Battlecruiser, 15 August 2012 - 06:56 AM.