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Free to Play, or Pay to Play, What's The Future? (Page 1 of 2)
Everyone Loves Free
Is the big budget, high profile, pay to play MMO dying a long and painful death? There’s no getting around the fact that the market and gamers can only support so many pay to play MMO’s, and very few gamers have the time or money to play more than one MMO each month.
In the past year we’ve seen Turbine’s Dungeons and Dragons Online forced into transitioning into a free to play model (subsequently leaping to the number three spot on the list of most popular MMO’s according to the NPD group).
Not long from now, Lord of the Rings Online will also be going the same way as DDO, not because it was failing, but because the move proved incredibly popular and profitable for that game.
A year ago, Sony Online Entertainment launched its family friendly entry in the genre, Free Realms, which has proved to be a smash hit, drawing in millions and millions of players.
But why the success? Simple. Nothing draws the masses in like the word “free”. It’s like offering “no strings attached” AoC gold, or it’s like when you’re at the supermarket and that bored looking attendant shoves a free ice cream cone at you, or one of those little hot dogs on a toothpick. Sure, they might have been sitting there all afternoon, and you have no idea what they taste like or where they’ve been, but dammit, they’re free!
This is the way it is with MMO’s as well. All you’ve got to do is slap the increasingly popular “free to play” sticker tag on it, and all of a sudden gamers are talking about your game and actively rooting for it to be good. The truth is that to most gamers, a decent free game is as valuable as a good pay to play game, there are simply too many pay to play massively multiplayer online games on the market asking for people’s hard earned dollars, and right now free games stand out and create a buzz.
Pay Won’t Go Away
That isn’t to say however, that the pay to play MMO is going entirely the way of the dodo. Pay to play is a proven model, and it’s not going anywhere. If the current pay to play MMO’s on the market start getting into trouble, they can always do what Dungeons and Dragons Online did to breathe new into their sales… go free to play.
The fact is that there are two sure fire ways to survive in the pay to play space.
The first, most difficult, and most profitable, is to become the de facto standard, the one MMO that defines the genre, the one that everyone wants to play.
Right now, that MMO happens to be World of Warcraft, 7 years ago, it was EverQuest. The standard bearer is always judged by a separate set of rules, actually, the truth is they make their own rules, and its loyal subscriber base is always willing to plow through quest after quest, raid after raid to earn XP and WoW gold.
There are secondary and tertiary successes, but MMO’s like Warhammer Online, Age of Conan and Aion don’t see anywhere near World of Warcraft’s phenomenal level of success.
Making the most out of your MMO
If you’re trying to find tricks and tips on min / maxing or the fastest way to put an efficient raid party together, you are looking in the wrong place. Here we are going to explore the best ways for an informal player to get the best from nearly any tremendously multi-player web-based game. Having said that, regardless of whether you are already a hardcore WoW-head, these tips are worth their weight in WoW gold if you’re searching for the best paths to breathe new life into your playing experience.
Enjoy the views:
Artists and programmers have poured masses of hours of tough work into making a living, breathing world, and unfortunately, most players will simply race across the landscape with nary a peek at their surroundings. Playing fantasy games and MMOs in particular are all about escapism, getting to visit a world different from our own, and becoming someone else. Take a second to stop and smell the roses, those murlocs will be there waiting to be slain.
Pace yourself:
In an analogous vein to that above, most people forget having a good time once they are in-game, and start thinking about the fastest and most efficient paths to level. However, the fastest way isnt always the most fun, and it’s usually linked with work. There’s no right way to play an MMO, so if it takes you weeks to hit level 10 rather than 5 hours, don’t sweat it, what’s most critical is you had fun on the way there, there aren’t any prizes for coming in first.
When you are prepared, get the expansions:
The nice thing about MMOs is they grow around the player and you can play as much as you need or as little as you need. If you are jumping on board an MMO 1 or 2 years late, do not feel coerced into getting the varied expansions that may have come out if you are not prepared. Why throw away your money on Burning Crusade and Lich King or Cataclysm when WoW Classic has loads of hours of gameplay to occupy you?
Congratulations! You’re hardcore:
If you’ve managed to follow all these steps above correctly, wouldn’t you know it, you’re now one step closer to being hardcore MMO gamer! Hardcore MMO gaming isn’t just about finding the right formula to creating the most powerful high level character the land has seen, it’s about getting the most out of your chosen MMO, it’s about finding the fun, and keeping it fun.
If youre still hungry for more gaming resources, why dont you drop by www.epictoon.com? Get the latest news, game guides and tips straight from the gaming experts. You can also buy WoW Gold, Aion Kinah, FFXI Gil and other virtual currency to make the most out of your MMO time.