Wildstar

[Elder]

[quote author=Gasman link=topic=7262.msg279624#msg279624 date=1404314392]
[quote author=The Generic Name link=topic=7262.msg279620#msg279620 date=1404307543]
but I wish I had a guild that communicated more in game and actually used their teamspeak for general chit chat instead of just for raids.

Pergo 'wink wink' ;D
[/quote]
  but gasman, thats PvP.  I dont like PvP.
[/quote]

Time to man up then

Sent from inside a giant robot car

[Surf314]

Is anyone still playing this? Does the game have staying power?

[Eschatos]

Is anyone still playing this? Does the game have staying power?

I unsubscribed a few days ago. I just can't stay interested in MMOs.

[FlyingMongoose]

Free to play or bust.

[Gasman]

Is anyone still playing this? Does the game have staying power?

#6 top played game last month, and gaining subs on its second month. As for the gameplay, there is quite a bit of content that has a lot of replay value, and lots of room for more content. If you like mmo's, it's at least worth trying out, if not subbing outright.

[copulatingduck]

It's got staying power, but there's not an awful lot of content aimed toward people who are looking for something casual. If you're not looking for a time-sink, this is probably not the game to play. The devs are unabasedly catering to the hardcore mmo crowd. I'll probably resub in a few months when I have more free time, but even then I don't know if I'll keep it. I'm just not looking to dedicate that much time to games.


Also, F2P imho would be a huge mistake for the game. I don't see that happening anytime soon. The devs have been very adamant about never going F2P (again, the hardcore rhetoric).

[FlyingMongoose]

It's got staying power, but there's not an awful lot of content aimed toward people who are looking for something casual. If you're not looking for a time-sink, this is probably not the game to play. The devs are unabasedly catering to the hardcore mmo crowd. I'll probably resub in a few months when I have more free time, but even then I don't know if I'll keep it. I'm just not looking to dedicate that much time to games.


Also, F2P imho would be a huge mistake for the game. I don't see that happening anytime soon. The devs have been very adamant about never going F2P (again, the hardcore rhetoric).

Most free to play games average significantly higher profits over time compared to subscription games. And often these profit increases actually are near instantaneous.

Not launching a new MMO as free to play had almost gotten to the point of financial suicide because of the market saturation.

Sent from my subdermal neurological implant.

[copulatingduck]

[quote author=Duck link=topic=7262.msg279953#msg279953 date=1405555567]
It's got staying power, but there's not an awful lot of content aimed toward people who are looking for something casual. If you're not looking for a time-sink, this is probably not the game to play. The devs are unabasedly catering to the hardcore mmo crowd. I'll probably resub in a few months when I have more free time, but even then I don't know if I'll keep it. I'm just not looking to dedicate that much time to games.


Also, F2P imho would be a huge mistake for the game. I don't see that happening anytime soon. The devs have been very adamant about never going F2P (again, the hardcore rhetoric).

Most free to play games average significantly higher profits over time compared to subscription games. And often these profit increases actually are near instantaneous.

Not launching a new MMO as free to play had almost gotten to the point of financial suicide because of the market saturation.

Sent from my subdermal neurological implant.
[/quote]

Yea, but most successful F2P games cater to people who are a bit more casual about their games. Games like League, TF2 etc, you can drop in a play a couple rounds in under an hour. I can't speak to any of the successful F2P mmo's because I haven't played any of them. But in Wildstar, if you're a fresh 50, a lot of the veteran dungeons can take upwards of 2+ hours to complete (if your group ever manages to clear it). The attunement process for the first raid instance is an incredibly drawn-out process. And nevermind the fact that dinging 50 in the first place takes 3-5 days (that's 72-120 hours) of playtime for anyone who isn't a huge nerd.

I'm not saying it's impossible for Wildstar to be successful as a F2P game, but as it stands now, I don't think the current content is conducive to a F2P/casual model. By catering to the hardcore crowd, they cut out a massive chunk of the demographic that plays MMO's. Further, if they tried to go F2P this early, there would be a massive backlash from the very people they've been marketing to: hardcore mmo gamers (they're a fickle bunch). Carbine had 8 years to design a F2P mmo if they wanted to, but from all interviews and streams with the devs I've seen, they specifically chose not to go down that path.

tldr; It's not *just* about money for Carbine, most of the dev team left Blizzard because they wanted to make a truly hardcore MMO and do it right, I don't see any big changes coming down without the studio getting acquired or some kind of massive restructuring.

It's a cool game, I just wish it came out 5 years ago when I still enjoyed sitting around with one thumb up my ass.

[Surf314]

That's what bugs me about MMOs is that hardcore means time sink.  I want a challenging skill based game that I can sink an hour into or 3-4 hours into depending on my day.  I really don't want to invest in a game that I keep feeling like I can't play because I can't block off enough hours to do anything.

[Eschatos]

  I want a challenging skill based game that I can sink an hour into or 3-4 hours into depending on my day. 

Play Dominions then.

[FlyingMongoose]

The issue here is that the larger market is the casual gamer, the demographic for gaming has changed over the past few decades and the largest place to earn money is not in the "hardcore gamer".

I admire the fact that they are sticking to their principals, however, they are losing money by doing the monthly fee.

Hell if it truly IS catered towards the "more hardcore" mmo player, then that means that the "casual gamer" would try it for a bit and just give up, leaving the "hardcore player" to enjoy the game at higher levels anyway (which is what they aim towards).

There is no GOOD reason not to have any mmo Free to Play with Freemium or micro transactions (from a financial or even gaming perspective) anymore.

[CaffeinePowered]

There is no GOOD reason not to have any mmo Free to Play with Freemium or micro transactions (from a financial or even gaming perspective) anymore.

If everyone moves away from the traditional market, then no one caters to it...the market is still there, and its untapped.

As long as you dont *need* huge populations to keep the game interesting like Planetside or something, you can still make money on it. Hell I'd pay a sub just to not have to deal with F2P players.

Allowing you to pay to skip everything takes away the sense of value and accomplishment.

[FlyingMongoose]

[quote author=FlyingMongoose link=topic=7262.msg279979#msg279979 date=1405638663]
There is no GOOD reason not to have any mmo Free to Play with Freemium or micro transactions (from a financial or even gaming perspective) anymore.

If everyone moves away from the traditional market, then no one caters to it...the market is still there, and its untapped.

As long as you dont *need* huge populations to keep the game interesting like Planetside or something, you can still make money on it. Hell I'd pay a sub just to not have to deal with F2P players.

Allowing you to pay to skip everything takes away the sense of value and accomplishment.
[/quote]

I did not say "Pay to skip" or "Pay to win"

I think LOTRO found a good balance, granted that is a nothing but PVE game, but it has some PVP options, HOWEVER, what it does is limit EXPANSION areas and EXPANSION quests for those who don't pay for those packages (or expansions), but completely unlocks them for those who pay monthly fee. This makes it so the hardcore player can continue to play through and even reach max level (even though not being able to go to those expansion areas), or, if they want to have those additional quests (or areas) they can pay for them, or pay a monthly fee to always have access.

So, basing it on that implementation: There is still no GOOD reason to not have free to play in the mmo market anymore.

And using that same example as the best example of how it is better financially, the 6 times more money they made in the FIRST month than they did for the entire 2 years of subscription they existed in beforehand is a good example of it being a better financial option.

[Eschatos]

[quote author=Caffeine link=topic=7262.msg279980#msg279980 date=1405639312]
[quote author=FlyingMongoose link=topic=7262.msg279979#msg279979 date=1405638663]
There is no GOOD reason not to have any mmo Free to Play with Freemium or micro transactions (from a financial or even gaming perspective) anymore.

If everyone moves away from the traditional market, then no one caters to it...the market is still there, and its untapped.

As long as you dont *need* huge populations to keep the game interesting like Planetside or something, you can still make money on it. Hell I'd pay a sub just to not have to deal with F2P players.

Allowing you to pay to skip everything takes away the sense of value and accomplishment.
[/quote]

I did not say "Pay to skip" or "Pay to win"

I think LOTRO found a good balance, granted that is a nothing but PVE game, but it has some PVP options, HOWEVER, what it does is limit EXPANSION areas and EXPANSION quests for those who don't pay for those packages (or expansions), but completely unlocks them for those who pay monthly fee. This makes it so the hardcore player can continue to play through and even reach max level (even though not being able to go to those expansion areas), or, if they want to have those additional quests (or areas) they can pay for them, or pay a monthly fee to always have access.

So, basing it on that implementation: There is still no GOOD reason to not have free to play in the mmo market anymore.

And using that same example as the best example of how it is better financially, the 6 times more money they made in the FIRST month than they did for the entire 2 years of subscription they existed in beforehand is a good example of it being a better financial option.
[/quote]

I liked the way Puzzle Pirates did it. They had both free and paid worlds. Free worlds had premium currency for the fancy cosmetics and such, paid worlds just required a subscription and only normal money.

[The Generic Name]

This is F2P now any one interested in picking it back up and playing it off and on?  I have a free realm transfer available.  I suggeest we pick a PvE server so we can dick around and level without being killed by other players.  That shit ruins my grind.





EDIT: The realm I am on is called Entity.  I have characters on both dominion or exile, it really doesn't matter to me, I prefer dominion honestly.