VoodooGirl
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Posts
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Joined
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Totally missed that, just saw the "posted" date.
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I doubt they are going to do a Test on the same night they are doing a Praetorian Surge.
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I haven't noticed any updates/patches to Beta since the whole Global Server Access/Test thing.
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I really like the Carnie WIP in so far
I think isome Danny Elfman-esque choir (i.e. Souls?) and some deeper strings would help flesh it out some. It's all very soft now and I think it needs to hit a point where the energy/violence/intensity hits in. -
Going back to the OP's suggestions:
- 2 character slots per server (can purchase more) (What about 4 character slots per server? Why buy more when they could just create a new "free" account when their two are filled?)
- Have to pay full price for boosters (One time to buy the whole booster or an ala carte system? I.e. buy the cape or aura individually?)
- Have to pay one time fee for entering PvP zones (Does anyone PvP anymore...?)
- Have to pay a one time fee for entering Pocket D (I can see Co-Ops zones being one time "purchases," but what speciality zones like Ouroboros or the Shadowshard?)
- Have to pay a one time fee for entering MA (Agree.)
- Have to pay a fee per character you want to Incarante (In the discussions throughout this post, I'd think that the Incarnate System be better left to a subscription-only access under an F2P system.)
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Quote:All goodOriginally Posted by Residentx10
Thanks for the update, I can't think of an F2P model specifically for COH. Thanks for letting us know
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Quote:I guess your ability to understand questions is flawed.Originally Posted by Residentx10
To make CoH F2P, the management teams of NCSOFT and Paragon Studios must sign an agreement. All other arguments are irrelevant.
The original question (paraphrasing): "If you could make an F2P model specifically for City of Heroes, what would it be?"
You seem to keep thinking the question - or now as you think it, "argument" is:
"Should City of Heroes go F2P?"
If that's the topic you'd like to discuss it is completely within your ability to create a thread around that question. Otherwise the question is, as I repeat "If you could make an F2P model specifically for City of Heroes, what would it be?"
Third time tends to be a charm: "If you could make an F2P model specifically for City of Heroes, what would it be?" -
It's certainly not a dead horse, and again, this thread has been hijacked by "Waaaaaaahhh F2P Waaaaaaah" commenters when the original question was "How would you make an F2P model for CoH" NOT "Should CoH go F2P."
I am hopeful you have the capacity to understand the difference between the two questions. -
My quote was fine the first time, because that is what I meant. Don't ever re-quote me and change it by saying "you're fixing it."
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Quote:While both plated in gold, the motifs on their armor are not at all similar.Originally Posted by MondoCool
I think not. -
Quote:Again, we have two different perspectives. Your view is to highlight the possible negative consequences while I am choosing to view the potential possibilities of the system - which is a good thing, it leads to a balanced view.Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
This is a good point actually. A very good point.
(abbreviated)
Is my outlook on this a little pessimistic? Yes, but it's also very realistic. If CoH goes free to play, I'll be anticipating the game being shut down within 18 months.
I have at least two friends who don't play CoH because they can't fit the $15 into their monthly budgets, and I have at least six other friends who would play but don't have enough interest to buy the game and pay the monthly sub. I think for every player we have in game, I'm sure they have at least close to the same amount of people in their life in a similar scenario (totally speculating here.)
So if you could get those 8 or so people to start playing the game, albeit for free, and they MTS around $10 a month, let's say, on whatever is being offered (costumes, consumables, QoL features), that's an additioanl $960 a year, just generated from me being able to get my eight friends to play.
Assume the entire playerbase (assuming we have 125k subscrubers) is in a similar situation, that's a potential $120,000,000 in revenue from word of mouth/referrals and getting their friends to play the game for free.
That's not including what other people, without friends in the game, decide to up and join.
I'm horrible at math and statistics and all that stuff. I could be totally wrong in my above totals. But that is the possibility I see in the F2P system. Everything I presented above is total speculation. My 8 friends could join this game for free and not spend a dime, it could happen, but you have to look at the potential that is there.
Again, I don't think CoH is going down that road, but I am interested in the possibilities of the F2P business model. -
Again, I don't like calling "Free " accounts "Trial" accounts. The idea isn't that free accounts are taking an extended "trial" of the game, but instead they would be playing the "free" aspects of the game.
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If you're able to take any more submissions
This is my main, Voodoo Girl, a plant/thorn dominator:
And this is the form she takes when she activates Domination:
Thank you, if you have the time
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Which is why I feel that a successful F2P model for CoH wouldn't be one that gated access to levels or "core" content but would still allow players to purchase consumables/accessories/certain "extra" features (AE, Ouroboros, Side Switching for exmaple)
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Quote:That is how I feel, Frosticus - that there is a large group of people who would jump at the chance to play the game for "free" but would be willing, from time to time, when it is possible for them, to MTS some features in an ala carte system (as it's been referred to here.)Originally Posted by frosticus-11
For someone like me that would be ideal. I was rarely logging in each month so decided it wasnt worth my cash. However under such a system depending on my mood/free time i might use less, equal, or more than $15 per month. And if i was consistently close i'd just resub.
There is likely a heap of people that would jump back into the game at such an opportunity. And possibly an even larger pool of people that would try out the game and stick around in some capacity. The thing to realize is that each account probably doesnt cost them near $15 per month to service. As long as such a new system continues to pull profit from the player in excess of their cost on the whole it is probably an idea worth examining. -
...no, this is the Internet.
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Quote:I feel an F2P that isn't custom made for the existing playerbase will fail. I don't think the reasons behind switching to it from a subscription based model are entirely evil. The community, I feel, would only suffer if they allowed their attitude to be as such; that this will ruin them.Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
My personal feelings would be mixed... sure, I'd be happy to not pay for it, but I'd be worried about how that would affect the game financially, community-wise and what evil plot I was being led into in order to actually get more money out of me than I was already giving.
Mostly, I'd see this as a bad thing, because it'd mean that the game would suffer for it (unless it was just some miraculous charitable action, but still... the community and the game would likely suffer, so I'd not be happy).
I'm still not a big fan on the idea of locking out levels - I certainly wouldn't want to pay for levels 35 - 50 on each character I have, but, for me, the way I view it, it would cancel out the idea of "free to play." For me "free to play" means free to play the game, levels 1 - 50, not levels 1 - 35. I could stuff, like you suggested, the Market, Mission Architect, etc. as being MTS.Quote:Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
Tough question, because I'm thinking that higher levels (maybe 35 or so) would be a prime candidate for locking behind pay.
I'm honestly not sure... More advanced systems, content and features... but I see problems arising from such restrictions. Acquiring such content individually, I think... But maybe joining them with others would be okay... but that's not much of a restriction. It's a tricky balance finding restriction that doesn't feel restricting. Meditate on this... I will.
Nothing is ever perfect out of the gate - sometimes a foundation needs to be laid before the rest can be built.Quote:Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
Again, difficult for me to say, offhand, but, let's try... (I know that whatever any of us answers with, people will find major faults with it. I could list valid arguments against each and any thing that I list, myself, hehe. Doesn't make the answers wrong, nor the complaints right. Nor the other way around, of course. Simply put, you have to break eggs to make an omelet).
Certain Levels (cap at around level 30), AE creation and access, perhaps CoOp Zones (probably not worth limiting), Incarnate Content, Certain Arcs/TFs/Content, the Market... Huh... you could restrict the Tailor... that seems evil (especially to a costume creator addict like myself), but... maybe that;s some good enticement to fork over money.
Again, all under the idea of being able to pay the standard subscription fee to have all of this covered and available, zero extra charge. -
Quote:We're not discussing if it's going to F2P - and as I've stated, I think it's highly improbable CoH will - but we're having a discussion of if it did, how would you construct an F2P model that would work for CoH?Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
Either way, I think CoH going free to play is not going to happen until the current business model of monthly subscriptions ceases to be profitable in any way, if ever.
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If you could play this game exactly as you play it right now - for free - would you be angry or excited? If you could play this game for free from levels 1 - 50, with no gating, what do you feel would fall into the appropriate areas of having to be "paid" content/features?
What do you feel would be areas/features you would "restrict" to having to pay for? Certain zones? Certain QoL features? Certain AT/sPowersets? -
That's exactly the sort of extreme gating I think if CoH were ever to go to F2P would be wise to avoid. As I've said earlier - I consider that sort of system to be microgriefing.
You're assuming there's only one successful way to have a F2P and that's to MTS every little aspect of the game, but I think it can be extremely successful without such stringent restrictions.
Quote:Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
No, I don't care about microtransactions for those things.
What I DON'T want is to have to pay a fee every time I want to roll a new character, or enter a new zone, or unlock a contact, or play a new powerset, or change my costume, or any number of other things that are currently included in my subscription fee.
If they charged $5 every time you wanted to roll a new character, I would have been charged $35 this month alone.
Oh, you want to go from Atlas Park to Kings Row? That'll be $1.99 please.
Oh, you want to make a character with a new powerset? $2.99.
You want to advance past level 10? $2.99. Past 20? $2.99. Past level 30? $2.99. And so on.
It doesn't bother me that microtransactions exist. The idea of having to fork over money every time I want to do ANYTHING new is what bothers me. The things microtransactions exist for now are purely optional items that do not affect your gameplay in any significant way. If it were changed so they charge you every time you want to level your character or go to a new zone, I'd be done so fast it's not even amusing.
I am not necessarily against free to play games in general. What I AM against is business models where how far I can advance in the game is determined solely by how deep my pockets are. -
TonyV,
Totally agree. -
I think we should try to move this conversation to this thread on the matter.
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The thing to consider is that Turbine's F2P is Turbine's F2P model - I highly doubt copying it would work well with CoH. The discussion we keep trying to have is is what F2P model would work for City of Heroes?
The question is not whether it can/can't be done - it most certainly can be done - but the original question is: How?
I think there's been some amazing suggestions in this thread which gives food for thought. The likelihood of CoH going to free to play? Your guess is as good as mine, but I don't expect it any time soon. -
Quote:Which is awesome!Originally Posted by Electric-Knight
Oh, and VoodGirl... Both my wife and I were Trial Account users who enjoyed the game so much, we subscribed.
What I was saying was, in my experiences, I haven't seen many Trial Accounts go to Full Accounts, and if CoH were to flip to a F2P model, restricting "free" accounts in the same way that Trial Accounts - well - we'd basically have the same model we do right now, and the idea with F2P is to make the base game F2P (ideally) with few restrictions, depending on the F2P model.
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Quote:The idea has been tossed around before but this thread sort of restarted the discussion again.Originally Posted by Unknown_User
Almost tempted to try and trace the origins of making CoH F2P. Just wondering what started it, and what the whole premise for the idea was.