![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
andrewduckerI was looking for a plausible multiplayer co-op game yesterday, and decided to take a look at F2P MMOs, to see if any of them would be something Julie and I could play together.
I downloaded the beta of Warframe, thought that the tutorial was pretty fun, and so took a look at how they monetise themselves - it being worth knowing exactly how they were planning on making money from me.
The thing that made me hit the "uninstall" button was in the Quickstart Guide:
I want a game that's tuned for fun, not one that's tuned for "We'll lull you into a false sense of security, and then once you're invested we'll ramp the difficulty up to the point where you have to pay to get anywhere."*
I don't object to paying for my games. I'm actually prepared to pay a subscription. Feel free to give me access to the first five levels of the game for free, and then charge me to open up further areas, or a monthly fee if I want to be able to play above level five.
But I want your emphasis to be this: "Me paying you money should result in you delivering more fun." Not "Me paying you more money allows the game to be playable at all."
*This is how Candy Crush makes its money. Amongst many other games - see this for more details.
I downloaded the beta of Warframe, thought that the tutorial was pretty fun, and so took a look at how they monetise themselves - it being worth knowing exactly how they were planning on making money from me.
The thing that made me hit the "uninstall" button was in the Quickstart Guide:
Did you find yourself cornered with no shields? Large and Small Health Restores infuse your Warframe with precious health to keep you alive.It's a mechanic which sets things up so that it's in the interests of the game makers to make the game harder so that they can sell you the tools to make it possible. And that's not a situation I'm willing to put myself in.
If ammunition was scarce, you can bring Ammo Boxes for you to consume in a tight spot.
If you found your shield weakened too quickly, you can use a Shield Restore to immediately charge your shield with 100 points.
I want a game that's tuned for fun, not one that's tuned for "We'll lull you into a false sense of security, and then once you're invested we'll ramp the difficulty up to the point where you have to pay to get anywhere."*
I don't object to paying for my games. I'm actually prepared to pay a subscription. Feel free to give me access to the first five levels of the game for free, and then charge me to open up further areas, or a monthly fee if I want to be able to play above level five.
But I want your emphasis to be this: "Me paying you money should result in you delivering more fun." Not "Me paying you more money allows the game to be playable at all."
*This is how Candy Crush makes its money. Amongst many other games - see this for more details.
no subject
Date: 2013-08-01 02:50 am (UTC)Second server had more 'paid' features including paying for things that you previously got through in game tech upgrades.
New server they launched last week? They now give you in game money every level, but you have to pay for everything, including extra dungeons. And the more dungeons you have the more you level up. So paying players get more XP quicker so get more in game money so get even more dungeons faster.
And the designers can't see, at all, how horribly unbalancing that is, they've "solved" player complaints by a trickle of cash that pays for little.
I might go back to server one at some point in the future as you can play for free with no impediments, but...