2013-03-12, 10:12 PM
When I can spend an entire year's worth of P2P subcriptions fees in a few weeks for mere marginal returns beyond that of permanent pet items, well clearly Maple isn't doing it's job as freemium either. The F2P game is only enjoyable when you know people can't buy their way to power beyond what one can normally get without giving more than a game's worth of money to the company.
TF2 works because you can pretty much unlock everything you need, OR you can get what weapons you need as drops, OR just trade a spare weapon for another weapon. It's really that doable. The only needed fee to pay is $5 to turn the account premium; nothing else beyond that is really needed. Yes you can play Hat Fortress 2 without needing hats.
LoL is more of a gray line, since you don't have everything from the get-go. You got to play to get more of the content (Champions/Runes/Masteries/Spells), or you can get Riot Points and unlock Champions faster, but in the end it doesn't make you more powerful than other players unless you know full well how to abuse the powers of said Champion. The only real money you need is if you want to get skins other than the defaults, which may or may not get boring for you to see after so many games.
Diablo 3 is a funny example, because while players can pay real money to get the best gear possible, it doesn't bar normal players from being able to sell gear THEY find for good money. I made ~$32 from a drop I found, and it went directly into my Paypal account. Yes the game can easily make me back what I paid for the game, and then some.
DoTA 2 is in between TF2 and LoL's system. Everyone and everything is available from the get-go. You don't have to play to unlock more stuff to be a better/stronger player. Money doesn't unlock any actual needed content. Only your skill and experience limits how well you do. The only cash you need to pay is if you want more special aesthetic items, or cool stuff like new voice announcers for your game. Who wouldn't want to hear the sexy voice of Rucks from Bastion whenever you play DoTA 2? Even moreso, you can get aesthetic items while you play, meaning you can dress up your heroes without ever putting a penny into the game if you play long enough.
WoW is the only P2P system that works, because people know Blizzard treats the game very well. Lost items to a hacker? No problem Blizzard will restore your account! The amount of time Greg Street spends on answering player concerns, Community Managers sharing most news with the players, and even having GMs with a good sense of humor, comparing to Maple is like comparing a T-Rex to a single velociraptor. Moreso, playing on equal grounds with other players for only $15 a month is really amazing when you compare to ~$65 for a permanent pet set just for ONE character in Maple. That's not including Store permits, clothes, or cubes. Those motherfugging cubes.
Trying to play Maple completely free when you're fully aware even a free dollars will make you far better off is like being in a torture chamber, where money is the safety word.
Sorry for bringing up so many games. I'm showing examples of games that got down the Free-to-Play model down much better than Maple has, as well as showing how much Maple has to do if they want to become Pay-To-Play. It's Free-to-Play, not Free-to-Play-But-You-Can-Gain-A-Serious-Game-Advantage-Unavailable-To-Free-Players-Just-By-Throwing-Money-At-Us. Meanwhile, Pay-To-Play will just drive Maple down a deeper hole unless they can show they have outstanding service so players feel justified to even pay $5 a month for the game. In addition, they need to balance the game right so players that spent a car's worth of money won't be flankdevastated when they are on equal grounds with everyone else.
To all that say you'll need a credit card for a P2P Maple, why not have Nexon sell $5-$10 game cards that add 1-2 months to the player's subscription time?
TF2 works because you can pretty much unlock everything you need, OR you can get what weapons you need as drops, OR just trade a spare weapon for another weapon. It's really that doable. The only needed fee to pay is $5 to turn the account premium; nothing else beyond that is really needed. Yes you can play Hat Fortress 2 without needing hats.
LoL is more of a gray line, since you don't have everything from the get-go. You got to play to get more of the content (Champions/Runes/Masteries/Spells), or you can get Riot Points and unlock Champions faster, but in the end it doesn't make you more powerful than other players unless you know full well how to abuse the powers of said Champion. The only real money you need is if you want to get skins other than the defaults, which may or may not get boring for you to see after so many games.
Diablo 3 is a funny example, because while players can pay real money to get the best gear possible, it doesn't bar normal players from being able to sell gear THEY find for good money. I made ~$32 from a drop I found, and it went directly into my Paypal account. Yes the game can easily make me back what I paid for the game, and then some.
DoTA 2 is in between TF2 and LoL's system. Everyone and everything is available from the get-go. You don't have to play to unlock more stuff to be a better/stronger player. Money doesn't unlock any actual needed content. Only your skill and experience limits how well you do. The only cash you need to pay is if you want more special aesthetic items, or cool stuff like new voice announcers for your game. Who wouldn't want to hear the sexy voice of Rucks from Bastion whenever you play DoTA 2? Even moreso, you can get aesthetic items while you play, meaning you can dress up your heroes without ever putting a penny into the game if you play long enough.
WoW is the only P2P system that works, because people know Blizzard treats the game very well. Lost items to a hacker? No problem Blizzard will restore your account! The amount of time Greg Street spends on answering player concerns, Community Managers sharing most news with the players, and even having GMs with a good sense of humor, comparing to Maple is like comparing a T-Rex to a single velociraptor. Moreso, playing on equal grounds with other players for only $15 a month is really amazing when you compare to ~$65 for a permanent pet set just for ONE character in Maple. That's not including Store permits, clothes, or cubes. Those motherfugging cubes.
Trying to play Maple completely free when you're fully aware even a free dollars will make you far better off is like being in a torture chamber, where money is the safety word.
Sorry for bringing up so many games. I'm showing examples of games that got down the Free-to-Play model down much better than Maple has, as well as showing how much Maple has to do if they want to become Pay-To-Play. It's Free-to-Play, not Free-to-Play-But-You-Can-Gain-A-Serious-Game-Advantage-Unavailable-To-Free-Players-Just-By-Throwing-Money-At-Us. Meanwhile, Pay-To-Play will just drive Maple down a deeper hole unless they can show they have outstanding service so players feel justified to even pay $5 a month for the game. In addition, they need to balance the game right so players that spent a car's worth of money won't be flankdevastated when they are on equal grounds with everyone else.
To all that say you'll need a credit card for a P2P Maple, why not have Nexon sell $5-$10 game cards that add 1-2 months to the player's subscription time?