2014-09-05, 09:41 AM
Personally though, I think the "Free to play, pay to save time" aspect of these models are a main cause of the problem. Fundamentally, after all, that's kind of what a lot of the items in Maple are for. Instead of grinding out forever trying to get lucky with items, you can speed up the process by buying items that cater to giving you the best stats possible.
LoL makes it so that instead of spending *thousands of hours* trying to get all the champions/runes (fundamental pieces of the game that give you a distinct advantage in the game), you can just buy them instead. EXP Boosts face a similar problem. None of these things are *necessary* for the free to play model. When I came back to Maple, it seemed like everyone was dishing out hundreds to make themselves better. Now in League it just seems like people are spending hundreds to, well, save time and make themselves better.
League is one of the most popular games *ever*, and they're popular because they excel at giving people a sense of satisfaction even when it's completely undeserved. Buying things is just another part of that. They already have a gigantic userbase. So, instead of trying to hook in whales (since they've already catered to a very large number of whales) they try and monetize *everyone else* too. It's just as bad, if not worse.
The aesthetic elements like buying skins makes sense. You enjoy the game, you enjoy specific champions, now pay to enjoy the game and those champions more.
I can't actually think of a healthy free to play model being used right now.
Old Maple was probably the most healthy free to play model I've seen.
LoL makes it so that instead of spending *thousands of hours* trying to get all the champions/runes (fundamental pieces of the game that give you a distinct advantage in the game), you can just buy them instead. EXP Boosts face a similar problem. None of these things are *necessary* for the free to play model. When I came back to Maple, it seemed like everyone was dishing out hundreds to make themselves better. Now in League it just seems like people are spending hundreds to, well, save time and make themselves better.
League is one of the most popular games *ever*, and they're popular because they excel at giving people a sense of satisfaction even when it's completely undeserved. Buying things is just another part of that. They already have a gigantic userbase. So, instead of trying to hook in whales (since they've already catered to a very large number of whales) they try and monetize *everyone else* too. It's just as bad, if not worse.
The aesthetic elements like buying skins makes sense. You enjoy the game, you enjoy specific champions, now pay to enjoy the game and those champions more.
I can't actually think of a healthy free to play model being used right now.
Old Maple was probably the most healthy free to play model I've seen.