2012-08-20, 11:51 PM
The F2P model is definitely the future, but probably not for console gaming. Console gaming is becoming stagnant due to other reasons. Also, I don't feel like he's the best person to say things like this when Nexon America is actually a good example of how a F2P business model shouldn't be.
Unfortunately many people believe F2P can never be done right because there are so many who do it so wrong. It seems like many companies view things as, ''Well, if it ain't broke don't fix it''. In other words, ''If we can still get a decent amount of money then why bother changing it?'', without realizing they have room for improvements. They seem to just settle in practices that aim to make them a quick buck instead of focusing on proper balancing for what the player can get with their money, and if there is a reasonable and fair way to obtain it in-game, for example. In Maple you typically can get nowhere near what a paying player can get without having to spend days, weeks, or even months hoarding up on various types of items, merchanting them, etc. Does this sound reasonable? Holy Christ, no, and especially not when you have to repeat the process over and over until you finally get anywhere near what the paying player achieved in just the fraction of the time. This isn't proper balance, and only makes the player feel forced into paying, or even resorting to ''cheating''. Why is hacking so prevalent in gMS? Because Nexon America (Or Nexon in general, really) produces the strong demand for players to cheat themselves. Instead of trying to combat the hackers directly, why not try to look at why people feel the need to want to cheat in the first place and fixing those issues?
They won't, because they're too busy trying to force players into becoming invested into the game, then taking advantage of that for extra money. This is typically how DLC works in ''traditional'' gaming. Companies usually get away with charging for DLC, or ''Collector's Editions'' for added content because they know people have already become invested into the franchises. If the player is already invested chances are they'll keep desperately shelling out more money when DLC comes along, even if they don't like it.
Unfortunately many people believe F2P can never be done right because there are so many who do it so wrong. It seems like many companies view things as, ''Well, if it ain't broke don't fix it''. In other words, ''If we can still get a decent amount of money then why bother changing it?'', without realizing they have room for improvements. They seem to just settle in practices that aim to make them a quick buck instead of focusing on proper balancing for what the player can get with their money, and if there is a reasonable and fair way to obtain it in-game, for example. In Maple you typically can get nowhere near what a paying player can get without having to spend days, weeks, or even months hoarding up on various types of items, merchanting them, etc. Does this sound reasonable? Holy Christ, no, and especially not when you have to repeat the process over and over until you finally get anywhere near what the paying player achieved in just the fraction of the time. This isn't proper balance, and only makes the player feel forced into paying, or even resorting to ''cheating''. Why is hacking so prevalent in gMS? Because Nexon America (Or Nexon in general, really) produces the strong demand for players to cheat themselves. Instead of trying to combat the hackers directly, why not try to look at why people feel the need to want to cheat in the first place and fixing those issues?
They won't, because they're too busy trying to force players into becoming invested into the game, then taking advantage of that for extra money. This is typically how DLC works in ''traditional'' gaming. Companies usually get away with charging for DLC, or ''Collector's Editions'' for added content because they know people have already become invested into the franchises. If the player is already invested chances are they'll keep desperately shelling out more money when DLC comes along, even if they don't like it.