Pros and Cons of Making the game Pay-to-Play

That's not a bad idea, however the question must arise, "Would that send the right message?"

I mean, the idea that something in the cash shop is so important that people get a discount on it for being a long time player...it kind of screams the concept of P2W. At least right now people don't know unless they do their research before joining, however it's basically advertising it on the homepage with that.

Nexon has never been known to send any kind of positive message anyway. But yeah getting new players to join will be a challenge here. They've got millions to play with at this point so they can probably find ways just as WoW did.

[MENTION=8732]VerrKol[/MENTION] Good point about the investor panic. I did not think about that at all.

Unless Nexon removed all vestiges of the freemium, free-to-play system, there's no way it could successfully make an effective transition to pay-to-play.

[MENTION=6481]IImaplers[/MENTION]; MapleStory's calling card is the fact that it is the free-to-play MMO. It is the most updated, most content-filled, "experienced" of the free-to-play MMOs. It is arguably the most stable free-to-play MMO as well. Going to pay-to-play pits it immediately against World of Warcraft, which it really wouldn't be able to do sustainably.

How about we combine the best of both worlds and just introduce some servers that are pay2play while the other ones are free?

Unless Nexon removed all vestiges of the freemium, free-to-play system, there's no way it could successfully make an effective transition to pay-to-play.

[MENTION=6481]IImaplers[/MENTION]; MapleStory's calling card is the fact that it is the free-to-play MMO. It is the most updated, most content-filled, "experienced" of the free-to-play MMOs. It is arguably the most stable free-to-play MMO as well. Going to pay-to-play pits it immediately against World of Warcraft, which it really wouldn't be able to do sustainably.

Fair enough. The ideas of Yennox and Valhalla556 seem like a great consolation to the flaws in outright P2P. I love the dynamics of having to register a valid credit card number where the first account is free and the next costs a tiny amount. That would go miles in terms of security and would not necessarily discourage new players from joining. It would be obvious that people would be able to use credit card numbers they don't own, but not many would take the risk.

[MENTION=846]Corn[/MENTION] You're on to something.

How about we combine the best of both worlds and just introduce some servers that are pay2play while the other ones are free?

Because it would fall in the same vein as going pay-to-play. Pay-to-play in Maple is just not feasible. MapleStory is completely designed around cubing and other RNG "games" to make revenue. Unless these pay-to-play servers offered something in exchange (which I honestly can't see happening) there'd be no reason to play them over the free-to-play servers. I think the only alternative for MapleStory, if it had to use a different system, would be a buy-to-play system in which people just buy their accounts. The freemium content would have to be toned down, but it does have a chance of working when compared to pay-to-play.

I know I'd quit immediately if it became pay-to-play. But that's just me. It's also the reason I've never tried World of Warcraft, heh.

Fair enough. The ideas of Yennox and Valhalla556 seem like a great consolation to the flaws in outright P2P. I love the dynamics of having to register a valid credit card number where the first account is free and the next costs a tiny amount. That would go miles in terms of security and would not necessarily discourage new players from joining. It would be obvious that people would be able to use credit card numbers they don't own, but not many would take the risk.

"Mom, I need your Credit Card number"
"What for?"
"I'm registering for this Maplestory game - "
"No"
"But Mom, it doesn't cost anything!"
"Then what do they want a CC number for?"
"idk"
"No"
"But Moooom, it's an awesome game, all my friends are playing"
"Sorry, no. There are plenty of free games that don't ask for that kind of info. Play those."

How about we combine the best of both worlds and just introduce some servers that are pay2play while the other ones are free?

They did that with Ragnarok. It's pretty bad.

Anyway, the main argument against p2p with MapleStory is that most players DON'T actively spend money on this game. They either get mesos and buy NX that way (giving Nexon the profit, but letting the players play for 'free' as they aren't spending any money) or just tough it out and go NXless.

Making a game like this p2p will make people question the quality of the game further because of the dedication that paying for a subscription takes. So many people quit and come back that they wouldn't have a regular playerbase to depend on.

Continue on, freemium.

"Mom, I need your Credit Card number"
"What for?"
"I'm registering for this Maplestory game - "
"No"
"But Mom, it doesn't cost anything!"
"Then what do they want a CC number for?"
"idk"
"No"
"But Moooom, it's an awesome game, all my friends are playing"
"Sorry, no. There are plenty of free games that don't ask for that kind of info. Play those."

I got a better one:
"Mom, I need your Credit Card number"
"What for?"
"I'm registering for school grants, it's free"

edit: :'[ was a joke, Not meant to be a dig at socioeconomic status either, though I can see how it can be misinterpreted. Anyway, I get it. There's no way a lot of parents would let their kids use their cc even if it's free.

They did that with Ragnarok. It's pretty bad.

Anyway, the main argument against p2p with MapleStory is that most players DON'T actively spend money on this game. They either get mesos and buy NX that way (giving Nexon the profit, but letting the players play for 'free' as they aren't spending any money) or just tough it out and go NXless.

Making a game like this p2p will make people question the quality of the game further because of the dedication that paying for a subscription takes. So many people quit and come back that they wouldn't have a regular playerbase to depend on.

Continue on, freemium.

Yeah because making mesos' is so easy when 10k nx is equilavent to 100m, for almost entirely every server. IF they removed the whole concept of VIP cash shop items while doing subscription, I can almost gurrantee that majority would stay.

And as if subscription makes you obligated to anything. See diablo 3 and any online game ran by EA.

http://www.southperry.net/poll.php?polli...howresults

I know I'd quit immediately if it became pay-to-play. But that's just me. It's also the reason I've never tried World of Warcraft, heh.

Me too. I've got a friend that keeps offering me free trials of WoW because she wants someone to play it with but I hate the idea of subscription games.

It's laughable to think a subscription fee would work. The entire reason their business model works is because people can jump in and try the game before they have to start spending money to keep up. Their profits are off the backs of a small fraction of the player base that pay a pretty penny as a premium to stay on top. They essentially pay for everyone else. If the model was shifted so everyone paid the same amount (and laffo if they kept the cash shop open), mostly everyone else would quit. A monthly fee would nearly completely halt the growth of the player base, and Maple is not known for its grasp on veteran players.

It's honestly hard to say how players both new and existing will react to this. We need some expert analysts in this field to gauge the feasibility of Maple going P2P.

It's not feasible at all. Every single P2P MMO in the western world in the last, what, 5 years? has failed in months, at best, and either crashed and burned completely, or gone free to play. The model is unusable in the west if your game isn't WoW and the fact that anyone even tries just shows how hilariously inept the people running those companies are.

It's not feasible at all. Every single P2P MMO in the western world in the last, what, 5 years? has failed in months, at best, and either crashed and burned completely, or gone free to play. The model is unusable in the west if your game isn't WoW and the fact that anyone even tries just shows how hilariously inept the people running those companies are.

Er, aren't most of those in fact WoW clones? The only thing I can think of is tera? I hope to god blade and soul is P2P >_>;

There is no way of turning GMS or any other current MS server into Pay 2 play, because they couldn't take out of the game all the advantages given to people that pays without affecting those that have already paid to them. However, in the scenario another version is created, I believe it would be the best idea in a way to eliminate all the advantages given through money as the way to fund the game, as long as the company running it can guarantee or at least can be considered capable of handling the list of issues that plague all other MS servers, specially refering to exploits that allow to generate mesos and items. Because now every character would be a customer instead of a guest to them with capability of becoming customer, they need to convince the,m that the money they are investing is worth it (although I must admit thats not mch different from how things should alreadybe).

That would come to solve one of the big issues of the game, there would still be left the issue of KMS focusing only on developing new classes and upgrading old systems, instead of adding new content or this one being lackluster when they do.

Most Games (Like TERA Online recently did) are shifting away from P2P. Why? You have more people paying, and more people likely to buy microtransaction items. Most people do not want to pay $5 (or really any amount) monthly for most games, especially Maplestory. Its not worth it, customer service would still probably suck, and i doubt they would lower CS prices. Especially for people with mules, or that lose accounts. How would you convert accounts, or deactivate an account if you want to take a break, like many maplers do at some time?

Most Maplers dont spend a dollar on the game, and never will. I do occasionally buy nx, but would never pay a monthly fee. It just is not worth it for a game like Maplestory.

Regarding hackers, it would not stop the major hackers. Sure, some of the little kids would not be able to pay and drop off, but most of the major hackers pay for hacks or have the money to spend on a monthly fee. They would be fine with dishing out $5 per month and would continue hacking. (Unless Nexon fined you for hacking when they had adequate proof, but that is unlikely). IF anything, P2P would piss people off and make them quit or turn to hacking to get back.

Edit: Nexon would have to make it's website more secure too, and improve overall security, as accounts would now be connected to a credit card. This could also lead to some people over spending if you could simply purchase items and have them charged to your card, with out needing to add credits through the site.

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?

I'd rather pay a monthly fee for a game I know isn't gonna randomly become unplayable, which is pretty much Nexon's modus operandi. How many times have we had rounds of "players who kill bosses are mysteriously banned", "items vanished from storage", "every single map is in use by a hacker", "we revamped the classes and yours is no longer able to kill monsters" etc.?

If I buy a permanent pet, and the game is impossible to play this week, I can come back when it's better. If I buy a monthly subscription I'm pomegranate outta luck.

Sorry for bringing up so many games.

Kingdom of Loathing, which only two people here are going to recognize, has a freemium system where you can donate $10 to help keep the game running and get an item that acts as currency. Said currency is tradable and can be sold in player shops, and it's used to buy new content that is only sold for the month it's released in. Those items, in turn, are also always tradable, which lets players donate and donate and be able to buy powerful items, but those who play the market (or a certain moneymaking game) can earn the stuff legitimately without paying real money for it. It's definitely a strategy that won't work in every game, but it does in KoL and it's the best example I've played of a freemium game with a cash shop.

As for it's service quality, because the game is operated by like.. seven people, they're able to connect with the community on a level I haven't seen anywhere else. They have their own podcast network with one dedicated to the game and Q&A and they have a significant presence on their forums. Oh, and they've been going for 10 years now and are about to release a second game.

/asymrave

Kingdom of Loathing, which only two people here are going to recognize, has a freemium system where you can donate $10 to help keep the game running and get an item that acts as currency. Said currency is tradable and can be sold in player shops, and it's used to buy new content that is only sold for the month it's released in. Those items, in turn, are also always tradable, which lets players donate and donate and be able to buy powerful items, but those who play the market (or a certain moneymaking game) can earn the stuff legitimately without paying real money for it. It's definitely a strategy that won't work in every game, but it does in KoL and it's the best example I've played of a freemium game with a cash shop.

As for it's service quality, because the game is operated by like.. seven people, they're able to connect with the community on a level I haven't seen anywhere else. They have their own podcast network with one dedicated to the game and Q&A and they have a significant presence on their forums. Oh, and they've been going for 10 years now and are about to release a second game.

/asymrave

Amen to ASYM. My memory on this is fuzzy but there was once an excess of currency in the market and the guys at ASYM actually invented a money sink just to tackle it too.