Free-to-play vs pay-to-play business models

[StarDust4Ever]

I read an article on Yahoo that got me thinking about the free to play model in general.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/theres...140400342.html

The F2P model is supposed to be try before you buy thing. The fair way to do it is for a game to offer some sort of trial mode, then after the player reaches the end of the trial, he/she can either pay a small premium to unlock the entire game, or quit. I've bought many games that I think are worth it to unlock, provided it is a one-time fee and they never ask me to pay again. DLC works the same way: you pay once to add something (extra levels or characters, for instance) to the game that cannot be taken away once purchased.

And I understand oftentimes it is necessary to have some sort of in-game currency system. For example, if I play an RPG game, there may be a virtual in-game currency that I use to buy healing items so I can recover damage in battle, upgrade armor, etc. It is generally possible to earn this virtual currency simply by playing the game, and various techniques such as "gold farming" can often be applied to acquire in game wealth more quickly if needed. It is similar on many levels to "grinding" where you fight a bunch of enemies in the field in order to level up your character.

However I believe where game developers cross the line is to create strategies to convert real-world currency into virtual game currency or buy virtual items with real money, to be consumed in game. Not only does it remove the challenge out of playing by taking the easy road out instead of earning and unlocking the stuff in game, but it is a serious rip-off as well, since the fee is not one time but recurring again and again. Before people know it, they are dumping large amounts of money into the game much like a gambling addict dumps money into a casino slot machine. Some people have no discretion at all.

There are tons of such apps on iOS and Android, so I'm a bit worried that such rip-offs may appear on Ouya as well in the future. Instead of paying once and getting quality entertainment, these newer "pay-to-play" games are requesting payment again and again and taking off with gamers' savings like the one-armed-bandit. It's perfectly acceptable in a controlled environment like an arcade where operators have to pay taxes, bills, and maintenance, but imo this type of setup does not belong on consoles and smart devices. For example, if a private collector buys an "arcade" game for private home use, he/she can set it up for free play and doesn't have to pay money to use it. Console games and downloadable games should in theory work the same way. The gamer pays a fee to unlock or buy the game then gets unlimited use out of it.

I hope Ouya develops a policy to keep the "pay once" type games in and the "bandits" out.

[Akira_of_Davion]

I somewhat agree with what you're saying, but the real problem with the "reoccuring microtransaction" model is lack of restraint and alternatives in order to merely make a quick buck.

For example, you're playing a game where the +10 Sword of Awesomesauce costs 10,000 in-game gold/rupees/mesetas. Grinding thatmoney is going to take awhile, and some people, as much as they enjoy said game don't have that kind of time to sink into bunny bashing. Having the alternative of trading IRL money for time is a neat idea (yes, it is also exploitable by rich kids having nothing better to do than cash buy all the best shiz, but whatever.) I used to frequent the Sodium hub on PS Home (before my system yellow lighted- and I have yet to replace it), and they had a novel approach: the in game(s) currency was completely farmable, and could be exchanged for a centralized crrency, which in turn could used to purchace other game items and cosmetic trophy goods and avatar outfits, etc. But you could also directly purchase either the game items or the
Avatar items for real money, some of which made future farming *easier* and possibly more lucrative (game currency wise, not a pun), but it wasn't impossible to do otherwise. Just took longer. This as opposed to what I've heard about FF:All The Bravest (never played it myself), where to do anything worthwhile, you have to continually pump money into it.

The problem comes when the devs decide THE ONLY WAY you can attain that +10 Sword of Awesomesauce is to for-real purchase it. No long-convoluted quest to possibly get it for free or gold farming alternative.

A lot of people are seeing this as a quick way out, and THAT is what makes it unfair. It is lack of choice out of pure greed that turns a novel idea into a scam. A game stacked to give a quicker advantage to someone willing to pay premium for it isn't quite the same as a game designed to only be winnable if you feed it your bank account. I'll gladly pay for some better armor so the lgendary dragon won't kill me quite as handily and I don't have the in-game loot to trade for an upgrade... but when I'm given nothing but sandals, loincloth, and a pointy stick and no way to get better goods other than to for-real buy them in order to feisably progress past the first square foot outside of Beginnertown, that's where I call shennanigans!

[StarDust4Ever]

Bump. I was thinking about the plethora of iOS and Android games that use this demanding payment method, and I think Ouya could come up with an elegant solution:

Make every DLC purchase a one-time affair by banning multiple purchases. Once you purchase a DLC item, you unlock it forever. Games can have as many DLC items as necessary but without recurring purchases. Subscriptions, if necessary, can be handled outside of the Ouya store, like Netflix for example.

I'll probably post a similar thread on Ouya Devs about the subject. It would really suck to have one-armed-bandits showing up on the Ouya.

[Stuart98]

Have any of you played Airmech on PC? It's an F2P Moba/RTS hybrid with an interesting model. As you level up, you gain the ability to buy more sidegrades with either bought currency or currency earned through playing. It's all sidegrades, no upgrades. There are also cosmetics which can only be bought with the premium diamonds, and stat affectors which can only be bought with the earned kudos. It isn't just a bottomless pit of buying diamonds 'till you've broken the bank however, as you can also buy Airmech Prime which is essentially like buying the game. It gives you most of the units and access to a few features like a campaign and map editor(both coming once the game leaves beta). No pay to win, no bottomless pit of diamonds. It's a total win.

[Magnesus]

I agree that it would be a great solution byt they won't do it. Reason? Money.

[StarDust4Ever]

Not to mention the pay model destroys MMORPGs for those people who don't want to throw money into a pit, because they can't compete on a level playfield with people who pay for amenities, rather than using the tried and true old-fashioned grinding to level up and earn their status by playing rather than taking the easy road and paying for it. So yeah, if you want, you can have your fancy castle with a moat and such... but it'll cost ya. And everyone else who plays the hard way gets stuck living like peasants in the game.

[JCPRuckus]

Small point of order on the OP. There's the traditional "buy once" model. There's "Free2Play", which usually comes in "ad supported" , "pay to avoid grinding", or "Pay2Win" varieties. And there's "Free2Try", also known as "try before you buy" or, if you'd rather not waste words, "demos". I just wanted to point this out, because a lot of people seem to use Free2Play and Free2Try interchangeably, and they really aren't the same thing. For example, all OUYA games must be Free2Try, but not necessarily Free2Play. However, since a Free2Play game is buy it's very nature Free2Try, they can optionally be Free2Play as well.

Moving on, I'd like to agree with everything that Akira said in his reply. If a game will let you skip grinding in exchange for real cash, that's fine. Time is money after all. However, if you can't get the best shit without coming out of pocket, that's garbage. I'm not going to start down the hole of a potentially bottomless money pit. At that point just sell me the damned game. At least then I'll know how much it's gonna cost me.

[Stuart98]

I agree that it would be a great solution byt they won't do it. Reason? Money.

If you were referring to my post, they're already doing it.

[StarDust4Ever]

However, if you can't get the best shit without coming out of pocket, that's garbage. I'm not going to start down the hole of a potentially bottomless money pit. At that point just sell me the damned game. At least then I'll know how much it's gonna cost me.

Exactly. Buy once and enjoy it!

Reminds me of an old NetZero dial up ad from ~2006 advertising "blazing fast" 56k dialup for $10/month, around the same time everyone was switching to broadband DSL and Cable. The ad featured lots of stick people throwing dollar signs into waste baskets. I wish I could find a screenshot because that's exactly what some of these "free" games are.

[DrunkPunk]

The problem comes when the devs decide THE ONLY WAY you can attain that +10 Sword of Awesomesauce is to for-real purchase it. No long-convoluted quest to possibly get it for free or gold farming alternative.

Yep! I played, and was a big part of the community, in a MMO for about 4 years that was like that. F2P but you could purchase great stuff from the cash shop and only from the cash shop. I enjoyed myself and don't regret the many hundreds of dollars my wife and I spent playing it, but I witnessed some people getting sucked into it too much. I'm very tempered now and have a 'been there, done that' attitude. I'll just play the free portion of these sorts of games and if it gets too far out there with the P2Win, I'll just stop playing. Nothing lost but a little bit of time.