tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post77511176399995249..comments2024-03-28T10:18:05.213+00:00Comments on Inventory Full: Playing Hard To Get: WildstarBhagpusshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-26734080493506435352015-04-24T20:03:45.920+01:002015-04-24T20:03:45.920+01:00I recently wrote about how Sub games aren't re...I recently wrote about how Sub games aren't really "all you can eat" as they timelock content (dailies, lockout raid times, etc.) and do everything possible to slow your rate of gear and character growth to ensure you keep paying. It's smoke and mirrors. At least B2P and F2P are more honest about it.<br /><br />For me, I'm in with WildStar. Not only did I buy the game, I have about 70+ login reward boxes waiting for me. I'm looking forward to playing through the single player storyline, much how I am loving it in TSW right now. I can't wait to unlock more of the secrets of Nexus - at my own pace.Iseyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09489936780809266112noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-91427676840653142312015-04-17T01:38:54.653+01:002015-04-17T01:38:54.653+01:00To me, a sub implies more of a trust in the Devs p...To me, a sub implies more of a trust in the Devs producing what you want than is the case with Freemium. 'Pay to pray' if you like. It's probably also a bit of semantics, I agree with you and superior (and others) that with a sub there is more of a feeling of 'having to' play, whilst with Freemium I find it easier to just play for the heck of it.<br /><br />BTW, I like your new anti-robot verification, though it does make a tad hungry lol<br />Yup, we still have brick-and-mortar computer game stores, as well as e.g. toy shops having pretty extensive libraries (though the later increasingly more console than PC). Nedgame and Gama Mania are two of the bigger chains. It probably has at least somewhat to do with the second hand-market, as over here a consumer has the legal right to sell his purchased game on (as well as making a copy for personal use, though as protection against piracy is also allowed it does get rather murky if you really dive into it).<br /><br />Also, with the country being so small and densely populated, popping over to the local Weird Pete (or any conveniance store for that matter) is less of an issue than with more spacious countries, though Internet sales are afaik still on the rise so in a few years time this may have changed. NetherLandsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-83208953122388667032015-04-16T23:27:55.365+01:002015-04-16T23:27:55.365+01:00Exactly! Of course it also relates to disposable i...Exactly! Of course it also relates to disposable income to a degree but even so, waste is waste.Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-14513511535025396372015-04-16T23:25:03.212+01:002015-04-16T23:25:03.212+01:00I can pay one monthly sub and not get too concerne...I can pay one monthly sub and not get too concerned whether I'm "getting my money's worth" but paying for more than one game that I don't play very often starts to feel a bit, well, incautious. There's literally no end to the number of F2P games I can enjoy not playing though. B2P games I don't play sit very comfortably in the middle along with all the other minor self-indulgences like CDs I ever listen to and DVDs I never watch. I have shelves of them!<br /><br />I'm with you on the damage the sub model does to gameplay too. It really is six of one and half a dozen of the other. The hoops that sub game designers like to have players jump through to keep them playing can be more annoying than any cash shop. The problem is, the sub games also have cash shops and the F2P games also have hoops...<br /><br />Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-56668360665443639832015-04-16T23:19:21.981+01:002015-04-16T23:19:21.981+01:00You still have computer game shops? We have one le...You still have computer game shops? We have one left in the city I live in and I think they might have two shelves of PC games. Not been there for about a year. By now they might not have any.<br /><br />The only rally major difference I can see between Sub/B2P/F2P is the financial barrier to access. Once you jump over that the actual gameplay seems remarkably similar to me. I imagine it depends on your playstyle to some degree but the move away from subs hasn't significantly impacted the way I play MMOs as far as I can tell. Bhagpusshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03499162165023939880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-82389452412626746372015-04-16T17:53:51.051+01:002015-04-16T17:53:51.051+01:00For years I usually sub to only one game and then ...For years I usually sub to only one game and then play some other F2P, B2P or console games. I feel like I do not get my money's worth with the amount of free time I have to game when I am subbed to two games. So for me, a game with a subscription just has to be better to the one game I am currently subbed too.Topauznoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-85179198959422461612015-04-16T16:20:21.461+01:002015-04-16T16:20:21.461+01:00I definitely agree that being unwilling to pay a s...I definitely agree that being unwilling to pay a subscription isn't just about the game being not good enough. My dislike for the sub model has little to do with the cost. $15 a month isn't too much to ask under most circumstances. It has more to do with the psychology of it. I play a lot of different games, and I feel like if I'm paying a subscription, any time I'm not playing that game is a waste of money. Maybe it's not entirely logical, but I can't shake the thought, and it makes me feel very pressured to play, which rather sucks the fun out.<br /><br />Without a sub, you also get more control over what you spend and potentially more bang for your buck. I understand subscription fees go to producing new content and all that, but really all I see is my money vanishing into the aether with no reward beyond the privilege to keep playing a game I've already paid for. In a F2P/B2P model, I'm immediately rewarded for paying with a fancy mount, a nice outfit, or something else fun, and I can vote with my wallet by only spending on items and content I enjoy, thus subsidizing the developers to continue producing the things I care about.<br /><br />It's also something of a fallacy that a subscription means the need for cash won't harm gameplay. Subscription games design with monetization in mind every bit as much as F2P games do. Why do you think WoW is so found of its grinding and gating? I'd rather be given the choice of cash or grind than have to pay for the right to grind as in sub games.<br /><br />As for WildStar in particular, I do expect a business model shift soon. If they're not planning one, they're spectacularly foolish. A subscription-only game is a tough (almost impossible) sell in this day and age, and doubly so for a game with an unknown IP and some well-publicized design blunders like WildStar. They've already got a great basis for cash shop monetization with their mount, costume, and housing systems.<br /><br />Myself, I have no horse in the race. WildStar just wasn't fun for me, so I wouldn't play it even if it was free. I guess in this case it really wasn't good enough for the subscription.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1510920011443550663.post-51977094863445044132015-04-16T15:33:48.088+01:002015-04-16T15:33:48.088+01:00It's always a bit surreal for me to read boxes...It's always a bit surreal for me to read boxes get recalled, as over here too often computer gaming shops keep games on the shelves for 'normal' prices even when they are incorperated into other games (eg WoW expansions that have become included with the BattleChest base game), turned F2P (eg Age of Conan), or even F2P and then shut down (e.g. Vanguard). <br /><br />Personally I feel that's almost tantamount to fraud, but they 'get away with it' by claiming, if you push them, that yes they do know they are basically selling empty boxes but the bigwigs of the shop see it as 'collectables' (despite often literally offering nothing that can not be gained for free).<br /><br />As far as subscribing/expenditures goes, I think it also comes down to wether you feel a game/company 'deserves' payment and/or subsidizing its continued existence, and wether the monetization is conductive to one's gaming experience.<br /><br />For example, as with other Freemiums's I have played, I have purchased quite some of the special currency of Eldevin despite the shop having very few things that attract me (I don't like the visuals enough to get vanity Gear, the Lockboxes are annoying and about 200% to expensive to be called 'microtransaction', and I'm too Dutch to buy many bags that essentially cost 15 Euro's each - I know I have the currency but I just think it sets a bad example, I'm weird like that) simply because I want to support the game, yet, as was the case with poor Vanguard, the subscription option would actually degrade my gameplay (as was done with Vanguard, it a.o.t. speeds up Character Level XP, meaning you zip through that content even faster than is already the case - which in turn makes Crafting a chore past +/- level 10 as by the time you can Craft your Gear you already outlevel it if you're not very, very careful, and the severely-felt lack of Alternate Endgame Play/twinking/XP-Block means your below-cap Craftables are too often Vendor-fodder) so I 'can't' support it the 'regular' way.<br /><br />On the flip-side, in my opinion WoW if anything cemented the 'Kill the Journey, Kill the World, End Game Is All' myoptic view that has laid waste to virtual worlds ever since 'uber Guilds' started to blacken MMORPG's, and has especially since Cataclysm made this worse each and every Patch, and as such with the 6.0 (pre) WoD Patch I decided I had had enough and didn't want to subsidize it any longer. So while it still may have the potential of being a great game to me again (if only because post-WoW games are generally severely lacking in Class and especially Race choices), I refuse to spend another nickel on it till they change things (back) - which realistically speaking will not happen any time soon, to put it mildly. <br /><br />(Note that in this I disagree with a common opinion e.g.<br />http://www.wolfsheadonline.com/the-destructive-legacy-of-blizzards-world-of-warcraft/ (quoted with others at http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/16953845655 )<br />that WoW making MMO's less dependable on critical mass and the logistic nightmares forced grouping brings is what 'killed MMO communities and hence virtual worlds'') NetherLandsnoreply@blogger.com