FilthMcNasty wrote:
As stated before, F2P is not an indicator of failure.
When a game starts out as P2P, then has to switch to F2P within a year or two, then that's certainly a sign that things aren't going according to plan... especially when such a shift is coupled with news of declining server populations, bored gamers, staff layoffs and unhappy gaming executives. I honestly can't recall the last time a thriving P2P game decided to switch to F2P. Has that ever happened?
A game being F2P can be successful. But, yes, had FFXIV gone F2P right out of the gates as ESO did and Wildstar is doing, then yeah... that would have certainly been a sign of failure.
FilthMcNasty wrote:
Do you remember what Yoshi said about why XIV wouldn't go F2P? I wouldn't blame you if you don't remember it because it didn't make sense then and after the success of many F2P games, it makes even less sense now.
The Star Wars stuff is actually not why FFXIV is P2P. The Star Wars comment was just a concern he gave about the F2P model.
Yoshi-P said FFXIV is P2P because, unlike most other gaming studios, SE doesn't face pressure to repay third-party investors, which is more common among other game studios. He cited SE and Blizzard as two of the only gaming companies with this luxury. He also cited SE's long-term profitability with XI as evidence for the P2P model.
FilthMcNasty wrote:
He essentially took a shot at SWtOR saying 'even though it's free, no one plays it' maybe a few months after a report from the producers of SWtOR said they had more people playing since going F2P.
His comments about Star Wars were, in hind sight, actually somewhat justified. Although lots of people played the game for free after the F2P shift, the Freemium population seems to have petered off and the game now seems buoyed by just under 500,000 subscribers. It's actually kind of ironic... the game started as P2P, but bled so many subscribers that it had no choice but to go F2P.. and in doing so, attracted enough players and encouraged them to subscribe by heavily restricting F2P accounts! So now it's essentially a P2P game with a reputation for being F2P.
For more context, check out these articles... the path of SWTOR is quite interesting:
- http://www.kotaku.com.au/2014/12/the-state-of-star-wars-the-old-republic-three-years-in/
- http://www.pcgamesn.com/star-wars-the-old-republic/star-wars-the-old-republic-is-actually-pretty-good-now-as-long-as-you-subscribe
- http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/feature/8149/Star-Wars-The-Old-Republic-SWTOR-F2P-Revisited.html
The simple fact is this -- FFXIV rose above the recent parade of MMORPGs that failed as P2P games. That's definitely a sign of success.
FilthMcNasty wrote:
He essentially took a shot at SWtOR saying 'even though it's free, no one plays it' maybe a few months after a report from the producers of SWtOR said they had more people playing since going F2P.
No, this isn't a typo -- I just wanted to focus on a somewhat ironic mistake in your argument.
EA never gave information about how many people were playing SWtOR after it went F2P; all they gave were numbers for new player accounts (more than 2 million). Sound familiar? It should! That's the same metric/number Yoshi-P released to show how many people were playing FFXIV! And at the time, all you could say is how player account numbers are bloated and not at all reflective of actual server populations. You brought up some really good points about how player account numbers shouldn't be trusted, and Yoshi-P apparently shared your logic when referring to SWtOR.
kainsilv wrote:
We know both models work to generate revenue. I think we will be hard pressed to prove one better than another. The fact FFXIV launched as a P2P game and continues to be successfully achieving their business plan while other games attempt it and fail to achieve similar results on a P2P model suggests something special about SE and their game.
Yep! It's not about "F2P games are/aren't failures!" It's more about, "FFXIV was able to make a dedicated P2P model work while its competitors couldn't."
Hyrist wrote:
We're less than a month away from an expansion hitting. It's time to call it. A Real Reborn was a resounding success. No game in history has pulled such a revival as a Realm Reborn did for the FFXIV title.
Yep. And I also agree with you, Hyrist, that it's never too late for SE to ***** the pooch. But ARR exceeded expectations, restored order to SE's reputation and will continue thriving as long as SE remains intelligent with its communication and content updates.
Edited, May 25th 2015 10:28am by Thayos