A Trion Shocker(Is Defiance Next?)

[dlCHIEF58]

Not really. Pay to play means you NEED to spend real money in the game if you're going to be competitive. There are a lot of games that are subscription based, where everyone has equal access to everything (based on time played, level, etc.). Pay to play is where you have to buy the top level gear in order to compete.

Actually what you are describing is a "Pay-To-Win" model. "Pay-to-Play" commonly refers to games with a one time purchase and no monthly fee. Probably a more fitting term to describe this model would be "Buy-THEN-Play", which would cover most games as well as Defiance.

[WhiteCell]

How can a game that is already has no subscription go to a "free to play" model? It's already there. Your comment and reasoning makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. They aren't going to make ANY money giving the game away (see the next paragraph as to why).

If Defiance is going to generate more revenue, they do need to make some changes. I'd start with the store pricing of costumes - they are WAY too high. If they get those prices down to the impulse buy level ($2-$5) then they will get a lot more sales there. Make those microtransactions MICRO. But it is something they need to do fairly quick before they do lose too many players, and something like that won't draw them back either.

You console gamers really are clueless when it comes to anything outside of a game console.

When you have to buy a product(game) in order to play it that isn't "free to play". "Free to play" means exactly that. You can literally download the game and play it for free without spending any money. Hell, Sony has one of those games DC Universe already.

As for your silly assumptions that MMO's cannot make money this way you're so wrong. There are mechanism inherent to free to play games to generate revenue and several are already in Defiance although you bought the game. I highly suggest you go download Neverwinter Online and check it out. You'll see pricing for things ranging from $1 to $200. I've literally played the entire game from level 1 to 60 without spending a dime. There are plenty of others willing to spend money though and when the game is free to play it's a benefit for all involved due to it being an MMO. Without a continued stream of new players which risks absolutely nothing player bases for games which require players to be enjoyable die off. Going free to play drastically increases this player base and it keeps that continued stream of new players coming for far longer than any sort of pay entry regardless of how small the initial fee is.

[Texas2SteponUrGrave]

You console gamers really are clueless when it comes to anything outside of a game console.

When you have to buy a product(game) in order to play it that isn't "free to play". "Free to play" means exactly that. You can literally download the game and play it for free without spending any money. Hell, Sony has one of those games DC Universe already.

As for your silly assumptions that MMO's cannot make money this way you're so wrong. There are mechanism inherent to free to play games to generate revenue and several are already in Defiance although you bought the game. I highly suggest you go download Neverwinter Online and check it out. You'll see pricing for things ranging from $1 to $200. I've literally played the entire game from level 1 to 60 without spending a dime. There are plenty of others willing to spend money though and when the game is free to play it's a benefit for all involved due to it being an MMO. Without a continued stream of new players which risks absolutely nothing player bases for games which require players to be enjoyable die off. Going free to play drastically increases this player base and it keeps that continued stream of new players coming for far longer than any sort of pay entry regardless of how small the initial fee is.

Has Trion tried to hire you yet? They could prob use some of your advice

[baelrusk]

Very much so WhiteCell

Even WoW could in a sense be played for free. The trial version has no time limit......just caps on almost everything.
They would go F2P if they believed there would be no more noticeable sales. At that point they would go F2P and upgrade the ingame store. No purchase or subscription fee would bring in more players, which increases potential in game sales.

I don't see that happening though unless the ingame store starts selling uber weapons.

[RegularX]

When you have to buy a product(game) in order to play it that isn't "free to play". "Free to play" means exactly that. You can literally download the game and play it for free without spending any money. Hell, Sony has one of those games DC Universe already.

I find it fascinating that people continue to point to DCUO as if it's something that should be emulated.

[Duke DeSilva]

I can not even address the stupidity in your statements, I do not mean to attack but I mean common the game is BUY TO PLAY there was never a subscription for it. DLC is not a must have but most will opt for it yes but some of it is free to begin with.

I think I am going to get a aneurysm from this I just can't wrap my head around people like you I feel some generation out there failed to do its duty on raising children. What has happened...

Theres no need to be a douchbag, He asked a question, got answers. learned a lesson.

[Woodlouse]

its pretty much free to play now, yea we had to buy the game itself but we dont pay a subscription fee.

[WhiteCell]

its pretty much free to play now, yea we had to buy the game itself but we dont pay a subscription fee.

free to play now

we had to buy the game

Please re-read this carefully.

[WhiteCell]

I find it fascinating that people continue to point to DCUO as if it's something that should be emulated.

Because it's in a better state than Defiance?

DC went from a bomb to a success now 2 years after launch.

Apparently you want Defiance to fail and Trion to fail with such an attitude.

[cusman]

Rift finally bit the bullet today. Trion announced it's going free to play. This was surprising to say the least considering it was one of the few subscription MMO's that had a successful launch and playerbase. It's clear that Trion decided to they could increase revenue going this route even if their previous business model was profitable. If Trion is doing that with their flagship game what are the odds of Defiance going this route?

Looks like Defiance might be going free to play shortly.

Would it improve the game? Would it mean more and faster updates?

Discuss.

*update*

Defiance developer hit with massive layoffs: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/...52d50d66000029

I don't understand how making a game Free to Play... would be better for business?

I mean sure, whales with big wallets and poor judgement will spend endless amounts on same game doing something trivial within the game like buying overpriced costumes, or in the case of Defiance useless BITs to open lots more Lockboxes... but I don't see a majority of players going in and doing that.

In Defiance specifically... I also don't see how having more free-loaders in the game spaces would somehow improve the game experience for those fat-wallet whale players to continue to stick with Defiance spending money on little nothings to continue funding the game for all the rest of the free loaders enjoying the meat of the game.