Nice article. I agree with all the points you bring up.

The freemium business model (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freemium) that LOTR uses is gaining a HUGE level of popularity in iOS games. My buddy who is currently teaching me the ropes in WoW, tried LOTR but couldn’t stand the imbalance between the free content and the premium content.

The only benefit of this business model however, is that it caters to causal players. I can see enough casual gamers supporting the freemium model for it to stick around for a while. More dedicated players will always want to purchase a better gaming experience and will most likely shun micro-transactions. But as is the case with games priced like Angry Birds, there is a HUGE push by publishers to lever the casual gamer’s desire to remain as close to free as possible.

Unfortunately, casual gamers out-number dedicated players and their immersion into a game is shallow enough that the limitations of “free” content will most likely go unnoticed.

In order for the freemium model to fail, there will need to be a massive migration of casual gamers towards a higher level of dedication to gaming.

Next up: In-game advertising.

@Solo4114 – have you played Alan Wake? The in-game advertising is ridiculous.

No, but I remember the controversy when one of the Battlefield games (2142?) announced that it’d have in-game advertising. To me, it seems the logical choice if you offer free to play or want to defray the costs of an otherwise expensive game, or just want some extra cash.

I wouldn’t mind the in-game advertising if it was done in a subtle manner. Movies have been doing it for a while now, and save for a few overly obvious instances I think it works well enough without ruining the experience.

Yeah, I’d think product placement could actually help certain games by enhancing the immersion factor. This, however, poses a problem for the MMO genre. Most MMOs are set in alternate universes, fantasy worlds, or far-flung futures. It wouldn’t make a ton of sense to have your Elven ranger stumble out of the forest from his latest adventure and slake his thirst with….a Pepsi? Nor would it make sense that you’d be piloting your Pilum XK58 Interceptor fighter craft to the nearest jumpgate, fresh from uploading a nanovirus on the ComSec mainframe, only to see an advertisement for the latest iPod as you queue up for the jump sequence.

Because fantasy dominates the MMO genre, and sci-fi is a distant second (with modern-world superhero games an even more distant third), I think the issue of how to advertise effectively would be the real issue. Maybe offering a “free to play” version that, like Hulu, plays ads as you log in would work. Then you pay a small monthly fee to have the “basic” game without ads, etc.

It’s a tough balancing act, though, and I think that it underlines the difficulty of making the F2P model work.

When I think of an excellent product placement in a fantasy movie, I always think of Starbucks in Shrek 2. Nothing beats that. =)

“the free mode is really a gimmick more than anything.”

Well, according to this, not only did LotRO enjoy a 400% player increase, their revenue also doubled.

http://mmomfg.com/2010/10/08/free-to-play-lotro-1008/

And you think their revenue doubled from the people who are playing for free? =)))

Sorry, I’m a bit slow. I see what you were actually saying now.

Having 2 accounts on LOTRO I can tell the difference from Premium and VIP (the one is monthly subscription and the other is buying anything from the store or going from subscription to F2P). One of my accounts I went to F2P. Now I already had 5 toons at cap or near cap so I really didn’t notice too much. I did however lose all my swift travels that was earned (deeds, quests). That did not fit well so they changed it that all perks such as swift travel that was earned during subscription wouldn’t be lost once you downgraded.

When I started a new toon from scratch is where I saw the main difference. You are limited to bag space,travel, Auction house, and quest packs. I tried to see how far I could level up my toon without buying anything. I quickly ran out of quest and barely hit level 28. They did change it now that you can do the “epic” books and go up to cap without technically buying anything. I really didn’t want to grind for TP so I instead decided to buy what I wanted.

This is how it worked for me. I pay $10 a month (30 at a time for 3 months) and they give me 500 TP points (depends on the price but that is about $5 worth of TP). Everything is open to me because I already bought the expansions. On my F2P account I decided to buy the zones when I wanted them. I opened up things that I know I need such as bag space, extra vault space, unlocking the gold cap, and extra trait slots. This cost me the first month about $17. The 2nd month I didn’t buy anything but used TP that earned in game to open up a few travel location and another trait. The third month I spent $8 to open up a zone I wanted to quest in. I hit the sale and saved about 30%. The next month I spent $20 and opened up all the quest packs that I wanted in the game (this included the expansion). So that is $45 in 4 months. About what I pay for on my subscription account. But the only thing I have left to buy is skirmishes (8) at about $3 – $5 worth of TP. After that I no longer need to buy anything unless I want to buy the “convenience” items or cosmetic items.

So if someone looks at it that way then it is very possible to eventually play for free (technically you can play for free from the start but you are so handicapped that it is not fun). I know eventually Turbine wants these players to keep paying money so they are pushing for VIP (Subscription). I made it to 65 on my F2P toon (premium) and other then some minor inconvenience there is not much difference then my sub account.

As I have a lifetime sub to LotRO, I am automatically a VIP at no charge. I believe that earns me 500 pts a month, as well as a few thousand that were given to me when they first went free-to-play.

(Just felt like flexing a bit.)

Yeah they already decided they won’t get any more blood….. uh I mean money from lifers.

Actually, I’m curious, has anyone here been playing those anime games that I trash above? I’d be interested in hearing your perspective.

I remember when I was in school, many of my classmates played RuneScape instead of World of Warcraft. Curious, I asked why and was told that RuneScape was free and therefore, to the moneyless student, more appealing. I was intrigued, since the $15 a month for Warcraft could be used for something else, and decided to try it. After half an hour, I gave up. I’d rather pay money than play that crap. World of Wacraft has true quality behind it and even someone like me, who understands nothing about any other computer games or systems, knows that. RuneScape? Pft, please. If it isn’t the crappy graphics that turns a person away, it’s the amount of limits you encounter as you play. You can’t move there, you can’t do that, you can’t talk to them, just no. No thank you.

I may have gotten a bit off topic, but this article confirms what I believe. If you want something that has quality, you have to pay for it. What is worth it in this world is rarely free. I always say “to each his own” and really, what does it matter to me what other people play? But I would never play a free MMO. I’ve learned my lesson.

LOL at Runescape!

I am pretty new to DDO but i’ve already dumped $50 into it by buying 5 of the $10 750TB cards. The way I see it based on research into the game, experience from other games like WoW, I think I’m set in DDO for a few months to come. I bought the 32point build, some +2 gear and a 100 stack of heal potions(I have yet to use). The gear I bought will be the best I can use for quite a few levels and with my schedual for work/family, I’m guessing that I won’t spend any TurbinePoints for months. Not unless I chose to.

Free-to-play with microtransactions has one big advantage, though:

It integrates much better into a lifestyle where I don’t have all the time in the world anymore. I can take a break for a few weeks without feeling I’m throwing my money away. I don’t want to do that as a subscriber because I pay a monthly fee.

This is the main reason I don’t do subscription anymore.

We solved that problem on the podcast. =) All that companies have to do is sell game time that doesn’t expire. So when you pay for a month, you actually buy 720 hours that you could use whenever you see fit.

After reading your review of My Country for Android ( and agreeing…it looked sweet in the beginning, but the frustration of build/destroy looking for a specific item wears thin quickly and I won’t pay for in-game currency…the game, sure, if I like it…but continuously needing to buy game money…ack ), I bounced over here.

I’ve played LotRo, WoW, Eve and a handful of others…I currently still pay for my Eve account as the game is cathartic to me when I go mining. I do miss WoW…it is a beautiful world with tons of stuff to do (it also has the highest level of elitism among players I’ve ever encountered. “You have to have the achievement to go.”, “It’s your first time in here??? I’m out…noobs.”, etc.) My youngest son and I play LotRo together, because it’s free…neither one of us feels truly hampered because we started the game free and it’s something that him and I do together…he beats things, I heal him. Father-son time

Budget constraints also play a part in F2P (freemium) choices…I’m the sole earner supporting my house and getting multiple game subscriptions in the budget isn’t easy.

Strangely, as an old fart who used to play pencil/paper D&D and other games, I’ve also kept up with old text-based MUDs that I’ve played on…those don’t even have micro-transactions…possibly benefits if you donate to keep the server up and running, but not neccessary.