In a recent interview Tom Chilton stated that a free-to-play model for World of Warcraft is a possibility. The game currently enjoys a legion, nay several legions, of fans who all pay a subscription to enjoy the MMO.
Quote:
VideoGamer.com: Will WoW always be subscription based? Could it ever have a micro-transaction/free-to-play model?
TC: I certainly think it's possible that we could do some kind of micro-transaction stuff. Whether or not World of Warcraft ever goes the direction of, I guess like Anarchy Online has gone the direction of going free-to-play with micro-transactions. Whether we ever shift to a free-to-play model is really too hard to say at this point. Anything I say now could easily five years from now end up seeming like, oh my gosh, that was an incredibly dumb thing to say, how naive!
I'm not saying it isn't worth the price, I've heard a billion times over it is. But, I just wouldn't have enough time to play it to justify a monthly fee.
im not sure why it would ever go free to play... with literally millions of dollars coming in every month, it would be throwing away so much money. WoW is blizzard's cash cow. I'd rather pay that 15 a month, and having everything in the game available to me, and big updates coming every few months.
lost - Terrible headline. You have him quoted saying that they might do microtransaction stuff but that F2P is so not possible in the next five years and the future is so uncertain that he hesitates to speculate that far out.
WoW might go FTP whenever Blizzard releases their new MMO and people flock to that.
But, honestly I would probably get back into WoW if it went FTP. I don't want to have to buy RoTLK just to start WoW again.
It has interesting connotations and demonstrates the impact of F2P MMOs. That it could even ever be a consideration for Blizzard shows the importance of the F2P model in today's MMO market.
Just so you know why I posted it.
__________________ Sega: Betting on the wrong horse since 1992.
-Orz
With the cash they're pulling in from the subscribers, they could and probably will offer a "lite" client that incentivizes micro-transactions. Your toon cannot exceed level X or you cannot access new expansion content unless you sub or pay $X.XX - and other restrictions as such.
Pricing plans available for all levels of addiction!! Lol
With the cash they're pulling in from the subscribers, they could and probably will offer a "lite" client that incentivizes micro-transactions. Your toon cannot exceed level X or you cannot access new expansion content unless you sub or pay $X.XX - and other restrictions as such.
Pricing plans available for all levels of addiction!! Lol
This guy gets it.
__________________ Sega: Betting on the wrong horse since 1992.
-Orz
Tom Chilton: Well, its just that we're so tired of lugging around all this money. Honestly, there's just so much of it, I had to start sleeping on the couch because my bedroom is just wall to wall money. We really need to do something to fix that.
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"...I had to be convinced that this EA... was an EA that we would be happy as a partner with going forward." - Mark Jacobs on EA purchasing Mythic, 7/28/06
I'm not saying it isn't worth the price, I've heard a billion times over it is. But, I just wouldn't have enough time to play it to justify a monthly fee.
Agreed. What I want most of all is metered play. I think they're just talking about two extremes, the freak-o rates, which would always be any unlimited plan, and free to play. I think there are plenty of people like me who would play the game again if the pricing model let me play a few times a month and let me feel like I'm not getting raked over the coals.
There really is too much about the game that seems geared for the people with too much time on their hands. It's otherwise an excellent game though.
This is probably coming, but as other people have said, not for a few years. Eventually the grind of yet-another-expansion, yet-another-level-cap-increase will get to people, and I think you'll see WoW change into something completely different, not just current-WoW-with-microtransactions.
Put another way, WoW and its ilk are usually referred to as "theme park" (vs. "sandbox") MMOs. Most real-world theme-parks used to be "free to play" in that entrance to the park was free but each ride cost a ticket (see: Disneyland, E-tickets, etc.). Those don't really exist anymore - almost everyone has shifted over to universal access for a single up-front entrance fee.
Of course, they get money from you in ancillary ways (super-expensive concessions, Mickey Mouse hats, etc.), which WoW will probably explore more and more as time goes along. But to go F2P I think WoW will have to abandon the basic theme park system they have now.
It will be interesting to see the direction they take with this. To try and take what is there in it's current form would be near impossible to find a balance because of the way loot distribution is tied to content dungeons and competetive pvp. If it were converted to F2P I don't see where the money would be coming from except for in the form of Mounts, non-combat pets, gizmos (rocket bots and such), and trade skill recipies. Versus the subscription plan right now, absolutely 0 incentive to do so.
If they do go F2P in the future it will need to be based around a new expansion completely designed around F2P as they increase the Level cap again. The only way I see this working out to Blizzard's favor.
Maybe without some of that slick Blizzard veneer and the polished and balanced gameplay that only a bajillion hours of play testing can get you, bug still a damn decent game that is startling similar to Warcraft.
The quote in the story doesn't indicate that they are even considering such a plan.
True, but he does leave it open to future possibility. Seeing as their current userbase is large there's no need that I can see for them to do it now. I'm sure they've got designs for it down the road though; it would make a good "Plan A" retention method. Anyway, Blizz's F2P model will probably function something like what I described above, which is what I think Lost was getting at.
It would be a smart move for reeling in fresh fish; retaining current subs and giving first timers and casuals an "unlimited demo" of sorts that gives players the choice, via MT's, to improve or unlock certain aspects of your toon or the game without going "all-in". And, if that player at some point says "Hey, this shit's pretty cool, sign me up." they can go ahead and sub up and be just like any other full-time account.
yeah, they'll never make this game free to play. If anything they'll just add additional awesome stuff that you'll then have to pay for in addition to the monthly fee. Why make something free when a bajillion people are already willing to give you money for it?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Virtuoso
Are you honestly saying that you didnt know sensationalism equals more traffic equals more profit from advertisers?
Do you breathe on your own or do you have a machine handle that for you?
