Comments on: Gaming News: Gamescom News (GW2, Diablo III et al), Skaven for Warhammer Online, Age of Empires goes F2P, Blizzard sues private server, 90% kids in the US play online games

By: Tesh

Tesh — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 23:08:57 +0000

I’m not talking about a wholesale conversion for the game, just opening new servers with a different model. I consider *subs* unethical; it spawns bad game design and has the effect Spinks noted: “a lot of people continue to pay when they aren’t playing very much.”

Very uncool from where I sit.

That said, I’m not really a fan of buying power either, actually, which is what it sounds like they were doing on that private server. I’d rather a “buy content” like Guild Wars or Wizard 101.

Whatever the case, there’s money being left on the table. This is a clear demonstration of that. Break up the demand curve (leave subs as one option, absolutely), and you typically find more success.

By: akasha73

akasha73 — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 13:23:21 +0000

What blizzard did was reasonable enough. As we all know World of Warcraft has revolutionized the way games are played online. It is the most happening & most sought after game on the Net. Teenagers & even adults are hooked on it. Playing on private servers are way too different from playing on the original server. If gaming is your passion, satisfaction is what you’d crave for. If it goes F2P, that’ll be a different story then.

By: scotth

scotth — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:51:48 +0000

I want to play a squat in wh40k.

By: Utakata

Utakata — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:34:22 +0000

I am not dissagreeing with you Tesh: I am quite aware how successful that model can be. But I also feels it borders on unethical, where players with healthy wallets will have advantages over those who don’t. And where it doesn’t become a game anymore when you can buy your way threw content. I know lot’s of players don’t have an issue with that. But it’s not the WoW I want to play…let’s just put it that way.

And yes spinks, I believe it’s likely been discussed too….that’s what worries me.

By: spinks

spinks — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:28:33 +0000

Yes, I'm not really sure about this also. I wonder if it'll end up feeling like so many other web based games (Travian and the like). But I'm mostly curious about the co-op notion and whether that means something other than just an in game alliance.

By: spinks

spinks — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:27:04 +0000

Thanks Yarr, I’ve updated the post to note that link.

By: spinks

spinks — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:22:47 +0000

It’s not clear that Blizzard would actually make more money if they went F2P. Subs are working well for them at the moment, the networking effect means a lot of people continue to pay when they aren’t playing very much.

But I’d be surprised if they hadn’t discussed it.

By: Tesh

Tesh — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 01:21:30 +0000

It was apparently worth a few million, though. The business model works. I’ve argued before that Blizzard would be foolish to ignore it. Smart companies keep subs *and* other options on the table, sometimes concurrently.

I have no doubt many players wouldn’t play WoW if it converted wholesale to a F2P model. I also have no doubt that many *other* players would jump right in. So, the smart money does *both*, perhaps on different servers, and caters to both crowds.

This private server showed that WoW can be profitable without subs. The beancounters at Actiblizzard won’t ignore that.

By: Yarr

Yarr — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 19:34:05 +0000

That wasn’t an ArenaNet video but someone in the press with a really poor quality camera phone. You might want to just link to the massive forum thread on Guild Wars 2 Guru:

http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/this-gamescom-compilation-information-streaming-t6651.html

that has much better videos, still shots, music, quotes, video interviews and such.

By: Utakata

Utakata — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 18:34:16 +0000

The day WoW goes F2P is the day I’ll walk from the game. Just saying…