IMHO #1: Free to Play, Even for Jerks

If the movie Starship Troopers taught me anything, other than to fear giant bugs, it is a quote from Lt. Rasczak: “Something given has no value.”. F2P (Free-to-Play) games are easy for anyone to pick up and start play. The problem is that they are equally easy to stop playing. If someone spends $50 on an MMO, they are going to stay for at least the free month. They will take the time to learn the game and even deal with the occasional bugs here and there. It feels like an investment because, well, it is. I know they say that time is money, but that’s not always the case. Money, however, is always money. If you buy a donut, you’re going to eat that donut. If you’re given one, you may ask, “What’s wrong with it?”. When it comes to F2P games, you’re generally going to ask that same question. If you spend money, you’re going to focus on the positives.

Anonymity can bring out the worst in some people, and F2P games have it in droves. Since anyone can create an unlimited amount of free email accounts, they can also create an unlimited number of game accounts. Cost is no longer a hindrance and rarely is any identity-confirming information collected (until an actual purchase is made). The problem is that players that spend money are generally not the troublemakers. I understand that the marketing scheme here is to get as many people in the game as quickly as possible; this is the foundation of the F2P model after all. If there isn’t a bouncer at the door, everyone gets in. Everyone gets in if there isn’t a bouncer at the door, and if it’s easy for the bad guys to get in (and come back), the good guys aren’t going to hang around for long.

MMO pricing models are going through a healthy restructuring right now, but I don’t see pure Free-to-Play sticking around. Sure, a couple games have had success with it, but there’s only so much room on the F2P bandwagon. Most will end up bursting in this newly-formed bubble of the game industry…Pets.com, anyone?

–Matt Hostler