Perhaps one of the greatest issues that has ever plagued the online gaming industry is the idea of a subscription fee. While this obviously does not trouble the developers and service providers, there are a great deal of consumers who feel, for some reason, a sense of entitlement when it comes to entertainment.
They say that they have paid for the game itself, which they have, and therefore believe that they should be allowed to play it online, on the servers of the company, which are maintained by the company, updated and refined by the company, entirely for free. Why pay for something that you have already purchased? I personally have qualms with this sense of entitlement. Cars, homes, cell phones, and other commodities for which one pays for long after the actual time of purchase come to mind, but perhaps this is an argument best saved for a later date.
In response to the outcry that World of Warcraft and other subscription-based games faced, despite still maintaining a large player base, a fair amount of radicals popped up in their place.
Browser games, which are often just flash-based games that are free-to-play at certain sites, were the start for this new trend found in gaming media: browser-based, free-to-play games that are more than just a half-hour time-sink. Sometimes, these games are not even browser-based. Sometimes they are stand-alone programs, but the concept is still the same. Individuals play on a server, or on their web browser, and partake in a game that they access entirely for free, save for of course their Internet service provider’s bill. One of the first major players in this realm of free web games was Puzzle Pirates, a game even I played. An online collection of mini-games, the game itself was entirely free to play. One could access every mini-game, play them all the way through, and have a good time comparable to one that could be had while playing a subscription-based game. Granted, the graphics were not something to marvel at but were interesting in their simplicity. This left some individuals scratching their heads, though.
How is it possible to make money when you aren’t charging people for your service?
Puzzle Pirates had an effective answer. Rather than charge people to play anything, they simply allowed players to buy the virtual currency, special virtual currency used to purchase certain items for their avatars and gain special benefits that other players could not gain access to.
Some people may look upon such things and scoff. Why pay money on a free game, especially when the only effects are pretty much cosmetic, save for a few exclusive benefits?
The model caught, however, and one has reason to believe that the Puzzle Pirates business model was successful, simply because it was replicated elsewhere.
Last April, game developer Electronic Arts, EA, released a browser-based Massively Multi-player Online Real Time Strategy Game, MMORTS, called Lord of Ultima, which is free to play.
Still, much like Puzzle Pirates, users can buy diamonds, virtual currency, with real money, which are in turn used in the game to purchase ministers, which confer certain benefits to their owners, as well as artifacts which can be used to gain the resources used in the game to construct buildings and make military units.
Even Massively Multi-player Online Role Playing Games, MMORPGs, are beginning to follow suit, although one can assume that the behemoth that is Blizzard’s World of Warcraft will always remain a subscription-based game.
Still, recently Lord of the Rings Online revoked its subscription fee policy, a move that surprised certain individuals, including me.
Guild Wars was one of the first MMORPGs that did not require a subscription fee to play, but it was an episodic one that required players to purchase all of the "episodes" for the full gaming experience. Evony is one of the best free browser games.
Many people enjoyed Guild Wars because of its graphical quality, and its lack of subscription fees. There were disputes about its merit due to its relatively low level cap, and the skill system, but it was still notable as a free-to-play MMORPG. The only purchase required was that of the game itself.
Still, Lord of the Rings Online has not gone entirely free. Lord of the Rings Online maintains some content that requires purchase with real money.
Like World of Warcraft, which often sells vanity pets and mounts for real life money, Lord of the Rings Online does similar things, although it takes the subscription fee out of the equation.
Like Guild Wars, individuals are still required to purchase Lord of the Rings Online and all of its expansions to experience the full game.
Free-to-play games are an interesting beast. Obviously the problem in and of itself is the daunting task of maintaining a large online game, moderating the players, and managing the systems themselves.
Free-to-play games were a risk taken, but with Puzzle Pirates’ rather surprising success and one of the first major ventures into the realm of free-to-play dedicated games that were not Flash-based games played in a browser, the business model’s success has been proven.
With major companies like getting involved on this new scheme, one can only assume that there is possibly a greater potential to make money, and the ability to keep consumers happy, with this new model.
Only time will tell if the business model is sustainable.
As an individual with limited knowledge of economy, I can make no predictions, other than simply the common-sense assumption that people do not like the idea of being told to part with their money.
They will, however, gladly surrender their cash to cosmetic avatar items, vanity pets, and momentary bonuses in a game if they are not told to do so already.
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