MMO-RPG’s – An F2P Renting Model Idea

MMO-RPG’s – An F2P Model Idea

Currently, MMORPG’s are becoming very outdated.  The amount of time, effort, and social requirements are too much for a lot of gamers to justify spending the subscription fees, especially for multiple games in the genre.  Right now, World of Warcraft is the only MMORPG able to keep a solid subscription base, the rest of its competitors falling into the free to play market just to keep a player base.  I won’t attempt to delve into redefining the genre itself, the scope of that is immense and may not be fully possible (though creative solutions could be designed) with the rise of fast-paced competitive gaming.  What I will talk about, is a micro transaction model of play using the MMORPG genre’s primary form of sustainability.

Primary Sustainability

            The primary form of sustainability of the MMORPG genre is its endgame content.  The continual generation of new raids, new dungeons, and new items is what drives players to keep playing.  Without this continual generation of new content, the game would end and players would stop playing once they beat it.  Currently, subscription fees are what cover the design and creation cost of new content, but with more and more players unwilling to play them, perhaps a change in the way the endgame content is funded is in order.

Renting/Selling Endgame Content

            Rather than having a monthly subscription fee, I would propose using micro transactions to “rent” new content.  Players could unlock raids or dungeons for various periods of time for small fees rather than everything for a monthly fee.  This would allow anyone to play the game up to the final content, increasing player base and then allowing them to pick and choose what they wanted to do and when.  Of course, monthly options would still be available.  For an example, I will use World of Warcraft (as that’s what I’m most familiar with) and more specifically, the Cataclysm expansion when Firelands was first released.  As a note, the numbers and prices I used are purely arbitrary, just used for an example.

            Raids                                      24/hrs              Week              Month

            Bastion of Twilight –               .50                   1.00                 2.50

            Blackwing Descent –               .50                   1.00                 2.50

            Baradin Hold –                        .25                   .50                   1.25

            Throne of the Four Winds –    .25                   .50                   1.25

            Firelands –                              1.00                 2.00                 5.00

           

Dungeons                               24/hrs              Week              Month

            Release Dungeons - In my opinion the release dungeons of any MMORPG or its expansion should always be free.  It gives players things to do when max level without having to pay.

            Zul’Aman/Zul’Gurub -            .25                   .50                   1.25

            Using a model like this, players would be able to choose what content they wanted to participate in and which they didn’t need.  Previous raid tiers would be cheaper than the current tier (anything other than the top two tiers being free), and the price would also be based on the raid size; Baradin Hold and Throne of the Four Winds being cheaper for example because they are not “full” raids.  Only the newest dungeons would require “renting” with anything prior to them being unlocked for free.
            This model would be beneficial to many types of players.  Those who play once per week would find this model saving them money, paying only for what they are able/want to get to that day.  Both high end and low end raiders would benefit from this model, being able to “rent” only one tier rather than all of them.  The game itself would benefit from having a larger player base to facilitate the use of their endgame content, increasing the amount of sales, even though they are at a cheaper rate.  Hopefully, this model would also drive designers to create content that players would want to play.
            Of course, monthly packages to unlock all current “rentable” content would still be available, at a price cheaper than individually unlocking everything, allowing players who do enjoy the pay for it and forget it current subscription model.  More expensive monthly packages could also be purchased that would come with bonus “credit” for use on boosts or other purchases.  At the highest level, players could purchase new endgame content permanently for a onetime fee (say, cheaper than 3 months but more than 2).

Boosts – Exp/Items/Gold

            Aside from “renting” content, there are a few other ways to use micro transactions to generate revenue for MMORPG’s.  One of the simplest ways is to sell boosts for gold income, exp gains, and item drops.  They are things that can help a players quality of life if they want to spend the money on it, after all, sometimes leveling that third or fourth alt can become extremely tedious.  In no way, however, should purchasing these boosts feel necessary, that would only lead to driving players away, more so, they should feel like they are causing you to skip portions of the game that a player has already seen or does not want to deal with.
            My favorite idea of this nature is for items.  Players could potentially buy an item drop boost for a specific raid or dungeon.  If say in X raid or dungeon the boost is purchased, all bosses killed in that raid or dungeon while the boost is active would drop 1 extra piece of loot.  I think a lot of players/guilds would take advantage of this option if it was reasonably priced, and 1 more piece of loot would speed up progression too much, especially as the loot is random.

Buying Gold

            Simple enough, players could spend money to purchase gold.  Primarily for use in nabbing an item you want off the auction house or potentially in gold DKP raids.  Gold costs in game should not change to reflect this new option, but should still be based entirely on non-payment methods of obtainment.

Selling Cosmetic Content

            Most free to play games already do this.  It is a huge way to generate income and for players to support a game while getting something in return.  MMORPG’s should start offering purchasable gear/character modifications; a simple enough idea that could generate a very large amount of income.

Selling User Generated Cosmetic Content

            Done in a few games, Dota 2 for example, this is a very easy way for companies to make money off of a game.  Design a simple editor for cosmetic, maybe even audio, effects and allow your player base to do the rest.  Second Life, IMVU, and various games have proven that this works.  User’s will generate content and sell it to other players with the company/game taking a small cut.  The added benefit is that the user’s are pleased, both at buying something appealing to them and at getting paid for their work.  Companies/games profit with no money spent on design fees for these items.

Real Money Auction House

            I’m not sure on the logistics of how much these cost to operate, but I feel that any game that already has an auction house could benefit from having a real money version as well.  It’s another option that can be used or ignored by players and the value of is primarily in their hands.  It provides revenue to both players and the game, in an almost win/win situation.  Aside from operation costs and upkeep, there’s not much of a downside to implementing a real money auction house, especially in a game that already uses micro transactions.

What Not to Sell

            When it comes to MMORPG’s there are a few things that, in my opinion, should never be sold, otherwise the quality of the game is brought down.  Topping that list is of course, items.  I feel that any game selling items to players, especially those of superior quality, cannot last and will only drive players away.  When wallet warriors take over, the majority of a game’s population gets very upset.  In the same way, buffs to your character’s abilities in anyway, permanent or temporary, should not be sold; just as selling superior items puts the advantage in the hands of those with dollars, so too does buffs.
            The one other main thing that I believe should not be sold is travel time reduction.  The amount of time it takes to travel through the game world should not be affected by real world money.  All methods of transportation should only be available through normal means.  By not doing this, you can easily create derision between those who have it and those who don’t.  It separates players from each other, especially if the difference in the ability to travel is vast.
            To note again, a player should never feel obligated to spend their money to progress in the game.  Exp/Gold boosts should not feel required to have a pleasant experience in the game, nor should buffs be offered to players and be needed for progression.

In Closing

            I feel that a free to play model of this type could be vastly beneficial to the MMORPG genre, especially for those trying to break into the market, or trying to survive the current one as more and more players are opting out of games due to subscription fees.  By “renting” endgame content (and removing f2p level caps), a game’s player base would improve.  Though the income would no longer be predictable, by creating solid, enjoyable, and challenging endgame content, players would want to “rent” or even own new published content.  Though overall, the game would be making less money per player (most likely), they would be making more sales from the increased player base.  A model like this would allow games in the genre to keep and grow their player base while having a method of sustainability.  On top of that, once having a micro transaction system already in place, other options for income generation become available.