The Daily Grind: What MMO would you like to see go free to play?

by Seraphina Brennan Jun 18th 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Business models, MMO industry, Opinion, The Daily Grind

We all seem to have that one game that hangs on the edge of our radar -- taunting us with alluring gameplay mechanics while still being just expensive enough for us to pass up the offer. You want to play it, you really do, but you just don't want to pay that much for it.

Yet, Dungeons and Dragons Online has shown that it's certainly not impossible for developers to embrace a new business model. So that now begs the question, "What game would you jump all over if it went free to play?" If you could choose any game in the whole MMO genre, what game would it be?

Furthermore, why that particular game? What about it makes you want it to be free, so you can get your paws all over it? Speak to us, oh readers, via that little comment box below, and shout your opinions to the internet beyond!

Tags: cheap, ddo, dungeons-and-dragons, dungeons-and-dragons-online, free-to-play, the-daily-grind, turbine

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

Alarie said on 8:29AM 6-18-2009

I would have to go with Everquest or Asheron's Call.

Andrew said on 9:34AM 6-18-2009

I would go with vanguard

DrMario said on 8:45AM 6-18-2009

Now, if only your question had been "what game do you want to see come to Mac OS X...."

Thrush said on 8:46AM 6-18-2009

Now thats a good question! FreeRealms or LOTRO please.

Tom said on 8:49AM 6-18-2009

LOTRO, probably.

If they were to offer a scaled down, F2P LOTRO option for players, I'd probably come back to that game. I just wasn't playing it often enough to justify paying a subscription.

The top of my "switch it to F2P" list would have been Tabula Rasa, but, oh well...

The Platypus said on 9:25AM 6-18-2009

Agreed wholeheartedly. TR should still be up and F2P. It's almost a crime for it to have been ditched completely. :(

Hub said on 8:52AM 6-18-2009

None, unless it truly is FREE from start to end. This whole free to play thing is getting silly now. If a game is worth playing long term you will find the relatively small amount. If it's truly free and you can finance, develop content and so on by blind faith and magic well good for you, in which case lets make all of them free.

Games based on 'micro-transactions' (Or bull ...droppings... as I think of them) have all ways been a bad joke. There was a load of the original online MUD games that tried this pay for a boost kind of things, and it killed every single one in the end. People either went for totally free or to a payed model and every single one that let you boost for a few hours for a half a dollar or... well Euro now, turned to crap for a thousand reasons.

So we have been here before and it did wonders towards killing what was a thriving little scene as a load of free games frantically tried to cash in on the craze.. and players left in droves after a few months, leaving the bleached bones of a good few games in the process. To be honest they kind of deserved it. It stops being a levelling XP race (YAY) and becomes a cash race instead (...oh) and it's not half as much fun to keep shoving cash in as time.

But don't worry, this time the games arn't text based and as they cost a lot more funding, surely the same laws of game play experience won't be the same.. I mean now it's like 3D and everything....invest guys.. invest...

Actually maybe it will be different and maybe it might work out, but I wouldn't like to be putting cash up front. It'll be interesting to see if history repeats itself.

Dethgar said on 10:36AM 6-18-2009

Most F2P games turn a profit. Some of them turn insane profits(Runescape). Most P2P games turn a profit. One of them turns an insane profit(Duh). Most others make enough to keep making new content and things but never really get further than cult status, aside from the obvious. RMT with exception to "buying items and xp" isn't an entirely bad concept. You can play the game for free, purchase some fluff occasionally and not be held down by $15 a month. Unless you are a game like Eve, which offers a real game world, RMT isn't going to doom your game and can only end up enhancing it, as long as you don't offer crucial items. P2P has hurdles that even WoW can't overcome. F2P with RMT, under the right guidance and with a solid game, will inevitably produce more profit and more buzz.

max said on 9:17AM 6-18-2009

old world WoW.

Venekor said on 9:22AM 6-18-2009

Planetside made into a F2P Browser game like Free Realms.

Pedro said on 9:30AM 6-18-2009

I think that a huge amount of old MMOs could change to f2p.
One that comes to my mind is DAoC. That game is nearly deserted but it is a great game.
Another one is EQ.

On more recent games, they could make Vanilla WoW f2p and i would love to see Vanguard as f2p as well.

Rayingri said on 9:24AM 6-18-2009

LOTRO definately, good possibility.

marcus.mattingly said on 9:26AM 6-18-2009

I would say Warhammer Online and Tabula Rasa

Picklecopter said on 1:50PM 6-18-2009

So ya, Tabula Rasa was free for the last month it was alive but now it is gone forever. Too bad you missed it.

marcus.mattingly said on 10:46PM 6-18-2009

Yeah, I played it before it closed up. I just wish they would bring it back as a free-to-play. It had it's flaws, but the combat was really fun.

Andrew said on 9:37AM 6-18-2009

you can always go to one of the private server communites for vanilla WoW

Master Saji said on 9:42AM 6-18-2009

I would love to see Tabula Rasa have a micro-transaction option or 'cash mall'

OH...wait...

ScytheNoire said on 9:47AM 6-18-2009

Every MMO and future MMO.

The subscription model is broken. It causes players to feel like they NEED to play to get their money's worth, thus, hurting other games and the users chances to try new things.

F2P and RMT games allow you to come and go as you please, try new stuff, buy things as you need them and feel they are useful for you.

I'm done with subscription games, I want to enjoy games, not feel like I need to play them to get my value. Too many other good games to play. Any one who releases a subscription game these days is a damn fool, because it's too limited and requires too much of a commitment.

If AoC or WAR went RMT over subscription, their numbers would swell so large they'd make WoW look puny. If TOR goes with box sales and no subscription, it will crush WoW in numbers. Any good game these days can do it. Subscription model is dead.

matthewclaycomb said on 10:43AM 6-18-2009

I think all MMOs with many members will switch over to F2P instead of closing because of time. For instance, when Blizzard's next MMO comes out, there's no way they will shut down WoW and they would have to do something big to justify paying 15 bucks for WoW when you can pay 15 and play this awesome new (Hopefully even better) game. I think if WoW went F2P when their new MMO is launched and have purchasable items with real cash such as XP boosts, honor boosts...etc, it would make more money for WoW in the long run and many more people could play WoW.

Bri said on 9:58AM 6-18-2009

A move to F2P is exactly what SWG needs right now. Everyone sees the writing on the wall for that game, with SWTOR warming up in the bullpen. Changing the game to a F2P model would invigorate it with new players, and give the game a reason to exist beyond SWTOR's release. Of course, that's possibly a good reason in LucasArt's thinking why *not* to move SWG to F2P, nobody knows but them.

I so desperately need a good MMO that isn't high fantasy right now, but after years of playing SWG, I feel I've finished it, and refuse to pay to play it anymore. I'd be back there in a flash if it were free.