Earlier this week, Spanish developer Virtual Toys confirmed that they are working on a multi-platform free to play Wii U game, the first of its kind to be announced for the upcoming Nintendo console. Iwata had previously confirmed that the Wii U would support free to play (or F2P) games, and this would be an option for developers to use when bringing their new downloadable titles to the Wii U's eShop.
For the uninitiated, free to play games revolve around the idea that you can play the game for free, with many offering the opportunity to 'enhance' your experience by enabling you to purchase extra units of currency, weapons, items, or skills to help you through the game.
However, these aren't (or at least, shouldn't) be necessary to complete the game or to play against your friends. Some of the most popular F2P games include Lord of the Rings Online, Maple Story, or even Temple Run. The F2P model has also been incredibly popular for new mobile platforms, especially on smartphones.
Most people would welcome the idea of a free to play game initially: a game that doesn't cost anything? Why on earth would you say no? And if no purchases are necessary, surely that makes it entirely free?
Sure, you might be right but I have several bones to pick with the concept of free to play games: the first being that, in reality, they're often not free. Sure, you might not have to pay to play them, but, in reality, what you get is a bottlenecked experience: not buying any of the add-ons makes it painfully slow to make any meaningful progress in the game.
Sometimes this comes in the form of restricting the amount that the player can do in a certain time period; in other instances there are crazily high targets that would take weeks to hit without getting that instant boost from buying something. Doing either of these, or something similar, instantly rewards the player with the disposable cash to buy these add-ons, not the player who may be more skilled or more involved in the game. As a result, the game only becomes fun if the player hands over their cash, thus defeating the assumed purpose of a free to play game.
This leads into the second argument against F2P and that is how it affects the gameplay itself. As I've already outlined, the game will more than likely be compromised by how much money you're willing to put into it - but this goes further than merely being a frustration for the player. but actually places those who aren't willing to invest in the game at a disadvantage when pitted against players who have done.
Again, I feel that your game experience shouldn't be limited by how much money you're willing to put into a game, but rather the skill that you gain from playing through a game and improving as you play it. Buying victory is neither satisfying nor impressive. Many F2Ps, however, continue to encourage the opposing mentality.
Finally, and biggest of all I feel, is that the game's direction will be severely impacted by the inclusion of purchasable content. Suddenly, the game is no longer aiming to be the best it can be, but setting up the best situations and opportunities for players to be coerced into buying extra content. The emphasis shifts from being focussed on how the game plays to how money can be made.
Ss a result of this, the quality of the game suffers. No longer are gamers given a game that is produced for them, but they are given one designed to boost the coffers of the publishers. Instead of being a narrative driven by characters or plot, it is driven by money. I am, of course, not against free games that remain free (although I would still question their quality in many cases). But I think that gamers should approach the concept of a F2P game with caution. If we're lucky, Wii U developers will see sense and won't try to abuse the opportunity they've been given. Unfortunately, they have done on almost every other platform that supports free to play, and so we have to be prepared to see the same type of behaviour on the upcoming console.
What do you think of free to play games? Would you like to see more or less of them? And do you think that they add or detract from a console's gaming library? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
I completely agree.
If a game is F2P then it has one of three things running for it, you covered two of them, being quality or additional content or purchases but the third way they get their money is advertising other products... can you imagine mario running through the mushroom kingdom only to be hit in the face by a banner for pepsi max? Nothing is free to produce so they must be making their money somewhere!
I view F2P like I view any other game... is it something I'm wanting to play? If it is I'll get it, and if I enjoy it then I'll probably pay for additional content based on what I think is 'fair'. I wouldn't do it purely because it gives me an 'advantage' and that's where I've stopped playing most F2P games in the past.
So they're okay but once I've played a game it hugely depends on the type of game it is and why I'm paying them money. I wouldn't pay more than retail price for a game so any F2P that will eventually charge more than that to play can just go suck on it!
As long as there are a few F2P games on the Wii U that's fine by me.
'No longer are gamers given a game that is produced for them, but they are given one designed to boost the coffers of the publishers.'
That's a bit unfair - ultimately, all games are produced and sold to turn a profit, not just free to play games. I think developers are starting to work out now what's reasonable for F2P games - Tiny Tower and Pocket Planes on iOS are good examples, where there are two distinct in game currencies: the one that can be purchased often only being able to buy minor cosmetic effects. While of course it wouldn't be great if the Wii U was flooded with F2P games, a few really wouldn't hurt.
I download the game for free and play it for a bit, if it has suffered as you suggested it might, then so be it. If it turns out to actually be a lot of fun however then I may be willing to pay for dlc etc. in much the same way I might (or more usually might not) in a full price game.
>Post about F2P
>No mention of TF2
>oh onm
i agree, the company thats going to make this F2P game look crap.
still w8ing on flipnote studio/memo pad 3D. any1 forgotten.
(my language is not not that bad-i got 5 GCSE A's in my English)
Free-to-players are at a disadvantages to Buying Players in most cases, such as an Online RPG, being weaker and having weaker equipemtn than payers. This can be bypssed by having two areas, where one holds Free Players and the other accomadates buyers (this kind of thng is, or was done in Runescape, I'm not sure it has changed)
Its a vry god think for wiu
Yes, why was there no mention of F2P TF2? Infact TF2 is probably one of the best F2P games out there. You can't pay for any advantages, you can get any of the weapons in the game, the only thing you'd pay for is purely cosmetic items/HATS.
If they have F2P games like that on the Wii U, I have no problems with that.
some f2p games are great quality and quantity - for example tribes:ascend
f2p games with great quality may be rare, but when they come about theyre amazing.
Tribes accend is an alright free to play game. It actually feels fun without buying anything
well tf2 is free to play and its the greatest fps ever players are provided with tons of hats, weapons, maps, game modes without having to pay a single penny in fact you only use money to buy additional items but these arnt neccsary and can be picked up in trades or drops
As much as I agree that most free to play games can become annoying, there are quite a few which aren't impacted by it. Team Fortress 2 is still a fantastic game since going F2P. Games like Dust 514 and Planetside 2 which are fully designed to be F2P moreover, are shaping up to be breathtaking in scope!
Ultimately, all games are driven by a desire to make money, it's only the luxury of success which lets developers like Shigeru Miyamoto pursue his wildest (and craziest) dreams!
One night, i had a dream. a dark overweight man clad in a floral shirt walked towards me, loomed over and wispered the words "Get steam now, or I will eat you" and from now on my mind has changed about gaming, the f2p genre and fat men in general. maybe gabe newell will visit you too
Seconded. In fact, purchased items are given a 'dirty' quality, and are inferior to those earnt through in-game crafting, etc. If memory serves, the addition of the mann co. store while the game WASN'T F2P initially decreased the game's player-base. But now it IS F2P, They make ten times more a month than they did previously. AND you can become a premium player, if savvy, for 21 pence. Very nice. (It's ironic, really, that TF2's rip-off from China, 'Final Fight' or whatever, demonstrates everything wrong with F2P games, in that it is 'pay to win' - buying extra ammo, etc.'
Dubious the developers of THIS F2P title, however, will be such a success, looking at their previous titles...