11-30-2011, 10:15 AM
I will admit that Sony has done pretty well with their Everquest 2 store implementation, although the store on their F2P servers does cross that line of pay to win.
Those that pay a monthly fee on a standard EQ2 server can purchase:
- Fluff appearance gear
- Fluff housing items
- Cool looking mounts with mediocre stats
- Consumables (most popular is the potion that refills your rest xp bar)
- a crappy vampire race
- Fluff pets
- Server transfers
- Race changes
Those that F2P have more restrictions (they have a very specific subset of races and classes to choose from and like 2 character slots) and can purchase all of the above with the addition of:
- Unlock other standard races (only 4 available for free)
- Unlock other standard classes (only 8 available for free)
- Character Slots
- Weapons and Armor (I have heard that you can purchase raid level gear from previous expansions, but don't know - the EQ2 Extended store is different from the original P2P servers)
(On the F2P servers, they also cap the level of your skills/spells, tier of loot (no mythical items), and creating/joining guilds unless you upgrade to a higher tier of account). On all servers, Sony allows players to purchase and transfer monthly subscriptions.
To me, in a F2P environment, assuming i was into fluff crap, I would be willing to pay for:
- Appearance stuff
- Character slot unlocks
- Races
- Classes (as long as they were all balanced)
- NPC mercenary companions, for those who like to solo - assuming the game difficulty wasn't already watered down to the lowest common denominator already (soloers).
- Ability to create a guild (I think purchasing the ability to join guilds is a bit much)
- Increases to timesink stats like Carry Weight (like Skyrim/Fallout)
- Old gear on a well established game/server to assist with levelling. (Well established being alot of people have been at max level for 6+ months)
- Housing. Although I would argue that basic, hovel style houses should be free, and upgrades should be paid for to unlock.
- Latest expansion content.
- Consumables (If people want to pay for double exp or "oh shit" potions, let them - the game should have enough content for the powergamers anyways)
I would not be willing to pay for or want the game to sell:
- End game gear. Players shouldn't feel like they have to purchase a specific item to be competitive, nor should purchased items be on par with current end-game gear.
- Removal of progression restrictions (skill caps, loot caps). See above comment about paying to be competitive
- Crafting (unlock craft skills or pay for storefronts). There are alot of people who stick with some games (EQ2 being a good example) because they enjoy crafting. If you want to make money off of the crafters, allow them to buy skills or consumables that increase the amount they harvest or the percent chance they will craft a higher quality item.
Those that pay a monthly fee on a standard EQ2 server can purchase:
- Fluff appearance gear
- Fluff housing items
- Cool looking mounts with mediocre stats
- Consumables (most popular is the potion that refills your rest xp bar)
- a crappy vampire race
- Fluff pets
- Server transfers
- Race changes
Those that F2P have more restrictions (they have a very specific subset of races and classes to choose from and like 2 character slots) and can purchase all of the above with the addition of:
- Unlock other standard races (only 4 available for free)
- Unlock other standard classes (only 8 available for free)
- Character Slots
- Weapons and Armor (I have heard that you can purchase raid level gear from previous expansions, but don't know - the EQ2 Extended store is different from the original P2P servers)
(On the F2P servers, they also cap the level of your skills/spells, tier of loot (no mythical items), and creating/joining guilds unless you upgrade to a higher tier of account). On all servers, Sony allows players to purchase and transfer monthly subscriptions.
To me, in a F2P environment, assuming i was into fluff crap, I would be willing to pay for:
- Appearance stuff
- Character slot unlocks
- Races
- Classes (as long as they were all balanced)
- NPC mercenary companions, for those who like to solo - assuming the game difficulty wasn't already watered down to the lowest common denominator already (soloers).
- Ability to create a guild (I think purchasing the ability to join guilds is a bit much)
- Increases to timesink stats like Carry Weight (like Skyrim/Fallout)
- Old gear on a well established game/server to assist with levelling. (Well established being alot of people have been at max level for 6+ months)
- Housing. Although I would argue that basic, hovel style houses should be free, and upgrades should be paid for to unlock.
- Latest expansion content.
- Consumables (If people want to pay for double exp or "oh shit" potions, let them - the game should have enough content for the powergamers anyways)
I would not be willing to pay for or want the game to sell:
- End game gear. Players shouldn't feel like they have to purchase a specific item to be competitive, nor should purchased items be on par with current end-game gear.
- Removal of progression restrictions (skill caps, loot caps). See above comment about paying to be competitive
- Crafting (unlock craft skills or pay for storefronts). There are alot of people who stick with some games (EQ2 being a good example) because they enjoy crafting. If you want to make money off of the crafters, allow them to buy skills or consumables that increase the amount they harvest or the percent chance they will craft a higher quality item.