How do F2P games keep doing content updates? - Cash shop
How do B2P games make money? - Selling the game duh
How does a B2P MMO that is F2P after you buy it keep doing content updates? - Cash shop + Selling the game
Box sales will be more then enough to keep updating the game + expansion sales will pay for themselves.
Exactly this, GW1 is a great indicator for what they can do without a monthly fee. Have no fear OP. Doesn't the team putting out GW:Beyond content consists of all of like 3 people..? Not bad IMO.
O.o don't remember reading anything about the Ring of Fire, other than it won't be accessable on release. We'll probably get Far Shiverpeaks for Jormag, and probably see Cantha at some point. Also there are "Bubbles" and Primordius that we have to deal with somewhere in the sea and underground, respectively.
It won't be added upon release like I said, but we'll probably see it in the future.
I imagine many players will spend more than $15 for GW2 cosmetics and other small things. I probably will. I bet Anet will always have something new and shiny being sold as well. They have wonderful art, and I just hope I can hold back from buying it all. Not to mention I hate running out of inventory space, so have to buy something for that too.
I spent a short time in Perfect World, *shivers* and met many players, many many players, who spent $100+ a month on fashion. Took me a while to understand the incentive, but purely cosmetics items do have a certain addiction to them, especially for completionists, collectors, and impulsive people.
They had roughly monthly updates in GW1, which used the same pricing model as GW2. Most updates were minor. A few new zones were added occasionally. Patching in GW1 was the best of any online game I seen- it was basically live patching. Can't recall the game ever going offline when I played.
I expect GW2 will mostly be the same- minor updates and an occasional zone or mission. Well, DEs in this case.
Anet hinted they are using the same server tech for GW2. So it should be silky smooth.
Guild Wars Prophecies (April 2005)
Sorrow's Furnace (September 2005) <- free dungeon update
Guild Wars Factions (April 2006)
Guild Wars Nightfall (October 2006)
Guild Wars Eye of the North (August 2007)
Bonus Mission Pack (November 2007) <- cash shop missions
as you can see, it took them 6-12 months to make an expansion. Nightfall which is my favourite expansion took them 6 months to do. Bonus Mission Pack was added after the game was put on life support - when ANet released EotN, they've also announced GW2 and put every staff member on it.
In general, I wouldn't expect any major free content, but this is where B2P really shines - if you don't like/want some content, you can just not buy it and play the parts you have bought. In P2P games like WoW, not only you have to buy expansions for the same price, but also you have to keep paying 15$ just for the privilege of playing the content you have already paid for. In GW1/GW2 you can play the game always. Maybe some parts will be limited until you buy them, but you can play, in WoW, once your sub ends, the game is unavailable until you sub again.
And it's not like WoW has tons of content patches, considering how much you paid for it. I don't play WoW, but Cataclysm released in December 2010. That means ~13 months have passed since then, that is 13 * 15 = 195$. Have you got 195$ worth of content in your free patches? You could buy three or four GW xpacs for that.
They also cut a big portion of things they wanted to do, for some unknown reason.And it's not like WoW has tons of content patches, considering how much you paid for it. I don't play WoW, but Cataclysm released in December 2010. That means ~13 months have passed since then, that is 13 * 15 = 195$. Have you got 195$ worth of content in your free patches? You could buy three or four GW xpacs for that.
I'm just waiting for them to say, sorry we wan't to get MoP out as soon as possible like cataclysm so we are cutting pet battles and scenarios and dungeon challenges. Enjoy the same exact thing you did last expansion but with pandas!
---------- Post added 2012-02-09 at 09:08 PM ----------
Because those questions have been answered to death and if you used the search function or google or perhaps the sticky, people wouldn't be annoyed so much.
Pokemon FC: 4425-2708-3610
I received a day one ORAS demo code. I am a chosen one.
Really? when was the last time it was asked? Because there isn't anything regarding this subject in the first 5-10 pages.
FFS, you know what.....forget I asked, For the rest of the people who didn't have PMS a session about the question I thank you. Alot of great info about this that I just learned, If there was a way to delete this thread I would. Because apparently, asking a simple question on a FORUM is "annoying"
@Trakbob
Good vid! alot of good points on there.
Last edited by Razeo; 2012-02-09 at 09:24 PM.
I think Warcraft can sorta get away with their content release model structurally. Given the length and time it takes for that content to be passed. It is long, but compared to the gearing pace it was okay. Plus, WoW is a cultural entity not a game.
What I am curious about is how GW2 content updates will compare to Rift and TOR. It's been over 2 years since I played WoW daily. And I am more accustomed to rapid content and major content updates than not.
It'll be interesting to see if GW2 can get away with releasing say a bi-monthly patch with a few DEs vs. other MMOs on the market. The B2P thing is less in their favor this time around with more high quality F2P games on the market than before.