There could be nothing better for the health of the game than if WoW went F2P.

[Kardagh]

TESO has done fairly well for itself since going sub free.

[nekobaka]

So one F2P game with a toxic community means they are all bad?

Edit:

In regards to the poster about LoL and F2P. WoW has become fairly bad. Overwatch also has its share despite all the forum discussions saying B2P would keep the toxic away. Blizzard actually moderating toxic behavior in Overwatch is what is keeping it down.

Keeping toxicity down requires active response from the developers. B2P and subscriptions only keep a portion out.

[smitey]

I havent paid sub fees since wow tokens came out.

[Schattenlied]

Overwatch also has its share despite all the forum discussions saying B2P would keep the toxic away. Blizzard actually moderating toxic behavior in Overwatch is what is keeping it down.

Overwatch is an FPS, so first off, let's not act like there is another model for FPS other than B2P or F2P, I don't think anyone would tolerate a subscription based FPS.

Second, just about every FPS with a competitive mode has a toxic community.

[nekobaka]

Overwatch is an FPS, so first off, let's not act like there is another model for FPS other than B2P or F2P, I don't think anyone would tolerate a subscription based FPS.

Second, just about every FPS with a competitive mode has toxic a toxic community.

I meant to quote the one with LoL in it which is not subscription based. Though yes it is not a fair comparison to just compare a non-MMORPG with no history of subscrition based model to MMORPG which does have a long standing history of such.

[Griffter]

I don't think the sub fee is really what makes people quit or hesitate to try it out. It's free up to level 20 so new players can try it out before paying anything, and most people who quit do so because they got tired of the game. Blizz would just be throwing away a ton of money if they made it free.

[undeadmoon]

it was actually what saved all of the existing MMOs in the market. even swtor, with arguably the worst f2p system ever created, was saved by the f2p system and had its sub numbers quad'd

This isn't really true, going f2p for most MMOs is just putting a brain dead body on life support, it's not really alive and it just keeps rotting away. There might be a rush of people who come in once it's free, but most neither spend money or stay, there's no investment in it that makes them; they tend to be even more ephemeral than the people who come and go for WoW's patch cycles. There's a reason that these mmo's never talk about player numbers and engagement in content only vaguely, and speak solely about profit.

There's articles on Forbes and other econ sites (google them if you're curious) that talk about how for MMOs and any game that wants long term sustainability and profitability and had community based structuring, f2p and it's necessary eventual monetization of basic gameplay features due to lack of purchases will strangle the game.

It's happening/ed in both and Rift and SWTOR, the only people left really in either are players so casual they leave before or just at the paywall or the whales so addicted and entrenched they're there til servers shut off, but the first group aren't spending money and the second aren't enough to do more than keep the lights on, if there's enough to even do that after a time.

As for the topic at hand, no, f2p is not good for WoW, it's not good for any MMO really, because it's not sustainable for long term ventures like an MMORPG. Just because more people show up to stand around and troll in the chat channels or afk in dungeons doesn't mean they're there to spend money on the game, matter of fact most MMO's that went f2p are testimony of that.

Edit: For more anecdotal evidence, let's just say WoW had gone f2p with the last patch. I am currently not subbed, so I would've probably logged in, looked at new artifact tree, went out to the new area, walked around for an hour or two, maybe done the new dungeon, remembered why I'm not currently interested, and logged out, no money spent. Many people would've done this as well, and Blizz would've earned no profit from it, as well as having expended money to make this content. As it stands right now, if you're curious about the new content, you'd have to pay $15 or use gold to buy time, which means someone else would've paid Blizz $20, either way, that's guaranteed money for the company, whether the patch tourist spent 15 minutes before logging off and not coming back, or logged in everyday of the month for hours. They may have lost out on having lookieloo's like myself log in, but anyone actually interested in playing paid, and plenty did.

As long as there's enough bodies paying into this system, it would be flat out stupid to give it up for the quick influx of cash that comes with a f2p launch, because it will dwindle off and then comes the slow creep in of pay to win or no real game updates but cash shop outfits.

[Tharkkun]

And the wow community hasn't exactly been wonderful as a result of its subscription model either.
Free to Play is not inherently bad, but a move to it does tend to be out of desperation.
That won't improve the health of the game, it will be a bandaid when the game is really in bad health.

Real Free to Play is muddied by "freemium" and other models which aren't even close and quite simply in many cases cash grabs.
If you are having to pay for any playable content, it isn't a free to play model.
SWTOR isn't free to play as a notable example.
It is a glorified DEMO, what we used to call that model years ago - and that has not changed.
They just don't like the negative views associated with that description, so proceed to lie and call it something it isn't.

Exactly. Most F2P games end up costing more than a typical subscription due to everything being gated behind micro-transactions. If Blizzard went this route people might be in a rude awakening as they now have access to 2 characters, limited storage, instance limits, etc. You'd need to pay for a subscription to unlock everything we're used to having.

[Deleted]

I have played multiple F2P games and they are all garbage.

Quality really suffer in these cases, because the normal player is just the pleb / the cannon fodder that is needed, while the whales spend all their money on shiny rewards. Sorry, I can not and will not dump several thousand euros a month into the game to do competetive raiding (yes, there are F2P games where the top players spend that much money).

I prefer subscription based games. I have experienced both, and for the long term, subscriptions mean quality. F2P means garbage. Sorry, but I doN#t see how WoW would end up any different.

Blizzard would still need to make 13€/month per player. But since a lot of people wouldn't want to pay anything, some people would need to pay a lot. They only do that if there is a big enough incentive (or in other words, if the game becomes P2W, because every single F2P game is that way).

[Grym]

Blizzard would switch to F2P in a heartbeat if it hit the threshold that it becomes a more profitable model.

The fact that they haven't yet is most likely because with the current player base it is still more profitable to charge a sub.

[Raysz]

Wow is still doing very well as a sub based game, despite all the toxicity you read here and on other forums, so there isn't really a reason to go f2p.
The moment Wow goes f2p is the moment I stop playing. It's almost a horrible omen when a sub game goes that route.

I've played Rift and Swtor when they were sub games and look where they are now, especially Rift, the self proclaimed wow killer with their 'You're not in Azeroth anymore' commercial.

I've started in Vanilla and recently came back after a 2 year break. Legion is one of the best expansions they've done in a long time imo.
I don't see how Wow would benefit from f2p.

[MasterHamster]

Uh no, going f2p and having shit like 2x Exp and other garbage is what kills MMOs.

This game has been doing fine for well over a decade, and losing subs is expected with a game this old.
The game was released in 2004
People who thought WoW could grow/sustain 12m forever are completely delusional.

It is truly astonishing that the game still boasts (at least) half a dozen million active subs.

[shonist]

no pls nop

[Heladys]

what would be best for WoW would be for people crying out for F2P to quit and go away.

[Lady Dragonheart]

I'm going to have to disagree with the majority of this concept. I think that making the game F2P would catastrophically ruin it's community even more than it already is. The WoW community may not be perfect, but it's better than any other game community that I've been a part of, by far.

[undeadmoon]

TESO has done fairly well for itself since going sub free.

That might be because it's B2P instead of F2P, but it'll have the same issues as F2P eventually, just that the larger upfront cost of a b2p tends to keep the game more flush a bit longer, since it's a pretty static and sizeable amount of money and f2p cash shop purchases are usually variable and small.

[hulkgor]

This makes no sense whatsoever.

Game is as profitable as it ever was (maybe even more with Legion's success and their WoW token cut)... and Blizzard finally invested resources into it, the sheer amount of content released is higher than it's been since TBC.

Wanting it to go f2p would mean a massive drop on investment towards it and lackluster or shitty future content.

So no, i rather they DO NOT go F2P anytime soon.

Oh, and cheaters\exploiters\botters tend to think twice when they have to spend any real currency amount to get a new account, where as it seems widespread on f2p games.

[Triceratrozer]

That might be because it's B2P instead of F2P, but it'll have the same issues as F2P eventually, just that the larger upfront cost of a b2p tends to keep the game more flush a bit longer, since it's a pretty static and sizeable amount of money and f2p cash shop purchases are usually variable and small.

Part of me doubts it, cause they have updates every three months or so, along with regular DLC and an expansion coming out with little if no lull in the content despite it. It's seeming like it's gonna do pretty well for a long time if they keep that up.

[Deleted]

The people who don't go on these forums, the people who just log in and play on the same subscription they've had for 7+ years, will keep this game running for years to come yet. Whilst changing to a looser F2P model may earn Blizzard some short-term interest, it can only blow back as the demand increases to remove the remaining pay-gates as people start claiming the good content that rewards gear is Pay-2-Win.

A good friend of mine kept her subscription running since 5.2 without playing. Logged in with 7.0, noticed she missed the last two expansions (having a stressful job sometimes makes you lose track of time) and canceled her subscription. She just resubscribed with 7.2. Hasn't played since D:

[CaptainV]

TESO

SWTOR

GW2

All 3 of these games hit or miss are still doing decently as F2P games even if they are not grand games like WoW is.

F2P isnt bad, however, I dont think with wow F2P Would work ideally. What id personally think would work, is an F2P system where people can play all the previous expansion content for free, but have to subscribe if they want to play the new content.

In other words:

All content up to WoD is free, after WoD, you have to pay a subscription, and no, you cant use token to sub until -after- you've paid the first time.