F2P vs P2P

[xBladeM6x]

What would you rather have? If given the choice.

Free To Play (F2P)

- Free to download and play.
- Easily accessible to a wide range of people.
- (In PSO2's case) You pay for Premium ($16.00) if you want to have Player Trading, Your Room, Selling In Shop, and Expanded Storage.
- Pay for Scape Dolls
- Pay for almost any new clothing, and because it's a Gacha, you're never guaranteed to get any of what you what, even with 30 spins.
- Prices for purchasable items are on the more expensive side.
- One character slot, unless another is paid for.
- Overall spend much more money for a full experience. However, you have the choice to not spend anything, to play.
- Ability to purchase items that give you an advantage, in terms of EXP Multipliers and Rare Boosters.

OR

Pay To Play (P2P).

- Only playable if Purchased from retail, or game license download.
- Niche community due to the large amount of money needed to pay upfront.
- Requires a monthly subscription to access online, on top of initial purchase.
- All game content is available to you through other in game assets, such as quests, and meseta.
- No unfair advantages such as purchasing "Rare Boosters".

__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________________________________


Personally, I prefer P2P. Don't get ripped off at every corner you turn, for stuff that is almost essential to play the game with any chance of being "successful" in terms of meseta. Plus, you can see where they're blatantly trying to make you pay for it. Such as, healing requires you to stand still. Obviously in the interest of getting you killed, and paying for a Scape Doll. Or, instead of allowing the purchase of individual clothing, they put it in a gacha so your chances are slim to get what you want on the first spin, and have to continue paying to get it. Making leveling up take forever to encourage EXP multipliers, and Rare boosters since rares are suuuuuuper rare. Things like that annoy me to no end. I like that I can bring friends onto a F2P game, and I'm not "needing" to pay for stuff. However I also hate the idea of other people having some sort of an advantage because they spend tons of money on rare boosters, and hit level cap with exp multipliers, before everyone else.

[youcantcatchtheblue]

F2P for me.

It's already decided by SEGA though, they will not change it no matter what we say.

I know most hardcore players will prefer P2P because they get more bang for their buck that way, but the fact is that F2P keeps the majority of casual players happy. And that's all SEGA cares about. In the end, Casual Gamers >>>> Hardcore Gamers.

[Zorafim]

I'm a minimalist. I can live with very little. And doing Free to Play, I can say to my friends "This game is completely free! You don't have to pay anything to play it! So hurry up and keep me company!".

If it were P2P, I'd have to say "Yeah, pay $50 to get the game, then $15 a month to continue playing. Oh, and spend hours each day leveling up your character to do the fun stuff which is actually at the level cap, which takes as long as a real game to reach."
I'm not bitter...

Basically, this is the only online game I've ever played where I was able to get a friend to play with me. And that makes everything else worthwhile.

Paying for skill resets, myroom, and extra mags is kind of a joke, though.

[BIG OLAF]

F2P. I'd rather just buy a little bit of stuff here and there, instead of pay a larger subscription fee (and the price of the game).

[Blackheart521]

Free to Play is perfectly fine for me, I usually only get things every once in while so this gives me the ability to have fun at no cost to me when I want to and if I can, splurge some money on it when I have the opportunity to... It just gives me more freedom in the long run. ^^

[Kanore]

F2P. I feel like most of what's available for premium is available rightfully so (that is, stuff that would otherwise be available if the game were subscription-only), and the online gaming world as it stands right now is much more open to a Freemium model than subscription-based, so Sega's in the right with this model.

For PSO veterans, staying F2P may seem a little weird, but you just have to remember that you were subscribing to PSO/PSU and therefore paying to play, so they had to provide a lot of things to make it worth it. PSO2 is more than worth it... especially compared to PSU.

The only smarter thing they could do right now is refund everyone who played PSU so we could spend it on Arkz Cash.

[Randomness]

F2P is fine. If they let us trade free too, I could happily play without spending a dime. I still can, mostly, since trading only becomes particularly relevant at the higher end of the level range anyways.

[Blackheart521]

F2P is fine. If they let us trade free too, I could happily play without spending a dime. I still can, mostly, since trading only becomes particularly relevant at the higher end of the level range anyways.

The lack of free trading only comes at a price when you want to give something to someone, otherwise you can just use the 3 day shop passes from the FUN drawings to sell stuff for free, that's my plan for the time being ^^

[xBladeM6x]

F2P. I'd rather just buy a little bit of stuff here and there, instead of pay a larger subscription fee (and the price of the game).

Only problem with this, is that it is proven in a lot of P2P MMO's such as PSU or TERA, the subscription fee is the same or lower in most cases.

[Blackheart521]

Only problem with this, is that it is proven in a lot of P2P MMO's such as PSU or TERA, the subscription fee is the same or lower in most cases.

Yes, but that also excludes people who aren't going to be buying things every month... F2P reaches a wider audience and allows people to play regardless of their financial situation or setup... its a convenience issue really. ^^;

[UnLucky]

I'd rather F2P with permanent item storage expansion, purchasable costumes, and THE ABILITY TO TRADE FOR FREE

I don't want a "free" to play game where the subscription fee is higher than P2P games AND has a cash shop and a Korean gear upgrade system

As it stands, the only thing I will ever consider purchasing is another Mag or a skill reset (I'm not holding my breath for a free one). Nothing else is at all worth it. Nothing. And even that's pushing it, considering how integral those are to the game. Oops you didn't research the game and min/max every little detail, better fork up the cash or reroll (or uninstall).

[moeri]

F2P

because the japanese version would be a bit harder to access if it was p2p

[Zyrusticae]

Some folks really need to learn that things that are nice for them as consumers are not so nice for the publishers, and temper their expectations accordingly.

Feel free to vote with your dollars if you don't like it, but (needless to say) the few who spend hundreds of dollars have FAR more say than the folks who spend $15ish every month.

Capitalism in action, folks!

[krophiquon]

I'm glad it's the way it is. I was worried when I first heard it was F2P, but after seeing the items that you can purchase, it doesn't seem like a big deal anymore. I'll purchase a second mag, but at $4 that's not too bad. And then, I won't need to purchase anything for a while. The room is not super-important to me, and you can get 5-day My Shop passes from FUN scratch cards, so I'll just save up the items I want to sell until I get one of those. My only real complaints are the lack of ability to trade items with another player without being premium, and skill tree resets seem a little pricey. However, all in all, I think I'll end up spending a lot less than $60 + $10 a month.

[IHeartRice]

F2P

P2P gives me the feeling I have to play more often and if I don't, it feels like I'm wasting my money. I can throw some money around here and there if I think it's worth it. F2P also allows my friends to try the game first to see if they like it or not. Much better than telling them the game has a monthly fee.

If this game did come out as P2P, it would of most likely went F2P later anyways just like all the other MMO's being released in the last of couple of years.

[Sp-24]

I always prefer P2P to F2P system. "Pay to Play" system's goal is to please the player, hardcore or casual, and to make sure they don't regret continuously putting money in the game. "Free to Play" focuses on nickel and diming every possible aspect of the game and pimping various cash shop garbage far more than on actually making the game enjoyable.

And you know they are going to milk this particular game for all it's worth if you just take a glance at the current cash shop item list.

[EvilMag]

I really hope you can buy gacha clothing from player shops much like with PSU JP.

Oh and I'd rather have F2P mostly because I can easily get into. While this game does make it look like cash shops are the only way to play, its nothing compared to other MMOs with cash shops where you might as well not even play if you're not gonna buy from a cash shop.

[Kanore]

I always prefer P2P to F2P system. "Pay to Play" system's goal is to please the player, hardcore or casual, and to make sure they don't regret continuously putting money in the game. "Free to Play" focuses on nickel and diming every possible aspect of the game and pimping various cash shop garbage far more than on actually making the game enjoyable.

And you know they are going to milk this particular game for all it's worth if you just take a glance at the current cash shop item list.

After the P2P garbage that was PSU you really thing that Sega should still go with a P2P model for PSO2?

They have a lot of people they need to reel back in after that mess.

[Ashdown]

Free to play, but personally, I don't like Premium, I get it, they need a constant stream of cash or as a business, it's a failure, but I prefer spending money only once, like, 15 dollars for permanent access to the room, not 15 dollars for 30 days ya know.

But that being said, F2P has less obligations, you don't feel forced to play because you paid nor you feel forced to pay for the option of playing when you feel like it.

[SELENNA]

I just want the content quality of PSO Ep 1&2 back. Unfortunately PSO2 isn't close, and its loot system sucks a la PSU.

[Blackheart521]

I just want the content quality of PSO Ep 1&2 back. Unfortunately PSO2 isn't close, and its loot system sucks a la PSU.

Could I ask you to expand upon why the loot system is bad? Just curious on your reasoning. ^^

[Phaesphora]

As someone who plans on spending no money at all on Arks Cash, I'm fine with F2P. This isn't the kind of persistent, open-world-PVP game where you have to worry about things like unfair advantage.

For people who do want to use Arks Cash, it allows them to buy only what they 'need'.

[sugarFO]

Honestly I don't know. A lot of the things available for AC seem overpriced. I may just buy the inventory space, a mag, and either a gacha or a makeover ticket. Then call it a day.

[WaltherFeng]

The current system is fine. It allows me to pick up the game whenever I want without having to worry about subscriptions fees screwing me over.

I'll prolly just buy two more character slots for a RA and FO character and be satisfied with that for quite some time.

[Alenoir]

I like F2P as long as the RMT isn't crazy. (And hopefully, this limit in trading will do stop it to certain extend.)

P2P games can only go for so long before the population drops.

[LionHeart-]

I'm low on money as it is, so its a nice touch from Sega to make it F2P. I don't even think that the Ark Cash is going to be much of a problem at the moment but maybe it will tip the scales a bit to favor itself more later on.

I will buy the odd few stuff if I can, and when I can which will mostly be Skill tree resets, a mag/reset, and a few little niches here and there. The game is still like over 95% playable, they haven't even restricted anything that would subsidized your character, so there's no need to worry about anything.

Wondering will Sega make more cash in the long run with F2P or P2P? How many users do you think there are in total? 20k - 40k? I'm guessing everyone is going to buy a Mag reset and a skill one atleast some point, so thats quite a lot there already...

[Khasar]

F2P. I'd rather just buy a little bit of stuff here and there, instead of pay a larger subscription fee (and the price of the game).

What I plan to do too

[Blackheart521]

I'm low on money as it is, so its a nice touch from Sega to make it F2P. I don't even think that the Ark Cash is going to be much of a problem at the moment but maybe it will tip the scales a bit to favor itself more later on.

I will buy the odd few stuff if I can, and when I can which will mostly be Skill tree resets, a mag/reset, and a few little niches here and there. The game is still like over 95% playable, they haven't even restricted anything that would subsidized your character, so there's no need to worry about anything.

Wondering will Sega make more cash in the long run with F2P or P2P? How many users do you think there are in total? 20k - 40k? I'm guessing everyone is going to buy a Mag reset and a skill one atleast some point, so thats quite a lot there already...

I remember seeing in a thread on here somewhere a few hours ago that the max simultaneous connections was around 80,000 so there's quite a few more users than just 20-40k if that was just how many people have been on at one time... probably 150,000+ so far... once the full game goes out it'll get crowded haha... I have a feeling this is going to be big in Japan with all the marketing they are doing there with it ^^

[eharima]

I just want the content quality of PSO Ep 1&2 back. Unfortunately PSO2 isn't close, and its loot system sucks a la PSU.


Could I ask you to expand upon why the loot system is bad? Just curious on your reasoning. ^^

I'll admit you dont get the RED BOX ADRENALINE RUSH BETTER BE PLAYER 1 ORELSE SLOW SYNC RAGE QUIT KEYBOARD BANZAI in pso2,
but i do like the everyone gets there drops, because its way less emotionaly straining...

Im okay with F2P but would prefer a touch more Pay to Win,
even like being able to buy outright grinders, mag food and synth chance boosters.
Currently there is WAY TOO MUCH shit in the gatcha list, they need more than 3 paid gatcha, with ones that have better items, or smaller lists. its litteraly the same shit in all of the gatcha, even the gold ones arn't much better for 150% more AC.
id spend more on raw items than scratch anyday but meh.

[Defend]

I look at it from a perspective that only considers the game's quality.

Of course having a F2P option is preferred by everyone who isn't happy to pay, but if the gameplay suffers as a result I'd rather it be P2P to maintain the better game for those who are happy to pay. When the payers get something a less enjoyable than it would have been had the F2P not existed, I think that's reason to stop celebrating F2P. It affects the quality of the game as a game.

Unfortunately this is the truth about many games that use this model. In order to support payers and free players in the same world, some aspect of the game suffers. For example:
· Only payers can use the shop to sell; everyone can buy. No problem.
· Payers can only directly trade with other payers. Problem. Even though they are paying, their game is now a little worse than it would have been if there were no F2P option.

Being unable to put items on the ground is a loss to all players imo, and I wonder how much that was decided by the need for F2P restrictions.

Of course there is the other side to the story. If there were no free players, a lot of the payers' game wouldn't exist. A payer couldn't be disappointed by his inability to trade with a free player if that free player wasn't there in the first place, after all. So there's a quality vs population balance.

But ultimately, as a person who would be happy to pay a subscription fee, I would prefer the game's quality to come first.

[Alenoir]

The gold scratch only contain outfits.

Wish there's a scratch that contains everything that's not outfits, though. I want those more than a wedding dress.

[xBladeM6x]

I just want the content quality of PSO Ep 1&2 back. Unfortunately PSO2 isn't close, and its loot system sucks a la PSU.

I'm sorry, but this is downright wrong. PSU's system was "Oh look, a rare dropped that we have to share" or someone will just get it and make off like a bandit. PSO2's system is everyone gets their own drops. I don't know what you're on about.

[Zinaida]

I just want the content quality of PSO Ep 1&2 back. Unfortunately PSO2 isn't close, and its loot system sucks a la PSU.

PSU?

You crazy.

[Ogni-XR21]

Anyone prefering the PSO1 loot system probably played only as a hunter and was never ranger or force... :-)

I prefer F2P, this way I can have a character on the japanese server without any hassle AND one on the international server (if they are separate, but who am I kidding...) without having to pay twice. And if the int. server ever dies I can keep on playing on the japanese server.

[Rauten]

I'd much rather have a P2P system, but alas, it won't be.

[darkante]

Well first i need 2 character slots, then if some cool clothing comes along i get those.
And being able to change colour and use the "My shop" from time to time

Otherwise, i´m not too sure, i don´t care about the room feature.

[Ranmaru]

Also I hope they have a bundle. Yet, I was intending on paying $50 just to avoid having to waste money down the line in LoL. Instead I might use it on this. ;3

Prolly would be good if they had half price sales too. Maybe.

[Anon_Fire]

I just want the content quality of PSO Ep 1&2 back. Unfortunately PSO2 isn't close, and its loot system sucks a la PSU.

Really? Then answer this, did you see anyone steal your dropped items in PSO2?

[Defend]

Anyone prefering the PSO1 loot system probably played only as a hunter and was never ranger or force... :-)

I mained a RA and preferred PSO1's system, but yes I understand the complaint and I had rubbish luck for finding rares. Still, I'd rather have a variant of that old style over this fairer version.

[Macman]

I just want the content quality of PSO Ep 1&2 back. Unfortunately PSO2 isn't close.
Except you're comparing a game still in it's infancy to a game that has been through it's 3rd revision at that time. Your viewpoint is pretty skewed when you look at it that way.

[Zero_Virus_X]

P2P Mostly because of the more bang for your buck thing and access to cosmetics, cos phantasy star is about looking good. Not to mention the limiting trade thing/ extra mags is a joke. And I hate gambling (personal thing) I don't even gamble with in game money unless is required to advance in a game.(any game)

Either way I would had preferred they dropped the premium thing to compete with the other f2ps on the same terms.

[Macman]

And I hate gambling (personal thing) I don't even gamble with in game money unless is required to advance in a game.(any game)
How do you feel about equipment grinding?

[Silenttank]

I'd say F2P, it allows people to get a taste of PSO2 and decide if it's for them or not. Plus Sega got us an option to JUST get the trading pass, which I will be doing for a measly 5 dollars. Smart move on their part.

[Ranmaru]

Silent Hank is right. It opens the doors to more people and it can become popular, so for us as gamers, it is deff a plus. (Even though this may not have been what Sega was aiming for)

For US, it is a plus to have more people to play with, and to have a bigger community. For Sega, means more opportunities to garner money from the large pool of new players.

[Silenttank]

Silent Hank is right. It opens the doors to more people and it can become popular, so for us as gamers, it is deff a plus. (Even though this may not have been what Sega was aiming for)

For US, it is a plus to have more people to play with, and to have a bigger community. For Sega, means more opportunities to garner money from the large pool of new players.

Who's Silent Hank?

[Ranmaru]

*facepalm* LOOOL

Sorry. I mean Silent Tank. The tt's close together... made me think Silent Hank. Totally Sorry about that haha. Twice I have done this now.

(Called Lot or something lobster x D )

[Silenttank]

*facepalm* LOOOL

Sorry. I mean Silent Tank. The tt's close together... made me think Silent Hank. Totally Sorry about that haha. Twice I have done this now.

(Called Lot or something lobster x D )

Lol I can see how there'd be a mix up.

I'll just change my name, be the creepy old guy Silent Hank.

[Zero_Virus_X]

How do you feel about equipment grinding?

It's not that bad I've gotten used to it. You have a higher chance of not coming empty handed and it's not as addicting as gambling "winning that big prize I want". I do admit I broken quite a few innocent pieces of equipment through the different games I've played.

[soulpimpwizzurd]

you guys should know better (and i'm sure there are some that do) than to think there wouldn't be cash shop in p2p. even if this game was p2p, you could count on it having a cash shop on top of it. i'd expect p2p would free up things like my room, trading, and shop, but that's probably it.

would not be surprised if extra skill trees/clothes/characters slots(maybe) were cash shop.

and i'm glad, because i'm not willing to pay 15 bucks for a virtual room and trading and shop. luckily in this game, trading isn't absolutely necessary.

[Seizure Bot]

Heh, Del beat me to it. If it were P2P, we'd have basic, premium, super unleaded, and "I use thousand dollar bills as napkins" levels of subscriptions.

I prefer F2P, and just pay for what I need or want.

[Dabian]

I'm fine with F2P. It suits my casual play schedule better. If there's something I really want, I pay for just that. And there's this white tuxedo that I really want..../credit card.

Only gripe atm would be paying for skill tree resets. As least make it FUN-enabled as well or something. Because people WILL experiment. And to me that crosses the fine line between reasonable pricing and milking.

[KanekoSaya]

Either or but I'd rather P2P so there's no unfair advantages...I think all the AC stuff is basically vanity though

[SolRiver]

I won't be surprise that P2P format go into extinction in a few years... maybe a few more months.

[Vylera]

Buy to pay.

1 payment of 50 bucks to have all features permantently.

Thank you.

But since PSO2's cash shop doesn't impact how powerful you can get (COUGH - NEXON - COUGH), F2P for PSO2's case.

Don't need premium to buy from other people's stores, which is all I need.

[Zero_Virus_X]

One could only wish ^b2p

[Cypher_9]

I don't know how many other threads were made in this regard but, SEGA already gone with their plan, they could of gone for a p2p format but.... People will do what they want to do as far and what this f2p format gives or allow for them to do. I really don't see the essence in this when the company already went through with it as well as the people who are playing it already making their decision upon what they want to do.

What it boils down to is to support them... and one can either do it... or not, either way, the company is going to get their money one way or another. They just don't have us in their game, I wouldn't mind throwing a few bones, I have done so with other games; even p2p ones.

As the good ole saying goes "Nothing is ever free..." if it was then SEGA would be the most blessed unselfish (other nice things about giving to the people without recourse). But in this world... its about business, and they are just going with what is selling best in this time of the year...

By the way... Star Wars the Old Republic... is planning to go f2p... and I played that game too... I can understand why they are... >.>

[mhjc]

F2P. Pretty much everything is leading to that, and it is better to build from the ground up as F2P than be p2p then be forced to go F2P 3 months down the line because you can't keep subscription counts up.
They said they built it with F2P in mind, and they've made some makeover options free that weren't free before. So perhaps we may see more things get added to the free list sometime in the future. Possibly trading and some more makeover options.

The inability to move while healing isn't because of F2P schemes, but just SEGA copying Monster Hunter a bit. I just wish they added more Monster Hunter difficulty to the game since it is still too easy.