DAOC Free-2play model

[BloodOmen]

so i'm assuming it will happen sooner or later the question is what will they have in the shop to support the free-2play model? thoughts? the only things I could fathom them selling thats worth while is (Free-2play model is basicly a no cost daoc thats supported by a webstore)

A) bonus rp or bonus bp scrolls for xx hours
B) bonus xp scrolls to level with (not that you need those with the speed of daoc but meh they will still be there i'm sure)
C) bonus to crafting gains/speed/mp chance scrolls
D) some fun/unique items or something with decent utility that don't drop anywhere ingame

Any chance of some feedback on this one Mythic_Andy? curious if you guys have even considered it to boost revenue and population and whats other peoples thoughts on it? assuming it would happen in the order i've posted above.

 

[kamorrista]

so i'm assuming it will happen sooner or later the question is what will they have in the shop to support the free-2play model? thoughts? the only things I could fathom them selling thats worth while is (Free-2play model is basicly a no cost daoc thats supported by a webstore)

A) bonus rp or bonus bp scrolls for xx hours
B) bonus xp scrolls to level with (not that you need those with the speed of daoc but meh they will still be there i'm sure)
C) bonus to crafting gains/speed/mp chance scrolls
D) some fun/unique items or something with decent utility that don't drop anywhere ingame

Any chance of some feedback on this one Mythic_Andy? curious if you guys have even considered it to boost revenue and population and whats other peoples thoughts on it? assuming it would happen in the order i've posted above.

I guess there is a "Formula" to run MMORPGs for free, dunno which one it is, do any player pay for some "advantages" in Ragnarok for example? about point D i find it nice just in case those items don't give a huge advantage to those who buy, i dunno, i think specialists should tell us how do free MMORPGs work to be manteined and functional without players paying

 

[meerclar]

After looking at some other games which have gone F2P, I would imagine that the option to subscribe would remain giving subbers full access to everything and free players would have a limit on what equipment/abilities they could access.
The webshop would probably provide the items mentioned by the OP and from other games webshops, different mounts and costumes.
I could see the F2P model working well for Mythic but in my experience it would also generate more gold farmers and annoying gits.

 

[Ctuchik]

about point D i find it nice just in case those items don't give a huge advantage to those who buy,

just as long as they DO get an advantage...

 

[BloodOmen]

After looking at some other games which have gone F2P, I would imagine that the option to subscribe would remain giving subbers full access to everything and free players would have a limit on what equipment/abilities they could access.
The webshop would probably provide the items mentioned by the OP and from other games webshops, different mounts and costumes.
I could see the F2P model working well for Mythic but in my experience it would also generate more gold farmers and annoying gits.

Aye, it really would bring out more gold farmers and annoying people thats without a doubt I really think it would put Mythic into a better position than they're in now tho.

At the moment they are just prolonging the inevitable shut down of the servers rather than trying to get more people playing.

I'd like to keep this thread flame free its a genuine concern i'd say as it outlines the future of daoc in effect i'd also really appreciate Mythic_Andy taking part in this friendly yet harmless discussion.

 

[Ctuchik]

At the moment they are just prolonging the inevitable shut down of the servers rather than trying to get more people playing.

tbh, i don't think there's anything they can do. most people that's interested in games like this already know about it, have tried it and moved on. and the few that haven't heard of it will check it out and probably won't stay because its just to bland if you're not a hardcore pvp'er, and even the pvp isn't THAT great compared to how it used to be.

i've "advertised" DAoC on most forums i'm a member of and i have seen very few ppl not knowing about it.

most ppl have tried it and have fond memories of it but they wouldn't resub to it.

its just to outdated to be worth the advertisement costs.

 

[cHodAX]

Unless they totally overhaul the UI they shouldnt even bother, they will not pull mainstream players in with the current UI, I have tried it with a number of friends and every one quit because the UI and even the modded UI's were so behind the times.

 

[GReaper]

so i'm assuming it will happen sooner or later

Why are you assuming it? Because a few other companies are doing it with their MMORPGs and it's suddenly the cool thing to do with a game approaching its end of life?

The far more simple strategy is to just keep on scaling down development/support whilst the hardcore remaining players are still paying their subscriptions. Eventually the slow release of patches with minor improvements will become bugfixes only, followed by killing the thing before it makes a loss.

 

[ford prefect]

I think if Mythic have shown us anything over the years, it is that they don't do what other more logical companies do and player feedback is purely an inconvenience, not a source of inspiration. I think it is impossible to predict the future of any of either of their games with any accuracy, even if you work for them.

 

[Calaen]

Unless they totally overhaul the UI they shouldnt even bother, they will not pull mainstream players in with the current UI, I have tried it with a number of friends and every one quit because the UI and even the modded UI's were so behind the times.

This ^

About 12 of us went from WAR about 5 months ago back to cammy from scratch, we got to 50 in no time, did our ml's got our templates sorted and started hitting the frontiers, we had even more people join us who had never played cammy before but they gave up after about 30 minutes simply because of how bad the UI was.

Camelot will always be the best mmo in my mind and heart because it simply had everything I could have ever wanted in a game, even after all this time the scale of the game/maps/zones still amazes me.

 

[ford prefect]

Lets face it, what is needed here is something we have all been hankering for for a long time - DAoC 2. Three zones, shiney new servers, shiney UI, fun but optional PvE and some lessons learned. Sadly it will never happen. Don't ask me why, because I think it would be a huge hit, but it just won't because mythic make silly descisions and are an incredilby inflexible company.

 

[Calaen]

If they updated the UI and the graphics and labelled it daoc 2 You'd get everyone on there playing it

 

[Everz]

The thing to me is that DAoC UI is the only one I can seem to get used to.

 

[ford prefect]

If they updated the UI and the graphics and labelled it daoc 2 You'd get everyone on there playing it

Exactly, given 18 months and a good development team (and a complete replacement of all management staff within mythic and an agreement GoA wouldn't be involved), it would be easy to create a modern, fresh looking version of DAoC which could be a huge cashcow.

 

[kamorrista]

/agree

 

[- English -]

wonder how much it would cost to buy daoc and the idea etc, then redevelop it yourself?;p

 

[Calaen]

wonder how much it would cost to buy daoc and the idea etc, then redevelop it yourself?;p

Few million easy, because even in it's current state, they are turning a very hefty profit.

 

[old.Whoodoo]

Three zones, shiney new servers, shiney UI, fun but optional PvE and some lessons learned. Sadly it will never happen. Don't ask me why, because I think it would be a huge hit, but it just won't because mythic make silly descisions and are an incredilby inflexible company.

You just described WAR, they tried that and epicfail.

 

[ford prefect]

You just described WAR, they tried that and epicfail.

War had three realms? I must have missed that.

 

[Twoeye]

War had three realms? I must have missed that.

You said nothing about 3 realms, you mentioned 3 ZONES
And by that you discribed WAR

 

[BloodOmen]

wonder how much it would cost to buy daoc and the idea etc, then redevelop it yourself?;p

i'd actually egg blizzard on to buying mythic but their current state I think blizzard would see it as a financial loss despite daoc's potential in the right hands.

I still think mythic has a few talented devs but seems to me some at mythic are just holding daoc's progress back and I honestly have no idea why, they arent advertising or anything its almost as if they've just abandoned all hope if it ever picking up again... when a company can't even afford to advertise then you know its not good.

And the most annoying part of it all is they never ever give any sort of info to the community the only info they give out is patch notes or when theres a stupid road trip that people can goto...

 

[kamorrista]

i guess blizzard would only buy mythic or DAoC only if it's a serious rival, which actually is not, so they just let it sink...

btw, why they didn't use 3 realms/factions on WAR? such stupid decission...