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[Haunted]

i like how OP requested an explanation of f2p games and then half the posts are a raging debate over dota vs LoL

Well, the other half answered his questions already, breaking down the various tiers and models with some good examples. No need to simply repeat what others have said.

Its funny but i just watch the dota 2 int and then LoL championship from 12... I could not believe how much a like the maps are and everything. Dota 2 looks like LoL with better gfx.

Dota 2 int >>> LoL championship. Dota 2 int really had a great production. I have watch every match and have never played dota 2 or LoL before...

That's because they're both modelled after Dota 1, including many heroes, their abilities and the map.

I dont know why people are idolising dota2 so much, tons of games never need to spend a cent like gunbound and pangya, both been around for 5+ years

I guess the truth is, 99% of f2p is bad. Think of them like budget 1 player games, get to the point where after 5-10 hours, you are really burnt out.

99% of F2P is really bad, but Dota 2 is part of the 1%.

The two games you mentioned have purchasable consumables altering the gameplay balance, which I consider a no-no for truly great F2P models.

 

[CaVaYeRo]

Never really got into this. Probably trying World of Planes, sort of liked it's approach at last year's Gamescom. Anyway I quit PC some time ago, but probably getting back with some F2P stuff.

 

[nephilimdj]

I just googled these two games... wtf are you talking?
http://gunbound.softnyx.net/ItemShop/Item2.aspx
http://pangya.gamerage.com/List/000000001100.aspx

I see a alot of power ups and items in the Shop :lol
Maybe you dont need to buy them but in Dota2 you dont even have the possibilitie to get one more Gold, do one more damage, take one point less damage or get one point more exp because you spent money. There is absolute no way Real Money can influence the gameplay.

Gunbound you have normal room with all the f2p players, and a very empty premium room where item stats actually work
only a small % of pay 2 win people actually use the premium room

Not much different to vanilla tf2 servers

 

[Wolf Akela]

It's not like you automatically got every single weapon when you had to buy TF2. Only the default weapons were available right away, other weapons required you to get them through achievements and the random drop system.

I don't mind having weapons in the TF2 store. Most of the non default/class update weapons are made by community members and they get a cut of the weapon sales from the store. It's only fair they get paid for their models being added to the game.

To say the weapons are locked behind a significant wall is just false, especially if it's no more significant then when you paid for the game. Lots of paid for games don't give you all the weapons for multiplayer right away.

Even if you don't get the weapons you want with the random drop system it's easy to trade 1:1 with people to get the weapons you want. Heck I've given away extra weapons to people for free.

Uh, that IS the wall. In order to get every weapon you need to grind achievements in achievement servers and go to trade sites/servers. It's not exactly convenience, especially since Valve killed textmode idling a month ago. You can do a shortcut by just buying weapon packs. It's akin to LoL: champs are items and runes are statless hats that serve as sinks. Skills ultimately trump them.

PoE's gameplay items can only be acquired by playing or trading, but that's the nature of the genre. DotA has absolutely nothing outside a match that affects the gameplay.

It could have been way worse. One of the F2P Battlefield games had extortionate virtual prices, and they were just rentals.

 

[elyetis]

"excessive grind" implies an activity that is a chore that must be completed.
People playing a game for fun is not "excessive grind".

The simple fact that dev allow you to spend money so you can 'avoid having fun to unlock a champion' is for me a recognition that it's not there ( at least the IP gain rate they choose ) as a way for people to have fun unlocking champions, but as a way to make people spend $$.

Just like Planetside 2, sure you unlock stuff as you play, just like in battlefield 3, but you definitly see that -unpaid- unlock rate is really slower as a way to make you spend $$.

Still LoL and Planetside 2 are still what I considere pretty good F2P models.

 

[Twinduct]

i like how OP requested an explanation of f2p games and then half the posts are a raging debate over dota vs LoL

Pretty much this!
Why ha no one mentioned Hon?!

S2 for life!

 

[Des0lar]

Pretty much this!
Why ha no one mentioned Hon?!

S2 for life!

ded geam

 

[honeymustardn]

Team Fortress 2 is not cosmetic-only, as it lets you buy gameplay-affecting weapons in the store. They're supposed to be "sidegrades," but in practice a lot of them are just better, and versatility is an advantage in and of itself.

TF2 ultimately falls into the same category as Planetside 2 and League of Legends, i.e. not egregious pay-to-win, but not perfect either. It's definitely on the better side of that category, but it's not "pure" like its little brother Dota 2.

Though you have to remember that you don't have to pay for these items. They can all be found in drops (they will be randomly given to players as they play). They can also be traded for, so if you get a duplicate drop, you should easily be able to trade it for what you want with someone else. Weapons have very little value so they are easy to trade. You can also craft them using duplicates.

 

[rakkadakka]

I've barely touched I had no trouble obliterating everybody with a default equipment Heavy.

If you've played FPS's, TF2 is the best F2P game op.

Weapon drops happen but you can always trade or sell equip for them if you really get into the game.

 

[Archie]

If you game the system, you can buy virtually every TF2 weapon for $2.50.

-Buy a key
-Trade the key in at tf2wh
-Buy any weapon you want, and probably have enough left over for a hat

 

[woodland]

.. People still whining about League of Legends locking content? Really?
I thought it was settled in 2009.

Anyway: League of Legends' walls exist to prevent paradox of choice, and to guide newcomers through a extremely non-intuitive type of game.

Lol, Invoker's just too anti-fun I guess. Somehow, Dota's doing alright.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

I've played just over 1200 games and have just under half the champions. I have every champion i've wanted and every rune i needed simply by buying and playing smart - buying all the cheap champs first and only paying full price for the champs i know i really need/want to ensure i have always have a balanced roster. I've spent exactly 0c on the game

I find it sort of weird that you say this with pride; "I've spent 600 hours playing this game and never paid the developers a penny in return"

The simple fact that dev allow you to spend money so you can 'avoid having fun to unlock a champion' is for me a recognition that it's not there ( at least the IP gain rate they choose ) as a way for people to have fun unlocking champions, but as a way to make people spend $$.

I think this topic has provided plenty of people who are of the opinion unless everything is unlocked from the start of the game thats bullshit

 

[ThreePiMatt]

I find it sort of weird that you say this with pride; "I've spent 600 hours playing this game and never paid the developers a penny in return"

Well, you have to remember that free players are still providing content to the game as a whole. If you're not spending money on something like Planetside 2, you're still contributing to the enjoyment of all those around you. Multiplayer games are only fun when theres other people playing, so every player is potentially valuable to the health of the game, even if they don't put money into it.

 

[dock]

Plenty of free to play games make profit from non-paying customers because of the multiplayer nature. Players will be publicising their involvement in the game to other players, and peer pressure will suggest that you ought to play anything you see enough of your friends engaging with.

This virality is how F2P finds people that are inclined or vulnerable to payments within the game, especially those games where they want to 'keep up' with other players.

As for DOTA2, LOL, TF2, etc... those games rely upon building a large network of players which they can syphon for money through a variety of means. Because those are targeted at aggressive combat players they use a slightly different approach, but ultimately it's the same sort of deal.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Then people should say it doesn't lock gameplay affecting items exclusively behind a paywall instead of saying the game only sells cosmetic items. Also, to craft the Milkman hat in TF2, it takes all 3 of the set weapons as well as 4 refined. To craft it yourself in-game, that requires a total of 39 weapons. That'll take a long time to collect. Also, I was just reading the wiki and apparently people with F2P accounts cannot craft the Milkman anyways since F2P players are restricted from crafting certain types of items until they spend real money. So basically, for a F2P player, the only way to get a Milkman is to have someone give it to you. So yeah.

TF2's system of dropped weapons came about long before the game was F2P and even long before the store even existed.

That's why the Milkman was an issue when the game went F2P, because the set hat thing happened well before the game went F2P and so it was kind of stuck in an awkward place that took a few years to iron out.

 

[elyetis]

I think this topic has provided plenty of people who are of the opinion unless everything is unlocked from the start of the game thats bullshit

I also don't like those kind of unlock ( from characters in fighting game, to weapons in fps ). I'm already not fond of it for single player things ( like unlocking a difficulty by finishing the game with the previous one ) but it's even worst in competitive multiplayer environment, where balance should be a priority.
But at least I can see why some people like it, I can understand that some people find that kind of 'carrot and stick' to be enjoyable.

But for P2P games at worst it's just to make the game artificaly last longer, while in F2P like LoL they mostly try to find the right balance between 'it shouldn't feel like it take too long or they won't stay in the game' and 'many need to feel the need to sometimes spend that money to not deal with it'; so at that point I do think it really bring far more bad than good for the player. ( reason why I went to dota, and stopped playing Planetside 2 )

 

[Orayn]

I think this topic has provided plenty of people who are of the opinion unless everything is unlocked from the start of the game thats bullshit

It's a continuum of bullshit, depending on the how much the unlocks affect game balance and how much time/money it takes to get them all.

 

[BolognaSoup]

The FTP model has almost completely ruined iOS gaming for me. PC tends to do it much better with games like Dota, Team Fortress, and Path of Exile.

It crushes my soul what Plants vs Zombies 2 became. I would have paid $20 for a proper, traditional model for that game. As it is, I will pay nothing and not even bother with most of it.

Real Racing 3 is another where they lost all my business with its FTP model.

 

[CadetMahoney]

A lot of the time the grind is designed to be as unfun as possible in order to incentive you into buying shit to skip it. Games that do F2P like this are more than often shit.

this.