E6: Free to Play

Recorded on August 28th, 2012 with Brian Fife, James Fingal, and Thomas Westberg.

The group tries to avoid talking about Farmville-type games unsuccessfully, and eventually pulls the focus around to the new wave of F2P games, converted MMOs like DDO, free to play monetization models, the whales that support them, and the impact these models have on gameplay and experience.

Tom argues that future MMOs must be free to play, and unless Blizzard has another rabbit in their hat WoW is likely to be the last smash-hit subscription-supported MMO. Brian sings the praises of World of Tanks as an almost perfect free to play design.

The group wraps up with some discussion on the major technology platforms, PC, iOS, Android, Xbox, PS3 and how they support F2P.

Referenced items:

Starship Artemis, PAX Prime, Free to Play, Smurfs Village, Zynga’s Quest for Big-Spending Whales, Zynga, Claw Games, Cow Clicker, Popcap Games, Lord of Ultima, Pox Nora, League of Legends, World of Tanks, Tribes: Ascension, Team Fortress Two, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Airmech, World of Warcraft, Harry Potter, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Magic: The Gathering, Evony, Street Fighter, Guild Wars, Diablo 3, Downloadable Content, Dungeon Defenders, Assassin’s Creed, Braid, Fez, Counter Strike, EA ‘allplay’ mode, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, Journey - Collector Edition, Skyrim, Pong.