http://www.techdirt.com/ Easily digestible tech news.... http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c307 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:46:16 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c307
Yes they were, indirectly at least, in the sense that the DRM wouldn't have made it so much of an issue if the game had been far cheaper. If the game client had been free, or priced at $20, the complaints would have been reduced. People weren't just pissed about the online requirement - they were pissed that they had so many problems after paying full price for it.

"In fact, SWTOR still has "online-only" requirements"

Of course it does, it's an MMORPG (guess what the O stands for). No Sim City game has ever had an enforced online or multiplay component in the past, while that's in the very nature of an MMO. Hence the different standards applied.

"All I am saying is that F2P makes sense in situations, but what going F2P changed in this case would not apply to fix what was wrong with Sim City."

No, what was wrong with Sim City would have been fixed by allowing people who wished to play it offline to do so after they've paid $60 for the game. Requiring any online mode for that game other than perhaps activation and patching was doomed from the start.

Using the freemium model would have helped remove many of the complaints, but what was wrong with the game is the point where they decided to crowbar online and multiplayer where people didn't want it, in a series that never needed it. Whereas an MMO needs online and multiplayer, it has no business being anything but an option in a game series that's fundamentally a solo experience.

So, it comes down to the design phase. Are you selling a boxed game for $60, or are you selling something that requires a subscription? If you want the $60 up front, you'd damn well better not lock up half the game behind a paywall (day one DLC), or force me to play my single player game online. If you want a subscription model, cheaper game clients will encourage adoption and you'll make more money in the long term (though people will expect content for that subscription).]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c289 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:45:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c289 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c271 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:45:08 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c271 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/09430123119/eu-commission-sued-refusing-to-reveal-trade-agreement-documents-they-shared-with-lobbyists.shtml#c183 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:43:53 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/09430123119/eu-commission-sued-refusing-to-reveal-trade-agreement-documents-they-shared-with-lobbyists.shtml#c183 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c1121 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:43:51 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c1121
Down with censorship!

I mean seriously and I know, I know...I'm lazy too. I hate clicking that link...you know, the one that negates the whole purpose of this "censorship" but I'm not gonna click it, I'm gonna show Masnick how much I hate being socially stigmatized for my lack of worth!]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c1111 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:36:52 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/22104223137/sophisticatedjanedoe-fightcopyrighttrolls-favorite-techdirt-posts-week.shtml#c1111 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c249 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:20:59 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c249 It's a shame they haven't tried a similar strategy with other EA games like SimCity, instead choosing to lock the game up tighter than Han Solo trapped in carbonite with an always-online requirement nobody wants.

Umm... I hated just about everything they put out about Sim City, especially the online-only DRM and the social aspects of it but... You can't really say that what happened here with SWTOR is the solution to Sim City's woes.

All SWTOR did was remove the money investment that people needed, both in buying it and the monthly subscription. Nobody was complaining about Sim City's cost (aside from the people angry that PC games are costing $60, which was only that price for console games because of the massive license fee they pay to console makers), and it had no subscription.

In fact, SWTOR still has "online-only" requirements, and unlike Sim City a lot of the game's calculations are done on servers. In addition, it is arbitrarily locking up a LOT of content behind their "optional" monthly subscription pay wall, meaning that free loaders can't even use it as much as they can or get the same items, unlike in Sim City which, after its initial investment everything is available.

Long story short, I am not trying to defend Sim City's horrible choices. All I am saying is that F2P makes sense in situations, but what going F2P changed in this case would not apply to fix what was wrong with Sim City.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/07262023094/restaurant-facebook-goes-nuclear-facebook-over-reviews-gordon-ramsay-owner-cry-hack.shtml#c1217 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:19:44 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130515/07262023094/restaurant-facebook-goes-nuclear-facebook-over-reviews-gordon-ramsay-owner-cry-hack.shtml#c1217 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130518/17573523139/funniestmost-insightful-comments-week-techdirt.shtml#c206 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:12:33 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130518/17573523139/funniestmost-insightful-comments-week-techdirt.shtml#c206 As we learned

Now that's the funniest comment of the week by far. You are assuming learning where clearly none is evident.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c238 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:11:51 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c238
If they could get entirely for free what they have to pay for today, most if not all of them would just go free. Don't confuse a free tasting / sample / limited use with the actual product.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/09430123119/eu-commission-sued-refusing-to-reveal-trade-agreement-documents-they-shared-with-lobbyists.shtml#c170 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:07:46 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/09430123119/eu-commission-sued-refusing-to-reveal-trade-agreement-documents-they-shared-with-lobbyists.shtml#c170 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c226 Mon, 20 May 2013 07:05:05 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c226 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/08324323118/trade-group-representing-many-large-companies-claims-that-exceptions-blind-would-cast-aside-copyright.shtml#c33 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:59:25 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/08324323118/trade-group-representing-many-large-companies-claims-that-exceptions-blind-would-cast-aside-copyright.shtml#c33 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c222 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:59:13 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c222
Stupid fucking troll still doesn't get it.

30 percent paying is still better than less than 30 percent paying. You always assume that anything less than 100% paying=failure. It doesn't matter if 90% are "freeloaders" as long as the 10% (or whatever percent) that pay are enough to make the thing profitable, AND is still better than where they were before.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c204 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:58:57 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c204 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c185 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:57:01 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c185 In the end, they turned to FTP after subscribers almost vanishing.

We can argue about when they should have turned to FTP, but the fact is that the game had an amazing launch player-wise and since the lack of players on subscriptions are the main reason why FTP works, that is not what was needed here!]]> http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/09430123119/eu-commission-sued-refusing-to-reveal-trade-agreement-documents-they-shared-with-lobbyists.shtml#c155 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:54:10 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/09430123119/eu-commission-sued-refusing-to-reveal-trade-agreement-documents-they-shared-with-lobbyists.shtml#c155 http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c894 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:53:15 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130517/06185923116/rice-university-professor-skynets-gonna-take-ur-jerbs.shtml#c894
Feeling empathy, writing books, imagining, admiring art, feeling regret or any other human emotion, and various patterns of thought are things we don't know how to make machines do yet. The fact that humans can do those things shows that it's possible for things to do those things, therefore it's possible in principle for us to design things that can do those things. We just need to figure out how.]]> http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c174 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:52:39 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c174 http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c163 Mon, 20 May 2013 06:51:50 PDT http://www.techdirt.com/blog/casestudies/articles/20130508/06065623001/new-hope-how-going-free-to-play-brought-redemption-to-star-wars-mmo.shtml#c163