Properly monetizing Free-to-Play games

The concepts around online gaming have changed a lot over the years. While most games with online components only required the user to pay for the game (assuming no online digital rights management) some of those that have thousands of players logged simultaneously on any given of their multiple official servers have opted for a subscription model to earn revenue to maintain said servers and constantly deliver new content. The Massively Multiplayer Online or MMO game as it is commonly called. While this method of monetization was common before, it has become in recent years less so. Recent times have seen the emergence of the Free-to-Play or F2P model for MMO games. I referred to it in the past as the “Chinese MMO” model because I noticed a lot of Chinese games using this model first.

For those unfamiliar with the concept of F2P, allow me to illustrate. A person who plays a F2P game pays nothing for the software or the right to use it. They download and use software completely free of charge. To earn revenue, the developer includes an optional monetization system in the game where the player if they so choose can purchase items for the game using a micropayment system. This model of paying as you go has become an enticing route for developers and players alike, but implementing it properly has been … difficult to say the least.

First of all, there have been a lot of games that adopted the F2P model to replace their old system. Results for this have been mixed because it is incredibly difficult implement a F2P model into a game that was never designed around it in the first place. Games like Dungeons & Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Champions Online, Everquest, Everquest II and even Team Fortress 2 have all gone this route and used their own method of monetization for each. Usually a formerly paid now F2P game will restrict certain features to free players, making them require payments to unlock.

This paid unlock system can have a bit of a backfire for veterans. For example, I used play City of Heroes. I had a robot mastermind character that I enjoyed playing but I stopped playing the game after awhile. You can imagine I was thrilled when I heard that after all those years the game was adopting a F2P model. I downloaded the client, logged into my old account, and lo and behold my characters were locked. Needless to say I didn’t feel like playing and uninstalled the client. Sure I had the option to get a paid account but to me that felt like it was missing the point of the F2P model and it felt like I as a veteran player was being punished for having characters of class that was now locked.

Everquest, one of the oldest and still running MMOs is another example of the F2P model adopted horribly. The game has 16 playable races and 16 playable classes. How many races and classes are available to a new player without having to pay? 4. You can’t play an Iskar Shadowknight unless you drop some money in game or get a subscription. World of Warcraft has also not completely adopted the F2P model. I guess they figure as long as people are willing to pay subscriptions they don’t need a F2P model. They do however have the starter account system which is essentially an endless demo. Starter accounts get full access to all races and classes (minus Death Knight and Monk) although with a level cap of 20.

Ideally a monetized F2P experience should be designed in a way that the player doesn’t NEED to pay but WANTS to pay. The best way I have seen this done is through a dual currency system. Say your game has two currencies, a default currency and a premium currency. For the sake of brevity, we will call them DC and PC for short. DC would be earned progressively over the course of the game through completing missions/quests/sessions or as loot or selling items. PC would be a special currency the player could buy using actual money through the in-game shop. The player would be able to choose how much PC they want to buy. As an incentive to buy more PC, the developer could make it so that larger purchases of PC give the player a better rate or give bonus PC.

As for the game itself, DC and PC could be used interchangeable to buy some things, but careful notice should be paid to what items in the game are exclusive to each currency. For example, items in the game that are required for progression should be exclusive to DC. Items that are optional but still effect gameplay should have the option to use DC or PC. Items that give the player a leg up without being actually required to progress as well as cosmetic items should be reserved to PC. A good example of this is League of Legends by Riot Game. The player earns Influence Points (IP) over the course of games while Riot Pionts (RP) can also be bought. IP is used for buying runes, rune pages and unlocking champions. RP can also be used for unlocking champions and rune pages (but not runes) and is also used for buying skins (a cosmetic feature) and optional boosts. In LoL, buying RP is not something required to play. It’s a purely optional feature.

Now in some cases you might have a F2P game where PC is required to progress in the game. If this is the case, then there should be a way to earn it in game with payment being optional. There are a number of ways to do this. One is to have it so that PC can be earned for doing specific tasks. King’s Road for example allows the player to earn PC (gems in said game) by completing a level. Up to five gems can be earned in each level, but it’s not required to progress in the game. Spiral Knights (the game where my own moniker comes from) features a market exchange where players trade crowns (DC) and crystal energy (PC) back and forth from each other. Since crystal energy is required to craft any item of 3 star quality or higher, having a method to allow player to acquire PC without needed to pay allows players to reach end game without dropping a cent into the game. This is how F2P is done correctly.

These are my own thoughts on the subject of F2P. As more and more games adopt the model (and new games developed around it) we can only hope that companies will learn to do it correctly. Supporting the developer should be because players like the game and want to, not because the publishers want to nickel and dime us until we’ve dropped more money in the game than it is actually worth. See ya.