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Unsurprisingly that people just can't pay the 60 dollars to play a game that involved hundreds, if not thousands, of man hours to produce. If you like something, support something, shelling out 60 dollars is not a lot to ask. I'm sorry, as much as the Freeloaders of World United think that everything should just be handed to them, Blizzard is not a charity. They are a company that makes a product/service that people may or may not choose to purchase.
On the flip side, Blizzard can do what they want. Its their company and they make the rules for their games. (You don't like it, don't buy it/support it)
If they want to make SC2 a F2P game, by all means go for it. But nothing in this world is free. Nothing. So they will continue to get their revenue somehow, somewhere, from someone. We just might be thanking the WoW community for footing the bill so that we can play. Who knows?
If name changes or realm switching are enough, hell even bells and whistles like portraits or skins or whatever extra content works, then great! But what happens if its not enough? Like any new product there is a surge, and then growth slows down, and then proceeds the decline. Stability can be hard to find and define. But I digress.
TL:DR
I'm sure Blizzard will come up with a solution to this non-existent problem. And in the end, no matter what happens there is always going to be that small group of people that cannot be pleased.
Edit: Limiting options have never worked and only have suppressed the game's community growth. If people can't afford to out right have a computer, play SC2, have internet (preferably broadband) why would they want to buy "half a game" to only have to pay for services that other games inherently give out for free. i.e. Chat, friends lists, music, sound, etc...
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My only concern is how many GM accounts will end up belonging to stephano...
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There are sooo many ways to make a micro transaction model work within SC2.
Selling unit models is the one I'd visit first.
Imagine if a cute, pug skin for your zerglings.
Or instead of banelings, you could make beach balls.
BW themed Protoss skins like the carrier?
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On September 25 2012 04:58 MrBitter wrote:
There are sooo many ways to make a micro transaction model work within SC2.
Selling unit models is the one I'd visit first.
Imagine if a cute, pug skin for your zerglings.
Or instead of banelings, you could make beach balls.
BW themed Protoss skins like the carrier?
Yeah I'm not quite convinced...
SC2 is already really complicated compared to most games on the market. Even in WoL, there's a moment of "What the fuck is THAT!?" every time I run into a collector's edition Thor. Mostly I'm confused that they're building Thors at all because I play Protoss, but I feel like it's really, really important for the player to be able to instantly identify anything on the field at a glance. If people have to stare at your army for a moment to decipher all the crazy skins you're using, that's a big problem.
I don't have a problem with F2P in general, but since there's no way anything that actually gives you an in-game advantage can be allowed, and skins are potentially confusing, I really have no idea how they can make their money. Profile pictures? Custom maps/games? I can't see them getting a steady stream of income from either of those.
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On September 25 2012 05:09 TrickyGilligan wrote:Show nested quote +On September 25 2012 04:58 MrBitter wrote:
There are sooo many ways to make a micro transaction model work within SC2.
Selling unit models is the one I'd visit first.
Imagine if a cute, pug skin for your zerglings.
Or instead of banelings, you could make beach balls.
BW themed Protoss skins like the carrier?
Yeah I'm not quite convinced... SC2 is already really complicated compared to most games on the market. Even in WoL, there's a moment of "What the fuck is THAT!?" every time I run into a collector's edition Thor. Mostly I'm confused that they're building Thors at all because I play Protoss, but I feel like it's really, really important for the player to be able to instantly identify anything on the field at a glance. If people have to stare at your army for a moment to decipher all the crazy skins you're using, that's a big problem. I don't have a problem with F2P in general, but since there's no way anything that actually gives you an in-game advantage can be allowed, and skins are potentially confusing, I really have no idea how they can make their money. Profile pictures? Custom maps/games? I can't see them getting a steady stream of income from either of those.
Yea I'm not so sure on cosmetic re-skins of units either...
One potential avenue I think might work is with the in-game unit 3D portraits. If people on Dota 2 spend money just to change the equipment for say Axe, there's a good chance people will pay for Raynor marines, Zeratul DTs, etc.
Heroes of Newerth did a thing with announcer packs so I supposed custom adjutants/executors/overminds(?) can be created for those who like that.
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I'd say the most obvious thing to me that they could monetize is portraits and the decals.
There are already people that farm for portraits, so why not make new ones that people can buy? They've already added promo ones from blizzcons, etc. Same goes for the decals on your buildings in game, they wouldn't be nearly as intrusive as new unit models too. Also paid name changes.
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I have long argued that Blizzard should host tournaments within a division. Everyone within a division hosts puts up like 5 bucks and the winner of the tourney gets 100 or something. Blizzard gets a cut. I think this would be a cool idea.
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On September 23 2012 13:14 Fyodor wrote:
Starcraft 2: Premium
$9.99/month gets you:
-Matchup/Map stats.
I already have this on an excel spreedsheet, and all I need to do is increase the number by 1 every win/loss after I spent 10 minutes making it.
-get to see your real MMR and promotion thresholds.
This doesn't actually do anything whatsoever.
-Tournament map pool in ladder.
"Tournament maps" vary, do you want GSL map pool? the vast majority of the maps are already in there, and it doesn't make sense to introduce new maps in the middle of a season.
-unit customization.
What exactly do you want with this? stuff like CE Thors?
-Ladder priority.
If you mean quicker queues, this is completely irrelevent for 1v1, I never sit in a queue for longer than a minute, and mostly around 10 seconds.
-access to Arcade/UMS.
This is a good one I would say.
-access to 2v2, 3v3, 4v4, FFA.
Could work aswell I guess, but I doubt that people will pick SC2 up purely to ladder, they would want to play with their friends in multiplayer games.
-Obligatory WoW pet.
This makes no sense, but I guess a different icon or skin in LoL doesn't either.
-Sign up for a year and get one season pass of GSL/OSL.
This requires blizzard to pay the tickets anyway, so basicly you get 1 season slightly cheaper, but you pay Blizz instead of GOMTV, who then pays GOMTV.
-If you are an existing WoW subscriber, you get Starcraft 2 Premium for free or at a discount.
I guess...
Existing retail customers get discounted premium at $9.99/year.
**Legacy players keep everything they already have. God... people.
Also, there is a MASSIVE difference between subscriptions/F2P
WoW is F2P, but only up to level 20 and you can maximum have 10 gold.
And if they ever put in a subscription fee for SC2, I would never pay for it, as I don't play it all the time, and whenever I would feel like playing, I just wouldn't want to pay as I might not play enough for me to feel its worth it.
The only way I can see an RTS going F2P is if it stops being an esport and they can start selling units and such.
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On September 23 2012 12:49 corpuscle wrote:Show nested quote +On September 23 2012 12:45 Niriw wrote:
-Buy unlimited access to arcade an unlimited ladder games (maybe limited to 3-5 games a day of both arcade and ladder)
-All options and customizations unlocked (Options menu: graphics, hotkeys, sound, etc)
And I could go on forever These are bad ideas. 1) No (successful) F2P game limits playtime by charging, the whole point is that it gets you to play a lot for free so that you buy other shit. 2) ...what? Nobody's gonna pay to up their graphics settings or turn off in-game music, that's just gonna piss people off. They can sell skins, that's pretty much it. If you charge people to use, say, broodlords, the game just sucks for anyone who doesn't pay, and you also run into the issue of "has my opponent bought xx?" that said I would absolutely buy skins for all my units that'd be kickass Show nested quote +Ultimatly it will be bad for esports rather then good.
TF2.... perfect example. Wasn't TF2 kind of dead as an ESPORT even before it went F2P?
Yeah, it was. TF2 is actually the best example that it can work.
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On September 23 2012 12:45 Niriw wrote:
-Buy Clan tags
-Buy Name Changes
-Buy unlimited access to arcade and unlimited ladder games (maybe limited to 3-5 games a day of both arcade and ladder)
-Priority on the match queu (VIP [aka players who pay] have a 1/3 of the waiting time in queu for a match)
-All options and customizations unlocked (Options menu: graphics, hotkeys, sound, etc)
And I could go on forever
Edit: just for typos
You have to pay to play more than 5 games a day? Are you fucking retarded? How would any of the pros practice the game? Is someone going to provide them a per-diem just to practice the game?!?!?
Priority on the match queue? Is waiting 20 seconds really that bad? LOLL
Pay to have SOUND? I imagine the signal to your monitor would be an extra surcharge???
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
I won't even address the other ideas because they are so stupid my brain can't even comprehend or imagine something that blantantly stupid.
Edit: Just thought of a wayy better idea. We should charge people $1 per character in their username and another $1 per character in their password!! DATA STORAGE AINT FREE YO!!!
User was warned for this post
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On September 25 2012 03:15 Sandermatt wrote:
I would love it if it went Free to play. A larger scene meens more money comes into the scene, which will strengten the professional scene. Without new casuals, SC2 will slowly decline (stay relevant for a long time, but get slightly smaller every year).
Free to play:
Multiplayer
No GM possible (so cheaters cannot get in so easily)
By buying the game you get:
Campaign
Option to only play vs other paying players (helps against cheaters)
Advantage in queing for game
Some better looking units like collectors edition thor
Cool avatars
Choose your players color during laddering (with alternative for equal color for opponent)
Clan Tag
Posibility also restricted to game owners:
Ultra graphics
Stats sheet at the end of the game
No advertisment
Maybe also cheaper passes for major tournaments. This tournaments all need to be sanctioned by Blizzard, so maybe Blizzard could make such a deal with them.
Game clock
Scan range indicator
Worker number counter on base and gas
Great logic. If you had to pay to play the game, we wouldnt have any cheaters in WoL...
Oh wait..
On September 23 2012 13:48 All.In wrote:
I really really really want hats for my overlords.
I hope you are like 10 years old...
Edit: Ooops, double post... Saw this comment and had to point out how stupid it was... Sorries~~
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Is it possible to have something like the anti hack program that ICCup used to protect against hacks? Because if thfree game becomes e to play then I fear that the amount of hackers would absolutely destroy the experience of the ladder. I know something like that dosnt exist now for sc2 but in the future Im sure something like that is possible.
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On September 25 2012 04:58 MrBitter wrote:
There are sooo many ways to make a micro transaction model work within SC2.
Selling unit models is the one I'd visit first.
Imagine if a cute, pug skin for your zerglings.
Or instead of banelings, you could make beach balls.
BW themed Protoss skins like the carrier?
I think you can take this farther:
Dog theme zerg: all units have collars (ultra hehe), even the command card and overlay look different, with doggie treats and unit abilities renamed like lair-level overlord has "spew dookie" ability, changeling is renamed "mimic dog" etc etc
beach theme zerg: for HOTS viper, blinding cloud is now named "Sunglasses for opponent" or something :D maybe reskin the ultra as a huge red ground lobster! or queen has a sundress on. hmmmm overlords spawn with stupid looking brightly coloured visors :D hydra is renamed "unimpressed tourist who spits" xD and has a tourist pouch on xD
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On September 25 2012 04:44 PauseBreak wrote:
Unsurprisingly that people just can't pay the 60 dollars to play a game that involved hundreds, if not thousands, of man hours to produce. If you like something, support something, shelling out 60 dollars is not a lot to ask. I'm sorry, as much as the Freeloaders of World United think that everything should just be handed to them, Blizzard is not a charity. They are a company that makes a product/service that people may or may not choose to purchase.
On the flip side, Blizzard can do what they want. Its their company and they make the rules for their games. (You don't like it, don't buy it/support it)
If they want to make SC2 a F2P game, by all means go for it. But nothing in this world is free. Nothing. So they will continue to get their revenue somehow, somewhere, from someone. We just might be thanking the WoW community for footing the bill so that we can play. Who knows?
If name changes or realm switching are enough, hell even bells and whistles like portraits or skins or whatever extra content works, then great! But what happens if its not enough? Like any new product there is a surge, and then growth slows down, and then proceeds the decline. Stability can be hard to find and define. But I digress.
TL:DR
I'm sure Blizzard will come up with a solution to this non-existent problem. And in the end, no matter what happens there is always going to be that small group of people that cannot be pleased.
Edit: Limiting options have never worked and only have suppressed the game's community growth. If people can't afford to out right have a computer, play SC2, have internet (preferably broadband) why would they want to buy "half a game" to only have to pay for services that other games inherently give out for free. i.e. Chat, friends lists, music, sound, etc...
Even though the free to play model has proven to be insanely lucrative? You sound like blizz would be getting cheated out of cash.
But what happens if its not enough? Like any new product there is a surge, and then growth slows down, and then proceeds the decline. Stability can be hard to find and define. But I digress.
This is also true with the present model; relatively few people are actually picking up new copies, which means blizzard income from retail sales is in rapid decline and the maintenance of the game is still pretty demanding. Sure, there will be cash surges with expansions, but then again Browder said free to play probably wouldn't happen until after lotv.
The idea isn't "sc2 should be free so I don't have to cough up $60", it's "If sc2 is free to play you get way more exposure for potential new players." If sc2's community numbers weren't completely overshadowed by (free to play) moba games, then we probably wouldn't be talking about this.
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This isn't a full F2P suggestion, but I believe it's a simple way to test the waters: Make HotS single player and multiplayer separate purchases for half price each, while still offering the full version. Naturally, multiplayer would include a demo of single player (3-5 missions, maybe including one of the "arcs," like Tosh's--it would be nice to get the full mini-story, and Tosh's was particularly satisfying (Sorry Nova </3)).
A WoL bundle or "battle chest," as they like to call them, would also be helpful, although I'd be hesitant to offer a full WoL with only half of HotS. I can already imagine the confusion when someone realizes they picked up the wrong copy or thought they were getting full versions of both WoL and HotS. A bundle with full versions of both might be smartest, at least when buying the box. Online, people can hopefully read all the disclaimers and warnings like "Warning, you are purchasing the full version of Wings of Liberty and the multiplayer only for Heart of the Swarm."
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I really wouldn't mind multiplayer being free to play then paying a small monthly fee for detailed stats, clans, replay packs, challenge missions etc. Also wouldn't mind paying for in game colors and skins. Opening the game up is a good thing.
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On September 25 2012 13:49 Prime Directive wrote:
I really wouldn't mind multiplayer being free to play then paying a small monthly fee for detailed stats, clans, replay packs, challenge missions etc. Also wouldn't mind paying for in game colors and skins. Opening the game up is a good thing.
I'm afraid that you would end up paying way over 60$ for something we should have access to right now.
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On September 25 2012 13:56 DrGreen wrote:Show nested quote +On September 25 2012 13:49 Prime Directive wrote:
I really wouldn't mind multiplayer being free to play then paying a small monthly fee for detailed stats, clans, replay packs, challenge missions etc. Also wouldn't mind paying for in game colors and skins. Opening the game up is a good thing. I'm afraid that you would end up paying way over 60$ for something we should have access to right now.
who says that we should have access to anything?
any kind of service that we get between expansions is for free. you might not know this but this is very uncommon in the gaming industry.
i personally wouldn't mind payn an amount of money per year for some premium features/content that would justify the work of others if its fair. but its never gonna happen which is sad.
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On September 25 2012 14:25 di3alot wrote:Show nested quote +On September 25 2012 13:56 DrGreen wrote:On September 25 2012 13:49 Prime Directive wrote:
I really wouldn't mind multiplayer being free to play then paying a small monthly fee for detailed stats, clans, replay packs, challenge missions etc. Also wouldn't mind paying for in game colors and skins. Opening the game up is a good thing. I'm afraid that you would end up paying way over 60$ for something we should have access to right now. who says that we should have access to anything? any kind of service that we get between expansions is for free. you might not know this but this is very uncommon in the gaming industry. i personally wouldn't mind payn an amount of money per year for some premium features/content that would justify the work of others if its fair. but its never gonna happen which is sad.
I think that we should have an option to either buy a game like right now OR f2p with micro-transactions.
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In order to monetize it, can't Blizzard just simply add in-game advertisements? Also micro-transactions for like super Thor or super Colossus or Brood Lord or something. Blizzard can find a way.
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EPT
