General Free to Play Economies Belong in Free to Play Games

[cmdr chequers]

I u

I understand the flight model is very robust, every game has elements that it does better and worse than other games. I'm just pointing out that the way ED handles its monetization sets a dangerous precedent that doesn't need to exist.

I think the devs can 'nudge' players and give them an edge without resorting to players having to spend real money for ships that however big a difference they make, do effect gameplay. Maybe there could be a ship rental system with in-game currency?

And rest assured this is not a knee jerk reaction. I'm just very aware of how these things tend to go with games and me not having an existing investment in ED I think let's me call it out with a bit more clarity. This is also coming from someone most interested in PVE and exploration, so I'm not necessarily particularly worried about the competitive side of things from a personal level.

Selling ships for real money however is inherently different from purchasing them with in-game credits. And regardless of how expensive those microtransactions or the game itself end up being, I believe the point still stands that if a game is going to expand on a free to play economy in these ways, then the game needs to be free to play. Or the types of content sold in microtransactions needs to be monitored carefully so long as the game has an upfront cost of any kind.

So in your mind Fdev should keep updating a 10 year old game for free, how would you suggest they pay the bills and keep the lights on ?

 

[Therinfluffs]

So in your mind Fdev should keep updating a 10 year old game for free, how would you suggest they pay the bills and keep the lights on ?

When did I say that?? I just admit that there are purchasable advantages. I never said that they shouldn't/don't deserve to exist. I just don't deny reality when I see it. I don't see where OP says it Either.

 

[Koma Pahu]

The Fact you need to bring up the sidewinder as having some sort of advantage may be proving my point.

Idk how i added a quote box by accident lol.

You’re the one saying that zero rebuy is an advantage. Personally I don’t think it’s significant, not when credits mean so little these days.

Even if all the ships were head and shoulders above the old ships, you still get them for credits in a few months after the initial release.

 

[Therinfluffs]

You’re the one saying that zero rebuy is an advantage. Personally I don’t think it’s significant, not when credits mean so little these days.

Even if all the ships were head and shoulders above the old ships, you still get them for credits in a few months after the initial release.

Consider things from the OP's perspective as someone who would be entering with no credits. Unless someone uses an FC to sell them 5% market value Alexandrite, Credits would indeed be very meaningful. Especially now that Fdev has essentially removed/homogenized every potential chance of a gold rush ever coming back and will in fact, delete them the moment anything makes more than 20m/hr.

 

[Koma Pahu]

When did I say that?? I just admit that there are purchasable advantages. I never said that they shouldn't/don't deserve to exist. I just don't deny reality when I see it.

I mean, you were claiming using the ships as intended was an exploit.

And the reality is that although they do offer and advantage, it’s insignificant in the game as it is today.

Even a newbie can be flushed in credits within a day following your advice and “google 'road to riches'”

 

[Koma Pahu]

Consider things from the OP's perspective as someone who would be entering with no credits. Unless someone uses an FC to sell them 5% market value Alexandrite, Credits would indeed be very meaningful. Especially now that Fdev has essentially removed/homogenized every potential chance of a gold rush ever coming back and will in fact, delete them the moment anything makes more than 20m/hr.

You can easily do exo with a Sidie and earn a fortune in a night with Spanish.

And their beef wasn’t with how easy it would be to skip the early game rather they took a moral stance against it - and then changed their argument several times.

 

[Therinfluffs]

You can easily do exo with a Sidie and earn a fortune in a night with Spanish.

And their beef wasn’t with how easy it would be to skip the early game rather they took a moral stance against it - and then changed their argument several times.

Unless you are making constant first discoveries/footfalls, I guarantee that is still 20m/hr and you subconsciously exaggerate the earnings due to how much time you spend before you actually see money acquired.

 

[Koma Pahu]

Unless you are making constant first discoveries/footfalls, I guarantee that is still 20m/hr and you subconsciously exaggerate the earnings due to how much time you spend before you actually see money acquired.

And what you’re saying simply isn’t true. You can make nearly 20M from a single species.

I don’t subconsciously exaggerate. Keep your false accusations to yourself.

 

[Mohrgan]

All of the SCO-Ready ships become available in game, for credits, for everyone. Does 3 months or so of early access render all other ships surplus, or the new ones as PtW? When you buy a ship, you really only get a few months of access that peeps who won't buy ARX miss out on. That swipe of the credit card is nullified in short order.

Knowing that some of the pre-made ships may have A rated modules, hardly the top tier gear in ED, none of these modules can be used on any other ship, nor does a redeploy replace engineering on those 'free' modules. Who would sell a ship with engineered modules, for the same ship without? So the redeploy trick leaves people with a capable ship, but hardly a PtW gamechanger. When does a gimballed pulse/MC load-out ever win in PvP?

You really have to look at actually how ED works, to have a proper view of the impact of pre-made ships and early access releases. Which I submit the OP just does not have. The OP is just arguing from basic understanding of gaming, but doesn't really see how the pieces come together in the end. Maybe, with a sale or something, the OP might have a dip into ED, and see that our experience in game gives us the right perspective on this issue.

 

[Koma Pahu]

All of the SCO-Ready ships become available in game, for credits, for everyone. Does 3 months or so of early access render all other ships surplus, or the new ones as PtW? When you buy a ship, you really only get a few months of access that peeps who won't buy ARX miss out on. That swipe of the credit card is nullified in short order.

Knowing that some of the pre-made ships may have A rated modules, hardly the top tier gear in ED, none of these modules can be used on any other ship, nor does a redeploy replace engineering on those 'free' modules. Who would sell a ship with engineered modules, for the same ship without? So the redeploy trick leaves people with a capable ship, but hardly a PtW gamechanger. When does a gimballed pulse/MC load-out ever win in PvP?

You really have to look at actually how ED works, to have a proper view of the impact of pre-made ships and early access releases. Which I submit the OP just does not have. The OP is just arguing from basic understanding of gaming, but doesn't really see how the pieces come together in the end. Maybe, with a sale or something, the OP might have a dip into ED, and see that our experience in game has the right perspective on this issue.

Exactly. There’s no advantage from the ‘P2W’ ships that can’t be overcome by playing the game without spending a single penny on ARX.

 

[Therinfluffs]

And what you’re saying simply isn’t true. You can make nearly 20M from a single species.

I don’t subconsciously exaggerate. Keep your false accusations to yourself.

If you are using spansh that means wherever you are doing it has been mapped before. This means you likely aren't getting first footfalls/scans. You also probably aren't factoring in back and forth travel time whatsoever and only the time spent traveling to/from destinations even with a carrier, and time spent locating 3 separated samples of said species.

 

[Koma Pahu]

If you are using spansh that means wherever you are doing it has been mapped before. This means you likely aren't getting first footfalls/scans.

Edit: And you’re still getting around 20M for a single species.

You also probably aren't factoring in back and forth travel time whatsoever and only the time spent traveling to/from destinations even with a carrier, and time spent locating 3 separated samples of said species.

Do you do Exo? You don’t seem to know much about it. I earned over a billion to rebuy my carrier in the bubble. There’s no back and forth and it doesn’t take an hour to get 3 samples.

This is all very basic stuff. But I’ll assume you’re acting in good faith.

 

[cmdr chequers]

If you are using spansh that means wherever you are doing it has been mapped before. This means you likely aren't getting first footfalls/scans. You also probably aren't factoring in back and forth travel time whatsoever and only the time spent traveling to/from destinations even with a carrier, and time spent locating 3 separated samples of said species.

I went out on an expedition for a 6 months and came back able to buy a fleet carrier with 2 years upkeep in the bank and 7 billion credits left over.
The game is too easy at the moment.

 

[Therinfluffs]

I went out on an expedition for a 6 months and came back able to buy a fleet carrier with 2 years upkeep in the bank and 7 billion credits left over.
The game is too easy at the moment.

You think being rewarded for 6 months of labor is too easy?

 

[TurkeyApple]

I just don't see why we have to have ships being sold for early access for real money anyway. I think having the cosmetic microtransactions is fine enough. Especially if the game is being sold for only $5 or better yet just make it free to play if they are going to have the microtransactions in the game. Would certainly bring in more players. But it's not really fair to let people have access to ships early that they can bypass progression with by just paying real money. Just make sure that ships themselves aren't being sold in the shop for arx, and change the early game progression to be less grindy. Or what about a ship rental or Commander sponsership program where players can boost other players progression for the veteran's own rewards? Would also help foster a pretty cool supportive community.

 

[thistle]

I just don't see why we have to have ships being sold for early access for real money anyway.

"we"?

 

[anShpan]

Especially if the game is being sold for only $5 or better yet just make it free to play if they are going to have the microtransactions in the game. Would certainly bring in more players.

Pre-built ships for ARX are there to bring more new players. Guess, how do I know that...

 

[oblivionmanman 2476]

"we"?

i gave up with this post but those two letters WE mmm says it all because WE have bought and play the game