Should Elite Dangerous move towards a free to play model?

These are my thoughts. I strongly believe that elite dangerous should follow in the footsteps of Eve online by going free to play. I seriously think it would be the most sensible marketing decision based on current player numbers, the paintpack store rework and the new DLC package due for release in 2020.
Nope....... totally not...... please god never. There are some F2P games i like very much so, (WarFrame, & WarThunder being the 2 main ones) but i would rather FD charge for expansions myself and include the things usually put behind paywalls in F2P games earnable in game.
(personally i would rather FD sold credits for cash in their store and had all cosmetics earnable by ingame game play and in game credits but that is another issue i guess)

if it did it would be interesting to see how FD deal with those who bought a totally unrealised LTP however.
 
Not aimed at you personally TJ, but at this oft repeated sentiment about things fd have said... I've said multiple times on multiple topics, holding fd to all their ancient promises would be very bad for the game, and picking and choosing which to hold them to would be tantamount to hypocrisy. I don't think it would be unreasonable at all for fd to come out and say, "we know we said this, but it turns out that things have changed, moved on, and now that is something we feel we need to do". Only the most stubborn of people could take issue with it. And I mean that across the board, not just in relation to payment models, game mechanics too. On every major decision they'll lose something and gain something else. Sometimes they might miscalculate (drag change), but they do what they think is in the best interests of the health of the game and the studio, even if that means breaking ancient promises. To do anything else would be... Self defeating.
OK so hypothetically for sh.... and giggles.
lets say this happened for the 2020 update, that would mean those who chose to buy a life time pass instead of horizons would have paid £120 vs those who bought horizons for £30 (if i remember correctly for those who had the base game).

how would you suggest FD handle that, or is it just a matter of telling "stubborn" players who would have paid £90 and got nothing other than a few skins to shut the front door?.

I know you believe players should sit back relax and enjoy the ride and just accept what ever content FD choose to grace us with, and that is all fine and dandy if you get the bits you want out of the game. it is not so easy however when the main things which hooked some players have yet to make it in.

but what makes it worse is those players still have no idea if those features are in the pipe or on the cutting room floor. in some ways i do agree with you. an announcement from FD saying "We know this but plans change, give it up guys" WOULD be a good thing, in a rip the plaster off quickly kind of way.

imo FD dont HAVE to be tied down to design decisions made years ago, however when those designs were used to sell copies of the game i think when a significant direction change is made to the design, it is good form for the developers to have a frank discussion about why that feature was changed or cut and how it benefits the game as a whole.
 
OK so hypothetically for sh.... and giggles.
lets say this happened for the 2020 update, that would mean those who chose to buy a life time pass instead of horizons would have paid £120 vs those who bought horizons for £30 (if i remember correctly for those who had the base game).

how would you suggest FD handle that, or is it just a matter of telling "stubborn" players who would have paid £90 and got nothing other than a few skins to shut the front door?.

I know you believe players should sit back relax and enjoy the ride and just accept what ever content FD choose to grace us with, and that is all fine and dandy if you get the bits you want out of the game. it is not so easy however when the main things which hooked some players have yet to make it in.

but what makes it worse is those players still have no idea if those features are in the pipe or on the cutting room floor. in some ways i do agree with you. an announcement from FD saying "We know this but plans change, give it up guys" WOULD be a good thing, in a rip the plaster off quickly kind of way.

imo FD dont HAVE to be tied down to design decisions made years ago, however when those designs were used to sell copies of the game i think when a significant direction change is made to the design, it is good form for the developers to have a frank discussion about why that feature was changed or cut and how it benefits the game as a whole.

I got some crappy skins when Evolve went F2P. And never looked at them. Actually they also removed content I paid for - the coop campaigns, which I could also play solo with bots. They weren't no longer in the F2P version.
 
OK so hypothetically for sh.... and giggles.
lets say this happened for the 2020 update, that would mean those who chose to buy a life time pass instead of horizons would have paid £120 vs those who bought horizons for £30 (if i remember correctly for those who had the base game).

how would you suggest FD handle that, or is it just a matter of telling "stubborn" players who would have paid £90 and got nothing other than a few skins to shut the front door?.

I know you believe players should sit back relax and enjoy the ride and just accept what ever content FD choose to grace us with, and that is all fine and dandy if you get the bits you want out of the game. it is not so easy however when the main things which hooked some players have yet to make it in.

but what makes it worse is those players still have no idea if those features are in the pipe or on the cutting room floor. in some ways i do agree with you. an announcement from FD saying "We know this but plans change, give it up guys" WOULD be a good thing, in a rip the plaster off quickly kind of way.

imo FD dont HAVE to be tied down to design decisions made years ago, however when those designs were used to sell copies of the game i think when a significant direction change is made to the design, it is good form for the developers to have a frank discussion about why that feature was changed or cut and how it benefits the game as a whole.
You projected quite a lot into my post.

I'm talking about things like changing their mind on releasing the black friday paintjobs out of cycle, or releasing the Cobra 4, or changing the payment model, or making a gameplay change that may not be popular, but they remain adamant it's for the greater good (FSS, for example).

LEP holders getting satisfaction is important, and not covered in my earlier statement. LEP value isn't a 'promise' it's a value proposition that FD are legally obliged to fulfill. But that also can still be achieved by breaking promises that make no sense if the climate of gaming changes, such as payment models. If they did make a change tot he payment system, such that it devalues LEP holders, then FD needs to find some other way to compensate you for that. IF that compensation is fair and reasonable, and some people still choose not to accept it because it's a 'broken promise, period', then yes, they become the stubborn people I'm talking about.

I hoped that my post implied reasonableness in this equation and I CERTAINLY never said players should sit back and enjoy the ride that FD offers, you've seen me on the forum all these years, very vocally trying to change the things that need changing. For what it's worth, your last paragraph is basically what I'm saying too. (y)
 
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You projected quite a lot into my post.

I'm talking about things like changing their mind on releasing the black friday paintjobs out of cycle, or releasing the Cobra 4, or changing the payment model, or making a gameplay change that may not be popular, but they remain adamant it's for the greater good (FSS, for example).

LEP holders getting satisfaction is important, and not covered in my earlier statement. LEP value isn't a 'promise' it's a value proposition that FD are legally obliged to fulfill. But that also can still be achieved by breaking promises that make no sense if the climate of gaming changes, such as payment models. If they did make a change tot he payment system, such that it devalues LEP holders, then FD needs to find some other way to compensate you for that. IF that compensation is fair and reasonable, and some people still choose not to accept it because it's a 'broken promise, period', then yes, they become the stubborn people I'm talking about.

I hoped that my post implied reasonableness in this equation and I CERTAINLY never said players should sit back and enjoy the ride that FD offers, you've seen me on the forum all these years, very vocally trying to change the things that need changing. Come on man, you've taken more effort to arrive at a misunderstanding than it would have taken to take my post at face value. for what it's worth, your last paragraph is basically what I'm saying too.
genuinely i was not trying to be obtuse. Sorry if you feel that way, apologies. But my thing is FD havent had that upfront and frank discussion about the features which have been (imo) totally butchered which is why I still hold FD accountable to them, and to me they ARE huge and value altering changes such as the ships wingmates and ships crew.

I read it that you consider anyone dissapointed by such lacking featuresor who is appalled at the notion of the game going F2P as being stubborn . my mistake if i am wrong.

black friday paint jobs and cobra IV levels of stuff.. i would love it if they offered them to everyone. I cant remember the exact wording but i wonder if they could not get out of it with a "cobra iv WAS exclusive for the period of horizons but now that is over and the ship is going on general sale?"

either way you would get no complains from me if FD unlocked that stuff.
 
Nope....... totally not...... please god never. There are some F2P games i like very much so, (WarFrame, & WarThunder being the 2 main ones) but i would rather FD charge for expansions myself and include the things usually put behind paywalls in F2P games earnable in game.
(personally i would rather FD sold credits for cash in their store and had all cosmetics earnable by ingame game play and in game credits but that is another issue i guess)

if it did it would be interesting to see how FD deal with those who bought a totally unrealised LTP however.
Maybe I misinterpreted the announcement but didn't they just announce the cosmetics would be earnable by ingame game play?
 
Maybe I misinterpreted the announcement but didn't they just announce the cosmetics would be earnable by ingame game play?
Sure and i am really happy about that. but it is limited amounts per week. in the olden days where bikes were bikes and had a proper saddle and winters were cold and summers hot, beer was under £1 a pint and petrol was ordered in gallons not litres all things like cosmetics were earned in full by doing tasks in games.

clearly i am mostly joking but i do miss those days and ED will never be that. Star citizen may be... however how much stuff will cost is anyones guess.
 
Business model ? You mean "Raise a load of interest free money on kickstarter instead of going to the banks with your plan & asking for a loan, then ignoring your promises to the people who gave you the free money in the first place" ?
 
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I am the OP and I have read many replies. I think the majority of people here are misinterpreting what I said.

I said NOTHING about a monthly subscription.
I said NOTHING about increasing the grind and in game costs of ships.
I said NOTHING about adding pay to progress microtranactions (such as £10 for 100 G5 mats)

All I said, was to make the base game free to encourage more players to give elite dangerous a try. I sense that many members of the community are afraid that making the base game free would introduce a dynamic whereby Frontier also introduce these pay to progress microtranactions.

However I disagree. How often is Elite Dangerous on sale at over 70% off? I would say, probably every big steam sale and every big Update. I believe it only sells for around £5 during these periods! So if frontier are so unafraid of selling Elite for £5, then I strongly believe that they do not care about this small amount. Frontier know that their playerbase spend more money on Horizons +update 2020 and cosmetics over a longer period.

TLDR.

So to summarise, my initial post was not calling for a monthly subscription or pay to win microtranactions, but simply making elite dangerous cost NOTHING and change NOTHING to the current game. Are you players still against free to play in this instance?!
 
Hello,

So we have just had the announcement of the new frontier points and ways to earn them. It seems as if Frontier are trying to increase the amount of players buying cosmetic items and also making the paintpack store less clunkier and glitchy when viewing it. These are just some short term updates.

In addition, frontier are spending considerable resources this year in trying to increase retention of new players. For example we have seen the new tutorials announced and earlier this year we had the new anti gank starter systems introduced.

In summer 2020 we are expecting a big new DLC, the size of which we have not seen since Horizons. Possible space legs and base building if the rumours are correct. Therefore we can probably expect frontier to sell this for £20-30, which is essentially the price of a new game.

My argument is therefore that Elite Dangerous should shift to a Free to play model, with Horizons and DLC 2020 being £20 and £30 respectively. With the new ease of use when it comes to the new paintpack shop I think it would be more of a higher revenue raising venture if elite does go free to download. For example, let me try to explain.

Somebody considers buying elite dangerous, sees the price tag and also sees that the steam reviews are only "mixed". I would say that they only have a low chance of buying the game in that example unless they were confident in the game. Even if they decide to purchase in this example, the max investment from that player would be the minimal amount.

My proposed example is this(in 2020): steam user sees elite dangerous is free to play. So they think "hell why not" and download the game for free, playing through all the new fancy voiced tutorials frontier have introduced. Then, they spawn in one of the safe haven noob zones and dont experience any negative gameplay such as ganking or hacking so they are having a great time! After around 10-20 hours of game time, perhaps this new player is considering purchasing the dlc such as horizons or 2020 DLC. Or maybe even a paintpack for their new ship. And just think that this "new player" might not have even bought the base game, but now is investing £50 on DLC and £15 on paintpacks.

These are my thoughts. I strongly believe that elite dangerous should follow in the footsteps of Eve online by going free to play. I seriously think it would be the most sensible marketing decision based on current player numbers, the paintpack store rework and the new DLC package due for release in 2020.

So what about the Life Time Expansion pass holders? What possible way could free to play benefit them? LEP holders paid up front for all future paid updates. A few free skins simply will not cut it. Free to play at this point in the games life is an awful idea. Once the game is done and reaching the end of its life, then maybe, but now? A great big hell no!
 
So what about the Life Time Expansion pass holders? What possible way could free to play benefit them? LEP holders paid up front for all future paid updates. A few free skins simply will not cut it. Free to play at this point in the games life is an awful idea. Once the game is done and reaching the end of its life, then maybe, but now? A great big hell no!
You LEP owners are getting update 2020 for free. I think you're getting a pretty fair bargain
 
So to summarise, my initial post was not calling for a monthly subscription or pay to win microtranactions, but simply making elite dangerous cost NOTHING and change NOTHING to the current game. Are you players still against free to play in this instance?!

Yes, this would change the business model, and therefore, the design ethos (it's already harmed by having microtransactions)
 
Microtransactions that have zero impact on the games itself (purely cosmetic mc's) and provide a revenue stream for further development.

This still damages the games design and development.
If the entire focus and way of making money for the game is on high quality expansion packs, then it makes the game develop differently to when it has "alternate revenue streams" built into the game.

Because only the base game would be for free. They would still have to pay for horizons and update 2020.

The title of this thread could probly do with being changed then.

"Should the base game be free?"

Is better than "should it move towards a free to play model"

A free to play model is different to the base game being free.

I'd be fine with them having a representative demo of the game out there for free. That's always pretty cool
 
Then you don't understand what free to play means. It means the entire game is free to play. Look at Path Of Exile. They keep adding dlc, but it is all free to play.

No. YOU dont understand what free to play means. Are you telling me that all free to play games should just be confined to being 100% free future content?

Let me tell you that is wrong, free to play games come in many different models and pay styles. The one which I am pushing for is making the BASE game free; Horizons + 2020 equals full price! This is what my original post was arguing for. If you have a problem understanding that then I cant help your english out
 
This still damages the games design and development.
If the entire focus and way of making money for the game is on high quality expansion packs, then it makes the game develop differently to when it has "alternate revenue streams" built into the game.



The title of this thread could probly do with being changed then.

"Should the base game be free?"

Is better than "should it move towards a free to play model"

A free to play model is different to the base game being free.

I'd be fine with them having a representative demo of the game out there for free. That's always pretty cool

This is just petty. You are clearly just too lazy to read my entire post like the majority of respondents here. If you had read the first post correctly you would have understood. So I will not be changing the thread title
 
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