The One with p2p going f2p

in , , , on Saturday, September 25, 2010

Heya. So recently we've had a lot of once successful pay-to-play MMORPGs change to a free-to-play business model. Naturally, you can and are expected to still pay, but you are not forced to do so. You might enjoy various benefits, such as more content being available to you or exclusive perks. After games like DDO, LOTR and just recently PoBS it seems to be an increasing trend of a swap in business models. The old "pay your 15 bucks a month" method might not be as competitive anymore as it used to be.
Of course the question is, which games are going down the same route in the future? There are many candidates, but my top pick would have to be Vanguard.
Vanguard, huh? Many of you might not remember it. I don't even expect many people to have heard of it, as unfortunately this game did neither have good marketing nor a very large playerbase to spread the word. With all the problems the game had at its launch it was to be expected that many subscribers wouldn't be staying for long. 


Much to my personal dismay, as this game actually had a lot to offer for those looking for a more "oldschool" feeling in a MMORPG. Think EQ, DaoC. The world was vast; in fact probably the biggest I have personally seen and set foot on. You could easily spend a day on your journey from the northern reaches to the southern islands in Vanguard. The crafting system was superb as well. One of the most complex crafting systems at its time, it offered many various steps before you finally finished crafting your wooden board, your bow, or even your whole armor set. 


On the other hand, Vanguard, at launch, was filled to the brim with graphic bugs and glitches. Some people could hardly get it running on their slightly outdated PC. Compare this to runs-on-every-single-pc-in-the-world-WoW and you can see how this massively and negatively affects a new playerbase. Vanguard did get rescued in its more recent years though and that is why I think it would be SOE's perfect next choice for a new business model: f2p!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, September 25, 2010 at 5:42 AM and is filed under , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response.

  1. gravatar

    # by Anonymous - September 25, 2010 at 2:27 PM

    in some cases the money you pay can definitely be worth it; Great blog, following and plan to be back for some updates

  2. gravatar

    # by MistahDrama - September 25, 2010 at 4:13 PM

    SOE as in Sony online entertainment? i've never heard of vanguard, but personally enjoy the new plethora of F2P Mmorpg, i look at it as an extended demo, and if i feel it's worthy i wouldnt mind paying for endgame content etc

  3. gravatar

    # by crankdesert - September 25, 2010 at 4:24 PM

    f2p is always good cause you can test b4 buying it and afterwards you can still pay if u want to

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    # by McRohanheim - September 25, 2010 at 6:53 PM

    I haven't played a MMORPG in years. Glad to see there are a few good free ones available. I'll check out Vanguard when I'm free. Cheers.

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    # by Sean - September 25, 2010 at 7:22 PM

    @Mistah
    Indeed, Sony Online Entertainment. You are right too, they allow people to check if the game is to their liking.

    Testing gravatar btw.

  6. gravatar

    # by BLUERAD - September 25, 2010 at 8:46 PM

    Very nice blog, like your layout very much

  7. gravatar

    # by kovalachi - September 25, 2010 at 8:49 PM

    I recently stopped playing wow, but have been looking for a new game to play

  8. gravatar

    # by Deso - September 25, 2010 at 8:59 PM

    I see the approach that people are taking now. I, for one, am a fan of the idea. We'll just have to see how it pans out.

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    # by Nikolas Bradshaw - September 26, 2010 at 10:06 AM

    Stopped wow, looking for a new game

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    # by Unknown - September 27, 2010 at 11:58 AM

    I remember reading up on Vanguard not too long ago, and noticing it did have a few features that looked pretty bad ass. Planning on trying LoTR Online when I find the time, love the franchise to death.

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    # by resultsmayvary - September 27, 2010 at 11:56 PM

    Vanguard was pretty cool as I remember. Me and some friends gave it a shot a few years ago, but the world was empty and the engine destroyed our computers. I'm giving LotRO a spin right now, but I would totally try Vanguard out if it went F2P especially after I heard of all the changes they made to the engine to make it scale better.