Is "free" a good or a bad thing?

I think if it's implemented well, Free 2 Play can be great. It helps get as many players in to enjoy the game, but if it's obnoxious or extremely obvious that you have to pay to win, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know it's not an MMO, but Plants vs. Zombies 2 is one of those for me, that walks the borderline between being really fun to play on its own, to being annoying because you have to grind repeatedly to unlock new areas.

 

I generally find that free MMORPG's tend to be a little mediocre and try to coerce players into using their item shops. I have enjoyed some free games in the past like Runescape and Maplestory.

 

free is good if there isnt the option of spending real life money to better yourself in the game that shits stupid

 

It's definitely different from game to game. If you do the free system correctly there aren't as many issues. The problem is that very few MMOs actually get this part correct. What you don't want to do is shut huge portions of the game behind a money curtain. A lot of free MMOs make you pay to make your character look better or to speed leveling up. Honestly I'm not sure what the best way is to do it.

 

I think free stuff can sometimes be a bad thing. You have to ask yourself what do these game developers have to gain from putting in months of work to create a game anyone can download and play for free. Sure there is in game content for sale sometimes but that probably isn't much.

 

Free MMORPGs are actually a pretty good way to get people interested in the genre at an earlier age. I remember playing AdventureQuest Worlds quite a bit when it first came out. Yes, it had/has its flaws but that was a really fun experience for me.

 

I don't play any of the P2P MMO'S, but I guess their are advantages like having a lower chance of being hacked and maybe server performance.

 

Being free doesn't always mean a game isn't quality. I think a good F2P game should give access to all the content but charge extra for cosmetic items. There's a ton of money to be made by selling premium mounts or really cool looking armor.

 

I love free games and must other things that are free. I do try to avoid pay 2 win games though as they are disguised as free, but actually turn out to be one of the more expensive games you can play. Rift is F2P and while it does have a pay for items component, all the items available for cash are also available for in game gold. Path of Exile is another great example (even though is an aRPG, not MMO). All the items available for sale are cosmetic enhancements (some might argue that the option to buy more bank tabs is pay 2 win). Overall, I love free!

 

I personally think it mostly depends on the game! Some games are simply better if they are left f2p. For example LoL and MOBA type games. Others like huge MMOs I believe are better if they are paid for. It seems to me that huge MMOs need alot of work on them to be great. Alot of additional content is needed which means alot of people working on the content (more capital). MOBAs are less capital intensive so its less important for them. TLDR MMOs need more cash to make a great game while MOBAs need less!

 

Free-to-play games are usually pay-to-win and that's why some people hate these kinds of games. Also, games that require you to pay are more reliable since they know that if they make a mistake, lots of subscribers will be gone.

 

Whether it is good or bad depends on what items you are buying in item malls/cash shops. I'm not a fan of buying consumables, and consumable are those that tend to give unfair advantages to players like potions that gives godly buffs for certain amount of time. But if I'm gonna buy stuff that will be permanently mine without giving any enhancements to stats or skills such as costumes, storage/inventory expansions, mounts and the likes then I'm willing to spend some bucks on those stuff.

 

I believe LoL was the best game to make the f2p system work. The only things that you can buy there are skins which do not affect the gameplay at all. For a game to be succesful at f2p it needs to be very fun and the things sold must not impact the gameplay.

 

No such thing as free and you only need to look at the in app purchasing to get anything that will help after the honeymoon period with any MMORPG ends. This seems to be the norm for thee type of games now and I find quite annoying, but that's their business I suppose.

 

Free game, free servers, ... is a bad thing in my opinion. Unless the creators have some way of making a substantial amount of money from the game itself or from subscriptions, they won't put a lot of effort in to make it better. They would add in-app purchases which mess up games.

 

Thats just how things function these days! Without alot of money you can rarely create something worth playing. (except Minecraft)

 

It depends if it affects the gaming experience, like games on PSN are free and you dnt have to pay for memberships, but there are no quality servers for multiplayer games, Xbox live for example where you have to pay for membership have dedicated servers that are always up, and super fast.

 

Well you kind of answered your own question. There are some that are of worse quality, but there are also some great ones for free. I get put off by games that are either too expensive or are "free" but eat up your money with other fees that you "need" to pay in order to beat the game.

 

"Free" to play is not entirely free.... you have to realize that part first. Most "free" MMORPG for example, have item malls. Where "rich" players will purchase items unavailable to the regular players who are into it for "free". It creates unfair gameplay (on purpose), in order to make more people want to pay to get good items to compete with the players who have paid the money first.

Of course, "free" to play games have their good points. We can try the game and have a taste of it without paying for it. Although, this part can be done with a free trial too.

Generally speaking, I'd rather play a paid MMORPG. I am willing to pay monthly subscription fee if the game is truly great.

 

That is true personally when I play F2P MMO's I don't spend any money because for one I don't have the money sure I am weaker then most people to be honest I don't really care if your one of those players that has to be in the top 10 in a game then I think you need to get your priorities straight and if your going to use the item shop minus well play the P2P games because usually they are more well developed.