"Free-to-play" - how will it be in Russian? Free-To-Play Games

Today in the world of game manufacturers there is a certain stagnation. Especially large-scale projects of the AAA-class does not come out, the market is flooded with boring arcades. In addition, many companies are persistently trying not just to sell the game once, but also to receive money from users in the future.

Additional DLCs are sold, game payments are introduced. Find a quality game (and complete) in Jewel-boxing is almost impossible. A logical continuation of this situation was the Free-To-Play model.

What it is?

This is the name of the transfer order of the game to the client, in which the latter receives the product conditionally-free. The application is free, but at the same time, internal payments are widely used in it. For example, to pass a particularly difficult level, you can pay a certain amount of "game" gold, which is purchased for real money. Theoretically, it can be earned in the game itself, but in practice it is simply unrealistic, as it is unprofitable for the developers of Free-To-Play.

Simply put, the so-called product distribution model, in which creators do not advertise the fact that for a "free" application the player will pay the same (even more), as if he had bought a normal AAA game.

Basic Methods

Of course, the developers are well aware that in most cases, the offer to buy some additional content will not be too favorably received by users, and therefore they go to all sorts of tricks. In general, there are two fundamental aspects to which they emphasize:

• Interesting gameplay, which should really "cling" to the player.
• Close integration with social networks, through which you can share your achievements, thereby motivating friends to also install the game.

A perfect example is the Subway Surfers, which belongs to the Free-To-Play genre. Initially, there could be a really free game, trying to run as far as possible, avoiding collisions with obstacles and trains. But over time, they began to introduce more and more paid "keys", which allowed to run further. In addition, many new characters appeared, for which they also had to pay.

Below we consider all the basic techniques that are widely used to obtain the greatest possible gains from the game.

Selling content

The notorious "Merry Farmer" immediately comes to mind. As practice shows, its developers receive the most money from the "free" game, selling useless for balance ornaments for small houses and other nonsense.

Remember also all the games that exploit the idea of the famous "Tamagotchi". So, any hats for the characters bring the manufacturer huge profits. Once again, we warn that this scheme is especially successful if the game includes integration with social networks. Here it takes its banal greed and competitive instinct.

Be "not like everyone else"

The subject of customization is very popular in Free-To-Play games. People almost always tried to stand out, and modern mass media made this desire a cult. Game developers are extremely successful in exploiting such aspirations.

Even more or less serious projects did not escape such a miserable fate. For example, in online projects, selling and searching for a variety of "unique" items is very popular. They have absolutely no effect on the balance, do not make the character stronger or harder. Very common in recent years has become a rather vicious practice, in which initially the whole chapter is broken up into parts, some of which "break" and are disclosed only for money.

Some exceptions

Here it is necessary to make a small digression. If the position of the player is not completely absurd, when you have to pay for any winnings, the Free-To-Play model of the game can be quite viable: when there is a real opportunity to win, sometimes you do not even think about hidden payments.

If the choice of "pay or go out" occurs almost at every step, the manufacturer of the game on legitimate grounds can be suspected of fraud.

Sales of additional functions

Very often in games there are many hidden functions that do not have a visible influence on the balance, but they need to be bought. A good example is Batelfield, the Free-To-Play model in which it develops at a fast pace. There you can buy various types of weapons, complete analogies of which are available in the free version. In arcades, this situation does go to the point of absurdity, when people buy (for example) "boots of speed", with which the leveling starts to go a little faster.

In a word, additional functions greatly contribute to the donate, as implicitly, but facilitate the passage of the game, but more often just create the impression. The developer does not even have to invest anything!

In a more honest version, any "super-machine gun" does in fact influence the balance, but not so much that it can be used as a universal means of "bending". It is very important to remember that in this case Free-to-Play goes to the category of Pay-to-Win (until you buy, you will not win). Then direct extortion of money begins , and the sports excitement at players instantly vanishes.

In some games, Free-To-Play ("Dota 2", for example) is not so ugly. Yes, there you can buy some items for your character. But they will not bring exactly any changes in the balance: only the appearance of your hero will change, which you will equip in new clothes. You can treat such infusions as collecting.

Selling game advantage

This scheme Free-to-Play is increasingly appearing in online games. Despite the profit, it poses a serious danger for the developers themselves. If the game has the ability to call the enemy on the battle, then the balance is twisted in the most cardinal way. This is very bad for players: if gamers see how the advantage is sold, the project in a few months will lose the entire paying audience.

At the first stage (immediately after the introduction of such payments) there is a sharp buying activity of beginning players. "The old-timers" are starting to leave already at this time. When the outflow of players reaches a critical level, attempts (deliberately wrong) are made to stop it, giving the paying players more advantages. When the model "Aion" Free-to-play model moved to this level, the project immediately lost almost a third of regular players.

So if you see that something like this begins in your favorite online RPG, think carefully about the meaning of injecting your real, hard earned money into it. You can lose them at any time, as there will be simply no one to fight with: professional gamers will soon leave.

Selling ... time!

A very popular method of "shaking" money from players. Do not want to build an altar for a day? Pay a couple of dollars and it will appear with your hero in a few minutes! The most impatient will transfer money, but many will ignore such a possibility, or they will switch to another game. However, if the creators with this method do not overdo it, there is nothing particularly terrible in it.

That's what Free-To-Play is. In Russian, we can say that this is the name of a special model for the dissemination of digital content, in which the user is often misled by the alleged lack of payment for the game. In addition, you can also name those projects that are simply unrealistic to go without donat.