what i think...

[adriangauvey34]

if gaming company only care for money, then make it cost money. it create a divide between the people who play the game for free and people who pay for the game and play the game.

[VanillaLucia]

While a pay-to-play paywall might sound like it would generate money, it turns out that having a free-to-play game with regularly rotating bonuses (like cosmetics) being something players can pay for or not feel too pressured to buy into generates more money over time.

Creating a divide for anyone is always a surefire way to cause problems, drama, and to ultimately harm the community overall. Players who do not pay can still have quite a bit to enjoy and the modern day of gaming is absolutely fruitful with all the other sorts of games and experiences you can have without ever having once thrown money at the developers and companies who provide these experiences and these positive experiences help encourage those who are more willing and likely to throw money to spend on something people seem to be enjoying.

And I suppose in hindsight as well if we really have to go in that direction - it would be a very awkward transition for Sega who spearheaded Phantasy Star Online 2 as one of the very first and "limitless" free-to-play games (especially back during a period where every free-to-play game had such strong restrictions and limitations on what players could do) to suddenly backpedal and undo something Sega were effectively pioneers of.

[Null_User]

For people to pay to play a game, the game must be very worthy of it. Even a successful company like Square Enix had to remake their pay to play FFXIV to make it worth the monthly fee, regardless of the franchise's storied past. While it seems people out there spend money on nonsense, they are very quick to throw an underwhelming game into oblivion, unless, they can at least play it for free. NGS in it's current state is one of those games. It wouldn't last much on a pay to play model, and the devs knew it since day one.

[Hermit]

Microtransactions make WAY more money games required to pay to play. Games companies don't make games f2p out of the goodness of their heart, it's used as an easy gateway to hook players on microtransactions. If the game wasn't f2p, then they would likely lose money.

[Luxaeterna]

Meanwhile that new game where you have a small % percent % chance to play a strong character is earning big time. It's already $100,000,000+ earnings in just 1 month.

[justfaded]

I'm a returning player, is it impossible for f2p players to make money?

[Null_User]

Originally posted by justfaded:

I'm a returning player, is it impossible for f2p players to make money?

Good gear and some augment capsules sell for a decent price, but you must set up some things first. You will want to do mission pass to get the 3 day shop pass (or wherever shop passes are earned nowadays) so you can actually sell things. You need to of course level up and get good enough to do the higher tier content easily. You also need to stay in touch with what's exactly considered good gear and augments worthy of selling on each update.

The best would be to do it with other players in a static group with the same goals to complete stuff fast, smoothly and at least to have fun with them meanwhile.

Oh, and there are also those gold items you get on the ground in Aelio and retem that sell for some pocket change.

[VanillaLucia]

Originally posted by justfaded:

I'm a returning player, is it impossible for f2p players to make money?

Not impossible, but do expect it to take time if you rely solely on the Daily/Weekly N-Meseta sources. Other players would try to farm for very rare cosmetics from content players don't play often, capsules from rarer-than-normal content (as in content players don't actively play), and jump into selling cosmetics they flipped or bought from the AC Scratches/AC Shops.

If you are early enough in the game and really want to save your N-Meseta, I do recommend you stick to the Renaissa weapons or their replacements (the Hextra Series of weapons) because these weapons are very budget-friendly alternatives to every other series of weapons (upgrade costs are non-existent and the only real cost is Limit Breaking them). These weapons and units are good enough that you will never need to upgrade until you reach the current end-game (which is about Level 70) and by then your only real "upgrade" are the current final weapons. If you are too far past that, you can make a new character just to pick up those weapons and units and donate them to your main character so save on costs for the majority of the game.

[justfaded]

Originally posted by VanillaLucia:

Originally posted by justfaded:

I'm a returning player, is it impossible for f2p players to make money?

Not impossible, but do expect it to take time if you rely solely on the Daily/Weekly N-Meseta sources. Other players would try to farm for very rare cosmetics from content players don't play often, capsules from rarer-than-normal content (as in content players don't actively play), and jump into selling cosmetics they flipped or bought from the AC Scratches/AC Shops.

If you are early enough in the game and really want to save your N-Meseta, I do recommend you stick to the Renaissa weapons or their replacements (the Hextra Series of weapons) because these weapons are very budget-friendly alternatives to every other series of weapons (upgrade costs are non-existent and the only real cost is Limit Breaking them). These weapons and units are good enough that you will never need to upgrade until you reach the current end-game (which is about Level 70) and by then your only real "upgrade" are the current final weapons. If you are too far past that, you can make a new character just to pick up those weapons and units and donate them to your main character so save on costs for the majority of the game.

Thanks, what would I farm to get rare capsules and cosmetics?

I'm lvl 70 with kouk-something weapons. Should I upgrade to the neos stuff or wait for the new weapons?

[VanillaLucia]

Originally posted by justfaded:

Thanks, what would I farm to get rare capsules and cosmetics?

I'm lvl 70 with kouk-something weapons. Should I upgrade to the neos stuff or wait for the new weapons?

In short for cosmetics:

• Purple Triggers
  
• Geometric Labyrinth (Ranks 1 and Rank 2)

In regards to your gear, I would recommend sticking to what you have or go with something "cheap" if you aren't wanting to spend too much N-Meseta and resources trying to upgrade something else. I imagine our equipment will still be good for some time yet when the new equipment comes around - but I wouldn't personally put bets on trying to rush to build Neos Astraean weapons at the last minute just to see it get tossed out by the next-best thing.

[justfaded]

Thanks man, that was exactly what I wanted to know.

[chill out]

Free players are valuable to boost player numbers and keep the game from becoming completely dead. Literally, you are being paid to play the game, with the payment being the game you're playing. Every moment you're in game, you work for SEGA, promoting their brand, promoting their game, and attracting paying customers.

The reason free-to-play exists is because traditional business models for online games were failing hard, due to player dropout/competition/crowded markets. Free-to-play is exactly why there are so many online games today. They would never be sustainable if they had a subscription model, and the hard separation model actually drives people away, which is why smaller studios that don't understand that free players are the supporting foundation of their game tend to drive free players away and then fail to gain marketshare, eventually dying out.
PSO2 already has some pretty harsh segmentation, and is failing for it. It's why new game brands in this space are even around. If SEGA hadn't run their playerbase off, leaving PSO2 as a slowly bleeding-out game with no future for so many years, nobody would care about Genshin Impact or whatever other f2p games are around these days.

It's also why the most successful long-term f2p games don't have any real pay2win aspects to them, and just sell skins or cosmetics; being able to show off how good you look in a game with millions of players is a lot better than showing off how you can cheat in a game with hundreds.

[Luxaeterna]

Originally posted by Majora:

It's also why the most successful long-term f2p games don't have any real pay2win aspects to them, and just sell skins or cosmetics; being able to show off how good you look in a game with millions of players is a lot better than showing off how you can cheat in a game with hundreds.

Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail is spending money to have the little % chance to play the character that you want in a Breath of the Wild style progression. Both games are now the top earners in the multiplatform ARPG.

Star Citizen has the most earning of 1/2 Billion $, and the game hasnt even launched.

PSO2 GLOBAL population has been at been above and below 5000 in steam even before NGS.

[chill out]

Originally posted by Luxaeterna:

Originally posted by Majora:

It's also why the most successful long-term f2p games don't have any real pay2win aspects to them, and just sell skins or cosmetics; being able to show off how good you look in a game with millions of players is a lot better than showing off how you can cheat in a game with hundreds.

Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail is spending money to have the little % chance to play the character that you want in a Breath of the Wild style progression. Both games are now the top earners in the multiplatform ARPG.

Star Citizen has the most earning of 1/2 Billion $, and the game hasnt even launched.

PSO2 GLOBAL population has been at been above and below 5000 in steam even before NGS.

PSO2's long slow decline started long before GLOBAL hit the market. They're just coasting on diehards.

[Luxaeterna]

Originally posted by Majora:

PSO2's long slow decline started long before GLOBAL hit the market. They're just coasting on diehards.

Look if you want money, Star Citizen has already shown you dont even need to launch a game. Just a dream is enough for people to spend.

[chill out]

Originally posted by Luxaeterna:

Originally posted by Majora:

PSO2's long slow decline started long before GLOBAL hit the market. They're just coasting on diehards.

Look if you want money, Star Citizen has already shown you dont even need to launch a game. Just a dream is enough for people to spend.

Star Citizen creates new experiences afaik.
PSO2 did that at one point, a long time ago, and then stopped, and just coasted on gacha diehards.