Creativerse business model: F2P / P2P / P2F

[ThunderOrigin]

Firstly, the launch with the option as F2P is always welcome, and there were no real limitations on what you could achieve in a world on that basis.
Secondly, let me explain why I have avoided the Pay to Win cliche. For a start the PvP element, though supported, isnt really what the game is aimed at, and the community it fosters reflects an outlook very appropriate in Creative Builder, as opposed Destructive Grief-giver.
Thirdly, Going Pro is mostly Pay to Progress something that treads a fine line between pay to win in other contexts (see point two), with a little of justified Pay to Fund, which the most successful F2P Games have used, both in terms of player base and profitability.
Lastly, there is a TLDR at bottom.

Pay to Progress vs Free to Play Grind-wall
Though I think Creativerse is a really beautiful game, it doesn't and developed really well, it doesn't mean their business plan was in line with some of the most popular and profitable Free to Play games, that have Pay to Fund (largely in Cosmetics, and Pay to Progress that are otherwise grind-walls for Free to Play people).
My motivation behind this post is that playing free and going PRO have different starting points that drastically changes a players experience. Contrary to may mainstream successful F2P models that have Later content as Paid exclusive, so that ALL players have the same initial fuctionality; while paid may have some of those with ease of use; as opposed to free players having to grind.

I think the developers did right with F2P:
I love the scope of what is on offer in the Free to Play model of Creativerse;
1) Overwhelming majority of the functionality is accessible.
2) Own private world.
3) Can join, contribute and even make claims in countless other worlds.

However some of the obvious P2P perks, with a fairness rating:
Yes, Pay to Progress is certainly a thing, sure its a shrewd business concept and it works;
1) Flashlight - trivial and justified more a convenience before lighting items (even after you have them but are un-prepared).
2) Sprint longer - minor, acceptable - direct time saver if you can move faster for longer
3) Sail the Skyies - moderate - probably even more effective, as you can avoid terrain obstacles and even death.
4) Carry More - major - possibly the greatest time saver before you have teleportation.
5) Claim Land - trivial - although this has a fairly early and sustained impact in public worlds, in it can have no relevance on one's own world of a F2P player

Some things in the Going Pro pack, is what I would call P2F:
Pay to Fund, its saying "thank-you dev's for a great F2P game, Ill give you a paycheck"
1) Create More Worlds - Fully justified, if you are spending this much time needing another world (asides from visiting others), then you really should give them a pat on the back and cash in their wallets.
2) World Options - A mixed bag on these, but the base setting are fine for someone to decide if they like the game and want to go further with it, so fair enough.
3) Claim Land - I've stated the P2P aspect of this one, but I think in the wider context its lasting effect on claim count and longer time playing is why it should be P2F.
4) Cosmetic Discounts - totally justified, anything cosmetics is always justified IMHO and is the true essence of P2F, saying "I am enjoying your hard work giving me this game, I want to bother to dress it up.".

Comparison of F2P vs P2P vs P2F; on the whole I like what they have done with the business model. However I think certain P2P should be accessible for F2P players with the crafting system, the main difference is then resources, time for that, and item wear/durability. Others may just be that smug superiority:
1) Flashlight - Iron, Glass to build an "Unpowered Flashlight" item, as for powering it for use, arc stone makes sense; something like if you had it on for 6 hours game time (almost a night) then it would deplete fully.
2) Sprint longer - not sure... as I dont have access to all the modifier values possible in game, max values achievable for Free vs Pro.
3) Sail the Skies - Glider - easy to have something with Leafi's and Twine, but make it a single use and each one takes a single item slot; or you simply have to carry both the resources (hampering their carrying capacity).
4) Carry More - Back Pack - Possibly Leather+Bone+Twine. Even several tiers of backpack so greater carrying weights become slowly available to the F2P player. Replacing with Iron Rods/ Lumite...
This would completely make all non-accessible Pro content fully justified and in the realm of P2F, while the rest of the P2P is simply a grind wall for F2P people.

TLDR:
Great F2P model; lots of P2P for Pro, that can be implemented for F2P with grind walls; some P2F for Pro, that is fully justified, and should stay exclusive. On whole Great game, decent business model, but as with anything there is room for improvement.

[76561199028165161]

Any and all PRO content needs to stay that way. No grinding to get any parts of it.

Getting it has a ridiculously low cost. A couple can't even go to a single movie for the same price. With Creative Mode a thing now, the cosmetics, welcome bundle and PRO, are the only revenue streams for this game.

Your ideas, while nice in theory, would remove a lot of revenue from Playful. Not to mention, the resources you propose, could be had within 15 minutes of starting any world. Would seem like an insult to those that paid for it. Simply cash in a couple log in chests for half of what you need to bypass purchasing it.

Call it pay to play, pay to win, pay to do more, pay to fund or any other combination with the word pay in it. I will still defend keeping it that way.

Now, if Playful added even more pack space, faster and longer gliding, longer and brighter flashlight range, etc... than couldn't be obtained by gathering a few minor resources you're proposing, instead of paying for it, I might change my stance.

People that paid for PRO should always have more "perks" than those that didn't.

[ThunderOrigin]

Firstly lets deal what appears to be your main gripe.

Originally posted by Michael:

People that paid for PRO should always have more "perks" than those that didn't.

I never said they shouldn't!
So please don't provide an implicit statement to that end.
Perhaps I didn't make myself clear enough with the difference between giving some of the P2P perks as grind-walls and P2F perks as paid exclusive?

Originally posted by Michael:

could be had within 15 minutes of starting any world.

No numbers were stated on quantity, and more importantly I did state F2P would get wear on items, which could make it a chore to farm blocks just to carry more types of blocks and run faster... to yep farm resources on essentially consumables NOT actually progressing world shaping.
While Pro would have theirs at the start, permanently, with no upkeep.
It's a here try it, if you like it, you can grind it. Most people will probably buy it once they tried it if they like it because its convenient and they would avoid the extra effort of grinding, re-crafting the item ever 10 minutes.

Originally posted by Michael:

Now, if Playful added even more pack space, faster and longer gliding, longer and brighter flashlight range, etc... than couldn't be obtained by gathering a few minor resources you're proposing, instead of paying for it, I might change my stance.

Fair enough. Yes an enhancement path is still viable.
I think that perhaps the original suggestion I had should have come years ago when I first started playing this game.

Originally posted by Michael:

With Creative Mode a thing now, the cosmetics, welcome bundle and PRO, are the only revenue streams for this game.

Yes I was surprised with the introduction of the daily logins being so powerful (even the basic ones), being a real fast track for new plays, and a nice bonus for veterans.

Perhaps the unlimited worlds part of PRO was too much of a generosity, unlocking a handful along with the extra world options would still be a huge jump from a single world with little options. While Additional world purchases could have been open only to PRO so a clear progression.
Just trying it out free, have a starter world free.
Finished that? Go PRO have a few, and now you can try out different world options.
Got your handful done, man you're dedicated player, and you still want more, a few pennies (an expression not literal) for each one more...

[ThunderOrigin]

Edit of original post

Originally posted by ThunderOrigin:

Firstly, let me explain why I have avoided the Pay to Win cliche. For a start the PvP element, though supported, isnt really what the game is aimed at, and the community it fosters reflects an outlook very appropriate in Creative Builder, as opposed Destructive Grief-giver.
Secondly, Going Pro is mostly Pay to Progress, with a little of justified Pay to Fund.
Thirdly, there is a TLDR at bottom.

I think the developers did right with F2P:
I love the scope of what is on offer in the Free to Play model of Creativerse;
1) Overwhelming majority of the functionality is accessible.
2) Own private world.
3) Can join, contribute and even make claims in countless other worlds.

However some of the obvious P2P perks, with a fairness rating:
Yes, Pay to Progress is certainly a thing, sure its a shrewd business concept and it works;
1) Flashlight - trivial and justified more a convenience before lighting items (even after you have them but are un-prepared).
2) Sprint longer - minor, acceptable - direct time saver if you can move faster for longer
3) Sail the Skyies - moderate - probably even more effective, as you can avoid terrain obstacles and even death.
4) Carry More - major - possibly the greatest time saver before you have teleportation.
5) Claim Land - trivial - although this has a fairly early and sustained impact in public worlds, in it can have no relevance on one's own world of a F2P player

Some things in the Going Pro pack, is what I would call P2F:
Pay to Fund, its saying "thank-you dev's for a great F2P game, Ill give you a paycheck"
1) Create More Worlds - Fully justified, if you are spending this much time needing another world (asides from visiting others), then you really should give them a pat on the back and cash in their wallets.
2) World Options - A mixed bag on these, but the base setting are fine for someone to decide if they like the game and want to go further with it, so fair enough.
3) Claim Land - I've stated the P2P aspect of this one, but I think in the wider context its lasting effect on claim count and longer time playing is why it should be P2F.
4) Cosmetic Discounts - totally justified, anything cosmetics is always justified IMHO and is the true essence of P2F, saying "I am enjoying your hard work giving me this game, I want to bother to dress it up.".

Comparison of F2P vs P2P vs P2F; on the whole I like what they have done with the business model. However I think certain P2P should be accessible for F2P players with the crafting system, the main difference is then resources, time for that, and item wear/durability. Others may just be that smug superiority:
1) Flashlight - Iron, Glass to build an "Unpowered Flashlight" item, as for powering it for use, arc stone makes sense; something like if you had it on for 6 hours game time (almost a night) then it would deplete fully.
2) Sprint longer - not sure... as I dont have access to all the modifier values possible in game, max values achievable for Free vs Pro.
3) Sail the Skies - Glider - easy to have something with Leafi's and Twine, but make it a single use and each one takes a single item slot; or you simply have to carry both the resources (hampering their carrying capacity).
4) Carry More - Back Pack - Possibly Leather+Bone+Twine. Even several tiers of backpack so greater carrying weights become slowly available to the F2P player. Replacing with Iron Rods/ Lumite...
This would completely make all non-accessible Pro content fully justified and in the realm of P2F, while the rest of the P2P is simply a grind wall for F2P people.

TLDR:
Great F2P model; lots of P2P for Pro, that can be implemented for F2P with grind walls; some P2F for Pro, that is fully justified. On whole Great game, decent business model, but as with anything there is room for improvement.

Will add a first point that the F2P launch years ago was fine.
Also some minor edits for clarity.

Adding more context earlier

Pay to Progress vs Free to Play Grind-wall
Though I think Creativerse is a really beautiful game, it doesn't and developed really well, it doesn't mean their business plan was in line with some of the most popular and profitable Free to Play games, that have Pay to Fund (largely in Cosmetics, and Pay to Progress that are otherwise grind-walls for Free to Play people).
My motivation behind this post is that playing free and going PRO have different starting points that drastically changes a players experience. Contrary to may mainstream successful F2P models that have Later content as Paid exclusive, so that ALL players have the same initial fuctionality; while paid may have some of those with ease of use; as opposed to free players having to grind.