An Idea to make this more Free to play Friendly

[Gloom]

So I get why the sub feature is there the game needs to make money, but i think given they also have Crowns and the Crowns shop they should do something like Star Wars the Old Republic does where the whole base game is now Free to play and then if you've sub for at least one month and unsub you still get access to all the current expansions, I feel like Wizard101 could do this by making the first whole story free to play and then putting everything else behind a sub wall. IDK Maybe this is a dumb idea

[Slim]

No that's a good idea with the way things are now. A lot of people main two or three games at a time and more typically want to play to completion. The early-game spiral worlds aren't themselves worth anything themselves because most people are passed that.

Since it's important not to screw the old players, those who have already paid with these areas through crowns would have to agree in uniformity that they are okay with a f2p reclamation.
an discussion has to be made about whether it benefits the game any to extend it.

My opinion is that KI would benefit because like I said, those worlds don't pull any revenue. They actually lose revenue because they're locked, losing the initial sale to a new purchase.
while the value of the game is located after the main quest arch leading up to Dragonspyre

[Gloom]

Originally posted by ThKxD:

No that's a good idea with the way things are now. A lot of people main two or three games at a time and more typically want to play to completion. The early-game spiral worlds aren't themselves worth anything themselves because most people are passed that.

Since it's important not to screw the old players, those who have already paid with these areas through crowns would have to agree in uniformity that they are okay with a f2p reclamation.
an discussion has to be made about whether it benefits the game any to extend it.

My opinion is that KI would benefit because like I said, those worlds don't pull any revenue. They actually lose revenue because they're locked, losing the initial sale to a new purchase.
while the value of the game is located after the main quest arch leading up to Dragonspyre

I see what you're saying but I feel like as long as past players who have been subbed and continue to sub got some kind of compensation like with SWTOR every Sub gets 500 Cartel Coins (basically their version of Crowns) every month they are subbed to use in the cosmetic shop or save up to buy something expensive in the shop, and even then if you stop subbing you lose some benefits such as those coins and the ability to have more then a few characters but there also some Sub Perks you can buy with Coins even if you arent subbed like the ability to hide your helmet, or the ability to fast travel back to your base.

[Slim]

Narrow it down like this. What are people more likely to pay sub/crowns for. The first few worlds that take like maybe a week or two to complete, or the entire rest of the game. If you bar people out too early they'll bail no problem, big woop, game sucks; massive paywall. If you invest them with a larger portion, more retention, more likely subscribers. Crowns pull more revenue anyway.

It probably is a smart move by KI if they want to repopulate and repool their playerbase with fresh faces, but I'm not a market analysis or anything, I just play games and know what I like to see

[Slim]

Think of it like a store. It's designed to keep you as long as possible, because the longer you stay in a store the more likely you are to buy things. I think the F2P quest only lasts to what, Triton Avenue? about an hour or two max of content there and you're blocked even prior too that.

Not only is that not enough to actually get any sort of real taste of the game, the pacing is so abruptly stopped it's like what ever immersion you managed to build up to that point the player is basically ripped out from as soon as you start demanding money from them to continue.

For me, I already know this. I expected it because I've played since forever, but if I were to put myself in the shoes of a new player (or remember how I felt when I first played) and was locked out as a F2P which is virtually the same as years ago, I would be heartbroken as a child lol.

As an adult it's more of a minor annoyance, you sort of see many games asking for less while offering more and they seem to do the best in my eyes. =)

[Gloom]

Originally posted by ThKxD:

Think of it like a store. It's designed to keep you as long as possible, because the longer you stay in a store the more likely you are to buy things. I think the F2P quest only lasts to what, Triton Avenue? about an hour or two max of content there and you're blocked even prior too that.

Not only is that not enough to actually get any sort of real taste of the game, the pacing is so abruptly stopped it's like what ever immersion you managed to build up to that point the player is basically ripped out from as soon as you start demanding money from them to continue.

For me, I already know this. I expected it because I've played since forever, but if I were to put myself in the shoes of a new player (or remember how I felt when I first played) and was locked out as a F2P which is virtually the same as years ago, I would be heartbroken as a child lol.

As an adult it's more of a minor annoyance, you sort of see many games asking for less while offering more and they seem to do the best in my eyes. =)

Ive been coming back on and off since the game came out xD,(meaning I too am an adult) Honestly the fact that the amount that can be played for free hasnt change AT ALL since is a little disheartening as I'd love to play this with some of my friends who I know cant afford a sub or crowns all that often. I have friends who subbed One month to SWTOR and continue to play the game because they have all the current content and when a new expansion comes out they Sub again for another Month so they can have access to that expansion and its content and then once that subs gone they get to keep that content, and when they can they buy Cartel Coins because they want to support a game they enjoy and they love customizing their characters with new Mounts, Outfits, Pets, Emotes, or New stuff for their Homes. The fact that you can Sub for One month and even after Unsubbing have access to all the current story but lose some perks So you're instead a "Preferred Player" instead of a Sub or Free to Play player is honestly useful AF and a great way to pull players in ( Its hard to explain the 3 different lvls you can be in the game but heres a site that does it well https://swtorista.com/articles/swtor-free-to-play-vs-preferred-vs-subscriber-guide/ ) and I think Wizard101 would benefit from this system or a similar system

[Slim]

Right, it's like a loyalty system. The biggest distinguishing factor in types of F2P is that some will simply never pay anything, either never get far enough or for whatever reason, never purchase.

The simple fact that you bought a sub once is enough demographic-wise to put you into a category that gives you benefits after the sub ends because you've been distinguished as a paying customer. That gives you benefits in hopes you'll continue to be one.

In another sense, some people don't see value in paying for the quests, but DO see value in paying for crowns to buy special items like emotes, stitchings, pet packs and mounts. Statistically some of these people are whales who will buy EVERYTHING.

In a way, there's a lot of money left on the table for KI.

[Gloom]

Originally posted by ThKxD:

Right, it's like a loyalty system. The biggest distinguishing factor in types of F2P is that some will simply never pay anything, either never get far enough or for whatever reason, never purchase.

The simple fact that you bought a sub once is enough demographic-wise to put you into a category that gives you benefits after the sub ends because you've been distinguished as a paying customer. That gives you benefits in hopes you'll continue to be one.

Pretty much, and the real pull for Subbing is the fact that you have less Convenience Restrictions and get 500 Cartel Coins every month that you are subbed and the only story restrictions happen when a new expansion comes out and you have to sub again or wait until you can sub again to play it. but Wizard101s Free to Play is more of a game Demo you could get for a console Single Player game then a Free to play MMO

[Slim]

Generally I think they should open ALL of WC and some of Kroktopia.
It's unfair that Death's and Balance's schools are locked behind paywall.

[76561198102799856]

Originally posted by Pandora:

So I get why the sub feature is there the game needs to make money, but i think given they also have Crowns and the Crowns shop they should do something like Star Wars the Old Republic does where the whole base game is now Free to play and then if you've sub for at least one month and unsub you still get access to all the current expansions, I feel like Wizard101 could do this by making the first whole story free to play and then putting everything else behind a sub wall. IDK Maybe this is a dumb idea

Easy, simple answer is to make the game like it was marketed out to be "Free-to-Play" Again I can't stress this enough to people, but the fact you aren't getting that experience that was pretty much promised is a shame. I'd say they'd call this "Free Content" cause you get to play however much you want, but in the most restricted fashion that it's laughable seeing how much little content you're able to explore and for some reason people will defend this, not sure why.

So, basically make i'll make this very easy, just make the entire game Free-to-Play, no "Making only wizard city free" no "Making Krok and half some others areas free" make the entire game playable for free you will INSTANTLY have people like me an older/newer players coming to this game. For the people that spent a ton of money or subbed those people, Kingsisle could hand out I guess some kind of really rare reward/item etc. (that doesn't give player advantage, but something neat and stylized like one of those old code wands (and not the ones you can get currently by fishing) or something who knows, and maybe a few extra goodies.), but even then i'd doubt there would be any backlash against this cause most people at this point would be excited to play like they want now.

[Slim]

Oh yes, no doubt making all the worlds free and keeping crowns for MtX transactions would sent riffs through the gaming community, Kotaku, PC gamer all that good jazz would LOVE to cover.

The lack of speculation on KI's part should be put into question. How many years has it been, and how many F2P games have we seen hit MASSIVE success using that same model?
with so many MMO finding success in the f2p market, makes you scratch your head
as to wonder why KI is so austere about what is basically the tutorial world.

I've seen that mark on a few games now. Generally older breed developers who don't understand, or think "HUURRRRR FREE IS BAD" and their veteran players thinking the same.
It's such simple math as to how more players ALWAYS equals more revenue.

[76561198102799856]

Originally posted by ThKxD:

Oh yes, no doubt making all the worlds free and keeping crowns for MtX transactions would sent riffs through the gaming community, Kotaku, PC gamer all that good jazz would LOVE to cover.

The lack of speculation on KI's part should be put into question. How many years has it been, and how many F2P games have we seen hit MASSIVE success using that same model?
with so many MMO finding success in the f2p market, makes you scratch your head
as to wonder why KI is so austere about what is basically the tutorial world.

I've seen that mark on a few games now. Generally older breed developers who don't understand, or think "HUURRRRR FREE IS BAD" and their veteran players thinking the same.
It's such simple math as to how more players ALWAYS equals more revenue.

I could be wrong on this, but pretty much they're so strict on keeping people locked into one world and with so little to do is cause "Money" even though their model is insanely outdated you still have some people coming to the game, getting hooked, and end up paying like most of us have, their system works, "If it ain't broken don't fix it" and that's what's happening here. I'd say imagine if the marketing was as promised instead of them saying the game was free-to-play, the game was mentioned that you have to pay via membership/crowns, how many people do you think would come to this game if they knew they had to pay beforehand? I guess not many unless this was something right up your alley, then again this is just a thought.

And pretty much let's be real, Wizard101 is pretty much showing it's true colors like every other Triple A company nowadays and it's getting the same treatment like most MMO's nowadays, they just want to milk the player-base for whatever their worth and games such as this ONLY and I mean ONLY stay alive because of Nostalgia bait and Whales, if Wizard101 had neither of these this game would have rotted ages ago, considering some of the scummy stuff they've done with packs in the past (Sinbad Pack and Grizzleheim Lore pack i'm prety sure is the name) trash events that literally require you to pay actual money for to get any rewards which i'd hardly call an event, but of course it's an event for whales so, "whoever has the fattest wallet"

But, trying not to rant here, to close this out, like i've said before, this just goes to show for people that thought these game companies were in it not just to make money, but thought they somehow cared for their players is long gone, now game companies like this are showing their true colors, if they can cut corners in the cheapest and scummiest way possible even at the cost of the communities wallets and sanity then they'll do it and honestly it's sad, but just how it is.

[Slim]

My point is they'd make more money if they speculated more worlds to F2P. Just imagine how many new players they lose every month when they try to walk into Colossus or Firecat, or for hecks sake when death tries to go through the cave to get to their own school and are met with a serious paylock. Of course that pisses off wayy more people that who actually buy these areas because most left playing are vets who pay subscription for the other archs, and are waaaayyy past WC or even Dragonspyre.

The first arch at max pays 15 bucks per player, for a month or two of sub to complete it. That's nothing conpared to thousands of dollars in crown items, housing, mounts and vanity items. If you lock people out before they finish even the first world they won't even think about buying anything from the shop. They'll just leave without a peep, because most people aren't butthurt and desperate over this game beggings KI for more access. The only people who advocate for expanded f2p do it purely because they know it works.

If it didn't, fortnite wouldn't be crazy huge. Runescape wouldn't be crazy huge. Warframe wouldn't have grown from 4000 daily to 30,000+. SPECULATE TO ACCUMULATE. That's the market trend, and that's what people expect form F2P titles. Not milking the tutorial world of a 13 year old game. If anyone want to talks about desperate. That just reeks of arrogance and failure to read the room. I'm surprised they even launched to stean that way. What a missed opportunity to expand. >.>

[boykisser762]

even making the whole first arc free would help a LOT

i would likely make new characters, see if i have fun till DS, realize how awesome DS is, beat it, and get a membership

[HunterRayder93]

Originally posted by Pandora:

So I get why the sub feature is there the game needs to make money, but i think given they also have Crowns and the Crowns shop they should do something like Star Wars the Old Republic does where the whole base game is now Free to play and then if you've sub for at least one month and unsub you still get access to all the current expansions, I feel like Wizard101 could do this by making the first whole story free to play and then putting everything else behind a sub wall. IDK Maybe this is a dumb idea

I took advantage of the free membership event to rediscover this game and get an idea of ​​the current situation in the community and in the gameplay itself.

I state that I have already started with the fact that after the membership ended I would not have renewed for any reason, even if for 2-3 days I was tempted to buy it but after arriving at DragonSpire and doing much of the first world of the 2nd arc narrative I changed my mind on the purchase, however... I think it is ridiculous that still in 2020 (now 2021) Wizard 101 offers an old and not very incentive marketing system, the bottom point is not only to make Wizard City completely free or the whole game, but how much sense does the memberscip actually make or not buy it, I have looked many times at the percks and the various differences between Free to player, Premium Player and Membership and all three options are one worse than the other , even if on the one hand with membership you have unlimited access to all game worlds, I find the rest of the other benefits ridiculous, even if things like PvP or pet ranking could be the only reason to buy the members hip if you want to play competitive ... however I think that things like extra inventory space and half timers are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ are things you can very well buy in the crown store and there is no point in putting them in the mebership.

Originally posted by Fukuroi Tomoya™:

Easy, simple answer is to make the game like it was marketed out to be "Free-to-Play" Again I can't stress this enough to people, but the fact you aren't getting that experience that was pretty much promised is a shame. I'd say they'd call this "Free Content" cause you get to play however much you want, but in the most restricted fashion that it's laughable seeing how much little content you're able to explore and for some reason people will defend this, not sure why.

So, basically make i'll make this very easy, just make the entire game Free-to-Play, no "Making only wizard city free" no "Making Krok and half some others areas free" make the entire game playable for free you will INSTANTLY have people like me an older/newer players coming to this game. For the people that spent a ton of money or subbed those people, Kingsisle could hand out I guess some kind of really rare reward/item etc. (that doesn't give player advantage, but something neat and stylized like one of those old code wands (and not the ones you can get currently by fishing) or something who knows, and maybe a few extra goodies.), but even then i'd doubt there would be any backlash against this cause most people at this point would be excited to play like they want now.

I took advantage of the free membership event to rediscover this game and get an idea of ​​the current situation in the community and in the gameplay itself.

I state that I have already started with the fact that after the membership ended I would not have renewed for any reason, even if for 2-3 days I was tempted to buy it but after arriving at DragonSpire and doing much of the first world of the 2nd arc narrative I changed my mind on the purchase, however... I think it is ridiculous that still in 2020 (now 2021) Wizard 101 offers an old and not very incentive marketing system, the bottom point is not only to make Wizard City completely free or the whole game, but how much sense does the memberscip actually make or not buy it, I have looked many times at the percks and the various differences between Free to player, Premium Player and Membership and all three options are one worse than the other , even if on the one hand with membership you have unlimited access to all game worlds, I find the rest of the other benefits ridiculous, even if things like PvP or pet ranking could be the only reason to buy the members hip if you want to play competitive... however I think that things like extra inventory space and half timers are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ are things you can very well buy in the crown store and there is no point in putting them in the mebership.

Originally posted by Pandora:

Ive been coming back on and off since the game came out xD,(meaning I too am an adult) Honestly the fact that the amount that can be played for free hasnt change AT ALL since is a little disheartening as I'd love to play this with some of my friends who I know cant afford a sub or crowns all that often. I have friends who subbed One month to SWTOR and continue to play the game because they have all the current content and when a new expansion comes out they Sub again for another Month so they can have access to that expansion and its content and then once that subs gone they get to keep that content, and when they can they buy Cartel Coins because they want to support a game they enjoy and they love customizing their characters with new Mounts, Outfits, Pets, Emotes, or New stuff for their Homes. The fact that you can Sub for One month and even after Unsubbing have access to all the current story but lose some perks So you're instead a "Preferred Player" instead of a Sub or Free to Play player is honestly useful AF and a great way to pull players in ( Its hard to explain the 3 different lvls you can be in the game but heres a site that does it well https://swtorista.com/articles/swtor-free-to-play-vs-preferred-vs-subscriber-guide/ ) and I think Wizard101 would benefit from this system or a similar system

What makes me angrier about this game is that if you want to disable the chat filter you have to load Crowns at least once with your credit card or get yourself a membership which, among other things, this feature is part of the Membership do Wizard 101 perks. I find it somewhat useless and ridiculous.

But returning to the above proposal, personally it would suit me just fine, if you say that on SWtOR you just need to pay the sub once and then you play all the available contents even after the sup ends, it would also suit me well, at least you would give the possibility you have players who cannot cover at the moment the sub to continue playing without having to buy every single content of the game.

Months ago I was playing 2 games that are more or less similar to each other as regards the "VIP" level of the game, the two games in question are Lord of The rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Onile, unlike SWtOR the zones remain blocked after the membership ends, however, with the membership you have pretty good advantages like XP increased coldown of the teleportation skills instant e-mail, small features that make the difference, some things are not so necessary but all the way they are comfortable, all the way for some perks many remain even after the membership ends such as unlocking the class skills or the use of mounts in the game that are convenient and make the experience easier.

Here are the two subcription plans of LOTRO and DDO:

https://www.lotro.com/en/game/vip

https://www.ddo.com/en/become-vip

The costs are higher but they offer much more than what KI offers with its membership, some things are not mentioned in the lotro subscription such as the crafting XP increased, however the bottom point I repeat and that in my opinion the Membership is not it's worth it to buy, i prefer to buy a game and play it as long as i want at no extra cost.