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Funcom Not Ruling Out Free To Play For AoC

FunCom has indicated that it may follow in the footsteps of other successful MMOs and make Age of Conan free to play one day.

While speaking to IncGamers in an interview earlier, Funcom's director of communications Erling Ellingsen discussed going free to play with AoC, something that works well with Funcom's other MMO title, Anarchy Online.

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incgamers.com
Redrudy6167d ago

Well it seems to be the way things are headed now.

Leathersoup6167d ago

That and it makes sense for putting it on the Xbox 360. If people are already paying for Xbox Live they're not necessarily going to want to pay an additional monthly fee to play an MMO. However, tell them that they can spend x Microsoft Points for an cool axe or some armor and people would probably go for that.

Medievaldragon6167d ago

If MMOs start going this route, with Blizzard recently saying it is not too far-fetched, wonder if World of Warcraft eventually becomes free to play. That would be great.

However, how would they fund development? Or are they getting enough from expansions and side-services such as paid character faction change, name change, etc.?

Malfurion6167d ago

I really can't see Blizzard making WoW free to play until it's almost dead. They make so much money from it, why change a good thing?

Chris3996167d ago

I think their model is ideal. I'm not a fan of micro-transactions. I'd rather pay for access to all new content than something vital to my character like armor or customization options.

Pebz6167d ago

My guess would be that they offer both free accounts and "premium" accounts, where you still have to pay for some special privileges.

Good news for casual gamers, no news for hardcore gamers.

Basing this on their 10-days free trials schemes, which work wonderfully at hooking players.

Leathersoup6167d ago

All "Free to Play" MMOs make their money off of micro-transactions. You can purchase in game items for money so if there's an axe that you don't want to have to grind 70hrs for, you can just pay 2 bucks to get the weapon.

Baka-akaB6167d ago

@Malfurion

Going free to play got nothing to do with a game being close to death lately .

It's no wonder it's so much considered for many news and current games .
F2p is pretty much a scam than ends up costing you more than subscriptions .

It used to be a good concept for little to middle sized mmo . But now it's a model based on pure greed . Pretty much every future f2p will somehow trick you into buying a few necessary items if you're relunctant , and much more if you're not careful .

The whole "i can play the game without buying anything" is pretty much an illusion in some cases that will most likely becomes the norm .
They can easily make your game experienced much harder or less enjoyable without buying at least a minimum amount of stuff .
And they'll surely do everything to keep the minority that pays and invests a lot , happy .

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 6167d ago
Maticus6167d ago

I certainly think it's a good idea for up and coming MMOs, as most players of the genre already have a subscription for something running, and can't afford another one.

Dorjan6167d ago

A lot of people have made success out of micro-transactions.

UIOP6167d ago

Ah, that is some cool news indeed!
I though that most of the reason for the monthly subscriptions were for servers and customer service.

(And in WoW's case also in order to make lots and lots of money)
I do however not see Blizzard following in such foot-steps until the server population REALLY starts to decline and only a very small amount of Support/Technical staff is needed to keep things running.

I agree with Maticus though. Unless you are a giant, it is very hard to compete in the MMO-market and will probably only become tougher.

Show all comments (18)
20°

Happy Birthday Age of Conan

It's another Birthday for a successful MMO, this time Age of Conan.

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videogamesuncovered.com
30°

Age of Conan Patch Adds Facebook Integration

Funcom has released an update for free-to-play Hyborean RPG Age of Conan. This update adds Facebook integration to the game, allowing users to post certain achievements and screenshots directly to their Facebook accounts.

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gamingdead.com
220°

Are these the top 10 best MMORPGs out there?

MyGaming rounds up the best of the best reviewed MMORPGs release to date

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mygaming.co.za
kevnb5193d ago

Reviews are worthless. List doesn't even have everquest.

TitanUp5193d ago

the best mmorpg in this list,guild wars,wow,rift

missing everquest

least favorite game bought it like 2 days ago and i find it to be a wow clone star wars old republic.

got a level 6 and a level 4 one sith other bounty hunter.