Possible Solution To Get More Active Players While Encouraging Not Forcing Cash Transactions

[Quikster]

One other thing I just realized that some of the other F2P games do that Warframe currently doesn't do to help drive people toward potentially purchasing items with cash is through the use of in game currency only items. This also helps to resolve the lack of motivation by some players to play non ? or normal missions as I'll explain.

If there is something that you really want need that can only be attained with credits than things that you can buy with cash or credits you may debate more on using credits even if you can get it at the same time.

i.e. LoL you have runes and champions.

Runes can only ever be earned through in game currency and their are a ton of them, they are different tiers and you can use them for different purposes to customize the build. The closest currently is mods. On a fully leveled profile you can have 9 seals, 9 marks, and 9 glyphs plus 3 quints. To get one full set of tier 3 best stuff easily costs double the in game currency as getting a new champion. Then there are tons of combinations depending on how tanky you want to be or how much power/dmg you want, if you want to build health/enery regen etc.

I've been playing for well over a year and still don't have every Rune in the game and I'm still experimenting with new ones. Now because I can never directly buy them, only boosts to earn more in game currency (like a credit boost) when they release a new champion (warframe/weapon) I can buy it with my equivelent to credits but I have to decide if I really want to do that or if I want to buy the champion with cash or skip it.

Currently there isn't really anything that requires credits enough that you can't just buy for cash. Hence I think part of the problem exists for people, myself included, not feeling a need to actually play a lot of the time except for ? Alerts.

If something they wanted could only be earned with credits/mats then there would be a more active player base. And you could make it pricey enough, yet attainable to make running missions and earning credits actually worth something.

As I mentioned something that works really well that I've never seen trully addressed in all the times people have mentioned LoL is that this really does help encourage people to buy their Platinum without ever feeling like it's being forced down like orokin/slots currently do. You can make them mods or something else entirely but to get a full set of the best is very expensive and can only be aquried by actually playing the game. Peronsonally I think farming for mods is too random and easy while funneling people to only play in certain areas.

If you created a system such as this that forced the user base to play more systems and missions you would create a much better environment. Whenever I do try to play currently most systems are vacant and if I want to clear a level I either have to click on it and wait hoping someone else will do the same, start the level and sit there forever hoping for someone else to join, or start the level and usually end up soloing the whole thing.

TLDR;

Something more is needed that can only be accomplished through in game currency and time actually playing. This helps to create an actual tradeoff between buying a new Warframe/weapon with credits/platinum and keeps people actually playing for something other than alert ? missions

[Cawkslapjones]

This is Cawkslapjones, and I approve this message.

[Quikster]

thanks, was hopping I wasn't completely crazy with this idea at least one other person agrees

[Mak_Gohae]

Man, LoL is the WoW of F2P, isnt it?

[Quikster]

Man, LoL is the WoW of F2P, isnt it?

pretty much it's the WoW of everything. It has more players than WoW does.

[TinFoilMkIV]

Good points. I personally feel like it was already a given that we would end up with more uses for credits and credit sinks and whatnot, but what kinds we end up with are up in the air right now. I don't really have any good suggestions for it at the moment so for now I guess we wait and see what comes.

[Nokturnel]

Man, LoL is the WoW of F2P, isnt it?

Well they're one of the few F2P games to get the model right. They weren't overly greedy. You have to farm whether you pay or not, but paying allows you to buy purely cosmetic items and boosts.

(As well as heroes, but you could just use all the free heroes every week and never even have to buy a hero, or just get the low IP cost heroes to start and work your way up to only spending IP on the heroes you like to play)

Most F2P games are exactly like Warframe, too greedy, where all the necessary items cost real money and there's not much luxury items to buy anyway. (Luxury being purely cosmetic)

But they were also innovative by creating a more casual DoTA game that simplified it and created new heroes and didn't just copy DoTA. (HoN and DoTA 2 lookin at you)

Your first job needs to be creating a fun to play free game, people will pay for just boosts, skins etc just because they enjoy the game, don't try to force them to support it.

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Edited February 22, 2013 by Nokturnel

[Mak_Gohae]

Well they're one of the few F2P games to get the model right. They weren't overly greedy. You have to farm whether you pay or not, but paying allows you to buy purely cosmetic items and boosts.

(As well as heroes, but you could just use all the free heroes every week and never even have to buy a hero, or just get the low IP cost heroes to start and work your way up to only spending IP on the heroes you like to play)

Most F2P games are exactly like Warframe, too greedy, where all the necessary items cost real money and there's no much luxury items to buy anyway. (Luxury being purely cosmetic)

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Get it "right" means a model you like which is fine but let's not ignore the type of game it is.

There is a reason that those types of games mostly have that type of model.

If that model was THAT succesful it would be adopted all over the place but it isnt, it's mostly adopted for THAT type of games.

[Nokturnel]

Get it "right" means a model you like which is fine but let's not ignore the type of game it is.

There is a reason that those types of games mostly have that type of model.

If that model was THAT succesful it would be adopted all over the place but it isnt, it's mostly adopted for THAT type of games.

Granted most other games need more money for development, but like I said, your first job needs to be creating a fun game to play. Once people recognize your game is awesome it'll pretty much sell itself. No need to be greedy about it.

[Quikster]

ok ignore LoL what about the original point? trying to get people more incentive to play the game and a meaning for credits. currently credits easily become play money in a short amount of time.