The F2P Flood

YES, this is what grinds my gears. Do you have any idea how many videos are out there this very minute displaying broke americans making fun of F2P games because they CAN? Worst thing is, it is not even Dedicated F2P games, it is games that used to be P2P. If you are not familiar with the terminology (which is OK, by the way) F2P means Free to Play and P2P means Pay to Play.

Age of Conan is the creme de la freaking creme for these people, and they are so undereducated, you can smell it through the video. It is not like I don't tolerate new players, in fact I LOVE new players, but beating on an enemy where it's shields are and consequently dying because of it, followed by a "THIS GAME SUCKS" even though you played a CASTER, is ludicrous!!! LUDICROUS I TELLZ YA.

I know what you are thinking, "oh dear, another rant :(", well you are right! However, I don't like rants myself, so I'll stop at the peak of my burst of anger/childishness (LUDICROUS I TELLZ YA will surely bolster people's belief that I am a professional blogger... surely).

The true point of this post (Point of the Post, I quite like the sound of that), is to point out how strange this gaming community is. I hear a lot of talk saying Free to Play will truly become the ultimate model for any and all Multiplayer games. Games will just have to adapt, or perish.

They say this with such extreme confidence, and these are people who do indeed value their opinion (Quick example: Totalbiscuit, youtube commentator). However, I cannot see myself fully agreeing just yet. Simply because after all these countless videos mocking the transition, it is clear that people are not embracing it.

Clearly, there is a split community here, and it is affecting Age of Conan! Funcom, I feel, is a company ready to adapt and will happily accept the model if need be, especially with EA poking them every now and then. However, I think we all know how internet trolls feel about Funcom. Age of Conan was arguably the first BIG pay to play MMO to come out since World of Warcraft, and nobody knew how the genre would develop. Some just believed since World of Warcraft was good, Age of Conan would just be better since it is newer. In addition to that, not everyone knew that playing MMOs can make you very attached to it.

I wish I could conclude this whole discussion here and now, but there is a reason why people are arguing. Only time will tell, and until a general consensus can be reached, people will make bad F2P Reviews of Age of Conan.

I guess I can leave you with this nice little quote though, maybe you can hold me to it two years from now!

Coming out as a F2P game on the internet, is like coming out of the closet to a bunch of Frat Boys at your local High School.


P.S: Kudos to this guy: http://www.youtube.com/user/jaedrian for being the only one to make a decent F2P Review/Let's Play of Age of Conan so far.