2011 Year of F2P

Time to celebrate?

This has surely been year of the F2P MMO- 2011. We have had a lot of nice F2P games come out and many convert from subscription to F2P. Even WoW added an unlimited free to play/try version. By the end of the year EQ2 should be fully free to play, after trying to separate paying and free to play subscribers. That was one I didn't expect to fully convert.

Neverwinter wants to open the doors to make it accessible to more people (I'm actually really excited about this one). On November 30th Linage 2 goes F2P, which I love the look of the game but I don't even think I played past my full month, but I would try it again and play here and there with a F2P model.

I do think it helps aging games draw in more players and sometimes even keep them, look at LoTRO and how it has flourished with this model. While some models are better than others it is nice to have access to more titles without having to buying anything, it looks like F2P is here to stay.

GW2 is going to be similar to the original GW, in terms of having no subscription, which is fantastic and I'm hoping it will stay much the same without the limits that most F2P models have. I'd have to say Guild Wars is my favorite model, they do have things you can buy but these are mostly cosmetic. I don't feel 'dollared' to death with this game.

Being able to try out stuff for free is always nice, even if there is sometimes a catch, these games do have to bring in profits. Things are looking interesting with several more going F2P before the end of the year and still many more to come. Compared to when I first started, where there was such a stagnant selection, it is really nice to have variety.

Even Facebook now offers more interesting games than the standard Farmville. I enjoy the Sims Social in short bursts and Castleville looks pretty neat too. There is something for everyone it seems, when it comes to free games.  

I still need to try out DCUO and mess around in Fallen Earth oh... and I have been thinking about AoC too lately-  so there is still a lot for me to dive into while I wait on EQ2 and Lineage to roll out the 'free' carpet. Do any of these new free models have you enticed?

Speaking of free, I noticed What MMORPG is offering a chance to win time cards or the equivalent for F2P games, worth checking out- you can find it here. Have a great week, peeps!