I was thinking about an option that would allow players who are unsure about buying the game to be able to make their character and use multiplayer game modes, such as the survival mode from the first game, and perhaps even be able to use some pre-made/pre-designed classes/builds to join multiplayer games, such as the 4v4 skirmish matches, in order to not only advertise the game itself by giving a taste of it's gameplay mechanics, but also keep the game popular for as long as it is alive.
To reinforce this idea, one quick glance at Apex Legends' success of getting millions of players in a matter of days or hours should be more than enough.
If a previously completely unknown game such as that one could be that popular - a game that is published (not developed) under Electronic Arts of all places, why shouldn't Ubisoft games be able to do the same thing?
BR's can get away with releasing their games free to play because there's no character customization aside from skins/emotes or whatever, which as I'm sure you're aware has a monster market. Kids go nuts over these skins, many adults too. In the division nobody cares what mask you have on or some shiny weapon skin. It's all about your build, loadout that requires hours and hours of grinding content to get and you're suggesting they just hand out this gear for free?? That would be the equivalent of games like Apex and Fortnite not charging $ for their skins or in game currency to get said skins.
If people find my idea as an inferior one, i would appreciate it for them to offer further solutions and improvements on it. It's not like i want this idea to be realized because i am broke or anything, but for the sole reason of keeping the game alive for decades to come, in terms of pvp gaming.
A final word: With the release of this game, Division 1's multiplayer is going to die in favor of it's sequel; which means that all the 700 hours or so amount of time that i have spent on that game will mean nothing at all in a month's time. Why play an online game, when you know it's going to die in the future for whatever reason?
Why waste the money?
Apex and Fortnite are totally different game styles and game from Division and even COD. I know some really like the idea of "Free-to-Play"..but they're not looking at the overall picture of what the game(s) are about and how they support themselves. In Apex, the Loot Boxes are all cosmetic and as Nicky pointed out, some out there go bonkers and are sucked in spending $$$$ on getting them. Division is not made that way just like COD is not made that way. The loadouts & gear options are more tactical and custom by players in terms of actual use instead of looking good and doing some fancy emote.
And besides...once again you would have a divide pitting PvP and PvE sides against each other because one getting special treatment which no matter which side you're on shouldn't sit well with anyone. All that does is cause an uproar among the entire player base and frankly we don't need or want 'Special Treatment For _____'......Players getting into Apex, Fortnite, Overwatch, H1Z1 all know what the game is about and have the option of spending whatever. Players know what Division, COD, Battlefield, Destiny type games are and spend their money how they want.
I'm not a fan of your suggestion, mostly because it's the mix that makes it confusing to me.
For me, make it;
* free to play the entire game, and monetise cosmetics and /or certain game modes.
* subscription based without any microtransactions whatsoever, and give players a free trial.
* a full priced game, without any microtransactions, throttling and loot boxes, and charge for updates.
But anything that mixes different types of monetizing is shady to me. I don't want to get charged for stuff when I payed full price. And I don't want to have freeloaders in the game I payed full price for, either.
Apex Legends is a new free to play game. People are going to download it and check it out since it costs nothing but their time. Wait a couple months and see what's going on.
As for money/time in video games, their worth is entertainment. They can go offline at any time, they could change direction at any time; even offline solo games, you won't be able to play a few years down the road when they can run on the current OS.
Why get a dog when you know its going to die in the future? Why eat every day, i mean, you are going to die anyways right? Why would buy a gaming console when Its just going to die someday?Originally Posted by Bugra-Sertel Go to original post
Originally Posted by Bugra-Sertel Go to original post
Keeping a game alive for years to come happens via fresh content updates every so often including sequels, smooth gameplay/stable servers, minimal bugs and exploits that aren't gamebreaking and when they are patches are developed ASAP. I assure you whether a game is free to play or costs $60 bucks, if these core elements are missing along with other core elements i just didn't think of at the time of writing this, the game will die. We're seeing all kinds of new games recently going the route of overhyping and false advertisements for the sole purpose of preorder purchases and we end up with some **** game that was marketed as something completely different. But thats a whole other conversation in itself really. My point is if the game rocks people will buy it and play it till it doesn't rock for them anymore. Whether that's a month, year, or 10 years who knows really, too many variables are involved too know that. But 1 variable i'm sure is not involved in a games longevity is "free to play." I'm going to pretend I didn't see your final word comment and suggest you ask yourself why you play video games in the first place.