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Monetize Freeform differently
selphea
Posts: 1,229 Arc User
Problem 1: I it's been mentioned a few times that 5000z for the FF slot is a hard pill to swallow.
Problem 2: ATs are terribly, horribly built, even for their intended role. Mind and Inventor are healers without a rez. Infernos are very badly statted.
Problem 3: Former Gold players want to play their old Freeforms, but don't want to drop 5000z or resub.
Solution
Scrap the current Freeform Slot and add a new Silver Freeform option. This is offered for free both on character creation as well as for Silver ATs and Gold FFs to convert to with a Retrain, including the free Retrain that all characters get on creation.
The Silver Freeform comes with the following restrictions:
- AT-like power progression, only 11 powers at level 40 instead of 14
- As per pre-On Alert, no Specialization Trees.
- No power tinting
- Two superstats, one primary and one secondary
- One travel power
In other words, in its basic form, the Silver Freeform is designed to look like how Freeforms did before On Alert, so as not to give returning players a huge culture shock. It comes along with some additional restrictions as well, but it's free so that's what you get.
Monetization
Introduce a set of upgrades for the Silver Freeform to bring it up to the level of the current FF slot. An empty character slot is worth 700z, so the upgrades have to add up to 4300z to match a Freeform slot. Suggested options are as follows:
- Extra powers at 550z per slot for up to 3 slots. Yes, this also means you can have a level 6 with 5 Powers.
- Specialization tree unlock at 750z
- Second Travel power at 600z
- Power tinting at 700z
- Third Superstat at 600z
Existing Freeform slots can be converted to fully upgraded Silver Freeforms.
And there we have it. Freeform slots that still cost 5000z for the full package, but broken down into more palatable portions. And as an added bonus, players stuck with a sub-optimal AT get the option to fix it for 1350z for spec tree and third superstat, or slightly more than the price of a premium AT. Or they could get creative and try to do it for 750z for just the spec tree unlock, and roll with only 2 superstats.
So at the top end, the people who want everything are still going to pay the full 5000z, but it also opens up a potential low to mid-market who may have been put off by the steep price tag.
Problem 2: ATs are terribly, horribly built, even for their intended role. Mind and Inventor are healers without a rez. Infernos are very badly statted.
Problem 3: Former Gold players want to play their old Freeforms, but don't want to drop 5000z or resub.
Solution
Scrap the current Freeform Slot and add a new Silver Freeform option. This is offered for free both on character creation as well as for Silver ATs and Gold FFs to convert to with a Retrain, including the free Retrain that all characters get on creation.
The Silver Freeform comes with the following restrictions:
- AT-like power progression, only 11 powers at level 40 instead of 14
- As per pre-On Alert, no Specialization Trees.
- No power tinting
- Two superstats, one primary and one secondary
- One travel power
In other words, in its basic form, the Silver Freeform is designed to look like how Freeforms did before On Alert, so as not to give returning players a huge culture shock. It comes along with some additional restrictions as well, but it's free so that's what you get.
Monetization
Introduce a set of upgrades for the Silver Freeform to bring it up to the level of the current FF slot. An empty character slot is worth 700z, so the upgrades have to add up to 4300z to match a Freeform slot. Suggested options are as follows:
- Extra powers at 550z per slot for up to 3 slots. Yes, this also means you can have a level 6 with 5 Powers.
- Specialization tree unlock at 750z
- Second Travel power at 600z
- Power tinting at 700z
- Third Superstat at 600z
Existing Freeform slots can be converted to fully upgraded Silver Freeforms.
And there we have it. Freeform slots that still cost 5000z for the full package, but broken down into more palatable portions. And as an added bonus, players stuck with a sub-optimal AT get the option to fix it for 1350z for spec tree and third superstat, or slightly more than the price of a premium AT. Or they could get creative and try to do it for 750z for just the spec tree unlock, and roll with only 2 superstats.
So at the top end, the people who want everything are still going to pay the full 5000z, but it also opens up a potential low to mid-market who may have been put off by the steep price tag.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
I'd never retrain even a free AT into something FF, but with two superstats only and with no spec trees and only one TP.
I'd rather keep my current 5000 Zen freeform slot in comparison.
It has also a disadvantage of making a third kind of characters functioning differently than ATs and FFs.
The proper way of monetizing freeform would be... Just selling powersets and power tinting separately.
Anything is better than what Silvers are getting screwed over.
What powers? Yoy can pick any powers with FF slot. Only can't color them.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
I think you're underestimating an FF with only 2 Superstats, no spec trees and one TP, or overestimating ATs.
Even with so many restrictions, the value of being able to pack a self heal like Conviction or Devour Essence and use dual AO or AD is huge. Just with that, it's possible to make a character that can solo Elite Andrith Ruins, which afaik no AT can do at the moment. And with vehicles, a second TP isn't nearly as important anymore.
A hypothetical Silver FF is ultimately an FF, and whether through Q-farming or straight up buying, can eventually have access to all the options an FF would.
One way to think of it would be like comparing a level 30 to a level 40 character. Sure, the level 30 character is weaker, but it's not capped yet, so there's really no balance issue there as much as there is a farming or pricing or progression issue.
And as I said, it can be stronger than ATs at the moment, so it would actually help balance by giving Silvers an option that brings them closer to Gold FF
I personally agree that FF slots should be cheaper, but I'm just using Cryptic's pricing as a reference point.
I do not. Third SS is usually energy SS. Defense and offense (and their feedback loops) are from specs. Tanking also benefits from specs.
Second TP is also used either for theme, or to have one indoor and one outdoor TP. Many people do not use vehicles. Heck... The newest tanks? I saw them only one or two times...
A huge number of people uses FF without dual actives and barely better than AT (just with added self-heal). For theme, or just because it is just more simple to build that way. They'd suck playing something like half of a freeform.
In the end, I'd never pay for something with only one TP, only two SS and no specs piece by piece. I'd rather buy something complete in a one package.
Plus, it does needlessly complicates already too complicated things with true FF and ATs.
With all that taken into account, given the same gear - say, Heroic and R5 mods with Armadillo secs, and no legacy devices, do you think it's more likely for a well-built FF using dual actives with 11 powers, no specs, and 2 SS to solo Elite Andrith and Elite TT's Valerian Scarlet, or an AT? And if an AT, which AT?
In other words, the second TP is usually not essential to the functioning of the character. It's a luxury that can come later, either after enough Q-farming or the player likes the game enough to buy more Z. And the restriction to one TP might actually encourage sales of vehicles for outdoor travel.
Perhaps it is half of a Freeform, but ATs like the Impulse or the Inventor could very well be less than half of a Freeform. And without paying, players who want that theme aren't even given the option of having them.
With this suggestion, players will be able to choose from any of:
1. Paying for the Impulse or Inventor AT
2. Paying less for just the spec tree unlock and making your own Force or Gadget-themed character with two superstats
3. Paying slightly more to get the both spec trees and the third superstat
With the options available, people who might have wanted a Force or Gadget character, but were put off by their ATs, now have the option to express that theme without being crippled by a bad AT.
As I suggested, offer basic FF with restrictions for free, just sell the upgrades for money.
What if they rolled the full set of upgrades into one package and sold it as a combo? So like McDonald's, you can choose whether you want to buy individual unlocks a la carte or pick the Upsized Value Meal option to have everything in one shot.
As I asked, how does it complicate things when the end point is the same? Eventually, with enough farming, a silver FF can have all the options a full FF will have.
I daresay it is not a small number. Look how unpopular is PvP because not everyone choses to sacrifice theme over utility on their FF. Or look at recurring suggestions about having second TP unlocked earlier.
CO has strangely low population of min-maxers for an MMO in which the best comes from min-maxing.
That's problem with crappy ATs like the Impulse.
Either way, I'd pick the Master or the Savage over your proposition. Second TP is a convenience, I need spec trees and otherwise? I'd feel such toon is gutted and broken.
It creates yet another layer, next to ATs, real freeforms and vehicles. For some time these toons will be funcioning in gutted form.
Betterl sell the whole package at once if half-FFs aren't really supposed to be played for a longer time.
I'm thinking more about general population who will either not buy anything and try to play with base slot (but without fine-tuned builds) or will not buy everything and then will be complaining.
I saw people ranking energy builders on ATs. Would be even worse with FF.
CO really doesn't need even more complications.
And, finally, it's a new power progression. How this thing would be coded?
We don't even know if it is possible to switch between level progressions on the same toon. ATs and FFs have diferent leveling schemes, but hard set. When you are switching from AT to FF it is switching the whole slot.
We don't even know if it is possible to lock/unlock parts of the level progression, like only number of TPs and powers earned, without retraining the whole slot.
Anyway, CO is kinda doomed for archetypes at this moment
Cryptic managed to break its f2p twice and now it is too late for fixing. First time when they were designing ATs, and second time when they started selling FF slots for 5000 Zen.
The only proper way of FF would be selling powersets to silvers, but it was probably too much work, so they went with something more simple like AT system. A usual Cryptic way, given how auras were handled.
And now it can't be even changed, once they started selling FF slots. Perfect. :biggrin:
No, really, there is no point in suggesting changes. CO is done as a successful game. It will never be one.
You're moving goalposts here. First you say they're "gutted", and when we start comparing abiility to solo lairs, you start shifting the conversation to theme.
Except ATs don't even let you customize their theme.
So to me it looks like a so-called "half a Freeform" is not just going to perform better in gameplay, it's also going to be better able to portray the theme a player has in mind.
This is the "what", not the "how". Yes, there are ATs, real Freeforms and Vehicles. How is that complex and how will it get more complex with a second version of Freeform?
If they make FFs that don't perform well, they still have two options:
1. Get burned. Stick to ATs
2. Get help from the community.
Option 1 maintains the status quo. Option 2 means someone is converted from an AT player with little monetization potential to an FF with many upgrade paths available. Anyone that goes with Option 2 or can build good FFs with 11 powers already means potential for more money for Cryptic.
Coding is not our problem. It's an F2P game. If there's money to be made they will code it.
It is, and that's why I want to both help Silver players stuck with bad ATs and help Cryptic get more money.
You are very optimistic with saying that people will utilise half-FF properly, when they have difficulties in using real FF. And some can even botch ATs. And that's with the community and guides already available. :biggrin:
As for theme, I know people who take second TP precisely for the theme. After all, CO is very unforgiving for toons that can't fly, and not every theme suits flight power (so it's one TP for utility, and one for the theme).
Though this one is a small issue, indeed. It would be better for player to pay for second TP than for vehicle, if he needs only travel.
Heck, I'd pay for something like third TP instead of vehicle if it was available.
1 - Well built FFs
2 - Average built FFs
3 - Better performing ATs and poorly built FFs
4 - The rest of ATs and vehicles, the latter can do better than that depend how they are equipped
Roughly current layers of performance in a game that already has problems balancing content.
Now it adds another layer of performance somewhere in between. That's exact opposite to what CO needs - streamlining and closing as many gaps between power levels as it is possible.
Actually I agree that many people will not be able to make a good FF with restrictions, that's why I left the AT option open.
I agree that it is hard to make a good build too, but changes to the FF system can only happen once enough people get moved over to making FFs so that it becomes a problem. That's something for another thread. Or more likely something for a Champions 2 if there is ever a Champions 2.