May have been posted already, if not, enjoy.
Link here.
I have not been able to listen to it, but I have read some responses to it elsewhere. I'd encourage members of the STO forums and the STO development team to give it a look when you have some free time.
It seems enlightening. Several game designers are at a panel discussing their personal experiences with their individual games and the f2p model for the PlayStation.
Comments
edit:
And I ran into this video...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mhz9OXy86a0
And now I'm wondering... is Star Trek Online doing F2P the right way (compared to other MMOs)?
"Hah! You are doomed! You're only armed with that pathetic excuse for a musical instrument!!!" *the Savage Beast moments before Lonnehart the Bard used music to soothe him... then beat him to death with his Fat Lute*
Yeah, it's better to wait until you have some free time. I wouldn't post an hour-long video to the forums unless I believed it was important and relevant enough.
Some of the highlights that were pointed out to me is they're doing a mixture of both, judging from what other game designers on the panel have said.
One of the biggest problems game designers face is older titles that were converted to an f2p model, while newer titles are f2p right out of the gate.
And as the game industry evolves, many game companies are still stuck in their retail box/subscription mindset and sometimes struggle with adapting to a changing economic landscape.
I would say STO has that problem, as it was not originally designed for f2p and things like monetization checkpoints are being made behind closed doors amongst game designers who have, for the most part, worked for a company who made their mark in the video game industry doing 'traditional' MMOs with retail boxes and subscription models.
I am not saying that is right or wrong, per se. Only that from my perspective it is possibly a challenge Cryptic faces in regards to competing with other f2p titles.