Neowiz: Bless Isn't F2P To Avoid "Being Tempted Into P2W," Will Still Have Cash Shop
I don't have any issues with the payment model a game chooses, if the developers feel like it's the right choice for their game. Free-to-play, buy-to-play, subscription ... they all have their merits and their downsides. What I don't agree with is when devs claim they're choosing a model because of the downsides of another model -- which are still a possibility in their model.
Bless Online was announced earlier this week as being a buy-to-play title, not free-to-play. That's cool, and there could be plenty of reasons why Neowiz decided to go that route. Naturally, that was the first question MMORPG.com's Suzie Ford asked the team in an interview. The answer:
"First, B2P would create a pleasant gaming environment by preventing bots from flooding the servers and disturbing the players. Second, we decided against F2P to prevent us, the developers, from being tempted into P2W. And of course, we also looked at our community’s opinions and requests."
It's that second sentence that makes me itch a little bit. Bless isn't F2P, in part, "to prevent us, the developers, from being tempted into P2W." Way to have a whole lot of faith in your decision-making, guys, not to mention making it sound like you're doing us a favor by not taking advantage of us. "We could have offered you this deal, but we would have just screwed you over in the end. So isn't it great that we're not screwing you over? Buy our product!"
That said, what's the main source of pay-to-win in any game? The cash shop! Since Neowiz is so concerned about their inability to not implement P2W in Bless, does that mean they won't --
"Yes, Bless Online will have a cash shop."
Oh.
Now, before I get eviscerated in the comments for claiming that Bless is/will be pay-to-win, I'm not making that claim. Nor do I think Bless shouldn't have a cash shop. It's just hard to reconcile the notion that the developers were so concerned about being pay-to-win that it was a major factor in determining their business model, while also putting in something that will greatly tempt them into making the game P2W. It's almost as if the part about "being tempted into P2W" isn't really about the players and is more just PR/marketing talk to justify their decision and try and sell copies of the game.
Also, if Bless ever does go free-to-play? Let's hope the devs find the inner strength to avoid P2W that they seem to be lacking right now.
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Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
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This game is going to die faster than when it was F2P.
At least F2P had the backing of Playerbase even if it turns out to be P2W.
Now... you get a B2P with Cash Shop (all other games with this type of model always turns out to be P2W, it's a fact now), good luck sustaining the game with just Whales.
Plus there was never a guarantee the game would be F2P and I would rather have B2P than a subscription model.
At least B2P let's you buy it once and literally play it whenever you feel like it.
If it went f2p it would be asking for bots, hackers and the usual p2w that everyone hates. The cash shop is pretty much going to be in every game now so might as well get used to that. If done right it works and doesn't require p2w items.
Moreover, this excuse only implies that NEOWIZ doesn't hope for the game to have a long life, if a developer knows that their game has potential for growth and to battle for players against other games they will know what to make for the game and when to release certain update, therefore they know if and when they are going to introduce their Max Level Exquisite Shit+99 with bonus crit and life steal.
And it doesn't really matter what excuse they come up with for the B2P model, truth is: "We better get some money on this shit as B2P because our players won't waste a dime on our content, there are a ton of games with better gameplay and graphics than ours. At least we can recover the cost for this bad PR."
I played Bless RU and thought of downloading and giving it a try again but ... I would rather buy 100 copies of I Can't Believe It's Not Gambling than to buy Bless.
I played both the regular and rebirth versions, no one to be seen in either. I thought the game was just heavily instanced but it's not.
let me tell ya ... all cash shops eventually gets p2w items.
P2W and F2P games are the best .. i rather pay one time 15$ for p2w weapon and finish game than pay 60$ and when 15$ for cash shop item.
Anyway talking about P2P and P2W ... you cant avoid to be weaker than others... in P2P not everyone gets same good items from loot , some ppl. grind for life and they still dont get what they want ... In MMORPG game P2W items just gives you ability to avoid grinding.
In Shooter games yes p2w is annoying ,but in PVE mmorpg games p2w items dont effect other players ... you always can chose with who you want to make pvp battle.
Im playing f2p and p2w game whole my life cuz i dont have $ ... and i always learn how to win againts p2w players ... at the end of day skills are best key to victory.
Look at games like PSO2, Warframe, League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, Path of Exile, Battlerite, Paladins, etc. There are plenty of games that do it right, why can't they just follow those examples? Why do they, right off the bat, claim that they'll run the risk of making it P2W? On top of the fact that they're adding a cash shop anyways. Like, what?
The better way to go about this was to have early access founders packs, like with every game now-a-days. And just be straight forward with your players by telling them that they plan on doing a buy to play model but if players don't find that the model is worth it, either due to lack of content or cash shop being too much, then transition it to a F2P model at launch.
Under their statement, they are basically using westerners way, to launch their game, as we seem more gullible to pay by launching b2p with founder pack, for suckers who think they can be greater before launch date, gaining more cash, & then including the good old gift shop in game for sundries which will of course end up with surprises of in game hidden helpers later.
So, heading down this path, the aftermath may come by hitting a panic button & ending up f2p anyway. lol
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There's no way they don't recognize that, so this move has to be intentional. Which means Bless Online will either redefine MMORPGs as a genre or fail miserably. Again. But this time by design. And somehow I'm not filled with confidence that it's gonna be the former.