[Unworthycarnage]

Think FFXI will ever turn into a FREE to play? i really hope so

[Corrderio]

F2P = Shit

[WolfwoodOfTrigunMax]

Corrderio, on 17 June 2011 - 06:31 PM, said:

F2P = Shit

[Ryo-go]

No. I really hope it doesn't.

Also, I doubt SE would even go there.

[Arkley]

It might, one day. As it stands, microtransaction based free-to-play games are currently much more profitable for MMOs with smaller audiences. FF XI's audience is already relatively small and it certainly isn't growing. SE have already merged servers a couple of times to deal with the costs of running the game for such a small number of players.

If the population continues to dwindle to the point where it appears the game may soon become unsustainable, the smart move (from a business perspective) would be to implement F2P with an in-game store. This could eventually be the only way to rejuvenate the playerbase, as SE simply won't advertise the game in any significant way in its current form - they'd essentially be spending money to say "come pay $12 a month to play our 7 year old game" - but F2P games practically advertise themselves, and people flock to them.

All in all, I wouldn't like the game to go F2P either, but if it comes down to a choice between taking a no longer profitable game down altogether, or making a last ditch attempt to prolong its life with a new F2P system, I'd still rather they went with the latter choice. I'm pretty sure SE would rather that, too.

[Shanvhere]

F2P works! It has turned low populated games into money, like LOtR was crappy pay-per-month and when it went F2P it's rolling in dough and installed a new expansion.

[Derock]

Shanvhere, on 18 June 2011 - 07:36 AM, said:

F2P works! It has turned low populated games into money, like LOtR was crappy pay-per-month and when it went F2P it's rolling in dough and installed a new expansion.

The huge add campaign they went on helped too I'm sure.