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[forsaken1111]

The people who hate free to play games are the people who cannot keep themselves from buying things, or the people who can't afford the things but still want them.

I hate F2P and I've never spent a cent on one.  I just prefer to buy games that are actually designed to be fun instead of designed to be constantly encouraging me to spend money by putting artificial barriers into my game.

What F2P games have you tried which weren't fun? I've enjoyed every one I've played, even if only for a few hours.

[Sordid]

The people who hate free to play games are the people who cannot keep themselves from buying things, or the people who can't afford the things but still want them.

That would explain that, yeah.

It looks nothing like a minecraft clone right now, actually. It looks like a fancy-featured tower defense game with free building. That said, the potential they show with the engine is excellent, and I can't wait to see what they do with it.

It looks like a combination of things. I'm fairly sure I've seen a similar terrain-deformation thing in another game. The block building is obviously MC-inspired. The movement and just the way everything is physics-based remind me a lot of Trespasser (though that's probably not a good thing).

[Levi]

The people who hate free to play games are the people who cannot keep themselves from buying things, or the people who can't afford the things but still want them.

I hate F2P and I've never spent a cent on one.  I just prefer to buy games that are actually designed to be fun instead of designed to be constantly encouraging me to spend money by putting artificial barriers into my game.

What F2P games have you tried which weren't fun? I've enjoyed every one I've played, even if only for a few hours.

I generally avoid them like the plague, but I did play Iron Grip: Marauders for a very short time.  The manipulative atmosphere was so thick I could cut it with a knife.

Most F2P games are designed to be fun for a few hours of play though.  They want to draw you in so that you'll get emotionally invested in the game.

This is a short story worth reading.  Its oriented towards casual games, but a lot of the same ideas apply.

[Sordid]

What's going on here? Four pages of whining about what voxels are and how bad free to play is, and no discussion about the actual game?

There's not much to discuss. There isn't really a game to play yet, it's just a tiny sandbox that you can screw around in by digging into terrain and spawning stuff. And laughing at how clumsy and awkward the movement is. Pro tip: Switch to the second 3rd person camera, the one that shows your entire character. Now zig-zag as you run around. Laugh as your character breaks out into an improv dance routine.

I generally avoid them like the plague, but I did play Iron Grip: Marauders for a very short time.  The manipulative atmosphere was so thick I could cut it with a knife.

Most F2P games are designed to be fun for a few hours of play though.  They want to draw you in so that you'll get emotionally invested in the game.

Try Tribes: Ascend, that's an excellent F2P game with no artificial barriers. And isn't Team Fortress 2 F2P too now?

[Levi]

Try Tribes: Ascend, that's an excellent F2P game with no artificial barriers. And isn't Team Fortress 2 F2P too now?

Those games are even worse.  They both have pay to win elements(small, but there).  Competitive games + F2P is almost always a recipe for disaster.  TF2 was pretty much my favorite game of all time until they added a store.

Strangely though, I've heard that Dota 2 might actually be doing F2P in a good way with purchasable cosmetics only.  So it might fall into the 2% of F2P games that aren't terrible.  Time will tell I guess.

[Sordid]

I can't speak about TF2 because I've played only about ten minutes of it before I became bored. But T:A does not have P2W elements. The things you have to pay money for are purely cosmetic (and IMO in some cases even give you a slight disadvantage).

[forsaken1111]

Try Tribes: Ascend, that's an excellent F2P game with no artificial barriers. And isn't Team Fortress 2 F2P too now?

Those games are even worse.  They both have pay to win elements(small, but there).  Competitive games + F2P is almost always a recipe for disaster.  TF2 was pretty much my favorite game of all time until they added a store.

I've enjoyed T:A quite a lot since I started playing 2 weeks ago and I haven't had to spend a dime. The only thing you cannot unlock by playing are things like custom skins which are cosmetic only.

And in fact you cannot use real money to upgrade anything, it all requires xp from gameplay time.

[Levi]

I can't speak about TF2 because I've played only about ten minutes of it before I became bored. But T:A does not have P2W elements. The things you have to pay money for are purely cosmetic (and IMO in some cases even give you a slight disadvantage).

I thought you could buy entire classes?  Unless that was changed?

Experience (abbreviated as XP) is earned at the end of each match in Tribes: Ascend. XP can be used to unlock new classes or equipment, or to upgrade equipment already owned.

Boosters double the base XP a player receives in Tribes: Ascend, allowing classes, equipment, and perks to be unlocked at a faster rate.[1] Boosters have a limited duration when activated, available in 1-day, 10-day and 30-day packages.

Sounds pretty pay to win to me.

Also, from their FAQ:

However, real-money microtransactions can be used to unlock classes or weapons more quickly.

[Sordid]

You can spend money to buy classes and weapons, but those can be unlocked with experience points as well, which you earn by playing the game. You can also upgrade your weapons, armors, backpacks, perks, all kinds of stuff, and those upgrades can only be bought with XP. You can't buy your way to power in this game. You can expedite the process a lot by spending money, but you still have to play a lot to fully upgrade even a single class. The unlockable weapons are sidegrades rather than straight upgrades, too.
The only things that can't be unlocked with XP are skins, which are purely cosmetic. And IMO they actually disadvantage you, especially the assassin skin for the infiltrator. I can't tell classes apart unless the player is pretty close, but the assassin looks so distinctive that having that skin broadcasts the fact that you're an infiltrator to anyone who takes even a cursory glance at you.

[forsaken1111]

Let's just conclude that Levi is grumpy and hates things that are free, and he/she doesn't mind missing out on fun gameplay because something might be slightly faster for someone else who spent some money. Nevermind that those people spending money allow you to play for free.

Moving on, I'll be trying this game out later. It looks interesting and seems to have a lot of potential. I like the dynamic graphics on the tiles/voxels/blocks whatever, and I love the deformable terrain.

[Levi]

Still, by spending money you get a slight advantage.  The advantage is (admittedly) probably tiny, but if people are buying it its probably there.

For me, any competitive game is ruined when you can do this.  Competitive games are supposed to be about skill.

In the end though, if you are having fun and not being conned into spending money it doesn't really matter.  Some of us can't enjoy that sort of game though.

Let's just conclude that Levi is grumpy and hates things that are free, and he/she doesn't mind missing out on fun gameplay because something might be slightly faster for someone else who spent some money. Nevermind that those people spending money allow you to play for free.

 
Well I AM grumpy when it comes to free to play.   I like things that are free though.

[forsaken1111]

Competitive games are supposed to be about skill.

It still is, really. As pointed out, the weapon unlocks are not upgrades, they are sidegrades. They have alternate capabilities. I still regularly kill heavy units and decked out characters using my free little technician's SMG and grenade. I've upgraded nearly everything in the technician to max using free tasty xp. /shrug

[Sirus]

Posting to watch this.

[Sordid]

Still, by spending money you get a slight advantage.  The advantage is (admittedly) probably tiny, but if people are buying it its probably there.

In terms of gameplay, no, you don't get an advantage. It allows you to unlock sidegrades faster, that's all. Upgrades you still have to earn by not sucking at the game. Admittedly the XP costs of some of the stuff are pretty ridiculous, but I'm not impatient. I'm perfectly happy playing my two or three favorite classes that I have upgraded to my liking while completely ignoring the others and just hoarding XP.
Having to unlock classes is actually a good thing, because that forces you to spend some getting acquainted with the game first. Generally the classes available from the start are the most generalist ones. You can unlock the other, more specialized ones with money, but if you do that while you're still new at the game you won't know what their roles are, you're going to suck with them, you're going to make your team lose, and you're going to get yelled at.

I also like how we're still not talking about StarForge.

[MaximumZero]

Speaking of StarForge, I just downloaded it, and we'll see what awaits.