What if Dayz was free to play?

[Shadow Man 142]

I was just day dreaming about how Dayz would be quite good as a free to play game. The difference being that you purchase characters rather than content. Lets say £5 to buy one character and you can only have one at a time.

 

It would add the much needed value to your own life and make people a lot more cautious. You could give people a few free lives when they first start to let them work out the game, or maybe not.

 

I dont know what exploits there may be but one obvious problem is you would get massive rage from casual gamers each time they get killed. Also the game would have to run perfect with no glitch kills etc which makes it unlikely.

 

Any thoughts?

[Steak and Potatoes 13480]

WarZ tried something similar.........

[Shadow Man 142]

What was the result? To be honest that game was flawed regardless so its hard to use it as an example. Whatever they did with WarZ shouldn't be used as proof that an idea is bad.

[Firewarrior64 69]

With the F2P model you suggested DayZ would be dead.

Yes, life needs more value in DayZ, but like this you would punish the victims of KoS. Generally KoS will increase terribly because everyone will be paranoid to not get killed themselves.

Furthermore, that wouldn't actually be 'free-to-play' because you have to pay 5 Pounds to play a single character. It would be 'free-to-download, incredibly-expensive-to-play'.

[Korsbaek 1778]

Hell no! Do you have any idea of how many times you die in this game during a year?!

 

100, if not more. That's 500 pounds! No one wants to spend 500 pounds per year on a game.

 

The number of players would fall drastically.

[EndEffeKt 87]

At first glance I thought you meant the purchase of character-models, what would be rather normal for a free-to-play.

 

I dont think that a system like this would be successful, because it has some major flaws.

 

1. I personally am disgusted by the thought of me spending money for a respawn. Would never ever touch it.

2. This would lead to so much hate. Think about every kill a sniper-kid does costing other guys real bucks??? ( I know there are people on this forum that would sit on a hill one hand in their trousers, if that were true)

3. Your friend crashes a car with you all at the backseat...Do you think he owes you 5 bucks now?

4  Would kill the last rest of player interaction there is in the game. Player base would melt down to some hundreds who would enjoy the most hardcore deathmatch game ever. Thats what DayZero is for.

5. A system like this would show that the developers of the game are not capable of creating a proper system to increase character-value. A true statement of helplessness and uncreativity.

 

All in all this idea would kill the game in my opinion. Regardless of the actual number you wouldve to pay.

 

I would rather like to see visual customisations like in the increasing number of other games, because it would, if done right and thematically fitting enhance the visual individuality of characters.

 

sincerily yours

EndEffeKt

[Shadow Man 142]

Yes its not quite free to play is it, thats true.

 

There's no doubt it would be punishing. KOS and trolling/griefing is probably the thing that would matter most.

 

Narkoman14 you may die 100 times a year but thats probably due to there being no great loss. People are very careless with there lives in Dayz so if you had spent money (It doesn't have to be £5, I just plucked that out of the air) then you would take more care of yourself.

 

I don't really think its a viable option either, but if it were done then it would enhance the experience of Dayz. Unless of course you actually want the open world deathmatch that exists now.

[Firewarrior64 69]

Yes its not quite free to play is it, thats true.

 

There's no doubt it would be punishing. KOS and trolling/griefing is probably the thing that would matter most.

 

Narkoman14 you may die 100 times a year but thats probably due to there being no great loss. People are very careless with there lives in Dayz so if you had spent money (It doesn't have to be £5, I just plucked that out of the air) then you would take more care of yourself.

 

I don't really think its a viable option either, but if it were done then it would enhance the experience of Dayz. Unless of course you actually want the open world deathmatch that exists now.

Keep in mind DayZ is a sandbox game. Increasing character value encourages people to be more careful with their lifes, yes. Paying for characters would FORCE people to be more careful with their lifes, no longer giving them the option to just play the deathmatch they want.

Yes, most of us hate KOS and deathmatch, but one of the things that make DayZ so unique is that everyone has the choice how to play. Making people pay for their characters destroys one of the fundamental things about DayZ.

[Shadow Man 142]

At first glance I thought you meant the purchase of character-models, what would be rather normal for a free-to-play.

 

I dont think that a system like this would be successful, because it has some major flaws.

 

1. I personally am disgusted by the thought of me spending money for a respawn. Would never ever touch it.

2. This would lead to so much hate. Think about every kill a sniper-kid does costing other guys real bucks??? ( I know there are people on this forum that would sit on a hill one hand in their trousers, if that were true)

3. Your friend crashes a car with you all at the backseat...Do you think he owes you 5 bucks now?

4  Would kill the last rest of player interaction there is in the game. Player base would melt down to some hundreds who would enjoy the most hardcore deathmatch game ever. Thats what DayZero is for.

5. A system like this would show that the developers of the game are not capable of creating a proper system to increase character-value. A true statement of helplessness and uncreativity.

 

All in all this idea would kill the game in my opinion. Regardless of the actual number you wouldve to pay.

 

I would rather like to see visual customisations like in the increasing number of other games, because it would, if done right and thematically fitting enhance the visual individuality of characters.

 

sincerily yours

EndEffeKt

 

Actually you touched on an interesting point there. You could have a couple of ultimate hardcore servers which you had to pay for respwans, at least then there's still normal Dayz servers. I bet you would get players in them although numbers would eventually decline because of having regular Dayz as well.

 

Otherwise I agree with most of what you said :D

[Ken Bean 174]

Free2Play just means that you need to pay 100, 200 bucks or more in order to get the full game. Every single shit will need to be bought, that means shiny "buy this, buy that" buttons everywhere. Otherwise you get the game in demo mode. I have absolutely no idea why someone should like this.

[Firewarrior64 69]

Free2Play just means that you need to pay 100, 200 bucks or more in order to get the full game. Every single shit will need to be bought, that means shiny "buy this, buy that" buttons everywhere. Otherwise you get the game in demo mode. I have absolutely no idea why someone should like this.

Not all F2P games are like that. Many F2P games I know contain the entire game for free- however, to get the content without paying you'll have to get a certain rank/money which often takes ages.

Also some games (like for example Team Fortress 2) are fully F2P without any neccessary items you have to buy/farm.

[voddler (DayZ) 367]

Sorry, I've never been a fan of most F2Ps. Dota 2 and TF2 are fine, but I'd never pay for another character in a game just to carry on playing.. It's like a slot-machine, just more fun.

[Ken Bean 174]

Not all F2P games are like that. Many F2P games I know contain the entire game for free- however, to get the content without paying you'll have to get a certain rank/money which often takes ages.

Also some games (like for example Team Fortress 2) are fully F2P without any neccessary items you have to buy/farm.

Sure, it always is kind of difficult to generalise, but you can consider those games to be an "excuse", so to speak to have a bult in "but what, it's not all about te money" thing. However, this most likely are titles which are not very expensive in development and probably low end, aiming on low budget folks.

There's noothing wrong with paying a fair price and getting a full game in return.

Edited November 2, 2013 by Ken Bean

[nobodyltu 6]

No F2P in Dayz !!! 

[C0okieH 156]

No one wants to spend 500 pounds per year on a game.

 

And then you look at TF2.

[weparo 613]

WORST. IDEA. EVER.

 

No free to play, no, please no. The dev team is making a good job, they deserve their income. I don't wan't a game where half of the stuff is p2p, or locked. DLC's are bad enough, look at battlefield 4. This is what I really love about bohemia. The make decent game, and sell them to decent price. Old school. No BS. No hidden fees, no premium accounts. Just decent games. I wish ever company were like them.

[C0okieH 156]

 look at battlefield 4.

 LEAVE MY BABY ALONE! LEAVE HER ALONE!

[rossums 2190]

Free to Play means significantly more morons and children that play the game and eventually more unfair advantages given to those that spend money.

It would never work in a game like DayZ where everything is down to skill and luck - adding advantages for those that pay would just ruin the game.

[Horseyspc 21]

no i hate this idea  :|

[Firewarrior64 69]

no i hate this idea :|

No F2P in Dayz !!!

Good job contributing to the discussion here.

 

 

No one wants to spend 500 pounds per year on a game.

And then you look at TF2.

 

The difference is that the things you buy in TF2 are permanent. They stay in your inventory forever, unless you sell them. Buying extra lifes is temporary and won't help you in your next life at all.

 

 

Sure, it always is kind of difficult to generalise, but you can consider those games to be an "excuse", so to speak to have a bult in "but what, it's not all about te money" thing. However, this most likely are titles which are not very expensive in development and probably low end, aiming on low budget folks.

There's noothing wrong with paying a fair price and getting a full game in return.

 

That's my point: It is generally bad to generalise. Yes, most f2p titles are pay to win, but some aren't.

 

This brings me to my next point:

 

F2P in DayZ is only possible as pay to win. And we all hate that, don't we? All the other ways of optional bonuses that you could farm yourself are not possible in DayZ due to the lack of a rank/money system.

 

/thread

[finalstraw 193]

It won't work simply because there is no way to monetise the game without it being really annoying experience and keep that core gameplay intact.

 

Buying clothes would be viable but if you die you would lose them. Buying weapons would just destroy the experience, giving a few credit card warriors the ability to shit on everyone else and like the former would be lost upon death. Weapon buying also promotes the deathmatch mentality that SA is trying to avoid.

 

Lots of this has already been done by the WarZ... and look how well that turned out.

[weparo 613]

 LEAVE MY BABY ALONE! LEAVE HER ALONE!

 

Haha, no worries mate. I like the game, but it's bs that i have to buy bf4 for 60 EUR, and then spend 50 eur more to get premium, giving access to 50% of the game content. That's like a 110 EUR game, hell no!

[Hosty 647]

No, please.

Leave it cheap at Alpha, and make it gradually increase, like Arma3 did.

[Hosty 647]

Haha, no worries mate. I like the game, but it's bs that i have to buy bf4 for 60 EUR, and then spend 50 eur more to get premium, giving access to 50% of the game content. That's like a 110 EUR game, hell no!

 

The premium is infact a discount.

Not only you get the DLC early, but instead of paying for 5 DLCs separately you can get Premium and instantly "preorder" them.

And ofcourse, ingame items.

So, 5x15 eur = 75 Eur

Premium is 50 Eur and will go down surely, you can also buy them from some key sites that sell for cheaper which I used for BF3.

[Elo 44]

Let's not even mention that F2P would open the floodgates for every hacker in the world.

 

 

I'm actually all for making the alpha more expensive (as in, full priced game) to keep more players from risking their (or their parent's) money by using hacks