Same as MNC and TF2, if it goes F2P I’m done with it.
(Currently a fan with over 400 hours into Advanced Story mode.)
*I’ll more than likely go back to Bl2 and Presequel.
I believe that transition to F2P would be a good move, if done properly. Most of the issues with the game are related to low player base, which transition to F2P would solve.
However, before they make such move, the players that Pre-ordered or bought normal/digital Deluxe versions should be adequately rewarded in the means of - free Platinum and exclusive content such as unique skins and taunts, so that the people that actually bought the game don’t feel cheated. I think that early discount was insulting enough.
The F2P part of the game should have some limitations like limited single player missions, no unlockable skins with mastery and a rotation of playable characters on a weekly basis. Similar to the limitations of beta. If you want progression and unlockables, you have to buy the base game (which should be discounted). Limitations of F2P should be purely cosmetic, and not treat F2P players in a way that they feel players that bought the game have some advantage over them, gameplay wise.
You can take a look at my post about Steam summer sale, some of my ideas from there could also be applied to F2P model.
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I agree with the sentiments that I would drop the game entirely if it becomes F2P.
And I highly doubt it’ll happen in the first place, 2K rather let the game die than becoming free.
Topics merged.
(Puh - I though for a second I deleted some posts, luckily all arrived safely! 
)
Maybe they got other plans for how to bring more players to the game…
But some people are getting panicked when hearing the word F2P like its a disease.
And if you paid 60-80$ and will get its worth, why does it matter if others will have the option to play the game for free?
They still going to need to buy Mission Packs… Farm currency to unlock classes…etc…
And B2P players will get the benefit of having a more populated game.
I like how Blizzard is handling it in games like SC2 for example, even the new co-op mode is F2P ( 3 classes are free ),
I tried it, i liked it a lot, and it was my main motivation to get the new expansion in the end.
And when i am using matchmaking there are always people to play with, some F2P… some basic game owners and some new expansion owners.
I don’t value in game meaningless items and would not buy any Platinum and so there is nothing they can give me that equals the monetary value I paid for these items apart from a full monetary refund.
In game items are meaningless in the real world whereas the money I paid for the game can be used to pay rent, buy food etc. The in game currency they give me has no value and cannot be used to “validate my original cost”.
But if you get everything that was promised to you?
All that the Season Pass offered - All mission packs, those extra skins, those instant new classes unlocks… and whatever else it offered…
And the same goes for the Base game, you got all the base missions, they dont.
You got access to all of the classes, they dont, etc…
So what if F2P players will be able to see and play a game you paid for… you are still getting a great deal… the game you paid for will stay populated for much longer and you are getting many benefits that F2P players wont.
But in the end there is no certainty that F2P will work like some magical solution… so who knows.
I gave the whole F2P thing a thought and honestly, I wouldn’t mind anymore. I bought the DDE and I’d rather want a game that is free to play than a dead game tbh. At least I will still get to play it. Only thing I’m concerned about is the scum that f2p titles tend to attract. There is no entry fee that could hold trolls away anymore…
As long as Gbx will give people who had the game before f2p a GOOD compensation, I really wouldn’t mind. Talking about maybe 50$ worth of platinum and deliver the season pass content exclusively to SP holders, of course.
BUT I don’t even think that F2P would work like a charm in BBs current state. The total of sold copies aren’t that low… People just left for various reasons, some things just didn’t and still don’t work very well (like balancing meh). I think Gearbox should just work on everything people complained about and they wouldn’t even have to consider going F2P.
There in a free to play market so why not go free to play , just let all of us that paid for it , get are content while those on the free to play version stuck on the free to play version of it ,
So we get no ads, do not need purchase anything for a few years, unless expansion, or cosmetic , Those that purchased the full price and season pass, version of the game , season pass get few cosmetic items, and the dlc still ,
as for overwatch , there losing people just as fast now , because there in the free to play market, that many people are used to.
you can not reinvent the wheel that was created , but you can add some badass tires to that wheel.
Exactly what I thought…
Something like
- make all battleborns unlocked
- only able to play the algorithm until after beating arachnis (alone I guess)
- only able to play pvp local against bots
I still think having “all battleborn unlocked” is great to show how polyvalent characters are.
I wish there was a “try a battleborn” feature.
I’ve seen a few other threads with this topic.
This one for example:
Didn’t mean to move this post with it, merged a similar topic into this one
Demos and base content and compensation, oh my! Please make sure you’re reading the thread before posting, not just the most recent. A massive demo with up to 5 characters, no gear, and capping out command level/character level has already been suggested.
The trolls in f2p community have been mentioned.
The unequal compensation has been brought up. I, for one, would drop this game like a pregnant girlfriend if it went f2p. I paid. Unless they give me my $80 back, I won’t touch it. I don’t buy skins, I don’t buy in game currency at all. Is it pretty? Sure. Do I care? No. And why do I care if someone else gets to enjoy if I had to pay? It’s like going out to eat. You get your bill… And then everyone who showed up after you gets a full free meal. But your food was made with potatoes (because potatoes are awesome) so you should be happy to fork over $80. (It’s a fancy restaurant).
And lost my train of thought… Just try not to make this thread a broken record. I, and many others probably, am curious as to what new ideas could make f2p almost justifiable.
Oh, and I’m on console. So the game is certainly not dying in my end. 
Chain of events that take a Premium game to Freemium over time:
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Ambitious design and unique concept draw in the initial player base.
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Unrealized expectations start to settle in, other titles release, players begin to move onto other projects.
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Reductions in player activity lead to early price drops.
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Developers try to compensate for negative feedback by making major adjustments.
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Previously satisfied players react to adjustments, some of those players move on.
This is where we are now, what comes next is typically the result of failed attemps at maintaining the active player base with content and gameplay adjustments.
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As player activity remains low, plans are developed to convert the game to attract new players and generate revenue.
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A notice goes out to the population announcing plans to make serious changes to the game.
Generally, it’s some variation of the following:
We remain dedicated to supporting this game and offer our players new and exciting content. In order to continue to give our players the best possible experience, we are working on changes which we will reveal in the near future. We are very excited about the upcoming changes and we hope you enjoy your experience with us as much as we enjoy creating it for you. We appreciate all of your support and hope that you will continue to support us going forward.
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A basic framework for micro transactions is established along with test items to establish baseline transaction pricing.
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Marketplace Items are expanded with the introduction of unique options not available through the previous format. (Eg: boosts, pets, personality alterations, ect…)
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Official announcement goes out informing everyone of the upcoming Free to Play conversion, followed by backlash from current players.
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The conversion goes live, resulting in a flood of new players.
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Servers struggle with the new influx of activity and suffers from periodic down time.
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Servers stabilize & game activity surges, increased revenue allows the game to continue to expand.
Now, that is just a basic guideline of how past games have made the transition when it wasn’t part of the original release concept. In the past, the conversion has taken less than a year and players who purchased the game were compensated with very limited in-game currency and a novelty item that eventually makes it’s way into the marketplace.
I based this list on my personal experience with 8 different titles that made the conversion, with varying results. Most of them survived for years. I’m not particularly in favor of a F2P conversion, but it sure looks like Battleborn is headed that way.
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totally agree…
So you’d rather have a paid game with no players than a F2P?
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The game doesn’t have no players - It has a low player count.
Would I prefer the game to have a small pool of dedicated fans or for it to have an influx of people who don’t care about it, who will abandon it in favor of the next FoTM F2P game in a week or two?
Yes, I will take the small pool of players who paid thanks.
As someone who has played many games that have started on a premium model and gone F2P (for example Rift, SWOTR, Wildstar etc) I can say they all suffered from it and I no longer play any of them.
More players would be great but not by way of the game-death-tainting that is F2P.
Thing is, it’s not only about players.
Some peoples make a living out of this game’s results on the market.
Once again, was going to make my own topic on this, but then I was alerted to this topic via the “Suggestions” thing that popped up. Props to the person at Gearbox who designed this forum, Very nicely done
Anyway, as to the whole thing of Battleborn going F2P, I certainly wouldn’t be upset if it did, but I also wouldn’t be all too surprised.
I mean, just look at what happened to Evolve recently when it went free to play, and that game has been slowly plodding along at a few hundred players for the last 8-10 months:
http://steamcharts.com/app/273350#All
If the game did go F2P, I think they would need to do a few things:
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Everyone that bought the game gets all the current characters unlocked, while the people who play for free would only be able to play as set characters that were on the standard MOBA rotation system. They would be able to buy the characters with either Platinum or the in game currency (but would need to pay the 47k like we currently do for Alani).
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People who paid for the Season pass content would still get what they paid for. Everyone else has to pay for it.
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Story mode DLC would still have to be bought. Not sure how the current story would be done though. Maybe either leave it free, give people the prologue and the first two episodes (same as the beta) and they pay to unlock the rest, or free people have to pay for the whole campaign (don’t like that one personally, but it’s an option).
I don’t think they’d make it free to play THIS soon after it’s launch, but if they did decide to do it, they’d probably aim to do it once all the Season Pass content has been delivered, so maybe sometime beginning of next year?
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