So the next PvZ game will be ‘free’
That puts me off it, and judging by the comments I’m not alone. Surely there were 200k+ day 1 full-price buyers lined up for this game? maybe 10x that. Is there REALLY so much more money in F2P to make them turn down those easy sales?
Plus iOS only, no PC version. Boooo
Only at the start. My guess is that the game will be featured on stage next week during Apple’s WWDC keynote. Definitely worth giving iOS an exclusive in exchange for that sort of promotion.
F2P makes me significantly less interested in the game.
One of the things I liked most about the original was the difficulty scaled to how good you were playing it. My mother for example was absolutely terrible (she’d constantly put sunflowers right in front of a zombie), yet she was still able to win levels. I’m assuming that is changed and now you’ll have consumables you can buy with RL$ to improve your chances at winning levels.
I’d definitely rather it weren’t F2P, but it’s not surprising in the least and I’m willing to give Popcap the benefit of the doubt until I play it. If it turns the game into a grind, that will be a disappointment.
I have spent some time playing Popcap Blitz series on IOS, the Bejweeld Blitz and Solitaire Blitz and found that I enjoyed my time with the games without ever feeling the need to pay, in fact is just the opposite there pricing structure is so ridiculous were they offer the player so little for the money they spend that I think is a big deterrent to spending money, but I guess it may work some people. So if they make the enjoyable for free I’m Ok with this choice, but if they completely unbalance the game then too bad but at least don’t have to spend money to find out.
AS to your question as to if its worth it, Puzzle & Dragons was recently noted as making $3.75m per day from IAP. PopCap/EA would have to sell those 200k copies a day, every day (if it was a $20 pc release) to get to that level. So I’m sure they feel its worth the change.
EA/Popcap looking at this as a new cash cow. With it geared toward real money, this means any real balance or normal game we had before will be gone.
I don’t think I’ve found a single FTP game (that pushes real money purchases on a tablet) to be of any game value in longevity terms. These are no longer “games”, but psychological-fixes to get people to fork out way more than $50 for a casual game. It’s sick and pretty depressing.
I hate the motivation loop in f2p games. It ruins the game for me. If other core mechanics are great I will tolerateit: a ridiculously giant Planetside 2 battle is fun regardless of the f2p crap. Though the way the f2p/xp skews player behavior is still a net negative.
I’ll give this a shot because Popcap I guess, but it better be bloody amazing.
The point about not being able to offer easy difficulty modes for more casual players is a good one too. In a f2p game you have to pay for lowered difficulty with consumable revives or whatever. They have to pony up cash or grind grind grind.
I’m probably not the typical user, but I’d have probably paid $10 on each of four iOS accounts on day one for me, the wife, the (best of our) kids.
As is I guess I’ll have to see how it’s done. Disney’s model with where’s my water & mittens works for me. There I pay a buck of three and re-up for another couple bucks to get new levels or game modes. I don’t even think twice about paying it. If it’s more insidious than that I’ll probably just make do with whatever lets me play the game.
I don’t begrudge Popcap maximizing profits, but if they get too beg-y I’m out and they get nothing.
As long as I don’t have to connect it to Facebook. There is a bunch of functionality in Solitaire Blitz that doesn’t work without a Facebook link. I want no part of that in my beloved PvZ.
I really, really hope this won’t end up another case of where FtP as a business model bleeds over into game design. While I don’t have inherent negativity towards FtP, it does seem like the gold rush desire for revenue streams are changing video games from enclosed board game like products or experiences into essentially a bank of slot machines at a casino. PvZ was such a cool little design, I would hate to see it go the way of buying gems for seed packets or bonus sun for 3 matches. Not only because it is distasteful, but also because of what it will have to do to game pacing and design.
I agree. So much depends on the developer behind the game and how things are prioritized. Given that this is EA I am, uh… not optimistic.
Remember - Real Racing 3 was a hit and customers “demanded more purchasing options” for them to play!
I would be as skeptical as most of you about the F2P model if it weren’t for Path of Exile. But that’s a game that’s shown me that F2P games don’t necessarily have to be hobbled by poor design decisions or have anything in them that would push you to spend money. The game is just so good, that playing it for free just makes you feel guilty and you look for ways to give the developers money. I know that sounds dopey, but that’s the way it worked in that game for me, and hopefully that’s the way it will work in Plants vs Zombie 2.
Maybe the Zen Garden will be the focus of the pay-to-play extras? If so, I’d be fine with that.
F2P makes this an easy pass. I’ll never play another F2P game again - I despise the model, which is premised upon making you feel like a schmoe (if you don’t buy everything) or an imbecile (if you do buy everything) – the constant solicitations are also the definition of anti-fun.
There’s tons of examples to back up your statement but it isn’t always the case. In the PC space there are exceptions to that rule. The concept isn’t bad, although a lot of implementations are. I certainly don’t believe for a moment that EA will do it right.
Not only F2P, but this won’t be on Steam either due to the EA horseshit. Oh video games, you used to be so beautiful.
Being iOS exclusive is fucking bullshit. I own the first game on 4 different platforms, but I don’t own a single iOS device that will play it.
I own it on only 3 platforms. But for me the situation is ever worse. Not only do I not own an iOS device, I don’t know anyone at work or in my family or friends who owns an iOS device. So I can’t even borrow or ask to look at it.