Spiral Knights - Bad wording in the "free to play" part?

Bad wording in the "free to play" part?

38 replies [Last post]

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:13

Rage-Knight

I think this game isn't "free to play" but rather "free to try".
Let me explain:
To fight monsters, earn items, crowns you need to go into dungeons. Entering dungeons costs energy.
Energy costs 7000 crowns (at the moment of making this post, price doubled since the game went on Steam) or $$.
Sure, you get 100 mist energy, which can be used in elevators, every day. But how long will that mist energy last you? One dungeon ride.

Are you satisfied with 7 dungeons a day? I'm not. For me 1 dungeon ride is a "try" rather than "play". And to get another 100 energy I have to either spend _everything_ I made in that dungeon ride, or wait for a day.

This seems more like a subscription-based game to me with subscription costing $20 per month (for starter pack, which should last you a month) than a "free to play" game where you get "premium" features for $$.

What do you think, is this game a true "free to play" game or is this all just marketing?

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:17

Thoranhippo

Did you pay real money to

Did you pay real money to download any content or play any part of the game? If not, then it clearly is a free to play.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:27

Senshi

Legacy Username

It's free.

We've already had this thread, and the game is still free.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:29

Dasparian

"Free to Play" is not "Free

"Free to Play" is not "Free to play for a satisfactory period of time" or "Free to not only play but also to enjoy" or "Free to play and in no shape or form an encouragement for you to spend more than a subscription game".

The ambiguity of the term "F2P" is pretty ingenious, if you think about it.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:34

Neo2

Legacy Username

You can play for free. It's a

You can play for free. It's a free to play.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:34

Thoranhippo

Like any other company, Three

Like any other company, Three Rings has to make benefits. Spiral Knights is a huge investment of time, effort and money. It would be just utopic to believe this game would be distributed without any paying alternatives. Many players easily forget that nothing is entirely free. We're already provided a free downloadable content AND free energy daily to play it. You can play it for free all the way you want, and if you want to overuse its content, accept to invest some of your own money. Its still clearly possible for anybody to play and finish Spiral Knights without having to spend anything; I did it, and so did many other players. F2P games require patience, its just the same for any other game of the kind.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:59

jooozek

Legacy Username

"Energy costs 7000 crowns (at

"Energy costs 7000 crowns (at the moment of making this post, price doubled since the game went on Steam)"

You've got that wrong pal, energy was at 7000 crowns a little before the steam launch, the prices lowered due the influx of all people buying starter packs, so yeah, we've already been at the 7000 crowns mark and honestly, most people still won't have a problem with that. You just need to run in gates that have arenas and do danger rooms at 11-12 floor, the earlier aren't worth as much. And no, the game is free to play no matter what you say, it would be free to try if we wouldn't be able to craft even 3* stuff without paying and somehow i have a fullset of 5* gears and got like 25000CE without spending a cent. You just need to learn how to manage your resources, it will get harder with time, sure, but its still doable. And i can tell you that with patience you can make ~3000 crowns per 10 energy if you are really greedy for those crowns and not want to just play the game and enjoy the actual game. Oh, actually, today you'd make 3000 crowns per 5 energy you spend.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:55

Eradicats

Legacy Username

This thread has been done

This thread has been done many times before. Just like the bazillion CE threads.

The game is free to play.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 06:58

Nintendan

Legacy Username

I'm a 100% free player and

I'm a 100% free player and I'm only a few CE away from all 4* items.

My friend is also 100% free and has three 5* items. This game can easily be F2P if you know what you're doing.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 07:04

Tenkii

I have like, 2 5* sets and 6

I have like, 2 5* sets and 6 5* weapons and haven't paid real money to play. Also, I can play whenever I want, for how long I want.

Feels f2p to me.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 07:44

#10

Trying

sigh

This is just another new player annoyed at the cost of energy. If you dont know how the f2p business model works dont complain about it. Essentially f2p players have to spend time while p2p players spend money to advance. Energy is never going to be within the cost range of a full ME run in a player run market since demand will quickly outstrip the supply

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 07:45

#11

Rsquared

Hey. This whole mist energy

Hey. This whole mist energy thing is a good idea. Its kinda use to prevent people from excessive playing and all that. Besides, CE can be bought with crowns. Thats not something common you will see in other online games. So be grateful XD

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 11:30

#12

Addy

I've played F2P games that

I've played F2P games that required you to pay money to advance after a certain point. This is not the case with this game and it stays free forever as long as you are careful. Granted, gameplay is somewhat limited, but you're not gonna get stuck at 3* equips with a notice saying "Sorry, 4* equipment is premium content, please pay $5 to upgrade."

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 11:34

#13

King-Tinkinzar

These threads are always

These threads are always being created and always end in an argument... geez just shut up and live with it! It's a freaking business strategy to ploy you into paying more money than a subscription plan. Honestly, you obviously are not experienced with the business world.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 11:56

#14

Quasirandom

Calling a game "free to play"

Calling a game "free to play" is usually just a stupid marketing term. With a little knowledge of economics, you'd surely realize that a commercial game is trying to make money somehow. And it probably isn't a business model of giving away everything for free and trying to make it up in volume.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 12:32

#15

Amnaf

It's free to play. You don't

It's free to play. You don't HAVE to spend any real money to play Spiral Knights.

But there is plenty of encouragement to pay for it, which should not surprise anyone.

The other free-to-play revenue model is in-game advertising, after all.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 12:43

#16

Quasirandom

"The other free-to-play

"The other free-to-play revenue model"

There are so many "free to play" revenue models that I've lost count.

There is Champions Online's "it's a subscription game with a generous free trial, so we're calling it free to play."

There is EverQuest II's "there are subscription servers and there are item mall 'free to play' servers."

There is League of Legends' "pay to get more options, but not necessarily better options." (A Spiral Knights equivalent to that would be, if you haven't paid, then your gear is rolled at random each day from all choices of your star level, and re-rolled the next day, and you don't get to pick which gear you'll wear.)

There's the "free to lose"/item mall grinder model made famous by too many Chinese and Korean imports to count. (Basically anything by Aeria, IGG, or a number of other companies.)

There's the "whoever pays the most wins, just because he paid the most" model, where most of the game is really just an effort at obscuring this. This is usually only done by very obscure games.

And none of those are remotely similar to either each other or to Spiral Knights. There are a lot of others, too, but that's just off the top of my head.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 14:35

#17

mejezfeld

Legacy Username

I think it's Free To Play,

I think it's Free To Play, But Not If You're Foreign. God No, All You're Getting Is Lag, Stinking Foreigner

Prove me wrong

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 14:43

#18

iAM2FoREAL

Legacy Username

This game is definitely Free To Play.
I have over 20 - 5* items
and a decent amount of Crystal Energy and Crowns.
I've only spent $5 and that's because I did that so I dont have to share Mist Energy between accounts on my computer.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 14:43

#19

iAM2FoREAL

Legacy Username

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 14:54

#20

Thoranhippo

Please arrest iAM2FoREAL

Please arrest iAM2FoREAL immediatly, he double-posted :3
No, agree. Crafted plenty "pro" gears and haven't spent anything at all yet (talking of Very High CTR equipments and 5* gears for most <.<)

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 16:54

#21

Koffin-Kat

I think it's Free To Play,

I think it's Free To Play, But Not If You're Foreign. God No, All You're Getting Is Lag, Stinking Foreigner

You Caps lock seems to be broken, it makes first letters in every word capital... or is it Shift?
Anyway... What's wrong with foreigners playing SK? Seems a bit..."xenophobic" to me ;)

----
On topic:
"Bad wording in the "free to play" part?" <- This is exactly what I say to myself in most "free"-to-play games. They claim to be F2P, but you HAVE TO pay money in order to play the same game as paying players.
However, Spiral Knights actualy IS free to play! You can buy energy with in-game currency! But wait, it's even better - you can have the exact same gear/items as paying players without spending a cent on this game!
So yeah, it IS free to play :)

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 20:01

#22

hatecrafting

Legacy Username

No kidding. I just started

No kidding. I just started and I mean really? This game is simple but fun. With no pvp. And, crafting sucks. Like majorly. I have to buy energy to make anything above 2-star? Are you kidding?

So I have the option to make a couple items, or not play for a day. >:/
It also takes crowns on top of that. Jeeze.
The market seems bad too. -.-'

It's more of a "Look at this game! Give us money!" than a free to play imo. I'll be leaving soon that's for sure if my opinion doesn't dramatically change.

To be honest I would buy this game if it were in stores NOT as an mmo. Cuz it's alot of fun playing with friends and stuff, and it wouldn't have these insane limitations. They would get money that way and everyone would be happy. But, MMOs are like the money machines now, and companies only care about profit. :/

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 20:45

#23

Rage-Knight

I'm not trying to say you

I'm not trying to say you *can't* play a free to play game for free. Otherwise naming wouldn't be used.
I'm saying this game isn't entirely "free" to entirely "play" so a * should be added to the "free" word.
Should look like this:
Spiral Knights is a free* to play game!
* - some parts of the game may require payment

Now, the best part. If you think a bit, you'll notice that:
a) crystal energy can only be bought for $$
b) to craft an item or do one of many other things, including riding an elevator, you need energy, and mist energy won't cut it most of the time
If energy gets depleted (theoretically possible), you'll have no other choice but to pay $$ if you want to craft anything or ride an elevator beyond your 100 mist energy. Basically, part of the game will only be available to "paid" gamers (like tier 3 dungeons where you have to have 4-star equipment just to gain access).

If you have to pay $$ to get access to certain parts of the game, would you still call this game free to play?

PS: "Free to play" means "completely free and unrestricted access to 100% of the game" for me.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 21:44

#24

Lortab

F2P for sure

@ OP

If you read some of the posts in your topic you'll notice that there are plenty of F2P players, myself included, who have "completely free and unrestricted access to 100% of the game."

This means that we have never paid a dime and yet we are still able to access every part of this game. Exactly the same in every way as someone who has unlimited spending potential. The only difference is that it might have taken us longer because we had to start from scratch.

The only way I would not be able to dive and craft whenever and whatever I want is if I were to burn through the 30k CE (including my crowns) that I have accumulated over time.

The reason this will never happen is that eventually you learn how to make CE grow when you spend it.

Keep at it. Use your mist wisely and eventually you'll be there with the rest of us.

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 22:00

#25

Akher

This game is free to play.

The truth is that you don't have to buy anything for this game (energy)... but the game is inflicting a desire for you (the people) to have get an extra amount of energy to get more from this F2P game.

Even the game objective is already forcing you to discover more (going deep into the clockworks, which means you will have to have at least 260 energy) and getting the best equipment (crafting). But this is just if you want.

100% free to play. The rest is your desire. You can always be stuck in tier 1-2, or think smartly and be like some 5* people (I'm proud of them)

Sat, 07/16/2011 - 23:09

#26

Rage-Knight

@lortab I play games for fun,

@lortab
I play games for fun, not for accumulating riches. Fun = experimenting with stuff and burning my "riches" as I get them. I don't like accumulating stuff I won't be able to use.

@angel5125
If I use up 100 mist energy on crafting 2-star armor set, how am I supposed to play the game? Under "play" I mean hack'n'slash style game, not sitting in town square chatting.

PS: I bought starter pack in 1-2 days after starting playing. Seemed fun, lasted me a while (used up the energy in 2-3 days, but crowns remained), currently I still have 3k CE and some 80k crowns. Currently my main concern is the following statement:
If I spend 100 ce, I will most likely be unable to earn enough crowns to buy another 100 ce. And mist energy only lasts me 1 dungeon ride, which is horribly small amount for a power gamer like me.

Sun, 07/17/2011 - 00:28

#27

Lortab

Should be easy for a "power gamer"

Here's your problem dude: "If I spend 100 ce, I will most likely be unable to earn enough crowns to buy another 100 ce. And mist energy only lasts me 1 dungeon ride, which is horribly small amount for a power gamer like me."

Many if not most players who have played the game for more than one or two weeks have figured out how to make more than the current price (6.4k) of 100 CE while using 100 CE.

For a "power gamer" this should be quite simple.

Also remember that these posts are simply trying to answer your original question: "What do you think, is this game a true "free to play" game or is this all just marketing?"

Answer: Yes, this game is truly F2P.

Sun, 07/17/2011 - 05:18

#28

Toolinator

Legacy Username

This game is free to play.

This game is free to play. End of story.
I managed to solo an entire tier 1 dungeon (with a fair amount of difficulty mind you...), on my first 'official' play through. I used up all my energy and earned enough crowns to by the spent energy back in full. It's free to fricking play! I'm continuing this strategy for a couple of my characters. and I am currently working my way on to tier 3 in under a week, playing the game one a day for however long it takes me to achieve my preset goal (which is usually about 2... maybe 3 hours?). This is part of an experiment, I do have much better things to do then play SK for 3 hours a day.

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 05:03

#29

Wolomaster

They need to earn as well.

Three rings wanna earn as well, ok?
They created this game for FREE and anyone who likes it or wanna get cooler stuff CAN buy but not NECESSARY buy those $$ items...

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 05:19

#30

Tersakaff

These guys must be trolling... /)_-

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 05:30

#31

Asukalan

Or he can be just stupid.

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 07:09

#32

Aplauses

Or maybe both.

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 07:12

#33

Redlawlsy

3 words

WHY... THE... NECRO????

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 07:14

#34

Serell

....

BURN! BURN WITH FIRE!

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 08:42

#35

Tersakaff

Yeah guys, let's keep bumping this thread, it'll fix everything. /hypocrite

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 09:02

#36

Asukalan

Thread juggling, our post

Thread juggling, our post strike it with power of a raged callahan bullet.

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 14:24

#37

Kive

its F2P

Havent spent a dime and Ive got a ton of stuff and have and can experience anything in the game I want, save for some cosmetic items. Trust me once you start playing for a while the energy system wont bother you as much as it did when you started.

EDIT: just read the time this was posted >.< dang you necroes

Wed, 07/25/2012 - 14:54

#38

Fehzor

He is living in the past.

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Bad wording in the "free to play" part?