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F2P STO Means I’ll Play It

So there’s a bit of a kerfuffle going on right now about Star Trek Online going F2P. First off, let me just say: Wilhelm is right, why wasn’t this game free-to-play already? It’s for that reason that I entirely agree with a big part of said fuffle: The game simply wasn’t worth $15 a month. Free with occasional purchases, now that’s something I could see myself doing. Despite how much the game has grown (those season episodes are a great idea), the breadth and variety of content was seriously lacking at launch, and I find myself struggling to overcome that initial impression. Despite wanting to play for the last couple months, I justify spending $15 just to check out a game for a couple of hours.

That’s where the subscription model breaks down for Cryptic. STO isn’t a bad game, it’s just not the deep, polished experience most people look for in a $15 a month fee. Remove the monthly sub, however, and you have a game that’s far above a lot of other F2P offerings. STOs problem was never that it wasn’t fun, it was that it wasn’t fun for long enough at a time. You can see jaggies for so long before you start to think of how much better some other game does it. For all of that, though, the game is a blast to play off-and-on. It’s kind of like that girl (or guy) you date for a while but wouldn’t want to marry. Take away the fee and you don’t have to worry about those awkward phone calls anymore. You’re done? You’re done.

I’m happy at this news. I’ve said for a while that I’d go back to STO if it was F2P and assumed they must have been doing alright to have not made the move already. They probably were and this is a lateral move to get in line with Perfect World’s other F2P titles. I bet this makes them do better, though, and honestly, I really hope they do. STO always deserved to do better and to be more than what it was. This will help get them there.

6 pings

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