In this season of posting love for all and sundry I would like to point out a balance that Failbetter has landed almost perfectly with Fallen London – free play vs. Fate (i.e., pay to play). Fate opens up all manner of deliciousness; but the game is also perfectly playable with little or no Fate expenditure … it is welcoming to people in a wide range of financial situations. Thank you Failbetter!
Also, because the FL is so rich and so obviously a labour of love (and not a way to make a quick Echo … or at least not just a way to make a quick Echo) the longer I play the more I am willing to spend (and the more I have spent) Fate. [li]
[quote=Lady Sapho Byron]In this season of posting love for all and sundry I would like to point out a balance that Failbetter has landed almost perfectly with Fallen London – free play vs. Fate (i.e., pay to play). Fate opens up all manner of deliciousness; but the game is also perfectly playable with little or no Fate expenditure … it is welcoming to people in a wide range of financial situations. Thank you Failbetter!
Also, because the FL is so rich and so obviously a labour of love (and not a way to make a quick Echo … or at least not just a way to make a quick Echo) the longer I play the more I am willing to spend (and the more I have spent) Fate [li][/quote]
Agreed! for the first time in forever- opps, ignore the memetic- I’ve actually seriously considered spending money on it… i think i will eventually, just… not yet.[/li][li] I’m constantly vaugly horrified and pleased when someone sends me something that costs fate- because i don’t tend to think of that as "worthwhile", since you’re spending real money. It’s a kind of odd filter- i’ll spend a dollar on a burger without hesitation, but spending that same dollar on a game has me hesitate. Though, to be fair, i’m not making that much money at the moment, so it’s not without reason.[/li][li]I really do intend to spend money on it once i’m gainfully employed, though.[/li][li]sorry about the bullets, but i don’t know how to remove them.
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[quote=Grenem]
[li]sorry about the bullets, but i don’t know how to remove them.
[/li][/quote]
Easy! You just need to edit your post and click the icon at the far right, to the right of the youtube icon and remove any open ended instances of [ li ] (without the spaces) or put a closing [ /li ] before your post.
They could have easily got the balance wrong, and I am thankful for what is on offer to non-paying players (of whom I was one for the first four months, five if you don’t count exceptional friendship). It is very hard to create a game experience that not only entices you to stay without any obligations on your part, but ultimately convinces you that investing to expand that experience is not demanded of you, merely something in the mutual benefit of both the player and the company. And although I confess to not being the one most qualified to speak on the matter (not having played in earnest more than twenty games, on-line or otherwise), it seems to me that the overall design of Fallen London is uniquely suited to creating this effect. There are several reasons, but it is the relationship between player and game that stands out to me more.
The game is set up as a personal quest first and foremost and includes neither team play (in any meaningful sense) nor a unified field where players co-exist and affect each other directly with their actions (as in many on-line strategy games). Although there are restrictions to the social aspects of playing Fallen London, there is relatively little that prevents a player from proceeding entirely alone, and in this the game provides an experience as solitary as that of reading a book. Whatever elements of competition it contains (Knife and Candle, the Tournament of Lilies) are subsidiary to the game and entirely avoidable by anyone who wishes to side-step them; even the multitudes of social actions sprinkled liberally throughout gameplay are not strictly speaking necessary to move forward (especially outside the seasonal festivals), and could but for some thorough re-balancing be omitted. I am not saying they ought to, of course, especially considering the number of enthusiastic role-players that might not otherwise have been attracted to the Neath. Rather, what I find important here is that this game seems to be principally about personal progress and exploration, and that one player’s advancement not only doesn’t come at the expense or on the coat-tails of another’s, but is hard to be materially affected by other players without considerable effort and co-ordination. I guess the balance between the personal and social elements tilts more towards the latter once a player has burnt through most of the story and is left chiefly with advancing one’s character through items and connections (or starting a new character), but that is also, I understand, when many players choose to leave the game.
My point is that the amount of money one decides (or not) to invest in a game is affected by the return one expects on it. In a more competitive game, where victory over other players is an important objective, one may be swept up in the spirit of rivalry and decide to put in money. If it works, great, but if not, the disappointment is bound to be greater. The other side of the coin is that of the non-paying newcomer, who might find frustration in joining a game too heavily skewed towards paying players and leave early. A game must feel reasonably complete and fair on its own, or one may never grow sufficiently fond of it to decide to pay for additional features (barring factors such as instigation by friends).
In a less competitive game you place your faith not so much in other players, of whom you expect neither substantial help nor major impediments in your progress, or in your own ability to win, but in the game itself and the people behind it. And in Fallen London, those creators have already shown you what they are capable of, without blocking your path with intrusive paywalls. This game has a way of pulling you in, providing an immersive experience where it is largely left to you to set the pace, and the Fate-locked doors are discreet, though rewarding. It almost makes you feel guilty for not paying…
I agree with you all. It is much more akin to wandering into your favourite book store, being given an armful of free samples by the friendly staff, meeting up with your friends, and then being so very sorely tempted by all the wonderful things laid out on the shelves.
Other games I have tried are much more like joining up to an ultra competitive sports club, aggressive attitudes, an obsession with always ‘winning’, rampant egotism and that one person (usually the team captain) who is continually sneering at you because of your tatty trainers.
But I know what you mean about the guilt. I want the FB team to get their luxury yachts! :)
@Grenem: Where can you find a burger for a dollar?
I agree, FBG are insidious, they have succeeded in making me pay more for this game than I have spent at one time on a piece of software in years. One so wants to encourage their industry by throwing money at them. And not just money: who would conceive of sending virtual rats to the CEO of EA? Real ones, possibly…
As a side note, on the topic of buying Fate with phone credit:
Being on the poor side of things the majority of the time, I never really have the spare cash to spend on Fate; but after seeing a post here several months ago I found that I was able to use my prepaid phone credit to buy the stuff.
Since I mainly rely on bonus credit+data and if my bonus data runs out I get charged $2/MB (yes, AUD$2 per megabyte - it’s ridiculous!), I figure the money I’ve paid is better off going to somewhere I’d like to spend it rather than a company who’s going to charge me through the nose for loading a single page of Facebook / Tumblr / Google Maps.
So, if you’re in a similar situation as I am with your own mobile phone (a.k.a. cell phone, for the Americans out there), this might be an option. :3
Note: On my Fallen London screen, I’ve gotta use the SuperRewards thing to buy Fate with mobile credit. Not sure if that’s any different for people who aren’t in Australia.
(My apologies if that comes across poorly as it’s not entirely on-topic for this thread - which I very much agree with, btw - but this seemed a useful place to put it, for people in situations similar to my own.) edited by Kittenpox on 12/16/2015
This is a really refreshing thread to read in a section of the game industry (free-to-play online games) that usually engenders a ton of complaints from players about having to pay! FBG are good role models when it comes to ethical business born out of good will.
I’m a little concerned about the gachapon-style “pay fate to get a random prize, some being much more rare+valuable” options that cropped up after the Zee festival and now at Christmas. I know plenty of cash-strapped players won’t bother trying to collect all the rare items, and it’s strictly optional since the items aren’t needed for anything else (so far) but this kind of system does tend to make a LOT of money off of high-paying customers of free-to-play games, to the extent that it’s one of the most common profit-generators in Japanese games (Gashapon - Wikipedia) and is starting to become more popular in the English-speaking game market as well (c.f. Crossy Road). In Japan they’ve even passed a law outlawing the more tantalizing version where you unlock a super-rare item by collecting all the other rare items, also known as Kompu Gacha (Gacha game - Wikipedia). I was very happy to deplete my game budget for the Medecin sans Frontiers fundraiser, and still happy to be playing this Christmas gachapon to help support FBG, but I hope it’s not SO effective that it becomes a regular kind of thing! Gachapons: profitable, seductive, and pretty simplistic gambling gameplay. (I love the urchin story snippets in the current one, but gacha-collectors will see them too many times since the essence of gacha involves having too many duplicates!)
[quote=malthaussen]@Grenem: Where can you find a burger for a dollar?
I agree, FBG are insidious, they have succeeded in making me pay more for this game than I have spent at one time on a piece of software in years. One so wants to encourage their industry by throwing money at them. And not just money: who would conceive of sending virtual rats to the CEO of EA? Real ones, possibly…
– Mal edited by malthaussen on 12/16/2015[/quote]
Mcdonalds, burger king, and wendy’s. Not very good burgers, but hey- they only cost about twice-three times the price of a single homemade sandwhich.
I’ve probably spent $80 to $100 on Fallen London in the past year. This comes with absolutely no regret, and I didn’t feel left out before I bought some!
I really like the business model, and I second your praise!
[quote=Docteur]I’ve probably spent $80 to $100 on Fallen London in the past year. This comes with absolutely no regret, and I didn’t feel left out before I bought some!
I really like the business model, and I second your praise!
Also; $1 burger!?[/quote]
well, plus tax, but yes. not a quality one, though. rubbery lumps, the ones you make on your own from dead-monster carcasses, are of comparable flavor, i’m told.
And yes- though i have a system of spending no more than $1 per week played on any game, period, ever.
I know it’d keep me from doing everything, but it also keeps me safe from breif, this-game-is-awesome bursts that don’t hold steady. So far, fallen london has proven worthwhile, but i don’t really like spending money over the internet. habit from playing FtP MMOs, really, and i’ll break it someday. not today, though. edited by Grenem on 12/16/2015
I’ve been an EF since the launch of the subscription system. At that point, I was actually very upset with the monthly money out arrangement because it meant that sending fate to friends would no longer buy them EF, plus it cut out savings buying Fate in bulk for EF.
I started out on the forums to see what this new subscription thing was about, and probably with full intention to complain, yet What really surprised me at that point was the wonderfully supportive attitude of the forummers. Everyone was - and still is - fully on board with having a more sustainable business model.
Underpinning all this really is, as the good Duke pointed out earlier, well-balanced game mechanics. It doesn’t make you feel like you’re losing out big chunks of the game, and doesn’t make you feel like you should pay money to gain a time advantage over other players.
Since then, I’ve been an EF for most of the time and I also shelled out for a bulk buy of Fate, just for the fun of it. It’s great to be able to spend some here and there without thinking too much about whether it’s too precious to spend.
So adding on to the praises - thank you FBG for making a great game and thank you Forummers for being such a great bunch! edited by navchaa on 12/17/2015
Actually, it is worse than you thought - most of these games are built on the Gacha system, pushing you to pursue time-limited event by paying for time-limited gacha that boost your efficiency in plowing through events. Throw in some anime prettyface and you have slavering people throwing money they don’t have at a chance for characters that are irrelevant in a few weeks. Something like 1.5% success rate is considered charitable for developers, when a go at Gacha cost, what, several USD - and most of these games need you to win the Gacha repeatedly for maximum potential or some such as well, so…
Hear, hear! I think Fallen London is the only online game that I’ve happily and (far too) willingly forked out money for a subscription plus extra Fate in order to unlock new content and questlines. Granted, I’ve only been an EF for a relatively short while - mainly because of the lack of the Paypal subscription system at first after they changed payment providers, I think. But once they had it available, I signed up in a heartbeat. I never regretted that decision :D Once I have a little more Fate I plan to unlock the other EF stories I’ve missed to catch up! Really, other game developers should take note of the excellent business model.
Actually, it is worse than you thought - most of these games are built on the Gacha system, pushing you to pursue time-limited event by paying for time-limited gacha that boost your efficiency in plowing through events. Throw in some anime prettyface and you have slavering people throwing money they don’t have at a chance for characters that are irrelevant in a few weeks. Something like 1.5% success rate is considered charitable for developers, when a go at Gacha cost, what, several USD - and most of these games need you to win the Gacha repeatedly for maximum potential or some such as well, so…[/quote]
Oh, ugh, the Gacha system. It’s right up there with my loathing of lockboxes, which is more or less the same thing. I had no idea that it had gotten so bad, but then I shouldn’t be surprised - the mobile games industry is booming and earning more and more money, and with models like these, I shouldn’t have been so surprised. And t least with lockboxes you don’t need to complete an entire set…
Gacha can be fun! It’s just when you "have" to collect them all that it’s a problem. As long as none of the items are exclusive to the gacha, it’s just a fun little gamble.
And surely the one item that’s only in this gacha will be available somewhere soon (or already is, as a rare success on the new content…) edited by Ian Hart on 12/17/2015
Overall I’m very happy with the implementation of fate in FL, but I do share concerns about fate-locked lucky dip options. For the charity event in September, it seems fair to me to allow gambling for getting rare items early since all the proceeds are going to charity. However having this second such event seems like more of an issue to me. Introducing several shiny new bragging rights items that are not only fate-locked, but only appear occasionally through a time-limited fate option, feels much more micro-transactiony to me than bonus content. Even if the new items are useless, anyone who wants them has to shell out the fate and actions over and over and hope to get lucky. This would be less of a concern to me if there was a way to pay a larger sum of fate for a guaranteed or at least more restricted outcome. I’d be fine with paying a much higher price to know I’d actually get what I want, or at least not just a small amount of generic low-tier items.
well, plus tax, but yes.[/quote]
I’ve heard that about the United States… Prices do not incorporate VAT. Does that mean you have to calculate the tax on every purchase you make? I’m sorry to be straying off topic, but it sounds terribly inconvenient, and not a little misleading (much like those "39.90" prices, a more universal phenomenon).
@Duke of Waltham: yes, and I’m afraid it’s more confusing even than that. Each State and some municipalities have their own tax rates, and their own rules for what is and is not taxed. Fortunately, the vendor computes all that for one, but those 39.99 prices are chimeras. On the positive side, none of our soi-disant “sales taxes” reach the levels of VAT in European countries, on the negative side… well, let’s just say you get what you pay for.
The near-universal method used by digital CCGs is to let you grind up "extras" so that you can buy the specific other ones you want. Of course, in Fallen London that’s already half-implemented, in that any of these items can be sold for Echoes, which can in turn be used to buy some of the other rewards. Hopefully the other "exclusive" content will also be earnable in time.
What do you mean by some of the other rewards? Basically everything I’d consider a “main” reward is one of the couple new items or a Sunless Sea item, none of which can be bought with echoes. A few silk or honey or rats is just a bonus.
