Age of Conan Should Go Free to Play
Age of Conan originally launched in May 2008 and boasted a whopping 700,000 subscribers. Each of those subscribers were paying a cool $14.99/mo to play the game, which meant Funcom was making boatloads of money. Let’s fast forward to January 2009. The game’s once impressive 700,000 subscribers dwindled down to “Below 100,000″. 49 worldwide servers became 18. The game’s director Gaute Godager quit because he was “Dissatisfied with the game”.
Age of Conan Screenshot
Today, (March 12, 2010), Age of Conan’s numbers look a little bit less bleak. Estimates peg the game’s total subscribers at around 150,000, which is certainly an improvement over the January 2009 numbers, but still a tiny fraction of what the game “used to be” back when it originally launched. So what’s the best way to reinvigorate Age of Conan? Simple. Drop the subscription fee.
Age of Conan is a gorgeous ‘deep’ game, but there’s no way it’s going to be able to compete with World of Warcraft or even Warhammer Online. Warhammer Online actually has quite a bit of its own problems, but the point I’m trying to make is that with so many other pay to play quality fantasy MMORPGs out there (WoW, Aion, and WAR), which makes it extremely difficult for Age of Conan to compete. Games like City of Heroes and Eve Online are still around because they appeal to a niche audience and have less competitors. So by dropping its subscription fee, Age of Conan can appeal to a much larger audience. I’m sure there are a lot of people that would play Age of Conan if it were free.
World of Warcraft Screenshot
A pay to play MMORPG dropping its subscription fee isn’t exactly a new concept. In fact, numerous games have enjoyed enormous success after going free to play. One such example is Dungeons and Dragons Online. Since dropping its subscription fee, the game’s SUBSCRIPTION revenue has actually increased 40%. That means, 40% more people are VOLUNTARILY subscribing to the game for added benefits than people that HAD to subscribe to play the game back when it was pay to play. In an interview with Ars Technica Fernando Patitz, the game’s executive producer said, “We’re hitting and exceeding our internal targets, so far we’ve very happy.” “All aspects of our business are growing.” “Hundreds of thousands of new players in the world are playing for free, with a very high percentage using the store.” Aside from Dungeons and Dragons Online, once pay to play games like Ragnarok Online, Archlord, The Chronicles of Spellborn and RF Online are all free to play today.
Dungeons and Dragons Online Screenshot
What do you guys think? Should Age of Conan go free to play? If it did, would you play it? Personally, I’d give it a try.
By, Mike K.
March 12, 2010
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I’d play it in a microsecond if it went free to play. Games like DDO are proof that pay to play games that start failing can get new life once they drop the monthly fees, and let people pay only if they want to.
March 12, 2010
#1
i think it must go free to play to survive in the mmo market. if they don’t do, they will have in a few months only a couple of players, but i would give it a try.
March 12, 2010
#2
I agree 100%, I was one of the original players of the game and quit because paying the fee for the amount of balance issues and bugs that still weren’t being worked out as quickly as they should have been wasn’t worth it. If the game went free to play I would definitely log back on and try it out to see if the issues that once plagued the game are fixed now.
March 12, 2010
#3
i would just love if age of conan went free
March 13, 2010
#4
It should and your right it will get a new life if it does go f2p and i think it will get more than its record 700,000 players.
March 13, 2010
#5
I have the “unlimited free trial” which they gave out last december and i’ve got to say that i only played it one day. I’m not saying it’s a bad game but it just doesn’t have the addictive element included. The gameplay is actually pretty good
March 13, 2010
#6
Yup, microsecond. At first everybody raved about this game. Then I heard about bugs and glitches and how the game sucks now.
March 13, 2010
#7
I would so play Age of Conan if it were free to play >_>.
March 13, 2010
#8
i think EVERY mmo should go free to play…i dont mind paying for the actual game and expansions and what-not but then throwing a monthly fee on top of that has always seemed a bit ridiculous to me…i dont have to pay a fee to blow peoples heads off in games like halo or mw2…why should i have to pay to level grind? maybe a once a year fee of like 50 dollars would be more tolerable but 15 a month? inexcusable.
March 13, 2010
#9
I disagree, the game is fine as a P2P game, it boasts high system requirements anyways, so a lot of F2P players would be cut out of playing it because a good amount of them don’t have a great rig. By going F2P it also causes bots and gold spammers to flood it. And lastly, it’s a mature game, despite the only mature thing about it being the violence and topless women(which isn’t bad imo), a lot of F2P players aren’t going to be able to play it because a good portion of F2P players are teens or preteens who have parents looking over their shoulder.
Basically, it isn’t suited for the F2P market as much as games like RO, DDO and TCoS are.
March 19, 2010
#10
I wouldnt actually use a the 40% increase for DDO as a reason to go F2P.. They went F2P in the first place because the game had very little players and 40% of almost nothing is still almost nothing.
I also doubt AoC has 150k players.. If I had to guess I would say 70-90k.. about the same as WAR.
March 19, 2010
#11
i would defintley play i played once with the trial period it was very fun but the price is too high
March 22, 2010
#12
I would love to give Conan a try : f2p with an option to buy seems the most sensible way for them to survive/grow.
April 3, 2010
#13
Nothing is free in life and a MMO which is a game under constance development will NEVER be Free to Player. The devs need payment, servers aren’t running on magic you know
I prefer paying up front, and not pay micro transaction for content or getting hammered by ads every 2 seconds.
There is no future for AoC in F2P.
April 4, 2010
#14
Whoever wrote that post is an idiot……together with all those who agree on F2P
All good MMOs DIE when they become F2P, and AoC despite its problems is still the best MMO to date.
April 4, 2010
#15
This moment is imo far too early for AoC te become f2p.
Many improvements have been made, there is an expansion coming up as well as the release in Korea.
Mind you that to make a good living on an MMO one doesn’t need millions or hunderds of thousands of members.
May 31, 2010
#16
I would play AoC with out a doubt if it were free , I played it a little bit when it was new , and I have to say that I kinda liked it , one of those games that you acually needed some skills , and I loved the way that you fight in the game , kinda reminds me of Teken
- sry for my bad english
June 24, 2010
#17
I would try conan if it was for free… there is just no way that I would pay to play any online game…
August 14, 2010
#18
After playing WoW for more than 2 years i need a break…this is deff a more flashy game which is great but sstill lacks the feel of a game like WoW…i think that if the monthly fee were less more ppl would give it a try…lets say 9.99 a month.
You cant be tooo greedy in this market and that were Funcom is messing up…let ppl really experience it, since there are so many mixed reviews…down the road then u can up the price.
September 27, 2010
#19
Age of Conan almost died..alrdy many good guilds/players quits..only few RP/PvE cakeheads still there..only solution to aoc to survive is to going F2P..otherwise bye bye funcom
October 11, 2010
#20
I’ve said for 2 years that if AoC went F2P I’d play it, absolutely. My situation, like many other peoples, is such that I can’t spend more than an evening or two a week playing an MMO. Pay to play games are therefore a big waste of money for me, however games that are F2P like DDO, I play and have spent money on because I know I can just pick it up whenever I want and not feel like I’m paying $15/month for 10-15 hours of use a month. Go Free to play, AoC!! I’ll buy the nice items and premium classes!
February 8, 2011
#21
this game should be played for free cant play it coz where im at i cant get internet service and not much to do when bills are do and not able to log in coz i didnt make the monthly payment it bites totally
February 12, 2011
#22
I loved the game and was happy to pay yearly. That was until I removed (deleted) my credit card details so I could change my payment method. Guess what … deleted cc details aren’t deleted and they charged me anyway. Funcom told me to piss off when I complained. That is why it should be free to pay because no one should risk giving these crooks your credit card details!!!!
May 7, 2011
#23
I would play it, if it would go FREE TO PLAY!
I played the trial version of it and i loved the game!
May 16, 2011
#24
hell to the yeah if age of conan were to go free to play it would make me just about the happiest gamer in the state of ohio=D so i say they should give free to play a shot i dont seewhy not thier playerbase will most likley end up dropping when theyer pay to play players get bored
August 9, 2011
#25