Are Unlimited Free Trials the ‘Third Way?’

Once upon a time it was taken for granted that the high maintenance and development costs associated with MMORPGs could only be recouped by the monthly subscription model. Early entries into the genre all had a similar pricing model starting somewhere near $10/month and eventually moving up to the current $14.99/month we see in games like World of Warcraft.

Eventually, older MMORPGs started offering free trials to attract gamers. These trials lasted anywhere from 7 to 14 days and usually came with a few restrictions since gold spammers and other unsavory types starting exploiting them. While the extent of these restrictions varied, almost every major MMORPG offered a limited free trial.

Soon, a new payment model was conceived and it rocked the MMORPG genre. It was in Asia that the free to play MMO model was born. Gamers in Korea and China usually played at net cafes and couldn’t afford the steep monthly fees that Americans had grown accustomed to. Developers saw an opportunity and dozens of free games supported by optional micropayments flourished. These games were often of lower quality than their Western counterparts but at a much lower price point, proved to be more than competitive. Some of the earliest f2p online games that made it across the ocean to the Western market were MapleStory and GunZ: The Duel. These games were followed by hundreds of others and even big name Western publishers started experimenting with the business model, for example EA released Battlefield Heroes and BattleForge in 2009.

The assault of free to play Asian MMORPG had the largest effect on Western subscription based games that were already faltering. A free trial just wasn’t enough anymore. As a response to this threat, the Unlimited Free Trial was born. As the name suggests, this free trial model has no time limit but still places restrictions on players as before. Most gamers were introduced to the unlimited free trial when Mythic’s troubled Warhammer Online decided to adopt it on November 9, 2009. Players could now stop worrying about a deadline and instead enjoy all the game had to offer until level 10. After hitting this cap, they could continue to play and participate in the game’s much discussed RvR combat. Other companies like Funcom are using this new innovation to show off their newly improved products. Age of Conan hit the market with a lot of hype but little in the way of substance. Many gamers were turned off after their initial reaction but may be persuaded to give the newly improved title a second look now that it has an unlimited free trial.

Other MMORPGs that have experimented with this model include the third person shooter CrimeCraft and Sony’s odd trading card/ minature game PoxNora. The Unlimited Free Trial may be a new concept for most mainstream MMORPGs but Disney has been using a similar model for years. So called ‘Freemium’ games generally fit the same criteria. Disney’s client based MMORPGs including Toontown Online and Pirates of the Caribbean Online are free to play for as long as players desire but most features remain beyond reach until players pony up the subscription fee. Disney’s browser based titles use the same tiered system. Club Penguin and Pixie Hollow allow free play but demand recurring fees for premium access.

As a game reviewer for a site dedicated to Free MMORPGs, it’s becoming more and more difficult to categorize games today. Where shall we gamers draw the line between ‘free to play’ and ‘free trial’? Anarchy Online allows trial players to play for as long as they want and reach high levels but Dofus restricts players to a small area and places a low level cap. No trouble making a judgment call there. But what about Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds which has a much higher level cap for trial players?

To make matters worse, many traditional free to play MMORPGs require almost continued cash shop purchases at high levels to remain anywhere near competitive. As a general rule, it’s always a plus when game content moves from pay-to-play to free-to-play so let’s take our victories where we can. Rather than trying to categorize these ‘freemium’ or ‘unlimited free trial’ games into already existing models, I believe they constitute a their own unique category, or a Third Way. In the future we should ask whether an upcoming MMO is f2p, p2p, or fremium. Perhaps someone more creative than I can come up with a fancier term for this model. I look forward to hearing your suggestions!

By, Erhan Altay