Sc2 as free to play, MT and stream revenue?

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/22/ubisoft-pc-has-piracy-rate-of-93-95-f2p-the-future pls ignore if dont like their only similarity to blizz is making games i guess edit.

Would a free to play sc2 with micro transactions and premium stream be a better source for revenue and help the community in blizzards and everybody elses POV?

Obviously we have seen the collectors edition thor with different stuff and now with arcade there a lot of cool mini games that appeal to casual players.

Would something like the game would look same in player As perspective, same unit models, but player B can buy new models and it will be shown only for player B, and not be distracting.

EDIT: What i mean by different unit models is something similar to the current collectors edition thor. As a competitor I feel for higher level you should be able to enable so that units look the same but if you want to look fancy you turn something like that one so that all your units could have different or fancier models.

Maybe easy modes such as no rush and a new league system where you would get an level and ur mmr would be completely hidden so it seems that you are always getting more levels as you play more. For people like me just make a real elo ladder or something. I feel at this point it is necessary to separate the casuals and the amateur/pro. In the end it is mostly the casuals who watch this game.

2nd EDIT: The reason why I bring this up is simply cauz Im worried that the potential amount of player actually playing the game is decreasing because it is not that fun for ppl who are not competing hard core, so a level mode where mmr is totally hidden would be good and also this means the potential amount of people who blizzard will milk and ppl like me will pay is becoming slower hence it is maybe good to look for alternative business models. Lets see how Hots will sell?

I personally pay for quite a lot of premium streams, like GSL first and foremost and other 5euro/dollar tournaments that suit my timezone.

Discuss

Last edit: 2012-08-23 03:03:11

Facultyadjutant Sweden. August 22 2012 23:49. Posts 1159

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Thanks to TF2 f2p the: but I payed for it at first is not necessary in this theoretic discussion and wouldn´t contribute, so please don´t clog this up.

Last edit: 2012-08-22 23:49:30

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Duval Belgium. August 22 2012 23:49. Posts 125

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Anything related to the 'real' game must be available for everyone at the same price imo.

Arcade might be a nice way of recieving revenue, but I doubt it'd be enough for blizzard to be worth it...

tranmillitary August 22 2012 23:50. Posts 210

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starcraft is different because you need a unique key to playonline which the game is. You can pirate the game and play the single player, but who does that in starcraft anyways??

if people are too cheap to buy the game, they are probably to cheap to buy any micro transactions or premium streams as well.

Aterons_toss Romania. August 22 2012 23:51. Posts 1227

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And Ubisofts once again proves they are total morons and aren't aware of the facts that torrent trackers have "stats".

A good strategy means leaving your opponent room to make mistakes

Fuddudle United Kingdom. August 22 2012 23:53. Posts 21

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my opinion is that free to play is the future of PC Gaming. As most developers realise that the market is generally too small to generate substantial and most importantly continued revenue through sales alone of the game, they will look to profit models that involve micro transactions. The free to play model removes the opportunity cost and will allow alot more penetration into otherwise stagnant player bases. Hell, the only reason I played LoL and many others was that it was free. If starcraft were to be free, then trying it would be like a 'nothing to lose' situation and we'd probably have a much larger base of players than we currently do.

Cramsy Australia. August 22 2012 23:54. Posts 1059

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On August 22 2012 23:50 tranmillitary wrote:
starcraft is different because you need a unique key to playonline which the game is. You can pirate the game and play the single player, but who does that in starcraft anyways??

if people are too cheap to buy the game, they are probably to cheap to buy any micro transactions or premium streams as well.

LoL and Tf2 both work fine as free to play multiplayer. Why not just release the multiplayer as free to play and leave the single player stuff for those who want to pay for it? Add in flares, custom unit skins and some other crap and micro transactions could work (on paper)

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NoobStyles Australia. August 22 2012 23:55. Posts 257

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rolf "93-95% piracy", Id love to know what the piracy rate on valve games is, my guess is much lower. I dont say blizzard only because valve, IMO make more single player focused games, which are inheriently more piratable.

kldfg Germany. August 22 2012 23:56. Posts 51

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What would anyone pay for? Streams are not run by Blizzard, and the multiplayer game (which is really what SC2 is all about) doesn't have anything you can pay for.

Unless you could pay for having stimpack and combat shields available at the beginning of every game.... just kidding, of course.

So, f2p != e-sport.

(I realize LoL is an e-sport, but I assume you can't buy advantages for the tourneys).

No Quote.

Desti August 22 2012 23:57. Posts 134

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This numbers are pure phantasy. If there would be 95% real piracy (someone who downloads it and deletes it after 5 minutes because of no demo version available is obviously not a pirate), there would be more players in multiplayer than the number of sold games.

AeonStrife United States. August 22 2012 23:57. Posts 915

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One of the main reasons why there is no LAN. Blizzard fears piracy and probably worse. I have no problem paying for SC2 for a price up front. I don't want none of that pay for dlc/micro transaction crap around sc2.

Whats worse...US Poltics or SC2 Balance Talks...

Archerofaiur United States. August 23 2012 00:00. Posts 4057

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http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/3250656

http://sclegacy.com/news/28-scl/250-starcraftlegacy-macro-theorycrafting-contest-winners

INTENZ-_- Sweden. August 23 2012 00:01. Posts 116

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Highly doubt it, it works for MOBA games with the skins and whatnot but for an RTS like SC2? No. And I doubt the revenue from Arcade games would be sufficient to do this. I believe MOBA games should be f2p (DotA2 is gonna skyrocket in numbers when it's released). But for me I think RTS should not have an in game store to upgrade the skin of your tanks or your zealots for example. It's gonna ruin the whole feeling, for me at least.

FlukyS Ireland. August 23 2012 00:01. Posts 440

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I don't really know if SC2 is able to be f2p like what would they offer users to buy in a f2p scenario? And SC2 has a piracy rate of 0% because it uses a login system so you need to buy it to play it. Like I can see offering skins, portraits and arcade games as ways to make f2p work but would it make as much money as SC2 makes currently probably not. Skins sound awesome though.

tranmillitary August 23 2012 00:02. Posts 210

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On August 22 2012 23:54 Cramsy wrote:

Show nested quote +

LoL is not SC 2. totally different game. That's like comparing LoL to WoW.

If SC 2 multiplayer was free, no one would pay anything for SC 2 because it's a multiplayer game first. Most good players play on low to medium settings anyways and don't care bout skins and stuff.

Gnarg Netherlands. August 23 2012 00:03. Posts 153

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I think free to play is for a large part the future, and I fear it. I dont mind games like DotA2 where you can buy skins etc., and I think that is an excellent model. I hate xp structures of other games though, where you can buy power for money (or take ages to grind it), and I'm afraid the industry will move more and more in this direction, cause these games seem so succesful.

I dont think it makes sense for every game though, for huge releases like SC2 most people will buy it anyway. For me it seems like an excellent way for less hyped titles to get the attention they deserve.

Last edit: 2012-08-23 00:05:20

Huitzi United States. August 23 2012 00:04. Posts 32

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I really wish it was F2P, that way the game would be more accessible to people who otherwise could not afford it. Also, it would would be great to spectate matches like in Dota 2, within the client itself. And SC2 should do micro transactions of skins, sounds, etc. On the business perspective, I don't know how viable that would be within the RTS genre.

TheRealPaciFist United States. August 23 2012 00:08. Posts 890

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On August 22 2012 23:50 tranmillitary wrote:
if people are too cheap to buy the game, they are probably to cheap to buy any micro transactions or premium streams as well.

You should see the kinda money some people pour into LoL.

I think Blizzard missed a huge opportunity in not making SC2 f2p, but I think they've probably already missed the boat (unless they can figure out how to make non-gameplay additions that people will buy and continue to buy, and they can lower the price point of multiplayer without pissing off people who paid sixty bucks for it, and honestly we don't even have resume-from-replay yet, I don't think they're up to a change as massive as an attempt at f2p) which makes this discussion kinda useless =/

Second favorite strategy game of all time: Starcraft. First: Go (aka Wei Qi, Paduk, or Igo)

Imzoo August 23 2012 00:08. Posts 132

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I will never pay to play.

Aterons_toss Romania. August 23 2012 00:09. Posts 1227

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2 x posted instead of edit -_-

Last edit: 2012-08-23 00:10:12

A good strategy means leaving your opponent room to make mistakes