What's with all the free games?

[broberfett]

I've been noticing all these free online games like D&D Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and now Might and Magic online. What's the catch? I checked out the Might and Magic page and didn't see a shitload of advertisements. How are they making money? I've played the D&D one. Are they selling your registration info for spamming or directed advertising?
http://mightandmagicheroeskingdoms.ubi.com/en/

 

[Canadave]

They make their money when people realize that they going to be permanently stuck in a lower tier of players if they don't buy upgrades for their characters. Game companies are starting to really love micropayments.

 

[broberfett]

I played the Might and Magic one for free. I played the training mission which lasts for a couple hours. You set a task and you have to wait for it to get done. Imagine that you are playing a game that requires your microwave oven. You need a sandwich-set the timer for 3 minutes. You wait the 3 minutes to really do anything.

Slowest. Game. Ever.

I just started the main game and it is even slower. I want to build a marketplace. It won't be done for a couple hours. So the game seems to be for people that want to drop in every few hours to make a move. I have to wait till 7:30AM before my market is done. I launched an attack. It won't be finished until 8:30AM. I launched it at 5:15 AM.

Did I mention that there is no sound? The game is based on Heroes V, which allows zoomed in tactical combat. This does not, so it is disappointing to me. I just tell my hero to attack and hours later I can find out if he won.

 

[broberfett]

I just found out that you can't move at night in the game. That's why my troops are taking hours for their assault. I'll see how the game plays in a few hours when things are at normal speed, but I think I might get wiped out if I don't monitor my guys during the day. I'm not sure how much of the game requires complete attention.

 

[emacs]

the business model of these games is similar to the shareware model that started back in the 1980s. allow people to try out a game to judge it's usefulness / fun before purchasing a license / extras for a more comprehensive experience.

 

[Rincewiend]

the business model of these games is similar to the shareware model that started back in the 1980s. allow people to try out a game to judge it's usefulness / fun before purchasing a license / extras for a more comprehensive experience.

Some are, others just sell you stuff you can get ingame but it's quicker...

Good site with loads of free2play MMOs:
http://www.onrpg.com/

Some companies also host multiple games, so you only have to register once to play/try multiple games...

http://www.gamersfirst.com/index.php

http://www.outspark.com/

http://www.aeriagames.com/

http://www.runesofmagic.com/en/index.html

http://www.anarchy-online.com/

 

[donners22]

FIFA Online is free too, and it's actually quite good. Not sure if it will move into a pay model once it gets out of beta though.