General question about paying to play vs. free servers

[imported_Twelvebagger]

I am of the belief that games with free servers tend to attract more of the younger crowd due to there not being a fee to play. Consequently, I believe that these games tend to attract immaturity and often times, dishonesty and rudeness, simply due to testosterone and youth.

I'd like to hear everone elses opinions. If you disagree, I'd like to hear why.

Odd topic I know, but I want to see if I'm really off on this opinion.

thanks!
-12-

P.S. (I'm re-installing horizons).

[Vizharan]

I tend to agree. Though it does depend on where you come from. Playing Diablo II on the US servers(all servers are free), you did get a lot of the testosterone and youth you speak of. Playing on the EU server, it was very rare. It happend, but it was rare. IMO it has more to do with where people come from than age(but not a lot more).

[imported_Twelvebagger]

You mean the EU servers for Diablo were actually not all that bad? Wow. I'm playing in USEast and it's crazy.

[Vizharan]

You mean the EU servers for Diablo were actually not all that bad? Wow. I'm playing in USEast and it's crazy.

Actually, they're fairly nice. I met some of the nicest people I've ever met online there. Scandenavians mostly. That was three years ago...still talk to 2 of them to this day [:D]

I'm suprized people still play that game though.... I gave it 3 and a half years of my time, and finally gave it quits. Although I did play Eastern Sun for a while too.... Best D2 mod ever = )

[Romirez]

i agree with the second post. pay-to-play gets the mature older players into the game, and the free games tend to get the younger players, the idiots and morons we see online. that is one of the reasons i love Horizons, is the mature players.

[Illi]

Kumu has the right idea. And you get more mature players with a pay game....generally. Though it can vary based on the type of content they include. Horizons is a PvE game solely, which is one of the reasons that the playerbase consists of more mature players than say WoW does. WoW includes PvP, and even though it wasn't asked for in comparision, it goes without saying because WoW IS a pay to play game. It just includes an element that attracts less mature players, as a WHOLE. Same thing with UO, pay to play, but includes that same element.

[imported_Frith-Rae]

In addition to all this..

Through repeated, and well-known, psychological experimentation its human nature to value something more if you pay for it - even if its only 5 bucks or something.

The idea is that you are more likely to convince yourself you like something if you have to spend some amount of money on it (the more you spend btw, the more you will convince yourself you like it, or that its better, and stick around...) vs. if it is totally free you won't convince yourself of the value of something once it gives you some crap to deal with :).

Its easier to walk away from the free gift and feel ok about it, than it is to walk away from something you've spent money on and feel ok about it.

Humans drive to remain "ego-syntonic" (doing something you feel ok about doing) will push them to"convince" themselves (if needful) as to why spending that money was or is still, a "good idea"

It seems counterintuitive - as many people believe that "well its a free game so I won't gripe so much about what I'm not getting" and in fact it works the opposite. You're more likely perhaps not to gripe, but far more likely to walk away from that free game without much concern about it - whereas you're more likely to "stick it out" through bugs/difficulties with that game you pay for.

Thus the free games, as all online games wracked with bugs/difficulties/people not happy, would have a higher turnover rate. And hence why Betas have peole who play for a day or two and get fed up and quit and talk about how horrible it is (whereas if they had paid 10 bucks they would have kept playing and convinced themselves it was still fun ;)).

Its why even non-profit mental health facitlies and places where their fee is scaled to a person's income, still will charge five bucks for an hour long therapy session as opposed to free. Because the five bucks will place SOME value on that therapy session and that therapist's time, whereas doing it for free makes it seem valueless and not as motivating.

Psych Theory 101 - Dr. Frith :)

[Barnaby Gump]

I have seen the same type of agressive/rude players in play-to-pay games such as Asheron's Call where PvP is offered. It was especially dominant on the PvP only servers more so than on the PvP optional servers.