Freemium: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Games that run on a '''Freemium''' model will have two modes:

 

{{examples}}

* Stephen Colbert jokingly offers "Colbert Platinum" segments for ''[[The Colbert Report]]'''s very rich viewers, instructing everyone else to look away until it's over.

{{quote|"Remember folks, this segment is for Platinum viewers only! So if your next trip has an in-flight ''movie'' instead of an in-flight ''safari'', why don't you run along and count how many frequent flyer miles you need to upgrade to an aisle seat? ''[[Beat]]'' Are they gone? Good."}}

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Sryth]]'' has a lot of content available for free. Buying a subscription (9.95 USD for 3 months, or 19.95 USD for 1 whole year) grants access to even more content: The ability to log in regardless of server load, no ads, more character slots (4 instead of 2), more adventures, more events, more locations to visit, a way to learn all skills and powers instead of just some of them, Grand Residences, Multiplayer scenarios… See [http://www.sryth.com/ci.php?f_c=members_ag_fb.inc this page] for an incomplete list of the things subscribers get.

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Online]]'' was one of the first [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]]s to essentially combine [[Allegedly Free Game]] and Freemium, into three distinct payment models: Free to Play, Premium, and VIP. The first, which is like many [[Allegedly Free Game]]'s and requires earning or buying points to unlock content - using [[Microtransactions]]. In this model, the player technically plays for free, but continuing to play the game this way requires a lot of grinding, and dealing with multiple limitations [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|(which can mostly be bypassed through the store)]] in order to progress past the first 8 to 12 levels. The second two are more along the lines of Freemium, with the only exception being that the Premium level requires some form of payment - whether that be purchasing an access to a pack of dungeon's, subscribing for a month, or even buying any amount of points. This mode removes a lot of the more draconian limitations placed on free players, but still requires purchasing [[Downloadable Content|quest packs]] with points. Finally, the old tried-and-true subscription model works exactly how it does in most other [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]]s. Namely, unlimited access to content, save for some of the newly introduced races and classes. Subscribers also get a 500 point allowance per month to spend in the store [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|for various convenience items]].

* ''[[ARMA: Armed Assault|ARMA]] 2: Free'' is a free-to-play counterpart to ''ARMA 2'' released two years after the retail game, advertised as free of microtransactions and allowing Free players to play alongside or against players who'd bought the game. Unlike ''ARMA 2'' however, the free version does not include the official campaigns, has toned-down graphics quality compared to the paid versions, and does not support the use of [[Game Mod|addons]]—so no custom guns, vehicles, characters, etc. As a result, they can only play on ARMA 2: Free servers or on ARMA 2 servers that are not running custom player-made addons, unless they were to buy ''ARMA 2'' or ''Operation Arrowhead''.

* ''[[Video Game/Draw Something|Draw Something]]'' has a free version with ads and a pay version ($.99) without ads.

* ''[[Serious Sam]] HD: The Second Encounter'' has gone this route - competitive multiplayer is now free to play, with the actual singleplayer/co-op game available as the "Campaign DLC".

* In addition to items and experience boosts obtained by spending Gold, bought with real money, any ''[[Starsiege: Tribes|Tribes: Ascend]]'' player who has ever spent any amount of money on the game gets VIP status which grants a permanent 50% EXP bonus; this stacks multiplicatively with the bought experience booster packs. VIP will also grant you access to premium servers available only to paying players, [[Perpetual Beta|if they ever come online that is]].

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* [[Parodied]] by ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'' in [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/5/11/ this strip].

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* The [[Day Nine]] Daily, a web show for ''[[StarCraft II]]'', has an "optional subscribers" program where for $5 a month viewers get to play games with Day[9] himself, among other little bonuses.

 

* The web radio service [http://www.pandora.com Pandora] is free to use, but upgrading to [http://www.pandora.com/pandora_one?ref=subscribeLink Pandora One] provides such perks as unlimited listening time, pause/rewind/skip options, no ads, and such.

* [http://www.hulu.com Hulu] offers free video streaming for popular TV shows and movies. Signing up for "Hulu Plus" expands the available video library significantly, as well as letting you watch (some) streams on a Playstation 3.