Freemium: Difference between revisions

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

Unlike games that use [[Microtransactions]], Freemium games have a binary distinction between those who pay and those who do not: you're either Free, or you're Premium. This tends to limit the [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]] effect--ifeffect—if you can only pay a fixed amount, you can't out-pay the other people who are paying. That's not to say that the two payment methods can't be combined--therecombined—there are plenty of Freemium games that also feature [[Microtransactions]].

{{See also: [[|Allegedly Free Game]]}}

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Online]]'' was one of the first [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]]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 [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]]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—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''.

* [[Deviant ART]] removes ads for paying members. Successful artists may have premium memberships gifted to them -- forthem—for instance, a fan or friend pays for theirs.