Free games = Free to play

WonderGamer · 05-02-2012, 08:52 AM

Call me crazy, but I'd like to see the few free games that Steam has listed under the Free to play genre that so that they're easier to find. Most people don't even know they're there because they don't know where to look. I personally already have Alien Swarm downloaded, but there's at least one other that I've seen since I started using Steam, although I can't remember the name of it (the trailer/screenshots for the game didn't really make me want to bother with it). If there are any others, I am unaware of them. I wouldn't have even know of Alien Swarm if my friends didn't tell me about it once I started using Steam. If more people knew there were more free games out there, we might get more people playing them.

GusTheCrocodile · 05-02-2012, 05:35 PM

Agreed. I've got no problem with free-to-play games, but if that's what they're going to call themselves, they should be prepared to sit beside games like Alien Swarm that are also free to play.

weegie · 05-02-2012, 10:59 PM

There is a logistical difference between free and free-to-play. Free means it's 100% free, and you never have to put a single penny to it under any circumstances. Free-to-play means that the base game is free, and you also don't have to pay anything if you don't want to but there are options to buy new content to enhance/expand the game i.e. DCUO with its expansion packs. Having Free games under the Free-to-play option may sound like sense, but it's actually not.

GusTheCrocodile · 05-02-2012, 11:34 PM

Mhm, because we couldn't possibly put two things under the same category if they aren't identical in every way. What, do you think people going to find Alien Swarm, play it for free, and then go "Oh no! I really wanted to spend some money on this but I can't!". Do you think people are going to be disappointed by that? It's an absurd concern.

Yes, the term "free to play" has acquired a certain meaning, but that meaning doesn't have to be exclusive of other meanings. The words "free to play" mean that you can play the thing for free. That's as true of Alien Swarm as it is of Spiral Knights.

weegie · 05-03-2012, 12:34 AM

@Gus take it up with the Game developers, not me. I merely pointed out the established meaning of the phrase 'Free to play' which is different to 'Free'

GusTheCrocodile · 05-03-2012, 01:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by weegie

@Gus take it up with the Game developers, not me. I merely pointed out the established meaning of the phrase 'Free to play' which is different to 'Free'

No, you didn't merely do that. You also said that it doesn't make sense to put games that are free to play in the free to play games category. Which is ridiculous. It's a perfectly logical place to put them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by leveller

F2P is going to become much bigger and warrant its own genre so adding truly free games might add confusion for newer gamers

How? Like I asked before, what possible confusion can people have? They can play a game all the way through, and what, be disappointed that they didn't get to spend any money? Is that a problem somehow?

There is zero harm to be done here.

leveller · 05-03-2012, 12:43 AM

There was a thread like this from a couple of years back, although it was asking for a genre to be added called "Free" or similar. This was before F2P arrived on Steam.

F2P is going to become much bigger and warrant its own genre so adding truly free games might add confusion for newer gamers. Seeing as the truly free games are ... free, why not add a system message for all new Steam subscribers to be able to add all truly free games to their games library immediately? Giving them a confirmation button and explaining to them they may manually remove them later if they need to.

Also a system message to all current users saying the same.

One thing just occurred to me - truly free games are lost for all eternity in the Steam store because they will never be featured in holiday sales, daily deals, weekly deals etc. They will never be featured for any reason. Gamers will only ever find them if they are specifically looking for that particular game.

WonderGamer · 05-03-2012, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leveller

There was a thread like this from a couple of years back, although it was asking for a genre to be added called "Free" or similar. This was before F2P arrived on Steam.

F2P is going to become much bigger and warrant its own genre so adding truly free games might add confusion for newer gamers. Seeing as the truly free games are ... free, why not add a system message for all new Steam subscribers to be able to add all truly free games to their games library immediately? Giving them a confirmation button and explaining to them they may manually remove them later if they need to.

That would actually make sense, but Steam doesn't have a Free section yet (other than the F2P genre). And I like the suggestion of auto-adding them to your Library where they can be downloaded if & when the user decides they want to play them (this is done with betas & other games on free-play weekends anyways).

@weegie,
If there were a Free genre, I wouldn't be worried about where the games were listed. I'm just concerned about the fact that new games get put out, then lost forever because you never hear about them again (as leveller has already stated). Even an option to search for free games would be acceptable, but there is currently not even a way to do that.

weegie · 05-03-2012, 09:43 AM

@gus It's not a perfectly logical place to put them, but I'm not going to argue with you. Difference of opinion, just leave it at that.

05-02-2012, 08:52 AM	#1
WonderGamer Join Date: Jan 2011 Reputation: 15 Posts: 127	Free games = Free to play Call me crazy, but I'd like to see the few free games that Steam has listed under the Free to play genre that so that they're easier to find. Most people don't even know they're there because they don't know where to look. I personally already have Alien Swarm downloaded, but there's at least one other that I've seen since I started using Steam, although I can't remember the name of it (the trailer/screenshots for the game didn't really make me want to bother with it). If there are any others, I am unaware of them. I wouldn't have even know of Alien Swarm if my friends didn't tell me about it once I started using Steam. If more people knew there were more free games out there, we might get more people playing them.

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05-02-2012, 05:35 PM	#2
GusTheCrocodile Join Date: Dec 2009 Reputation: 280 Posts: 504	Agreed. I've got no problem with free-to-play games, but if that's what they're going to call themselves, they should be prepared to sit beside games like Alien Swarm that are also free to play.

05-02-2012, 10:59 PM	#3
weegie Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 223 Posts: 304	There is a logistical difference between free and free-to-play. Free means it's 100% free, and you never have to put a single penny to it under any circumstances. Free-to-play means that the base game is free, and you also don't have to pay anything if you don't want to but there are options to buy new content to enhance/expand the game i.e. DCUO with its expansion packs. Having Free games under the Free-to-play option may sound like sense, but it's actually not.

05-02-2012, 11:34 PM	#4
GusTheCrocodile Join Date: Dec 2009 Reputation: 280 Posts: 504	Mhm, because we couldn't possibly put two things under the same category if they aren't identical in every way. What, do you think people going to find Alien Swarm, play it for free, and then go "Oh no! I really wanted to spend some money on this but I can't!". Do you think people are going to be disappointed by that? It's an absurd concern. Yes, the term "free to play" has acquired a certain meaning, but that meaning doesn't have to be exclusive of other meanings. The words "free to play" mean that you can play the thing for free. That's as true of Alien Swarm as it is of Spiral Knights.

05-03-2012, 12:34 AM	#5
weegie Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 223 Posts: 304	@Gus take it up with the Game developers, not me. I merely pointed out the established meaning of the phrase 'Free to play' which is different to 'Free'

05-03-2012, 12:43 AM	#7
leveller Join Date: Dec 2009 Reputation: 421 Posts: 1,811	There was a thread like this from a couple of years back, although it was asking for a genre to be added called "Free" or similar. This was before F2P arrived on Steam. F2P is going to become much bigger and warrant its own genre so adding truly free games might add confusion for newer gamers. Seeing as the truly free games are ... free, why not add a system message for all new Steam subscribers to be able to add all truly free games to their games library immediately? Giving them a confirmation button and explaining to them they may manually remove them later if they need to. Also a system message to all current users saying the same. One thing just occurred to me - truly free games are lost for all eternity in the Steam store because they will never be featured in holiday sales, daily deals, weekly deals etc. They will never be featured for any reason. Gamers will only ever find them if they are specifically looking for that particular game.

05-03-2012, 09:43 AM	#9
weegie Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 223 Posts: 304	@gus It's not a perfectly logical place to put them, but I'm not going to argue with you. Difference of opinion, just leave it at that.