Free-to-Play or Free-to-Pay?

Runescape has been a free-to-play game ever since it started up back in 2001. There are a lot of things that one can do within the realms of owning a ‘non membership’ account. Of course, how is Jagex going to make any sort of money off giving out a game without cost?

Membership.

Screenshot of the membership page

Taking Patel’s point of view on the corporate control of our choice of food, we can apply this to how Jagex runs its servers to benefit the paying community more than those that aren't. In this week’s readings, Patel uses apples as an example of just how food corporations limit what we see on the shelves, stating that “our choices are not entirely our own because, even in a supermarket, the menu is crafted not by our choices (…) but by the power of food corporations.” (2007)

Likewise, the things that you see as a player who owns a non-member account is limited by the fact that you haven’t given the company any money. Free accounts have a limited amount of skills, most of which have a level cap of 99. The world is also significantly smaller, giving the player a more constricted experience to the game. As such, the resources that the non-members have access to are also incredibly limited compared to those in a member’s server where the entire map is at their fingertips.

Another advantage to having paid for your account is the fact that you can quite literally pay your way into becoming one of the best players on the server. This aspect can ruin a game, and it’s one of the reasons why I generally stay away from free-to-plays. It’s not fun seeing someone in high-level gear that they've bought with real cash while the armour that your own character’s currently wearing is the same one you've had the last ten levels because that’s as high as the game will let you go.

References

Patel, R. (2007).  'Stuffed and starved: the hidden battle for the world’s food system.'  (pp.272-295). Melbourne, Australia. Black Inc.

RuneScape Wiki (n.d.) 'Free to play/Compared to members.' Retrieved September 18, 2013, from http://runescape.wikia.com/wiki/Free-to-play/Compared_to_Members