F2P, is it worth it or not?

In the past 2 years lots of existing mmo games switched from the p2p to f2p version. We have the following examples:

- DDO
- LOTRO
- Everquest 2
- Age of Conan
- City of Heroes
- Champions Online
- DC Universe Online
- Lineage 2
- Fallen Earth
- Pirates of the Burning Sea
etc..
And probably more will come in the future. But is this change for better or worse?

The formula for f2p is already well known. Everyone is given, supposedly full access to the given access from level one to max cap level. When one first reads it, might get illuded with the fact that actually everything is free. Ok so we create an account, download the game and load it up. First things first, we notice in some cases we can only create 2 characters. Besides that, we can only create a certain type of class, others are premium only(can read also, p2p users). Fine, most can play with 1 or 2 characters, no big deal. So games up and we are in. Cool, apparently everything can be used. Oh but wait, my inventory only has one bag, i might need some more in a near future. But wait, whats this? I need to buy more slots for bags? Ok, how much it costs? . Ok one for f2p, zero for players. Same deal with bank. Two for f2p, 0 for players. And i haven't touched other aspects. And not gonna to anyways. In some games you have to buy adventure packs, other forces you to buy gear unlockers, so you equip better gear.

In game shops you can find  anything useful for game, from the basic fluffy stuff, like appearance gear, to mounts, to the most expensive stuff like expansions, quests, character slots or classes.

But for me that's not the issue. They can place whatever they want in a shop. My only concern is that in most f2p games shop becomes an utter ripoff to players. In some cases, it's just far more better to just subscribe to a given title then to just waste time on the specific shop.

So far, i do admit i haven't explored much any of the titles as a f2p player, but from what i can see, basically the best offers in market at the moment are DDO and LOTRO, because of a player can, as a f2p, acquire in-game shop coin to spend. Although i do admit it can become a really tiresome process, the fact that actually one can acquire the given coin while playing, is a sure plus for me. Turbine found a nice process, for instance in LOTRO, that when a player finish a given deed (one can consider it as an achievement, in other titles), a very small amount is awarded. But don't worry, a single character can get more then 5000 Turbine Points (LOTRO shop currency). For instance with those 5000, you could buy the latest expansion, and still save around 1800 points. In the end of the day (ok maybe not a day, more), a player can really play LOTRO without spending much or any. Although, of course, if you subscribe the game, every month you would receive free a nice amount of points to spare. DDO also offers points, but i think it's in a smaller quantity.

On the other side, we have Age of Conan. Besides Age of Conan, most titles don't give a chance to players actually get any coin to spend in-game except by buying. And the problem is that, these shops are way too expensive, and in short one rather just subscribe the game and save money in the end of the month. Sure you can play the game as f2p, and while you level everything seems okish, when you reach max level things get rough. 

Other title deserves mentioning is Fallen Earth. From what i've played, although yet the game doesnt offer any possibility of acquiring any store currency while playing, it didn't seem to be severely limited. But i do need more time to play it.

Also, a small note to Pirates of the Burning Sea. It's the only game that actually allows players to sell in-game currency for shop in trade of the regular game currency.

And i haven't touched the subject of pay-to-win, that's not even worth the time.

Overall i think game companies should re-think their f2p business. Sure they need to make money, but if they are sending a game to f2p they should be aware that at the moment, there lots of options for players to pick, and as far as i think, if you pick free to play is because you don't want to spend much money. Game companies, see Turbine f2p model, and pick up ideas, work on that, and give players actual freedom. You can still make money if you are smart enough. I have my own ideas, maybe i'll share in the future, for each given title.