So I have been interested in playing some games online against other people and one of my problems with these kinds of games is that 90% of all of the games are pay to win. I would like to know if there are any great multiplayer games out there with no pay to win features in them or they are so minor they don't change the game too much. Know of any?
Games With Little or No Pay To Win Feature
- Thread starter Civ001
- Start date
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
Any game that isn't a crappy MMO (or trying to be even if i lacks "massively" *coughTF2cough*). If you REALLY want to play an MMO[RPG], then you're probably stuck with Guild Wars 2 and a couple of other games I don't care enough about to remember.
Eh? Runes cannot be directly brought using cash. You have to unlock them using points that you gain by playing. It is possible to buy boosters that increase the rate that you gain these points but you can still unlock runes for free.
The only noticeable cash effects are being able to buy skins for your character so that they look a little different and that you can unlock the latest character a week before they are available for everyone else (it used to be the same time for both but nowadays there is a huge array of existing characters anyway).
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Messages
- 13,725
DOTA2 is currently absolutely not pay to win---the trick is getting an invite code.
Every other free MMO that I've seriously enjoyed actually has a pay to kick sand in your enemy's face, but not a guaranteed pay-to-win. World of Tanks is one in which you can pay hundreds and still be out-skilled in a public match, except at the most competitive stages in which people are waging money for a chance to win in-game money.
Most other MMO's are pay for additional content. LoTR Online and Puzzle Pirates are probably such, am-i-right?
I wouldn't call that pay-2-win exactly, although the in-game rewards from working the "additional content" probably give an advantage. Is that really pay-2-win?
Exception: the Civ game on Facebook is definitely pay-2-win.
The worst case scenario is when players are engaged in a perpetual spending conflict; keep spending for a temporary gain over each other kind of like a "keep up with the Joneses". That's not really a game in my opinion.
However you cut it, it's a price per happiness thing. Everyone has their own comfort margin on that. Whether the game is subscription, one-time purchase, or free-2-play with some purchasing of consumables and unlocks, it's all about the same end effect that you spent X dollars for Y hours of fun.
Every other free MMO that I've seriously enjoyed actually has a pay to kick sand in your enemy's face, but not a guaranteed pay-to-win. World of Tanks is one in which you can pay hundreds and still be out-skilled in a public match, except at the most competitive stages in which people are waging money for a chance to win in-game money.
Most other MMO's are pay for additional content. LoTR Online and Puzzle Pirates are probably such, am-i-right?
I wouldn't call that pay-2-win exactly, although the in-game rewards from working the "additional content" probably give an advantage. Is that really pay-2-win?
Exception: the Civ game on Facebook is definitely pay-2-win.
The worst case scenario is when players are engaged in a perpetual spending conflict; keep spending for a temporary gain over each other kind of like a "keep up with the Joneses". That's not really a game in my opinion.
However you cut it, it's a price per happiness thing. Everyone has their own comfort margin on that. Whether the game is subscription, one-time purchase, or free-2-play with some purchasing of consumables and unlocks, it's all about the same end effect that you spent X dollars for Y hours of fun.
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
ANY Facebook "game" is pay2win.
If you can even win them.
If you can even win them.
- Joined
- Mar 31, 2008
- Messages
- 14,927
With Puzzle Pirates, it's pay to win or you're dealing with having to pay hundreds, if not thousands, of extra gold on dubloon servers for items.
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Messages
- 13,725
I'd describe it as one time purchase with DLC, like Guild Wars is.
I don't believe that it was ever free-2-play. There's no subscription either.
You don't have to buy DLC, and it's a team game so you might not really suffer from the lack of DLC, as the DLC is basically for character classes. With large enough teams, every class is likely to be represented.
There's also not really enough classes to say that one is over-powered over another (will see what the new Science class brings). Each just plays different, so DLC lets you play even more differently.
KaiserElectric
Total Freakin Besties
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2007
- Messages
- 3,461
I'm surprised no one mentioned Tribes: Ascend. It's an FPS, so I'm not sure if it's what you are looking for, but every game play element can be earned through experience points, and the only things that you can only earn by paying are aesthetic features like skins and voice-overs. Otherwise, all the weapons can be upgraded and unlocked by earning experience points in game.
The game is totally free, but I recommend buying the smallest gold pack first and unlocking all the classes. It opens your options up and gives you VIP status so you can earn XP a bit faster, but otherwise everything can be earned without payment.
The game is totally free, but I recommend buying the smallest gold pack first and unlocking all the classes. It opens your options up and gives you VIP status so you can earn XP a bit faster, but otherwise everything can be earned without payment.
History_Buff
Deity
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2001
- Messages
- 6,529
Battlefield 3. Also it's predecessors, and probably most FPS games.
You can pay extra to unlock the weapons you would have unlocked in time anyway, but they offer a pretty marginal improvement (it's mostly preference). In BF3's case, the gun most people would call 'best' is actually the US starting weapon.
You can pay extra to unlock the weapons you would have unlocked in time anyway, but they offer a pretty marginal improvement (it's mostly preference). In BF3's case, the gun most people would call 'best' is actually the US starting weapon.
azzaman333
meh
I'm pretty sure TF2 is free without any pay to win features. Unless you consider collecting hats to be winning, at least.
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2004
- Messages
- 13,725
It's got the slightest pay2win aspect in that you can pay for better items, but those items in theory could be crafted or found as drops. There's no obnoxious pay2win in terms of paying for temporary power-ups and such.
Maniacal
the green Napoleon
They are also mostly sidegrades (if they are really that useful at all, many of them could be removed and nothing of value will be lost. If anything that would greatly reduce the amount of damn clutter in the game and take it back to its roots).
mechaerik
Tuturuu!
Well, the Third Degree, Solemn Vow, and Amputator are all direct upgrades of the stock weapons, although the Third Degree is hampered by not being the Axtinguisher.
KaiserElectric
Total Freakin Besties
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2007
- Messages
- 3,461
True, but every element that has an effect on actual game play can be acquired without any sort of payment. The only items that you can only get by paying, if any, are purely aesthetic.
SamSniped
DJ Goodboye
And then there's the Pomson. Omega124 says there's a certain place in hell for people who use it
