Which current MMORPGs have the fairest payment models? This is the question that a genre expert explores, with the help of his community. MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz supplements the findings of the YouTuber with his own assessments.
Who provides the assessment? With 666 videos and 750,000 subscribers, TheLazyPeon is one of the largest YouTubers in the MMORPG genre. For many years, he has provided gameplay reports, genre analyses, and personal insights into his life in Thailand.
In a video from August 22, 2024, the “lazy worker” looks at current MMORPGs that have been evaluated by his community in terms of their payment model. Below, MeinMMO summarizes the exciting insights from the video. After that, editor Karsten Scholz adds his assessments of the payment models.
The MeinMMO community has chosen the best MMORPGs for PC and consoles:
What does Pay2Win mean?
First, the foundation: When one speaks of “Pay2Win,” it usually means (and this is often heatedly debated in the community) that players can buy things in a game with real money that positively affect the strength of a character, and that would take a very long time to earn through gameplay otherwise.
If there is the possibility to earn the purchasable increase in character strength over time, it is often also referred to as “Pay2Progress,” meaning paying to achieve progress faster. The greater the time investment for free-to-play players to catch up with the purchasers of character progression, the more often the term “Pay2Win” is mentioned in this context.
Which current MMORPGs are the least “Pay2Win”?
What are TheLazyPeon’s findings? Since the term “Pay2Win” is quite difficult to grasp and each genre fan sets the boundary in a different place, the YouTuber simply asked his community: Do you think MMORPG X is “Pay2Win” or not? Here are the top 5 fairest, currently relevant representatives of the genre:
- Final Fantasy XIV receives the most “Not Pay2Win” reports of all currently relevant MMORPGs, with 86.2 percent. 13.8 percent believe that this online role-playing game from Square is “Pay2Win” (possibly due to the ability to skip parts of the campaigns with money).
- In second place: Guild Wars 2, with 82.4 percent “Not Pay2Win” reports. This reputation is earned by ArenaNet’s MMORPG through the ability to obtain the real money currency of the in-game shop by exchanging earned gold. Thus, there is nothing in the shop that cannot also be earned through gameplay. Additionally, the horizontal character progression appeals especially to collectors, casual players, and so-called “Completionists”.
- In third place, the percentages drop significantly: 70.9 percent of respondents consider New World to be “Not Pay2Win.” The Buy2Play MMORPG from Amazon Games primarily sells cosmetic items in the in-game shop and via Battle Pass, and according to TheLazyPeon, it has one of the fairest payment models on the market.
- In fourth place, WoW Classic gets the nod. After all, 68.2 percent of respondents state it is “Not Pay2Win.” However, a distinction must be made between the Classic versions, which continue to operate without WoW tokens and shop, and WoW Cataclysm Classic, which possesses both.
- Fifth place: Old School RuneScape, with 67 percent reports for “Not Pay2Win.” Here, there is a clear distinction between the free-to-play and subscription worlds. However, it is certainly possible to buy equipment with money. But many items are tied to quests or other requirements. Additionally, players can lose all purchased items through any virtual death.
How does modern WoW perform? “Retail WoW,” which just received the new expansion The War Within, was the MMORPG that split participants into two almost equal camps: 47.7 percent “Not Pay2Win” versus 52.3 percent “Pay2Win.”
Like many other players, TheLazyPeon is not a fan of the WoW token, but the associated “Pay2Win” is not significant enough for the YouTuber to completely avoid Blizzard’s subscription MMORPG.
What about the other prominent current MMORPGs? Lord of the Rings Online narrowly missed the top 5 with 65.6 percent reports for “Not Pay2Win.” The Elder Scrolls Online (62.3 percent “Not Pay2Win”) and Star Wars: The Old Republic (61.9 percent) follow behind.
Instead, modern genre representatives regularly balance on the edge of “Pay2Win” or “Pay2Progress” thanks to in-game shops and real-money currencies and often cross this line as well. The community of TheLazyPeon has already identified the positive examples well.
The fairest payment models of all currently relevant MMORPGs are also found in my opinion in Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2. If you only play WoW Classic, you will indeed experience a wonderfully old-school gaming experience regarding the payment model up to a certain point (WotLK or Cataclysm Classic), but Classic, of course, is only a part of the overall product World of Warcraft.
The problematic nature of the WoW token has been shown for years by every World-First Race. The amount of money that professional guilds have to invest in the equipment of their characters to remain competitive in the race for boss kills is simply absurd.
Which current MMORPG do you think has the fairest payment model? Which online role-playing games offer clear “Pay2Win” and are therefore not worth recommending? Share your thoughts in the comments! If you’re looking for an overview of the currently best MMOs and MMORPGs for 2024, check it out here: The 10 best MMOs and MMORPGs of 2024
It’s trivia time! Why are characters in games often called Twinks, Toons, or Alts?
Subscription with in-game shop should be banned
How does MeinMMO editor Karsten Scholz assess the top 5? Anyone who has read my column If someone announces such an MMORPG, I take a seat at the front of the hype train knows that I would always prefer an MMORPG with a Buy2Play model and subscription (and completely without shop and microtransactions).
Because only in this way, in my view, is it possible for developers to avoid all the design decisions related to monetization that can negatively affect the player experience. The sad truth, however, is that MMORPGs with such a payment model are simply no longer being made.
Instead, modern genre representatives regularly balance on the edge of “Pay2Win” or “Pay2Progress” thanks to in-game shops and real-money currencies and often cross this line as well. The community of TheLazyPeon has already identified the positive examples well.
The fairest payment models of all currently relevant MMORPGs are also found in my opinion in Final Fantasy XIV and Guild Wars 2. If you only play WoW Classic, you will indeed experience a wonderfully old-school gaming experience regarding the payment model up to a certain point (WotLK or Cataclysm Classic), but Classic, of course, is only a part of the overall product World of Warcraft.
The problematic nature of the WoW token has been shown for years by every World-First Race. The amount of money that professional guilds have to invest in the equipment of their characters to remain competitive in the race for boss kills is simply absurd.
Which current MMORPG do you think has the fairest payment model? Which online role-playing games offer clear “Pay2Win” and are therefore not worth recommending? Share your thoughts in the comments! If you’re looking for an overview of the currently best MMOs and MMORPGs for 2024, check it out here: The 10 best MMOs and MMORPGs of 2024
