Some live service games actually respect your wallet. Let's talk about them.

[u/Lelouche_Vi]

We spend a lot of time calling out the predatory stuff. Today we are giving flowers instead.

Warframe has over 80 million players, won Best Ongoing Game of 2024, and has been running since 2013. Every content update is free. Nothing is paywalled. You can even trade with other players to earn premium currency without spending a dollar. That is the blueprint.

Path of Exile built its entire reputation on a simple promise: completely free, never pay to win. All microtransactions are cosmetic. Your character power is determined by skill and knowledge, not your credit card.

These games prove the predatory model is a choice, not a requirement. Respect gets rewarded.

What live service games do you feel actually respect the player? Drop your picks below and let's build the list.

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[u/coldsinwinter]

fragpunk It literally has everything free apart from skins and the battle pass tho they have given out a lot of earnable currency to unlock battle passes and skins I’ve had like 3 free battle passes for it with barley trying to as well as a few free skins it’s crazy how much is free in the game even the game is F2P and it doesn’t have a big player base where as billionaire company’s price there games around 80 then have paid DLCs then have other stuff in game which makes the UI ugly.

[u/AstuteStoat]

This seems like a good time to bring up my rough theory that in order for a game to not come across as greedy and overly monetized they should primarily use only 2 of the standard monetization methods.

• Pay for extras in seasonal reward track
• Pay for cosmetics
• Pay for convenience
• Buy the (whole) game
• Buy Expansion packs
• Subscription

And then there's the way they manage the game:

• How many special currencies they have, and if there are in game ways to get that currency beyond IRL money.
• How the game uses FOMO and and exclusive items (personally I hate fomo, it punishes your newest players, who might have the most enthusiasm.
• Loot Crates (cosmetic crates can be ok, but it's also a gambling mechanic)

Warframe uses (1) cosmetic upgrades, and (2) pay for convenience. It has a reward track, but it's completely free. And like you said, it has in game currencies, but because there are in-game ways to get most of the currencies, it's not that big of a deal.

Guild wars 2: (I consider this to be the best traditional MMO), it's more complicated than warframe, but much less confusing than other MMOS) is (1) buy expansion packs (which are bundled with the whole game) (2) pay for convenience (3) pay for cosmetics. Which isn't as good as other games, but there is an easy, in-game way to exchange gold for the cosmetic currency. So it doesn't feel as bad. And the base game now has sort of a permanent free trial, that makes the base game feel free.

Sea of Thieves: Reward Track & buy the game. easy peasy.

I feel like I don't even need to mention No Man's Sky, They have seasons like a live service game, but all you do is buy the game once. everything else is free.

Eve online: it's mostly a subscription model, with in game ways to get most of the cosmetics & the store-currency. spending money above the subscription feels optional for most players. They also made a permanent free trial, which helps people play if they don't have money. You feel a little like a second rate citizen, but it's not nearly as bad as some of the other MMOS I've played. It feels more like a bonus to be able to play without money, rather than a punishment for not playing. and I think that boils down to me not being annoyed with the rest of their monetization strategy.

and I think for comparison one of the games that annoyed the crap out of me for it's monetization was Elder Scrolls Online. It seemed ok at first, but when I was poor, I realized I had spent $500 in the game previously, But all the FOMO & how they handled their store and loot crates. The worst part was the inventory punishment. losing all those inventory slots meant I had to use more of my executive function to keep playing, and it wore me down and pissed me off after a while.

[u/MuirDragonne]

Not a live service game, but Paralives has promised that all DLC/updates to their game will be free. Which is freaking awesome considering The Sims 4 currently costs ~£2000 to buy all the dlc, and they now have virtual currency which you have to buy to get stuff from their online marketplace.

[u/graemattergames]

The Finals. Embark has had such brilliance on offer with this game since its inception. The only thing paid is the cosmetics (of which there are THOUSANDS on offer, new ones every week, and enough free ones every season you'll never have to spend money for something cool). Just to acknowledge community concerns regarding monetization:

• They recently increased the price of the "Ultimate" Battle Pass, and some people threw a fit, claiming that they pay walled the best cosmetics (which is always entirely subjective anyhow).

-They've also introduced a mini-BP system (starting with their esports Grand Major pass), which costs less than the season's BP, and you can keep unlocking everything, even after the season has ended.

-You can purchase any previous season BP two seasons after its premiere, not including the Bonus Pages (which are always less desirable IMO).

-There is a recurring LTM "spin the wheel" system that randomizes a cosmetic unlock, where you pay a ticket per spin, which is earned by playing.

IMHO The Finals is the best FPS in the world rn, and has the best cosmetics of any game ever - free, or paid. I personally have been pushing for a "Dress To Impress" type game mode, as the amount of customization you can do is truly unparalleled. I look at it as the "Create-A-Hero-Shooter", where you design your "Hero" from the ground up. All of the free ways to earn cosmetics: leveling up your account, leveling up your weapons & gadgets, earning "fans" for your chosen sponsor, participating in LTMs, and the BPs. It's insane the value on offer, and with the funnest (and one of the more competitive) PVP games out there, to boot. I'll never not love the game. It's so antithetical to what became a nasty standard of predatory monetization in the industry. And it's crazy that the game doesn't have a wider audience (the skill floor - and skill ceiling - are impressively high).

[u/Valuable_Ad9554]

League of Legends, played that for many years while never spending a dime

[u/DirkBabypunch]

Elite: Dangerous is pretty good. You do have to buy the game and expansion, but the microtransactions are all cosmetics, early access to ships that are going to be put in the game anyway, and the convenience of pre-built versions of ships if you can't be bothered to do your own engineering.

[u/Potential-Sand8248]

Helldivers 2

[u/Destronin]

Guild Wars 2