"Flip the bit" on "Free to Play"

Nothing against people that want to: but I always, always have to click the damned "Only find games that are Free to Play" option when I search for games. This sucks. We all have to "opt in" to see Mature Content games; so why not flip the bit on the Free to play so one has to opt in to see all of the pay stuff? I am not one of those fancy graphic artist people but here is what I would love to see: If we have to opt in to see Mature Content, those that want to look at Pay to Play should opt in for that. The present system shows a prejudice towards the pay-people. Cannot speak for anyone else but you want to pay for games, that's fine. But if I can get rid  of one extra step when I look for games I believe the default should be the way Roll20 was before it got all cluttered with all of the "Professional" "Legendary" "Super-duper" and other GM types looking to shill some coin from people. I just want to find decent, free, games here.

Yeah....I think that sounds better if you consider the information architecture, and especially the semiotics. Usually a check box implies a 'no' if unchecked.  I don't think I have ever unchecked a box to agree to any conditions :P  Jokes aside, I think it is extra important when it comes to commercial advertising to use the opt-in.

Roll20 makes too much money off of GMs with pay to play games because they are usually Pro.  See a conflict of interest, here? Maybe?

Gargamond said: Roll20 makes too much money off of GMs with pay to play games because they are usually Pro.  See a conflict of interest, here? Maybe? I think we can safely assume that the aim will always be to have a platform that is as usable as possible. This will increase the number of users and add the income from advertising. Sure, pro-accounts probably give more money, but they also cost more money, for example by having more storage space, free monthly art-drops, no advertising revenue, in-game functions such as dynamic light etc. (There are also free games run by people with plus and pro accounts...) It is also in the interest of the p2p-GMs to have a good amount of players available, which will depend partially on how usable the platform is. So, again, let's assume that it is always better to have a usable platform, than to speculate in the opposite.

The reason it is defaulted the current is, from what I understand, it shows all the actively recruiting games aka no filters. The "free games" checkmark is a filter, just like the days, the time, the game system etc. It is not about them making money off the paid games but showing all the actively recruiting games. Now they have the tools there for you to be selective in what you see, the filters. The only reason for the mature filter checkmark is because their are many gamers (underaged and others) that should not be subjected to those type of games. My issue is that the filters do not stay set to my preferences. I would be happy if the search filters would retain their settings when applied.

Bruh, you contradict yourself Pat. The default does not show all games as it does not show the mature stuff. So let's take it one more step and flip the bit on the paid stuff. If people want to look at paid stuff - good for them. But just like mature games it should not be a default. We get enough advertising on the internet without having to click something to avoid all of the paid stuff. I freely admit, that is my preference. I don't mind even changing the language so I see only mine.  To save your defaults you could save the url as a bookmark and not have to keep changing things.  Ha! I see my pictures were deleted for some reason. All of that photoshopping for nothing! lol.

Gargamond said: Roll20 makes too much money off of GMs with pay to play games because they are usually Pro.  See a conflict of interest, here? Maybe? I don't think making money is a "conflict of interest" it's usually the point of a business.

This

I think a better option would be if roll20 remembered your options. It's a pain to have to select the kind of games your want to play every single time. A 'remember my selections' checkbox would fix this. 

Nytron P. said: Nothing against people that want to: but I always, always have to click the damned "Only find games that are Free to Play" option when I search for games. This sucks. I agree. Pay to play should be opt-in not opt-out

I agree. Pay to play should be opt-in not opt-out I think these two categories should be as separated as possible. I believe that much of the irritation towards p2p comes from a repeated comparison to free games (and claiming that free games are worse).  -People simply get fed up with having their games indirectly insulted as part of some marketing. Instead I think it would be healthier to have the p2p-games compared against each other.  The best option would probably be to have them as a section on the marketplace, though I doubt that Roll20 would ever accept them to that degree.

Jay Hova said: I think a better option would be if roll20 remembered your options. It's a pain to have to select the kind of games your want to play every single time. A 'remember my selections' checkbox would fix this.  I agree this option would be great. -Adam

TBH: I just get tired of seeing all the paid stuff all over the LFG forum and having to click to opt out of looking at paid games in the games section. If a person has to opt in for mature, why not for paid too? I don't think Roll20 will change their dubious practices anytime soon and have mostly moved on to other platforms that care more for their user base.