What can F2P developers learn from premium games? Find out at GDC

Free-to-play and premium games may have different business models, but that doesn't mean they can't share similar aspirations when it comes to exemplifying excellent design or telling great stories. F2P game makers can learn much from their compatriots in the premium game business; veteran free-to-play creative directors Kenny Shea Dinkin (Diner Dash) and Ray Holmes (Farmville, League of War [pictured]) seem to agree, because at GDC 2015 they're delivering a great talk on the topic titled "What Are We Missing? What F2P Games Can Learn From Innovative P2P Game Design." Together they'll explore the more innovative niches of today's mobile and online pay-to-play design landscape, shedding light onto what free-to-play game designers might want to take with them as they explore and grow the other end of the marketplace. Check it out if you want to learn about 2014's crop of smaller innovative pay-to-play titles and walk away with practical examples of how the features contained within could be used to improve the design of F2P titles. Holmes and Dinkin's talk is part of the perennially popular Free To Play Summit, just one of the eight that will take place Monday, March 2nd and Tuesday, March 3rd at the Moscone Center in San Francisco during the first two days of GDC 2015. Full details on this session and many others can be perused on the list of all announced talks available now in the online GDC 2015 Session Scheduler, where you can begin to plan out your conference week and later export it to the up-to-the-minute GDC Mobile App, coming soon. And as 2014 winds to a close, conference officials look forward to announcing many more GDC 2015 sessions spanning a diverse array of game industry issues in the months ahead. For now, don't miss the opportunity to save money by registering early -- the deadline to register for passes at a discounted rate is January 21, 2015. GDC 2015 itself will take place March 2-6 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. For more information on GDC 2015, visit the show's official website, or subscribe to regular updates via Facebook, Twitter, or RSS. Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech.