Be careful of the Crown Playerroute as Mr. Lincoln who is one of the higher ups at Kings Isle made it very clear a few years ago that Kings Isle considers Clown players to be no better than Free players whenit comes to their bottom line. It cause quite a scandle within the Wizard 101 community and Kings Isle never did change their view about it. As one of the original Wizard 101 founding players I was quite put out when Mr. Lincoln told those of us that chose to go the Crown Player route that we weren't valued by Wizard 101 becaue we chose wo buy crowns instead of a monthly sub. We actually pay almost 2x as much to Kings Isle as Subs do just to play the game long term.
I think you are a bit off your rocker here, so I will do Math for both you, and the rest of the forum:
Crowns:
Wizard City through Avalon: 103,905 crowns
Crown price on sale: $60 for 60,000 crowns
Total Price for current content plus some future content: $120
Subscription:
Year Special: $60
Three Years: $180
Now, assuming that you started playing since 2009, when they introduced crown-priced zones along with subscriptions, you would have been playing for 3 years of subcriptions. That means you would have paid $60 extra just to have the subscription, not to mention, as soon as that subscription ends, your access to any zone by wizard city ends. Furthermore, you likely bought crowns for the crown items. So.....
Crowns: $120 (Plus Permanent Unlocks)
Subscription $180 (Since 2009)
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
I must admit I am surprised that any Dev would say that one group of paying customers is worth 'less' or 'more' than any other? That is a bad PR move in any situation and I am really surprised to hear that KingsIsle made such a rookie blunder?
The whole Pay-by-zone / subscription model was designed for flexibility I thought (yes - I do know there is a slight price difference too). For me for example - pay-by-zone works. I can only be active in most MMOs every second month due to RL. So, pay-by-zone stops me having to either pay for a sub I am not using or have an "on again - off again" subscription.
Also, either model is a consumer choice based on how much utility a player thinks they will get from a game and what they think the future of that game is?
For example - you might pay for a years subscription in a game - you finish the game in a couple of months and the game dies and never gets any expansions... poor value for money. Or the game might take off and get several expansions in the year - so you come out on top. Paying by zone - you can leave a game and come back to it months or years later if there is a development.
One thing I will be interested to see is if Crowns from Wizard 101 will work in Pirate 101?
That would change things again in terms of where KingsIsle's payment model stands.
If Wizard 101 Crowns are 'universal' with Pirate 101 Crowns that would be a definite plus for both games IMHO.
There is some 'overlap' between the two games anyway - I seem to recall one of the Wizard Worlds (Mooshu) is also in the Pirate game? And it is set in "the Spiral" This makes sense from a development point of view too.
Turbine games DDO and LotRO both offer "Turbine Points" but the points are not universal (LotRO TP =/= DDO TP).
What I am most concerned about is whether Wizard101 players will have the ability to at least talk to Pirate101 players in some town area. That would be wicked.
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
How are developers supposed to make money and get paid for their work?
Here are some options:
Subscription: It works - but is not suited to everyone and may or may not be good value for money. Also, it's "all or nothing" really. Players either consider your game good enough to subscribe to or they don't play at all.
Pay by Zone: Players must pay to enter and play content. The advantage for players is that they can buy the areas that interest them. Many of the so called "F2P" games operate this way - including Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Oh wait - you can go anywhere in LotRO? Yes, but you just can't do the quests. Or how about the fact that you can earn Turbine Points for 'free'? Well, no, you can't. To earn Turbine Points you must play. By playing you are helping populate Turbine's worlds... giving their players someone to play with... in effect you are working for Turbine by giving up your time to keep their paying customers happy. Sure, you might be having fun in the process - it's called a mutually beneficial relationship - but it's not 'free'.
Pay to Win: I think we all know what that looks like?
Cater to impatientience or vanity: Bling and cosmetic items and / or the ability to jump ahead without having to grind.
So choose your poison.
Games that are completely free tend to be far less relaible in terms of quality and updates etc. And they often don't stay around.
Many games are now doing exactly what KingsIsle did 4 years ago - and offering the first few zones free. The idea of course is that you will like the game enough to either go on and subscribe or, where available, buy the next zone.
The thing is many games don't actually have the appeal to pull it off.
If the pricing is anything like Wizard101, be wary.
This is what you are in for if it is...the game will be somewhat fun and well put together for children, but KingsIsle has one of the worst, if not the worst microtransaction scheme in any game I've played. It's ironic it's geared towards children, but has the most dangling carrots, or more appropriately, dangling pieces of candy I have ever seen. Especially when it comes to opening up new areas while it claims being free to play. Only a very small area of the game will actually be free to play. They will also microtranaction you to death when it comes to pets (to train them faster), or items to buy in the various shops.
Also, if this same pricing scheme holds true for Pirates101, when I did happen to pay the monthly fee in order to play in the higher areas, it was a ghost town, which was unfortunate. The lower level/free areas were packed with people, and it was fun grouping while I ran around doing things. The higher areas for me essentially became a solo game experience because there was almost no one around.
Just a warning for parents looking to have their kids try out a seemingly safe MMO. Keep close watch over what they purchase in game.
I believe Wizard101 actually does the F2P model the way it should be done. You have the ability to pay to unlock ANY zones or pay a sub. While the zone costs may be a little on the high side it is still very very nice to be able to permanently unlock a zone. I ended up unlocking all of the level 50 zones (forget the name) and then just paying a sub for a month, rushing all my toons to the level they would be able to play in the end zones, and then drop sub and play them.
I actually HOPE Pirates101 will be the same, and I assume it will.
Comments
Might be the one my wife finally allows me to play with the kids
http://werewood.wordpress.com/
http://werewood.wordpress.com
I think you are a bit off your rocker here, so I will do Math for both you, and the rest of the forum:
Crowns:
Wizard City through Avalon: 103,905 crowns
Crown price on sale: $60 for 60,000 crowns
Total Price for current content plus some future content: $120
Subscription:
Year Special: $60
Three Years: $180
Now, assuming that you started playing since 2009, when they introduced crown-priced zones along with subscriptions, you would have been playing for 3 years of subcriptions. That means you would have paid $60 extra just to have the subscription, not to mention, as soon as that subscription ends, your access to any zone by wizard city ends. Furthermore, you likely bought crowns for the crown items. So.....
Crowns: $120 (Plus Permanent Unlocks)
Subscription $180 (Since 2009)
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
I must admit I am surprised that any Dev would say that one group of paying customers is worth 'less' or 'more' than any other? That is a bad PR move in any situation and I am really surprised to hear that KingsIsle made such a rookie blunder?
The whole Pay-by-zone / subscription model was designed for flexibility I thought (yes - I do know there is a slight price difference too). For me for example - pay-by-zone works. I can only be active in most MMOs every second month due to RL. So, pay-by-zone stops me having to either pay for a sub I am not using or have an "on again - off again" subscription.
Also, either model is a consumer choice based on how much utility a player thinks they will get from a game and what they think the future of that game is?
For example - you might pay for a years subscription in a game - you finish the game in a couple of months and the game dies and never gets any expansions... poor value for money. Or the game might take off and get several expansions in the year - so you come out on top. Paying by zone - you can leave a game and come back to it months or years later if there is a development.
One thing I will be interested to see is if Crowns from Wizard 101 will work in Pirate 101?
That would change things again in terms of where KingsIsle's payment model stands.
If Wizard 101 Crowns are 'universal' with Pirate 101 Crowns that would be a definite plus for both games IMHO.
There is some 'overlap' between the two games anyway - I seem to recall one of the Wizard Worlds (Mooshu) is also in the Pirate game? And it is set in "the Spiral" This makes sense from a development point of view too.
Turbine games DDO and LotRO both offer "Turbine Points" but the points are not universal (LotRO TP =/= DDO TP).
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
What I am most concerned about is whether Wizard101 players will have the ability to at least talk to Pirate101 players in some town area. That would be wicked.
My blog is a continuing story of what MMO's should be like.
Well, the real question is if you can play the game for 10 levels before it cuts you off completely again..
Don't think they changed that, and don't think they'll learn their lesson from it...
What lesson?
The lesson that if they DON'T give the game away completely free they get to stay in business?
As Killion81 said here http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/5057743#5057743 what is it you expect?
How are developers supposed to make money and get paid for their work?
Here are some options:
Subscription: It works - but is not suited to everyone and may or may not be good value for money. Also, it's "all or nothing" really. Players either consider your game good enough to subscribe to or they don't play at all.
Pay by Zone: Players must pay to enter and play content. The advantage for players is that they can buy the areas that interest them. Many of the so called "F2P" games operate this way - including Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online. Oh wait - you can go anywhere in LotRO? Yes, but you just can't do the quests. Or how about the fact that you can earn Turbine Points for 'free'? Well, no, you can't. To earn Turbine Points you must play. By playing you are helping populate Turbine's worlds... giving their players someone to play with... in effect you are working for Turbine by giving up your time to keep their paying customers happy. Sure, you might be having fun in the process - it's called a mutually beneficial relationship - but it's not 'free'.
Pay to Win: I think we all know what that looks like?
Cater to impatientience or vanity: Bling and cosmetic items and / or the ability to jump ahead without having to grind.
So choose your poison.
Games that are completely free tend to be far less relaible in terms of quality and updates etc. And they often don't stay around.
Many games are now doing exactly what KingsIsle did 4 years ago - and offering the first few zones free. The idea of course is that you will like the game enough to either go on and subscribe or, where available, buy the next zone.
The thing is many games don't actually have the appeal to pull it off.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
I believe Wizard101 actually does the F2P model the way it should be done. You have the ability to pay to unlock ANY zones or pay a sub. While the zone costs may be a little on the high side it is still very very nice to be able to permanently unlock a zone. I ended up unlocking all of the level 50 zones (forget the name) and then just paying a sub for a month, rushing all my toons to the level they would be able to play in the end zones, and then drop sub and play them.
I actually HOPE Pirates101 will be the same, and I assume it will.