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New forms of play: Here is my prediction,save for the records.
Airtaee
Member UncommonPosts: 84
Have you noticed now when you log, the game launcher says about available enviorenments? Well many people says its a bug about Test Center and Normal servers... Here is my bet.
EA will create a multigame plataform for all their monthly fee games (read SWTOR, WAR, UO, DAOC and maybe TSW) and merge the time you can play any of them in a unique former pass time, pretty like the SONY STATION PASS.
You will pay the 15$ and could play any of their games, so they can make up their shitty numbers, saying they have a player base of X (not revealing how many belongs to each game).
Also this move will bring new life to his dying games, as people will think his 15 $ now worth much more as can be wasted in multiple games.
This is my prediction, lets the time go and see. If not, stills a good idea and EA should make me their new CEO because I'm sure this will work pretty well.
Comments
That is a prety interesting theory, one I had'nt thought about.
Honestly it would be a pretty good move and iit would NOT surprise me to see something like this bt Years end... Hell for $15-$20 month for their collection of games to play- It would actually be worth it.
Interesting to see how this plays out but it would help them "save face" by NOT having to go F2P. I am not being a "hater" either but TSW isnt going to do well with a sub- Not a bad game but nothing most people would sub to for more than a few months from what I have experienced.
That's not a bad idea and it makes total sense. If memory serves SOE charged a little more for the station pass ($20-25 dollars) than the normal monthly fee. I never did it because I was never interested in their other titles.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
It reduces costs, all different time cards will be just one, time cards for games now forgotten like WAR will be at stores again.
They will not lost any money as I higly doubt anyone is paying different subs for their games. Can't imagine a single person in the world paying for WAR and SWTOR. I can barely think in a person really wanting to pay for SWTOR but there are...
lso will fight the MMO borefdom syndrome, as you can switch from game to game to refresh your mind (We must admit the main problem of EA games are the boredom it produces,( Im starting to get bored of TSW and is just 3 weeks since launch...)
Danm! is o good idea that I will come back and buy one of those passes just to see how my 2009 Ironbreaker dwarf is,( but only if it includes The Secret World, the game I'm actually playing).
Can't see multi-game scenario; this was discussed post-WAR and never happened. Not saying it won't but.
What I could see would be dropping the monthly sub and replacing it by paid for DLC. This would bring SWTOR in line with several other EA titles.
Going to be hard though. EA said 500k to cover costs - and I always assumed - make an operating profit of 60% (not to be confused with making a profit). Now I assume that was based on keeping the team to ensure quarterly (or whatever) content drops, monthy tweaks and so forth. Even getting rid of the team though and taking a lower profit the number suggests that LA get something.
In fact the whole "new approach" thing was discussed after the launch of WAR.
If they do something like this, we'll never know what actual sub numbers are
.
It does make sense to me and might actually be the 1st smart anything they've done.
Not sure what it is now, but a few years ago I was subscribed to station pass and it was 29.95(USD) per month.
It's been $20/mo since announcing SWG closing. Kinda doubt they add Planetside2 to it anytime soon unless it major flops.
TSW is a Funcom game. So if anything it would become part of an AoC, AO, and TSW package.
Planetside 2 is F2P.
I hope you're right because i've played all those games but apart from UO never stuck with any of them for long. I prefer dipping in and out of different mmos when I have time, so i'd rather not sub to more than at least one at a time. The SOE model (I used to play EQ EQII, Vanguard and SWG at the same time) suits me fine.
Didnt one of the higher-ups at EA make a statement saying pretty much all their titles were going to be f2p with item shops for each of them? I wonder if that includes single player games... I cant find a link, maybe someone can help me.
Is this it?
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/21/eas-peter-moore-free-to-play-is-an-inevitability
Edit: Here is the original, full fledged article.
http://kotaku.com/5919847/the-strange-scary-fascinating-exciting-future-of-video-games-according-to-a-giant
According to this latest arcticle John Riccitielo says they are exploring "different models", implying not F2P, although does not say it will not be F2P, but they may not be able to take it F2P due to LA, hence the avoidance of the subject
"Riccitiello also chimed in on the recent report that BioWare was considering adopting a free-to-play business model for The Old Republic. He confirmed that EA is exploring "different models to bring more users into the game," but stopped short of saying such a change was in fact in the cards.
Star Trek Online - Best Free MMORPG of 2012
Well, it would be ironic if the followed the SOE model. I mean, they had SWG and Station Pass. EA could have SWTOR and...Origin Pass (maybe?). Then, all EA needs to do is over haul the game, add a TCG, ???, profit!
Kidding aside, SOE has been embracing 'F2P' more as time has gone on. I'm sure they've been monitoring them and other publishers to gauge whether it makes sense. I mean, regardless of what anyone might think about their level of commitment to their portfolio of games, I think we can all agree their level of commitment to profits is pretty high
-mklinic
"Do something right, no one remembers.
Do something wrong, no one forgets"
-from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence
I doubt it.
If they charge 15 a month for all their MMOs (all 2 of them) then they would lose money.
If they charged 20+ a month for all their MMOs they would lose subscribers because all their other MMOs are dead
I still wouldnt pay it.
Maybe if it was $5...maybe...for a while...perhaps...if you didnt have to buy the games first.
They already have origin as a multigame plataform, swtor is there.
Er...actually their Origin Store is selling time cards for :
WAR
DAoC
UO
SWTOR
and are distibuting :
RIFT
THE SECRET WORLD
(Just checked their Origin thing)
Think is not other thing but a way to make up their results merging all their revenues in one cash flow without the need to tell where the money comes from.
I'm interested to know how you come to the conclusion that they would lose money.
Why I see your logic flawed:
1. People who are subscribed to any one of those games currently (TOR, WAR or whatever one th've been playing) are still going to be subscribed - having the ability to play the other games too doesn't affect them one bit; in fact, it might benefit and encourages them as they have something else to play during their bored times.
2. It cost them no extra to have a bit more players playing on their underpopulated servers. In fact, it makes their game looks better because they can disguise the true population/subscription numbers for each game.
3. This makes it LOOK like it is better value for customer so obviously will ended up attracting a bigger player base of their mmos, at no extra cost of running their server (unless the deal is super-popular, but I highly doubt that).
I think it is a smart business move if they are going that direction.
Yes, paying for the download is the 1st thing that needs to go. That alone will bring in subs even if they keep the sub fee. For a month or two at least before players still be bored and leave.
Well you actually have to have a portfolio of games that people want to play to for this to work.
Pure speculation. there is no real evidence or facts to substantiat that claim. I typed this wearing my tinfoil hat, btw.
Ah, the Station Pass... Sony got that wrong the first time the did it and it really helped to hurt EQ & EQ2. Now they have it right, but it's 7-years later than it should have been... I have less faith that EA would get it right than Sony.
Also, I don't think they'll get Funcom to sign on. The Secret World is doing well and not showing any particular early-die off like TERA which dropped (as predicted) like a hot rock. (NOTE: Not hater prediction, just history-- 45-to-15 contraction in Korea and a 10-to-3 contraction in Japan. Contraction was expected by anyone not a raving lunatic fanboy.)
Plus EA is their publisher, not their owner and, quite likely, doesn't have much of anything to say about it. Funcom could always find a new publisher once this deal expires if EA got froggy with them.
But credit for at least trying. It's not a bad idea. I just don't see why Funcom would be willing to be bled. TSW is working quite well for them. Plus SWTOR, while it doesn't seem like it will every justify it's hype or investment, hasn't completely hit the fan yet. These are your US/European/Oceania play percentages for MMOs:
♦ World of Warcraft (43.7%)
♦ Star Wars: The Old Republic (6.2%)
♦ Aion (3.7%)
♦ The Secret World (3.6%)
♦ Eve Online (3.1%)
♦ Metin 2 (2.7%)
♦ The Lord of the Rings Online (2.2%)
♦ Other (34.9%)
Things will change when GW2 hits the market. The issue then becomes what will it do to this MMO player mix? I think, but certainly can't prove, that SWTOR and Aion will take the biggest hits. The logic behind it is that Aion has no commitment so people can come and go as they please and with SWTOR many of them are now just hanging out while waiting for something better to come along because they're tired of what's out there.
But we'll see...
He was quite clear it was a BET. A bet is a speculation, by defintion. You speculate on an event and wager money or some other tangible/intangible good or service on the outcome of the event.
Derp.