To be honest its down to your budget and mindset. If your on a limited budget then a wait and see approach is probably best i.e. if your budget limits you to one maybe two new games a quarter then your probably going to want the most bang for your buck. In which case a wait and see approach is for the best.
On the other hand if your budget allows you one to two new games a month you can afford a flutter so to speak and take a gamble.
With mindset if your the type who likes to be on the edge and getting there first then waiting 6 months is not going to help you. On the other hand if you like having lots of online quest helps and optimum builds pre-determined then waiting 6 months will be of benefit.
For myself I like being in the first rush partly because at that stage everything is relatively new to everyone. I say relatively bedcause of the current mass Beta phase mmorpgs are going through a lot of people have seen and done the content before release. Making the Beta stage often the exporer stage.
But as I eblieve someone else has pointed out one of the MAJOR reasons for being in the first wave is ythis simple fact the first six months make or break a mmorpg. If it doent make a resonable amount of cash on the initial six months its going to have difficulty so if you like the concept if you believe it has merit you need to invest in it. If you dont that concept may never see the light of day.
It's been this way for awhile. Games charged for expansion packs and if you played from the start, you paid for every one of them. Later, to get into the game, the latest expansion got you all the previous content. It wasn't always like this, but when game makers saw how expensive, in one shot, it was to get into their games, they started to just charge for the latest one.
Look at Everquest. They are now announcing their 19th X-Pak. $30 - $60 bucks a pop adds up. Talk about a barrier to entry I am not sure when they started to NOT make new players buy all previous X-Paks, but it has been awhile.
Games, like many other tech related things, tend to go down in price over time.
Patience is not a common thing amongst gamers. Many players usually wait for years for a game to come out and drool quite heavily thinking of when they finally get to play it. You see this with almost every game's launch with server wait times on opening day.
I would say patience is key. Let the unforeseen bugs get worked out. Let the game drop in price. See what others are saying about the experience they are having in the game.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Are game companies teaching us that it is wrong to invest in new games right away?
Clearly they aren't, as the minute a new pre-order comes out with a fancy hat and a headstart, MMO gamers jump on it like white on rice. To date, it doesn't look like we've learned a damn thing. Let's see how the next AAA pre-order fares.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Depends on the psychology of the individual players, clearly.
Ever run into the guy who blows his stack if he encounters too many bugs? And wonder just what the hell he's doing playing a game during early release?
The guy who hates every new game he tries, yet never fails to purchase a box?
Hype/crash self-defeating fanboys? No one is more bitter than the ones who talk themselves into the greatest expectations.
Fanboys of Game X who bought a (clearly very different) Game Y, that any casual bystander immediately can tell they're going to hatefor being different?
Personally, I don't find buying a game at launch to be as much of a mistake as attending a message board at launch.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
The last game I bought at launch was WoW 8 years ago...Since then I have taken a watch and wait approach with every MMO and have not regretted it at all.....The savings is substantial, especially considering the number of MMOs out now..... It takes some patience, especially when you visit boards like these where everyone is saying how great this game or that game is, but in the end you win by waiting....ALmost always within 6 months it will be considerably cheaper (if not free) and often you learn that the game was crap and how angry people are taht paid for it.....
As for the OP's example, TSW, I was glad I got to try it in beta....I knew right away it was a total cash grab and not to touch it with a ten foot pole....ALso I just didn't think it was a very good game regardless of the price.
It's a bad idea if you are part of the entitlement generation and think the game should meet your expectations 100%. For the rest of us, buying a game at launch is fine because we can accept the fact that the game will probably have bugs and be missing content somewhere. We accept that the game is a work in progress and we don't have the time to rush through the game and get to cap within weeks anyway.
No, most gamers these days pre-order or have some access to an open or closed (with 93,000,00 invites) beta so they have a legitmate idea of what the game will be on launch. I feel the only time a player then as the right to say "Unfinished" is if beta greatly restrcted access to later content such as Cap level 10... Aside from those who make that complaint after trying the game for months for free
Yes buying a game at launch is always a good idea. I feel it allows you to establish yourself, become known in your community and earn a spot where someone else would already have one if you waited. Of course theres the steady decline of players from month to month that eventually opens spots but doing things in a game where you can use chat to ask for all the answers is easier... but not the same as being amungst the first when most people are still unaware of the secret to beat said boss or conquer said tricky quest/item location.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Originally posted by Kyleran Funny thing, the two MMOs I've played the longest, DAOC and EVE I joined 6mo-3yrs after they launched, while only WOW had any longevity from launch.
6 months after launch seems like a great time to check out an MMO with the way they have been released the past few years. By then, either most of the problems are fixed and the first content delivery is on its way, or it's on life support and you saved yourself the time and money.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
If you're concerned about wasting $35 (retail - free month), then it's rarely worth it. There are some benefits to getting in early though, such as character names, community establishment, etc. But sure, if you feel like it's been a waste of money in the past, that really won't change any time soon.
I think buying a game at launch is a good idea. It helps the company get that needed money to finish off the content it didn't have ready at launch.
I am starting to think buying games for betas is truly the worst decision I have made though. Recently with age of wushu (holy garbage).
That has to be one of the worst reasons to buy a game at launch. If the dev's did their jobs properly, the game will be complete at launch, as much as an MMO can be. If they can't successfully manage the project in a way that major features and content launch as intended, they deserve to go down with the ship (Bioware, I'm looking at you).
I think buying a game at launch is a good idea. It helps the company get that needed money to finish off the content it didn't have ready at launch.
I am starting to think buying games for betas is truly the worst decision I have made though. Recently with age of wushu (holy garbage).
That has to be one of the worst reasons to buy a game at launch. If the dev's did their jobs properly, the game will be complete at launch, as much as an MMO can be. If they can't successfully manage the project in a way that major features and content launch as intended, they deserve to go down with the ship (Bioware, I'm looking at you).
Agreed. That's not something a person should pay for, it's something they should get paid for. Buying early for that reason only encourages releasing with bare minimum to get by. It's simply smart business to spend someone else's money whenever possible. Hell, that's how Age of Conan was released - hype it and pay for the rest of the development with the cash from preorders and first month sales.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein "Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I rarely buy an MMORPG at launch. For me, it's not so much the money as the server queues, the lag, the bugs and rebalancing that goes on for the first few months that I want to avoid.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own. -- Herman Melville
It's definitely a bad idea to buy a game at launch and worse to pre-order, especially MMO's. No matter how good a game seems before launch it's always a good idea to wait atleast a couple of months before buying it. After I started doing that I've avoided many games that seemed very good prior to launch but turned out not to be for me.
Buy at launch? I might, if the game is something I'd enjoy and play for a while.
Put it off until later then skip it entirely? This happens quite often.
Pre-order with no information? Never.
Ken Fisher - Semi retired old fart Network Administrator, now working in Network Security. I don't Forum PVP. If you feel I've attacked you, it was probably by accident. When I don't understand, I ask. Such is not intended as criticism.
Well...it really comes down to a matter of personal choice, which is how all decisions need to be made. So, if you purchased TSW at launch and played for two months after, sure your initial investment is higher than it would be now, but you also had those two months to enjoy the game. If it turns out you really liked the game, then that money is well invested. If you hated the game, well hindsight is 20/20.
It's not so much a matter of the money, unless you are on an extremely tight budget, but it's more of a matter of personal time invested. With ANY out there there's two questions you have to ask yourself before buying.
1) Why am I purchasing?
2) Do I HAVE to play this game at launch?
If you are purchasing for the sake of purchasing the newest game, and not because you've been following the development and/or news and really like what you see. Then maybe you should wait.
If you don't feel the overwhelming need to play the game right away, then maybe you should wait.
I didn't purchase SWTOR, Tera or TSW this past year, because I wasn't hugely interested in any of them. I purchased GW2 and WoW: MoP because I really wanted to play those games right away. I have over 100 hours invested in each game so I feel each game was a fine investment.
Even after TSW went on sale and B2P I still didn't purchase, because from what I have seen of it, I don't think I would really like it much. So even though the game is exceedingly cheap and a good deal, I probably wouldn't put more of a couple of hours time into it.
So the answer the question of the OP; It's a good idea if YOU feel it is.
Comments
All of my posts are either intelligent, thought provoking, funny, satirical, sarcastic or intentionally disrespectful. Take your pick.
I get banned in the forums for games I love, so lets see if I do better in the forums for games I hate.
I enjoy the serenity of not caring what your opinion is.
I don't hate much, but I hate Apple© with a passion. If Steve Jobs was alive, I would punch him in the face.
To be honest its down to your budget and mindset. If your on a limited budget then a wait and see approach is probably best i.e. if your budget limits you to one maybe two new games a quarter then your probably going to want the most bang for your buck. In which case a wait and see approach is for the best.
On the other hand if your budget allows you one to two new games a month you can afford a flutter so to speak and take a gamble.
With mindset if your the type who likes to be on the edge and getting there first then waiting 6 months is not going to help you. On the other hand if you like having lots of online quest helps and optimum builds pre-determined then waiting 6 months will be of benefit.
For myself I like being in the first rush partly because at that stage everything is relatively new to everyone. I say relatively bedcause of the current mass Beta phase mmorpgs are going through a lot of people have seen and done the content before release. Making the Beta stage often the exporer stage.
But as I eblieve someone else has pointed out one of the MAJOR reasons for being in the first wave is ythis simple fact the first six months make or break a mmorpg. If it doent make a resonable amount of cash on the initial six months its going to have difficulty so if you like the concept if you believe it has merit you need to invest in it. If you dont that concept may never see the light of day.
just my 2 Cents
Gadareth
It's been this way for awhile. Games charged for expansion packs and if you played from the start, you paid for every one of them. Later, to get into the game, the latest expansion got you all the previous content. It wasn't always like this, but when game makers saw how expensive, in one shot, it was to get into their games, they started to just charge for the latest one.
Look at Everquest. They are now announcing their 19th X-Pak. $30 - $60 bucks a pop adds up. Talk about a barrier to entry
I am not sure when they started to NOT make new players buy all previous X-Paks, but it has been awhile.
Games, like many other tech related things, tend to go down in price over time.
Patience is not a common thing amongst gamers. Many players usually wait for years for a game to come out and drool quite heavily thinking of when they finally get to play it. You see this with almost every game's launch with server wait times on opening day.
I would say patience is key. Let the unforeseen bugs get worked out. Let the game drop in price. See what others are saying about the experience they are having in the game.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Clearly they aren't, as the minute a new pre-order comes out with a fancy hat and a headstart, MMO gamers jump on it like white on rice. To date, it doesn't look like we've learned a damn thing. Let's see how the next AAA pre-order fares.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Is Buying a Game at Launch a Bad Idea?
Depends on the psychology of the individual players, clearly.
Ever run into the guy who blows his stack if he encounters too many bugs? And wonder just what the hell he's doing playing a game during early release?
The guy who hates every new game he tries, yet never fails to purchase a box?
Hype/crash self-defeating fanboys? No one is more bitter than the ones who talk themselves into the greatest expectations.
Fanboys of Game X who bought a (clearly very different) Game Y, that any casual bystander immediately can tell they're going to hate for being different?
Personally, I don't find buying a game at launch to be as much of a mistake as attending a message board at launch.
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
The last game I bought at launch was WoW 8 years ago...Since then I have taken a watch and wait approach with every MMO and have not regretted it at all.....The savings is substantial, especially considering the number of MMOs out now..... It takes some patience, especially when you visit boards like these where everyone is saying how great this game or that game is, but in the end you win by waiting....ALmost always within 6 months it will be considerably cheaper (if not free) and often you learn that the game was crap and how angry people are taht paid for it.....
As for the OP's example, TSW, I was glad I got to try it in beta....I knew right away it was a total cash grab and not to touch it with a ten foot pole....ALso I just didn't think it was a very good game regardless of the price.
Looking at: The Repopulation
Preordering: None
Playing: Random Games
No, most gamers these days pre-order or have some access to an open or closed (with 93,000,00 invites) beta so they have a legitmate idea of what the game will be on launch. I feel the only time a player then as the right to say "Unfinished" is if beta greatly restrcted access to later content such as Cap level 10... Aside from those who make that complaint after trying the game for months for free
Yes buying a game at launch is always a good idea. I feel it allows you to establish yourself, become known in your community and earn a spot where someone else would already have one if you waited. Of course theres the steady decline of players from month to month that eventually opens spots but doing things in a game where you can use chat to ask for all the answers is easier... but not the same as being amungst the first when most people are still unaware of the secret to beat said boss or conquer said tricky quest/item location.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
6 months after launch seems like a great time to check out an MMO with the way they have been released the past few years. By then, either most of the problems are fixed and the first content delivery is on its way, or it's on life support and you saved yourself the time and money.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I think buying a game at launch is a good idea. It helps the company get that needed money to finish off the content it didn't have ready at launch.
I am starting to think buying games for betas is truly the worst decision I have made though. Recently with age of wushu (holy garbage).
Hero Evermore
Guild Master of Dragonspine since 1982.
Playing Path of Exile and deeply in love with it.
You make me like charity
That has to be one of the worst reasons to buy a game at launch. If the dev's did their jobs properly, the game will be complete at launch, as much as an MMO can be. If they can't successfully manage the project in a way that major features and content launch as intended, they deserve to go down with the ship (Bioware, I'm looking at you).
You make me like charity
Agreed. That's not something a person should pay for, it's something they should get paid for. Buying early for that reason only encourages releasing with bare minimum to get by. It's simply smart business to spend someone else's money whenever possible. Hell, that's how Age of Conan was released - hype it and pay for the rest of the development with the cash from preorders and first month sales.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I think buying a game at launch is terrible idea. However, I do it quite often.
What's worse... pre-orders... now that is something I have actually stopped doing almost entirely.
I rarely buy an MMORPG at launch. For me, it's not so much the money as the server queues, the lag, the bugs and rebalancing that goes on for the first few months that I want to avoid.
There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.
-- Herman Melville
Buy at launch? I might, if the game is something I'd enjoy and play for a while.
Put it off until later then skip it entirely? This happens quite often.
Pre-order with no information? Never.
Well...it really comes down to a matter of personal choice, which is how all decisions need to be made. So, if you purchased TSW at launch and played for two months after, sure your initial investment is higher than it would be now, but you also had those two months to enjoy the game. If it turns out you really liked the game, then that money is well invested. If you hated the game, well hindsight is 20/20.
It's not so much a matter of the money, unless you are on an extremely tight budget, but it's more of a matter of personal time invested. With ANY out there there's two questions you have to ask yourself before buying.
1) Why am I purchasing?
2) Do I HAVE to play this game at launch?
If you are purchasing for the sake of purchasing the newest game, and not because you've been following the development and/or news and really like what you see. Then maybe you should wait.
If you don't feel the overwhelming need to play the game right away, then maybe you should wait.
I didn't purchase SWTOR, Tera or TSW this past year, because I wasn't hugely interested in any of them. I purchased GW2 and WoW: MoP because I really wanted to play those games right away. I have over 100 hours invested in each game so I feel each game was a fine investment.
Even after TSW went on sale and B2P I still didn't purchase, because from what I have seen of it, I don't think I would really like it much. So even though the game is exceedingly cheap and a good deal, I probably wouldn't put more of a couple of hours time into it.
So the answer the question of the OP; It's a good idea if YOU feel it is.