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"Scenic Pass" idea.
Mkilbride
Member UncommonPosts: 643
I like MMORPGS. My favorite part of MMORPGs is exploring, and seeing the world. Not leveling, not questing, not raiding. It's the World that is created. It's awesome.
There are alot of MMORPGs out there, that I like, but only for their worlds. WoW is one of them. FFXI / XIV is another. I like to explore their worlds. I rarely do leveling / dungeon / anything while playing these games. Hence why 15$ a month doesn't appeal to me, even if I feel subscription MMORPGs can STILL be a thing.
So, I had a new, money-making idea for these companies.
"Scenic Pass"
Reduced fee. 4.99$ instead of 14.99.
You cannot quest. You cannot level, earn money, Dungeon, or pick up items / trade. In no way can you advance your character. However...you can still explore the world / find new areas / and like. I imagine it's an untapped market. Tiered subscription. Some MMORPGs have tiered subscriptions, but this is my idea for one.
Basically, FFXI / FFXIV / WoW, and I guess Wildstar, or whatever, maybe even TESO, basically any subbed MMORPG can have a 4.99$ monthly fee on top of the base game that allows you to just inhabit the world..
I certainly know I'd sub to some of these MMORPGS to just explore, for 4.99$, but I won't pay 15$ just to explore.
Thoughts?
Help get Camelot Unchained made, a old-school MMORPG, with no hand holding!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13861848/camelot-unchained
Comments
your avatars face states my opinion perfectly but im sure there would be some who would enjoy this idea but how would this differ from "rentable games idea" or is this just for sub based mmorpgs?
exploring in its self might not be enough if there is nothing the player can interact with in the world
inhabitant pass = a pass that allows the player to do everything that is possible to do in towns but cant progress the storyline or affect the world in other way, can sell icecream, can tourists explore the world with a group that all the monsters ignore?
a ghost or a spirit? tourist flying ship bus? a tourist buff? non agression buff?
world guides? yes sure if we think deep enough we might make a reasonable idea out of this, assuming the games are more on the virtual world side
its not a bad idea but wouldnt they have an advantage if they explore the world first with their immortal character and memorize the key spots with their maps and then sub as a normal player and blast trhough everything?
who knows....
Imo, this is a terrible idea.
Because.. there would hardly be anything to stimulate the poor sod that is supposed to enjoy this I would think. Nothing to expect, just visuals. And if you do get to have expectations as you eh play, I would think that when the game denies you a particular consequence because of simplistic game design, it would feel terrible.
Also doesn't make any sense to me, if anyone would actually create a functional world (like opening doors, but even more complicated), but yet without including gameplay.
Sounds like a possible excuse to make a shallow and boring game world.
I seriously think such a game with a focus on providing a public with visuals really ought to have a basic form of interactivity, well beyond moving around in the world. I think the moment when a eh player realizes there are no more options for interactivity, the rest of the eh gameplay experience will suffer.
I think this idea is just a little too niche'. If all you can do is basically take in the world...might as well just promote more free trials in subscription games. I don't think it is interesting enough to develop. I don't think development for this would see a return on the investment. Because, it is highly likely that not enough people will use it.
I do feel like you might be on the tipping point of having a truly great idea. Because, this definitely feels fresh. It's just...lacking something.
Maybe if it dropped you into the role of NPC's. Say for instance, implementing it in a game like never winter (Which has a lot filler character/ extras walking around to make a scene more full). It could restrict you to an area and a certain task or set of tasks. But, it could also allow you to converse with normal players. And, mix it up with how exactly NPC's tend to behave. Which would make a game feel more alive.
That's one way to potentially rework it. But, keep thinking on it. I think you might come up with something really good ultimately.
Hmm, my idea really wasj ust for an "Explorers Pass", nothing more fancy. Just explore the world and such, enjoy the sights, but your character remains static as a reason to sub, you can still meet and add friends, basically a 5$ monthly 3D Chatroom :P
People pay more, for less.
Help get Camelot Unchained made, a old-school MMORPG, with no hand holding!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/13861848/camelot-unchained
I think it is a good idea, and an untapped one.
I would go so far as to say that a pay-as-you-go style would potentially work. For example if all you wanted to do was explore: $4.99/mo. If you wanted to add crafting in there, +$2.49 per month. Want to PvE without dungeons? +$2.49. Want to go into dungeons? +$2.49...
Anyway, good idea, might happen some day as it has no real bearing upon the other $15/mo paying players in a subscription model, except make the game have more players running around.
I've been thinking the same thing. There are a lot of game worlds I would pay to nose around in, invisible to other players and mobs. I'd love to see the rest of Middle Earth as my LoTRO adventure ended at Angmar, and there are plenty of other MMO worlds that I'd pay to look around but which I'll certainly never bother to play/play again: WoW, Rift, EQ and EQ2.
Maybe I spent too much time as a kid mapping out worlds for tabletop campaigns, but for me exploring game worlds is the most attractive part of an MMO. The other parts - the progression, the loot, combat, achievements, raids etc - I've pretty much lost interest in. I've been there and done that and had my fill. But I would certainly pay for a 'scenic pass'.
Just saw this on Massively - that 's the sort of thing I would want to be able to do. No character at all, basically just a free form camera able to go anywhere in the game world.