Will SWTOR finally prove subscription based models for MMOs beyond WoW are dead?

Tiller

Beyond the obvious complaints about how TOR is not an MMO, these complaints seem to be more frequent with every game launch, which leads me to believe that most folks don’t want to pay a subscription for the level of game design we are now seeing in MMOs.

 

If things are going to remain the same from here on out with MMos should we bother paying for them? Someone in another thread brought up a good point; most single player games have more robust and better multiplayer tools then most of these so called MMOs. MMOs seem to be catering to people who like to play alone, are we seeing a merge in genera here?  

 

If someone made the most epic and awesome hybrid MMO would people eventually feel that paying to play this was just as pointless as the one on rails? Here is what I expect to see…. “I’m not going to pay for this beyond the first month” Why? Are MMos these days just boring? What’s the secret to making folks want to pay a regular subscription rather than pay as they go?

 

Opinions and thoughts?

Onomas

They're not dead, there just isnt a good mmo out there to sub to. I wont play those crappy f2p that go p2w games. They are generic, and are all the same. You guys want f2p so much so you dont have to sub lol.

 

.50 cents a day for unlimited entertainment is cheap in anyones budget. These games just all look, feel, and are the same and people are sick of giving them money in subs. Its not dead by any means.

 

I want a full mmo not a half-a$$ed one. Til then no one gets my money. Archeage if done right id be happy to pay 20+ a month.

myrmx

swtor went the same route as AoC with linear content so linear it's pointless to try and get out of the marked road on your map because you will bump into tons of wall... wich is why casual are still not lvl 50 because a 256x256 map require twice as much time than an open world.

Subscription is only rewarded once a game hit a certain likable factor ... a lot of game attempt change that fails ( at least there is some company attempting change) my opinion is that games have to adapt faster to their playerbase and stop restraining them ingame , swtor for example would benefit greatly from once a month character transfer for free right now because some server pop are simply abyssmal.

 

Teala

Originally posted by tillamook

Beyond the obvious complaints about how TOR is not an MMO, these complaints seem to be more frequent with every game launch, which leads me to believe that most folks don’t want to pay a subscription for the level of game design we are now seeing in MMOs.

 

If things are going to remain the same from here on out with MMos should we bother paying for them? Someone in another thread brought up a good point; most single player games have more robust and better multiplayer tools then most of these so called MMOs. MMOs seem to be catering to people who like to play alone, are we seeing a merge in genera here?  

 

If someone made the most epic and awesome hybrid MMO would people eventually feel that paying to play this was just as pointless as the one on rails? Here is what I expect to see…. “I’m not going to pay for this beyond the first month” Why? Are MMos these days just boring? What’s the secret to making folks want to pay a regular subscription rather than pay as they go?

 

Opinions and thoughts?

For a game like SWTOR there should be no monthly sub fee - SWTOR should be B2P with purchasable DLC.  For a truly good MMORPG, yes I think there is a place for a monthly fee - but that comes with conditions.

Those conditions beings(in my opinion):

• 
  good customer support
• 
  live team to squash bugs
• 
  live team to add some content updates on at a fairly decent bases - like maybe once every two months
• 
  everything is accessible to players that pay the monthly fee in one form or another

Votan

No, however every game is going to have a cash shop of some kind going forward.  If anything SWTOR proved you can get a few million people to buy a game that is not really an MMO and have a surprising amount of them still willing to pay $15 a month to play it.

 

Think of the money Skyrim could have made if they simply added a multiplayer mode and had called it a MMO. 

hikaru77

Maybe im wrong but, i think swtor is doing pretty well with the subscription based model. 

Onomas

Originally posted by hikaru77

Maybe im wrong but, i think swtor is doing pretty well with the subscription based model. 

Yes, but its a solo game like KTOR for your console. Dont see the huge player base sticking around paying them 15/month when they can play for free with a regular rpg that offers the same thing. Its why i quit. TOR reminds me of GW's in a way, it should have been B2P like mentioned above. GW2 from what i ahve read will destroy TOR in many aspects and im not even a GW fan

Valua

Originally posted by tillamook

Beyond the obvious complaints about how TOR is not an MMO, these complaints seem to be more frequent with every game launch, which leads me to believe that most folks don’t want to pay a subscription for the level of game design we are now seeing in MMOs.

 

If things are going to remain the same from here on out with MMos should we bother paying for them? Someone in another thread brought up a good point; most single player games have more robust and better multiplayer tools then most of these so called MMOs. MMOs seem to be catering to people who like to play alone, are we seeing a merge in genera here?  

 

If someone made the most epic and awesome hybrid MMO would people eventually feel that paying to play this was just as pointless as the one on rails? Here is what I expect to see…. “I’m not going to pay for this beyond the first month” Why? Are MMos these days just boring? What’s the secret to making folks want to pay a regular subscription rather than pay as they go?

 

Opinions and thoughts?

 

It's already been proven by every single subscription MMO since World of Warcraft.

 

But I think The Old Republic will be the exception. 

 

The popular thing to do now is bash The Old Republic, and many people are jumping on that bandwagon, as they do with anything that is popular (The Secret World, Avatar, Harry Potter, Twilight, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings etc.)

 

Wait a few months and The Old Republic will be one of, if not the, best game this year, including all the new releases.

NagilumSadow

 

Will SWTOR finally prove subscription based models for MMOs beyond WoW are dead?

 

In a word, "yes". Now, time for shameless PvP self-promotion.

Drakxii

Originally posted by Valua

Originally posted by tillamook

Beyond the obvious complaints about how TOR is not an MMO, these complaints seem to be more frequent with every game launch, which leads me to believe that most folks don’t want to pay a subscription for the level of game design we are now seeing in MMOs.

 

If things are going to remain the same from here on out with MMos should we bother paying for them? Someone in another thread brought up a good point; most single player games have more robust and better multiplayer tools then most of these so called MMOs. MMOs seem to be catering to people who like to play alone, are we seeing a merge in genera here?  

 

If someone made the most epic and awesome hybrid MMO would people eventually feel that paying to play this was just as pointless as the one on rails? Here is what I expect to see…. “I’m not going to pay for this beyond the first month” Why? Are MMos these days just boring? What’s the secret to making folks want to pay a regular subscription rather than pay as they go?

 

Opinions and thoughts?

 

It's already been proven by every single subscription MMO since World of Warcraft.

 

But I think The Old Republic will be the exception. 

 

The popular thing to do now is bash The Old Republic, and many people are jumping on that bandwagon, as they do with anything that is popular (The Secret World, Avatar, Harry Potter, Twilight, World of Warcraft, Lord of the Rings etc.)

 

Wait a few months and The Old Republic will be one of, if not the, best game this year, including all the new releases.

Are you really defending SWTOR with Twilight?  TWILIGHT?  wow...

 

Also on topic I hope not, I HATE the cash shop model.   I have yet to play a P2W that I found fun.

Valua

Are you really defending SWTOR with Twilight?  TWILIGHT?  wow...

 

Also on topic I hope not, I HATE the cash shop model.   I have yet to play a P2W that I found fun.

 

I wasn't going to put Twilight, but it does seem to be the punching bag lately, most of those hitting it haven't even seen it.

 

F2P (or P2W as most) are never quite as immersive, and it's never fun to play a game for weeks/months only to be bettered by a rich player who only started a couple of days before.

 

I've still got hopes for The Secret World, Tera and The Old Republic (after patches) to redeem the greatness of the subsription market!

 

Oh and let's not forget Final Fantasy XIV, if they pull off everything that is included in 2.0 then that could possibly turn into one of the greatest MMO's ever.

Hrimnir

You're commiting the fallacy of confusing cause and effect.

The reason SW:TOR is failing so miserably has absolutely SQUAT to do with the fact that its a subscription based model, and a lot to do with the fact that its a buggy piece of crap that was released without anywhere close to enough content, especially at endgame.

The reason previous sub based MMO's have not done well is because they've all tried to copy the WOW model without doing anything special or new.  Yes, SWTOR had the voice acting, and had the *REST* of the game not been such a hulking titan of fail, then it would probably have done extremely well.  Rift is an example of a game based on the WOW model that innovated in the right places, but more importantly was released bug free, with a good amount of content, and continued to add (quality) content at a high rate after release.  Thus, why it is successful.

You F2P people have been just grasping at straws for years now.  You've been saying for years that sub models will die and F2P will take over and blah blah, yet that hasnt happened nor will it happen.  The simple reality is the majority of the western gamerbase views the entire F2P model for what it is; an easy way to seperate idiots from their money.

Master10K

I don't think this proves that subscription-based MMOs are dead, but that devs and publishers will finally realize that you can no longer release a sub-based game an expect a huge number of subscribers. New sub-based games will become a niche and will do well in holding a 1 million of less subscribers, but the days of dreaming WoW sub numbers are dead.

Tiller

Originally posted by Master10K

I don't think this proves that subscription-based MMOs are dead, but that devs and publishers will finally realize that you can no longer release a sub-based game an expect a huge number of subscribers. New sub-based games will become a niche and will do well in holding a 1 million of less subscribers, but the days of dreaming WoW sub numbers are dead.

at least looking to get  those numbers when you only launch your game in EU and N/A

Master10K

Originally posted by tillamook

Originally posted by Master10K

I don't think this proves that subscription-based MMOs are dead, but that devs and publishers will finally realize that you can no longer release a sub-based game an expect a huge number of subscribers. New sub-based games will become a niche and will do well in holding a 1 million of less subscribers, but the days of dreaming WoW sub numbers are dead.

at least looking to get  those numbers when you only launch your game in EU and N/A

True, Asia is definitely a huge market.