Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Cost too much to play or would you pay anything?
Diross
Member Posts: 179
It seems that most games average player subscription cost has remained around the $14.99 per month. We all know that the it's taking increasing capital investments to develop, produce, and release a game over the last several years.
My question is, when should we expect to see higher subscription cost requirements to play online games in the future and what would a players subscription cost threshhold be for playing an online game? Would you consider the highest limit may $19.99 per month or even $25.00?
After all, the average $14.99 subscription rate can't stay that way forever. 
Eve-Online, EQ2, DnL, SWG (Dead), Guild Wars, Anarchy Online, EQ, DAoC, Planet Side, WoW, LOTR, Tabula Rasa.
Comments
i actually think we will keep seeing the 15$ a month thing but will also seea rise of in game product placement in future games as a way to recoup money without kicking up the fee. If that doesnt go over well then yes i see 20$ or even 25$ a month.
Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
Well, last major price bump was from 12.99 to 14.99.... so if it went up to 16.99 or so, no big deal..but I don't think it should leap to 19.99 w/o a corresponding leap in quality......
Who the hell are you, and why should I care?
Congrats! You are a victim of Trollstar!
19.99 a month would be no big deal for me..... bring it on
(might keep some undesirables out)
"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
Also, with globalization and outsourcing of development costs, customer service etc. prices should be kept under control I would hope.
Also their are more tools available to mmo developers, like graphics engines, etc. that have already been done thus decreasing costs of production.
Just my opinion.
As Trollstar said, I would be willing to pay it if it was worth that amount i.e. the quality was there.
I would too, but the reality of the marketplace today seems to be you pay more for less. So that worries me.
More likely as opposed to publishers raising prices they will look for independent developers to buy up and offer multi game discounts much like SOE is doing. This way they see the product before investing and know exactly what they're taking on.
Make a difference!
if they expect me to pay 5 or even 10 dollars more, they have to give me a good reason too, otherwise, no I won't pay that much. One of the reasons MMO's can become so profitable is because of how affordable the price is. I highly doubt a parent will buy a game for their children if they had to already pay an extra $25 a month, that's basically another half price of the original box.
I think we can all expect an increase in the standard subscription fees at some point. Certainly we do not expect a price drop. HOwever, I do not see myself spending over $20/month and should they rise above that, I may have to reconsider my entertainment choices.
noting my history in games, Ive helped keep my ubscription costs down by signing up for the 6 month plans. For me, when I get into a game, I play it for years (generally 2) so the 6month option is generally a good bet over the 1 or 3 month options. MOst games give the 1st 30 days free and I use that time to decide "is this my next long term MMORPG"? If so, I sign up.
Unfortunatly, of late I havnt been able to find a game that is a definitive yes.
Torrential
Torrential: DAOC (Pendragon)
Awned: World of Warcraft (Lothar)
Torren: Warhammer Online (Praag)
There's got to be a raise in costs at some point just because everything goes up in price and bandwith is probably going to rise in price unless they do something about the infrastructure. IMO $20 a month doesn't seem unreasonable when you compare it to the price of buying one or two single player games a month which you could plough through in hardly anytime at all unless they're 70+ hour RPGs or you're an achievment junkie and have to find absoloutely everything.
______________________________
WAR is coming. Look busy.
I currently pay 30.00 a month for a station pass and another 15.00 a month for another account.
I sometimes will additionally pay for a WoW account --one of my friend's actually just resubbed-- and additional EQ 1 accounts when necessary.
Price is not that important to me as much as the game is. I would be willing to pay a lot for a "great" game but no more than around 15.00 a month for a mediocre game. When I played EQ 1, it was worth it to ME to have 11 accounts at one time because it was fun and in some cases necessary.
-----
WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
Which is better, paying 14.99 a month for full access to a game, or paying $100+ a month on items to make the game fun? I have learned the hard way that a F2P game that sells items can be worse than paying 14.99 for a game that gives you everything as a member.
Then think about this cost...you buy a game for your console for about $50-60, you beat it in three months. That's about the same amount of money, but now you have to go out and buy a new game. For the serious gamer, you can beat these games in less than 3 months. With the online games and their constant changing, you can work alot harder and still not "beat" the game.
Then again, you could go back to playing Runescape for $5 a month.
Although the graphics are crumby and gameplay gets a little boring, you cannot find another game to kill time like ole' RS does. A boat load of skills to work on, VERY in depth quests, PvP, servers to choose from, mini-games, lots of people to talk to...who knew such a simple, low graphic game would be so successful? Perhaps it's because there are so many things to do. I don't play anymore, but I played that game longer than any other MMO I ever played.
Here are some ideas that I think would be successful.
First, NCSoft could easily launch a subscription bundle for around $25 per month to access all of their games. This would immediately compete with SOE's Station Access.
Once more free games are available they could tack on an optional $4 per month charge to receive some pay-only items in their freebie games. The final price would put it on par with Sony's current rate and could make the subscriber perceive NCSoft's bundle to have more value.
Sony could follow this behavior because - as I recall - they're wanting to go the route of micro-transactions as well. Hopefully NCSoft could force SOE to keep the price of their Station pass at a competitive level.
I would also like to see longer subscription plans made available, with perks. You could subscribe for one year and three months, on year and five months, two years.. what have you. These of course would offer discounts when compared to $15/mo for the same time period.
Those paying for more than one year up front could receive a special in-game item in much the same way that pre-orders are given special items. Different tiers of in-game items could be made available based on the post-1-year subscription length chosen by the subscriber.
What I'm referring to are fun things for houses, special clothing, unique pets, special graphical effects, or those sort of things which could be given to (or even presented to as a choice between items during subscribing to) those who pay for more than one year at a time.
This would make the subscriber feel a little more special, and that's important when a person is paying larger sums of money for something, but the items would not at all unbalance the actual game play.
This would bring in an infusion of cash without raising prices beyond $15/mo, thus retaining existing customers while increasing profits. Life time memberships prove - in my opinion - that such plans definitely have merit.
Not to end on a negative note, but the cynical side of me does not expect MMO companies to think of (nor implement) the above plans because it's so much easier to raise the subscription price than it is to think of customer-friendly (o noes!) yet successful alternatives. Yeah, I'm pretty jaded..
This increase could of been because of our value of the dollar going down. It's why you didn't see any increase quality in the games. Would this be right?
--
"Any free people have the right to choose how it wants to be govern thats the essence of democracy. It's sad when America has chosen for the stability and consistency of a dictatorship and doing it democratically" -utnow
I would gladly pay $30/mo for the right game. Unfortunately, that "right game" is nowhere in sight.