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Old Republic pricing will depend on MMO standard, says BioWare
Tiller
Member LegendaryPosts: 11,165
Star Wars: The Old Republic’s business model will depend on what’s considered to be the norm on other MMOs, BioWare’s told VG247, likely meaning the game will carry a subs model in the West.
“The way we look at these things is, ‘What’s the standard at the time?’ Obviously we’re not quite done yet. We’ve got a lot of work left to do. But we’ll be very conscious of how the market looks,” company head Greg Zeschuk said, speaking at GDC.
Both Zeschuk and BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka were at pains to stress the game’s business model has yet to be announced.
EA has previously said that the MMO, which as yet has no released date, will be a worldwide affair.
www.vg247.com/2009/04/20/old-republic-pricing-will-depend-on-mmo-standard-says-bioware/
Comments
Well, I believe the standard is 15 dollars a month.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
And how well are their games doing these days?
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Let's just all hope Bioware doesn't decide SOE is the busness model it deems worthy of imitating.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Let's just all hope Bioware doesn't decide SOE is the busness model it deems worthy of imitating.
I agree, SOE's current business model is in place because they can't make substantial money through quality products, so they must tack on cash shops to pay to play games in order to milk every last customer as dry as possible. Hopefully Bioware's game will be good enough that they won't have to stoop to that level.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Let's just all hope Bioware doesn't decide SOE is the busness model it deems worthy of imitating.
I agree, SOE's current business model is in place because they can't make substantial money through quality products, so they must tack on cash shops to pay to play games in order to milk every last customer as dry as possible. Hopefully Bioware's game will be good enough that they won't have to stoop to that level.
EQ2 is quality. IMHO it's one the better MMOs on the market, what killed EQ2 was all the zoning. I'm not a fan of SOE by any stretch of the imagination but I'm willing to bet that DCO and Free Realms will do pretty well.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Let's just all hope Bioware doesn't decide SOE is the busness model it deems worthy of imitating.
I agree, SOE's current business model is in place because they can't make substantial money through quality products, so they must tack on cash shops to pay to play games in order to milk every last customer as dry as possible. Hopefully Bioware's game will be good enough that they won't have to stoop to that level.
??? Did Abe just admit that SWG was a piece of chit game that couldn't hold it's own without being part of SOE's pricing discount? LOL
It's pretty obvious that they so badly want to put cash shops in the game to make EA loads of cash (since their MMOs haven't exactly been doing too great), but they know what'll happen if they do it.
Someone at EA is having dreams of the Geico money bundle whispering, "Psst. Come on....put in the cash shop. Really, people love it. It's not that hard of a decision. Plus, it'll make you bundles....BUNDLES."
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Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Let's just all hope Bioware doesn't decide SOE is the busness model it deems worthy of imitating.
I agree, SOE's current business model is in place because they can't make substantial money through quality products, so they must tack on cash shops to pay to play games in order to milk every last customer as dry as possible. Hopefully Bioware's game will be good enough that they won't have to stoop to that level.
EQ2 is quality. IMHO it's one the better MMOs on the market, what killed EQ2 was all the zoning. I'm not a fan of SOE by any stretch of the imagination but I'm willing to bet that DCO and Free Realms will do pretty well.
EQII may be good, I've never played it. I hear Vanguard is pretty good too. But while they may have a couple good titles, if you look at how many games they are actually running, and the success of those games as a whole, I think they needed these extra form of income to stay afloat.
I haven't really followed DCO and Free Realms, so I can't comment on their quality.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
$10 would be great.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Let's just all hope Bioware doesn't decide SOE is the busness model it deems worthy of imitating.
I agree, SOE's current business model is in place because they can't make substantial money through quality products, so they must tack on cash shops to pay to play games in order to milk every last customer as dry as possible. Hopefully Bioware's game will be good enough that they won't have to stoop to that level.
??? Did Abe just admit that SWG was a piece of chit game that couldn't hold it's own without being part of SOE's pricing discount? LOL
There is a contradiction in your own statement. Look at it closely. You are applying my statement on SWG former state based on its CURRENT pricing.
SWG was a great game. It IS a shitty game now. It didn't (or need to) get put on SOE's life support until the NGE ruined it.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
Let's just all hope Bioware doesn't decide SOE is the busness model it deems worthy of imitating.
I agree, SOE's current business model is in place because they can't make substantial money through quality products, so they must tack on cash shops to pay to play games in order to milk every last customer as dry as possible. Hopefully Bioware's game will be good enough that they won't have to stoop to that level.
EQ2 is quality. IMHO it's one the better MMOs on the market, what killed EQ2 was all the zoning. I'm not a fan of SOE by any stretch of the imagination but I'm willing to bet that DCO and Free Realms will do pretty well.
EQII may be good, I've never played it. I hear Vanguard is pretty good too. But while they may have a couple good titles, if you look at how many games they are actually running, and the success of those games as a whole, I think they needed these extra form of income to stay afloat.
I haven't really followed DCO and Free Realms, so I can't comment on their quality.
The quality is there with a lot of SOE games these days, even SWG for those who like it, I don't. It's their past reputation that has hurt them, which they are trying hard to overcome. They may do it with their upcoming titles which are more family orientated (for parents who play MMOs with their kids) within the market and less leet gamer, though some leet gamers will like some of them. By offering various payment options they allow anyone to jump right in. Free Realms will be free, but you can pay like $5 per month to access more content and items if you choose, or pay for it in MT piece by piece with their Sony cash or whatever it’s called that works across all their games.
As for pay models I hope TOR follows the Guild Wars 2 model, and it could be assumed that BioWare is waiting to see how these games I mentioned actually do. Guild Wars does well, with over 6 million or more people playing it, it's right up there with WoW worldwide numbers. Guildwars 2 will be just as huge.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
soe is not the norm; its the exception. and they do not set any standards, they improvise and in the process they piss off all their players.
Or is it? SOE seems to have a differemt idea.
soe is not the norm; its the exception. and they do not set any standards, they improvise and in the process they piss off all their players.
Well said and thank goodness for all our sake they aren't the norm because I'd be finding something else to do with my free time than play MMOs.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Monthly subscription? Lifetime subscription? Item shops? ... There is no such thing as a MMO pricing standard. The above is just an empty statement that can interpreted later by the Bioware/EA guys at will.
Monthly subscription? Lifetime subscription? Item shops? ... There is no such thing as a MMO pricing standard. The above is just an empty statement that can interpreted later by the Bioware/EA guys at will.
In all Honesty, I think they are watching Guild Wars, and my follow that pricing model, though not so much the game play style. With over 6 million players world wide they are almost up there with WoW, with a less known IP.
I could get on board with a system like this.
Client purchase options
Standard Game box --$59.99+One month of gold access.
Collectors Edition-- $89.99 (includes art book, Blue-Ray-ROM with special dev commentary video features with digital copies, more art work, some of the TOR exclusive Mp3 music, ingame exclusive item, and a collectors figurine of (TBD)) +One month of gold access.
Digital Download --$49.99 +One month of gold access.
(Bronze) Standard subscription-- free (includes your factional planets and allows you to play through your personal quests, minus space content) (yearly veteran rewards only)
(Silver) subscription--$9.99-- ( allows you access to all planets and areas, personal story arcs, all quest lines, minus space and high level (elite quests) (quarterly veteran rewards only)
(Gold) subscription --$14.99-- allows access to all the game and content minus expansions( separate purchase required) ( monthly veteran reward items included)
(Platinum) subscription $159.99 for one year. Allows access to all areas, all content, and free (up to 3 expansion areas) (Monthly veteran reward items included)
quest line access (or chapters) can be purchased separately for as little as $2.99-$4.99 each with the inclusion of a bonus item (the same as the veteran reward items in both gold and platinum).
Expansions remain the same as in most games. Pricing could be based on the amount of content and it's FMV (Fair market value). If you have a Platinum account, then you get up to 3 expansions as part of the package. Upgrading at anytime still allows you the same amount of expansions since it will could be in the form of a voucher, or credit that you could redeem at anytime for any expansion.
anyways people like options, whether it be paying for satellite TV, or using iTunes.
k its working now, what i was gooona say is i hope they go with the GW method if they follow SOE shoot me were i stand cause SOE pament methods stink(this is comeing form a major GW nut) also SWG realy wierd
lol ???
Whoa Tillamook, sorry but that's one of the worst cases I could imagine. The only way for game of this size to really is to have a monthly subscription of 10-15 dollars (with maybe a chance to buy yearly or lifetime sub for slight discount). I haven't ever tried Guild Wars so I'm not familiar with the amount of content they can or have created. Still I doubt the box sells alone can keep new content coming, which I personally would very much like.
I can't really explain why but something like 4,99 for a questline would be a horrible decision, even if I never had to buy them, that it breaks the game.
Anything that allows for more content with more money is just cashing.
I agree. If I have to buy the box and pay a monthly subscription that should be enough. If this game does microtransactions people will be turned off.
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Micro-transactions will be a game killer for me, no way am I going to pay for vertual property for a game!
I'm sure BioWare is smart enough to just do a basic monthly fee, unless EA steps in, then all bets are off =/
I Reject your Reality and Substitute it with My Own!
ok this is gonna be long so hang with me on this while I explain this model a bit
The secret is, it is a normal MMO that you pay for, has monthly sub of 14.99 which allows you to play everything as in any other western MMO, and you still pay for expansions like any other MMO, kinda like WoW, LOTRO, SWG, CoH. But if you are willing to commit to more, you get more.
It's like how you get a better deal when you buy a cell phone and commit to 2 years, you get a free phone ect, if you cancel you get charged, but in this case you already paid so you can’t just cancel. A few expansions thrown in really isn’t a huge bonus if you shell out the cash upfront.
If you are NOT willing to shell out anything but the price of the game (like some of the old KOTOR fans are saying) then you can still play the game, but you get waaaaay less, almost like a single player game, which they want anyways. None of those people like playing with others from the sounds of it anyways so don't feel bad because they won't be able to hang with you, if they want more, they will pay more.
People who pay wanna pay $14.99 per month get what they want, full blown MMO, people who wanna pay less get the deal they want, personal story arcs/ single player quests, in a large world.
My point is look at the bigger picture, past the “OMG it’s got freee in the title” Can you honestly say it’s fair that you pay the same as someone who has no job plays 40+ hours per week for a month and you only have maybe 10 hours per week to play because it happens to be a busy month at work for you? Wouldn’t you like to adjust your subscription plan based on how much time you think you may spend working on a particular set of quests on a monthly basis? You could actually save money.
It’s not as bad as it sounds, like I said, the people you are worried about “the free leet kids”, will be locked into working on their own quests, there would be places in the Galaxy you could go where you wouldn’t have to deal with them.
It's something to think about. I was where you are at myself, then I thought about how cool it would be if I could save money, and still have access to the game. If I needed a break from the quests I could just do the free plan for a month, yet I still had the option to play the game if the temptation arose and talk to my friends in it, instead of breaking out the credit card to chat ingame then find I I still needed a break and just wasted money on another month.
On the $4.99 thing. Those are just adventure packs kinda like SOE offers for EQ2-1. They are almost always kinda pointless, but some people who are super fans and want to do every single bit of content in the game buy those. Just a way to bring in extra revenue. I never bought those silly adventure packs for EQ2, and I image I could find plenty else to do in TOR without shelling out the money for them. By the time I get around to needing the extra quests, they would most likely be free, or come with the next expansion. So see you never really lose out, if you wait eventually you get what you want, without paying all up front.
I'm all fine with the standard but it just amazes me sometimes why devs and publishers don't do the $9.95 route. I think it would attract more people to play a quality mmo for less considering how the economy is these days. Then again what am I thinking, they all got $ in their heads anyway.
Yeah $10 would be pretty cool.