another reason why mmos these days not worth 15/month is because even the sub based mmos now open cash shops..... they suck, i pay 50 for your box, and 15 every month and you want me to buy thinks in a cash shop stuff i wouldnt be able to get other way? lol at greedy devs
they are screwing their own games with the help of indigenous players that dont care and seems to not know about having a good game well done and well served for the money they want
4. It FORCES the devs to add content. I don´t know why anyone would want a game to require a lifetime subscription since that means the devs have no reason to incrementally make the game better. While a subscription fee adds a lot of predictability for the devs, it also requires them to add content frequently to maintain that predictability.
No it doesn't. Knowing that they are getting their money each month regardless of what they do (or don't do) makes them lazy.
How many time we seen subscription MMOs at launch putting out monthly content updates, then after a few months they slacken off until we end up getting only 3-4 major content updates a year. All the while we are still paying them the same amount and getting less for our subscription dollar than we were at launch.
The problem with the sub model is that in households with multiple subs, they really add up. 60 bucks a month for four of us to have a sub (me, the wife and two teens). We've migrated to some of the f2p games for that very reason. I certainly can't afford to have subs to multiple games, although I'd like to, for sure. I can't sub to WoW, RIFT, Aion and EVE all at the same time althought I enjoy each one of those. The sub model, as we know it, limits gaming too much.
And so does a dinner out with a family of four. I fail to see the logic. Go to a ballgame, even a family pack will net you 50bucks for a crappy team. If you go to a movie they don't give you a family discount last I checked. (Drive-in's by the carload excluded)
If you can't afford playing multiples its not the companies fault you can not budget additional cost into your spending, we each decide that ourselves.
As for cost, its outdated, it should have risen quite a while ago, the same with box copy prices slowly making $60 the normal for PC gaming non-budget titles(even budget titles are normally 30 compared to 20 previously)
There is no cheaper hobby. Maybe this is coming from a guy that has played tabletop games and played MTG at tournaments every saturday and sunday, I know what expensive hobbies are. I also am the type if I'm not playing an MMO I'll buy a new game or more each month, so this to me is the cheapest route if I choose to play a game.
I'm not sure why everyone compares a monthly MMO subscription to a night out at the movies. I think a more accurate comparison would be a membership to a streaming video service such as Netflix, which is around $9 USD per month. From that perspective, MMOs aren't quite the bargain some make them out to be, especially when you consider the cost of multiple MMO accounts in a single household, whereas you would typically only need one Netflix account.
The argument is moot, regardless. Whether or not the cost is "worth it" is completely subjective. I do believe that many MMOs could benefit from lowering their monthly fee, and I agree that sticking to a standard $15 fee is outdated in the current market, which is overly-saturated with mediocrity, but, I don't necessarily fault a company for charging more than their cost to maintain the game, and I understand that not all of my money is going toward the game's continued development. If it did, we wouldn't likely see the development of subsequent titles, which arguably advance the genre.
When MMOs first came out, they were $9.95 a month (EQ and UO), in approx 1998.
In 2002 FFXI came out at 12.95.
In 2003, UO raised their rate to 14.95.
In 2005, EQ and DAoC followed suit and raised their fees to 14.95, which is also where WoW came in at about the same time.
Since then, MMO fees have remained largely unchanged. I think we should be pretty happy that the service fees for the games we love haven't changed in the last 6 years or so.
You probably get more use out of your MMO than you do your cellphone, which you probably have to pay for more per month than a game sub.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
I'm not sure why everyone compares a monthly MMO subscription to a night out at the movies. I think a more accurate comparison would be a membership to a streaming video service such as Netflix, which is around $9 USD per month. From that perspective, MMOs aren't quite the bargain some make them out to be, especially when you consider the cost of multiple MMO accounts in a single household, whereas you would typically only need one Netflix account.
The argument is moot, regardless. Whether or not the cost is "worth it" is completely subjective. I do believe that many MMOs could benefit from lowering their monthly fee, and I agree that sticking to a standard $15 fee is outdated in the current market, which is overly-saturated with mediocrity, but, I don't necessarily fault a company for charging more than their cost to maintain the game, and I understand that not all of my money is going toward the game's continued development. If it did, we wouldn't likely see the development of subsequent titles, which arguably advance the genre.
There is a big difference in streaming media you purchased from a company and hosting content you created. Granted, Netflix has a very technical setup, however, the POINT is moot as they don't actually create the programming you see.
Regardless of price we're not gettin our moneys worth.
Lol, how so?
$15 for 30 days of a service is good. How far do you think $15 is gona get you on 1 night out drinking? or a night of rental movies?
What I find funny is how it's only since F2P became more common in the Western market that it seems more and more people are suddenly declaring subscriptions aren't worth it, or a rip-off, or out-dated.
I think most of the complaints comes from a very simple thing: People want something for nothing.
Given the fact that you get "all you can eat" access to the content for a month at a time, with no restrictions, $15 is an extremely good deal.
Let's say someone's playing casually... say 10 hours a week - 2 hours per session, 5 nights per week. That's 40 hours in a month. They're paying just under 40 cents an hour. For myself, I spend easily more than that, probably closer to 20 hours a week most times. 80 hours a month is costing me less than 20 cents an hour... with access to everything the game offers, as much as I want, when ever I want.
Some will say "yeah but you still have to buy the game". Of course. There are expenses that go into developing content, marketing, packaging, distributing, etc. etc. People will pay $60 or more on a game that lasts them 30 hours and rave about it. Somehow, though, a MMO that they get hundreds, if not thousands of hours out of "isn't worth it".
Then there's one of my favorites, "Subscriptions make you feel obligated to play". If you are playing a game out of a sense of "obligation" instead of "because you enjoy playing it", then you should probably be looking for a different game. The word "obligation" has no place in an activity that is engaged in voluntarily for entertainment. The "obligated" argument is transparent spin-doctoring. Nothing more.
When you break them all down, any argument commonly made against subs falls apart under even moderate scrutiny.
Again, it comes back to people simply wanting something for nothing.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
I'm not sure why everyone compares a monthly MMO subscription to a night out at the movies. I think a more accurate comparison would be a membership to a streaming video service such as Netflix, which is around $9 USD per month. From that perspective, MMOs aren't quite the bargain some make them out to be, especially when you consider the cost of multiple MMO accounts in a single household, whereas you would typically only need one Netflix account.
The argument is moot, regardless. Whether or not the cost is "worth it" is completely subjective. I do believe that many MMOs could benefit from lowering their monthly fee, and I agree that sticking to a standard $15 fee is outdated in the current market, which is overly-saturated with mediocrity, but, I don't necessarily fault a company for charging more than their cost to maintain the game, and I understand that not all of my money is going toward the game's continued development. If it did, we wouldn't likely see the development of subsequent titles, which arguably advance the genre.
There is a big difference in streaming media you purchased from a company and hosting content you created. Granted, Netflix has a very technical setup, however, the POINT is moot as they don't actually create the programming you see.
For the developer, a sub offers a predictable stable source of regular revenue. F2P can fluctuate wildly. But F2P doesn't bar the customer from spending more money. That's really important. With a P2P, you actually prevent customers from spending more money than they can. That's why microtransactions are the norm now even in P2P games; it's the best of both worlds for devs.
For players, if you play the game regularly, a sub is preferable since it controls how much you can spend. With F2P you can end up spending much more than the standard $15/month. Before you know it, those little $1-5 transactions end up being $50 or even a $100 per month. But if you are a player who can't play a game consistently and often, P2P may be better since you don't have to worry about playing all the time.
Honestly I do not get the outrage or other issues players have with a monthly sub fee. Hell I don't even get the issue of games that are free but have pay shops. These games cost money to develop and maintain, so pay them if you find them worth playing. Its not it was years ago when we paid "hourly" fees to access games. I used to pay 6.00 an hour to play one game and there was a Sprint net charge on top of that of 1.50 per hour because I didn't have access to a local GEnie node in my area. Even when the games went down to 3.00 an hour it still would add up.
Lets look at arcade games, pinball all those would eat up a twenty in no time and yet we paid to play them when we could. MMORPGs are a hobby, a source of entertainment they are going to cost. The cost of the box, expansions every so often and a cheap monthly sub fee is just that, cheap. I am far from a major capitalist that said I understand that it does cost and it would be nice if these companies can see a profit. Why? So they continue to make things for me to play, I get that. So why don't many of you?
12.95 to 20.00 bucks a month for that matter is damn cheap for basically 24/7 access to a fun medium. I spent more for lunch for myself then it costs to play these games. So why these ongoing threads of wanting something for nothing?
MMORPG's ... I think could use a boost in prices to help them stay "mmorpg"s and not get ruined. Many of been charging $15 for a while and inflation is eating away at the profits that allow for bug fix/expansion/enhancement.
MMOs...most don't deserve the customary $15 a month sub and I won't pay it. $9.99 is a fair subscription price for a MMO, and Turbine charges that for LotRO, so that I think is perfect.
Since this is not thread about discussing what the difference between a MMO and a MMORPG is, I won't get into that here. i probably left my opinion pile somewhere in another thread specifically about that subject.
I am the Player that wonders... "What the %#*& just happened?!" ............... "I Believe... There should be NO financial connection or portals between the Real World and the Virtual in MMOs. " __Ever Present Cockroach of the MMO Verses__ ...scurrying to and fro... .munching on bits of garbage... always under foot...
The problem with the sub model is that in households with multiple subs, they really add up. 60 bucks a month for four of us to have a sub (me, the wife and two teens). We've migrated to some of the f2p games for that very reason. I certainly can't afford to have subs to multiple games, although I'd like to, for sure. I can't sub to WoW, RIFT, Aion and EVE all at the same time althought I enjoy each one of those. The sub model, as we know it, limits gaming too much.
We have three playing games at our house out of six. Personally I spent hell of alot more taking them out to dinner then I spend even in a year of MOORPG subs. I keep two to three games active myself, the wife one, and one of my sons another. The other three teens aren't interested. Just a middle class family on our part, just incase you think we're wealthy.
The bigger issue for me is finding a game that suits me, so that I can spend my free time when I want to play focused on that one game. Since spreading myself out means I dont get much done in any "one" game. I love LoTRO but the pvp lacks so I end up missing that and playing less and less. AoC irks me to no end with the hacks, badly written descriptions of what abilties do or don't do or what one replaces a different ability etc that I don't bother to play that one anymore tho parts of it I really loved. Which leads me back to WOW which due to the dumbing down of all the challenges in the game means alot less to me. (ie the removing the risk/reward system for a simple system that a drunken monkey pulling a lever could do)
Would rather pay a sub anyday over a cash shop which ends up costing you much much more in most cases if you want to accomplish anything.
Agreed, I tend to think that over all the cash shop system isn't for me. I don't mind it being there for those who want to pick and choose. My son when he started LoTRO used a bit of it until he decided it was worth his while to be a full sub. I basically think that its a good option for those who just want to try out a game.
When MMOs first came out, they were $9.95 a month (EQ and UO), in approx 1998.
In 2002 FFXI came out at 12.95.
In 2003, UO raised their rate to 14.95.
In 2005, EQ and DAoC followed suit and raised their fees to 14.95, which is also where WoW came in at about the same time.
Since then, MMO fees have remained largely unchanged. I think we should be pretty happy that the service fees for the games we love haven't changed in the last 6 years or so.
You probably get more use out of your MMO than you do your cellphone, which you probably have to pay for more per month than a game sub.
Some little technical things.
EQ launched with a monthly fee of $9.89.
By the time EQ2/WoW launched in 2004 the standard monthly fee was already $14.95. I was still playing EQ and DAoC when they raised their prices to 14.95 and I have never played EQ1 since the launch of Star Wars Galaxies in 2003.
As to the topic the subscription prices being outdated or worth it.. obviously depends on the product. Do you enjoy the games currently on the market? Are there games you hit /cancel that you would install and play just because they were free?
I never quit a game over the monthly fee. Any game I quit was because the developers ingested to many mind altering drugs. So even if their game was free I would not subject myself to the annoyance that they call "content". That is of course the problem with trying to sell something.
Then of course if a game was very successful and almost all of us loved it. Then "that company" decided to jump the price to $19.95 and we were ok with that. The rest of the industry would jump on that with absolutely no concept of the fact we aren't willing to pay it... to them.
Just my opinion of course and I am likely not the best person to talk about MMO's right now as I am very irritated with the market.
Would rather pay a sub anyday over a cash shop which ends up costing you much much more in most cases if you want to accomplish anything.
I feel the same way.
Personally, I've never understood the kind of mentality that can accept less for more. The sub fee that includes the entire game and gives you access to the game all month is the wiser deal. Not sure why so many people fall for the "free" word. It's 15 bucks a month ffs. It should be higher in 2011.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Would rather pay a sub anyday over a cash shop which ends up costing you much much more in most cases if you want to accomplish anything.
I feel the same way.
Personally, I've never understood the kind of mentality that can accept less for more. The sub fee that includes the entire game and gives you access to the game all month is the wiser deal. Not sure why so many people fall for the "free" word. It's 15 bucks a month ffs. It should be higher in 2011.
Uh? What less for more? More like less for nothing.
Not many games are worth $15 a month. For many of them, FREE is the only way i would even try it.
Would rather pay a sub anyday over a cash shop which ends up costing you much much more in most cases if you want to accomplish anything.
I feel the same way.
Personally, I've never understood the kind of mentality that can accept less for more. The sub fee that includes the entire game and gives you access to the game all month is the wiser deal. Not sure why so many people fall for the "free" word. It's 15 bucks a month ffs. It should be higher in 2011.
Uh? What less for more? More like less for nothing.
Not many games are worth $15 a month. For many of them, FREE is the only way i would even try it.
To you they may not be.
To plenty others (who are playing the games, for years in some cases) they certainly are.
The "less for more" remark pertains to how cash shop MMOs are set up to nickel and dime players. For a flat monthly fee, P2P MMOs offer you everything the game has, with unlimited access for a month at a time. The developers keep the money coming in by continuously adding to and keeping the game entertaining enough for people to want to continue spending that sub fee month after month.
Cash shop games, on the other hand, are set up to make their money in smaller, but more frequent increments by designing the game in such a way that players are driven to the cash shop as often as possible. They design inconvenienes, speed bumps and obstacles into the game deliberately... then sell convenient work-arounds to them in the cash shop.
As just one very basic example that I've seen in various F2P MMOs I've tried... Once you're past the first 20-30 levels, where leveling is quick and the game throws freebies at you like candy, the grind swiftly becomes such that it can put even the grindiest P2P MMO to shame. What keeps people playing? Well, they sell these nifty xp potions in the cash shop to help you speed the leveling back up. Incidentally, many F2P's I've played throw weaker versions of those xp potions at you as freebies during those 20-30 levels I mentioned above. You know... to get you used to and dependent on them so you have an easier time getting the credit card out when the real grind hits and the freebies stop coming.
For someone who's in a serious hurry to level up (which is many MMO players these days, ever racing toward that coveted "level cap"), keeping those xp potions in good supply can add up. And that's not even getting into all the other various things the game will try and nudge you into buying through other inconveniences they've deliberately designed into the game.
For the more aggressive player, $15 in a F2P cash shop could be considered a "cheap month".
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Outdated. Originally the 15 bucks a month got you a huge virtual immersive world, interacting with hundreds and hundreds of players at once. Now it's all instanced down to 5 man groups. Not worth the money.
Outdated. Originally the 15 bucks a month got you a huge virtual immersive world, interacting with hundreds and hundreds of players at once. Now it's all instanced down to 5 man groups. Not worth the money.
But that comes back to the developer failing to make a game worth the sub fee. That has nothing to do with the subscription.
If the game isn't worth the $15 to enough people, the game will not do well and either it will go F2P, or it will go offline.
I think sub-based games are great in that way. The developers really have to earn the sub fee each and every month, or they sink.
I'm seeing a lot of misplaced blame lately in that regard. If a MMO comes out that people don't find worth playing, instead of acknowledging that the devs failed to make a game they like... they blame it on the subscription fee. As though the lack of a sub fee suddenly would make the game better or something.
"If you just step away for a sec you will clearly see all the pot holes in the road, and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Outdated. Originally the 15 bucks a month got you a huge virtual immersive world, interacting with hundreds and hundreds of players at once. Now it's all instanced down to 5 man groups. Not worth the money.
But that comes back to the developer failing to make a game worth the sub fee. That has nothing to do with the subscription.
If the game isn't worth the $15 to enough people, the game will not do well and either it will go F2P, or it will go offline.
I think sub-based games are great in that way. The developers really have to earn the sub fee each and every month, or they sink.
I'm seeing a lot of misplaced blame lately in that regard. If a MMO comes out that people don't find worth playing, instead of acknowledging that the devs failed to make a game they like... they blame it on the subscription fee. As though the lack of a sub fee suddenly would make the game better or something.
Oh I'm completely aware its the fault of the devs for making bad games. That's why I didn't pay 15 bucks for LotRO, felt like a coop offline LAN game or something, not an MMO.
Regardless of price we're not gettin our moneys worth.
Lol, how so?
$15 for 30 days of a service is good. How far do you think $15 is gona get you on 1 night out drinking? or a night of rental movies?
yup
It was good, when the service was good. The service is no longer good.
Which game are you talking about or are you one of those people that just thinks they ALL suck because of burn out?
Mellkor is right. When you compare the cost of 15 bucks a month for entertainment to one night out at the bar or various other modes of entertainment.....the 15 bucks for a month deal still wins, that is if you're playing a game you ENJOY. If you just don't enjoy any MMOs, well then that's just you and anyone else with that opinion. Some of us still find a few games to be entertaining.
Comments
another reason why mmos these days not worth 15/month is because even the sub based mmos now open cash shops..... they suck, i pay 50 for your box, and 15 every month and you want me to buy thinks in a cash shop stuff i wouldnt be able to get other way? lol at greedy devs
they are screwing their own games with the help of indigenous players that dont care and seems to not know about having a good game well done and well served for the money they want
No it doesn't. Knowing that they are getting their money each month regardless of what they do (or don't do) makes them lazy.
How many time we seen subscription MMOs at launch putting out monthly content updates, then after a few months they slacken off until we end up getting only 3-4 major content updates a year. All the while we are still paying them the same amount and getting less for our subscription dollar than we were at launch.
And so does a dinner out with a family of four. I fail to see the logic. Go to a ballgame, even a family pack will net you 50bucks for a crappy team. If you go to a movie they don't give you a family discount last I checked. (Drive-in's by the carload excluded)
If you can't afford playing multiples its not the companies fault you can not budget additional cost into your spending, we each decide that ourselves.
As for cost, its outdated, it should have risen quite a while ago, the same with box copy prices slowly making $60 the normal for PC gaming non-budget titles(even budget titles are normally 30 compared to 20 previously)
There is no cheaper hobby. Maybe this is coming from a guy that has played tabletop games and played MTG at tournaments every saturday and sunday, I know what expensive hobbies are. I also am the type if I'm not playing an MMO I'll buy a new game or more each month, so this to me is the cheapest route if I choose to play a game.
I'm not sure why everyone compares a monthly MMO subscription to a night out at the movies. I think a more accurate comparison would be a membership to a streaming video service such as Netflix, which is around $9 USD per month. From that perspective, MMOs aren't quite the bargain some make them out to be, especially when you consider the cost of multiple MMO accounts in a single household, whereas you would typically only need one Netflix account.
The argument is moot, regardless. Whether or not the cost is "worth it" is completely subjective. I do believe that many MMOs could benefit from lowering their monthly fee, and I agree that sticking to a standard $15 fee is outdated in the current market, which is overly-saturated with mediocrity, but, I don't necessarily fault a company for charging more than their cost to maintain the game, and I understand that not all of my money is going toward the game's continued development. If it did, we wouldn't likely see the development of subsequent titles, which arguably advance the genre.
Perhaps consider this:
When MMOs first came out, they were $9.95 a month (EQ and UO), in approx 1998.
In 2002 FFXI came out at 12.95.
In 2003, UO raised their rate to 14.95.
In 2005, EQ and DAoC followed suit and raised their fees to 14.95, which is also where WoW came in at about the same time.
Since then, MMO fees have remained largely unchanged. I think we should be pretty happy that the service fees for the games we love haven't changed in the last 6 years or so.
You probably get more use out of your MMO than you do your cellphone, which you probably have to pay for more per month than a game sub.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
There is a big difference in streaming media you purchased from a company and hosting content you created. Granted, Netflix has a very technical setup, however, the POINT is moot as they don't actually create the programming you see.
What I find funny is how it's only since F2P became more common in the Western market that it seems more and more people are suddenly declaring subscriptions aren't worth it, or a rip-off, or out-dated.
I think most of the complaints comes from a very simple thing: People want something for nothing.
Given the fact that you get "all you can eat" access to the content for a month at a time, with no restrictions, $15 is an extremely good deal.
Let's say someone's playing casually... say 10 hours a week - 2 hours per session, 5 nights per week. That's 40 hours in a month. They're paying just under 40 cents an hour. For myself, I spend easily more than that, probably closer to 20 hours a week most times. 80 hours a month is costing me less than 20 cents an hour... with access to everything the game offers, as much as I want, when ever I want.
Some will say "yeah but you still have to buy the game". Of course. There are expenses that go into developing content, marketing, packaging, distributing, etc. etc. People will pay $60 or more on a game that lasts them 30 hours and rave about it. Somehow, though, a MMO that they get hundreds, if not thousands of hours out of "isn't worth it".
Then there's one of my favorites, "Subscriptions make you feel obligated to play". If you are playing a game out of a sense of "obligation" instead of "because you enjoy playing it", then you should probably be looking for a different game. The word "obligation" has no place in an activity that is engaged in voluntarily for entertainment. The "obligated" argument is transparent spin-doctoring. Nothing more.
When you break them all down, any argument commonly made against subs falls apart under even moderate scrutiny.
Again, it comes back to people simply wanting something for nothing.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
I think you may have misunderstood my POINT.
The answer depends upon the developer and player.
For the developer, a sub offers a predictable stable source of regular revenue. F2P can fluctuate wildly. But F2P doesn't bar the customer from spending more money. That's really important. With a P2P, you actually prevent customers from spending more money than they can. That's why microtransactions are the norm now even in P2P games; it's the best of both worlds for devs.
For players, if you play the game regularly, a sub is preferable since it controls how much you can spend. With F2P you can end up spending much more than the standard $15/month. Before you know it, those little $1-5 transactions end up being $50 or even a $100 per month. But if you are a player who can't play a game consistently and often, P2P may be better since you don't have to worry about playing all the time.
Honestly I do not get the outrage or other issues players have with a monthly sub fee. Hell I don't even get the issue of games that are free but have pay shops. These games cost money to develop and maintain, so pay them if you find them worth playing. Its not it was years ago when we paid "hourly" fees to access games. I used to pay 6.00 an hour to play one game and there was a Sprint net charge on top of that of 1.50 per hour because I didn't have access to a local GEnie node in my area. Even when the games went down to 3.00 an hour it still would add up.
Lets look at arcade games, pinball all those would eat up a twenty in no time and yet we paid to play them when we could. MMORPGs are a hobby, a source of entertainment they are going to cost. The cost of the box, expansions every so often and a cheap monthly sub fee is just that, cheap. I am far from a major capitalist that said I understand that it does cost and it would be nice if these companies can see a profit. Why? So they continue to make things for me to play, I get that. So why don't many of you?
12.95 to 20.00 bucks a month for that matter is damn cheap for basically 24/7 access to a fun medium. I spent more for lunch for myself then it costs to play these games. So why these ongoing threads of wanting something for nothing?
Vote: number 2 from the top.
MMORPG's ... I think could use a boost in prices to help them stay "mmorpg"s and not get ruined. Many of been charging $15 for a while and inflation is eating away at the profits that allow for bug fix/expansion/enhancement.
MMOs...most don't deserve the customary $15 a month sub and I won't pay it. $9.99 is a fair subscription price for a MMO, and Turbine charges that for LotRO, so that I think is perfect.
Since this is not thread about discussing what the difference between a MMO and a MMORPG is, I won't get into that here. i probably left my opinion pile somewhere in another thread specifically about that subject.
I am the Player that wonders... "What the %#*& just happened?!"
...............
"I Believe... There should be NO financial connection or portals between the Real World and the Virtual in MMOs. "
__Ever Present Cockroach of the MMO Verses__
...scurrying to and fro... .munching on bits of garbage... always under foot...
We have three playing games at our house out of six. Personally I spent hell of alot more taking them out to dinner then I spend even in a year of MOORPG subs. I keep two to three games active myself, the wife one, and one of my sons another. The other three teens aren't interested. Just a middle class family on our part, just incase you think we're wealthy.
The bigger issue for me is finding a game that suits me, so that I can spend my free time when I want to play focused on that one game. Since spreading myself out means I dont get much done in any "one" game. I love LoTRO but the pvp lacks so I end up missing that and playing less and less. AoC irks me to no end with the hacks, badly written descriptions of what abilties do or don't do or what one replaces a different ability etc that I don't bother to play that one anymore tho parts of it I really loved. Which leads me back to WOW which due to the dumbing down of all the challenges in the game means alot less to me. (ie the removing the risk/reward system for a simple system that a drunken monkey pulling a lever could do)
Agreed, I tend to think that over all the cash shop system isn't for me. I don't mind it being there for those who want to pick and choose. My son when he started LoTRO used a bit of it until he decided it was worth his while to be a full sub. I basically think that its a good option for those who just want to try out a game.
Some little technical things.
EQ launched with a monthly fee of $9.89.
By the time EQ2/WoW launched in 2004 the standard monthly fee was already $14.95. I was still playing EQ and DAoC when they raised their prices to 14.95 and I have never played EQ1 since the launch of Star Wars Galaxies in 2003.
As to the topic the subscription prices being outdated or worth it.. obviously depends on the product. Do you enjoy the games currently on the market? Are there games you hit /cancel that you would install and play just because they were free?
I never quit a game over the monthly fee. Any game I quit was because the developers ingested to many mind altering drugs. So even if their game was free I would not subject myself to the annoyance that they call "content". That is of course the problem with trying to sell something.
Then of course if a game was very successful and almost all of us loved it. Then "that company" decided to jump the price to $19.95 and we were ok with that. The rest of the industry would jump on that with absolutely no concept of the fact we aren't willing to pay it... to them.
Just my opinion of course and I am likely not the best person to talk about MMO's right now as I am very irritated with the market.
I feel the same way.
Personally, I've never understood the kind of mentality that can accept less for more. The sub fee that includes the entire game and gives you access to the game all month is the wiser deal. Not sure why so many people fall for the "free" word. It's 15 bucks a month ffs. It should be higher in 2011.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Uh? What less for more? More like less for nothing.
Not many games are worth $15 a month. For many of them, FREE is the only way i would even try it.
To you they may not be.
To plenty others (who are playing the games, for years in some cases) they certainly are.
The "less for more" remark pertains to how cash shop MMOs are set up to nickel and dime players. For a flat monthly fee, P2P MMOs offer you everything the game has, with unlimited access for a month at a time. The developers keep the money coming in by continuously adding to and keeping the game entertaining enough for people to want to continue spending that sub fee month after month.
Cash shop games, on the other hand, are set up to make their money in smaller, but more frequent increments by designing the game in such a way that players are driven to the cash shop as often as possible. They design inconvenienes, speed bumps and obstacles into the game deliberately... then sell convenient work-arounds to them in the cash shop.
As just one very basic example that I've seen in various F2P MMOs I've tried... Once you're past the first 20-30 levels, where leveling is quick and the game throws freebies at you like candy, the grind swiftly becomes such that it can put even the grindiest P2P MMO to shame. What keeps people playing? Well, they sell these nifty xp potions in the cash shop to help you speed the leveling back up. Incidentally, many F2P's I've played throw weaker versions of those xp potions at you as freebies during those 20-30 levels I mentioned above. You know... to get you used to and dependent on them so you have an easier time getting the credit card out when the real grind hits and the freebies stop coming.
For someone who's in a serious hurry to level up (which is many MMO players these days, ever racing toward that coveted "level cap"), keeping those xp potions in good supply can add up. And that's not even getting into all the other various things the game will try and nudge you into buying through other inconveniences they've deliberately designed into the game.
For the more aggressive player, $15 in a F2P cash shop could be considered a "cheap month".
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
Outdated. Originally the 15 bucks a month got you a huge virtual immersive world, interacting with hundreds and hundreds of players at once. Now it's all instanced down to 5 man groups. Not worth the money.
But that comes back to the developer failing to make a game worth the sub fee. That has nothing to do with the subscription.
If the game isn't worth the $15 to enough people, the game will not do well and either it will go F2P, or it will go offline.
I think sub-based games are great in that way. The developers really have to earn the sub fee each and every month, or they sink.
I'm seeing a lot of misplaced blame lately in that regard. If a MMO comes out that people don't find worth playing, instead of acknowledging that the devs failed to make a game they like... they blame it on the subscription fee. As though the lack of a sub fee suddenly would make the game better or something.
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
yup
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
It was good, when the service was good. The service is no longer good.
Oh I'm completely aware its the fault of the devs for making bad games. That's why I didn't pay 15 bucks for LotRO, felt like a coop offline LAN game or something, not an MMO.
Which game are you talking about or are you one of those people that just thinks they ALL suck because of burn out?
Mellkor is right. When you compare the cost of 15 bucks a month for entertainment to one night out at the bar or various other modes of entertainment.....the 15 bucks for a month deal still wins, that is if you're playing a game you ENJOY. If you just don't enjoy any MMOs, well then that's just you and anyone else with that opinion. Some of us still find a few games to be entertaining.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club