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10 USD+ a month - not for me
Mouth
Member Posts: 113
With current subscription models I leave the games completely after 3-4 months (except EQ which was special).
If the monthly price was 3 USD a month it would take longer before I'd bother cancelling, but well.
Of course even with USD 3 a month ppl will unsibscribe - but if I could have at least 24 hours free each month I would at least visit the game once in a while - and if I happened to get the spark back - i'd easily go back to a 3 USD pr month plan.
As is I've uninstalled UO, EQ, AC2 and AO - though I miss them all from time to time and know that i'd revisit. As is, it costs 10 USD+ just to visit the game and see how i find it. I'll rather buy a new game for that cash.
Any chance that largeass MMO-games could have a "quest" to get free access or at least halved? There u have something to aim for at least.
Comments
$3 a month is not going to make the developer enough money to run the game...
If their game is good, people will pay $12 or $15 a month. If it isn't good, then people won't pay, and the game should fail and die a miserable death.
Doubt 3 dollars will run many mmorpgs espically those coming out soon.They cost a small fortune to make and the fact that so many mmorpgs are coming out means the market will get diluted very fast.
Most people will only pay to play 1 mmorpg.Take next week for instance CoH andL2 coming out.Many people would like to play both but know they don't have the time for both.So they will make a choice of 1.
In under 6 months like 4 big names coming out.FFXI and horizons have been out for under 4 months.So you see loads of mmorpg coming out .So a few would hit the 100k subscribers but many will be lucky to get 5 -10 k.At $3 a month many will simple fold and go under.
However,I think the recent thread set by SoE yet again to raise the prices to $15 is uncalled for.
$10 a month as it was back in end of 2001 was fine.SoE knew they have hundereds of thousands of people hooked to EQ and decided to raise it to $13 and others followed suit.
Again SoE was the first to make the games $15 with SWG and I doubt thats the last we hear of them.
However as much as I would want it to be $10 or even free I am quite willing to pay the $15 for a mmorpg as this are the only type of games I play except the occasional UT.
Hey Mouth...
Just play Guild Wars when it comes out... Free!!!
(Please people, don't start the same debate about whether or not it really is free, please...)
If you want to dance with the big boys, you're going to have to pay their rules. If you got a problem with that, there is a really interesting link about free mmorpgs or take a look at Guild Wars. Otherwise quit your complaining, there is no way their going to lower the fee when there are people out there who are willing to pay it.
And to adress this post:
True there is no rule saying that a MMORPG doesn't nesecarly need an ingame staff. Hell, I mean who needs to fix game bugs. I would love to abuse pollecy with no fear of getting kicked out. Who needs a ballanced game? Yeah and when the servers go down, they should just stay that way, because who really needs someone there to fix it.
Now with all of that hate out of the way, I will say that I do like your idea concerning the 24 hour log in, once a month after the subscription has been cancled. I mean as long as the companies are keeping your id and password around anyway, it wouldn't hurt to give players a free chance to come back once a month, who knows they might even renew their subscriptions.
Vice Man
I think 24 hours is a little much though. Heck, some people only play 24 hours a month...
We can wish in one hand, and crap in the other.
I can tell you which one is gonna fill up first.
The fact is, that no matter how many of us feel this is too much, it is too easily justified for it to change. People are paying, and therefore companies will charge it. Honestly, I'd rather spend the 15 bucks a month on ONE game thats worth it than spend 50 bucks everytime a console/regular game gets old.
That way, I have a better idea that my money has a better chance of directly affecting the game I'm paying for.
They say money is power. I see every dollar as a vote. Family Guy got cancelled, they sold SO many DVDs that now they're bringing it back. Let your dollar be your voice. You don't think games are worth 10-15 a month? Don't pay it, and don't play it. Keep putting your money towards what you want to see.
As far as games making quests to discount the game, I have one question:
You're stoned right?
That would cause more issues than you could shake your giggle-stick at!
Nolf - Master Asshat
Someone's gotta do it!
I really hope that *insert game name here* will be the first game to ever live up to all of its pre-release promises, maintain a manageable hype level and have a clean release. Just don't expect me to hold my breath.
Well there is little to discuss.Most people paying to play are happy to do so as longf as the game keeps the support going.
If you are not then its easy don't pay.There are many many free mmorpg out there to choose from.
Lineage 1 by NCSoft was the first that I heard of to go with a $15 subscription rate, and Lineage1 was released before SWG and EQ2 :P.
Back to the topic, you really can't have high quality games like DAoC, EQ, and things like that without having high monthly fees, sure, $15 might be a bit steep, but you can't really go under $10 a month, because bandwith costs are expensive. I do agree however, that more companies need to make a demo of their game, or allow a free trial or some sort without having to spend money, that would boost up a few subscriptions and leave more customers happy.
New PR rep for the North American Version of RYL
www.planetwidegames.com
A bit tight arent you?
These people have to work to keep the servers up constantly, they are always updating the game and looking after bugs etc and you are only willing to pay $3 a month!
Thats nothing at all and even $20 a month is cheap if you are getting a good game. If you dont like subscriptions try playing single player games, or even let the devs just leave the servers and see how long the game will last. If you arent willing to pay these people then they wont keep the game up very long
Muahahahahahahaha
2 stars sucks
i want my 5 stars back!
MUAHAHAHAHAHA
I really don't understand why people feel that $10 to $20 is a lot of money to spend a month. If you're spending a fair amount of time playing the game then it's money well spent. There are SO many things you spend money on per month that if you really think about it are much more then you would ever play for a MMORPG. It could be food, alcohol, cigerette's, movies, clubs etc. and often you get much less return on your dollar per hour. Stop complaining about the costs as you could raise them up to $40 or more and it still would be worthwhile overall.
yeah, but I prefer playing 3-4 games or services at the same time over simply one. which is why $3 would fit my budget much better. I think a service that came and ran at $3 would run well provided the content was there.
with regards to your comments about the cost of running the server. look at UO and the pirated servers that were set up. they worked like a charm. a game could easily be built like that - or a grid of gameservers, running on different (set up at players) servers. much logic can be built here.
and in my book "massive" doesnt have to mean ten to hundreds of thousands of visitors. each server could be scaled for a thousand or five hundred. why is each "multiplayer" game either "supermassive and requiring 15 bucks a month" or 64-players max (Battlefield Vietnam).
And again - there really aren't any good RPGs in the mini-online games (Heretic tried in the old days - but its FPS and not RPG/Fantasy).
But let me rephrase my question so that you might get more insight: If I as a publisher was to sell Battlefield Vietnam, and then charge $3 each additional month you played? I could add a hell of a lot content, rankings, community etc. Why do you deem this impossible? I think the reason is that you have a traditional idea of what a massive online-RPG has to be - there are a ton of things in the middle between - and a ton of things to come.
At any rate - my take is that 15 USD pr month is way to much. It monopolizes the player, leaving less players to hang out in other games at the same time. People make mates and buddies - form into communities. Its heartbreaking as hell for them to leave at times. If the monthly fee was lower they wouldn't bother canceling. If there were events you'd see more people turn up. And if you're lore writers and NPC-"actors" do a good job you'll keep the mass of $3 subscribers while attracing even more. As a player - subscribing to my 3-4 best games is so much better cause i can jump from scifi to fantasy and to whatever next all in a day.
I don't want to play a MMORPG that costs only $3 a month to play. That means they are skimping out on something (ie. customer service, updates, GM held quests etc) to cover the loss of revenue.
My time is too valuable to me to spend it playing a sub-par game. I'd gladly play 20+ a month or more if they could provide me a quality game that is better than what we are seeing now.
Mouth your comparison to Battlefield:Vietnam and an MMORPG is not valid, as Battlefield:Vietnam is a shooter game, the bandwith costs are much less because players are running the servers. You can't do this for an MMORPG because players don't want a 64 player server, they want a 10,000 player server. You don't mind a 64 player server because it seems to me you like to play private servers, on the other hand, the people who go the legit way prefer to play with a whole big crowd, and thus, that is going to hike bandiwth costs up tremendously and thus increase subscription fees.
New PR rep for the North American Version of RYL
www.planetwidegames.com
They don't call it Evercrack for nothing. These games are an addiction, and they are an addiction because they offer so much. Frankly looking at my friends who smoke, I am happy that my addiction costs so little by comparison.
However if you aren't willing to spend the money there are free MMORPGs or smaller ones, so its fine that you don't want to pay the kind of money Sony is asking. I agree, life isn't fair, everything costs too much. But I and many like me want a game with good graphics and storylines, with rules, support and customer service, a big server where I can meet hundreds of new people a month (although I admit only about 10 of those are usually on my wavelength
) and I understand that there are costs involved and I accept that.
Sure I can't try every MMORPG due to costs, but then i can't buy every CD or watch every video either as the companies have to charge enough to make a profit. The best products can charge more, if people don't think a new MMORPG is worth its price it doesn't get customers. Its not like they are holding you hostage and saying pay to play our game.
One of my best friends (who spends more than $15 a month on cigarettes) doesn't feel she should be made to pay monthy for something she already bought and so she refused to join me on EQ and stayed with text MUDs which are free, she made her choice of what is worth paying for and I made mine. You have made yours there is still alot of choice for you out there so enjoy
MMOGs could easily be alot cheaper per month. The publishers don't need to charge that much, they simply do it because they can. Internet services, for the most part, all do this, for example. Internet prices keep going up, even though costs have come down. The same is true for MMOGs today.
$3 USD per month is a bit extreme, but something like $8 USD per month would be perfectly fine. Consider that a lower price means more subscriptions, which would probably last longer. In the long run, publishers would more than likely make more money.
I doubt we'll see anything but higher prices. The current trends, with MMOGs being hot and all, just don't look good for us.
What about all the MMORPGs that are failing at the moment, or suffering low subscriptions, how come they can't just charge less to attract more people?
I know its been asked before but anyone got any figures on how much these games actually make?
I am all, I am none
_____________
I told a girl I was celebit to sleep with her.
These games require quite a large time investment. It is not the cost that keeps most people from playing. If it isn't a good game, people will not play it, no matter the cost. If I am going to spend 15 hours of my time each week playing a game, it is going to be a game I enjoy playing immensely. The cost is not the important part.
So, if ShadowBane (for instance) were to lower its price to $5 instead of what they charge ($13 ??). They would not gain very many players, but they would lose more than half their income from the current players. Lets saythey have 20,000 players. They are making about $250K per month. If they drop there price to $5 and 10,000 more poeple join, then they are only making $150K per month. Why would they want to do that.
Someone posted that they wuld play thes egames longer if they were cheaper. How much longer. If you play for 2 months at $12, or 4 months at $5, they made more money off of you for the twomonths, and you used up less bandwidth, so you cost them less money...
There are lots of MMORPGs out there. People complaining about the prices aren't complaining about all MMORPGs, they are complaining because the top of the line games aren't being offered in their price range. That would be much like me complaining about not being able to buy a Jaguar for $10k which is much more in my price range. But instead of complaining, I just buy a car that is in my price range.
So, if you don't like the price of the game, don't play. Pick one that is in your price range and play it instead. Quit trying to tell companies how to price their product. They have experts who are paid to figure out what price to put on their product to maximize their profits. They don't need some game junkie who wants something for nothing telling them they should be running at a loss.
Mouth:
Ever heard about Neverwinter Nights? I think it's pretty much what you are looking for and it's free after the initial cost. Players run the servers and create their own worlds.
One of the main reasons MMORPGs cost $10 + are bandwidth costs and the absorbing price of servers(on top of game dev costs and salaries). Since the servers for those types of games are meant to hold thousands of players simultaneously they require expensive servers(not computers like we use) and high upload bandwidth.
Ive had no problem paying for stuff I have enjoyed. I ran 2 UO accounts for 6 years.... work that out
However the key point is you gotta enjoy it. $14.95 p/m for L2 ROFLMFAO
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"MMOs, for people that like think chatting is like a skill or something, rotflol"
http://purepwnage.com
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"Far away across the field, the tolling of the iron bell, calls the faithful to their knees. To hear the softly spoken magic spell" Pink Floyd-Dark Side of the Moon