Much like the author, I don't like F2P. In fact, nowadays I cannot be bothered to even try F2P titles.
But I have to say that unlike the author, I don't like B2P either. B2P isn't as misleading as F2P, in fact it isn't misleading at all, but I don't think the model can support a game you can really delve deep into and spend years playing, maybe even multiple hours every day.
I am personally not into the short-lived, GW2 type MMORPGs where you play for a month or two, get bored and quit and maybe come back a few times a month. I want something I can really sink my teeth into, and the subscription model I think offers best support for a game like that.
About the box price being 60 dollars, I don't see the big deal here. I can easily afford it as a currently unemployed worker, and the sub fee for sure is not a problem. In fact I consider gaming such cheap a hobby I rarely look at prices.
This writer exhibits a complete lack of economic sense in terms of how business works in general. A company running a subscription based MMO isn't any less "wanting to take money out of your pocket" than a free to play MMO, and in fact you can argue that they are more so because they directly ask money out of your pocket from you on a monthly basis where as free to play still makes it a choice.
Every company's goal is to make money and this so called greed is checked by supply and demand largely determined by the customers. Whether your sub or F2P, if you don't put out a quality game that people will enjoy playing, then you are toast just like with any other product being sold out there. The whole "F2P is out to get you but subs aren't" idea is an absolutely absurd notion. They both are out for your money because they are a business. This has got to be one of the worst articles I have written with a complete lack of "common sense" especially in terms of business. This type of writing is expected out of a forum poster, but not from someone more "professionally experienced" in writing.
Originally posted by LookingGlass F2P really goes against what the MMORPG genre is about. And in a way, it's like the old style arcade machines. That business model died out years ago.
"Welcome to level 34! Please insert 50 cents to continue."
GW2 is what it is and offers a great experience without a subscription. However, their world is not open and the zones have population limits. Their content updates, while fast, are small. Without a stable income, they can't risk big updates. It's like living paycheck to paycheck.
Subscription games give developers the money to go crazy and make awesome content. If they don't, you just unsubscribe until they do.
Sub games also give the whole game to the player with out pay gates or inconveniences. Go wherever, do whatever, get anything... It's all open.
I for one enjoy millions of dollars of content for $15 a month.
What p2p game since WoW:Wotlk has had "awesome content"? Unless you consider a new raid awesome content, and I don't. GW2 comes out with small content that over a year will add up to literally thousands of new things to do, and P2P games, making the absolute mind-blowing amount of cash you suggest, release a new expansion with a couple zones, raids, and a new level cap every few years. They could be doing a lot better, a WHOLE lot better. P2P is a joke for the amount of "content" you actually get if you're going to compare it to ANet's approach.
Oh and yeah I also noticed people are still going on about subs keeping out brats. Keep thinking that.
As far as value goes, sub-based MMO's are a bargain.
Absolutely and as long as content and deivery is on a different level from all the "free" alternatives the game will probably succeed financially,
I would pay for "my perfect game" on a monthly basis - But it would have to be a game that catered to casuals such as me. Chances are: I would rather put $0-100 into the GW2 cash shop to pay for extra char/inv space instead of paying $60 for another geargrinding game with a permanent $15 running cost.
Sorry... A new p2p game would have to be pretty amazing to make some of us "casuals" pay/pony up... But hey: I am sure the "hardcore" crew will make it financially viable anyway :-)
We dont need casuals in our games!!! Errm... Well we DO need casuals to fund and populate our games - But the games should be all about "hardcore" because: We dont need casuals in our games!!! (repeat ad infinitum)
In the form of :::::DRUM ROLL::::::: EXPANSION PACKS! For a one time low price of $29.99
Lets be honest, if Subscription based games were putting out more then just fluff for free updated content, the same fluff B2P or F2P put out, there would be more successful sub games, but that isn't the case because they're just trying to trick casuals into playing as long as possible while protecting their profits.
Well it looks like they are looking at eve with the CREDD option, which I think is awesome it does deter gold sellers, the jury is out on corps that enlist people so they can sell plex on ebay. But given that, I hope they also follow eve in giving free expansion packs it is only reasonable and I agree with you charging for expansion's in a sub game is a money grab.
Originally posted by TheCrow2k Nowdays I am time poor & hate how paying a sub makes me feel like I am wasting money when I don't have time to play and so I prefer B2P or microtrans games over sub now.
That said if you do the maths box price is generally set at a mark designed to pay for a lot of development cost up front both on initial release and subsequent expansions. This idea that subscription pays for I going development is 90% crap in most cases. You pay a box price for expansions supposedly funded by subs, how much new content are you getting for your sub fee ? in most current games pretty much none beyond features that were missing or broken at box release OR bug fixes and patches for things broken at box release. Effectively paying for products twice by paying a sub & box price
Sub fees are no longer good value, they are almost pure profit for developers.
I went back to GW2 a month ago and in 2 weeks i spend £8.50 x2 on bank space that i NEEDED to have, i spend £8.50 on the Flute and £5 on the mini pets i felt i must buy because they were limited time, all this in two weeks, thats nearly 4 months sub to ffxiv, F2P games especially are such money milkers, the only time f2p is good is if you're poor and cant spent any money at all, if you do spend money your ban account will drain 10x faster than a sub. and how can people really not afford £8.99 a month? even people on job seekers can afford this lol.
Actually I said Buy 2 Play OR Microtrans. Preferably not both together. As for money, I can certainly afford the sub so I assure you its not about money. This is about value & $15 a month just for access on 90% of sub MMO's is not value for $15, id rather spend that another game. BTW you CHOSE to buy that GW2 junk, you didn't really have to, you just did exactly what marketting wanted.
The Question I keep asking myself when I see games that have Subscriptions now is:
What is my subscription paying for ?
And the answer seems to be the same, Nothing.
I dont mind paying money for something, I just dont want to pay for NOTHING.
I would rather take my $15 a month and spend it on Indie games &/or kickstarter where at least the money funds developers who dare to take risks..... something no MMO really does anymore.
Lol, CREDD another silly f2p option in an mmo. The whole thing is getting stupid. Maybe i should go back to single player games and forget about mmo's. I can imagine what in game chat talk will be full of.
Originally posted by AlistairBalister I don't understand why so many of you believe that charging a monthly sub will keep the brats of this game.
It's an old idea...(surely) predates Hammurabi.
I wonder if old Hamm had a golf course to keep the riffraff out of by charging greens fees?
Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.
I hope that Wildstar and FFXIV:ARR crash and burn and never recover. I can't believe that people still find it acceptable to be required to purchase a game for a flat rate but then still be required to purchase the rights to actually PLAY the game every single month. It's nothing short of robbery.
Comments
Much like the author, I don't like F2P. In fact, nowadays I cannot be bothered to even try F2P titles.
But I have to say that unlike the author, I don't like B2P either. B2P isn't as misleading as F2P, in fact it isn't misleading at all, but I don't think the model can support a game you can really delve deep into and spend years playing, maybe even multiple hours every day.
I am personally not into the short-lived, GW2 type MMORPGs where you play for a month or two, get bored and quit and maybe come back a few times a month. I want something I can really sink my teeth into, and the subscription model I think offers best support for a game like that.
About the box price being 60 dollars, I don't see the big deal here. I can easily afford it as a currently unemployed worker, and the sub fee for sure is not a problem. In fact I consider gaming such cheap a hobby I rarely look at prices.
The Weekly Wizardry blog
This writer exhibits a complete lack of economic sense in terms of how business works in general. A company running a subscription based MMO isn't any less "wanting to take money out of your pocket" than a free to play MMO, and in fact you can argue that they are more so because they directly ask money out of your pocket from you on a monthly basis where as free to play still makes it a choice.
Every company's goal is to make money and this so called greed is checked by supply and demand largely determined by the customers. Whether your sub or F2P, if you don't put out a quality game that people will enjoy playing, then you are toast just like with any other product being sold out there. The whole "F2P is out to get you but subs aren't" idea is an absolutely absurd notion. They both are out for your money because they are a business. This has got to be one of the worst articles I have written with a complete lack of "common sense" especially in terms of business. This type of writing is expected out of a forum poster, but not from someone more "professionally experienced" in writing.
THE ANSWER TO ALL "CAN THEY GET AWAY WITH ....." QUESTIONS:
Yes, it depends on the quality of the game.
You are now more educationated.
Boycotting EA. Why? They suck, even moreso since 2008.
What p2p game since WoW:Wotlk has had "awesome content"? Unless you consider a new raid awesome content, and I don't. GW2 comes out with small content that over a year will add up to literally thousands of new things to do, and P2P games, making the absolute mind-blowing amount of cash you suggest, release a new expansion with a couple zones, raids, and a new level cap every few years. They could be doing a lot better, a WHOLE lot better. P2P is a joke for the amount of "content" you actually get if you're going to compare it to ANet's approach.
Oh and yeah I also noticed people are still going on about subs keeping out brats. Keep thinking that.
Absolutely and as long as content and deivery is on a different level from all the "free" alternatives the game will probably succeed financially,
I would pay for "my perfect game" on a monthly basis - But it would have to be a game that catered to casuals such as me. Chances are: I would rather put $0-100 into the GW2 cash shop to pay for extra char/inv space instead of paying $60 for another geargrinding game with a permanent $15 running cost.
Sorry... A new p2p game would have to be pretty amazing to make some of us "casuals" pay/pony up... But hey: I am sure the "hardcore" crew will make it financially viable anyway :-)
We dont need casuals in our games!!! Errm... Well we DO need casuals to fund and populate our games - But the games should be all about "hardcore" because: We dont need casuals in our games!!!
(repeat ad infinitum)
Well it looks like they are looking at eve with the CREDD option, which I think is awesome it does deter gold sellers, the jury is out on corps that enlist people so they can sell plex on ebay. But given that, I hope they also follow eve in giving free expansion packs it is only reasonable and I agree with you charging for expansion's in a sub game is a money grab.
Actually I said Buy 2 Play OR Microtrans. Preferably not both together. As for money, I can certainly afford the sub so I assure you its not about money. This is about value & $15 a month just for access on 90% of sub MMO's is not value for $15, id rather spend that another game. BTW you CHOSE to buy that GW2 junk, you didn't really have to, you just did exactly what marketting wanted.
The Question I keep asking myself when I see games that have Subscriptions now is:
What is my subscription paying for ?
And the answer seems to be the same, Nothing.
I dont mind paying money for something, I just dont want to pay for NOTHING.
I would rather take my $15 a month and spend it on Indie games &/or kickstarter where at least the money funds developers who dare to take risks..... something no MMO really does anymore.
It's an old idea...(surely) predates Hammurabi.
I wonder if old Hamm had a golf course to keep the riffraff out of by charging greens fees?Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.