i know a few ppl who would like to try a mmo, but dont have the machine to run one. Some need a new machine plus the upgrades for gaming, some just the upgrades. Most of those (that I know) so far have that on the bottom of thier list for purchases.
When I said i had "time", i meant virtual time, i got no RL "time" for you.
I would say, if anything, MMO subscriptions might increase in a recession as more people have more free time on their hands to play in the event that they get laid off. My feeling is that time, not money, is the biggest obstacle for many people who like to play MMOs. And they are very cheap compared to, as some people have said, going to bars or smoking, which people still do in a recession.
Hafta disagree here...if ppl are laid off, they tend to make all the cuts they can to save a few bucks. I think in some ways games could increase during a recession as it is a cheaper form of entertainment. While on the other hand ppl will tend to pay for only one game n one account. Rather than having multiple games n accounts. I know on a personal note I play 2 different games right now n figure I will dump one n keep only one sub going. The Canadian dollar is dropping like a rock so costs more to keep a sub going, often to a game I only play a few hours a week.
I'm experiencing tough times and have been for the last 8 months. I previously had a job paying $60k a year and now I am down to hourly paying part time jobs as a I continue the hunt for decent employment (going on month 9 now).
While I agree $15 a month for entertainment sounds pretty reasonable, after having no money you realize that it never was and never will be just $15/mo. I own 2 accounts for every MMO I have ever played, most of the games I play/played with my wife. This means everytime I wanted to try an MMO, I was out $100. Every time an expansion was released it was another $100. My 3 year old laptop is also now showing it's age and every game post WoW is getting difficult/impossible to run.
I've tried playing a few F2Play games, but most of them have caveats (a.k.a cash shops) or restrictions or they plain suck.
Thankfully there are no really good MMO's out currently that I am missing out on. I plan to be back in the consumer/working market by the time something good comes out.
I do not believe MMOs are recession proof. From my experience, things like MMOs and most recurring bills that aren't essential tend to be the first things to go when everyone has less disposable income.
Don't even get me started on MMOs as a "good value." They are about as good of a value as online poker. Believe me, the MMO publishers know that MMOs aren't a good value too, which is why the smart ones are trying to figure out ways to eliminate the monthly fee; they know it's a barrier to sales and long-term consumer use.
The reason MMOs aren't a good value is when we consider a game like Sim City, Spore, or Medieval Total War that provides near infinate replayability without an extra recurring bill each month. Most avid gamers have at least one or two titles like these on their shelf, and a personal financial downturn is as good a time as any to cut back on MMOs and pull out these titles that cost nothing to start up again or purchase new. It's what casuals who are in difficult times will probably do, rather than have to choose between the cellphone bill each month and the MMO bill each month. It's what I do when I'd rather keep the $15 and amuse myself.
That being said, there are MMO hardcore addicts who simply cannot live without MMOs, like the bulk of people who post here at MMORPG. We'll probably stay with MMOs in a recession, but like the poster above me alluded to, there is plenty each of us can cut back on and still be MMO players. Perhaps the person who subscribes to multiple games may cut all the others and stick to one only. Perhaps the person won't buy that extra expansion, or buy that item in the item shoppe. Perhaps the person will cancel their alts and stick with their main only. Perhaps they won't go to fanfest this year, or buy farmed gold, or buy accessories like mics and keyboards, or use powerlevelling services.
Just like someone downgrading their cable service in times of financial turmoil, MMO players will probably reduce their MMO expenditure alongside all the other non-essentials. It's what people do when living on a strict budget, and it seems that MMOs are particularly susceptible to personal cost-cutting in the above fashion, simply because there's so much a hardcore gamer can cut in today's MMO lifestyle.
See, the reason recessions hurt consumer industries isn't because they are abandoned by consumers. It's that consumers aren't willing to buy into all the little "extras" they did before; the extras that most consumer industries rely upon for their financial success.
__________________________ "Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it." --Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints." --Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls." --Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
This might offer some insight into the OP's question. While not specifically about MMOs, video game sales have not been affected by the current recession.
As the person above me noted, while not specifically MMOS, games in general are still going up in annual revenue as an industry.
Honestly I'm inclined to beleive gameswill stay strong in part due to the recession, as it's newest and still growing method of escapism. Everyone loves escapism when their world falls apart.
So yeah, if anything games as a whole is best positioned to stay the course for quite a while unless people become 'actually' poor and just outright can't afford it.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
I expect that the impact on MMOs will be that people will be more reluctant to have more than one paying sub open at once -- at least more than they were previously. But it will have to be a depression before people stop buying games -- they are viewed as cheap forms of entertainment compared to the alternatives, which is about right.
i know a few ppl who would like to try a mmo, but dont have the machine to run one. Some need a new machine plus the upgrades for gaming, some just the upgrades. Most of those (that I know) so far have that on the bottom of thier list for purchases.
Good point. I just spent $1400(with tax) on a brand new aluminum Macbook to replace my 4.5 year old Dell Dimension 8400. I didn't do it just for gaming, I need a replacement machine. But I'm still out $1400, although I figure with the Macbook reputation it's good for 5-6 years.
Also nothing is recession proof. Remember the more you game, the more your electricity bill goes up. It will be cheaper to play in the winter in say the Western US because we use natural gas for heating while the East Coast uses expensive heating oil. Also some regions of the country are already in severe long-term recessions, the Rust Belt being the prime example.
Yeah because it is still one of the cheapest sources of entertainment.
That's assuming a person has at least a certain amount of $ that are available for entertainment per month. Not just the $15, but the electricity cost and possible hardware upgrades required.
That's true, except that most people are not in a situation where that $15 per month makes them go without food or unable to pay their bills. It's a fairly small amount of money. But it's the psychological thing of it being a luxury item.
Well, I'm from the UK and here we have a thing called a TV licence which costs each household around £11.50 per month. The total amount basically funds the BBC but you can't legally watch TV without one. It's considered by most to be a cheap necessity. Let's have a reality check here: We're all MMORPG enthusiasts - to play our favourite MMORPG costs less than the price to watch TV! In all honesty, the subcription to an MMORPG (industry standard is around £9) is absolute peanuts. The recession will have to be 10 times worse than America in 1933 for us to even consider it being too expensive to pay!
Of course an MMO costs less than watching TV does outright, but here in the land of patriotism (U.S.) the additional costs are considerably higher.
My television and internet provider are bundled together and it comes close to 100 dollars a month, we'll round it here for ease of purpose, it's actually more. Respectively, they both are around the same price per month, Digital cable is about 50, high speed internet about 50. I have to have this because I love football (Redskins). So watching TV costs me about 600 dollars a year. An MMO costs me 229.00 the first year of play with the game purchase. However, factor in the 600 dollars I pay for high-speed (required to play), and it's 829.00 to play that game. More than TV.
Also, 9 pounds is roughly 17 US dollars, still it's probably 15 dollars a month here in the US on average to play.
Point is here's a reality check: When the bread needs to meet the basket, something has to go and the MMO is an expensive option. Fundamentally it's needs versus wants. It's how one prioritizes that list that determines the life of an MMO. If it's a luxury and if I'm struggling......it's gone.
^^ FTW ^^
I'm disabled with a heart condition, and also have to caretake my nearly 80 year-old mom. The internet is not only my entertainment budget, it's about what saves my sanity watching someone 24/7. This way I can be home to make sure she doesn't burn herself on the stove; burn down the house (already been there); trips and falls; ensure she takes her medicine on time and the right dosage; and a 1001 other things that needs to watch that the elderly can't do alone.
But the price for cable and internet service eats through my income, and that extra "it's only $15/mon" is an additional expense that could pay for insulin a month, especially if mom has medical bills to pay for the month and must pay for meds (even the retired have to still pay a co-pay for meds, which for age related diseases can cost nearly as much as cable and internet service a month).
When SoE started with the RMT, there was zero choice but to leave. Not only on principle (as I dislike playing with cheaters); but I'm not playing a game so some 15 year-old with mommy and daddy's credit card can brag of what he has for nothing.
Usually I play games I can buy and play offline as there's no additional upkeep charges (and many I don't buy because $39+ for them is too much). So when I do buy a $39 game and it doesn't work as advertized, like EQ2's expansion, TSO, then then RMT crap on top of it, you betcha there's an angry FORMER customer.
So from this side of the street, no, MMOs aren't recession proof. Those in dire straits (and worse off than myself even), will have no choice but to stop playing. In the three months that I've played EQ2, I 've encountered more than a handful of unemployed players, who all state they will have to find jobs or no "internetz" for them.
Expect a downturn, especially well into next year as the recession deepens, where the employed are laid off, and the unemployed's benefits run out (or jobs are scarce to find).
Console gaming systems (XBOX, Wii, PS3) are recession proof when combined with a service like Gamefly.
You don't have to buy the game, pay a low monthly fee (cheaper than most MMOs)and theres no updates or expansions to worry about. You don't have to worry about being stuck with the game if you don't like it as with a MMO. You also don't have to worry about buying a new computer because the newest MMO out is too much of a memory hog. So MMO isn't the best value for your gaming dollar entertainment wise.
Now is MMO gaming a better recession value than 'normal' things? Zoo, movies, dinner, pro-sporting events, etc? I think so. You only do one thing, play a game, but you can do it as much as you want for cheap. Can't go to the latest concert or Phillies games over/over for one cheap price.
Well, let's see now. Pay my monthly fees... 15 Euro. Go to the pub one friday, about 50 Euro...
Which of these two will lose most money when people have less of it?
However Games without monthly fees like Guildwars and the F2P games might be the real winner here, it still costs money but you can controll it better and it is less money...
Comments
i know a few ppl who would like to try a mmo, but dont have the machine to run one. Some need a new machine plus the upgrades for gaming, some just the upgrades. Most of those (that I know) so far have that on the bottom of thier list for purchases.
When I said i had "time", i meant virtual time, i got no RL "time" for you.
Hafta disagree here...if ppl are laid off, they tend to make all the cuts they can to save a few bucks. I think in some ways games could increase during a recession as it is a cheaper form of entertainment. While on the other hand ppl will tend to pay for only one game n one account. Rather than having multiple games n accounts. I know on a personal note I play 2 different games right now n figure I will dump one n keep only one sub going. The Canadian dollar is dropping like a rock so costs more to keep a sub going, often to a game I only play a few hours a week.
I'm experiencing tough times and have been for the last 8 months. I previously had a job paying $60k a year and now I am down to hourly paying part time jobs as a I continue the hunt for decent employment (going on month 9 now).
While I agree $15 a month for entertainment sounds pretty reasonable, after having no money you realize that it never was and never will be just $15/mo. I own 2 accounts for every MMO I have ever played, most of the games I play/played with my wife. This means everytime I wanted to try an MMO, I was out $100. Every time an expansion was released it was another $100. My 3 year old laptop is also now showing it's age and every game post WoW is getting difficult/impossible to run.
I've tried playing a few F2Play games, but most of them have caveats (a.k.a cash shops) or restrictions or they plain suck.
Thankfully there are no really good MMO's out currently that I am missing out on. I plan to be back in the consumer/working market by the time something good comes out.
I do not believe MMOs are recession proof. From my experience, things like MMOs and most recurring bills that aren't essential tend to be the first things to go when everyone has less disposable income.
Don't even get me started on MMOs as a "good value." They are about as good of a value as online poker. Believe me, the MMO publishers know that MMOs aren't a good value too, which is why the smart ones are trying to figure out ways to eliminate the monthly fee; they know it's a barrier to sales and long-term consumer use.
The reason MMOs aren't a good value is when we consider a game like Sim City, Spore, or Medieval Total War that provides near infinate replayability without an extra recurring bill each month. Most avid gamers have at least one or two titles like these on their shelf, and a personal financial downturn is as good a time as any to cut back on MMOs and pull out these titles that cost nothing to start up again or purchase new. It's what casuals who are in difficult times will probably do, rather than have to choose between the cellphone bill each month and the MMO bill each month. It's what I do when I'd rather keep the $15 and amuse myself.
That being said, there are MMO hardcore addicts who simply cannot live without MMOs, like the bulk of people who post here at MMORPG. We'll probably stay with MMOs in a recession, but like the poster above me alluded to, there is plenty each of us can cut back on and still be MMO players. Perhaps the person who subscribes to multiple games may cut all the others and stick to one only. Perhaps the person won't buy that extra expansion, or buy that item in the item shoppe. Perhaps the person will cancel their alts and stick with their main only. Perhaps they won't go to fanfest this year, or buy farmed gold, or buy accessories like mics and keyboards, or use powerlevelling services.
Just like someone downgrading their cable service in times of financial turmoil, MMO players will probably reduce their MMO expenditure alongside all the other non-essentials. It's what people do when living on a strict budget, and it seems that MMOs are particularly susceptible to personal cost-cutting in the above fashion, simply because there's so much a hardcore gamer can cut in today's MMO lifestyle.
See, the reason recessions hurt consumer industries isn't because they are abandoned by consumers. It's that consumers aren't willing to buy into all the little "extras" they did before; the extras that most consumer industries rely upon for their financial success.
__________________________
"Its sad when people use religion to feel superior, its even worse to see people using a video game to do it."
--Arcken
"...when it comes to pimping EVE I have little restraints."
--Hellmar, CEO of CCP.
"It's like they took a gun, put it to their nugget sack and pulled the trigger over and over again, each time telling us how great it was that they were shooting themselves in the balls."
--Exar_Kun on SWG's NGE
This might offer some insight into the OP's question. While not specifically about MMOs, video game sales have not been affected by the current recession.
Video games still hot
As the person above me noted, while not specifically MMOS, games in general are still going up in annual revenue as an industry.
Honestly I'm inclined to beleive gameswill stay strong in part due to the recession, as it's newest and still growing method of escapism. Everyone loves escapism when their world falls apart.
So yeah, if anything games as a whole is best positioned to stay the course for quite a while unless people become 'actually' poor and just outright can't afford it.
"The knowledge of the theory of logic has no tendency whatever to make men good reasoners." - Thomas B. Macaulay
"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel J. Boorstin
I expect that the impact on MMOs will be that people will be more reluctant to have more than one paying sub open at once -- at least more than they were previously. But it will have to be a depression before people stop buying games -- they are viewed as cheap forms of entertainment compared to the alternatives, which is about right.
Good point. I just spent $1400(with tax) on a brand new aluminum Macbook to replace my 4.5 year old Dell Dimension 8400. I didn't do it just for gaming, I need a replacement machine. But I'm still out $1400, although I figure with the Macbook reputation it's good for 5-6 years.
Also nothing is recession proof. Remember the more you game, the more your electricity bill goes up. It will be cheaper to play in the winter in say the Western US because we use natural gas for heating while the East Coast uses expensive heating oil. Also some regions of the country are already in severe long-term recessions, the Rust Belt being the prime example.
Yeah because it is still one of the cheapest sources of entertainment.
No they are not, when i comes to paying for food and utilites if necessary folks will do away with cable and monthly game fees.
MAGA
That's assuming a person has at least a certain amount of $ that are available for entertainment per month. Not just the $15, but the electricity cost and possible hardware upgrades required.
Recessions might have an impact on asian gold hoarders,
in a recession I would believe people buy less virtual money/gold/whatever makes their fix.
When you have less money to spend, luxuary items are the first thing to go.
Like paying a monthly fee to play online games.
You need that money for buying food and paying the bills.
That's true, except that most people are not in a situation where that $15 per month makes them go without food or unable to pay their bills. It's a fairly small amount of money. But it's the psychological thing of it being a luxury item.
Of course an MMO costs less than watching TV does outright, but here in the land of patriotism (U.S.) the additional costs are considerably higher.
My television and internet provider are bundled together and it comes close to 100 dollars a month, we'll round it here for ease of purpose, it's actually more. Respectively, they both are around the same price per month, Digital cable is about 50, high speed internet about 50. I have to have this because I love football (Redskins). So watching TV costs me about 600 dollars a year. An MMO costs me 229.00 the first year of play with the game purchase. However, factor in the 600 dollars I pay for high-speed (required to play), and it's 829.00 to play that game. More than TV.
Also, 9 pounds is roughly 17 US dollars, still it's probably 15 dollars a month here in the US on average to play.
Point is here's a reality check: When the bread needs to meet the basket, something has to go and the MMO is an expensive option. Fundamentally it's needs versus wants. It's how one prioritizes that list that determines the life of an MMO. If it's a luxury and if I'm struggling......it's gone.
^^ FTW ^^
I'm disabled with a heart condition, and also have to caretake my nearly 80 year-old mom. The internet is not only my entertainment budget, it's about what saves my sanity watching someone 24/7. This way I can be home to make sure she doesn't burn herself on the stove; burn down the house (already been there); trips and falls; ensure she takes her medicine on time and the right dosage; and a 1001 other things that needs to watch that the elderly can't do alone.
But the price for cable and internet service eats through my income, and that extra "it's only $15/mon" is an additional expense that could pay for insulin a month, especially if mom has medical bills to pay for the month and must pay for meds (even the retired have to still pay a co-pay for meds, which for age related diseases can cost nearly as much as cable and internet service a month).
When SoE started with the RMT, there was zero choice but to leave. Not only on principle (as I dislike playing with cheaters); but I'm not playing a game so some 15 year-old with mommy and daddy's credit card can brag of what he has for nothing.
Usually I play games I can buy and play offline as there's no additional upkeep charges (and many I don't buy because $39+ for them is too much). So when I do buy a $39 game and it doesn't work as advertized, like EQ2's expansion, TSO, then then RMT crap on top of it, you betcha there's an angry FORMER customer.
So from this side of the street, no, MMOs aren't recession proof. Those in dire straits (and worse off than myself even), will have no choice but to stop playing. In the three months that I've played EQ2, I 've encountered more than a handful of unemployed players, who all state they will have to find jobs or no "internetz" for them.
Expect a downturn, especially well into next year as the recession deepens, where the employed are laid off, and the unemployed's benefits run out (or jobs are scarce to find).
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
Console gaming systems (XBOX, Wii, PS3) are recession proof when combined with a service like Gamefly.
You don't have to buy the game, pay a low monthly fee (cheaper than most MMOs)and theres no updates or expansions to worry about. You don't have to worry about being stuck with the game if you don't like it as with a MMO. You also don't have to worry about buying a new computer because the newest MMO out is too much of a memory hog. So MMO isn't the best value for your gaming dollar entertainment wise.
Now is MMO gaming a better recession value than 'normal' things? Zoo, movies, dinner, pro-sporting events, etc? I think so. You only do one thing, play a game, but you can do it as much as you want for cheap. Can't go to the latest concert or Phillies games over/over for one cheap price.
"TO MICHAEL!"
Well, let's see now. Pay my monthly fees... 15 Euro. Go to the pub one friday, about 50 Euro...
Which of these two will lose most money when people have less of it?
However Games without monthly fees like Guildwars and the F2P games might be the real winner here, it still costs money but you can controll it better and it is less money...