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instead of going F2P, why not simply reduce the standard 15$ a month fee?
MMOExposed
Member RarePosts: 7,400
to be honest I hate the item shop format.
I understand that lots of MMORPGs are dieing, due to the clime in number of MMORPGs being released.
But why fold over to F2P model, when you could simply reduce the sub cost, down to say something like 10$ or less.
some games make sense to be F2P, thats because they are NOT MMORPGs.
examples include, but not limited to;
*DDO
*Vindicus
*Guild Wars
the more of a OMRPG(Online Multiplayer Role Playing Game) like Diablo is.
I wouldnt mind subing to more games, if the price was reduced, and it didnt have a item mall. But 15+$ a month, stacks up on you after awhile.
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
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I think you've missed the point as to why companies move to an F2P model.
It's not to charge the customer less, it's actually to charge the customer more.
moving to F2P eliminates the barrier to entry, but will often times have many different things that can be bought and overzealous customers will pay more money to get things because if there is one thing human beings lack, it's self-restraint.
MMOs played: Horizons, Auto Assault, Ryzom, EVE, WAR, WoW, EQ2, LotRO, GW, DAoC, Aion, Requiem, Atlantica, DDO, Allods, Earth Eternal, Fallen Earth, Rift
Willing to try anything new
I don't think that would change anything actually. The problem is not really the amount of money (within reason, a 50 dollar sub would be about the amount). 15 dollars a month is pretty darn cheap.
The problem is about the sub itself and many people feeling the game is not worth a sub. So all that would happen is the people that are playing it would play less, it may gain a small increase in players, but probably not enough to overcome the loss of income from the lower price.
So you still wouldn't get the hordes of people that play ftp and so wouldn't get the 10-20% of those people that pay money on ftp, and you wouldn't get a significant increase in players to overcome the loss in revenue.
Venge Sunsoar
Wizard 101 has done this and is quite successful. I agree with the OP. I wish more companies would do this.
QFT
Do you think LotRO would have tripled it's income if it had lowered it's sub fee? I think not.
I want a mmorpg where people have gone through misery, have gone through school stuff and actually have had sex even. -sagil
this is what they brag about...DDO went from making no profit, to make quite a big one considering the amount of people playing it, and is the whole reason EQ2x is here now, to "legalize" the possibility of buying rare harvests and high quality crafted gear etc....while still asking for a sub if you d actually want to raid, or do high level instances.
I agree, more games should consider this.
Think of it this way: The $15 per month model was established over 10 years ago. There wasn't as many players back then and the servers aren't as powerful as they are today.
AoC was the first MMO to go $15 a month and that was in 2008.
I don't think that EQ1 had a monthly sub of $15 back in the year 2001.
And the taxes, salaries of developers, cost of living, office space... are cheaper now than they were then...
Oh wait a minute...
Venge
I think developers feel (probably rightly so) that lowering the monthly price to 9.99 a month or less might bring in a few customers but it won't offset the long term revenue loss from the customers willing to pay the typical going rate of 15/month. (which has been around alot longer than AOC btw)
Where as the new fremiuum models strongly enourage people to come and give the game a try, and as evidenced by DDO and LoTRO, they find out they really like it and stick around. (meanwhile the people paying 15 a month continue to do so by and large)
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Couse you can download the game and play for free for avile,and when you get addictet to the game thats when they start earn realy good mony from you spendings loads of $ on worthless stuff.
SWG was $14.99 a month way before AoC.
Going F2p will bring in a lot more players than a $5.00 or $10.00 monthly sub and it appears those 'free' players will end up spending more on the game than they would have with a subscription.
Not to mention if you have money to spend on a game that month do so and if not then don't but atleast you'll get to keep playing. With a straight sub you miss a payment and playtime stops.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
Just to clear things up, so was EQ way before SWG and even then UO way before EQ. I'd have to look up Meridian 59 but I'm pretty darn sure it had a monthly fee as well! In the future look things up before just making such a blanket statement.
P.S. Yes Meridian 59 even had a monthly fee.
Reason they stick with F2P is because the word "Free" draws people in. Once people are hooked in, they then sell RMT items. The more people you get hooked in, the more money they make. Reducing monthly sub price from $15 to whatever lower will not draw as many people in as the word "Free" would.
There's a reason free is the key phrase in advertisements.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
The issue is the $15 a month not if they had a monthly fee or not.
And I'll bet either WOW, Lineage 2 or EQ 2 were the among the first MMO's to have a 14.99 monthly fee. (Can't recall when DAOC bumped up from 12.95 to 14.99)
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
For some people, just the concept of the game having a monthly fee is a turn-off.
--------
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Yes they were 15 dollars a month also ><! Must any and all information about the subject you originally posted about be spoon fed to you? Looks like Meridian 59 was 9.95 a month on release though this is hard to confirm even their current web site doesn't have the information readily available. So that makes it UO for first 15 a month as far as I can confirm having paid it.
Why would I do that? Cutting my profit makes no sense.
I think you do not really understand how F2P model works...
Allods should have gone with a lower subscription price instead of the ill fated cash shop route they went with. Unless they are actually making more money the way they went, but I don't see how they could.
I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.
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WoW has been $14.99 since release. CoH was $14.99. I believe Asheron's Call 2 was $14.99. $15 has been around for a long while.
Age of Conan the first 15/mo fee mmo? HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAAHA. also, LOL
good job, space marine.
On topic - I think the reason that games go from 15/month to free to play, is to make more money. It seems to work. So why would they keep a monthly fee which turns some gamers away, but reduce how much it is, which hurts their bottom line?
Not the best logic.
I think the game companies should do the thinking on this one.
Seriously, this threads topic could also be written as "Instead of changing to make more money, why not change to make less money?"
No.
Since EQ kunark around 2000 it was 15/month. Actually the only game I've played that wasn't is Istaria. Istaria is 15/month for the full ride, 10/month for a smaller ride.
Venge
UO originally was somewhere between $9.99 and $12.99 when I first started playing it, cant remember the exact price. It was a few years till it went to $14.99 to match everyone's prices.
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