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Why do people buy founders/lifetime memberships?
tussauc
Member UncommonPosts: 147
It's an honest question that I can't think of a proper answer to; I'm not judging anyone I'm just curious. Why do people shell out $150+ on a single game? Is it dedication to, or maybe confidence in, the developers behind said MMO? Why?
Comments
Lack of common sense. I just hope that those who got burned once with lifetime or founder packs will learn from their mistakes. Hard to believe that this is still a valid business model for companies after all the failures we have seen in the last few years.
I think you're dealing with two sets of people here, as has already been mentioned in this thread.
Some of us have just been around for a while. We've seen projects we love die after withdrawing our support. Eventually, you learn there is value in putting your money where your mouth is. So we buy these packs to support development. I've done it for a lot of games which I thought were worthwhile projects.
I personally spend a ton of time playing games that are in the beta stage. I'm usually in 2-3 different closed betas at any given moment. So should I play the game for quite some time for free, get bored of it in beta, and never pay the devs a cent? Are bug reports really enough?
Founder's Packs are a _good_ addition to the industry, in my opinion. Because the alternative is forcing developers to rely solely on publishers for development funding, an imbalance of power which many of us have watched cause disastrous launches. If Tabula Rasa or Hellgate: London had Founder's Packs, I would've bought them. I wish they were around then, so the devs would have had enough money to actually finish the damn games. Instead, HG:L was literally forced out the door before most of their content got _any_ testing. Level cap was 50. When they made the announcement that launch was about to happen, the beta testers had never touched any content beyond lvl 22. I know: I was one of them. And I was actually in the closed beta of TR at the same time I was in the closed beta of HG:L. In both cases, I recall conversations with other testers talking about how the game needed at least a few more months before launch, only for a "oops, next week" announcement to come out of nowhere the same day.
Now that gamers have the option of supporting devs, I do it. MW Online, Path of Exile, Dragon's Prophet, Firefall, and Planetside 2 are a few recent ones I've paid into for that reason. And it wasn't $100 for me. You pick whatever amount works for you. I usually go for either the $20ish or $50ish versions, depending on what the value is. To those who won't sweat $100, good on them.
The second set of people who buy these are those who find genuine value in these packs. A big incentive is a beta key. Some companies, like SOE, actually reward you with an equal amount of their cash shop currency with every founder's pack, so you're not really losing much if you would have bought their currency anyway. The weakest incentives are the glory hog items, like special mounts, titles, etc.
Most founder's packs that I've seen are actually good value. You get more for your money then than you would if you spent an equivalent amount post-launch. And they're rarely a waste of money, if you're smart about it. I have literally never spent a cent on a Founder's Pack that I consider wasted. Every game I've supported in this way (is Firefall out yet?) has successfully launched and has been very enjoyable to me.
Obviously have too much money to spend.
Just like spending money on luxury stuff, that you don't need. Just because they can, why not?
Years ago, it seemed to make sense for the people who would spend a couple years in an MMO. When devs started offering the lifetime subs, it was a completely different payment landscape
I don't think anyone (other than STO) has offered a lifetime sub in the past couple of years. Did you recently see one somewhere?
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
The Secret World also has a lifetime sub option.
The Enlightened take things Lightly
Ah, I forgot about that one. Thanks for the info.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Once you have bought a lifetime subscription you can consider it all as sunken cost. If it then fails you can just move on.
But if you Ask me its just a gamble on that you will Get more value from a lifetime than a monthly subscription. Which might be true and might be wrong. In the case you are right and lifetime given you more value the company is screwed since you play forever and dont bring in revenue. In the extreme case the game shots down or change payment model.
basicly lifetime subscription is a bet from the player that it will add more value than monthly, and from the company that it wont (or someone Else has to pay for it with higher monthly sub cost, game shut down or new payment modell).
Have to agree with this. If they have the cash, why not?
It's not supposed to make sense. Does it make sense when people spend silly money on cars?
Some people have that kind of cash to put into a game..
The lifetime sub option kind of makes sense but only if you know the game is going to be any good..
I can brought some cheaper founders packs but not usually over a price of a standard game.. I like to put most of my spare cash into my car, some people would probably question me spending £1000s on bits for my car hehe, but its what i enjoy doing.
So to your question
WHY?
Mainly because thats what they like to spend their cash on..
I've only ever bought one founders pack and my reasoning was that i believed this game could be the next big thing, akin to WoW, ofcourse i was wrong, but seeing as i played and was entertained by WoW for more then 6 years, it felt like it was worth the investment.
Ofcourse, I'll never make that mistake again.
Fine, we'll compromise. I'll get my way & you'll find a way to be okay with that.
I bought life time for STO. Huge Star Trek fan. Thought I'd be playing for at least a couple years, so it would have been money saved. Also got lured in with the life time bonuses.
Basically I'm stupid okay. Never will make that mistake again.
looking beyond founders/lifetime
people pay 150+ for Collectors editions too
could ask the same question - why spend more than $150 on any kickstarter ?
EQ2 fan sites
Yes. That is what a beta test is supposed to be about, finding and reporting bugs. What you sir have been falling for is the developer & publisher's new wet dream. The dream of being able to soft launch an unfinished, underdeveloped product and then get the consumer to pay for the privilege of testing it without any of the comebacks associated with a buggy, released game. Once upon a time developers had to pay for professional testers but now they just give the thing a cursory glance and throw it out to the masses who throw money back at them. Wish I could get away with a business model like that.
All my opinions are just that..opinions. If you like my opinions..coolness.If you dont like my opinion....I really dont care.
Playing: ESO, WOT, Smite, and Marvel Heroes
-they think that that certain mmo is THE mmo to top the charts
-that it will run forever
-no previous experiences with other mmos that radically change the game within weeks
-no previous experience with mmo population splummeting to comatoze status when the next big thing arrives
-all the exclusive rewards that make them drool all over the place
"going into arguments with idiots is a lost cause, it requires you to stoop down to their level and you can't win"
I buy founder's packs. Generally I plan for the 50-60 purchase ahead of time. Most times, the game has done something to draw my attention. In general, they get as little from me as possible after that minus subs. For example, PS2 had me go with the SOE all games pass. For 5 bucks extra I could hop around some of my old stomping grounds. At the time, it was worth it.
I also bought the a defiance Ultimate or w/e that was called. I did 150 there because I like Trion. I've bought quite a few CEs. Starcraft 2 WoL, HotS. Gw2. STO. And I've bought quite a few digital collector's editions (like Rift).
If I put 20 hours into a game I spent 60 dollars on, I generally feel I got enough return on my investment. Very rarely do I feel I didn't earn my money back (Defiance most recently). I'll make it back though eventually.
Well that's a very subjective questions that will yield many different answers and reasons why people do this but I am fairly certain some folks have hope for fill in the blank MMO of choice so much that they have high hopes for it to do well and sometimes they don't realize going into that situation that they might get let down horribly. It's a roll of the dice but if it goes favorably and you can handle sudden nerfs or changes and deal with it well then it's all good on the other hand if they change the game dramatically and you no longer enjoy it or they close up shop or if they let hackers run wild then you might be disappointed.
That's exactly what Founder packs are. You're spot on.
As titles have shifted more from retail box to digital, we went from pre-order to collectors to founders. Pre-purchase has also appeared in the past year or two because it resonates better with the average brick-n-mortar leaning gamer than 'Founder' does due to a) the name being easier to understand and b) a level of attachment to games lower than that of the avid MMO gamer.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
I have no clue.
In this day & age of F2P games, personally i won't pay anything ... not to mention founder/lifetime memberships. I certainly won't play any game for a "lifetime".