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Is it finally time for monthly subscription prices to rise?
Kyleran
Member LegendaryPosts: 43,975
Jagex is doing it in Runescape, CCP doing the same in EVE, Netflix did it already and suffering financial consequences from it apparently.
The price for monthly subscriptions in gaming has remained constant, if not at a stagnant $15 price point for over as many years really.
So is it time for monthly sub prices to go up? Is so, how much? What would make you personally be willing to pay more for a sub?
Players here have often stated a willingness to pay more, but usually with stipulations such as better game content (as they define such), improved customer service or other desired benefits.
But in the case of EVE anyways the reasons being given for a 33% price increase so far are, to catch up on 15 years of no price increases, rising costs to deliver new content and, the loss of a significant portion of their clients due to Russian Sanctions.
None of these reasons given are ones I've ever seen gamers say they would be willing to pay more for in a monthly sub, so while it might be time for a price increase, I think developers are going to have to give something of solid value in return or it's going to be a very tough sell.
In CCP's case it might have been better to just create a new premium sub tier which had some desireable extra benefits such as even faster skill training, or maybe finally let one account skill train more than one character simultaneously instead of in serial as was the case back when I last played about 5 years ago (which I assume is still true.)
Neither would have cost CCP much, if anything to implement but would have offered optional additional benefits which probably would have encouraged a significant portion of their player base to sign up for.
Sure, there would have been some grumbling about it being unfair, or P2W to offer extra benefits for a higher sub fee, but hey, I think that shipped sailed in EVE a very long time ago.
Might have even had some accounts cancelled (but few customers lost) if all 3 characters could train while the sub was active, but my guess is it would have been far less than the current plan will see happen, in many cases losing a customer entirely, perhaps forever.
Finally, I've seen it suggested even if sub prices should go up, might have been better to raise them more slowly but regularly, say to $16 or $17 now and more later.
The price for monthly subscriptions in gaming has remained constant, if not at a stagnant $15 price point for over as many years really.
So is it time for monthly sub prices to go up? Is so, how much? What would make you personally be willing to pay more for a sub?
Players here have often stated a willingness to pay more, but usually with stipulations such as better game content (as they define such), improved customer service or other desired benefits.
But in the case of EVE anyways the reasons being given for a 33% price increase so far are, to catch up on 15 years of no price increases, rising costs to deliver new content and, the loss of a significant portion of their clients due to Russian Sanctions.
None of these reasons given are ones I've ever seen gamers say they would be willing to pay more for in a monthly sub, so while it might be time for a price increase, I think developers are going to have to give something of solid value in return or it's going to be a very tough sell.
In CCP's case it might have been better to just create a new premium sub tier which had some desireable extra benefits such as even faster skill training, or maybe finally let one account skill train more than one character simultaneously instead of in serial as was the case back when I last played about 5 years ago (which I assume is still true.)
Neither would have cost CCP much, if anything to implement but would have offered optional additional benefits which probably would have encouraged a significant portion of their player base to sign up for.
Sure, there would have been some grumbling about it being unfair, or P2W to offer extra benefits for a higher sub fee, but hey, I think that shipped sailed in EVE a very long time ago.
Might have even had some accounts cancelled (but few customers lost) if all 3 characters could train while the sub was active, but my guess is it would have been far less than the current plan will see happen, in many cases losing a customer entirely, perhaps forever.
Finally, I've seen it suggested even if sub prices should go up, might have been better to raise them more slowly but regularly, say to $16 or $17 now and more later.
"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
Comments
I'd have some sympathy for the sub-only games doing so but they do it at their own peril since they're just as likely to lose income with a higher sub price from those thinking it's no longer worth it as they are to get more income from all the loyal fans who stay.
They're not just competing with other sub MMOs, they are also competing with services like Microsoft Game Pass for PC that give you and infinitely greater bang for the buck.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
I am going to be dead honest, gone are the days when a game company could charge money just for the sheer entitlement of being able to log into their game.
Those days are long gone now.
While I like B2P, Optional Subs, Cash Shop, All of which, allow me to get into the game, and if I want to take a break and come back, I can, I would not pay for a sub, which did nothing beyond allow me to play the game, because if I wanted to just come back and screw around, that sub functions as a very steep paywall to go back to a game I left, often to be reminded why I left in the first place.
With that said.
I think that if a game provides an Optional Sub in this day and age, it should include the entire game. I pay the sub, and should not need to touch the cash shop.
DDO's system was a solid groundwork, but I think it would have been better if they expanded their Sub, to include all expansion content, all races, all classes, everything, with no strings attached. The player could pay the sub, and every single aspect of the game would be open to them.
I also think that if the game has DLC's and Expansions, if they have an optional sub, the sub should include the slow accusation of that paid content, as they pay the sub, this inspiring the players to keep their sub going as long as they are playing the game, and if they take a break, they can come back to now owning more of the game to test it out again, and not have such a steep paywall.
Personally, I think a "Sub" could even be done in Tiers. Where you have a Basic "Play the game" sub, where it opens up all paid content, including expansions and the like and an "Own the Game" Sub, that not only provides full access, but also gives ownership of said content over time.
Both subs offering additional perks and the like as well.
I would be more inclined to pay a sub under those conditions.
But asking me to just pay a monthly fee to get nothing beyond access to the game, unless that game can make me tingle in the private parts, that era is dead.
I'd be all in on such a game/server.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
But that only lasted a couple of years before they came up with the idea of making some DLC be super DLCs, calling those "chapters" and charging for them as if they were expansions. It was a pathetic game of semantics but amazingly enough a huge portion of the player base fell for it hook line and sinker. Many in this forum bashed the crap out of me when I pointed out what they were really doing which was changing the optional sub to no longer be all inclusive.
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
MMORPGs had one real advantage as a genre. The massive part. The sharing of a virtual world with hundreds of others. That was *the* feature to leverage and improve and expand over the years. The only feature another genre couldn't do, and easily do better due to the inherent nature of this genre.
Now, the gap between an MMORPG and a multiplayer game is smaller than it's ever been.
"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
I'd agree, but as I saw with PvP/PvE servers (EQ), they tend to "effect" the other servers. PvP complained and PvE changed to incorporate the change, too - and vice versa. You'll have "get them in the cash shop" mechanics (cash shop) and "rock, paper, scissors" mechanics (PvP) in the game?
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
"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
Respect, walk
Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me?
- PANTERA at HELLFEST 2023
At the end of the day, companies need X to stay in business and make enough of a profit to keep going.
Lifetime subs are VERY profitable for games that do not plan on having a long lifespan or with low content that people will chew through and move on. They pocket $200 instead of $15-30. But obviously, as a game sticks around... that becomes less profitable for the company and a better deal for the player.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
I remember when I played LoTRO at first...They offered a $200 lifetime sub and I just didnt think I'd play for 14 months and I didnt...I burned out after 3 months or so and only went back again after it went f2p to take a look. In 2022, I jsut like to bounce around more rather than spend years in one game....There really isnt a game that could offer a lifetime sub where I would probably get the money's worth.
I get that some people have this whole stick up their bum about that, and are all like "I refuse to spend one red cent on a game that I will sink my life hours into!" or some such nonsense, but, reality is, if you could have spent 30 on a sub, you can spend 30 in the item mall and not only be able to play the game, but also be loaded down in all the cool swag at the same time.
For me, I spend around $40 a month on games, $20 a pay check, it's not much really, when you think about it, I spend a lot more on my internet package that gives me access to these games, so, there is that to consider.
No dis to anyone here, but, when you have to pay your own bills, the cost of an MMO is like paltry pocket change compared to a lot of other things you end up paying for.
Just took the wife to dinner last night, ran me over $50 before tip, and this was just a local faire dinner, appetizer was $10 all by itself, and then the burger platter for me was $14, and this was not some place fancy, in contrast to that, $40 a month for an MMO is not much at all.
Why people have such a pisser about an item shop, I will not grasp, but, I'll keep plunking down my $40, for any game that keeps amusing me, if that took the form of an optional sub for a good game, I'd gladly pay that too.
What I would not pay, is a mandatory sub.
/Cheers,
Lahnmir
Kyleran on yours sincerely
'But there are many. You can play them entirely solo, and even offline. Also, you are wrong by default.'
Ikcin in response to yours sincerely debating whether or not single-player offline MMOs exist...
'This does not apply just to ED but SC or any other game. What they will get is Rebirth/X4, likely prettier but equally underwhelming and pointless.
It is incredibly difficult to design some meaningfull leg content that would fit a space ship game - simply because it is not a leg game.
It is just huge resource waste....'
Gdemami absolutely not being an armchair developer
You could even find people roleplaying in zone chat, particularly in the Shire. Ask a question in zone chat and you would get a roleplayed answer, it was quite infectious and I am sure led to some players giving RP a go who had never bothered before. The taverns were places were you could drop in at any time and there was a small chance players were roleplaying.
For something as good as that I would be prepared to play £25 myself, but I am not sure there are enough of us who would to make it viable. Lahnmir makes the case why we may see subs being put under even more pressure going forward.
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
1) None of the MMOs I have played since the fabled "15 years" of no price increase has in any meaningful way increased its quality. At best, they maintain it. Most of them haven't managed to do even that. Perhaps there are some MMOs that I don't play that are an exception, but personally I don't see that.
2) Virtually all of the MMOs have introduced other monetisation strategies. In WoW's loot terms, this is a greed before need situation. They do not need your money, it's just greed - so please stop offering it to them. It makes us all look bad.
3) Rising costs is a very debatable topic. Perhaps human resources... But the rest? 15 years ago, MMOs had to operate thousands of servers, now they do everything through cloud services with extremely competitive price schemes. Costs of the software distribution - same thing. Also, many productivity tools now exist (anywhere from development, operation, support, etc.) that were nowhere in sight back in 2010. Perhaps 3/4 of all game support is now automated (don't we all just love those canned replies with no relevance to our ticket?). Etc. etc. And even the human resources got drastically cut, as the companies streamlined their business. Where Activision used to run a team of 3000 (or more) WoW game support staff, now they probably have half of that.
4) There may be some indie or incomprehensibly (in our current gaming landscape) customer-focus studios, but those are very exotic beasts, while the rest will take your money and boast to their investors how great their business model works and that they deserve a bonus (+ additional stock options of their skyrocketing shares). In a vast majority of cases, your money will not go to anything even remotely connected with the game you want to support. You are giving them money for nothing. If anything, it will show them that they can squeeze you more, because clearly, you have too much money to throw at them.
Ultimately, players should under no circumstances volunteer to give more sub money. Ever. It is not rational, it is not in their interest and it will be used against them. The companies do not need it, they just keep trying with their disingenuous narrative that has failed so many times before. Because after a decade of this PR massage, who knows, some gamers might start to crack, right? With all the crowdfunding crap and scams like DreamWorld, NFT frauds, sales of JPGs, etc., players these days do seem to have more money than common sense, so why wouldn't the Koticks of this world keep at it? One day the goose might lay one golden egg more.