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On The Rising Price of MMO Subscriptions 148

Posted by simoniker from the higher-and-higher dept.
An anonymous reader writes "With the ever rising price of online games and special offers like Anarchy Online's free trial where you can play free until September for $9.95. I've been wondering - how much do people feel is too much to pay for an online game? The 'normal' price used to be $9.95 per month, and EverQuest is now $12.95 a month, with Star Wars Galaxies, City Of Heroes and others at $14.95. How much do increasing monthly fees affect your playing habits, and does the price of an MMO subscription affect which game you might choose to play?" Perhaps schemes such as the Sony Online All Access subscription are a possible solution?
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On The Rising Price of MMO Subscriptions More

On The Rising Price of MMO Subscriptions

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  • My comments (Score:5, Interesting)

    by metamatic ( 202216 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @12:34PM (#9717663) Homepage Journal
    Well, to quote my own web site [ath0.com]:

    Either charge a subscription, or charge for the game, but don't ask me to pay twice.

    If I need a subscription to play, I'm very unlikely to pay $50 for the game, because if I decide I don't like it I'm left with a $50 coaster. Games which are offline or online can get away with charging for the game itself, but it's still a bad idea if the main point is the multiplayer: A high up-front cost to join a subscription game screams "We don't think you'll stay a member for long so we'd better get some cash up front".

    Monthly subscriptions don't work for me, unless they're really cheap.

    Your market is people with broadband and significant disposable income. To me, that says adults with jobs. Like many adults with jobs, there are months when I don't really get any time to play video games at all.

    It seems to me that it's not technically hard at all to have a "per hour" fee, capped at the cost of a monthly subscription. That would encourage casual gamers and people who aren't sure they will like the game enough to get really into it and spend hours on it every month.
    • These games need to charge for both to survive. And from the numbers it looks like if the game is actually good, (EQ, City of Heroes, etc...) they won't have a problem getting the users to purchase and pay a subscription fee.

      $14.95 a month is not very much money. I could have afforded that When I was 12 and had a paper route. Heck you could be on the street for a few hours and make that. And we are talking a whole month of fun... or misery for $14.95 depending on how you look at it.

      And the fees are chea

    • Re:My comments (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Chibi ( 232518 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @02:16PM (#9719157) Journal
      Either charge a subscription, or charge for the game, but don't ask me to pay twice.


      Not sure how other MMORPGs work, but City of Heroes cost $50 for the first month of live playtime (non-beta). So, you can either look at it as the game was $50, and the first month is free, or the game was $35, and you paid for your first month. The montly fee was hard for me to accept as well, especially since most of my gaming has been either PC FPS (free) or console, but I went out for lunch one day and spent $15 on a meal I didn't like. That made me think I waste $15 here and there all the time, so why not use it for something that will entertain me over the course of a whole month?

      I guess one reason to put a price on the initial purchase is to discourage people who just want to troll, etc from coming on board. It's not like they can fine your trolling, the worst they could do is disable your account, but if you didn't want to play anyway... I'm not kidding myself, I know the main reason they do this is to get your money. :)

      I definitely like your idea of paying per time played with a cap at the monthly fee, though. :)

    • Re:My comments (Score:2, Interesting)

      by g051051 ( 71145 )
      I don't have a problem with the idea of a monthly fee, but I strongly object to having to shell out for a box and CD.

      I used the Star Wars Galaxies free trial, but found out that, even though I had the full game installed on my machine, there was no way to simply go to a full-time live subscription without going to a store and buying a box. So, I dropped the game right away. What's the point of providing a freely downloadable full game client, then making me go buy a box? Even if they wanted me to just b
      • Most MMORPGs charge twice because they have two types of expense:
        1. Development. Just as in a traditional game, developing the client takes money. The cost of the box goes towards the development, just like it does for any other game.
        2. Maintenance: Unlike other games,a MMORPG requires continual expense on the part of the company in the form of bandwidth, server upgrades, maintenance, etc. That's what the monthly fee goes towards - the ongoing costs.

        It's not a case of developers double-dipping, it's a case o

        • Maintenance: Unlike other games,a MMORPG requires continual expense on the part of the company in the form of bandwidth, server upgrades, maintenance, etc. That's what the monthly fee goes towards - the ongoing costs

          A large part of that monthly fee is pure profit. Sony has mentioned this in interviews, and it can also be seen by looking at the numbers Mythic has released for DAoC. DAoC has 250k subscribers, so is grossing over $3 million a month. Considering that DAoC cost them $1.5 million to develop

    • Re:My comments (Score:5, Informative)

      by wormbin ( 537051 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @06:30PM (#9722366)

      I have a friend who is working working on an upcoming MMORPG and I asked him the same question: "Why not give away the game and just charge a monthly fee?"

      He responded with the following points:

      1) MMORPGs are extremely expensive to run (new content must be generated so the game doesn't become sterile) so you _have_ to have a monthly fee.

      2) In order to sell enough copies of the game so that you reach the critical mass of players in order to be profitable, you have to have a boxed game on a store shelf. To completely abandon retail would be suicide. In order to have a store willing to carry a game on a shelf, you can't also be giving the game away for free on the internet.

      So according to him, in order to have a profitable game you have to both sell the game _and_ charge a monthly fee. Of course this is not good news for us game consumers.

      • >1) MMORPGs are extremely expensive to run (new
        >content must be generated so the game doesn't
        >become sterile) so you _have_ to have a monthly
        >fee.

        Sure, but does the added content equal a quarter of a new game each month? For each player?

        If not, one simply get more value from buying another (new) game instead every 4th month (and if one go for slightly older games, that are cheaper one can buy one even more often.

      • Re:My comments (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Lord_Dweomer ( 648696 )
        "2) In order to sell enough copies of the game so that you reach the critical mass of players in order to be profitable, you have to have a boxed game on a store shelf. To completely abandon retail would be suicide. In order to have a store willing to carry a game on a shelf, you can't also be giving the game away for free on the internet."

        Funny, last I checked, A Tale in the Desert was doing just fine.

      • I think you can have a boxed game in stores and still get away with a "free" client.

        Several years back, a bunch of my friends and myself got Ascheron's Call when it was available in the store for $20, which included a $20 mail in rebate making it free. I know the mail in rebates kind of stink, but it got it in the store while making the client free. I think it even came with a free month to play on top of that, so it fix the two big complaints people and I have: no free client and no chance to try onlin

      • "... you have to have a boxed game on a store shelf ... in order to have a profitable game you have to both sell the game _and_ charge a monthly fee."

        Well, a simple response to this might be to give away the first THREE months of gameplay for free, rather than just one month's play with the initial purchase.

        That would be the kick in the pants that I would need to buy a copy. I have never purchased a copy of an MMO simply because of the price - $60-80 for the first three months of a game too much to ask,
      • Then why not set the price point to where players get X number of free months until it equals the cost of the game.

        For instance, say you charge $10/month and the game sells for $40. Include 4 free months, and you're set. Of course, I'm sure retailers are happy to sell 'bargain games', so is there really no way to set the initial price at $20 and include two months free?
    • That would encourage casual gamers and people who aren't sure they will like the game enough to get really into it and spend hours on it every month.

      In my experience, very few of these games encourage "casual" gamers. You need to invest time to increase your character's capability. At the start of a game, the gameplay is usually boring - your character has only a few skills, thus only a few options to use in combat (which is most of the game). It only really gets interesting when your character develops

  • Guild Wars (Score:3, Informative)

    by th1ckasabr1ck ( 752151 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @12:35PM (#9717690)
    The upcoming MMO Guild Wars [guildwars.com] will have no monthly subscription fee.

    • Re:Guild Wars (Score:3, Insightful)

      by RotJ ( 771744 )
      This seems like a sensible system for a new startup to compete against the bigger MMO games. Guild Wars lets you play online for free after you buy it and they'll keep up the revenue stream by periodically releasing expansion packs.

      The traditional monthly fee structure in most games makes some users a bit anxious about how much time they can allot with the game. If they don't have the time or interest to put enough hours into a game, they'll feel that they're wasting money. This is why few people subscr

      • I would be much more likely to play a game with this type of pricing structure. The main client for maybe $30 give or take $5, and then maybe 6 expansions a year for $20-25 each, than I am not required to buy, but add some significant gameplay or equipment additions that would compell me to do so.

        This way I could play even when I don't have any money to spare, and could grab an expansions that I missed later on when I have some extra cash.

        Alternatively, they could offer a discounted pre-sale system, say $

    • Re:Guild Wars (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Attaturk ( 695988 )

      Nor will the historically authentic MMORPG, Roma Victor [roma-victor.com]

  • What's yer base value? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 16, 2004 @12:36PM (#9717703)
    Mine's movies. I compare it all to movies. I'm often willing to pay $10 for two hours of entertainment. Whereas I'll spend the same money for many hours a month playing an MMO (puzzle pirates).
    • Yeah I do the movie thing too. But my problem is this: if after 2 hours I'm not satisfied with the movie, I want my money back (or at least wish I hadn't spent it)

      With an MMORPG, every one I've played, I'm never satisfied, and always wish I hadn't paid.

      It might be more quantity entertainment for $10, but the quality....well, that has never lived up to expectations for me.
    • I just figure what I could buy in my big three hobbies (brewing beer, collecting arcade machines, wakeboarding - in no particular order) and if I can buy something major in one of those, I'm not spending the money elsewhere.

      For example, if I spend $15 per month on a single MMO game, that's $170 per year that I can't spend on my hobbies. I can buy some pretty nice wakeboard bindings, some arcade boards, or a nice kegging setup for that kind of money. When I think of that, MMOs don't look nearly as appeali
    • Actually, Puzzle Pirates is one of the few I've considered. $10 a month is about right, and if I recall correctly you can just download the client, there's no initial $50 sting. Plus it's cooperative, which is another big requirement for me, and runs on systems I actually have.

      (I don't actually have a surplus of time right now, I expect to get back into gaming later in the year... My comments were from a while back.)
    • >Mine's movies. I compare it all to movies.

      Ehh, mine's other games. I can get a completely full new game for the fee of 4 month (or so. less if I buy older).
  • I'm not that big a fan of the whole MMO scene, though I do occasionally play BioWare's Neverwinter Nights online for free (many servers can go up to 64 participants). Largely, it depends on the sorts of players the game attracts, and I've seen my share of horror stories about PK (player killers), and generic *ssholes on the big MMO games. How can that be worth paying for?
  • I don't suppose the weak dollar is doing you much good. I imagine many things will start getting more expensive if the dollar continues like this.

    Certainly when you compare GBP to USD - $15 now only works out as about 1 more expensive than $10 two years ago...
    • That should be one pound (sterling) more expensive...

      Damn Slashdot and it's denial of non-dollar currencies...

    • Re:Weak Dollar (Score:2, Funny)

      by vehn23 ( 684035 )
      I think you mean inflation.

    • Re:Weak Dollar (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Orne ( 144925 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @03:59PM (#9720718) Homepage
      Eh, to me, this is more of an issue of a "price point"... the public perception of "expensiveness"... Music on CD is expensive at $18, but not expensive at $12. Goung out ot the Movies is cheap at $5 matinee, but expensive at $8.75. Now a month's subscription to an online game is cheap at $10 and expensive at $15.

      In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. It will remain at $15 for a long time, because of the relative price to purchasing a new game... if it goes up to $20, we're talking on the order of your dial-up ISP bill, or more importantly, the value of half of a new game. If people feel that they are not getting enough "content" for their subscriptions (can an old game provide as much new content as a fully new game every two months?), then they will cancel their accounts, and the game loses their income streams.

      Now some games push it (Everquest took about 8 months to get the first expansion) and some are actively delivering new content to their users (City of Heroes, with new zones, new costumes, and new enemies, delivered in one month's time). If the customers feel that they are getting enough new stuff to justify the $15, then they'll stick with it, and everyone's happy in the end.

  • worth it (Score:3, Insightful)

    by pizza_milkshake ( 580452 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @12:45PM (#9717853)
    even if it was $50/month, many people would still pay. consider how it stacks up against other entertainment costs -- $15 CDs, $9 movie tickets, etc. -- a month's worth of unlimited online play for a middle-class geek with no social life and nothing better to do is a drop in the bucket.

    no, i don't play MMORGs, but i've had points in my life where i played way too many video games, simply because there was nothing immediately better to do and i didn't have an interest in actively seeking out real life stuff to do.

  • Ok, I can get HBO - like 8-10 stations of it - 14$ or less a month with my digital cable or satellite. I can tape shows, or TiVO them, and watch them over and over as much as I want. AND I don't have to pay 50$ startup to initiate the channel. (Ok, cable installation, but you can get around that with promos all over...I've yet to see a big MMO give the game away for free). It's just too pricey.

  • 15 seems reasonable; but don't push it. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by 2Flower ( 216318 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @12:50PM (#9717922) Homepage
    The harsh reality of the matter is that MMORPGs cost a metric ton of money to develop and maintain. You can't just push the boxed product out and then maybe do a few bug fix patches, you have to actively develop new content for it over the span of multiple years, while paying your bandwidth bill, and supporting the massive customer service department you have to have. So, I don't think it's too much to ask for a boxed copy fee, PLUS a monthly. That's the extra cost of playing a game experience that goes beyond what you got in your initial money dump. Some smaller MMOs which can't support huge audiences can charge nothing or next to nothing, and you've got Guild Wars which is ostensibly free but asks for money to access certain content -- but you're never going to get a truly free MMO.

    But that said, look at the economics of it; a 15 a month subscription is the absolute maximum, and that's assuming you don't play any other MMORPGs. (I can't see a casual player playing more than 1-2 of them, anyway. There's just not enoguh hours in the day.) 15 is not that much of a step up from 13. All you have to do to make the extra two bucks is not supersize it once a month. :) After 15, you're pushing it, since most luxury monthly-fee services like Tivo and such tend to pile up and are all in the same 15 range. You want to keep them small enough, or folks will start looking for ways to trim the fat.
    • You can't just push the boxed product out and then maybe do a few bug fix patches, you have to actively develop new content for it over the span of multiple years, while paying your bandwidth bill, and supporting the massive customer service department you have to have. True to a certain extent, but to me it seems that some MMOG developers don't pay the current game enough attention. Rather, they have most of their guys work on a bloody expansion pack which people have to pay for, while they only fix some

      • Re:15 seems reasonable; but don't push it. (Score:4, Informative)

        by 2Flower ( 216318 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @02:57PM (#9719727) Homepage
        True to a certain extent, but to me it seems that some MMOG developers don't pay the current game enough attention. Rather, they have most of their guys work on a bloody expansion pack which people have to pay for, while they only fix some bugs and address some balance-issues every now and then.

        It depends on the game, and this is also part of the balance of whether or not you keep paying them the 15. If you're not seeing results for your money, they stand a chance at losing a customer; this is good and normal and in keeping with things. If they're doing their job and you see routine attention paid to issues, even if it's not 100% bug free and perfect, then they're using your money wisely.

        City of Heroes is using the money wisely. Developers post every day and recently they've been starting open discussion threads for suggestions of how to balance the classes, what the players want to see. Changes occur frequently. Even with an expansion on the way regular content pushes are in the works.

        Then you have the Star Wars Galaxies. Eek. There's no rhyme or reason to why they address some issues and ignore others, and some (smugglers) have been shoved back repeatedly and even told directly that they wouldn't be addressed in favor of the expansion.

        The money issue is one of service, and if service isn't what you're getting, money isn't what they're going to get in return.
    • I agree. I thought 5 years ago we would have "discovered" that you can't have something (content) for nothing on the internet and expect it to last. I would assume that in particular that "half life 3" or whatever will not be playable multiplayer without some sort of fee.
    • What new content? All the mmrpgs I know release new content via expansion packs. The only thing they release monthly are bug fixes and balance issues.
      Bandwidth should not cost more then $5 for the ubermost power gamer.
      All customer service that is not related to account billing is from people who feel justified in tying up the lines because they are paying $15 a month.

      MMRPG's are charching the very most that they can. Its capitalisim at its worse. Yes people CAN AFFORD $15 A MONTH. So the logic would work l
      • All the mmrpgs I know release new content via expansion packs. The only thing they release monthly are bug fixes and balance issues.

        You've not played City of Heroes then. The first update added levels 41-50, two new zones, the ability to change your costume, some new mobs, new social abilities, and some new missions/tilesets.

        The next update will bring us the ability to re-assign our powers, new mission objective types, at least two new zones, new character customizations (capes, particles, etc), new mis
    • At least not at the level they have. Usually customer service is responsible for things like billing issues, anyway, so if you didn't make the users pay the 15 bucks a month to play the game you wouldn't need to pay the customer service people. In-game GMs would handle all game-related problems, and the cust could return/trade in the game they bought ONCE.

  • Time for Playing (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Thyamine ( 531612 )
    It really comes down to how much time I have to play the game. I love EQ and can't wait for EQ2 to come out. For $13 or $15, I'll pay that every month np.

    The real issue is when I have busy periods (that pesky 'work' thing) or times when I just need a break from the game. I took a few months off (from the game) when I played EQ, and for $10 a month I don't feel too bad about wasting that to hold my account. But if I'm playing $15 or $20 a month, I'll seriously reconsider taking a break vs quitting alt

  • It doesn't matter (Score:3, Insightful)

    by cephyn ( 461066 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @12:53PM (#9717964) Homepage
    No matter what they charge, people will still buy it. Works for drugs, works for MMORPGs. Addiction is a terrible and wonderful thing, depending on who you are.
    • Man that is too true. I just don't understand why it takes so much maintainance expenses to keep these games running? Do they buy and add a new server every month or something? It's crazy.

      10000 users x $10 = $100000 a month. That's a ludicrous maintainance expense for any service.

  • $12.00 p/h for 5 hours of paintball at $60 total for all costs
    $6.25 p/h for 12 hours of day rental for sailing a Flying Scott at $75
    $4.50 p/h for 10 minutes of DDR at $0.75
    $4.00 p/h for 2 hour movie at $8 ticket
    $1.00 p/h for 15 hours of playing a MMO a month at $15 per month.

    And lets face it - most of you MMO players are on much more than 15 hour a month. In theory you could play/macro all month, making the cost about two pennies per hour.

  • Comment removed (Score:3, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @12:55PM (#9717998)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • But based on the amount of time I could actually dedicate to another MMORPG? I might be persuaded to pay $5 a month. I'd probably log in four or five times a week, kill a few monsters, make a friend or two, then get stuck behind a term paper and come back to find all my friends are leveled past me and I'm no longer interested in what's going on.

      City of Heroes has a nice solution for this - Sidekicking. A player level 11 or higher can sidekick another player, as long as that player is at least 3 level

    • Neverwinter Nights is just a ripoff of what the MUD community has been doing in text for years and years.

      If you *really* care about an in-depth story and roleplay, check out Eternal Struggle MUD (www.esmud.com). The warning is that ES' combat system is crap, the entire MUD is based around roleplay (even levelling.) It's different, and it's the kind of thing no MMORPG maker would EVER take a risk on.
    • Look at www.avlis.org - its NWN, and there are no "younger" players that are just in it for the levels.
  • I for one think that the prices are far too high all ready, ~$50 for the boxed cd and a free month of the game, then another $15 a month to play?
    I have tried all the free trials of these games and have yet to see one that is worth more that $5 a month, maybe $30 for the boxed game and a free month.
    For $25 dollars you can pick up a copy of BF:42 or NWN and play on 64 player servers, hell for free you can download Wolfenstien:ET and play to your hearts content and get 10 times more interaction and gameplay th

  • You keep using that word. (Score:4, Funny)

    by mcmonkey ( 96054 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @01:12PM (#9718290) Homepage

    I do not think it means what you think it means.

    you can play free until September for $9.95

    Well, which is it? Is it free? Or $9.95?

    • It's like when people talk about their cell phone plans. My friend always tries to stay off it during the day, saying something like "I only get 400 free daytime-minutes a month!" And I'm like "Dude. They're not free minutes if you have to pay for them..."

  • Recoup the costs! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Marc_Hawke ( 130338 )
    ...or maximize the profits?

    The company line is that the only reason they charge a monthly fee is because they have to pay for the bandwidth, player information storage, the CSRs, the constantly updated content. If that was true, it would be an easy task to add up the monthly expenses, and divide by the number of active subscriptions. Presto, instant price.

    Anotherway would be to figure out the price per person directly. ((Average bandwidth use per user X cost per bandwidth unit)+{ Monthly wage of CSR/
    • The numbers have probably changed now, but most of the non-human costs have actually gone down, so I don't understand the 'greater than inflation' rise of the monthly fee.

      Maybe the source of your misunderstanding is right there. Human costs rise. Minimum wages go up. Cost of living goes up. As more players join, you need more reps so you can't just divide a set number among all the players. Why do you wholly dismiss human costs and then claim a lack of understanding?

      If you spend your whole life wor
    • Yeah, I hate the movies comparison too.
      With movies, do you have to spend 95% of your time 'levelling up' waiting for something to happen? Do movies have such absurd demands on your time?
      MMPORGs demand a considerable investment of time that is *not* fun. If I play for ten hours, I have not got ten hours of entertainment, maybe only a third of that. Sure you might say the exciting stuff is all that much more exciting 'cos you had to wait, but come off it that's like saying I should batter my face off a wall b

  • The overall MMORPG environment... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by HaloZero ( 610207 ) <protodeka@@@gmail...com> on Friday July 16, 2004 @01:15PM (#9718345) Homepage
    ...would have to change before I invest money and time into it.

    To begin, it costs way too much to support that sort of habit these days. I'd pay... 4.95 to 9.95 a month for a decent MMORPG. Even if the CD costs me 49.95 to start. (WoW: Blizzard, are you listening?).

    I would absolutely love to play World of Warcraft when it comes out, but, when the numbers add up, I'm afraid my 'disposable' income can't take that hit.

    Here's another issue. Players who detract from the overall experience. [penny-arcade.com] Espicially when game administration refuse to do anything about it. Not a case of 'can not', cases of 'will not'. Albeit, some games are adopting tougher policies on cheaters/assholes and are cracking down on them. Good. Good for them. More of you should be doing it.

  • Lineage II (Score:2, Informative)

    by Trikenstein ( 571493 )
    Put out by the same folks that made City of Heros (NCSoft) cost the same per month, $14.95.
    On a per month basis.
    If you purchase 3 mos at a time it goes down a dollar. 6 mos it goes down another dollar. And a year is another dollar lower.
    Also IIRC the first 2 expansions are free.
    They already released one expansion free. Although much of the content in it was supposed to be available at launch.
    Also this is for the North American release.
    No idea how they're handling it for their Asian or European markets
  • And another thing...

    There are many many games. The fee doubles each time you add a game. Play EQ? pay X. Wanna play UO as well? pay 2X. Wanna play CoH? 3X

    Finally, you're paying more for games per month than you are for rent. (heh. Guess that's a lot of games.)

    Sony had a good idea with their "All Access Pass" except that they didn't include "All", and they charged more than twice.

    I would have signed up in a heartbeat if it was "All SOE games for the price of a SW:G account." Of course, you couldn't
    • There are many many games. The fee doubles each time you add a game. Play EQ? pay X. Wanna play UO as well? pay 2X. Wanna play CoH? 3X

      Then play less games. I really don't get any of the above posts at all when they complain about the "high cost" of MMORPG subscriptions. If your family has one car, and you want another but you can't afford it, you don't write a letter to your editor complaining about the high cost of cars and the need for a new pricing model for that lease. You don't buy the other car.

      • I really don't get any of the above posts at all when they complain about the "high cost" of MMORPG subscriptions. If your family has one car, and you want another but you can't afford it, you don't write a letter to your editor complaining about the high cost of cars and the need for a new pricing model for that lease. You don't buy the other car.

        Let me turn that logic on its head:

        I really don't get any of the above posts at all when they defend MMORPG developers who charge twice for their games. If yo
        • If you want to develop an MMORPG but can't afford it with a subscription fee, you don't ask your customers to pay an arbitrary extra fee for something that's completely useless by itself. You don't develop the MMORPG.

          But this doesn't hold water. As I said in my post, the game is NOT completely useless by itself. You have a month's play to enjoy once you've bought the game off the shelf. I can count the number of computer games I've ever bought that I've played past a month on my fingers, and we're tal

      • I keep hearing this old excuse "the monthly fee is to cover new content and gameplay have to be introduced on a monthly basis or close to it." what MMRPG actually introduces new content monthly? They patch bugs and balance gameplay but dont add any features. Those are released with the expansion packs that you are expected to pay for.
        So what is the monthly fee? bandwidth? I can get a website hosted for $15 a month and suck up a hell of alot more bandwidth then i would ever pull from a mmrpg.
        I've heard custo
        • Asheron's Call releases significant monthly content and storyline updates. City of Heroes also has content updates about every 6 weeks so far, promised for more like monthly. The monthly fee for these games covers the development costs for these props, in addition to the space the servers are kept (lease/rent), and the admin person or people to maintain those boxes. And yes, the bandwidth, which you should remember is a HUGE pipe on the MMORPG side, even though it's a trickle on yours.

          Fair enough in my

  • because I think they are a ripoff until there is some consolidation. Even though I don't own an XBox, I think XBox Live has it right... pay the monthly price to get access to dedicated servers. Tier this model, and you could add MMORPGs to this as well.
  • A solution I'm sure has been suggested is paying based on how long you play. This is nice because those casual players {players who have lives?} who don't play as much, don't pay as much. However, note that this payment method favors those who a>power game, and b>have more money. That sucks.
    • Nothing says that a pay for play model has to be linear... For example, your first 5 hours per month could cost you a buck an hour. Your next 30 hours could be billed at $0.20 per hour. The next 15 at $0.10 per hour. After that, start raising the rate per hour. The next 15 (hours 51-65 for the month) back up to $0.15, and the next 35 for the month (66-100) at $0.20. Put the cap at that point.

      The first few hours will pay for the overhead of an account... the CSRs, storage space, billing costs, etc. After th

  • My thoughts (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Xlipse ( 669697 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @02:25PM (#9719277)
    I was going to moderate the hell out of this thread, but I decided to post instead.

    People who claim $15/mo isn't "that much" don't realize that us adults have other living expenses and everything adds up.

    I cancelled my CoH account because the game is simply NOT worth $15/month. It was a fun game, but I've played other MMORPG's that provide a lot more content and a greater variety of entertainment, and they cost less per month.

    I suspect in 2005, we'll find ourselves paying $17.95 for new games. I also wouldn't be surprised if EQ2 and SWG increased their price to $17.95 a month. It won't be long until we're paying $20/mo. Inflation has gone up steadily 2-3% each year, but MMORPG's subscription costs are inflating by 10-25% each year. Companies like SOE actually want to charge you MORE (they've specifically stated this, Raph Koster in fact) for their MMORPG's.

    The cost of the "box" should cover the development cost of the game and kick back a bit of profit, just like any other game. Now, if a game costs $15/mo, I expect an entire new game's worth of content ADDED every 4-5 months (which is NOT unreasonable), otherwise I might as well go out and just buy a new game. Right now, other than maybe Asherons Call 1, no MMORPG has provided content additions that are actually WORTH the monthly subscription. They always come out with expansions that cost you $20-$30 MORE just to "activate". It's all bullshit if you ask me.

    It's also very un-wise to pay for an MMORPG in blocks (3 months, 6 months, 12 months), despite the discount. The gaming companies are COUNTING on you to pay in advance, this is what they want.. however when you find out the game totally sucks and you already paid for 6 months, then have fun getting your money back (hope you paid with a Visa!). Or what if "your class" gets so nerfed you want to quit (or something else happens, like .. revealing how RETARDED the Jedi system is for your Star Wars game!).. but you still have 8 months left that you paid for.. oh well!

    Thankfully, the market is so saturated with MMORPG's now, we have many choices for where we want to spend our money. Unfortunately, for some of us, developers still haven't managed to get it right. I think SWG was close, but they screwed that game up so bad it's shameful. Here's to hoping for EQ2 (not likely) or WoW (I hope). Both of which will be $15/mo, if not more. :)
    • I've got a couple of thoughts to weigh in with here. The first deals with the economics of the $10, $12, $15, etc. prices. It's generally called market forces or supply and demand or "what the market will bear". They are charging it because they can. They get thousands of subscribers at that price point. There have been several people say, "Well, the content isn't worth $15 to me. If it were more like 7 or 8, I'd do it." That is trying to say that they can get more subscribers and make more money if
  • I find Enemy Territory highly addictive and it's free (at least as in beer).

    People don't roleplay much though ;) "Oh, my esteemed teammate! You lay on the ground, bleeding, and I remember our friendship while at the boot camp. I shall cure thee with my medi*headshot*"

  • $200 = Net Present Value/Cost of an MMO Game (Score:5, Insightful)

    by MBraynard ( 653724 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @02:38PM (#9719451) Journal
    I once did the calculations on the present value of an MMO subscription in perpetuity. I assumed a ~ $10 monthly expense, a $50 up front cost, and a 10% cost of money.

    So the cost of the game in present value is really between $190 or $200 (I forgot the exact charge.) So forget about this complaining about paying each month/paying an upfront fee. Just look at that amount and decide if it's worth it.

  • In my heavier days.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by 222 ( 551054 ) <stormseeker@gma i l .com> on Friday July 16, 2004 @03:09PM (#9719933) Homepage
    In my heavier days of online gaming, i used to joke that if you divided the amount of time i played / 10$, i ended up spending 5 cents an hour for entertainment (a good deal cheaper than going to a movie or the local pub).
    To the people that really play these games, 10-15 dollars a month is beyond trivial (I paid for 2 Daoc accounts, and even then i never felt shorted), and i have no problem shelling out 40-50 dollars for a new game.
  • I'm loving CoH, but $15/mo was almost to much for me to sign onto.

    And I have a couple of friends who are interested, but they don't want to drop down $50 for a potential monthly. I think it would make more sense to include the free trial month, but drop the price to $35 as well.
  • $15 dollars a month isn't that much for me, I just look at what I could have spent that entertainment money on, and to me its a bargain.
    For $15 I can get one of the following:
    2 Movie tickets
    3 McDonald's Value Meals
    4 Starbucks Lattes
    4 drinks at the bar
    1 trip to the ballgame
    7 energy drinks
    .3 rounds of golf
    1 day of paintball
    1 stage play
    1 CD
    5 CCG booster packs
    I get more enjoyment from the 40-60 hours a month I play an MMORPG than I would from any of those other things. YMMV
    • I agree. I think the people who complain that they would pay $15/month to only be able to log in for 5 hours a week have a legitimate claim.

      MMORPGs aren't generally targetted to people who have a lot of expenses and a lot of things going on in their lives right now. Single-player games would be better suited to entertaining these people.

      Seriously, if you don't have a lot of free time, MMORPGs aren't targetted to your demographic.

      So it's really quite silly to argue, "I won't pay that because I don't hav

  • Hibernation (Score:4, Interesting)

    by GrnArmadillo ( 697378 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @04:35PM (#9721207)
    If there's one feature MMORPG's could add to make me more likely to play them, it's an account hibernation feature where I could quit if I knew I wasn't going to have time to play this month and resubscribe later. This would clearly not be a prohibitive cost, since DAoC has just done exactly this without even having been asked in advance as a "win back players who've left" tactic.

    Of course, this feature is the opposite of the MMORPG business model. Those of us who play sufficiently infrequently to consider hibernating an account any given month? We're the customers they want to keep MOST because we're the ones they're making the most profit off of. Fact is, this industry uses the casual players and ones who try and dislike the game to subsidize the ones who make the game their second job. And that, as a member of the former group, I don't like.
    • If there's one feature MMORPG's could add to make me more likely to play them, it's an account hibernation feature where I could quit if I knew I wasn't going to have time to play this month and resubscribe later.

      It's out there, and it's free. You can stop paying your Asheron's Call subscription at any time. Leave for several months, and come right back where you left off. I think they officially say they don't purge accounts inactive less than 6 months. But in practice I can only remember one account p

  • My take (Score:4, Interesting)

    by dancingmad ( 128588 ) on Friday July 16, 2004 @07:41PM (#9722841)
    I'm sure a lot of people feel differently (more power to them!) but for me, I don't care. I'm not paying ANYTHING for online gaming. I used to play X-Wing Alliance online a bit, didn't enjoy it much, and it was free. I have little interest in playing an MMORPG and paying 10-20 bucks a month, when after a month or two I could buy a 40+ hour console game (and that's at new retail price).

    The $50 upfront then 10 bucks a month pricing scheme makes it worse.

    I am Nintendo's "not-interested-in-online-gaming" demographic.

    • I'm with you on that one. It might be different if my parents were paying for the boradband, or someone else was similarly covering my internet fees.
      But as the "internet" bill-payer I can't afford to spend any extra. I spend 25 quid a month on the broadband, the games cost between 20 and 40 (depending on age and platform), and there's no way I'm spending any extra. Certainly not on something I've not even tried.

      I know that for most companies the subscription-method makes most sense, and to be honest I'm

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