Why don't MMO's have "lifetime subscription pricing"?

[SunnyD]

Because they might actually sustain a player base after the initial "priced" period expires and stop making profits on them?

Honestly... I think $14.95/mo is absurd when you pay $xx.xx for the actual game. Make it like $7.95/mo, discount it to $5.95/mo for 6 month blocks, and offer a lifetime subscription tier with a one-time payment that amounts to $5.00/mo for say 24 months (so $120 up front).

/rant.

 

[BassBomb]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
Because they might actually sustain a player base after the initial "priced" period expires and stop making profits on them?

Honestly... I think $14.95/mo is absurd when you pay $xx.xx for the actual game. Make it like $7.95/mo, discount it to $5.95/mo for 6 month blocks, and offer a lifetime subscription tier with a one-time payment that amounts to $5.00/mo for say 24 months (so $120 up front).

/rant.

MMO's are a business... that would mean less money

 

[Bateluer]

Some people constantly rant about the price of MMOs, and yet millions of people keep buying and playing them.

The first month of play is included with the cost of the game, 50 minus 15 typically. Makes the game technically only 35 dollars.

 

[chizow]

LOTRO has offered a lifetime subscription and also offered monthly packages that gave some incentive for signing up for longer periods of time. For instance, Founders got $9.99 maximum per month, with slightly cheaper monthly pricing if you signed up for 6, 9 and 12 month periods (like $50 for 6 mos etc).

The problem with lifetime subscriptions is that no matter how much the flat fee is discounted, its still a lot to pay up front in an industry that has trouble enough getting people to buy games, let alone pay a monthly fee for to play. Its also a risky proposition to buy a lifetime subscription to a game if you're not sure its something that will continue to interest you.

 

[KMFJD]

Yeah SunnyD is on the target with this one, why should i have to pay monthly for my ISp, or my cable TV or my Satellite radio? why can it not be a 1 time fee? Damn capitalist i tell ya!

 

[Xavier434]

*shrug*

If you think the price is absurd then don't buy the product. That's pretty much what I do when I don't a product is worth the price. In the case of MMO's, I figure that $15 is the price I pay for two drinks and a tip at the bar if I am lucky so in comparison to general entertainment it is well worth it. Hell, I can't even get away with going to a 2 hour movie without paying $10 let alone trying to get 20 days worth of movies for $15. In addition, my satellite tv service runs me a solid $70 per month and I barely watch any of the channels.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Xavier434
*shrug*

If you think the price is absurd then don't buy the product. That's pretty much what I do when I don't a product is worth the price. In the case of MMO's, I figure that $15 is the price I pay for two drinks and a tip at the bar if I am lucky so in comparison to general entertainment it is well worth it. Hell, I can't even get away with going to a 2 hour movie without paying $10 let alone trying to get 20 days worth of movies for $15. In addition, my satellite tv service runs me a solid $70 per month and I barely watch any of the channels.

I agree with you overall, I typically carry 2 MMO subs at a time, but for the bolded part you should check out Netflix or BB online. For $17 a month you can get 3 movies at once which is a great deal especially if you have Blu-Ray.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: Xavier434
*shrug*

If you think the price is absurd then don't buy the product. That's pretty much what I do when I don't a product is worth the price. In the case of MMO's, I figure that $15 is the price I pay for two drinks and a tip at the bar if I am lucky so in comparison to general entertainment it is well worth it. Hell, I can't even get away with going to a 2 hour movie without paying $10 let alone trying to get 20 days worth of movies for $15. In addition, my satellite tv service runs me a solid $70 per month and I barely watch any of the channels.

I agree with you overall, I typically carry 2 MMO subs at a time, but for the bolded part you should check out Netflix or BB online. For $17 a month you can get 3 movies at once which is a great deal especially if you have Blu-Ray.

I don't but the product. But I would if the pricing was more realistic.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
I think $14.95/mo is absurd when you pay $xx.xx for the actual game.

Originally posted by: KMFJD
Yeah SunnyD is on the target with this one, why should i have to pay monthly for my ISp, or my cable TV or my Satellite radio? why can it not be a 1 time fee? Damn capitalist i tell ya!

Hell yeh, why should I pay a TiVo subscription when I have to pay $xx.xx for the actual box? Why should I have to pay a monthly fee for my cell phone after I pay $xx.xx for the cell phone itself?



How many people are paying $15 a month to play MMORPGs despite unrealistic pricing?

 

[Elcs]

Hellgate London did something similar, despite not being an MMO in the sense of WoW etc.

If the typical gamer buys the game @ $50 and spends another 5 months on the game, thats $50 + $75 (5 lots of $15) then that earns the Company $125 over 6 months.

The company could release the game at $50 and offer a lifetime or even 2 year subscription for $100. That would earn the Company $150 and they would get that upront or at most 1 month after game registration.

Of course, the situation is a lot more in-depth than illustrated by my simple example but for the typical gamer who assumes that they will play the game for more than 6 months and doesnt, the company would earn more than a traditional subscription service.

Its something that I would bet MMO's have looked into and discounted but I think for these people who get addicted to them, that it'd be awesome.

 

[DSF]

It doesn't bother me that they charge the monthly fee. After all, they are maintaining and adminning the servers, sometimes adding new features, etc.

It's just not something I'm willing to pay.

 

[Modeps]

Its been said before, I'd prefer a digital media solution to MMOs where you pay your monthly fee, but not have to purchase the retail box. Even with WoW, if you download it digitally, you have to throw startup costs to it.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: Modeps
Even with WoW, if you download it digitally, you have to throw startup costs to it.

I just checked WoW over at D2D (Direct 2 Drive), the digital purchase of World of Warcraft is $20 and includes 1 month of service, so one is basically paying $5 for the game itself when bought via digital download.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: chizow

Originally posted by: Xavier434
*shrug*

If you think the price is absurd then don't buy the product. That's pretty much what I do when I don't a product is worth the price. In the case of MMO's, I figure that $15 is the price I pay for two drinks and a tip at the bar if I am lucky so in comparison to general entertainment it is well worth it. Hell, I can't even get away with going to a 2 hour movie without paying $10 let alone trying to get 20 days worth of movies for $15. In addition, my satellite tv service runs me a solid $70 per month and I barely watch any of the channels.

I agree with you overall, I typically carry 2 MMO subs at a time, but for the bolded part you should check out Netflix or BB online. For $17 a month you can get 3 movies at once which is a great deal especially if you have Blu-Ray.

I actually have considered that before. The only thing that stops me is that there just are not enough movies that I am interested in watching so I really wouldn't use the service to its fullest. Lately, I have been renting HD flicks through XBL once they are released and skipping the theater more often.

 

[Wreckem]

MMOGs have A LOT of development overhead and a lot of recurring cost overhead. They are priced that way because they need to turn make money.

Development usually costs more than a non MMO game, and normally sales less than a non MMO game. Then add on to the massive server farms and the internet connections that costs in the millions per year which they need at each location they have server farms. Add on around the clock people to keep the server farms running. Add in tech support. GM support. And a live development team. Sure WoW grosses over a $1billion a year, but its profits arent that huge.

 

[Wreckem]

Originally posted by: Modeps
Its been said before, I'd prefer a digital media solution to MMOs where you pay your monthly fee, but not have to purchase the retail box. Even with WoW, if you download it digitally, you have to throw startup costs to it.

Its a business. MMOG development is extremely costly.

Asheron's Call peaked at 250,000 and took two years to break even. EQI peaked at 700,000 IIRC and still took about a year to break even on development costs. WoW is the exception, not the rule. And WoW is mainly driven by Asian markets.

Would you be willing to pay a significantly higher monthly rate in lieu of paying $50 upfront?

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: Wreckem
Would you be willing to pay a significantly higher monthly rate in lieu of paying $50 upfront?

Of course not, I'm a cheap SOB!

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Wreckem
MMOGs have A LOT of development overhead and a lot of recurring cost overhead. They are priced that way because they need to turn make money.

Development usually costs more than a non MMO game, and normally sales less than a non MMO game. Then add on to the massive server farms and the internet connections that costs in the millions per year which they need at each location they have server farms. Add on around the clock people to keep the server farms running. Add in tech support. GM support. And a live development team. Sure WoW grosses over a $1billion a year, but its profits arent that huge.

Blizzard had margins of ~40% and $500 million for 2007, I'd consider that huge. That's pretty ridiculous profits regardless of industry and I'm sure its a big reason MMOs continue to attract so many suitors (for better or worst). I'd agree there's certainly additional costs maintaining server farms and paying for bandwidth and support, but I don't think the break-even costs are nearly as protracted as you make them out to be.

The point of the initial retail price is to cover development costs, the monthly fee should largely go to covering maintenance expenses and profit. After development costs are covered with enough sales, you will typically see the retail price of the game itself drop, as the companies know their profit isn't in the 1st sale, its in the recurring subscription fees. I've read many times that 500k subscribers is the "magic" goal for MMOs to sustain themselves with profitability and that seems to bear itself out with games like EQ1/2 and FFXI going strong for over 5 years with multiple expansions.

 

[TheVrolok]

It's still cheaper than buying a new game or two per month when it only takes a day to beat 'em. My buddy was a big console gamer and he used to be 2-3 games a month because each only took a few hours to beat. He loves WoW because 15 a month saves him tons of money in the long run.

 

[mindcycle]

Solution.. don't waste your time or money on MMO's..

 

[QueBert]

GF did the lifetime thing on LOTRO, she got in on the beta so she only ended up paying $199, it's been about a year and she's gotten a bit over 1/2 of what she'd paid for if she did month to month at $10. She played the hell out of the game up until recently and has cut back a little. She'll have to play about 8 more months just to break even on the lifetime thing. I don't see her playing much if at all 8 months down the road. She probably would have been better off to do a month to month thing.

 

[Baked]

Sustained income for the win my man. Monthly payment makes you more money on the long run, especially when you have a cash cow like WoW.

 

[Wuzup101]

I have no problems paying a reasonable monthly subscription to play an MMO. $15 is very reasonable when you consider the costs of other forms of entertainment (I can't take my girl to the movies for under $20 - and that's just tickets). I can't get into any pro sporting event, much less buy a beer if I got in on that... etc...

I look at it this way: when you are playing an MMO, much of your gaming time budget is spent playing the game (and thus not other games). However, as far as money is concerned, you are paying the same amount as you would pay to buy 1 new game ($50-60) every 3-4 months (4 months for me b/c 360 games are $60). Now... I can easily afford to buy 3 xbox games in one year... and they probably won't have anywhere near the amount of time played as an MMO.

That being said... I quit WoW due to time budget not monetary budget!

 

[Sureshot324]

There really isn't any incentive for them to lower the price. Your average mmorpg player spends so much time playing that the $15 is insignificant. If one mmorpg were to only charge $5 a month, I doubt a lot of player would choose it over a $15 a month one if they preferred the $15 a month one.

 

[KeithTalent]

I have the lifetime sub for LOTRO. Haven't played it in about 6 months.

KT