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

[imported_Imp]

The way I see and saw it was that you pay $60 for the game, but the $15 crack-addict fee is diverted from your regular game buying fee. If you play for a few months, you probably wouldn't play, let alone buy, anything else. When I got WoW, I played for 6 months, and bought nothing between... Of course I also had to pay for the course I failed; that was a pretty big loss.

 

[coloumb]

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.

$15.00 month fee is to maintain the MMO - hardware upgrades, customer service, software development, advertising, etc.

 

[TurnX]

Reason why more companies don't do it: Say for example a lifetime subscription costs $200 for a $15 per month game. That averages out to 13 months, or just over a year. The only people who generally are going to pay a large sum up front are those who are going to be playing for a long time, and chances are that will be more than a year. So from a business side which would you rather have... $200 up front or much more than that over a period of years? Also you have to think it's just easier for a lot of people to shell out $15 a month than drop $200 right after buying a $50 game.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: TurnX
Reason why more companies don't do it: Say for example a lifetime subscription costs $200 for a $15 per month game. That averages out to 13 months, or just over a year. The only people who generally are going to pay a large sum up front are those who are going to be playing for a long time, and chances are that will be more than a year. So from a business side which would you rather have... $200 up front or much more than that over a period of years? Also you have to think it's just easier for a lot of people to shell out $15 a month than drop $200 right after buying a $50 game.

But you have to factor in all the people like KeithTalent, he might go back to playing LOTR😱 but it doesn't sound like it. They made a killing on him lifetime pricing is like $300 ($200 for beta players) He played 6 months x $15 = $90. at worst that's a $110 profit on them over a monthly 6 month player. Best case it's $210 profit.

For every person who would buy it and play 12 hours a day for years there will be 2-3 who will poop out after less than a year. They don't offer lifetime because they don't have to, LOTR😱 mighty have changed things for future MMO's since it's very popular and the Lifetime option seems to be working out well for them.

Personally I don't like MMO's and grinding, so for me CS:S was a good 1 time $ buy with no monthly fee 😀

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: 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. 🙁

Seeing as how most single player games are going for between $40 and $50, and you get maybe 20 - 30 hours of gameplay (I don't play single player games very often so correct me if I'm wrong) out of them, $15 a month for hours upon hours of gameplay is dirt cheap.

If you actually look at what you are getting for that $15 a month, you'll realize that it is a very good price. If you just have a knee jerk "omg I'm not paying monthly for a game I already purchased!!>!>!>!" then yea, you're going to think it's unrealistic. But thats a silly way of thinking about it.

Before I got into MMORPGs I thought the exact same way that you do. That changed once I really started enjoying that genre. Now if you don't like or play MMORPGs enough to justify spending $15 a month then I completely understand, but that's not a problem with the pricing, that's a problem with you just not liking the game enough.

There is a reason that all of the "no monthly fee" MMORPGs suck, you get what you pay for.

 

[JasonCoder]

Classic EQ Legendary server anyone? Pay twice (or was it more than that?) the monthly fees and get more GM events, more gear, more raids, etc. etc.

People lined up around the block for that one, they had to cap the registration. MMO pricing models aren't going to change IMO.

 

[Xed]

The legendary server was 39.95 a month I believe. It was hard capped to prevent overcrowding and until EQ started to die off in popularity it remained full.

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: JD50

Originally posted by: 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. 🙁

Seeing as how most single player games are going for between $40 and $50, and you get maybe 20 - 30 hours of gameplay (I don't play single player games very often so correct me if I'm wrong) out of them, $15 a month for hours upon hours of gameplay is dirt cheap.

If you actually look at what you are getting for that $15 a month, you'll realize that it is a very good price. If you just have a knee jerk "omg I'm not paying monthly for a game I already purchased!!>!>!>!" then yea, you're going to think it's unrealistic. But thats a silly way of thinking about it.

Before I got into MMORPGs I thought the exact same way that you do. That changed once I really started enjoying that genre. Now if you don't like or play MMORPGs enough to justify spending $15 a month then I completely understand, but that's not a problem with the pricing, that's a problem with you just not liking the game enough.

There is a reason that all of the "no monthly fee" MMORPGs suck, you get what you pay for.

I feel exactly the same way you do. In fact, I recall making the monthly fee argument back when EQ was king. Funny how I am eating my words now that I am enjoying WoW so much.

 

[Drift3r]

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.

LOTRO had a lifetime subscription offer. I bought one.

 

[hooflung]

Originally posted by: 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. 🙁

Get a job hippy.

 

[Genx87]

15 bucks\month is cheap. I spend 4 times that much on a tank of gas and derive a lot less entertainment from that tank as well.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: hooflung

Originally posted by: 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. 🙁

Get a job hippy.

Oooh, zing! Wait... I have one.

 

[AMDZen]

I'm 28 in 2 months. I make a good living, drive a nice car and own a nice home. I have more then enough money to splurge on things I deam reasonable to splurge on. I'm also a gamer and mostly a PC gamer, but I am somewhat frugal about certain things.

I try to limit myself on how many movies I go to the theatre for since, for me, I think they simply charge way too much. Because of that I go and see maybe one movie a month if that. I won't pay $60 for most of the games out today for the nxt gen systems which is why I haven't bought one. Even though I buy a lot of games, its usually once their below $50 or even $40 for the PC or even less. I still have a lot of fun with my PS2, frankly.

I will never play any MMO because I simply won't pay $15 for a game monthly. One reason is because I think its outrageous and play games like COD4, CSS and other FPS's online for free and always have. After I buy the game I play once every couple weeks online and never worry. People that pay for an MMO play it nearly every day, partly because they almsot feel like they have to to get there moneys worth. I don't play games every day much less the same game. I play my PS2 sometimes, sometimes I play on my PC.

If an MMO ever comes out that has a reasonable fee, something like being charged $15 for 60 hours of play or something then maybe. I find it incredible that people spend so much of their time on WOW, assinine is the right word - and for those douche bags that play it 4 hours a day, every day - they more then get their moneys worth. I'll never play a game that much, I'd get sick of it if I did. Its simply not me. I can get a game like GTA IV (once its out on PC) and probably get a few hundred hours of play out of it. A game like FF XII for my PS2 I got 200 hours out of, over the course of 6 months. If it was an MMO I would of paid $140 for a game I paid $30 for. And I'll probably pay $30 or $40 for GTA IV and that game will have online play for free, just like almost every game always has.

So as I said, if they had a model I found reasonable - and I'm not sure the $15 for 60 hours is reasonable but for the right game I'd probably pay something like that. Say if I got 60 hours WITH the purchase of the game for $40 or something, and then $15 for every 60 hours after that - I'd probably do it. Thats the only model I can think of I'd pay simply because I might go a month without playing the game - why should I be paying for it during that month? Or the month after where I play it for only 2-3 hours a week? Reminds me of this friend who got his Satelite radio receiver stolen but yet still went on to pay for sattelite radio, didn't bother to cancel his subscription. Personally, that is how I would feel if I was paying for a game every month like this.


Its fine for all these people with no life, nothing better to do, no GF or simply a GF that also enjoys wasting their life away on ONE SINGLE GAME. But not me and that person will never be me. I simply enjoy switching games too. BTW I have a friend who plays WOW and his GF plays WOW and its practically all they do, its really annoying. I simply don't get it.


cliffs:
I agree with OP

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: AMDZen
I'm 28 in 2 months. I make a good living, drive a nice car and own a nice home. I have more then enough money to splurge on things I deam reasonable to splurge on. I'm also a gamer and mostly a PC gamer, but I am somewhat frugal about certain things.

...stuff

Your perception of the average WoW player is just wrong. If you make a good living then I imagine you spend that good living on things that you believe are worth spending it on. Much of which I would imagine involves entertainment and luxuries of some kind. I can fully understand why you may not believe that $15 per month is worth paying for an MMO because to you it just isn't enough fun, but to be so condescending towards those who believe it is worth it is just as dumb as them being condescending towards you for spending your money on the things that you believe are more valuable. A perfect example is your "nice car". I believe that most nice cars are a complete waste of money but I really do not look down upon you for opting to purchase one because obviously you enjoy it and that is really all that matters.

 

[AMDZen]

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: AMDZen
I'm 28 in 2 months. I make a good living, drive a nice car and own a nice home. I have more then enough money to splurge on things I deam reasonable to splurge on. I'm also a gamer and mostly a PC gamer, but I am somewhat frugal about certain things.

...stuff

Your perception of the average WoW player is just wrong. If you make a good living then I imagine you spend that good living on things that you believe are worth spending it on. Much of which I would imagine involves entertainment and luxuries of some kind. I can fully understand why you may not believe that $15 per month is worth paying for an MMO because to you it just isn't enough fun, but to be so condescending towards those who believe it is worth it is just as dumb as them being condescending towards you for spending your money on the things that you believe are more valuable. A perfect example is your "nice car". I believe that most nice cars are a complete waste of money but I really do not look down upon you for opting to purchase one because obviously you enjoy it and that is really all that matters.

I don't believe my perception of WoW players is wrong, I know many of them and I don't know a single one that doesn't play the game at least 8 hours a week, most of them play it many more.

I can understand how I came across condescending, but the fact remains that people I know who play WoW get their money's worth - I never would IMO with the model that they have and thats why I won't ever play an MMO with a model like that.

Its not like it really matters in the long run, I just forsee a day when I will no longer be a gamer simply because too many games are going to end up with a business model like this and I blame it on WoW - thats the only reason I have a certain amount of animosity toward MMO's and WoW.

 

[Xavier434]

8 hours per week is just over 1 hour per day. That or you could say they raid maybe twice a week at 4 hours on each of those 2 nights. That really isn't that bad. The vast majority of people put in double those hours per week between movies, TV shows, and other video games. One of the reasons why WoW is so popular is because it is generally considered to be so cheap and satisfying. It wouldn't hold its subscription numbers if that were not the case. Still, I don't blame you for not playing it because you are convinced that it's not enough fun. That certainly beats the players who whine and complain about the game all of the time yet continue to pay and play.

Also, I wouldn't worry about the business model thing and the future of gaming. If the model worked for most genres of video games then we would already see it being applied today. The closest comparison would be XBL, but that payment gives you online access to every game on the 360 console in addition to a ton of other features so it's kind of in its own league.

 

[Eeezee]

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.

Why would they offer less money when they could make more? If people are willing to pay $14.95/mo, then they'll charge that much.

I don't understand your argument. You're cranky about paying monthly fees, so you think they should be reduced? Yeah, I think TV prices shouldn't be more than $100 for a 42" LCD with 1080p. Those manufacturers are just plain greedy!

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: Eeezee

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.

Why would they offer less money when they could make more? If people are willing to pay $14.95/mo, then they'll charge that much.

I don't understand your argument. You're cranky about paying monthly fees, so you think they should be reduced? Yeah, I think TV prices shouldn't be more than $100 for a 42" LCD with 1080p. Those manufacturers are just plain greedy!

That's exactly why. It was a rhetorical question. As for your example, that's just idiotic. Why don't they charge $100? Probably because the BOM for the TV far exceeds that. The BOM for a subscription service like an MMO is far... FAR smaller than what they make in subscription fees.

The point is that I'm shocked people are actually willing to pay at all. But again, I should be used to it after hundreds of years of paying to live right? (Taxes)

 

[Xavier434]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
The point is that I'm shocked people are actually willing to pay at all. But again, I should be used to it after hundreds of years of paying to live right? (Taxes)

You're just jealous that you didn't start selling it first. Hell, I know I am! 😉

 

[hooflung]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: hooflung

Originally posted by: 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. 🙁

Get a job hippy.

Oooh, zing! Wait... I have one.

Then stop complaining and just don't play the games.

 

[hooflung]

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Originally posted by: Xavier434

Originally posted by: AMDZen
I'm 28 in 2 months. I make a good living, drive a nice car and own a nice home. I have more then enough money to splurge on things I deam reasonable to splurge on. I'm also a gamer and mostly a PC gamer, but I am somewhat frugal about certain things.

...stuff

Your perception of the average WoW player is just wrong. If you make a good living then I imagine you spend that good living on things that you believe are worth spending it on. Much of which I would imagine involves entertainment and luxuries of some kind. I can fully understand why you may not believe that $15 per month is worth paying for an MMO because to you it just isn't enough fun, but to be so condescending towards those who believe it is worth it is just as dumb as them being condescending towards you for spending your money on the things that you believe are more valuable. A perfect example is your "nice car". I believe that most nice cars are a complete waste of money but I really do not look down upon you for opting to purchase one because obviously you enjoy it and that is really all that matters.

I don't believe my perception of WoW players is wrong, I know many of them and I don't know a single one that doesn't play the game at least 8 hours a week, most of them play it many more.

Hello, my name is Michael, I am a WoW player. I average my play out to like 8 hours every 4 months. Now you know me. Now your perception is borderline retarded.

I can understand how I came across condescending, but the fact remains that people I know who play WoW get their money's worth - I never would IMO with the model that they have and thats why I won't ever play an MMO with a model like that.

The only thing that concerns me is that you won't play EVE or Age of Conan so I can skullsex your face on the battlefield. That truly makes me sad, your perception has rendered my fun null and void.

Its not like it really matters in the long run, I just forsee a day when I will no longer be a gamer simply because too many games are going to end up with a business model like this and I blame it on WoW - thats the only reason I have a certain amount of animosity toward MMO's and WoW.

Blame it on WoW huh? So an industry standard model proven time after time for a 'Western' based gaming market cannot be the true reason? It can't be that people want service ( Content Creation ), governing authority ( GMs and developers ) and most of all... persistence... in games. No, its WoW's fault. I know I can probably come off condescending, but the facts remain, your view point is so jaded it sounds like you are just bitter that 50 dollars 1 time doesn't get you a game that gets free content, servers and balanced game mechanics for years and years.

 

[gspyer]

Originally posted by: AMDZen
I will never play any MMO because I simply won't pay $15 for a game monthly. One reason is because I think its outrageous and play games like COD4, CSS and other FPS's online for free and always have. After I buy the game I play once every couple weeks online and never worry. People that pay for an MMO play it nearly every day, partly because they almsot feel like they have to to get there moneys worth. I don't play games every day much less the same game. I play my PS2 sometimes, sometimes I play on my PC.

Such a game does exist for you. It is called "Guild Wars". Guild Wars is not quite a true MMO, but that's what get for no monthly fee.

 

[Delerious]

Originally posted by: AMDZen

Its fine for all these people with no life, nothing better to do, no GF or simply a GF that also enjoys wasting their life away on ONE SINGLE GAME. But not me and that person will never be me. I simply enjoy switching games too. BTW I have a friend who plays WOW and his GF plays WOW and its practically all they do, its really annoying. I simply don't get it.

Your argument fails in that whether or not you stay with one game or keep switching games you can still waste your life. People that play WoW for a few hours a day, or play on their xbox or wii, or even come home and spend a few hours watching TV ... it's all entertainment and depending on how you look at it a waste of time.

Speaking of TV, what do you pay monthly for cable? If you apply the same logic there you fail again 🙁