If WoW went F2P...

[Necromancer1991]

Now I played WoW for a while (About 2 years) I always check in when a new installment launches but the one thing I absolutely hate about it is the monthly fee, I know (But it's only $15), compare that to say Xbox Live which I try to keep active which is only $20, FOR THREE MONTHS! Now if blizzard were to make WoW a F2P game like LOTRO I might be tempted to you know, play it long term. Not only that but if I heard correctly in the MMO Report (great show BTW, it's on g4tv.com) earlier this year, their membership has pretty much plateaued, they don't have as many members signing up anymore. Would you like it if WoW went F2P, I mean really blizzard you've been getting upward of $15,000,000 a MONTH for 5 years, you could buy a small country with all that cash.

 

[Free Thinker]

Now I played WoW for a while (About 2 years) I always check in when a new installment launches but the one thing I absolutely hate about it is the monthly fee, I know (But it's only $15), compare that to say Xbox Live which I try to keep active which is only $20, FOR THREE MONTHS! Now if blizzard were to make WoW a F2P game like LOTRO I might be tempted to you know, play it long term. Not only that but if I heard correctly in the MMO Report (great show BTW, it's on g4tv.com) earlier this year, their membership has pretty much plateaued, they don't have as many members signing up anymore. Would you like it if WoW went F2P, I mean really blizzard you've been getting upward of $15,000,000 a MONTH for 5 years, you could buy a small country with all that cash.

But that money is then spent maintaining servers, paying employees, paying for advertisement, (insert business need here), and etc. And why make it free? It's a huge cash cow.

 

[Necromancer1991]

I mean they have Activision on their side now, as far as funding is concerned they are pretty much stuck in god mode, I'm not saying that everything will be free (I still need to pay for the expansions), just everything will be run by micro-transactions as opposed to a flat 15$ a month.

 

[TerranReaper]

I don't think maintaining those servers are exactly cheap, considering on the amount of servers they have.

 

[megatron2.0]

getting upward of $15,000,000 a MONTH for 5 years, you could buy a small country with all that cash.

i think you did your math wrong

11,000,000 x 15. that's about 165,000,000 dollars JUST in membership. that's not counting all the other crap that people can buy.

 

[Necromancer1991]

Ok, maybe you guys don't know what I mean by F2P, you're all treating this as though you will never pay money again, they will still be making a profit, it'll just be a bit more selective and frankly, economic for those who enjoy the game but hate having to pay a monthly fee

 

[Necromancer1991]

getting upward of $15,000,000 a MONTH for 5 years, you could buy a small country with all that cash.

i think you did your math wrong

11,000,000 x 15. that's about 165,000,000 dollars JUST in membership. that's not counting all the other crap that people can buy.

this, the servers aren't cheap, but they aren't expensive

sry: Double Post

 

[technoted]

Considering the money they currently bring in with membership alone I don't think WoW will be gowing F2P any time soon.

 

[thenumberthirteen]

They're one of the few MMOs that are succesfully making profits with a subscription service. I think they'd have to be in dire need to go F2P. Maybe a drop to $10/m might be more likely.

 

[Ravinak]

F2P are only for MMO with dwindling populations to hold on to whatever player base they have. Why would WoW go F2P if they are still going so strong, even with a new expansion coming up as well?

 

[Vignirj]

You're missing a zero there, they have been making $150,000,000 a month.

 

[someotherguy]

getting upward of $15,000,000 a MONTH for 5 years, you could buy a small country with all that cash.

i think you did your math wrong

11,000,000 x 15. that's about 165,000,000 dollars JUST in membership. that's not counting all the other crap that people can buy.

this, the servers aren't cheap, but they aren't expensive

sry: Double Post

No, they are very expensive
WoW has the BEST (as far as I know) gaming servers for MMORPGS, if not some of the best servers around. The quality shows through in the game with them. (Eveonline is quickly becoming second, in terms of server quality) 20$ for xbox live, that really isn't alot. Why? You have to buy a game to use it, 60$, and that game has to have multiplayer blah blah blah. Go read and understand the MMORPG business model. Activision isn't going to throw money at them for it. It wouldn't work, they're still gaining shit tons of members, don't know where you heard that. And with going f2P, they'd gain more, they'd gain alot of stupid players as well. And guess what more players means? More server fees. the 15$ fee supports them, maintains servers, and acts as a filter for idiots that may join.

 

[SirQuagsire]

well, they have to make money some how. And how would they do that? either a Cash Shop that plain Breaks the game in Raids and PVP or how Turbine does it. By regulating almost every single thing and you buy what you want. Trust me, when I went back to LOTRO after it going F2p, I was pissed by how different it was. How regulated it is. Bags taken away, only two character slots, classes I'd have to buy, leveling areas, its kinda frustrating.

Those seem like the only options I see WoW going in. And I just don't think Blizz will think its worth it. Besides Cataclysm is coming out, they have no need to make it f2p any time soon. They might make the game f2p when they release their next MMO, but not for a while.

 

[Canid117]

getting upward of $15,000,000 a MONTH for 5 years, you could buy a small country with all that cash.

i think you did your math wrong

11,000,000 x 15. that's about 165,000,000 dollars JUST in membership. that's not counting all the other crap that people can buy.

Though $15 is only the US price it is less in China, Russia, and South America but a little more expensive in Europe. You would have to get the number of subscribers by region and then check each regions monthly fee to get an accurate number on Wow's monthly take. Alternatively they might have it listed on their financial statements.

 

[GiantRedButton]

getting upward of $15,000,000 a MONTH for 5 years, you could buy a small country with all that cash.

i think you did your math wrong

11,000,000 x 15. that's about 165,000,000 dollars JUST in membership. that's not counting all the other crap that people can buy.

Most of the subscribers are in asia and dont have to py a monthly few just very little money depending on playtime.

 

[Slash12]

If they made WoW FTP I'd probably play it right now.

 

[Hisshiss]

I mean they have Activision on their side now, as far as funding is concerned they are pretty much stuck in god mode, I'm not saying that everything will be free (I still need to pay for the expansions), just everything will be run by micro-transactions as opposed to a flat 15$ a month.

Because micro transactions only work for games that would have gone bankrupt and failed if they charged a membership fee, the main reason FTP games exist is because since players can play them free, it makes drawing in people to try them easier, warcraft is good enough, and has enough marketing to do that other ways, so there isn't any reason to lose out on all that money.

Seriously...Play WoW, then go play a free to play MMOG, they are complete crap, theres always a reason something is free.

 

[Necromancer1991]

I also want to point out another financial tidbit, looks at Starcraft 2, remember how well it sold, well multiply that by 3 for the zerg and protoss expansions/games, than add diablo 3 profits to that, they are going to be set for a loooooong time.

 

[DazZ.]

I also want to point out another financial tidbit, looks at Starcraft 2, remember how well it sold, well multiply that by 3 for the zerg and protoss expansions/games, than add diablo 3 profits to that, they are going to be set for a loooooong time.

They're a business, not a family. They're not going to start putting things out for free because they're making "too much" profit. They're certainly not going to be making less profit just because they could.

I mean they have Activision on their side now,

This means nothing that is ever thought about being created by Blizzard will ever be free. Have you seen what anything Activision has been doing in the past 3 years?

 

[Alar]

I also want to point out another financial tidbit, looks at Starcraft 2, remember how well it sold, well multiply that by 3 for the zerg and protoss expansions/games, than add diablo 3 profits to that, they are going to be set for a loooooong time.

The first month worth of purchases for StarCraft 2 brought in far less than one month worth of the money that Blizzard makes off of WoW subscription fees. They will never remove the subscription, ever.

At the very most, perhaps in a couple of years, they will drop the price down to $10 a month, and even that is highly unlikely.

Sorry, but it ain't gonna happen. That's like telling Microsoft to stop charging for Windows 7. They wouldn't do it.