"Paying a monthly Fee is stupid" - No..no it's not.

[Sabiancym]

Whenever I'm reading articles about MMOs or topics about MMOs on this forum I always see some familiar words.

"This game looks cool, but I'm not paying $15 to play a game I already bought."

"15 Dollars a month!!! That's ridiculous, I paid for the game once, let me play it!!"

"MMOS are Ripoffs!!"

"LOSERS!! PAYEING $$$ TO PL4Y a GAEM. U AINT L33T!"



Are these people that mathematically challenged?


When you pay for a regular game you get a certain amount of content for a certain amount of money. Let's take Dragon Age for Example. If you do everything in the game once, you get about 40-50 hours of gameplay. Yes you can replay it, but for the most part, there is only 40-50 hours of new content. So if the game costs $50, that's a dollar per hour of gameplay.

Now if you take an MMO, you have hundreds and hundreds of hours of gameplay. PvP, crafting, leveling, raiding, etc. Even if you only play a couple days a week, the dollar per gameplay hour ratio is way way way higher than a normal game.


So the "Ripoff" that people claim is not even close to true. The sad thing about this is that companies are taking advantage of this stupidity and going with "free to play" games. This gets the anti-monthly fee guys addicted to a game because it's free, and then charge them crazy prices for in game items and gold.

So the people who were against paying money for an mmo now end up paying potentially more money for an inferior game ruined by micro-transactions.


So before you complain about other people paying a monthly fee for a game. Do the math.

 

[Hiken no Ace]

I just always figured that those were complaints from kids who didn't have jobs, but really wanted to play the game. Once you are working, $15 a month isn't that big a deal.

 

[Nexus4]

I just always figured that those were complaints from kids who didn't have jobs, but really wanted to play the game. Once you are working, $15 a month isn't that big a deal.

Unless you're a uni student and don't have time to earn a decent amount, let alone pay it in addition to bills and shit you just barely cover

 

[Aura Guardian]

I never had a problem paying to play Phantasy Star Online. Ah...good times.

 

[Zannah]

I just always figured that those were complaints from kids who didn't have jobs, but really wanted to play the game. Once you are working, $15 a month isn't that big a deal.

Unless you're working in the creative industry, then it's two days of food.

 

[Netrigan]

Actually, I wonder why MMOs charge for the original game. They should treat it like they're dealing drugs. Sell the game at cost (or a free download), give them a free trial, hook them and start collecting a monthly fee.

But I'd rather buy a budget game once a month and play something new.

 

[Rensenhito]

I get this a lot when I ask people if they'll play WoW with me:
"I would play it if I didn't have to pay for it."

Then again, I guess that's why private servers exist...

 

[manythings]

Well it's stupid if it's a bad game, beyond that it's just a taste thing. Really I'm no fan of MMOs because they just don't give me anything I want from a game, they just feel like busy work as if the makers are trying to distract me from the fact that I'm just going through the motions.

I'm hoping that The Old Republic will buck this trend and give me a game not just addiction enforcing pay-offs.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I never had a problem paying to play Phantasy Star Online. Ah...good times.

You should try Phantasy Star Portable 2...

 

[DJDarque]

I always thought the "I'm not paying to play a game I already bought" argument was pretty weak anyway. There are lots of things you continue to pay for even after you own them: gas for your car, insurance for your car, property taxes; things of that nature.

Oh well. I don't really play MMOs anyway.

 

[Diceman]

"LOSERS!! PAYEING $$$ TO PL4Y a GAEM. U AINT L33T!"

Well yeah, that one is

Personally, not that I play MMO's (none grab my interest), way I see it, if you pay a subscription to soemthing like that, you're paying for the new stuff that comes along. New servers, people designs, classes, characters, enemies, storylines and anything else that comes along.
Yes, I do agree with added gameplay hours, but that's not even the end of it is it? You spend how ever many hundreds of hours getting all the cool things and levelling up as high as you can and THEN you get an update and can do more!

 

[RedMagic]

From my experience, I'd rather pay a monthly fee. Because most free-to-play MMOs get their money via selling cash shop items for real money. Sooner or later, the game becomes unbalanced and victory is dictated by how many uber cash shop items you have instead of skill or strategy.

 

[RobCoxxy]

I just always figured that those were complaints from kids who didn't have jobs, but really wanted to play the game. Once you are working, $15 a month isn't that big a deal.

Unless you're a uni student and don't have time to earn a decent amount, let alone pay it in addition to bills and shit you just barely cover

I know. I know FAR too well.

 

[Wapox]

Actually, I wonder why MMOs charge for the original game. They should treat it like they're dealing drugs. Sell the game at cost (or a free download), give them a free trial, hook them and start collecting a monthly fee.

They actually do that... they usually gives a 10-day free trial... And THEN charges you for the game

 

[Deathfyre]

I find it more that I don't like paying out forty bucks for the actual copy of the game, and then pay every month. I get that they want to make money off of manufacturing costs, but to pay a full retail price to play a game for what is usually two weeks before you start into a paying period is pretty lame... especially since it's just to end up (usually) doing the same cycle of stuff until you get bored of the game and close your account. get gear, do higher tier quests, get better gear, do higher tier quests... repeat

 

[J-Do]

Well I don't play MMO's because of the monthly fees. It's not because I think they're stupid, I fully understand why you would have to pay. I don't play the £15 (or whatever) a month because
1) I like to buy games fairly often (for that £15 I could get one, maybe two descent pre-owned titles) and because of this I spend my time jumping from game to game, meaning they never get stale.
2) I only have a laptop, which isn't really ideal for gaming.
3) I'm not all that big on online play (with the exception of fighting games) and prefer singleplayer.
4) Sometimes I barely find time to play games at all, meaning that I could be throwing away money (granted that's only if I'm not paying a month at a time)
If I ever got a descent set up I'd probably consider starting a pay monthly MMO, as I do think games like Warcraft look quite fun, but it's unlikely, I'm happy to spend my £15 a month on other things.

 

[warprincenataku]

I just always figured that those were complaints from kids who didn't have jobs, but really wanted to play the game. Once you are working, $15 a month isn't that big a deal.

Unless you're an adult working in a third-world country where $15 is... *does the math* 1/60th your paycheck.

Hmm...

Ok, you got me.

 

[boholikeu]

I just always figured that those were complaints from kids who didn't have jobs, but really wanted to play the game. Once you are working, $15 a month isn't that big a deal.

Unless you're a uni student and don't have time to earn a decent amount, let alone pay it in addition to bills and shit you just barely cover

I just always figured that those were complaints from kids who didn't have jobs, but really wanted to play the game. Once you are working, $15 a month isn't that big a deal.

Unless you're working in the creative industry, then it's two days of food.

Just OOC, how do you afford other games if your so pressed for cash that $15 is a major purchase decision? Or do you only buy like 1-2 games a year?