Subscriptions for MMOs

[Wanzer]

So I did read the article that came out yesterday on how MMO subscriptions keep out the riffraft, if the game is good and is constantly adding new content, I don't have much of a problem paying a subscription fee; however, when it stagnates and looks like a turd, it should be free in my opinion.

Thoughts?

 

[Richardplex]

If it stagnates and looks like a turd, then you are not entitled to get it for free, you can just not play it any more, or continue to never play it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

The alternative to pay-to-play is micro-transactions. None of these "free to play" models are actually giving you the full game for free. You're getting a seriously lobotomized version of it. Then you have games like The Secret World that are double dipping with micro-transactions AND subscription fees.

Anyway, long story short, if it says "Free to play", it's not.

Long story even shorter...

 

[krazykidd]

Depends , the reason mmos require a subceiption fee , is because of the maintenance and the servers and such also paying people to make sure everything is in check. Being able to add content is not really way the players are paying for , they are paying for what is there and the abilty to play . The added content is actually the devellopers trying to keep people playing and bring along new people while a kind of "thank you for playing ". So they add new stuff so you keep playing and invite more people . But adding content isn't really reuired nor is it was the fee is for .

 

[Qitz]

Yup, that's about right.

Most MMO's that aren't getting a lot of subs go Free-To-Play because it gets them INCREDIBLE amounts of money, more so than previously, with all the stuff you can buy from the store. Skins, character slots, bank slots, AH slots, buffs, increases to starting levels.

Hell, Turbine makes a ton of money off of their Free-To-Play models, so much so that if a game isn't getting a lot of subs they'll flip it to F2P in a heart beat. I believe they've even made more money off LotRO and DDO as F2P then they ever did as sub based.

 

[StriderShinryu]

After playing LOTRO both pre-F2P and post-F2P I would have to say that it would take a lot to make me want to pay a subscription fee again. In a well designed F2P MMO, you get pretty much all of the content of a P2P MMO except you get to choose how much or how little you want to pay (and, if you do pay, what you pay for).

There's also the added bonus of being free to enjoy the game as much or as little as you want. There's no ticking clock counting down every second making you feel like you're wasting that month's already paid subscription fee if you're not logging in every day.

 

[Sixcess]

A year ago I was very anti-F2P, but City of Heroes went F2P last week, and Fallen Earth goes F2P next week, so I've got used to the idea, to the extent that I now believe we're in the last days of subscription model MMOs.

There's simply too much competition out there now. I didn't start playing MMOs until 2008, and at that time there were very very few F2P MMOs, and those that did exist were Korean grindfests. Now the F2P/Hybrids outnumber the sub based.

AThere's also the added bonus of being free to enjoy the game as much or as little as you want. There's no ticking clock counting down every second making you feel like you're wasting that month's already paid subscription fee if you're not logging in every day.

That is what is going to kill sub-based games in the end. There's only so many hours in the day, and unless one MMO is the only game you play it becomes easy to start thinking that you're not getting your money's worth from a sub game, particularly if you take regular breaks of days or weeks or even months. All MMOs have activity lulls, frequently in the weeks prior to the next content update being released, and I don't think there's any MMO where that isn't an issue. With F2P people are less likely to wander off altogether, but will stick around a bit (and maybe make small buys) while waiting for the next content.

 

[JaceArveduin]

snip

Damn, that's a lot of skins, who would pay real money for something you can unlock just by playing the game and having fun?

 

[Qitz]

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Damn, that's a lot of skins, who would pay real money for something you can unlock just by playing the game and having fun?

People who want it right away.

Takes a while in most F2P games to get enough of their virtual currency to purchase anything. That or if something goes on sale.

Look at League of Legends, lots of skins in there but it can take a while to unlock some of the cooler ones so people would rather drop $5 or so and get it right away.

 

[JaceArveduin]

snip

Damn, that's a lot of skins, who would pay real money for something you can unlock just by playing the game and having fun?

People who want it right away.

Takes a while in most F2P games to get enough of their virtual currency to purchase anything. That or if something goes on sale.

Look at League of Legends, lots of skins in there but it can take a while to unlock some of the cooler ones so people would rather drop $5 or so and get it right away.

Oops, coherency problems again. The only thing you can buy with real money is champions, skins, and xp/ip boosts. You can use the ingame points to unlock champions just by playing. So the only real reason to buy stuff with real cash is skins, IP/XP boosts, and if you can't be bothered playing the game enough to unlock the champion with IP, so you buy it with cash.

(can't buy skins with IP, gotta drop real cash for those, it's basically their main source of income)