OS Neutral MMOs- Goodbye Subscriptions!

Huntn · Jan 22, 2013

This seems to be the wave of the present and future. The two new MMOs I am involved with Planetside 2 and Guildwars 2, (although Planetside is voluntarily monopolizing my online gaming time) have rejected the monthly subscription model for the in-game store.

Will they succeed?
Will they be the norm?
Can anyone expect to get millions of people to pay monthly subscriptions in the future like Blizzard did?
What do you think?

I heard a rumor, but I can't verify that Blizzard is considering doing away with subcriptions. Can anyone verify?

SandboxGeneral · Jan 22, 2013

I'm not much of a gamer anymore, so what is MMO?
I've never paid a subscription to play a game and never will. It's enough for me to spend money to buy it, I don't want to pay to use it too.

Huntn · Jan 22, 2013

If you are not pulling my leg...

MMO- Massive Multiplayer Online usually with RPG tacked on the end of it, but not in all cases. Planetside 2 is a MMOFPS.

Usually what the MMO gives you is a persistent online world with 1000+ other players to interact with in the game world.

Lunfai · Jan 22, 2013

Huntn said:
If you are not pulling my leg...

MMO- Massive Multiplayer Online usually with RPG tacked on the end of it, but not in all cases. Planetside 2 is a MMOFPS.

Usually what the MMO gives you is a persistent online world with 1000+ other players to interact with in the game world.

Yeah I can see wow going F2P after all these years. It's time, I think they'll still charge 35 GBP ($50) for an account though, with all the expansions released so far for within that one fee.

Sythas · Jan 22, 2013

I really, really like PlanetSide 2 and Guildwars 2. I played a lot WoW and I miss it from time to time, but I'm really happy with the no subscription. Will they make as much money as Blizzard ? no, but they will be successful.

GW2 = 60$ for the game and I paid 25$ since for some gems, and it's just to get me a alt guild running with some space in the bank. I could have waited. I might pay 10$ per month if I play only alts and don't want to grind.

Planetside 2 = Since the game doesn't cost anything, I tried it for a week. I was really happy with the game so I took the subscription for a year 120$ + 10$ to get a nice sniper riffle. Do I die less ? no, not at all for that it take time. Do I kill more stuff ? Yes, but not much. Yes I have a better weapon for sniper, but since you really need skills and a great outfit to be really successful it's not much more.

I really like that PlanetSide and GW2, are not a pay to win game. It's more, play when you want and if you don't want to grind a lot, you can buy some stuff to help you. But I really like the fact that if I'm low on cash next year, I'll be able to play the game anyway and it will be as fun without subscription.

SandboxGeneral · Jan 22, 2013

Huntn said:
If you are not pulling my leg...

MMO- Massive Multiplayer Online usually with RPG tacked on the end of it, but not in all cases. Planetside 2 is a MMOFPS.

Usually what the MMO gives you is a persistent online world with 1000+ other players to interact with in the game world.

Nope, not Joshing you, I really didn't know what that was. Like I said, I'm not much of a gamer anymore.

Solomani · Jan 22, 2013

So how will they make money? MMOs sometimes require millions of dollars to produce. They'll make money similar to IAP in the iOS App Store?

Huntn · Jan 22, 2013

Solomani said:
So how will they make money? MMOs sometimes require millions of dollars to produce. They'll make money similar to IAP in the iOS App Store?

I guess there are two ways to look at it. No they won't be getting $12 a month from millions of players, but the players that do participate will be buying items from the in-game store. I can guarantee it. What is the bottom line for this as compared to development/maintenance costs? I don't have a clue.

I've been playing Planetside 2 since retail and I've spent about $25 on gun upgrades. These things can be earned within the game using experience certs but from my perspective, they take forever. I'm not the sharpest tack in the pack and an evening of game play earns me about 40-70 certs. A gun upgrade costs 700 certs, but can be purchased for $7. I'd rather not wait and use my earned certs for the stuff that can't be purchased. Recently Sony had a 2 for 1 sale on their Station Cash, purchased with real life cash. I can see that happening on a semi-irregular basis.

While hardware upgrades like gun models can be purchased using RL money, all of the defensive (armor), performance (speed), enhancements (cool downs) and other improvements must be earned with xp. This prevents the wallet warrior syndrome, people who buy their advantages.

Solomani · Jan 22, 2013

Huntn said:
I guess there are two ways to look at it. No they won't be getting $12 a month from millions of players, but the players that do participate will be buying items from the in-game store. I can guarantee it. What is the bottom line for this as compared to development/maintenance costs? I don't have a clue.

I've been playing Planetside 2 since retail and I've spent about $25 on gun upgrades. These things can be earned within the game using experience certs but from my perspective, they take forever. I'm not the sharpest tack in the pack and an evening of game play earns me about 40-70 certs. A gun upgrade costs 700 certs, but can be purchased for $7. I'd rather not wait and use my earned certs for the stuff that can't be purchased. Recently Sony had a 2 for 1 sale on their Station Cash, purchased with real life cash. I can see that happening on a semi-irregular basis.

And I'm curious to know... with all your in-game (add-on) purchases, what do you estimate is your average cost of playing (calculated per month) for the length of time you have been playing the game?

It would be interesting to compare that number to something like $12 or $15 per month, which is what most MMO monthly subscriptions are.

P.S. -- 3+ years of (original) Everquest experience here, EQ1 being one of the first market successful MMORPG franchise (or maybe Ultima) . After that, I went to Sony's SWG for a couple years. Heck, I was in SWG during the open beta. What a painful experience that was.

doh123 · Jan 23, 2013

I often prefer subscription based.

It can lead to better servers and less focus on in game rewards that try to convince people to buy stuff from in-game stores with real money... Most subscription games seem to be focused more on making a fun game and less on making extra sales to the players.... or making the functionality not quite as good in a huge open world setting so it costs them less to run (like Guild Wars).

Pretty much all of the funnest MMORPGs I've ever played (which is a lot) were all subscription. I don't think people realize the ongoing costs it takes to run games like that... its very expensive, your one time buy in cost will not pay for you playing it for several months.

Towelie1288 · Jan 23, 2013

planetside 2 is an amazing game
and its free!!!!! i am soo hooked to it and its coming to OSX soon
but since i play so much i might consider spending a little money to get better weapons earlier and more stuff for the jets still a badass game either way

utekineir · Jan 23, 2013

Back when i played mmos (early-mid 20s) the cost more than justified itself through keeping me at home.

Even one night less a month of going out saved more than the subscription cost.

Looking at it that way subscription mmos were a bargain.

mslide · Jan 23, 2013

I'm not into MMOs anymore but I'd take a monthly subscription any day over a game that encourages you to spend real-life money on in-game items. $13/month is a great deal considering how much entertainment one can get from those types of games. It's sure a heck of a lot cheaper than going out to a bar and having some drinks.

It costs a lot of money for a company to run an MMO and they won't get enough from selling the actual game itself. You'll pay one way or another.

Huntn said:
Can anyone expect to get millions of people to pay monthly subscriptions in the future like Blizzard did?

I doubt it. Not because millions aren't willing to pay $13/month to play a game (WoW already proved people are willing to when there were 'free' alternatives) but because Blizzard set the bar too high for MMOs. It's going to be really hard, if not impossible, for someone else to come along and do the same that Blizzard did with WoW.

Huntn · Jan 23, 2013

Solomani said:
And I'm curious to know... with all your in-game (add-on) purchases, what do you estimate is your average cost of playing (calculated per month) for the length of time you have been playing the game?

I've been playing Planetside2 since retail, Nov 2012 and have spent $25 on upgrades. If I had been playing WoW for the same period it would have cost me the initial purchase $50+$30= $80 (first month subscription included in purchase price, $6 less if I obligated myself to 6 months pay in advance). I just used $50 as the average cost of a new game. I realize that WoW today has free play up to L24 or something like that and that early versions of the game are less than $50 to buy. No matter how you figure it, the $25 I've spent for 3 months play is a bargain and it's not something I'm doing on a regular basis.

mslide said:
I'm not into MMOs anymore but I'd take a monthly subscription any day over a game that encourages you to spend real-life money on in-game items. $13/month is a great deal considering how much entertainment one can get from those types of games. It's sure a heck of a lot cheaper than going out to a bar and having some drinks.

It costs a lot of money for a company to run an MMO and they won't get enough from selling the actual game itself. You'll pay one way or another.

You don't have to spend the money if you have the patience to earn the credits in game. Secondly what I've spent is far less than what I would have paid for your average subscription game that includes upfront purchase and then subscription.

Using Planetside 2 as an example, none of the upgrades are available for purchase, they must be earned. I mostly play armor so I can buy a new gun for my tank that shoots armor piercing rounds (cost $7) or I can earn 700 certs in-game to buy that gun which at my rate would take me about 2 weeks of playing every night (say 50 certs a session earned). I usually play 1 or 2 times a week so it would take me forever.

However all of the functional upgrades for my tank- IR, shield, armor, scope, performance, must be earned in-game. You can't throw cash at those. This system mostly rewards those who are playing the game on a regular basis as compared to "wallet warriors".

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