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new SOE aquisitions and Station Pass
mmonkey
Member Posts: 171
Currently the Station Pass has Vanguard, SWG, Everquest 2 and a few others.
SOE will be marketing and publishing Pirates of the Burning see soon, and I think someone mentioned God's and Heroes has a similar deal. There may even be others in the works, but that's all I've heard so far.
At the moment, the Station Pass doesn't have enough to interest me. I'm willing to take a crack at Vanguard in a few months after they work on some kinks. But if POBS and G&H are thrown into the mix, that Station Pass is looking pretty interesting.
Is it SOE's strategy to keep adding more and more games into the Station Pass until it becomes an increasingly tempting deal for MMOG'rs? Or do the POBS and G&H deals not necessarily mean they will be added to the station?
Comments
and if they are added to the station, will the price of the station pass go up?
Past: AC, AC2, DAoC, SWG, HZ, EVE, Ryzom, WoW, L2
Present: nothing
Future: Aion, AoC, PotBS
Station Pass isnt something i would recommend people getting because unless you're playing all of SoE's games then it might jsut be worth it....Still At most, SoE players dont subscribe to more than 2 of thier games (at least thats what I was doing)...But I really dont see what you can gain from it, thats just my opinion...But its their way of trying to make more money...station pass is like what? 15 dollars a month? thats enough to pay for another mmo game....
i think its $30 a month. Assuming POBS and GnH are $15 each, both of those titles interst me. Individually those both would put me at $30 a month, but if the pass would let me try out Vanguard, I may be interested.
$45 of a monthly subs for $30. Assumptions were made here obviously, but you follow my thinking.
I think SOE is learning that the future of MMOs is not just being the publisher + developer in one. It's going to cost more to develop future MMOs, hell it's already expensive already! So, why not just focus on publishing? Hmm, maybe SOE finally is getting something right, but who knows.
-- Brede
I just think thats too much to pay, $45 is enough for my cell phone bill, and i use it more often than playing MMO's currently because Im only interested in 2 games which I know wont be coming out any time soon and they are Darkfall and Infinity quest for earth...Until then I'll save my 45 dollars for something more useful...
I love my station pass. I really do. I play SWG (so underrated, omfg!), vanguard, and EQ 2.
I play EQ 1 on a different account. Do not want to spend the 50.00 to transfer.
Oh, they better not raise the price of the station pass! I will be very upset!!
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WoW and fast food = commercial successes.
I neither play WoW nor eat fast food.
They can add 10,000 games and it wouldn't be worth it for me because I only have time for 1 MMO at a time. Very dumb plan if you ask me.
I think the current $15 is enough - I don't need to be charged any more. Monthly fees add up.
What model do you suggest? Perhaps a micro-credit system? I'm serious about this inquiry, because I find this part very fascinating, and I think the monthly fee system is about at its limit, since it forces players to decide which game they have to play because players may have friends or guildmates that won't follow him/her to that game. Thus making the force that drives the success of MMOs not in their originality or gameplay, but rather the contingent social engagements people form in-game and out-game.
-- Brede
Most MMOs are $40-50 for the initial box. SOE is putting themselves in the position of controlling the billing for many current and future MMOs. I think its an ingenious business move, and I applaud them for it.
Yes, many members here are very anti-SOE. Personally, I could care less who is involved with a game. As long as it is entertaining for a good amount of time, it is worth it to me.
I agree that there comes a point at which monthly fees for gaming can add up to silly amounts. I think i'd still be interested in a pass if there were at least 3 solid games that entertained me. Some people like to devote every gaming hour to 1 mmog, but if given the opportunity, I think i'd like to dabble a bit in a few different ones.
I hate getting burned out on a single game and having to take a break just to make things interesting when i eventually come back. =/
I sugest - they charge whatever Blizzard charges for WoW. For the pass. So that's 15 a month?
Some of you may have time for 3 MMOs at one time. For most people that is just nuts. I play one game 4 hours a day. I am not going to split that between 3 games, and I'm not going to play 12 hours a day. And I think more people are in my situation, than the 3 MMOs a month situation.
AND LETS JUST SAY, I was going to lose my f'n mind and play 3 at one time. Do you really think they will all be Sony games? I sure don't.
But as long as it's totally optional and pass owners don't get other perks, than who cares?
I don't know very much about SoE but just from playing Planetside I can assume this is nothing more than a marketing strategy. SoE isn't stupid or overly naive. They know that a lot of people shy away from any "one" game that may be under their control. The total value of any one SoE game in the MMO market doesn't equate to much of the gamer population; however, take the cumulative earning potential across each game and you have a light-weight WoW type following.
I started to think about this a bit more with the recent Planetside monthly fee increase. I mean the game is losing people and developement has slowed to a snail's pace...so where is the justification for "increasing" the monthly fee to 15 bucks. Then it dawned on me that a station pass is only 30 bucks. Statistically speaking, the chance that I'd play another MMO (SoE or not) is pretty high. Now add in the fact that for all intents and purposes each SoE MMO is relatively unique, and it stands to reason that maybe I'll end up having an interest in 2 SoE games. I'd then have one of two options. Pay for one and refuse to pay the other OR hype myself up to the point where I rationalize the station pass as being a good thing because I'd gain access to a whole bunch of of MMO's even though I know I'll never actually be whole-heartedly interested in them.
Once, I've purchased a station pass it would be harder still to actually stop using it simply because the logic behind the pass is actually pretty good. It actually seems like quite the deal when SoE is slowly pushing for all their games to have a base price of 15 bucks a month. So now even though I may not actually use the full potential of a station pass (to be fair no one really can unless you literally play atleast 20 hrs a day) I have it and have fooled myself into believing that I'm coming out ahead. The catch to all this is that an MMO should be so immersing that you would only ever need one, but SoE knows that no one MMO they currently have is worth a damn. (Personal opinion no flames needed)
So what does this do for SoE? Oddly enough this gives them WoW like earning on PoS games. I think the strategy is quite ingenious. This ensures a steady amount of cash flow for lesser developed easily abandoned games. If you get sick of one game you'll inevitably try the next piece of garbage in the list if only because it's there for your convenience.
Then SoE goes a step farther and actively seeks to acquire none crap games to make the pass seem even more desireable. Blinded by the new game, you again will rationalize the 30 bucks and fool yourself into believing that it's a good deal.
The more I think about it the more it seems that a station pass ensures that SoE can continue to make and under develope PoS games and then basically hault development and await the next big thing. No matter how you cut it, you will play one game more than the other and that will lead to you basically paying 15 bucks for the game you actually play and distributing the other 15 to the long forgotten PoS games that clutter the list which you occassion play. I mean it really is a gem of a strategy to ensure continued financial support.
The plan is for the long-term. Sure as assuredly as every great civilization falls - so too will any great MMO. Wow was a blast for me for 2 years and now I hate it, but that's Blizzard's one trick MMO pony. SoE on the other hand seems to more or less have a plan to monopolize the market "in the long-term" because they've actually planned for player burn out. I'm done spouting on about my biased conspiracy theory so I'll end the post here.
Well, for 30 a month you get subscriptions to EQ, EQOA, EQII, SWG, Planetside, MxO, Vanguard, the three station games, and soon PoTBS.
I'm far from a fan of SOE, but if you play 2 or more of their games, then why not. SWG and Planetside are games that you can play casually too.
i can't say i'm a station pass fan at all. generally i try to stick with one game, it's all i really have time for to be honest. but i think from soe's point of view station pass brings more PLAYERS to a game, not necessarily player community members, but players. but that's a whole different problem.
____________________________
TheCore
I liked the Pass when I was playing both EQ1 and EQ2 for $25 a month, and got bonus character slots in both games. It wasn't worth it for the extra slots, however, when it went up to $30. I only have time to really play one game at a time. With the discount, I didn't mind having the other around to mess with off and on. For the full price of subscribing to both, though, I gave up my Pass and went back to a single game subscription.
If I were playing 3 games, even just in passing, it would be a great deal, though, even if they don't add those other games. I wouldn't be surprised if the price goes up again if they add two more new games...
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This is where I draw the line: __________________.
Don't forget The Agency and the DC Comic MMO they are working on, plus with the Station Pass you can get free starter sets for the Pirates Online Trading Card Games they have. All in all its not a bad deal. You can hop from genre to genre all within one fee. I am hoping they don't raise the price of the Station Pass though, anything more would not be worth it.
"If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike"
Don't forget The Agency and the DC Comic MMO they are working on, plus with the Station Pass you can get free starter sets for the Pirates Online Trading Card Games they have. All in all its not a bad deal. You can hop from genre to genre all within one fee. I am hoping they don't raise the price of the Station Pass though, anything more would not be worth it.
Was about to say that.
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"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
Now if only NCSoft had the same deal, I'd be thrilled. I'd probably pick up Linneage 2, Auto Assault, and Tabula Rasa (when it comes out).
MMO games played or tested: EQ, DAoC, Archlord, Auto Assault, CoH, CoV, EQ2, EVE, Guild Wars, Hellgate: London, Linneage II, LOTRO, MxO, Planetside, SWG, Sword of the New World, Tabula Rasa, Vanguard, WWIIOL, WOW, Age of Conan
I think they could make the station pass a lot more attractive if they gave purchase discounts for the games the pass provides access too. Like VG, 45 bucks in store, pass members can buy it for 35 or something.. Make it have an added value to have the pass other then just access to the games but a true full discount for online purchases of the games as they come out,. That would probably increase the ammount of people willing to do the station pass and make it worth having as well. Plus if someone want to try say VG or EQ 2 but didn't want to go spend 50 bucks on the game but had a pass account they could get it for say 35 or 30 they might be more willing to explore the other games. Just my 2 cents..
DC
Last I checked the Station Pass was $24.95 a month and allows you to play:
Star Wars Galaxies (ungh... not even going to get into this debate... I don't like NGE but the new version obviously appeals to some people so hush)
EverQuest 2 (one of the better fantasy level/quest grinders out there)
Matrix Online (really bad launch but the game isn't too terrible if you give it half a chance. Not my thing but others like it)
EverQuest (The king of all MMORPG's at one time, still a decent game)
Vanguard: SOH (ungh... they need to do some serious work on this)
Planetside: Awesome little FPS MMO. Not worth a monthly fee on it's own as you get almost as many features by just playing BF2142 for free... but if you already have the pass it's actually a bit more fun.
Tanarus & Infantry (not sure what these are all about... very old online games similar to Tribes I believe).
If they add more titles to the list? Ones that people like? The Pass is an excellent choice (IF they actually play 2 or more of the games).
"A ship-of-war is the best ambassador." - Oliver Cromwell