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How does everyone afford all their MMOs
fatenabu1
Member Posts: 381
Hello,
This may sound like a real dumb question but I see how several people are playing several different subscription based MMOs. How does one afford that? 10-15 dollars a month per game on top of all your other bills. I am not judging by no means, just curious. I am 26 year old minister with a working wife and a 1 year old daughter, and in today's economy we have a hard time making ends meet; so it is quite shocking for me to see people who play like three or four different MMOs. I can understand paying to play one but several just blows my mind.
Just a question
God Bless,
Dustin
†
Comments
Retired military using the tax payers hard earn dollars while my wife works. Did my time so now its my turn ot enjoy the comforts of the gaming world after missing life for 21 years. Rest assured that it is now my duty to rid cyberspace of all enemies...foreign and domistic. In retirement...it is good to be da king.
subbed: WOW, Eve, STO and jumping back and forth with AOC and SWG...its not just a job, its an...well you know
As a tax payer, I 100% endorse this. ^__^
Student right now at University of Texas. My grandma is kind enough to pay for my tuition and apartment. Right now all my money from my job basically goes into savings and I occasionally splurge on things.
Hopefully my BCS degree will help me acquire... a little bit more money. :P
You can never tell with the way things are going these days though.
Cable TV is not very popular with the age 22-35 male demographic. That is a huge savings. Also, investing in an automobile does not have the same appeal that it used to. Besides rent my fixed expenses are just an iphone bill and a cable internet bill.
Cryptic is trying a Customer Development approach to MMO creation.
Save even more money on the water bill by turning your underwear inside-out insead of washing all the time...works for me.
I work as a security guard and dont get the best wage but I could afford to play 3 - 4 mmo's. MY partner doesn't work. We have 2 children and one on the way. I guess its down to money management.
Of course I don't play 3-4 cuz I have other priorities and don't have the time.
Everyone has different lives and different budgets and different priorities, minister. I personally have 3 kids and play 4 games a month casually. For my income (I manage a database department) and budget $55 a month it comes out to for entertainment doesn't break the bank. Outside of family activities it covers 90% of my entertainment costs for what to me (less than $2 a day) seems like a nominal fee.
Not to mention that not having cable TV helps make up for that. That's $55 a month right there these days and I'll take down time staring at a screen with interaction over down time staring at a screen with no interaction near every time.
Yea, I know it comes down to source of income and priorities etc. I just found it quite interesting that people can afford to play so many. I think it is great that you really can. Personally I will never be able to most likely. Not trying to complain or what not but the church I work for really don't pay me, they do give me a house to live in though but I still have to pay the bills etc. As for my wife she is self-employed making 900 a month reading blue prints and what not in our nearest town. We live about 20 minutes from any real civilization. We were lucky to get cable internet way out here LOL. I do appreciate you guys taking this thread seriously though and actually answering my question. It was something I Have always wondered.
Thanks,
Dustin
†
BTW right now I am currently only doing Free to Play games due to the budget, our car will be paid off soon and I may wait for DC Universe to come and and give it a try. I am playing Allods (closed beta), Runes of Magic, and Spellborn on a regular basis. I was playing SUN but it got boring for some reason.
I don't really do anything else entertainment-wise that costs that much. I mean I can go to one movie per month for 2 hours, or 4 hours if you count getting ready, drive time, etc, and spend upwards of $60 for three people (me, child, spouse) to go to the movies to see Avatar once. OR I can spend that $60 on four MMOG accounts and be able to be entertained by that pretty much 24/7 all month long, whenever I feel like it or have time... It's a no-brainer really. Even if it was just me going to the movies once a month or buying 1 Blu-ray per month it would still be way more cost effective to play an MMOG or three...
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"Searchers after horror haunt strange, far places..." ~ H.P.Lovecraft, "From Beyond"
Member Since March 2004
Being sixteen, and being that I can't get a job anywhere...
...I just wait for my Birthday and Christmas! ^^
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
24 year old Systems Developer. My wife can't work currently since she's immigrating to Canada from the US, so It's just me paying the bills right now while we wait for her to get landed immigrant status and can legally work in Canada.
We both play WoW, sometimes a second MMO if we get bored with WoW, so it's anywhere between 2-4 accounts total at any time for us.
$30-60 a month for MMOs pay seem like a lot, but consider that most PC games lately cost around $50+ dollars, and you get a fraction of the gameplay you do from an MMO. Especially consider too that the cost of a couple going to the movies can cost $24+ dollars too, and that's only for ~2 hours of entertainment. Or heck, even going out to eat one less time a month will pretty much cover the cost.
It does help as well though that we don't have any kids yet, and are little better off than most would be in our situation because of my job.
Yea we don't do a lot of entertainment either, by the time we by diapers, gas for car, baby wipes, dog food, pet food, pet bedding, and other things food stamps don't pay for we have like 5 dollars at the end of the month if we are lucky. Our electric bill alone is like 160-200 dollars due to where we live... Anyways guys once again thanks for taking this seriously... We actually went and seen a movie because we had a theater gift card. First time we went out for entertainment purposes for a while. Well baby is waking up from nap talk to you all later feel free to pm me anytjme.
Dustin
Well, by working? If you dont end up with a big plus at the end of the month you either spend too much money on stuff you dont need or you just got the wrong job. Seriously, I never had a problem paying any mmo sub ...
I have a great job that pays well!
(DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH Raving Rabbid loves his sugar mamma's Denise Milani and Luncy Pinder! Its good to be a Rabbid!)
All my opinions are just that..opinions. If you like my opinions..coolness.If you dont like my opinion....I really dont care.
Playing: ESO, WOT, Smite, and Marvel Heroes
one month MMO sub = fifty cents per day.
I lose more than that out of my pocket every time I sit on my sofa.
I am a 26 yr old Director of IT at a fairly small business, my wife also holds a decent job as well. I have no children except for a dog that may as well be a child at this point.
I'm careful on how I spend my cash, I never buy games out of the gate unless I'm absolutely certain I won't regret the money spent, and I never subscribe to more than one MMO at a time (though I have 2 xbox live subs, one for her, and one for me.)
I think we make a very decent living considering... but in this market you never know what could happen.
These days I'm not rich, but certainly can afford my 5 MMO's subs (for me and my son) and its hardly equal to the cost of a membership to a good country club which is where my father always spent his disposable income.
But back when I was 26, with my first child and I was still trying to earn a salary equal to my age the world was a much tougher place and I doubt I would have been paying as much monthly for gaming.
Now, contrast the $75/mo I pay for MMO accounts to my $170/mo for TV/Internet/Home phone, $300/mo for cell phone service (for 5 poeple) and $850/mo I pay for auto insurance (5 cars, 5 drivers) and you can see the price of MMO's is not really a major concern.
I have a bumper sticker that says, "Driver carries no cash, wife and children have it all."
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I am not complaining or anything like that, I am in the right job, a minister.. which shouldn't pay a lot in my opinion. I am happy we get by and are we are generally happy. Money in general isn't really that important to me, and if I did have more I don't think I would spend it on MMOs. I think I would try to do more with it. Give more to charity and to our church to help us do things like build a new roof, or save it for when we have another kid, or actually buy things we need like freezer bags lol. I know that is a dumb example but seriously we have been going like 2 months without them and we really need them. We should be getting some today. Anyways not everyone can get a well paying job. I have tried to get a second job on top of the ministry position just to help us save money and get health insurance (medical bills are quite high without it) and they keep turning me down because I am too well educated lol They say they can pay someone to do the same job less because they don't have a degree. Also though around here a good wage is only 14 dollars an hour. My wife makes 9 and is her own boss so it isn't that big of a difference. As I said we make 900-920 a month depending on what she feels like working.
Dustin
Affording MMO's is easy if you don't
Everything said, playing MMO's is fairly cheap as hobbies go. Even a low income person such as myself can manage a couple of subscriptions as long as that income is managed carefully and one lives within their means.
And yeah, being ex-military and collecting a paycheck from the VA while my GI bill pays for college is definantly low income, at least untill I graduate. Then I get a nice pay raise and get to keep my goverment paycheck
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin
I'm sorry to hear that, though, there are still jobs out there you can find, you just have to be honest with the employers (not that it was ever a problem for you) and let them know your intentions. Look for places with a high turnover rate as they expect things like that. If you have a local newspaper, try and get hired on to deliver in your area. Try and go somewhere that allows for sales positions as alot of them are commission based, and although you won't get a steady check, they'll hire you, and anything extra you earn is better then nothing at all.
You are right all of those things take a lot of cash. We do none of them but thats alright I know what you are saying. It is a cheap hobby, playing MMOs, in the long run but not cheap enough for me
I am loving all the variety of responses and ways people afford them.
Dustin
I live in Norway, and while prices are slightly higher here, salaries are also much higher. Minimum wage here is about $20/hour. My salary is a bit below average for a 30 year old programmer/consultant, and if I work normal 37.5 hour weeks I have about $2k left over after regular expenses and taxes. More if I feel like working overtime. I put most of that aside as money will be tighter if I decide to buy a house or a bigger apartment while supporting a family, but monthly fees for any MMO I feel like playing doesn't really put a dent in my budget.
Yeah, I was just thinking about the money I save by not smoking...my whole family smokes and spends on average $15 a week on cigarettes.
I am a low income person as well and paying $15-$30 a month for mmo's is fine, because i live frugally. I live within my means.
That being said, I was just griping to a friend about all the crap you HAVE to pay every month.
I hope no one assumes I smoke and drink because I don't.. wouldn't be very good example if I did.
Dustin
I'm unemployed (long-term sick right now). I used to have a pretty good job, and because of our good social security system in Holland, I now get 70% of that pay.
That, along with my wife's parttime income makes us able to still own our house, do fun stuff, and allow me to sub to 2 games at a time. I also have a lifetime sub for LotR, and I play a lot in beta's.
...I do have to get my mind at ease someway...
Too bad I can't play Aion because the engine really affects me mentally, or I'd have 3 subs