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If Bioware announced today that TOR was to be B2P
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I'd be indifferent. But isn't it very unlikely?
There's hundreds of millions of costs made to earn back before they break even. I suspect they go for the largest cash grasp possible in the first three months at least, so: box sales + monthly subs.
Unless .... they are very, very confident that it is SO damn good that it will earn back its costs and then some in a longer timespan anyway.
My brand new bloggity blog.
I would not be bothered one way or the other ,but I greatly doubt this will be the case.
B2P games are DESIGNED to be like that from day 1 to limit server costs and what not.
There has been no indication, that I know of, that this is the case for SW:TOR.
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"
I'm acutally hoping for a lifetime sub option
.
Sure, but I urge you to wait out the honeymoon period and see if you still want to be with Swtorette for the rest of your life. You have to know all her good and bad habbits before you can truly objectively decide on being with her forever more.
I mean, she looks great and appealing but maybe she farts in bed all the time ...
My brand new bloggity blog.
I would be happy.
But it aint going to happen.
They invested so much money they will never recover it by making the game B2P
For example MW2 made aproximately 1 billion $ in sales. So lets take that as reasonable earning for super popular game.
But SWTOR cost was 150-300 million $ (so the rumours go) which would only give them 700 mil $ revenue. And thats before the server hosting costs.
Its just aint going to happen
That's hot... Actually, I am fairly cautious with lifetime subs as I've had great experiences (LoTRO) where I've made a wise investment and faithfully played the game for years. On the other hand I have been devistated (STO) and felt compeltely taken and violated. I was in love with the concept of Star Trek but after a month had seen every version of the same three missions and realized it was a hot mess once you got past the shiney IP. In this case, however, I have two advantages.. first is that I have not met a BioWare game I didn't like and second I've had a little play time with this one and I like what I saw. I will concede its a bit early to be completely certain but that does not negate the fact that i would like to see the option, just in case it's true love.
They would never be able to afford new content. They would be lucky to break even on the initial investment.
Currently Playing: The Game
Hehe, fair enough.
My brand new bloggity blog.
I agree - and think this is the most likely case.
Someone said their budget was 300 million how the devil will they make it back with b2p ?
id be indifferent but i would then consider playing it. im currently subbing for wow now and planning to sub for rift, and in the far future imma sub for blade and soul while taking a break form the 2 previous ones.... so swtor as p2p will not join my list
This is an unconfirmed rumor.
In Bioware we trust!
That figure would be from mister EA. the figure is morelikely around 150M. I won't comment on his creditbility as thats been discussed already.
As for the B2P in a theoretical stance, if they can afford to do that. Sure. I'd prefer to pay for a product once, not a monthly fee.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Under the control of EA I would be very very sad.
I don't like cash shops anyhow, but at least in GW it is extremely low key.
EA cash shops on the other hand, in a game based on SW made by their cash cow Bioware brand?
/shudder
voted sad......i would be happy if the would come out as B2P but anything with a shop is pure rip off imho. (even if it is just cosmetic).
It's not unlikely, it will happens when hell freezes over or 20 years from now whichever comes first.
You are going to be very sad then because it will be sub with a shop...
Before speculation gets high, i want to point out these quotes
Confirmed during Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown's presentation that TOR "...will generate revenue through monthly subscriptions" - Darth Hater
Its looking more likely that TOR will be a subscription based game than a Microtransaction one based on the recent interview with Greg Zeschuk - Softpedia
Quote: We’re thinking of all of our games now as a platform, and once we launch them and whether we’re supporting them through subscriptions like an MMO like Star Wars The Old Republic - Industry Gamers
All payment and Subscription methods are still being looked into - Games Industry
It doesn't state there will be a cash shop.
The only one close says they are looking into all payment and sub models. That however doesn't state they have a shop, unless i missed something.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Probably will. As long as the shop is just for cosmetic stuff I could care less.
In Bioware we trust!
MW2 made 1 billion in sales ? Never did they even come close to COD sales.
And it was launched on multi platform consoles. As the PC market is only around 7- 9% of the market for each succesful multi platform game launched...
EA doesn't have a choice they NEED 1 millions subs and stay with it for at least a full year to come out of the costs.
My predictions: ~ 1.5 M copies sold (double War totals) and around 500 K subs after 6 months.
After one year probably something around 250K and a BIG hole in the EA budget.
-
War: 800K - AoC 750K - Aion 650K. All in the first month and all around 100K or far under it after 12 months...with a steady downfall throughout the year (and confirmed by dwindling servers).
Other launched MMO's were even far below these numbers.
And don't forget the above games launched when there was less competition and hardly any decent free to pay games around.
If the free GW2 launches in the same period as SW TOR it will drive EA nuts.
Theres only one thing i want to point out regarding the needing 1M subs and it's here: http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/08/ea-puts-faith-in-the-old-republics-lifespan-and-profits/
The quote so you don't have to go to the webpage if you don't want (the link was to show the source)
With all the cries of doom and gloom against Star Wars: The Old Republic -- not to mention accusations of a wildly bloated production budget -- one may be led to believe that TOR will fail even before it sees the light of day. EA, on the other hand, is expressing a calm confidence in the game's potential longevity and financial success.
According to Eurogamer, EA's CFO Eric Brown predicts that TOR will not only last over a decade, but will be profitable even if there are fewer than a million subscribers: "Our assumptions for break-even and profitability are not seven-digit subscribers. We think we can run and operate a very successful and profitable MMO at different levels. The key thing here is to really perfect the product. We're shooting for an extremely high quality game experience. We view this as a 10-year opportunity."
Brown previously admitted that TOR is the single largest project in the history of EA, and industry analysts have predicted that the title would need at least a million subscribers to break even.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
really? You on't think a box buyer/ sub payer in these games should be able to access all the content they have paid for/ sub for by actually playing the actual game?
(and yes, so called vanity items ARE content..)
Vanity items are fine. Paying for stats and eq not so fine IMHO.
In Bioware we trust!
Most MMOs now a days have a cash shop of some sort. I'd prefer all the content to be in game of course, but it's simply not heading in that direction. With the inclusion of EQ2 and WoW both having cash shops and a sub. We are going to see more of this as time goes by. The only way to stop it would be for everyone to boycott MMOs.
Which rarely works in most cases.
Help me Bioware, you're my only hope.
Is ToR going to be good? Dude it's Bioware making a freaking star wars game, all signs point to awesome. -G4tv MMo report.
Same here, I'd buy a lifetime sub due to, well lets say from what i've seenso far i'd go lifetime sub.
Not to forget the collectors edition at say £60 odd. I'm sold. Are you ?
"He's no good to me dead."