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Can any game released merit a subscription?
Muntz
Member UncommonPosts: 332
The games of the past I played all had subscriptions that was what was done in those times. So, a bad release or even a decent release with a smaller then expected amount of content wasn't the death knell of the subscription. There simple was only one payment model. It seemed like companies had years to fix everything and add the appropreate level of content. Not true now a days. I don't wonder if the standard required for a game to merit a subscription is too high for a newly released game to meet. Even if your supported by deep pockets as time goes on there will be a great deal of pressure to release. For such a complex piece of software your done basically when you need cash flow. That isn't going to be a fully completed game.
Comments
Subscription used to mean no cash shop. Now it means less intrusive cash shop. For me is still worth it. I've played b2p and f2p MMOs and the cash shop influence is too distracting for my tatse.
The Subscription model is changing, then what it was in the pass, the few mmo out there that have Subscription model still holding on they going end up changing sooner or later, even WoW how big it is, change how there model work, by making it easyer just pay there sub with gold from other people.
But a true sub model are becoming rare, there tons of mmo out there droping content as fast a sub model. So hard to pull people back in the way there going with.
Subscription MMOs can Survive when publishers and investors sink $100+ Million into an MMO. Its just too much dam money you will never get the investment out of an MMO unless you have a Cash shop. Once you go F2P/B2P you have to figure out what players are willing to spend endlessly on in a cash shop so they make money.
I put it to people this way. If FFXIV goes F2P or B2P I am done with MMOs. WHY? Because I always end up spending 2 to 3 times as much in cash shop stuff or being forced to spend money in cash shop stuff just to keep up with the curve or its things I want out of the game that only are sold on the cash shop than how much I spend in 1 year on a subscription for an MMO plus the box. I am done with the wallet wars that has become the MMO genera and most of my friends are gone from MMOs today because of the wallet wars.
Answer to the topic: -No.
But that has been my standard view ever since I first learned about MMOs so I am not bitter about it (unlike many others). I don't see games with subscription models being any better than non-subscription games either. For the most part, subscription is bad value for your money.
I would not have played Eve Online for years without being able to play it for free (that is through buying gametime with ingame currency).
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Eso, and Wildstar, have more then 100+ million put in, and they had trouble, just not wildstar still need to bring up there numbers up.
I agree. 100%.
Developer is motivated to make the best game possible - not to waste as much of the players time as possible or extort them in some way. If you do a good enough job, people will buy your DLC's, expansions and sequels. That's how it should be.
I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been -Wayne Gretzky
Actually... not even that seems to do it.
SWTOR, ESO and Wildstar are all in that budget range, yet staying sub only games didn't cut it for them.
Of the recent big budget games only FFXIV is still holding the sub only flag high. So yeah, you're right - if that one decides to convert then sub only games are pretty much completely done for.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
FFXIV:ARR is well worth the subscription. I don't even mind the cash shop items they have, and I will never pay for any of the services they offer. The content they have in game, plus the stuff they have added since release makes the sub price well worth it in my opinion.
Eve Online is also worth the subscription based on the quality of the product. I personally don't like the game, but it does offer a lot that you can't find in other games.
Also I gave up on WoW years ago, and never wanted to return, but the garrisons and the ship building sound kinda cool... some times I hate my gaming habits.
the missing link in a chain of destruction.
All spelling and typographical errors are based soely on the fact that i just dont care. If you must point out my lack of atention to detail, please do it with a smile.
FFXIV needed a cash shop to help out, so its not sub only.
Ah, good point. I didn't actually know that it had one.
And WoW has one these days too. And EvE has the whole Plex thing or whatever it's called to allow big spenders to pump more money into the game.
Yep, the classic sub model is dead alright.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
Yep I agree if FFXIV switches subs are over. I can live with FFXIV's cash shop because none of it matters at all outside of the race/look changes for anyone who just wants to change to a new race that comes out.
FFXIV cash shop goes 100% back into game development and the EU data center if I remember correctly. FFXIV's cash shop was not designed to be setup so that the game can make a larger profit. It is designed to help out however not designed to be greedy which often is the case with F2P B2P MMOs. The Core problem is the fact there are too many MMOs, the genera was never meant to have as many as we do today.
Can any game released merit a subscription? Well, I haven't spent a dime on anything that was released in the last 4 years, 3 months and 4 days (only because DCUO managed to take my $ with $35 box on release and 30 days free otherwise God knows how much longer would it been). So, hope that answers your question.
I threw $ at WOW:WoD, mainly cuz I find my $ useless if I had nothing to spend em on, just taking dust all these years...and then 44% of this community choose to. So, what the heck threw my last $100 at Blizz for what they've done with WOW over the decade, but that's it for me.
Voting with my wallet is essential for me in what kind of future I envision gaming in general to be heading...and my 25 years spent on gaming helps me to still keep myself busy enjoying products out there that are even more enjoyable to me than the rest B2P/P2P products.
I still think WoW is worth a subscription. I tend to go back for a month, take a break, come back for a month, etc.
FFXIV is worth the price, IMO, but not for me right now. Probably will come check it out again for Heavensword.
EvE is worth the sub price, IMO, but not for me anymore. It's just a great game for those who want that game.
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
I always get a kick out of seeing merit and sub in the same sentence.
Merit and play... that's OK, but I find "merit a sub" to be a nonsensical concept.
Din't Yoda say something about this? "Sub or do not sub. There is no merit."
“Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?”
― CD PROJEKT RED
People keep mistaking cause, effect, correlation and all that.
There's nothing wrong with the sub model. It's just most MMOs these days are WoW clones and themeparks, which actively discourage long term play.
Themeparks encourage short burst content burn playstyles, which is insanely expensive, and people only stick around for a few months. On top of that, most of them are boring/poorly made, and just resemle WoW, which means people stick around even less.
Subscription games work for games designed to keep people long term, and are actually worth playing. Eve is still going because all its players are long term. Same with Darkfall. Same with the upcoming crop of indie MMOs, designed for long term.
Themepark and Sandbox games both do the same thing. You do the same content over and over till you have had enough. When you sick of foraging for berries to make jam to live for 2 more hrs of game play go ride a themepark ride. Sandbox high horse kills me as, there is less of them and the games have a lower population playing them and new content is rare, as there is only so much you can add to a Sandbox before the fans get upset your making a themepark. Subs are only worth it as long as you dont mind paying to ride the same rides over and over again.
Although i am subbed to FFXI,i would say that likely only FFXIV warrants a sub but then again that depends if you figure the game offers entertainment for you.If i stopped playing FFXI,i might save that 50 cents a day but i won't be playing any of the crap currently out there ,so i put a higher value on the game that gives me entertainment than supporting with my time other games i don't like.
FFXI and i guess Wow and EQ2 are a different beast.You have multiple years of content and effort,you cannot compare that to some 1/2/3 year old game.It might takes these newer games MANY years to ever catch up with content and then how much did you actually spend by that time?
I know people that spent more in 1-3 months in these so called f2p games than i have spent in FFXI in 12 years.I was just looking at one of the newer games support packages and it was in the thousands lmao.For a PALTRY 10,000 dollars you can get this _______________ in Shroud of the Avatar,what is that in sub fees,50+ years?For a mere 15,000 you can buy the completionist in Star Citizen,sure sounds like sub free gaming is doing gamer's a lot of favors
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I was looking at it in context of ESO and Wildstar. From an outside observer (I don't own the games) the launches were far and away better then any of the game I played when sub was king. There was more to do in these games too. The both seemed committed to being subs. I'm sure we can all point to issues and dislikes but as both these game are evolving; they are getting better. In the past a sub game had time to do this. Now it doesn't look like that is true. Sure there are too many options but I also believe the bar is too high.
WoW and Eve are much older games and were launched in the sub era. They had time to evolve.
FFXIV maybe is a different case. Square Enix seemed to put an over the top effort in to keep it from being a bust. I doubt many developers can do what they did.