Do You Feel Like You Get Good Value Out Of Your MMO Subscription?

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Slapshot1188

Absolutely.
Where it gets messy is when it's not JUST a sub... but a sub + model...
and the value of the sub is then diminished by whatever the + is...

IceAge

Playing WoW Classic BC so yup!

I get a very good value for 12.99 euro a month.

SKurj

definitely... subs are still a bargain... IMO

Scot

If you were paying MMO that was subscription only there seemed few people unhappy with paying a subscription; but then they had already decided to pay it, so that's why. By the time Lotro came out F2P was up and about so there were players then saying 'is it worth it'.

I can remember us laughing when "optional subs" became a thing, just another way for studios to milk the game, the cash shop having opened the door to a myriad of ways to pay. Of course some studios don't even call them cash shops now, because it is not about you spending money.

Omega Time subscription in EvE sounds like classic P2W, but what did we expect cash shops to do to MMOs other than irreparably change gameplay for the worse?

Every sub I played I got value for my money from, but what is the best way for a developer to increase their value for money? Make the game sub only, there is no better value than that.

Nebless

The only one I haven't had a problem with running a sub in these last few years has been SWTOR.

The first time around it was to unlock the level cap and get the next 2 expansions and I ended up letting it run 3 months while I did the content. The next time was recently when this last expansion and level cap raise went into effect. I only did it for 1 month that time.

I'd say it's worth it; 'buying' the new content, getting store points and having the restrictions removed.

My other games I play; while subbing in LotRO would have gotten me the 3 latest regions I hadn't played (Yondershire, The Angle and Wildwood), it was just easier to buy them out right so all my characters would have access down the road to those and via all the promotions the last couple of years I had everything else up through 3 Peaks and am only in Mordor on my main so a sub wouldn't have been worth it there.

As for Neverwinter or Age of Conan, don't really get anything more content-wise with a sub than you do with a F2p account so why bother.

Iselin

Definitely great value in the case of sub only games when everything comes from playing the game.

It's a mixed bag for sub-optional or freemium games where you may get good value or not depending on the details.

ultimateduck

The last game I subbed was DAoC and it was absolutely worth it.

TheDalaiBomba

Currently playing Project Gorgon again, and I'm subbing because I'm enjoying it and plan to continue playing.  I don't think I've used anything the sub gives me, but I'm enjoying the product and want more of it.  So pay, I gotta.

And that's generally my rule of thumb for subs in games where it's optional.  Am I enjoying myself past the first few hours, and does it appear there's more on the horizon to explore?  I'll sub for a month and delve deeper.  I tend to avoid making cash shop purchases and almost always opt for the sub when I decide to play an MMORPG for a while.

Korthag

No,beacuse not every country use same currency.America 15$ and EU 12.99.But what about other counrty who do not use EU and US dolar.İt bceome more expensive,example Turkey and North Cyprus.İts become 50-60 US dolar and 80-90 EU for month even more.So is it worth it? İ say NO.

Vanchora

Yes absolutely worth a sub. But it should be world wide sub. Then you don't have so much problems with hackers and gold sellers that ruin the game.

Whiteshade92

As someone who is living in a country with low salaries. For example monthly minimum salary is 262 Euro. I think subscriptions should be regionally priced. Right know they feel too much expensive to me.

Vorthanion

My issue with the modern subscription is that it usually takes a back seat to the cash shop or whatever other revenue model the game includes. The game is almost always exclusively modified to accommodate the cash shop in spite of the subscription.

theGnade

No
For example WoW is forcing me to play on pace of slowest players. I can only grind few minutes until I am out of content and have to wait next day.

Gruug

IF I were to sub to an MMO, that MMO had better be subscription only. If they are offering a sub model alongside a "free" model, I will stay away. Why? because those playing for "free" are doing so because either I am paying my sub or because someone purchases additional items in some monetary item shop. I consider, in these cases, that the "free" players are really just free-loaders living off my dime. I see it as a hinderance to the developers putting actual value into my sub as part of it is being used to pay for those free-loaders and not on new content.

olepi

Why is this an undefined discussion subject?

Tiller

olepi said:

Why is this an undefined discussion subject?

Because you have to subscribe to the "defined discussion" feature.

Kyleran

Scot said:

If you were paying MMO that was subscription only there seemed few people unhappy with paying a subscription; but then they had already decided to pay it, so that's why. By the time Lotro came out F2P was up and about so there were players then saying 'is it worth it'.

I can remember us laughing when "optional subs" became a thing, just another way for studios to milk the game, the cash shop having opened the door to a myriad of ways to pay. Of course some studios don't even call them cash shops now, because it is not about you spending money.

Omega Time subscription in EvE sounds like classic P2W, but what did we expect cash shops to do to MMOs other than irreparably change gameplay for the worse?

Every sub I played I got value for my money from, but what is the best way for a developer to increase their value for money? Make the game sub only, there is no better value than that.

In EVEs defense it was a sub only game until 5 years ago when they added a free to try Alpha account option which has heavy restrictions on content which can be accessed.

They are just trying to entice players to stay subbed by increasing it's value to go with their recently announced price increase, now at $19.99 per month.

SKurj

theGnade said:

No

For example WoW is forcing me to play on pace of slowest players. I can only grind few minutes until I am out of content and have to wait next day.

that really has nothing to do with the subscription model... f2p games do the same

Panther2103

Usually if a game has a sub and isn't insanely cash shop focused, than I feel like I usually get a pretty good value. I liked the Lineage 2 model back in the day, paying monthly and getting every update free with no cash shop. It was just frustrating once it went F2P and had monthly sub features and pay to win cash shop items. WoW does an okay job of making the sub feel like you get your moneys worth, but it is frustrating sometimes seeing some of the cash shop mounts and how cool they can look and realizing you can't just earn it in game you have to pay 25 additional dollars on top of the sub / expac costs. FFXIV does it in a weird way where you can pay for retainers and storage which is strange to me, but I feel like they do an okay job at giving a value for the cost as well.

TheDalaiBomba

Gruug said:

IF I were to sub to an MMO, that MMO had better be subscription only. If they are offering a sub model alongside a "free" model, I will stay away. Why? because those playing for "free" are doing so because either I am paying my sub or because someone purchases additional items in some monetary item shop. I consider, in these cases, that the "free" players are really just free-loaders living off my dime. I see it as a hinderance to the developers putting actual value into my sub as part of it is being used to pay for those free-loaders and not on new content.

It's almost like stratifying players into buckets based on money spent in a game's cash shop breeds an unhealthy adversarial relationship between players, even when said games are cooperative.

Who could've thought this most obvious of things would actually happen????

cameltosis

SWG - totally worth the sub

LotRO - totally worth the sub

WAR - mostly worth the sub

SWTOR - not worth the sub

Everything since then, not worth the sub. SWTOR's sub only seems like it is worth it due to the horrendous F2P model, but when I compare 2012 SWTOR (when i was playing) to other sub games of the time, it sucked.

These days, I'd pay for a sub-only game in a heart beat.....if there were one worth playing. My dislike for shallow action combat and story focused games have simply driven me away from the genre for now.

Theocritus

Gruug said:

IF I were to sub to an MMO, that MMO had better be subscription only. If they are offering a sub model alongside a "free" model, I will stay away. Why? because those playing for "free" are doing so because either I am paying my sub or because someone purchases additional items in some monetary item shop. I consider, in these cases, that the "free" players are really just free-loaders living off my dime. I see it as a hinderance to the developers putting actual value into my sub as part of it is being used to pay for those free-loaders and not on new content.

and how many MMO's have only a sub option with no shop or other method of making money? Even WoW has a shop (and has for years)......

Hariken

No because today most MMO's have a cash shop along with a sub.

Quizzical

If it's a game I like, can be a primary game that I play (as opposed to something like an idle game), and I can get everything I want to play it for $15/month, then sure.  The main things that makes computer games a bad value are:

1)  very aggressive pay to win, or
2)  the game isn't fun to play.

In particular, the latter makes a game a bad value even if it were completely free.  The time you spend playing a game is expensive, too.

SKurj

not sure why the complaints about the cash shop... the majority of the time its cosmetics and services...
i rarely buy anything from cash shops regardless of sub or f2p in mmo's (though i will buy freemium if i like a game to support it)
with game prices barely moved for the last couple decades, costs of development going up.. and even subs haven't gone up much over that same period of time

the money has to come from somewhere

the sorts of things in the cash shops i see these days, were not part of the whole package you subbed for ... they didn't even exist.