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8.99 pounds a month for most MMO's...big deal!
chryses
Member UncommonPosts: 1,453
I see a lot of people complaining about the cost of MMO's each month and lately AoC is the latest whipping boy in the MMO world. Firstly if someone doesn't like a game then don't play it but I do get tired of seeing complaints about the monthly cost of MMO's when really putting it into perspective its nothing compared to most entertainment.
(Working on UK pounds and based on my life style cost)
* 8.99 average for any MMO a month - average hours = 10 - 40 hours a week (80-20p an hour)
* 8 - 12 pounds for a movie ticket - average hours = 2 (5 pounds an hour)
* 10 pounds for cafe lunch normally crappy - average hours 1 (10 pounds an hour)
* 10 pounds for 3 drinks in a bar - average hours 1.5 ( 3.5 pounds an hour)
* 40 pounds for concert ticket - average hours 2 (20 pounds an hour)
List goes on.
So in summary I have given up worrying about a usual subscription of 8.99 a month because in the grand scheme of things I play around 2 hours a day (60 hours a month = 15 p an hour!!)
Lets stop moaning about developers stealing our money because they had an extra down time to patch an issue. Seriously I have seen plenty of crap movies, concerts and ate shit lunches. Do I scream for my money back? No I just accept that on occasion I won't like what I pay for and that's just life.
Comments
can you convert it into yens? j/k....
About 3 beers? That's definitely worth a month's sub to a good game.
the same with a good ale... can't say that you will find a good big mac tho...
10 pounds = 10000000000000000 yen
Ok I will bite on this one ....just to get this thread started.
First don't compare apples to oranges, I don't care how much you pay for movies or whatever.
The real problem of mmo's is that they almost all charge $15 a month right now(in usa).
Now tell me how all mmo's have the same bill?
Do they all cost the same to make?
Do they all use the same amount of bandwith?
Do they all have the same amount of subscribers?
Why are old games still the same price as new games?
Why do some games have almost no customer service?
Why don't all games update every six months?
Since you like apples to oranges.... If all cars were the same price would ya still buy that kia.
I have no problems paying $15 a month, but why would you so aggressivly support a biased system that hurts small games. Which also limits the amount of games you can play at one time. Some games are worth it, some are not.
Own, Mine, Defend, Attack, 24/7
Beer is for women. Man up and drink tequila or quit embarassing yourself.
What makes you think you are the one right, and not the ones that complain?
Unless you can explain it, you are nothing more then just another guy moaning about whatever, just like the guys you are complaining about.
_________________
Senhores da Guerra
Jesus were in the UK do you live? 10 quid cafe lunch? 12 quid for a movie? 10 quid a round? Crazy prices you must live in London :P
£8.99 is nothing though, good value depending on the game.
I'm going to be a real jerk for a second but if you're living in the UK and you want to talk about money, PLEASE post the amount in USD or Euro's, it's much easier for other people to understand.
I just quoted this because it can go both ways with this argument. Charging more or less.
I am waiting for a game that has the reason to be charging more.
I know all the games are making a profit but they are still some that probably should charge more and some that should charge less.
I am actually paying for a text game right now because I can't find a graphic MMO with the depth I want. And I am way willing to pay for one that does. I just got tired of feeling like I am playing a game when I want to feel part of a world. But I still want the adventure aspect and such in there, I am not looking for a Second Life type of thing in any form.
Its not hard, just double the amount for dollars, exchange rate is usually roughly 2$ to the pound.
Well if you do a convert it is about $18 so a bit higher but really I don't see it converting properly and have issues between comparing a converted price.
If the minimum wage in the uk was only 2 quid a hour then I would buy into it but officially is about the same as the states minimum wage.
I believe it is 5.52 in the UK and that is in pounds and it is 5.85 in the states now, in dollars.
If you were to travel you can get hurt if you go from the US to the UK but traveling from the UK to the US almost doubles your money there.
I have just found that most things work out to be about the same price though some things do a bit of conversion but if something costs you 5 bucks in the states it costs you 5 quid in the UK.
I don't find 9 pounds for a game to be all that much but then again I am paying way more and playing a text game at the moment.
Well if you do a convert it is about $18 so a bit higher but really I don't see it converting properly and have issues between comparing a converted price.
If the minimum wage in the uk was only 2 quid a hour then I would buy into it but officially is about the same as the states minimum wage.
I believe it is 5.52 in the UK and that is in pounds and it is 5.85 in the states now, in dollars.
If you were to travel you can get hurt if you go from the US to the UK but traveling from the UK to the US almost doubles your money there.
I have just found that most things work out to be about the same price though some things do a bit of conversion but if something costs you 5 bucks in the states it costs you 5 quid in the UK.
I don't find 9 pounds for a game to be all that much but then again I am paying way more and playing a text game at the moment.
The great thing about going to the States from the UK is your money goes along away, everything is so cheap. Especially Food
Really because I went to tgif the other day and they wouldnt take my $1 for a hamburg.....
Actually this prooves my point you got $1 hamburgs $2, $3,$4, etc
As I said though I have no problem with $15 bucks, but its not a perfect price.
You will see more and more companies change this once there is more competition.
$180 a year per sub, with 1 million subs, with a game life of say 5 years....is almost a billion dollars...
Now if it cost them 500 million that would be fine.....but I dont see a 500 million dollar game?
Own, Mine, Defend, Attack, 24/7
Jesus were in the UK do you live? 10 quid cafe lunch? 12 quid for a movie? 10 quid a round? Crazy prices you must live in London :P
£8.99 is nothing though, good value depending on the game.
LOL I should have stated my location in the UK. Yup in London and even worse Canary Wharf. Today lunch cost me 18 quid. 1 beer, 1 main and 1 side...in a casual thai cafe. Yea it sucks!
Regarding the post about all games costing the same regardless of age I guess its comparable to the movie industry. You tend to pay the same for a movie, DVD etc. Regardless how good or bad the film is. However I do wonder why some companies don't lower their subs to maintain and attract more people. If some of the weaker MMO's charged £5 or $8.99 a month instead of the usual £8 or $15 they may grab those that want to play but not pay the premium.
I just find it surprising when people take it so personally if a game doesn't meet their expectations. If you see a crap film in the cinema you may say its crap but you certainly don't scream about it for a days because it cost you X amount.
On a side note it was good to see AoC give a free day for the emergency 5 hr patch yesterday. First time I have seen a company do that and its decent of them to recognise players are paying and deserve more service. However there are a ton of other issues still but its a good step.
Women prefer wine, which has more alcohol than beer. Besides, it tastes better than bread dough.
Real men drink whiskey, neat. Not this single malt preppy stuff, sour mash straight.
Until then, boys will be boys. lol
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
I dumpster dive for cheap DVDs -- $5 a piece usually at Wal-Mart. It's cheaper than a movie.
Was going to subscribe to EQII, but cancelling it. MMOs still have a long way to go than being basically permanent beta test games (christ, EQII, wants more "testers" on their test server -- if would be one thing if they get to play for free, but paying to do SOE's own work? That's how and why folks complain about the sub prices). If you're going to subscribe, at least have a working game. Plain Jane is better than Fancy Dude that crashes 2hrs a night.
.:| Kevyne@Shandris - Armory |:. - When WoW was #1 - .:| I AM A HOLY PALADIN - Guild Theme |:.
If you really want to know... i'll tell you:
it's due to people like you. As long as you pay, and dont complain, they will keep pushing the price. The price WILL rise, day after day, simply because the way you think. You dont care, you dont complain, you are the perfect "sucker" (1 is born everyday, theory).
If you wonder how the prices get to where they went, the reason is: you.
Sorry to tell you, i pay less then 5€ for a lunch. (google for exchange rate).
Nop, not going to tell you the country, but i am in Europe.
What would happen if it got more expensive? Easy, the place making it more expensive, would go bankrupt, due to the lack of costumers.
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Senhores da Guerra
It all adds up. 14.99$ is not nothing, to pretend it's meaningless doesn't really work does it because it's still a significant price to dock monthly for most.
The examples you use are kinda silly.
A book costs less and you can easily spend a month reading a book.
And stop moaning?? It's a free economy, if noone cared about the price you'd be paying 1400$ / month.
If you really want to know... i'll tell you:
it's due to people like you. As long as you pay, and dont complain, they will keep pushing the price. The price WILL rise, day after day, simply because the way you think. You dont care, you dont complain, you are the perfect "sucker" (1 is born everyday, theory).
If you wonder how the prices get to where they went, the reason is: you.
Sorry to tell you, i pay less then 5 for a lunch. (google for exchange rate).
Nop, not going to tell you the country, but i am in Europe.
What would happen if it got more expensive? Easy, the place making it more expensive, would go bankrupt, due to the lack of costumers.
I found this post to be a bit harsh but really it all comes down to what people think something is worth. There are a lot of people that won't pay to play any game, well, at least at a subscription cost.
Comparing it to what you pay for lunch and the business closing is not a truth. You may choose to not go there any more and maybe even know people that would stop as well but there could be others that keep going. I may pay £5 or £6 for lunch or maybe less if that is what my mood strikes but I could also bring a lunch from home and probably cost me less than £2 but it comes down to what I feel is worth the work and the value.
I will be honest, I do not know what the true cost of someone running a game and still making a profit would be but maybe they can not lower prices and still be able to run. It is hard to truly say that someone in particular is the reason.
I have stated this before and here that I do think some games are worth less and some worth more. I choose as the consumer if their item is of that value to me. Of course everyone has a different idea on what they get for their money and that is where the issue of prices come along. The game companies have kind of all fallen into this is the going rate but there are some variances as the market dictates. Anarchy Online is free but has an option to pay to get the expansions and such. I am sure some are happy with free and some pay to get more out of their game.
My biggest issue isn't the price but the options I have at the moment. I am back to playing a MUD right now because I want some depth in a MMO and not just feel like I am playing a game. The crazy thing is that a year or two ago I was saying that I had a hard time paying for text but am not paying more than I have for any MMO because I wanted and enjoyed their premium option. That is a reasonable value to me and what I expect.
I used to be very anti a tiered system but am starting to believe more and more maybe we do need options and hopefully the market dictates towards that although I am a big fan of only paying $15 if that gets me everything I want
If the game is good enough, I'll pay for it. If I play it often enough, I'll keep paying for it.
I would actually pay more for an MMO that had monthly installments of new content and graphics. What's missing is a high end mmo which constantly adds enough content to the world. once every 6 months or so is really not enuff when people can zoom through content so fast. I'm sure tons of people would pay more for a guranteed stable server and excellent customer support, especially the mature population.
Heck I would pay twice as much if an mmo had a server in australia :P
It takes a lot of effort to create good quality content, if it was coming out that frequently I doubt it would be very good.
If you really want to know... i'll tell you:
it's due to people like you. As long as you pay, and dont complain, they will keep pushing the price. The price WILL rise, day after day, simply because the way you think. You dont care, you dont complain, you are the perfect "sucker" (1 is born everyday, theory).
If you wonder how the prices get to where they went, the reason is: you.
Sorry to tell you, i pay less then 5€ for a lunch. (google for exchange rate).
Nop, not going to tell you the country, but i am in Europe.
What would happen if it got more expensive? Easy, the place making it more expensive, would go bankrupt, due to the lack of costumers.
Hardly a sucker here. Just making a point that a lot of people shout about the monthly installments when in the grand scheme of things its a small amount compared to most other forms of entertainment.