Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
What if WAR was $5 a month?
Gios30
Member Posts: 48
I am not sure but I believe WOW was the first MMO to charge $15 a month. It has been out for a few years now and runs smothly and alot of people enjoy it so they dont mind paying that.
On a new game why not try to lower the price some to try and get more people to try it. Maybe lower the box price or lower the monthly price. I know creating a game costs Millions but wouldnt you rather have 10 people paying $5 a month than 2 paying $15.
If you charge $15 a month people will compare it to the other game that costs $15 a month and say this is not worth it that game has this or that. Where as if you charged less I think people would be alot more willing to stick it out and see what the next month (patch) brings. Also I think alot more of the people on the fence would be willing to give it a shot. MMO's make money on how many subcribers they keep not on box sales.
What do you think?
Comments
Every game I've played has always been $14.99 US.... well at least the well known companies like SWG, AO, DAoC and all that.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
Yeah, even games that shouldn't be $15 a month are $15 a month. So WAR, being one of the more succesful MMO's already, would have no reason not to charge $15 a month.
It's just industry standard.
There are two kinds of people in this world. People who pick their nose.. and liars.
5 bux? Still wouldn't be a good price. This game is basically Guild Wars, but with a monthly sub. I'm sorry but until mythic encourages people to do RvR, and people actually start RvRing, this game is just another mindless grindfest with instanced PvP. Woohoo.
None of those games are doing that great so why not try and break the mold to try and get more subscribers?
Stopped reading there.
My brand new bloggity blog.
Why follow industry standards, If this game is as good as you say it is wouldnt it be easier to convince some one to shell out $5 a month to give it a try?
Your denial amuses me. Enjoy your instanced PvP.
I just think these companys got greedy. Why not say look we have a sweet game and guess what we are only gonna charge $5 a month to play it. That would stir the MMO pot.
i think the cheapest ever major mmo was $10 (UO,EQ) but it its price up to $15...
they probably did allot of research and found that e.g. cutting the price by 1/3 does no necesseraly mean x3 the subs.
its inilastic.
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
comparing war to guild wars is madness. guild wars is a horrible game. the graphics are great but the combat system is crappy and robotic, not to mention no jump button and the free will to run into a lake or jump ( i mean run off ) a cliff.
I think the cheapest "MMORPG" is around 9.99 on a special deal for LOTRO (unless you bought the lifetime account anyways). Even EQ was 12.99 I believe, AC was at that price for a long time (not counting multiple month discounts). I think it was EQ2 that lead up the 14.99 a month price and the others followed suit.
Really, 14.99 a month isn't a bad price, most companies have discounts to get it down further for multiple month subs... I'd rather see them drop the box price than the sub price, we all knwo they get their bulk money from subs and not the box (or offer a significantly less expensive download).
Actaully I am a big fan of the LOTRO lifetime sub myself and wish more games had this. Its nice to maybe take a break for a few weeks then just log in and play for a few hours. There have been times when I have wanted to play other games but cant talk myself into paying 15 bucks for the month when all I want is maybe a few hours or a day.
Kinda weird that 200 dollar one time fee seems like a better deal than $15 a month guess thats why most people only play one MMO at a time. I do agree that a game with a cheaper sub fee would be more appealing to me personally if I am going to decide but then again these companys number one priority is to make money.
They may get more subs that way but if it were $5 a month that means they would need 3 times as many subs to make the same amount.
Playing- Guild Wars 2, SWTOR
SWTOR Referral Link Get a free Server Transfer and lots of other free stuff for your SWTOR account! Works for both new and previous players.
If someone does not like the game I do not think that lowering the monthly fee would make them start liking it. I believe most people could care less if the monthly fee is $1 or $20 they will play the game that they find to be the most fun for them.
No but I would be willing to bet that 3 times more people might try it.
If you want to pull people away from what they precieve as the best then you have to offer them a better deal.
Then you let your game speak for its self.
Your denial amuses me. Enjoy your instanced PvP.
Hahaha what a joke.. have you ever played guild wars? Just because it has instanced PVP doesn't make it guild wars, and kinda makes me sad that so many people that consider themselves as mmo players just have no sense in being able to tell the difference between two very different games.
As for 5 bucks a month. isn't bad... but what you have to take into account is box sales. Personally I would pay less up front for the box with 1 month free rather then pay full price for the box and less per month afterward.
That way I pay less to try the game.. but more over time if I like it. WAR will obviously be fun to some rather then others .. so to know what part of the community will stay you'll need to have a lot more people try it. A free trial would be nice.. or ultimately a low first month purchase... I think that would get the community hopping with people that actually like playing the game.
Not necessarily. I expect all games that cost $14.99 a month to aspire to a certain standard. Whether or not they meet that standard, that's an entirely different debate. The point is, I expect a certain level of quality for that price.
Now for a free game, I drastically change my perceptions for what I should expect from the game. And I don't play them. Because I haven't found any free game to be anything I want to play.
As such, anything below the $14.99 gold-standard I immediately suspect and find guilty of teh suck right out of the gate. Unfair? Absolutely. Have I been wrong yet? Not at all.
In essence, you don't want to devalue your own brand by offering it at a reduced price. You're essentially saying, "Hey guys, I know WoW is $14.99, but you should try us! Because we're cheaper!"
And that's all the economics and marketing I care to try to remember.
10 Years ago, 5$ a month would have been fine. However, operating costs of an MMO will not allow a game to stay afloat for 5$ a month, without having some other means of cash flow. It just isn't realistic. Especially if they spent alot to make it, and want to continue to give content in the future.
Raquelis in various games
Played: Everything
Playing: Nioh 2, Civ6
Wants: The World
Anticipating: Everquest Next Crowfall, Pantheon, Elden Ring
comparing war to guild wars is madness. guild wars is a horrible game. the graphics are great but the combat system is crappy and robotic, not to mention no jump button and the free will to run into a lake or jump ( i mean run off ) a cliff.
LOL. Did you just defend WAR by saying Guild War's combat system was crappy and robotic? Really?
Guild Wars is a far better game than WAR.
Tried: LotR, CoH, AoC, WAR, Jumpgate Classic
Played: SWG, Guild Wars, WoW
Playing: Eve Online, Counter-strike
Loved: Star Wars Galaxies
Waiting for: Earthrise, Guild Wars 2, anything sandbox.
Stopped reading there.
Maybe if you read more you'd be on the right side of this arguement.
To OP: Problem is if they charged under $15 then they're admitting its worth is less than wow. Profits aside marketers have to place a figure on their product on par with how they want people to value it. In reality they should have admitted up front it wasn't as valuable as wow and lowered subscriptions. It would have been more honest and they may have done better. But they went for the gold and lost. Is there anything about warhammer that doesn't appear like they wanted people to compare it to wow?
What sucks is I don't see any games in the "upcoming" list worth waiting for. Welcome to the mmo dark ages where wow expansions are more and more meh and it doesn't look like anyone else can come close to making a worthy game.
No but I would be willing to bet that 3 times more people might try it.
If you want to pull people away from what they precieve as the best then you have to offer them a better deal.
Then you let your game speak for its self.
they probably spent thousands of pounds on customer research and they have chosen the best option from the research they did, and might is not good enough in the business world. they need active subs...x3+ subs to make the deal worth while..
also x3 subs will mean they need x3 the servers which means the costs goes up by x3 and more staff is needed which means less profit....get what i mean. so in the end they will be loosing money
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
Obviously, some people in this thread don't remember the days when MUDs cost $10 an hour. There were even a few graphical MMORPGs in the very early days (Neverwinter Nights) that had similar ludicruously expensive pricing schemes.
$15 a month is fine. Computers and games are getting less and less expensive.
In 1993, a good new computer cost $3,000-$4,000 and AAA games cost $60-$70. Now it's more like $1,500-$2,000 for a decent gaming PC and, considering inflation, the games are less expensive($50).
People never really know how good they've got it, do they? Always ready to complain.
Currently Playing: EVE Online
Retired From: UO, FFXI, AO, SWG, Ryzom, GW, WoW, WAR
Stopped reading there.
Maybe if you read more you'd be on the right side of this arguement.
To OP: Problem is if they charged under $15 then they're admitting its worth is less than wow. Profits aside marketers have to place a figure on their product on par with how they want people to value it. In reality they should have admitted up front it wasn't as valuable as wow and lowered subscriptions. It would have been more honest and they may have done better. But they went for the gold and lost. Is there anything about warhammer that doesn't appear like they wanted people to compare it to wow?
What sucks is I don't see any games in the "upcoming" list worth waiting for. Welcome to the mmo dark ages where wow expansions are more and more meh and it doesn't look like anyone else can come close to making a worthy game.
Bioware/Lucas Arts MMO
Sure, its a ways off and not listed. But it is coming up. I honestly expect them to drop some information very soon. I give it another 1 1/2 to 2 years before release.
Raquelis in various games
Played: Everything
Playing: Nioh 2, Civ6
Wants: The World
Anticipating: Everquest Next Crowfall, Pantheon, Elden Ring
No but I would be willing to bet that 3 times more people might try it.
If you want to pull people away from what they precieve as the best then you have to offer them a better deal.
Then you let your game speak for its self.
they probably spent thousands of pounds on customer research and they have chosen the best option from the research they did, and might is not good enough in the business world. they need active subs...x3+ subs to make the deal worth while..
also x3 subs will mean they need x3 the servers which means the costs goes up by x3 and more staff is needed which means less profit....get what i mean. so in the end they will be loosing money
yeah many people forget, that mmos cost money to maintain, as well as their hardware.
I'm not comparing graphics or the ability to jump you silly. Both games are similar in the way how PvP is being played. You stand in an encampment/town in line to join an instanced game of CTF or something. Why do we play a monthly sub for this, when there are games that offer the same exact experience for a one time fee?
What's the point in having a big war zone with keeps and such if no one uses them? It's sad, but at the moment the open world is nothing more than a glorified lobby. WAR is a MMORPG, yet I hardly see anything massive about it.
No but I would be willing to bet that 3 times more people might try it.
If you want to pull people away from what they precieve as the best then you have to offer them a better deal.
Then you let your game speak for its self.
they probably spent thousands of pounds on customer research and they have chosen the best option from the research they did, and might is not good enough in the business world. they need active subs...x3+ subs to make the deal worth while..
also x3 subs will mean they need x3 the servers which means the costs goes up by x3 and more staff is needed which means less profit....get what i mean. so in the end they will be loosing money
I see what you are saying.
Maybe more along the lines of what this guy said.
"As for 5 bucks a month. isn't bad... but what you have to take into account is box sales. Personally I would pay less up front for the box with 1 month free rather then pay full price for the box and less per month afterward.
That way I pay less to try the game.. but more over time if I like it. WAR will obviously be fun to some rather then others .. so to know what part of the community will stay you'll need to have a lot more people try it. A free trial would be nice.. or ultimately a low first month purchase... I think that would get the community hopping with people that actually like playing the game."
Lowering the up front price I think would get a lot more people to give it a try.