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General: Expanding the World of Subscription-Craft
MikeB
Community ManagerAdministrator RarePosts: 6,555
MMORPG.com columnist Jaime Skelton writes this week's piece about the recent expansion of subscription options for games, and what else can be done to further expand on these options.
This week, Sony Online Entertainment introduced a new subscription option for players of EverQuest II called “Passport.” The subscription plan costs $5, and allows players to play three consecutive days per month. Designed for casual players, multiboxers, and the noncommittal, the subscription plan lets players basically blitz-play the game for three days out of a month. The plan is not without its flaws: players get 72 consecutive hours, meaning they can't pick and choose three days out of the month; this also means if a player chooses to spend more than three days out of the month, they'll still end up forking out for a full month on top of the $5 they spent.
On the surface, it might seem the Passport is a terrible business idea. $5 for 3 days is three times the daily amount paid by a regular subscription; a poor choice for the person who's positive they would get more use out of a regular subscription. However, with a portion of players cutting their gaming budget – possibly only visiting a few days out of the month as it is for special events or just to check in on friends – the Passport is offering a new economical option.
Comments
Definitely think it is a good idea, but not sure they got the ratio right, casual players, which they are aiming for, don't want a power weekend, they want the odd day here and there throughout the month.
Also I think your forum is messed up or something, news / articles are linking to threads for commenting that aren't the correct threads.
I agree it's time to bring some flex ability to the payment method. I think the 3 day for 5$ would be fine if instead it was for 72 hours of play time. (This is not my idea I saw it in one of the threads about Sony's new payment option.) That way if you're someone like myself who likes to play MMO's but doesn't always have the time or inclination to burn down a month playing one. You could spend a third of the normal amount and if you go threw your time then pony up another 5$ if you really get into it than go with a bigger chunk of time.
Now the game companies may not like that model because if you played 5 nights a week for 3 hours you would only use 60 hours of time (15x4=60) roughly. so for that 5$ a causal player might (depending on how you define causal) have a whole month of playing. Still for some like myself when I don't feel like I will get my 15$ worth I might feel like I would get 5$ worth. So for me I would spend money that I wouldn't have other wise while others may spend less. However It would be interesting to see how many would use this method and how it would affect the bottom line of a company.
However if you did something like this, One month $15.00, One week $5.00 and one day $1.00. You would be adding true flex ability for someone who needed it. If you have the money and know your going to play do the monthly. If you work somewhere that is dependent on weather conditions or flex scheduling and so might get the week off from work (rain, snow, etc) and find yourself with several days that you didn't expect and want to spend some time playing but not sure how long you will get then a weekly or daily amount would be ideal.
Like the sliding scale many companies do now. For instance LOTRO if you by three months of play you get it for $9.99 a month instead of 14.99 so its a discount. So if you're purchasing smaller chunks for the same month it would be $20.00 a month if you used a weekly purchase all month (i.e $5.00 for 4 weeks) and $30.00 for a daily. You would be responsible for knowing your play habits, resources in time and money but would offer plenty of flex ability for your gaming time purchase.
Have a nice day / evening all.
I think there are too many of these official threads about business models and revenue streams.
Too few about actual gameplay.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I agree that the 3 days could be implimented better rather than 72 consecutive hours, but I think its a good option to give people and I'm sure it will get used a lot (if for nothing else I'm sure it will be used by people to come back to a game they haven't played in a while to see whats new).
As usual, SOE gets it all wrong. Should have been for maybe 24+ hours play time. A casual gamer does not play more than a couple hours at a time.
You have to wonder how they stay in business sometimes....
Decent idea I think it would be better if it were $5 for (3) 24 hour sessions instead of $5 for (1) 72 hour session or $2 for a 24 hour session. I'd probably pick it up.
I think maybe we all need to take a good look on what the genre is becoming. The focus seems to be on how to get gamers to PAY rather than how to get them to PLAY.. not mentioning having fun !
Most of the innovation today goes into new payment modules... But the games are exactly the same crap as before.
Exactly.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
This idea is a good start and could lead to better pricing plans in the near future. Even the notion of putting minutes into a game card as suggested above would be suitable for gamers who's fickleness and time manangement issues would make something like this viable. This also gives big companies who are not keen to offer F2P for their AAA games a way to give value minded gamers a way to get into a game and still make a little scratch off of their hesitance to commit to a month of gameplay.
We'll see if Sony can show that this type of pay model is viable or not.
Bingo! In a way this is insulting when they keep trying to nickel and dime us just to make a buck. Just like they tried to charge for the adventure packs early in EQ2s lifespan and that didn't work out to well, now did it? THIS, is why SOE is hated and why SWG failed. They tried to get money not players.
A true business would understand, the more people the more money the more free/word of mouth advertising. Ala World of Warcraft. Ala Dungeons and Dragons Online. It's not a tough concept.
True but most mmo gamers don't want change. They want classical rpg design which is easy to understand (holy trinity, levels, class roles, linear progression). Very little has really changed since EQ.
I think it's a good idea, but instead of 3 consecutive days should be measured in hours that can be at any time. A typical casual player is going to logon an hour or 2 here, another hour or 2 there. Usually not an entire particular weekend and only that weekend per month.
Still I think it's a good option for those that don't play that much.
As long as these types of payment plans are just an option and not the new requirement, I think it's great. Giving players more options is always good. If a company does away with monthly subs in favor of something like per-minute charges, then I would say it's an ugly change motivated by greed. I don't think this can make SOE a whole lot of money, it just makes the game more economical for casual players.
This payment plan is not available to everyone. It states:
"Vets Only, No Newbs Allowed!
This subscription option is only available for inactive or closed accounts. Visiting Norrath has never been so simple or economical. This is the most convenient option available for casual accounts."
So what this really is is an invitation to former players to come back and play a little while, to intice them to return for good, WHICH MOST GAMES DO FOR FREE. But of course, in Smedleyville, they charge you for it.
Also, I have played mmos for 10 years and have never met anyone who plays three days in a row, then doesn't play the rest of the month.
Seriously, you can never take anything SOE does at face value. You have to read the fine print.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
When I first read it, I thought cool - 3 days a month - maybe not the ideal amount of time but I could see playing EQ2 three days a month - but not 72 hours straight! Three 24 hour periods, they might get people to pay for that, but I can't see many paying for the current model - maybe multi-boxers that do that casually but otherwise.... no.
As for business models, I wish more would heavily discount like LoTRO, a six month or year paid up front should be in the $8-10 a month range. I would pay in advance on a few to have that option. It's when you look at shelling out $45-60 a month to play 3-4 different ones, decisions are made and accounts cancelled. I would assume guaranteed lower income per year would be better than zero.
Proud member of Hammerfist Clan Gaming Community.
Currently playing: RIFT, EQ2, WoW, LoTRO
Retired: Warhammer, AoC, EQ
Waiting: SWToR & GW2
Profit is good, but so is having a firm understanding of what exactly it is you are paying for. As a customer, I want to ensure that I am providing the company a profit motive to entertain me.
I don't like lifetime subscriptions because once the company has my money, they have no incentive to keep up service (of course the same disincentive applies if they see me being too loyal to quit). Creative business plans also make me suspicious because now the business side of the game has its attention split between various streams of customers - there is a high degree of probability that they will eventually nerf my entertainment in favor of trying to coerce me into a more profitable line of billing.
(aside: have any entrepreneurs out there tried a buisness model that sells shares of the company as part of the subscription fee? A business model that eventually transitions the game ownership to the community that plays it?)
this.
If warcraft had a lifetime option i woulda paid it a long time ago.
If aion would have lived up to the hype it had before launch, i would have been happy to pay a substantial lifetime fee.
SOE =
I played both EQ2 and Vanguard - had a "multi-account" for ages - spent Thousands of $$ on these games.
SOE PROMISED they would NEVER have a "cash store" Along with the subscription fee = lie!
Pure and simple = LIE
I cancelled my account as soon as this Cash Store was added.
I DO miss both of these games! I Loved playing them and had friends and a great guild. BUT a company that would add a Cash Store ALONG with a subscription fee???
Sorry - a 3 day pass is another dumb idea from this company (imo).
I live in my own little world - I like it there - everyone knows me.
really I would say $5 for 3 days is stupid, you have 3 days for 1/3 of the normal sub price, and for that game? feh I think I pass (of course its my opnion, but I don't like the EQ2).
and its jsut a way for then get a profit true, but I still don't think any "extra" will be used for better games or quality games, maybe more games, but with quality or even better then some oldis we have its dificult, even more from soe, I don't even remember the last decent game they make I really don't, and the PS3 still cost too much for the amount of games it offer and since almost half of his games are also on XBox360 it will keep me far from that system.
in all maybe is a good thing for some, but I really wouldn't pay for something ridiculous like that, and I don't even want to start the RMT thing on sub games, that really piss me off, in worsth case cenario I just hope the indy company can stay with a good head and stop to do things like this to milk the most with little effort.
SOE is the only company I know of that has offered 30 days or more of free game time to ex-players when they invite them back. Usually you only get a weekend or week, but SOE usually gives an entire month.
This new payment offer is to help those who WANT to play but can't commit to a full month of play, not an incentive to return to those who found something else to play.
Confused
3 day's = $ 5
1 Month>30 day's is $ 15,-
If people can't spend $ 15 a month which gives them allot more freedom in how and when to spend their ingame time, why can they suddenly spend $5 for a very limited time. Which does give allot less value for their money?
I really can not see this as a good thing, but pure as a money grab thing, sorry.
Good concept, poor execution. If anyone is planning on a 3-day 72-hour jaunt it was me the day EQ2 was released... not years down the road. I would like to see a pay-by-the-hour model or even pay by the day. Maybe something similar to the cell phone market where you buy so many minutes a month and going over that number has huge fees tied to it. I have lots of friends who might log on once or twice a week in their subscribed MMO. Or me who only logs maybe 2-3 hours a day.
The only thing I can see as a conflicting issue is the way Blizzard has constructed their mid-to-end-game where the first hour of play each day gives you the most reward (daily random heroic, daily BG, daily crafting, daily fishing). And therefore the more you play the less of a benefit you get (its a nice lure for casuals and it works quite nicely). In this case people paying for more time would always get less benefit.
It has potential, I'd like to see how this plays out and other companies view changes to the $15 a month model like this.
"They essentially want to say 'Correlation proves Causation' when it's just not true." - Sovrath
Well they've tried the free route hundreds of times, I used to get free time for eq2 every other month. After the NGE they even sent out multiple free invites to ex-players giving away the og client and multiple expansions with 30days time all for free.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Well, O true businessman, it seems you have overlooked the fact that these less expensive options are to attract back a player base that has stopped playing...these people are zero WOM advertising as it stands. Get them back and you have ,more people and more WOM advertizing. At the very least more revenues to keep the game going.