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The win - win payment model..
Lord.Bachus
Member RarePosts: 9,686
This would actually be the game model where people pay for the actuall content, and the more content they add, the more money they can make...
So give us a free to play game where people pay for new classes, new races, extra character slots, and unlocking new content....
Which would mean the game would be like a free trial with one character to level 20 and for all other zones after that, you´d have to pay an acess/unlock fee. Now as i write this, i realise that this model is allready available in DDO... How silly of me, but that model is just awesome.
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Comments
Let's suppose that they charge $100 to unlock all of the content in the game. And let's suppose that you can play through all of that content in one month. Then you just paid $100 to play a game for a month. Still sound like a win-win?
Paying to unlock content instead of a monthly fee can make sense for people who only play an hour or two a week. But for someone who plays a lot, it's likely to end up more expensive than a subscription.
Yep. I played wizard 101 for a while. They have a choice to either pay to unlock areas permanantly or pay a subscription for unlimited access while the subscrition lasts. I did the math, and at that time if I had payed to unlock all the areas in the game it would have been equivilant to about three years of subscription fees.
I payed subscription and played for a couple of months and then some time later went back and played for a couple more months and I finished all the content available at that time. Paying per area to unlock it would have been ridiculously more expensive.
I still think GW2 has this beat easily. Buy the box, play forever. Optional cosmetic items in the cash shop. Free content added monthly. Possible future expansions you'll pay for.
If you have to pay for access to new content you run the risk of the "best loot" being behind more and more locked doors, forcing you to pay to keep up.
Oderint, dum metuant.
I just did some calculations on how much I've spent on World of Warcraft.
The final tally was about $3,500
$1,530 from the monthly fee of one account since it launched (I had five over the course of the game, plus the one I paid for my girlfriend).
$260 from the core game and expansions for one account (The first being a collector's edition)
$300 from character transfers / renaming / mounts / pets / etc.
Probably about $450 for buying the core game and four expansions for six accounts (cheaper versions down the line)
About $1,000 from paying subscriptions for those accounts (girlfriend's included).
I printed my account summary for these and pinned them to the wall to remind me that I actually spend three thousand five hundred dollars on a single game. In addition, I also pinned screen shots of my characters next to it, symbolizing what a waste of time it was since they're held for ransom if I do not pay a monthly fee.
It's given me the strength to never start another P2P game again, and to quit WoW except for the beginning and final patch of a new expansion. I would gladly pay $100 or $200 up front for an MMO to not have to pay monthly fees; I've done so on every game that's given the option, and I still play those to this day.
This is also why I enjoy B2P games more so than anything. The cash shop is something I can manage myself and pay what I want, when I want to support the game (In addition I might get something cool out of it, whereas a P2P game I'm just essentially renting the game). I also will not feel like it's a waste of time, as any time I want to log onto a character I am able. It is not held for ransom every month.
The model is "awesome" until you factor in segregation of the player population at which point your model goes into the shitter where it rightfully belongs.
You are looking at it from a consumer's aspect. There already has to be a full game there & playable by all...
What you are suggesting is nothing other than paying to access certain parts & features of a game. Which in th end, would end up being quite expensive for an individual... then secondly... why?
"No they are not charity. That is where the whales come in. (I play for free. Whales pays.) Devs get a business. That is how it works."
-Nariusseldon
I don't think a game with a cash shop has much of a future with that much locked content. The key is to making a successful cash shop based game (in the west) is to offer as much of the main game for free as possible, but find some optional content that players would be interested in purchasing.
Another possibility is to offer a sub option that changes cash shop currency to the game currency for $15 a month.
So you are basically saying a F2P game with zones purchaseable?
You think you will save money with such a model as a consumer? With how business have abused payment models in the past, you think they would make it cheap or would they curtail the fun for payment?
As someone said it sounds a lot like SWToRs payment model...the one everyone complains at for being too restrictive even for F2P games.
I never thought I would see someone asking to be nickel and dimed.... today I was proven wrong.
You do have to factor in the trend of certain games to allow you to 'earn' certain currency by simply playing the game. In order to access all content this way is generally pretty tedious but this option along with some cash is not a bad way to go for the casual player. $5 a month will take a casual player far in Lotro/DDO.
Many of the gripes about this pay structure come from MMO lifers. Those who spend a full work week in game time and who tend to concern themselves with the overall picture of the game and it's populace. They also tend to frequent forums :P
Or Lotro.
Na, seriously TE: Unlocking content with cash feels very, very restrictive. It's like border controls, which totally reduces the flow of exploration.
1TimeBuy is the perfect model for every AAA title. There is no way around. This way it feels like total freedom to the player, which always has to be the #1 goal.
I wish we had al carte programming here in the states. I only watch a few channels and yet I have to pay for a ton I don't need such as shopping channels or other language channels.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
While I like the idea of a la carte MMO's, you do need to check out each one and compare it to your playing style.
I imagine to access all the content/zones in a a la carte mode it would (and should) be more expensive, however if my playstyle means I will only be doing a third, then it becomes a very viable option.
A la carte works for TV for me because there are only 3-4 shows I actually watch. Hmm a small edit - I do need to get the basic package, can't avoid that, but after that it's just a a few channels.
How much do you spend on television a month?
How about internet?
Sports tickets?
Concert tickets?
None of it's neccessary, but it's nice. It's all just entertainment. I look at it this way:
As long as I can finance my priorities, the rest is just fluff. After all, what is life all about? I'd rather pay $15 a month and have a good time than stockpile all of my money. Not to mention, it's supporting someone else. We're paying for that programmer to pay for his neccessities, and we're getting something out of it in return.
Just my opinion, though.
Currently playing: GW2 (Maguuma), DAoC (Uthgard), & Aion
Waiting For / Watching: TUG, CU, Black Desert, Archeage,Wildstar, and ESO.
Are you giving a green light to EAWARE's Swtor model? I can see companies selling new clases for 10+ bucks in the future.
This idea of yours will leave a very wide open wound on consumers and game companies will exploit that and milk us like cows. What the hell am i talking about, you say? i can see $60 dollar games with zero content, maybe 1-3 races, 4 classes, a couple crafting professions, and limited game world. You can purchase $10-15 dollar new classes, races, professions. Possibly $50 dollar expansions with new maps. On top of all that, the cash shop with even more stuff.
I think this model will easily lead us to a $100 retail game in no time.
Really bad model for the consumer, excelent for greedy companies that dont care if their game fails because of their greed. You will be spending money since you log in until you log out if you want to even get anywhere in game.
Going off topic here but I can tie it into MMOs.
Most of the channels people pay for in the U.S. also run commercials so people get hit with a double whammy. You have to pay for the channel AND they make money selling commercial time. So basically people are paying to watch commercials.
I myself got so disgusted with it that I refuse to do it anymore and you know what? I've discovered I can get by just fine with just the channels I can pick up free over the air. I wish more people would do the same and maybe something would change.
Relating it to MMOs, it's like the games that have subscription fees AND cash shops. That's the scummiest thing of all and yet people still fall for it.
I mean I could calculate how much money I spent on getting my degrees ... check that I don't actually need to do that, as I know exactly how much I still owe. In the grand scheme of things our MMO cost per game is really low ... example your $3500 over a 9 year period on wow does not even cover the first month of tuition and fees at MIT (~$4500).
I agree with Grvmpybear, enjoying a video game for $15 is far better than saving every penny.
To put it in a better perspective, take the amount you've payed and divide it by every single hour you've played. Chances are it'll turn out to be cheaper than any other type of entertainment short of reading a book. I understand you like paying for only the things you want and like, but I don't think it's a fair idea that you should kibosh all future games simply for the reason they're P2P there's a good chance you'll miss out on something great.
I think the major reason why B2P or 'shop' games are more popular now is because of there being an instant cashflow and to have an outlet for impulse buying. Add something new and fluffy/shiny to the shop and 10000 people buy it, cha-ching. You have that money in your account recievables ready for the company to use. Whereas a subscription model requires a much longer time for money to come in, such as the billing date for each individual subscription and next to no chance at all for impulse purchases.
Night at a club with parking cover charge and drinks: min $50.00 depending on the cover.
How about a round of golf?
Weekend getaway with the GF?
Hooker sans coke.
Gaming is dirt cheap.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
What you're describing is basically B2P.
50$ if you don't live in a major city, lol.
For me a night out = 100$ minimum usually, and often more. But ya, gaming is pennies by comparison.
I already found my win-win payment model with GW2. I pay $60 for all the content, and I can afford to get cash shop items with in-game gold. No extra fees to worry about in the future (except possibly expansions, that they've claimed are not in the works).
Your payment model doesn't sound that great. I don't want to pay as I go, that's why I don't play a sub game currently.
Cable companies can't just add espn or tnt, they need to buy a few other channels along with the ones most people watch. They bundle the good with the bad. Would I rather just get a few stations and pay less? Sure, but that isn't how it works. Some people like those stations I don't and never use espn. I'd rather pay fifteen a month to get a full spectrum of people in my game, the crafters, the hunters, the uberfacepwn warriors, the medical people, the entertainers, etc... Plus the devs don' t need to make content for a cash shop. They can just develop the game as they see fit, and we can choose if we want to be in it.