Just to be clear, I'm not against the subscription model.
I actually have authored an article on the obituary for the subscription MMO where I conclude that the MMO market segment is legitimate but, at least when I wrote the article, saturated. It's also been inundated with product not well suited to subscriptions.
Since writing that article a number of the subscription games have moved to F2P, which actually takes some of the pressure off of pure subscription games. I think there is a niche of customers who are just not right for F2P and similarly there is a market of F2P customers who are not right for a subscription.
(side note: maybe it's time to update the numbers and write a "rise of the subscription MMO zombie" article...)
I think there's plenty of room for a few EVE sized subscription MMO's and that those MMO's will financially do very well (over time). I don't, though, think there is a market for two WoW sized sub games. The subscription market has been pretty stagnant for about a decade (except for WoW), it's the same number of consumers rotating between a handful of new and old products.
Most of those old products are long in the tooth, so there is room for a good new 300k sub game out there.
I think FFXIV has a good chance of being one of those games.
Now that most MMO’s are F2P I seem to be gravitating far more towards P2P games, I guess I just like to know I’m not locked out of anything and getting the full experience. I think ARR suits the P2P model and I’m glad they didn’t go with a F2P.
ARR is a very solid game with a highly optimized engine and customisable UI which were my main gripes with 1.0. The fact it’s cross platform and you can use the same account and characters is another major draw for me as being able to just switch to the PS3 and chill on the sofa is fantastic.
If you have a 1.0 account check it out next month in open beta as you may be pleasantly surprised.
To be honest. I think ARR is a great game and I have had fun playing it.
Unfortunately the entire subscription thing is old fashioned and I just don't enjoy that feeling of "Well I paid for a month. I need to play it now." I guess im a casual? Whatever I don't care about naming it.
I would be more okay with if they raised the price of the base game 20-40 bucks and just let me B2P ala Guild wars 2 style.
Sadly this is unlikely and I will not be buying the game. Even though I would really love to play it. I just don't want to feel forced to play something just cause I dropped 15 bucks on it a month. In the end its personal preference and I wish this game all the luck in the world.
You can tell they really built some love into this game and its looking good. Maybe one day....
If SE stay commited too giving content this game will keep gamers busy for a long time. I even hope SE explore other ff universe like ffvi and add vii.
I quite enjoyed my time in Beta and would certainly support a subscription model. However I think it may be nice to do away with the old standard $15.00 a month deal. FFXI had a $12 a month base sub rate I believe. I think going a bit cheaper on the sub rate may make it more appealing to those who have lost interest in the sub model.
I have no problem paying a sub for this game because it is worth it. It has its cons but for the over all package Final Fantasy Reborn is a very well made game.
Yoshi is committed to releasing a subscription FF14:ARR and I respect the decision, I just wonder if that market segment has come and gone?
Nope I'm still here.
Same
Me too!
Long live P2P!
Reporter: What's behind Blizzard success, and how do you make your gamers happy? Blizzard Boss: Making gamers happy is not my concern, making money.. yes!
You people that think the subscription is old fashion need to get lost. A Subscription pays for continuous development of a MMO. In F2P games you get what SWTOR put out in an expansion which was more of a PATCH than any expansion. I am tired of all the F2P BS, its not Free its low quality gaming that nickle and dimes you for every little thing. FFXIV is going the route that will not shut their game down. City of Heroes, City of villains, went F2P to make more money, both games shut down. Sorry F2P is not the future its a fad that will be dying as more MMOs spend $100 Million and go F2P never to make a profit.
Originally posted by Baio2k I quite enjoyed my time in Beta and would certainly support a subscription model. However I think it may be nice to do away with the old standard $15.00 a month deal. FFXI had a $12 a month base sub rate I believe. I think going a bit cheaper on the sub rate may make it more appealing to those who have lost interest in the sub model.
You can pay (should imo) $12.99, $15 is if you want MULTIPLE characters on each server which, while contrary to other popular theme parks, is essentially unnecessary. You can level every class/craft to 50 all on 1 character you are not limited. Also seeing as how you pool abilities from other classes it's in your best interest to have 1 character with 3 level 50's as opposed to 3 characters with 1 level 50.
Again you can choose to pay $15 but your post makes that sound like the standard when many of us, especially FFXI vets, are going to pay $12.99 a month since mules are not as prevalent in this game with the retainer system.
I'm anxious to play the game in beta.Hopefully I'll get a key soon.The game has a lot of the elements I look for ....faction conflict....crafting......hopefully housing one day.
The ride for your first class from 1 to 50 is designed to be fast. Everything else: not so fast.
Yoshida and the dev team already have end game raids planned for day 1 release to keep the old higher level players interested. Even if you play everyday for the first month or two, you still won't dry out the content.
For pvp there will be arena based team pvp and a faction vs faction large scale pvp (DAoC style supposedly). We don't know much about it until open beta so you will have to wait and see.
Lastly, the game is catered to both casual and hardcore mmorpg fans so you'll have to accept both end of the difficulty scale or you probably shouldn't buy into this game.
Yoshi is committed to releasing a subscription FF14:ARR and I respect the decision, I just wonder if that market segment has come and gone?
Nope I'm still here.
Me too!
For the most part, one of the biggest turn offs for me is the MMOs/games community. And you can really tell the difference between the 3 models P2P,B2P, and F2P. The last 2 have a tendency to be lest forgiving to new players.
I'm looking forward to returning to the FFXIV community, the only one that has compaired since my FF11 experience was LotRo. Cant wait til August
A good game you can warrant a sub, this game and a few others do. Theres a reason GW2, NW< TERA, and others don t have a sub.
I ll gladly pay a sub to a good game, and IMO this one is good. Anyone that thinks the s p2p games community isn t different from the b2p or f2p crowds are either new to the MMO scene, or were playing deaf and blind back in the day.
I was one of the few who liked 1.0 for what it did different. I was happily surprised to really love 2.0 in beta so far. I bought it at launch and will buy the PS3 CE now so that i can have the extras as well as play it across both systems. I will happily pay the sub as I prefer subscription games. This game easily warrants the box price and sub fee, in my opinion. Now... to speed up time a couple of months!
Unfortunately the entire subscription thing is old fashioned and I just don't enjoy that feeling of "Well I paid for a month. I need to play it now."
Well, I can respect that and it's certainly one way to look at it.
For me I look at it like this: I have a gym membership but I never think "oh, I've paid for the month I should go every single day (even though I could probably benefit from that).
I look at it as "I have paid for the month and I now can come and go as I please and as time and inclination permits".
Same with p2p games, especially because the amount is VERY low over the course of the month.
The problem with p2p games in the past has been that the developers sort of inadvertently took advantage of it. Instead of constant content, numerous events, multiple bug fixes it seemed that they just sat on their laurels (or appeared to) and took their sweet time to do anything. And then when they did have an event or an update they sometimes felt "not worth it".
It's hard for any person to pay money for a service when they start wondering what real value they are getting.
Still, I prefer the p2p model for all the reasons that some players like it and for all the reasons yoshi outlined.
And again, as long as I feel like the developers are putting their "all" into the game and that I'm getting my money's worth then the small subscription is more than worth it.
I mean heck, my lunch cost $11 today and I'm about to take my girlfriend out to dinner which will be around $40.
Subscription price seems like laundry money next to those costs. Actually less than laundry money as I just took out $30 in quarters to do "massive laundry night".
Which isn't fun.
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I hated hated hated hated 1.0. So far I am pleasantly surprised by ARR. Giving the game to people that bought 1.0 is a smart marketing move in my opinion.
Without it I would not have touched this game with a 10 foot pole. As it is now I will probably sub for awhile.
I ve never understood the pressure of having to log into a game every day because you paid $15 a month, that's $.50 a day. My truck costs more to start in the am then that. If I log in and play 3 times at 2 hours each time, that's 6 hours in a month. Even that's only $2.50 an hour. I just don t see that as expensive entertainment.
That $2.50 is someone that would play extremely casual.
I'd much rather pay a sub frankly, provided the game is high quality like FFXIV:ARR is shaping up to be. The F2P stuff feels too much like a used car sales lot...heh.
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR Looking Forward to: Wildstar
A good game you can warrant a sub, this game and a few others do. Theres a reason GW2, NW< TERA, and others don t have a sub.
I ll gladly pay a sub to a good game, and IMO this one is good. Anyone that thinks the s p2p games community isn t different from the b2p or f2p crowds are either new to the MMO scene, or were playing deaf and blind back in the day.
I m so glad this will be p2p.
idk, is that why some Wow players say the game has a bad community..? I highly doubt it's any different, save for the general chat. Not to mention the server I played gw2 on was just fine, full of helpful people.
I honestly think the p2p high horse is a little too much, no disrespect to anyone but I feel like everyone hates f2p so much that they've created this image of it and ran with it.
Comments
Me too!
Just to be clear, I'm not against the subscription model.
I actually have authored an article on the obituary for the subscription MMO where I conclude that the MMO market segment is legitimate but, at least when I wrote the article, saturated. It's also been inundated with product not well suited to subscriptions.
Since writing that article a number of the subscription games have moved to F2P, which actually takes some of the pressure off of pure subscription games. I think there is a niche of customers who are just not right for F2P and similarly there is a market of F2P customers who are not right for a subscription.
(side note: maybe it's time to update the numbers and write a "rise of the subscription MMO zombie" article...)
I think there's plenty of room for a few EVE sized subscription MMO's and that those MMO's will financially do very well (over time). I don't, though, think there is a market for two WoW sized sub games. The subscription market has been pretty stagnant for about a decade (except for WoW), it's the same number of consumers rotating between a handful of new and old products.
Most of those old products are long in the tooth, so there is room for a good new 300k sub game out there.
I think FFXIV has a good chance of being one of those games.
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Now that most MMO’s are F2P I seem to be gravitating far more towards P2P games, I guess I just like to know I’m not locked out of anything and getting the full experience. I think ARR suits the P2P model and I’m glad they didn’t go with a F2P.
ARR is a very solid game with a highly optimized engine and customisable UI which were my main gripes with 1.0. The fact it’s cross platform and you can use the same account and characters is another major draw for me as being able to just switch to the PS3 and chill on the sofa is fantastic.
If you have a 1.0 account check it out next month in open beta as you may be pleasantly surprised.
To be honest. I think ARR is a great game and I have had fun playing it.
Unfortunately the entire subscription thing is old fashioned and I just don't enjoy that feeling of "Well I paid for a month. I need to play it now." I guess im a casual? Whatever I don't care about naming it.
I would be more okay with if they raised the price of the base game 20-40 bucks and just let me B2P ala Guild wars 2 style.
Sadly this is unlikely and I will not be buying the game. Even though I would really love to play it. I just don't want to feel forced to play something just cause I dropped 15 bucks on it a month. In the end its personal preference and I wish this game all the luck in the world.
You can tell they really built some love into this game and its looking good. Maybe one day....
MMORPG Gamers/Developers need a reality check!
Naoki Yoshida defends P2P:
http://venturebeat.com/2013/06/17/final-fantasy-online-director-defends-monthly-subscriptions-in-the-golden-age-of-free-to-play-exclusive/
It's a long explanation but I really recommend you to read this article.
Long live P2P!
Reporter: What's behind Blizzard success, and how do you make your gamers happy?
Blizzard Boss: Making gamers happy is not my concern, making money.. yes!
Same !
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You can pay (should imo) $12.99, $15 is if you want MULTIPLE characters on each server which, while contrary to other popular theme parks, is essentially unnecessary. You can level every class/craft to 50 all on 1 character you are not limited. Also seeing as how you pool abilities from other classes it's in your best interest to have 1 character with 3 level 50's as opposed to 3 characters with 1 level 50.
Again you can choose to pay $15 but your post makes that sound like the standard when many of us, especially FFXI vets, are going to pay $12.99 a month since mules are not as prevalent in this game with the retainer system.
the only reason FFXI was able to maintain sub this long was because FF fans will pay for anything w/ the FF name on it
it will probably be the same case with this one
The ride for your first class from 1 to 50 is designed to be fast. Everything else: not so fast.
Yoshida and the dev team already have end game raids planned for day 1 release to keep the old higher level players interested. Even if you play everyday for the first month or two, you still won't dry out the content.
For pvp there will be arena based team pvp and a faction vs faction large scale pvp (DAoC style supposedly). We don't know much about it until open beta so you will have to wait and see.
Lastly, the game is catered to both casual and hardcore mmorpg fans so you'll have to accept both end of the difficulty scale or you probably shouldn't buy into this game.
Me too!
For the most part, one of the biggest turn offs for me is the MMOs/games community. And you can really tell the difference between the 3 models P2P,B2P, and F2P. The last 2 have a tendency to be lest forgiving to new players.
I'm looking forward to returning to the FFXIV community, the only one that has compaired since my FF11 experience was LotRo. Cant wait til August
I'll be subbing & am happy with the rate.
A good game you can warrant a sub, this game and a few others do. Theres a reason GW2, NW< TERA, and others don t have a sub.
I ll gladly pay a sub to a good game, and IMO this one is good. Anyone that thinks the s p2p games community isn t different from the b2p or f2p crowds are either new to the MMO scene, or were playing deaf and blind back in the day.
I m so glad this will be p2p.
I was one of the few who liked 1.0 for what it did different. I was happily surprised to really love 2.0 in beta so far. I bought it at launch and will buy the PS3 CE now so that i can have the extras as well as play it across both systems. I will happily pay the sub as I prefer subscription games. This game easily warrants the box price and sub fee, in my opinion. Now... to speed up time a couple of months!
Well, I can respect that and it's certainly one way to look at it.
For me I look at it like this: I have a gym membership but I never think "oh, I've paid for the month I should go every single day (even though I could probably benefit from that).
I look at it as "I have paid for the month and I now can come and go as I please and as time and inclination permits".
Same with p2p games, especially because the amount is VERY low over the course of the month.
The problem with p2p games in the past has been that the developers sort of inadvertently took advantage of it. Instead of constant content, numerous events, multiple bug fixes it seemed that they just sat on their laurels (or appeared to) and took their sweet time to do anything. And then when they did have an event or an update they sometimes felt "not worth it".
It's hard for any person to pay money for a service when they start wondering what real value they are getting.
Still, I prefer the p2p model for all the reasons that some players like it and for all the reasons yoshi outlined.
And again, as long as I feel like the developers are putting their "all" into the game and that I'm getting my money's worth then the small subscription is more than worth it.
I mean heck, my lunch cost $11 today and I'm about to take my girlfriend out to dinner which will be around $40.
Subscription price seems like laundry money next to those costs. Actually less than laundry money as I just took out $30 in quarters to do "massive laundry night".
Which isn't fun.
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Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I hated hated hated hated 1.0. So far I am pleasantly surprised by ARR. Giving the game to people that bought 1.0 is a smart marketing move in my opinion.
Without it I would not have touched this game with a 10 foot pole. As it is now I will probably sub for awhile.
I ve never understood the pressure of having to log into a game every day because you paid $15 a month, that's $.50 a day. My truck costs more to start in the am then that. If I log in and play 3 times at 2 hours each time, that's 6 hours in a month. Even that's only $2.50 an hour. I just don t see that as expensive entertainment.
That $2.50 is someone that would play extremely casual.
Currently Playing: FFXIV:ARR
Looking Forward to: Wildstar
idk, is that why some Wow players say the game has a bad community..? I highly doubt it's any different, save for the general chat. Not to mention the server I played gw2 on was just fine, full of helpful people.
I honestly think the p2p high horse is a little too much, no disrespect to anyone but I feel like everyone hates f2p so much that they've created this image of it and ran with it.
BAHAHA! Perhaps you missing FFXIV 1.0...no one would pay for that thus they shut it down. Please don't hyperbowl