IGN - Paying to Play MMOs in 2014

Couchpotato

Part-Time News-bot
Joined
October 1, 2010
Messages
36,185
Location
Spudlandia
IGN has a new article about MMOs that talks about subscriptions in 2014. I suspect this has to do with the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online game.

If 2012 was the year the sub fee appeared to be in serious trouble amid a swath of free-to-play conversions, then 2013 was the year developers dug their heels in and refused to abandon the model. Despite popular opinion and the apparent trends of the industry, both The Elder Scrolls Online and WildStar announced they will be launching with subscription fees; given the battering such an approach took in the previous 12 months, this is a clear declaration of intent by the industry. Despite assumptions the sub model was preparing to keel over, we could be about to see a resurgence in a business model that many were ready to write off.

The last year has seen powerful voices - including those of Bethesda, Carbine and Square Enix - all rally behind subscription fees, confirming we won’t see the back of the model this year, despite the hopes of many gamers. While Carbine at least is prepared to riff on the existing ideas and try something slightly new with its CREDD model, both The Elder Scrolls Online and Final Fantasy XIV doggedly refused to launch without sub fees even in the face of staunch criticism. So, why were they so bold?
More information.
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,185
Location
Spudlandia
Why all those "serious" sites can't make an article on Paying To Win MMOs?

The hottest potato of gaming, right?
 
Joined
Apr 12, 2009
Messages
23,459
Why all those "serious" sites can't make an article on Paying To Win MMOs?

The hottest potato of gaming, right?
That was last year now it's about MMO subscriptions. I actually find these articles hilarious as the writers switch their opinions every year.:lol:
 
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
36,185
Location
Spudlandia
I don't understand why people still think that a game launching with a subscription fee means anything bad, really.

It's the smart thing to do when you expect a lot of customers, because the first few months are all but certain to bring a major profit as it takes time to exhaust content.

The vast majority of players will stay with the game until the most significant content is exhausted unless the game is outright broken. This is usually 3-6 months for the larger audience.

You can use this time to guage what people care about and what they're likely to pay for in your cash shop - and once the numbers make it clear that "F2P" (joke term, really) is likely to yield more profit, you put whatever spin on why you change to it and go with it.

People are not smart enough or invested enough to understand what happens to a game in the long term when profit is based on microtransactions involving "non-content" like XP boosts or a new pet that took some artist an afternoon to create.

Well, most people aren't.

Issue is that most of the development resources will be directed towards trivial content that brings a profit - and ambitions related to expanding the game and taking the design forward will have died, because there's no real incentive. That's because the suits calling the shots are too stupid or disinterested to think long term as well, and they'll sit at meetings looking at statistics and numbers, ignoring the one poor lead invited that's trying to warn the game might have lesser impact in the long run if they focus on microtransactions.

That's an inevitable lose-lose - because people will finally figure out the game is not evolving and they're wasting time, and the developers will be unable to turn it around by being bold again because that would be a real risk.

By then, only dedicated players will be playing and it will slowly dwindle into insignificance.

I wish people weren't so ignorant or disinterested, because if more people got behind subscription fees - we'd have games based on real content that might actually keep evolving.

Oh well.
 
The article suggest that players pay for get their shackles put on.
Players who pay subscription fees would be forced to come back to maximize their spending.
And some say that gaming is about escapism...
 
Joined
Mar 29, 2011
Messages
6,265
I would say that LOTRO has released a lot of new content after going F2P. But you have to pay for the expansions. Or you can still subscribe as a VIP member. I would have done that, if I wasn't a lifetime subscriber..

Pibbur who isn't forced to do anything
 
I would say that LOTRO has released a lot of new content after going F2P. But you have to pay for the expansions. Or you can still subscribe as a VIP member. I would have done that, if I wasn't a lifetime subscriber..

Pibbur who isn't forced to do anything

Do you think the expansions are getting better or worse since Moria?
 
Do you think the expansions are getting better or worse since Moria?

People I've talked to in game have been quite happy with them. Can't say for sure myself. I have a bad habit when it comes to games like this (or any game): I constantly recreate my characters, and I play several at the same time, so my highest levelled character at the moment is 52. It's kind of stupid, but there are role playing reasons behind it, sort of. It has to do with KNOWING my characters, their background story and such. Still it's kind of stupid.

pibbur who has acted stupidly on several occasions. He remembers once in 1972. And once in 1978 (that one was quite embarassing actually)
 
People I've talked to in game have been quite happy with them. Can't say for sure myself. I have a bad habit when it comes to games like this (or any game): I constantly recreate my characters, and I play several at the same time, so my highest levelled character at the moment is 52. It's kind of stupid, but there are role playing reasons behind it, sort of. It has to do with KNOWING my characters, their background story and such. Still it's kind of stupid.

pibbur who has acted stupidly on several occasions. He remembers once in 1972. And once in 1978 (that one was quite embarassing actually)

Interesting... Most of the people I know who've played it think the expansions have become increasingly insignificant and buggy.

Personally, as a lifetime subscriber - I gave up playing after the cash shop infestation took over for good.
 
I guess my sources are biased. People still playing it after so many years are more likely to be happy about it/the expansions. Many of those who got fed up probably left the game.

Pibbur
 
I guess my sources are biased. People still playing it after so many years are more likely to be happy about it/the expansions. Many of those who got fed up probably left the game.

Yeah, I left Everquest for good (well, mostly) about midway through the Velious expansion. By that time virtually everybody I knew spent all their time in game on raiding. Group play was for all intents and purposes dead. And it was the group play style that I got hooked on in that game in the first place. Anyway, to get back to LOTRO I was a subscriber for a few months, years ago, before the switch to FTP. I liked it a lot, but the problem for me with LOTRO was that everything is so easy that people played it as a single player game. Groups, when they happen at all, are short term (like minutes) and casually formed. And just as casually, people go their separate ways soon as they've accomplished whatever task they were trying to complete. I guess every online game since WoW was released has been that casual easy mode solo style, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Maybe someday there'll be a revival in the MMO side of the industry, too. I'm pretty sure there is still a fairly big demographic of people who'd prefer the original Everquest recipe, if it was viable.
 
Joined
Apr 13, 2010
Messages
515
I can't stand free to play games myself - I had some hope for GW2 but in the end it was to shallow and very non-immersive, one thing I dislike about f2p in general. I have played about 6 F2P games and haven't liked any of them with the exception of GW2 that I then grew bored with after 3 months.
 
Joined
Jun 4, 2008
Messages
3,960
Location
NH
Back
Top Bottom