---

Originally posted by jgankum
When Blizzard devs start showing up on MTV cribs, you can start crying about cost. Until then, those of you that think games cost too much need to take a hard look at other forms of entertainment too see real injustice.

Jonny

---

Problem there is that the dev's still arent seeing a damn dime of the increased cost, what they see is the CEO's and whatnots of the companies getting a bigger piece of the pie and demanding more while the devs are still all on the same pay grade. You dont see the people working at a gas station getting more on the increased gas prices, thats all going to the top dogs.

I fully expect mmo standard monthly prices to rise.

I think that either Warhammer or Conan (or maybe both) will raise their standard monthly rate just a little.

I don't think they will jump up to $19.95/mo yet however. I expect to see more of a $16.95/mo step first, or maybe $17.95/mo. This way potential buyers will think "ahh hell, It's only a couple more bucks a month then WoW and WoW is like a 4 year old game, so its worth a couple bucks more"

The standard rate will prolly be $20/mo in two or three years for most standard mmos however.

It's called inflation. And when inflation goes up about 2000% in the past 25 years, and meanwhile minimum wage has only went up about 100% in that same time span, that's where the words "bad economy" comes into play.

- Zaxx

Surely the monthly charge should correlate to the amount of content being put into the game, people would become VERY frustrated if they had to fork out $20-30 a month for the same level of content they received for $10-15 a month

Price is "supported" by buyers not sellers.

If no one is willing to buy it, no seller can "set" a price, because it will not move.  If enough people is willing to pay for it, any price goes.  Appealing to competing buyers to not buying b/c you do not like the price is totally ineffective.  Imagine house buying, you see a house, its way above the price tag in your head, but you see other prospective buyers visiting the house and deemed willing to buy.  What do you do?  Start a picket line outside the house shouting and yelling?

Honestly I do not see how a certain branded leather bag can fetch US$1500.  But who am I to stop the line of queuing customers outside the shop door waiting for the door to open so he or she can buy 10 bags plus 3 belts?

I see MMO prices risingin the future, BUT I also see huge bargains in the future by well established MMO companies and ridiculous cheap subscriptions by the small companies. 

Example:

NC Soft could have a deal if you have 2 subscriptions witht hem you will get 20% off the prices, and if you get a Dungeon Runner account you get 3 months free of Auto Assault.  Those are the kinds of deals I see.  I'm amazed I have not seen this kind of stuff happening yet.  Id love to play more than 2 MMOs but I refuse to spend more than 30 dollars on a month just for games. 

If the total cost of my games were reduced with more subscriptions I would certainly love a deal like that, and I would also buy and play other games by the same company, like Lineage 2.

---

Originally posted by Urrelles
I see MMO prices risingin the future, BUT I also see huge bargains in the future by well established MMO companies and ridiculous cheap subscriptions by the small companies.
Example:
NC Soft could have a deal if you have 2 subscriptions witht hem you will get 20% off the prices, and if you get a Dungeon Runner account you get 3 months free of Auto Assault. Those are the kinds of deals I see. I'm amazed I have not seen this kind of stuff happening yet. Id love to play more than 2 MMOs but I refuse to spend more than 30 dollars on a month just for games.
If the total cost of my games were reduced with more subscriptions I would certainly love a deal like that, and I would also buy and play other games by the same company, like Lineage 2.

---

The reason you probably dont see a lot of that is people usually put so much time and effort into one MMO that why would they bother getting discounts for multiple MMO's. if anything they'd want discounts to multiple subscriptions for the same mmo.

Not only that but then you have to pay for the box's for the subscriptions you want and then in order for you to get the discount you have to buy the box for the other mmo.

just too much bullcrap.

I don't mind as long as its good and they keep be happy..

I payed like $16 plus for FFXI and Warahammer will be way better.. So who cares..

I don't see what the big deal is. Even if it went upto $20/month. If you enjoy the game it probibly is worth it to you. Going to see a movie is gonna cost you more than that, and that is only 2 hours of entertainment. Renting movies is gonna cost you more than that each month. Most other forms of entertainment are gonna cost you well over $20. So for a month of playing a game, if you play even just like 10 hours a week it is only costing 50 cents per hour of entertainment.  And I think the majority of players would be ok with that. Couple hours at work pays for your month of entertainment.

And basically, if you feel the cost is too great, or the game isn't worth payin 20/month for...then simply don't play it...n see what else you can do for entertainment for the month with $20.00.

Doesnt bother me at all.

lets face it £10 - £15 for a month subscription aint bad at all.

Bare in mind it costs me £27 + £5 travel and probably an extra £10 for a few beers to go to a football match for 90 minutes worth of entertainment.

Or £6 cinema ticket popcorn drink £5 so £11 for a 2 hr movie

Originally posted by zaxtor99

I fully expect mmo standard monthly prices to rise.

I think that either Warhammer or Conan (or maybe both) will raise their standard monthly rate just a little.

I don't think they will jump up to $19.95/mo yet however. I expect to see more of a $16.95/mo step first, or maybe $17.95/mo. This way potential buyers will think "ahh hell, It's only a couple more bucks a month then WoW and WoW is like a 4 year old game, so its worth a couple bucks more"

The standard rate will prolly be $20/mo in two or three years for most standard mmos however.

It's called inflation. And when inflation goes up about 2000% in the past 25 years, and meanwhile minimum wage has only went up about 100% in that same time span, that's where the words "bad economy" comes into play.

- Zaxx

You're probably right. A straight up jump to $19,95 would probably cause a rebellion. $17.95 is much more likely.

You know, EA wouldn't be the first company to try and break the 14.99 barrier for major titles.

SOE actually tried to do it with VG. No, the base cost was 14.99, but they strongly encouraged you to play 2 or 3 dollars a month extra (I signed up for them) to get your character listed on special websites and some other minor conveniences.

Sure, it wasn't a direct jump up,and strictly voluntary of course, but I'd say they were one of the first to attempt to benignly breech the barrier.

(and I've heard some lesser known games already cost more than 14.99, but I couldn't point you to one)

The question I always ask myself when fees rise is, "what do I get for the extra money I pay that I don't get now?"

Back in the early days, Origin had to really make the case that the monthly fee gave the customer something in return; something more than just merely service access.  They said that the fee gave the customer a game that would be continually adding content, and when stated like that, paying the fee isn't so bad.  "Well it isn't what I do for my other software," we say, "but what other software improves itself each month?"

If Warhammer Online is going to charge $19.95, what do I get for the extra $5.00 that I don't get from similar products like WoW or Lineage II?  More frequent periodic updates?  Better CS?

When you get something for the extra money being charged, it doesn't seem too bad.  But when was the last time anyone here really could stand up and say, "I may pay more, but I get more," and honestly mean it?

Internet service costs far less than $15 or $20 per month, and certainly far less today than it did back when UO or EQ launched.  The hardware used to run the game (server clusters) cost less today than they did back in the early days.  CS costs less today than it did in the early days, mainly because it isn't there, and when it is there, it's usually farmed out to a CS contractor.

The only cost that hasn't gone down is the cost of production, but that isn't merely an MMO problem.  Non-MMOs need to recoup the costs of production too, but they are able to do it with the box price alone, as MMOs should be able to as well.

So the question I pose and everyone should pose to these people charging a recurring fee is "what additional do I get each month to justify the additional amount I pay over the box price each month?"

It's one thing to simply charge and say, "take it or leave it."  It's another thing to give subscribers a reason to feel good about paying your price, and I think MMOs would do well to start justifying it.  We're in a recession right now in the USA, which means we are looking at our finances a bit closer than we used to, asking tough questions, and dropping those things that can't answer the tough questions.

So we may not play the game at first?  Big deal.  We'll just "lay low" until we can be a bit more sure it's worth it.  But the MMO people don't win if people "lay low."  They win if people jump on the bandwagon, because their game starts to grow old from the moment they go live.

Originally posted by Beatnik59 

So the question I pose and everyone should pose to these people charging a recurring fee is "what additional do I get each month to justify the additional amount I pay over the box price each month?"

It's just the price of admission.  If you want to play, you have to pay.  There are free games as well that offer a similar (if mostly lower quality) experience  for free, but at this point you're paying to play, because the business model of that particular game has a subscription fee model.  If you like the product, you pay, if you don't think it's worth it, you don't.

Originally posted by Novaseeker

 

Originally posted by Beatnik59 

So the question I pose and everyone should pose to these people charging a recurring fee is "what additional do I get each month to justify the additional amount I pay over the box price each month?"

 

It's just the price of admission.  If you want to play, you have to pay.  There are free games as well that offer a similar (if mostly lower quality) experience  for free, but at this point you're paying to play, because the business model of that particular game has a subscription fee model.  If you like the product, you pay, if you don't think it's worth it, you don't.

The point is though, we already "pay admission" when we pay the box fee.

What "extra" game do we get by paying "extra" each month?

Originally posted by Kyleran

You know, EA wouldn't be the first company to try and break the 14.99 barrier for major titles.

SOE actually tried to do it with VG. No, the base cost was 14.99, but they strongly encouraged you to play 2 or 3 dollars a month extra (I signed up for them) to get your character listed on special websites and some other minor conveniences.

Sure, it wasn't a direct jump up,and strictly voluntary of course, but I'd say they were one of the first to attempt to benignly breech the barrier.

(and I've heard some lesser known games already cost more than 14.99, but I couldn't point you to one)

 

Prices always go up!*  Why should MMOs be different?  In NY the price of milk is now more per gallon than gasoline [and I live in an area of Upstate NY where there are many dairy farms, at that!]  After the lackluster year for MMOs that 2007 was, I'm not at all surprized that the monthly fee for new games has jumped to $19.99 - that's still cheaper than a matinee movie for 3 people.

*Ok, there was something called "the Great Depression" where prices dropped in some countries - in others, however [Germany comes to mind], Inflation was hundreds of percents.  I guess an argument could also be made that a near top of the line computer always costs $2000... it did in 1990, again in 2001, and seems to today.

Originally posted by Xenduli

Most MMO's charge a monthly fee, although in the last year the ratio of F2P to P2P has reversed. There are now more F"P MMO's than P2P ones.

Starting with WAR the cost of playing an MMO could go up.

"Q: Will the game require a monthly fee to play WAR?

A: Yes, and EA Mythic's President Mark Jacobs has stated that the subscription fee will quite possibly be more than the standard $14.99 that most MMOG's charge."

Instant reaction to that is, well it's EA WTF do you expect. BUT if they can "get away with it" what is to stop every MMO from charging more?

I think the monthly fee was dreamt up one day by the guys who made Ultima Online. It's been roughly that value since.

You could argue that actually the cost of a lot of everyday items has gone down. Food is one example (although the price of wheat is high now). But I digress.

How much is everyone willing to pay AND would you still play your favourite MMO(s) if there was a price hike (for no apparent reason other than if EA does it why not).

Let's face it, the cost of making a AAA game now is astronomical compared to 10 years ago when MMORPG was barely heard of. Does this mean the cost should be handed to us or is a fact of making games.

My opinion is that it goes against current trend with MMO makers realising an empty world isn't very appealing and so that's why F2P games are overtaking P2P ones.

How are F2P games taking over P2P...there are more people playing WoW than all the subscribers for every F2P game combined.  F2P are generally crap grindfests wit no content built on a small budget and lots have in game items to purchase...with real money.

MMOS take more money to make than any other type of PC game...a lot more.  While I do not agree with a price raise on monthly fees...I do agree that companies make games to make money...why not make more if you can.

And seriously...$14.99 a month for an MMO is still some of the cheapest entertainment money can buy, if you played for an hour a day it's only $.50 and hour...And the more you play the better the value.

Originally posted by Xenduli

Most MMO's charge a monthly fee, although in the last year the ratio of F2P to P2P has reversed. There are now more F"P MMO's than P2P ones.

Starting with WAR the cost of playing an MMO could go up.

"Q: Will the game require a monthly fee to play WAR?

A: Yes, and EA Mythic's President Mark Jacobs has stated that the subscription fee will quite possibly be more than the standard $14.99 that most MMOG's charge."

Instant reaction to that is, well it's EA WTF do you expect. BUT if they can "get away with it" what is to stop every MMO from charging more?

I think the monthly fee was dreamt up one day by the guys who made Ultima Online. It's been roughly that value since.

You could argue that actually the cost of a lot of everyday items has gone down. Food is one example (although the price of wheat is high now). But I digress.

How much is everyone willing to pay AND would you still play your favourite MMO(s) if there was a price hike (for no apparent reason other than if EA does it why not).

Let's face it, the cost of making a AAA game now is astronomical compared to 10 years ago when MMORPG was barely heard of. Does this mean the cost should be handed to us or is a fact of making games.

My opinion is that it goes against current trend with MMO makers realising an empty world isn't very appealing and so that's why F2P games are overtaking P2P ones.

I would gladly pay $30 per month for an MMO that was twice as good as any of the crap that's out now.

I'd also pay more if it meant the box/download was cheaper.  If that was how they priced it (e.g. $25/month but only $10 to buy the game initially), that would indicate to me that they are confident in the long-term viability of the game.

Originally posted by rikilii

 

I would gladly pay $30 per month for an MMO that was twice as good as any of the crap that's out now.

/agreed

I say let them raise the monthly fee to whatever they want. People are willing to pay substantially more than they're used to if they think they are getting a quality product in the end. However, I do think right now would be a bad time to raise any price considering the massive success and staying power of WoW. If Funcom does't raise it's monthly fee and EA does, I think EA would lose out because most people have way too many choices and would probably opt out of paying more for WAR.

If they were smart, they'd offer something like a one week trial. Get people hooked and they'll rationalize in their mind that it is worth it to them to go out and buy the game and then willingly pay the higher monthly cost. Do it the other way around and not offer a trial and I think most people would be less inclined to spend $50+ on an unproven game. Even with the 30 days of free time, I have personally played so many MMOs that I am very hesitant to go out and buy a brand new MMO title for $50 w/o knowing for sure if I am going to still be playing it after the 30 free days are up.