General Discussion

...if you expect me to pay you a monthly fee to play your game.  There are so many crap games being made today that it is a huge waste of money for players to buy the client for $50+ USD only to find out the game sucks horribly and does not deliver what was promised.

It has gotten so bad lately that I only look for free trials of games or games that are based on micro transactions. 

So make a quality game, give the players what you tell them you will give them in the game and give us the client for free.  If we like it we will continue to play and give you our subscription fees. If we don't, well... stop making crap games.

The $50 for the client pays for the years of development cost of the game.  The game company is perfectly within their rights to recoup those costs which are substantial. 

You should also be able to try the game out before you buy the client, which is why most game companies today offer a free trial.  If you like the game after the free trial then you can buy the client.

The monthly fee pays for the ongoing development of the game, the huge bandwidth costs, and for the server maintenance costs, plus any other expenses involved in running an online game. 

Games which do not charge a monthly fee have other ways of recouping their expenses.  No company is going to pay you to play their game. 

Originally posted by Kasmar

The $50 for the client pays for the years of development cost of the game.  The game company is perfectly within their rights to recoup those costs which are substantial. 

You should also be able to try the game out before you buy the client, which is why most game companies today offer a free trial.  If you like the game after the free trial then you can buy the client.

The monthly fee pays for the ongoing development of the game, the huge bandwidth costs, and for the server maintenance costs, plus any other expenses involved in running an online game. 

Games which do not charge a monthly fee have other ways of recouping their expenses.  No company is going to pay you to play their game. 

 

I see.  You're saying you don't mind paying for the client only to find out the game is crap.  Your $50 goes to help pay for the development of game you aren't going to continue playing past the 30 days that came with the client purchase.  Brilliant, just brilliant.

Originally posted by Kasmar

The $50 for the client pays for the years of development cost of the game.  The game company is perfectly within their rights to recoup those costs which are substantial. 

You should also be able to try the game out before you buy the client, which is why most game companies today offer a free trial.  If you like the game after the free trial then you can buy the client.

The monthly fee pays for the ongoing development of the game, the huge bandwidth costs, and for the server maintenance costs, plus any other expenses involved in running an online game. 

Games which do not charge a monthly fee have other ways of recouping their expenses.  No company is going to pay you to play their game. 

 

I agree with most of what you say. However I wonder about monthly fees needed to maintain the game. NCsoft seems to keep their Guild Wars running and updated with out a monthly fee. It is not the fee so much as the cost of the fee. Do they really need to charge 15 bucks which seems to be the standard. I bet with 10 million players WoW could charge 4.99 a month and still make huge profits.

Originally posted by eccoton

Originally posted by Kasmar

The $50 for the client pays for the years of development cost of the game.  The game company is perfectly within their rights to recoup those costs which are substantial. 

You should also be able to try the game out before you buy the client, which is why most game companies today offer a free trial.  If you like the game after the free trial then you can buy the client.

The monthly fee pays for the ongoing development of the game, the huge bandwidth costs, and for the server maintenance costs, plus any other expenses involved in running an online game. 

Games which do not charge a monthly fee have other ways of recouping their expenses.  No company is going to pay you to play their game. 

 

I agree with most of what you say. However I wonder about monthly fees needed to maintain the game. NCsoft seems to keep their Guild Wars running and updated with out a monthly fee. It is not the fee so much as the cost of the fee. Do they really need to charge 15 bucks which seems to be the standard. I bet with 10 million players WoW could charge 4.99 a month and still make huge profits.

  They could...but I'm pretty sure they are funneling quite a bit of that money into the new MMO project.  I don't mean to say ALL of it...most of it probably gets taken by the parent company...with some being redirected back into the game itself.  But I DO know that Blizzard pays good money and is only looking for pro's in the field for their new project right now.

  Now, once that comes out...I wouldn't be surprised at all if they DID drop WoW to 5$ a month.  Or even 10...just to try and retain subs on BOTH games.  They may even use the "station pass" concept.

Good threads but:

A company has the right to charge you for playing the game. I fyou dont like the game simply dont continue playing it. This would be no different if you bought a non mmo game (without the monthly charge). They charge nearly the same amount. MMO's usually give you 1 month free b4 they charge you. If you dont like it cancel the account for being crap.

As far as the server prices......... Im not sure how Guild wars operates,  but ill bet that they dont have the massive staffing requirements Blizzard does.

Later marines!

Then don't pay the $50.

Read the reviews. Professional and player reviews usually get it right.

Play the trial. Every game on the market (eventually) has a trial. Wait until then.

Problem solved and one less gripe post to have to read.

Originally posted by sonicsix

 

Originally posted by Kasmar

The $50 for the client pays for the years of development cost of the game.  The game company is perfectly within their rights to recoup those costs which are substantial. 

You should also be able to try the game out before you buy the client, which is why most game companies today offer a free trial.  If you like the game after the free trial then you can buy the client.

The monthly fee pays for the ongoing development of the game, the huge bandwidth costs, and for the server maintenance costs, plus any other expenses involved in running an online game. 

Games which do not charge a monthly fee have other ways of recouping their expenses.  No company is going to pay you to play their game. 

 

 

I see.  You're saying you don't mind paying for the client only to find out the game is crap.  Your $50 goes to help pay for the development of game you aren't going to continue playing past the 30 days that came with the client purchase.  Brilliant, just brilliant.

 

Hardly.  He did say a free trial should be standard, and a large majortiy of games these days do offer that, so I am not sure what your problem is....you are trying the game, with no initial cost, and no monthly fee.  problem solved.  But if you decide the game is worthwhile, I see no problem with them charging you for the game.

I completely agree with the OP.

Particularily when the EULA can be used to change the game completely after you've purchased it - and yes I'm looking at you SoE.

If I'm expected to invest $50-$100 for a game I better get some kind of assurances of quality and commitment from the developers.

what do people male out as if playing ann mmo is a huge investment....OMG....IT $60 + SUB