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Sony Announces Flat Rate MMO Subscription

Posted by simoniker on from the ever-side-tanarus-adventures dept.

Thorizdin writes "It looks like Sony is making moves that will change gaming, but not just in the handheld market. SOE (Sony Online Entertainment) are bundling their MMO subscription plans so gamers can play all of their premium games for one flat rate ($21.99 US per month), rather than pay for many subscriptions separately. There are some exceptions, though, since the new pricing only applies to SOE-published games, so you won't get Star Wars Galaxies in the bundle." For the record, the specific games included are Everquest, Planetside, Everquest Online Adventures for PS2, the Station Pass (Tanarus, Infantry, Cosmic Rift), and Everquest 2 when it launches.

7 of 31 comments (clear)

  1. Good Move - mostly by Murrow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think this will help SoE move people from EQ to EQ2 because they'll be more likely to experiment at this price than if they had to have a second subscription. I know I can only justify one $12/month game to myself (and the wife). This is only a slight savings over two $12/mo games, but you're getting access to a lot more than two games.

    I think, however, that this will make my trying SW:G less likely since it will be a comparably worse deal.

    1. Re:Good Move - mostly by Dreetje · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It's a good idea, however as the site reads: a potential savings of more than $15 a month I think the savings aren't that big as: Players will still have to purchase each title individually which makes you chose anyway. It's not like you can play all the games at once.

      How many people play more then one MMOG anyway? I know I have hardly any time to play one, let alone 7.

      Also makes me wonder, will the individual subscription fees stay?

      What I do think would be a good idea, is to have total free trials for the online games, if you like more then one game you could decide if you want such an subscription.

      --
      Dre
    2. Re:Good Move - mostly by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: 3, Interesting
      The real question is whether or not I can be playing two different games on the same subscription at the same time. Probably Sony wouldn't want this but it would make a nice family plan if one of the kids could be playing online in one room while the other was playing online in a different.

      Insert obligatory 'people should spend more time talking to each other in real life and less time playing video games' paragraph here. Throw in a bit at the end about enjoying the beautiful weather with the ones you love.

      --
      I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
  2. Mass Market Appeal by RealDeadFred · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Can't remember where I read this... broadly speaking its the idea that consumers don't like the idea of having to pay subscriptions for individual games, they prefer paying for a package, in the same way you would subscribe to a cable or satellite service for a flat fee and then have access to a number of channels. Seems like a good idea then!

  3. Might help me out by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So far, I've never subscribed to any MMRPG, mainly because of children in the house that take away from time (so hard to play online when you have to hit the "pause" button), and also because at $10 a month, I'd have to really pick one and only play that.

    With this, I think I could stomach paying the $20 a month (perhaps less at a "yearly subscription rate" and hook up to whatever I want. So if I want some Planetside shooting action, great. If I want to RPG a bit, I can stop playing Planetside for a week/month and come back to it later, and not worry about my user being deleted or something.

    Sony's got a smart idea here. I hope they hook up more systems under the model, perhaps extend the offer to other third party companies, so you can pick and choose from a list. I wouldn't mind paying $20 a month, and clicking 3 or 4 games total from a list I'm going to use if it included 3rd party stuff like Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies, etc.

    Of course, this does sound like someone else's Live service once it hits the third party stuff, but the difference would have to be "choice". I don't have to use Sony's all-you-can-eat plan if I don't want to, unlike Microsoft where their games are "Live or Nothing" all too often for online play. (Well, unless I want to tweak Mr. Router a bit.)

    --
    52 Weeks, 52 Religions with John Hummel
  4. Re:Good Thing? by th3walrus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Are there a lot of people who have time to play multiple online RPGs?"

    This is the best point about multi-game subscriptions. Even back in college (when we have all the time in the world) I didn't have the time to keep up with two MMORPG's. Believe me, I tried. I always found myself eventaully going to one or the other full-time.

    I have seen MMORPG's that claim to be for the "casual" gamer, but none live up to the hype. If you don't spend loads of time online, powerleveling your character, then you can't keep up with the world. You never get to participate in the more advanced features. Eventually even hunting becomes impossible as in order to level you need to fight powerful creatures who require party combat to beat. Good luck finding a party, getting equipped, finding a monster, and destroying it in the hour you have before bed.

    A game like Planetside may turn out better in this regard. The fast action and game design should let you jump in and out of the game at your leisure and still have a blast. It is a FPS after all.

    So I think the only way this will work well is if you offer several different genre's of games. Unfortunately all the rest of the games will just be there when you're taking a break from the RPG.

  5. EQ1/2 crossovers by Tarindel · · Score: 4, Informative

    In case you missed it, there's another article on the site (http://www.sonyonline.com/corp/press_releases/EQ2 _incentives_051303.html) that shows Sony is trying to provide additional incentives to those who play both EQ1 and EQ2. The most relevant paragraph follows:

    "SAN DIEGO, CA - May 12, 2003 - Sony Online Entertainment Inc. (SOE), a worldwide leader in massively multiplayer online gaming, announced today that it is adding incentives to EverQuest® II, the parallel online universe to the hugely successful gaming phenomenon EverQuest®, to reward current EverQuest players for the time they have invested enjoying the original title. The incentives will include exclusive crossover quest zones in each game that will be accessible only by subscribers of both games, allowing characters in EverQuest and EverQuest II to gain access to hidden treasures, an EverQuest II in-game reward for loyal fans, and additional features to be disclosed over the coming months for ongoing EverQuest and EverQuest II players"

    Last game I played that had crossover zones to encourage people to play both was probably Might and Magic IV/V...