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Sony Announces Flat Rate MMO Subscription
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.
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.
"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.