Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

On The Rising Price of MMO Subscriptions

Posted by simoniker on from the higher-and-higher dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With the ever rising price of online games and special offers like Anarchy Online's free trial where you can play free until September for $9.95. I've been wondering - how much do people feel is too much to pay for an online game? The 'normal' price used to be $9.95 per month, and EverQuest is now $12.95 a month, with Star Wars Galaxies, City Of Heroes and others at $14.95. How much do increasing monthly fees affect your playing habits, and does the price of an MMO subscription affect which game you might choose to play?" Perhaps schemes such as the Sony Online All Access subscription are a possible solution?

3 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. What's yer base value? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Mine's movies. I compare it all to movies. I'm often willing to pay $10 for two hours of entertainment. Whereas I'll spend the same money for many hours a month playing an MMO (puzzle pirates).

  2. Re:My comments by Chibi · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Either charge a subscription, or charge for the game, but don't ask me to pay twice.


    Not sure how other MMORPGs work, but City of Heroes cost $50 for the first month of live playtime (non-beta). So, you can either look at it as the game was $50, and the first month is free, or the game was $35, and you paid for your first month. The montly fee was hard for me to accept as well, especially since most of my gaming has been either PC FPS (free) or console, but I went out for lunch one day and spent $15 on a meal I didn't like. That made me think I waste $15 here and there all the time, so why not use it for something that will entertain me over the course of a whole month?

    I guess one reason to put a price on the initial purchase is to discourage people who just want to troll, etc from coming on board. It's not like they can fine your trolling, the worst they could do is disable your account, but if you didn't want to play anyway... I'm not kidding myself, I know the main reason they do this is to get your money. :)

    I definitely like your idea of paying per time played with a cap at the monthly fee, though. :)

    --
    If all you have are silver bullets, everything looks like a werewolf.
  3. $200 = Net Present Value/Cost of an MMO Game by MBraynard · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I once did the calculations on the present value of an MMO subscription in perpetuity. I assumed a ~ $10 monthly expense, a $50 up front cost, and a 10% cost of money.

    So the cost of the game in present value is really between $190 or $200 (I forgot the exact charge.) So forget about this complaining about paying each month/paying an upfront fee. Just look at that amount and decide if it's worth it.