Slashdot Mirror
WoW Helping or Hurting the Industry?
alstor writes "The New York Times has an interesting story about the success of World of Warcraft, and whether it is hurting or helping the gaming industry; this goes along with an earlier post on an article from CNN. From the Times article: 'WoW is now the 800-pound gorilla in the room. I think it also applies to the single-player games. If some kid is paying $15 a month on top of the initial $50 investment and is devoting so many hours a week to it, are they really going to go out and buy the next Need for Speed or whatever? There is a real fear that this game, with its incredible time investment, will really cut into game-buying across the industry.' What is the Slashdot opinion on World of Warcraft's impact on the gaming industry?"
You have go tot be kidding me.... BnetD violated Blizzard's EULA and TOU for the Diablo/Starcraft games and Bnet. Yeah the DMCA is annoying, yes it was definately one of many tools used by Blizzards Lawyers to get their way in court. But BnetD was doing something they knew was blatantly not allowed by Blizzard.
Ave Molech Setting
And how much money do you spend going to a movie theater every month? That is something you don't get to hold on to, are limited by what is immediately available (in the box office) and are required to enjoy on a set schedule.
If you are anything like many of the people I have discussed this with, you likely spend close to $10-$30 a month (single person) on tickets, a drink and a snack, depending on what is available (some months have multiple "must see" movies, while others are lacking).
So why is it such a bad thing to pay ~$15 a month on a subscription which you are able to enjoy on your own schedule, as often as you like. In the case of MMOs you get the added benifit of enjoying the company of new and old friends. In the case of music subscriptions (for $15) you get the benifit of taking your music with you to listen anywhere.
Honestly, in the case of music subscriptions, I own the music I feel are "must haves" and "rent" the music I happen to be in the mood for that month/day/hour/minute. As for playing MMOs, they're just fun. More fun than paying $50 for the latest game to hit the shelves every one or two months.
Any moderately serious gamer easily spends $100 a year (or in your quoted example, $200 every two years) on games they will likely play for at least that year, if not longer. Take Half-Life 2, and Battlefield 2--there's your $100 for the year. Tack on the miscellaneous other games that will get played for a month or two and you are well over $100 a year. Frankly, I think $100 a year is a reasonable price to pay for something that is always available (well, mostly) and has virtually infinite playability. Look at the original EQ players or DAoC, some of these people have found incredible amounts of leasure enjoyment for their $100 a year (and initial $50 investment with the occasional $20-30 add-on).[for the record, I am not a WoW player]
Ask any long time player of any MMO if they feel the value of their favorite MMO is worth the amount they pay monthly or yearly. I can guarantee every one will say "yes". Why? Because, otherwise they wouldn't have paid it for multiple years.
Percieved value will be different from person to person. The bottom line is, there are enough people, like myself, that find their own percieved value of these services are worth at least as much as the monetary requirements of each service, that these businesses not only exist, but do quite well.