What would you consider a *real* reasonable cost for an online game?

Just curious what people would consider a reasonable cost for online games like an MMORPG?

I think $14.95/month like WoW is completely ridiculous. If anything they should make it a tiered system based on number of hours played per month; i.e. 0-20 hrs $3.95, 20-50 hrs $7.95, 50-100 hrs $12.95, 100 hrs+ $14.95.

I might be willing to get involved in a few games if they were only $5/month or less. Hell, I've been playing Battlefield 2 for years. After buying all the add-ons, I spent less than $100 and have played nearly 400 hours.

 

Yeah I agree with you completely. I was interested in Age of Conan but I thought 15 a month is way too high especially since some months I would barely play due to school. I think your tiered system is a good idea.

 

The cost of purchase of the game. It's just dumb to pay for a game you've already bought. I would never consider buying a game if I had to pay a monthly fee and you can certainly have a nice gaming experience without having to pay for such things.

Example: Diablo 2. I played that game to death.

 

Full cost payable on game purchase sounds best to me, Guild Wars has plenty of fans thanks to this. A tiered system sounds best but it's difficult to properly implement without turning off hardcore fans.

 

Well with a tiered system, if you play a lot, it's still cheaper. If someone plays 20 hours a month over a year that's 240 hours or at $5/month ~ $60. Where a hardcore player would get 240 hours in a couple months it would be a lot cheaper. ($15 x 2 months = $30) so they aren't paying any more and on a per hour basis are paying a lot less.

I think games like WoW, as successful as they are, would see a large increase in subscribers if they did this. However, they'd have to do it with a new game because I'm sure it'd piss off all the users that already spent hundreds of dollars over the last couple years!

 

If they provide quality service and good quality, reasonably frequent content updates, 10 or 15 bucks a month is more than fair to me.

 

Lol Just Compare How Many Peeps Play Guild Wars To How Many Play WoW.
My Point Exactly.

You Have To Pay For WoW But It's Well Worth The Money Because It's The Best RPG And MMO Ever Created.

If You Don't Like It Go Back And Play Turd- Quest Or Sucks - Wars Or Crap -Fantasy Or W/e It Is That You Play.

 

Really doesnt matter what we gamers consider 'reasonable.' WoW set a precedent and companies will keep charging whatever gamers are willing to pay to play. Note: 'willing to pay' does not mean 'reasonable.'

Do you really think more people would play wow if it was only 10 dollars per month? I doubt it. A monthly fee is a monthly fee. Companies will raise it as high as they can until they find that 'sweet spot' and right now that spot is about 15 dollars. I am aware that some companies have lowered their fees from this range, but I don't believe price reductions attract many more players than would have otherwise played at the default rate. In a sense, it is irrational from a business perspective to lower the monthly fee if you know this will attract very few new players.

 

exactly, the WoW method is:

step 1: you get the ITCH to play.
step 2: you relieve this by paying basically whatever they ask

no one is going to see "WoW price drops from 14.95 to 9.95 per month!" and then go jump into their car and go to Best Buy to pick up a copy of WoW off the shelf. first they hook you, with either a 7-day-trial, or ads, or whatever. the whole money transaction system is designed to be a second thought to the consumer. the primary goal is to get you into the game. they won't drop the price. they went for the biggest price they could without driving it so high that people snap out of the spell and realize that it isn't worth it.

 

And players like you are exactly why I don't bother with MMORPGs to begin with.

Paying for the software, and then paying for the right to play it on a monthly basis is insane. It's paying someone for the privilege of paying them later.

I'd really like to see an MMORPG come out of the gate with NO up front cost, trial membership, and then they can do the $15 a month deal. THAT would be reasonable.

 

Well it worked, I gave Blizzard 3 months of my time.

 

I guess the other argument is that paying monthly fees keeps people in tune with the game itself more than any other mmorpg. Pays for support staff, watches hackers, and keeps the value of the game and accounts high. I mean they keep updating WoW or so it seems to its' players, and it seems to be working.

I'm not a WoW fanboy but they sure have changed the online gaming world. I dont play mmorpg's, I only play FPS but I mean I totally agree with some other people on this forum that it's asinine to pay $15 dollars a month. ****, the game at the store today costs 30 dollars.

Games like Knight Online are free yet have bigger flaws. Also, most of these free games hardly get a change in style.

It just doesn't make sense, but to Blizzard it seems like they are rolling in cash as we speak.
It's almost stealing money. People get so hooked into WoW like a drug, and lose all social life, just to focus on the game. I have seen it happen to friends.

 

I play Guild Wars because there is no monthly cost. I can't see paying for a game, then paying to play it.

 

I'd think $15/month would be reasonable if the service was exceptional and there was NO upfront cost. It's ridiculous to have to pay to play a game you just bought. Either pick one or the other: pay only upfront or pay only monthly fees. Expansion packs are still acceptable if they provide enough additional content.

 

I used to be a member of the "pay once" camp, and because of that, bought Guild Wars when I decided to try out an MMO. I know there are people out there who love the Guild Wars games, and that's fine, but it's not for me. I just didn't have fun playing this game, and on thop of that i had to wait forever to get any help with issues i had within the game (glitches, etc.).

Then, a friend of mine introduced me to WoW. I fell in love. This game was actually FUN to play, and any problem you had was listened to and considered by a GM quickly. The quality of the game was so much better, and looked to only be able to improve. This was what justified the monthly fee for me. Yes, $15 a month is quite a bit, but it's worth it for the quality you get.

Now I'm waiting for Warhammer Online, which will also be $15 a month. I'm okay with paying a monthly fee for a game as long as it will continue to evolve and improve, as this game, and most with monthly fees do. As for what the sweet spot is, I'd say $15 is a little much, probably around $10 for me. I understand what's done with your subscription.

 

QFT. Exactly what I thought. Or at least the game should cost like a misery, say $10 or less.

 

i'd rather just pay for the cost of the game one time. I can't imagine paying a monthly fee for something like WoW but then again I'm not really addicted to the game either.

 

Free with Advertisements is how I'd like it.

 

I have not payed a dollar past the original cost of any game I have purchased, and thats the way it is going to stay.

 

Yeah, it's totally foolish to expect people to pay for an online service past the initial equipment purchase. I never pay for internet service after I buy a modem. </sarcasm>

Perhaps MMOs should include some sort of single player or self-hosted option, but if you are connecting to a service that is maintained, you should expect to pay for it. If the service is not worth the price to you, don't use the service, and stop complaining about it.

Sorry if I'm overly blunt, but I'm annoyed by people who have such a sense of entitelment and a complete lack of understanding about things. Owning a phone does not entitle you to phone service; owning a copy of an MMO does not entitle you to game service.

 

Played EQ straight up 7 years, Then EQ2 for about a year, maybe a lil over, then tried WoW, quit that straight up after 3 months.

EQ was probably the most innovative game of it's time and i GLADLY paid $15/month for it, because in it's initial stages *pre-PoP* the game felt like a f'ing movie. Like, i dunno, sometimes when you read a book and you just really get involved like you are Character_01 who doesn't do anything but gets to tag along w/ the group and be a part of something bigger, EQ1 kinda did that.

EQ2 was a dummie version of EQ1 w/ better graphics, that kinda game I would pay say..... $9-11/month for, and only quit because college has now decided to make me work harder.

WoW..... well, all I should PROBABLY say is... wow. That is a game I would pay $2-4/month for, they didn't really add anything new imo that any other game hadn't already come out w/. They just polished it out and made it look prettier, but that's not what makes a game. Never in WoW did I experience that *no pun intended* "WOW" factor, like I did in EQ, EQ2, or any other game I've played. Has anyone ever felt like they were doing something solid in the game like that had any real impact. If the game is grind up to 70, and then grind some more to get more achievements, you could easily go outside and throw a frisbee w/ friends and see how many times you can throw it w/o dropping it or how fast you can throw it w/o dropping it to gain achievements. This is just imo tho, I never got into the game really cause it all felt like a grind. And most people I grouped w/ ended up being from the 9-15 age range, which is 90% never fun. And yes, I had 2 lvl 55's so I got to see the gist of the game.

Basically, now that I got my rant out of the way, what i'm trying to say is, if the game can still be pretty while offering a game that truly involves the character and makes them feel like they are a part of something real or bigger, instead of just having them get Item X of Destruction, I'd be willing to pay up to 15. In the end, it's really about the road you take, not the destination, that I think is the most important part in any MMO.

 

Guild War 1-4. Enough Said.

 

They have a different buisness model. They make you pay for content updates. It doesn't change the fact that buying a game does not entitle you to continued service.

 

10-15$ and add a 5$ tax every month sounds the best choice to me.

 

Cd Key For WoW Is $9 On Ebay.
It Comes With One Free Month Of WoW.
Which In Essense Means You Are Getting $6 Discount On Your First Month And No Up - Front Cost.
And Wow Does Have A Free Trial Period.

So According To What You Said It Means That You Should Like Wow.

 

In that case, wouldn't paying for online gaming service just another business model? They make you pay for the server maintenance costs which can be quite costly. Don't get me wrong I am in no way supporting P2P (pay to play), but I will be willing pay a service fee to company that maintains their servers well, and that the game itself is decently made. So far, I have not see a game that deserves my monthly fee, because all the contents that the P2P games offer can be substituted with Free Games else where, if all else fails there are private servers.

 

And that's fine. My problem is with the people who seem to imply that they should be allowed to utilize MMO servers without paying for it. Perhaps they are overpriced, and that is a fair argument to make (though the point made earlier about lowering the price for marginal user increases is stupid buisness), but that doesn't support the argument that the services should be free.

 

I'm perfectly fine with paying up to $15 a month for a GREAT mmo. That said, WoW should lower itself down to around $10 now. It is very good, but I don't feel that it is worth $15 a month anymore. Not that I'm canceling my account yet...

From playing several of the big, free MMO's... I have to say I'd rather pay for a game that has much better servers which also have a ton of people on them. I remember playing Silk Road and I really couldn't stand it, as the servers were so bad.

 

Also I think Important Factor In Success Of WoW Is Epic Lore That Continues The Story That Started In Warcraft 1.

I Don't Want To Play Some New Game With Some Made Up Characters, That Are Basically All Look Similiar And Battle Stereotypical Bad Guys, In A New Stereotypical StoryLine That They Made Up.

I Guess I Started To Believe In Blizzard StoryLine When I Was A Child And Played Such Games As Warcraft 2 And Now It Made Me Care About This Franchise, And I'm More Sceptical Of New Games Because I Realise Its Just Quickly Made Up Stories To Get Cash Out Of People. I Guess When Your A Child Your More Believable About Stuff Like This.

 

I suspect the 'epic' lore in warcraft has little to do with the game's success. In fact, I bet 99% of the players have little clue about the story line. I played a character up to 58 and I still don't have any idea what the 'world of warcraft' is all about.

The lore in any given MMO might attract a few players initially, but if the game sucks no one will stick around to play it. I didn't start playing WoW because I was a big fan of the 'lore' (i didn't even know there was warcraft 'lore,' i thought it was just a strategy game with a story thrown in as an after-thought), nor did anyone I know start playing the game because they were warcraft fans. It was just a fun game that everyone was talking about. Thats all.

 

Just Because You Didn't Hear About It Doesn't Mean It Wasn't A Factor. Alot Of People In My Guild Were In Their 20's And 30's And They Played Warcraft Franchise From The Beginning And They Started To Play It.
First People Who Play Blizzard Franchise And Everquest 1 From Sony Franchise Started To Play Wow And Form Strong Raid Guilds, Then All The Noob Players Started To Play WoW Because They See Their Friends Playing It Much Like You Did.

 

I don't want to be a jerk or English police here, but dude...

Either capitalize correctly or don't capitalize at all.

 

I've been waiting for someone to say that...


In any case, the 15 dollar fee for games such as WoW is for the constant update and development to the game. Before a game goes on sale, people program the game, make environments, enemies etc. The folks over at Blizzard do this just not starting from scratch. So if you pay for a game initially, why wouldn't you pay more to get more? You arent entitled to new content without pay unless the company wants to take a hit, it costs money to make the updates...

I think of the fee as more like paying for an expansion, you just get the content gradually instead of all at once and pay gradually.

That being said one of the reasons I quit WoW was the monthly fee, I can have more fun in other games for just the initial cost of the game. But I can't really see a solution to this except for HG:L's style, free online with minimal updates, or pay to play online and get more updates that give you new areas to explore and what not. My preferred solution would be free with advertising but who wants to loot Best Buys Sword of the Beheader from a dungeon boss?

As far as the lore is concerned, I could care less about a story unless it really makes a difference. I hardly know anything about the "lore" in WoW and it wouldn't really make a difference to me if i did. Whats great about that game is you can do your own thing and nobody really cares. Now strictly single player games are a different story.

 

This Is What Happens When You Type In All Caps. The Forum Spares The Rest Of Us By Only Keeping The First Capital Letter In Every Word. You Try It Now.

Loud Noises!!!

Any amount is a fair amount. If you don't like the price, don't pay for the game or membership. Obviously if you're paying $15/month, then it means that the game is worth that much to you. It's up to the company to find the optimal amount to charge the customer for the best profits. The reason MMORPGS charge monthly is because they are constantly upgraded with new stuff every few months. Unlike single-pay games, MMOs still have programmers and developers working on them long after they're released. Obviously this puts a cost on the company, which then is rightfully passed onto the user.

 

Besides added content, the monthly fee goes into server costs. These aren't your CoD4 or UT3 server..they're huge server farms utilizing enormous bandwidth. I've seen mention of GW but imo GW isn't an MMO. It's server model has more in common with games like TF2 or CoD4 except they're maintained by the game company. There is no persistant outside world with multiple seamless zones that can support hundreds of players which is what an MMO is.

That said I think $15/mth is too much for any game. And like one person mentioned I rather see no upfront cost but just a monthly fee.

 

Well, obviously the 10+ million people playing WoW don't find that to be true. Blizzard has no incentive to drop prices when demand is that high.

 

yeah of course not..Blizzard is pushing crack and like any good addict a few more $$ is nothing to them .

 

I have no idea if I am older than most people here perhaps, but I make what I would call a decent amount of money, I have my own place, my own car, £9 a month for WoW doesn't concern me. If it did I wouldn't pay but to be honest the amount of time I spend on WoW and the amount of real updates blizzard make to the game, the GMs who resolve issues and all sorts, having official game servers that work and work well (generally) make it worth the money in my eyes. I have no problem with paying, but it's got to be a game I really like. Games I have paid monthly for are WoW, Ultima Online and City of Heroes.

On the other hand something like battlefield where they dont have official servers once the game is out of it's main time for play, they don't release a lot of updates and it's all generally based on smaller servers and much more user servers, I wouldn't pay for that.

 

Didn't mean to paint all WoW players with a broad stroke. Am a former WoW player myself . I have a friend who plays it who uses to play slots at casinos all the time, now he plays WoW instead and saves way more $$ and his wife is happier for that. And yeah 15/mth is not bad but with 15/mth they should do away with the initial cost of the game. Its quite cheap now so not much an issue but it was 60 when it came out.

 

WoW Does Not Have Up - Front Cost:

U Pay Only $9 For The Game Which Comes With Free Month, So You Get $6 Discount On The 1ST Month.

 

When I bought WoW back in October it cost me 20 bucks, that came with 1 month of service, so I payed 5 dollars up front. This was form a local EB.

 

Read my post - I said its cheaper now so that is moot far as WoW was concerned. Any game that's been out for 3-4 years is gonna be heavily discounted not just WoW. Hell even year old games are heavily discounted.

But any new MMORPG including WoW when it first came up all had and will continue to have up front cost which cost as much as any new game.

 

The Discussion Is About Reasonable Price To Pay For Current MMO's Not Just MMO's That Just Came Out.

And To The Above Poster You Could Of Saved Yourself $11 If You Just Get CD Key Of Off Ebay For $9.

 

lol those wow fanbois are coming in hard. This discussion is about ALL MMOs not just WoW. WoW is not the only MMO out there but it seems a few are intent on turning this into a WoW thread..
Save $11? I quit that game long ago...I started when it first came out - good luck finding a key for $9 then.

 

This Topic Was Created On April 28 2008 And I'm Talking About Prices Of WoW As Of Now, Because The Topic Didn't Ask About Price Of MMO's From Several Years Ago.

 

Is your capslock key broken? Cause we an help you fix that.

An upfront cost is fair for MMOs, as first, you're paying for the development of the game before it's released, and second, not all MMOs are successful, and thus the company takes a great deal of risk if they only charge a monthly fee.

 

You proved my point...WoW is just one MMO. I was speaking of MMOs in general till ppl start bringing up WoW. This thread didn't specifically mention WoW or any game in particular. Also you fail to mention of any expansion pack that comes out will be full price - that's up front cost too.
One new expansion pack a year and Blizzard charges full price - I'm surprised they didn't just give away the original game for free.

Also for those defending the cost of MMOs they fail to mention that its possible to recuperate those costs. A decked out caccount can be sold for hundreds in real money ..as I did with mine in EQ(even tho its against EULA).

To me the real cost isn't in monetary terms..the real cost is the time these games seem to require. To me that's worth alot more than the 15/mth. It's up to the individual how much time they want to put into it and how valuable they see their time as.

 

Frankly, if I just paid $50 for a game, they can kiss my *** by asking for more money to be allowed to play it. If they are going to charge me, then let me download/pickup the software for free. Guild Wars doesn't have to charge, and has plenty of content and good servers.. there is no need for any monthly charge.

 

Again, you have to realize that this is a very good pricing model. Quite frankly, there's "overpriced" doesn't exist in entertainment. You never NEED entertainment, so whatever you're paying must be a justified price - otherwise you wouldn't pay it.

The MMO payment model works just fine - you pay, and the game world is constantly updated with new stuff.

 

WoW Just One Of The MMO's Currently Availiable Which Make It A Valid Choice To Consider Amongst All The Others And The Prices Are Current.