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Zeraph · 12-20-2009, 05:10 PM

So we've been talking about gameplay, but what about business models? What do you want to see? ~$50 + free month + ~$15 each month after? Free to download and play at low levels but pay per month to unlock the rest? Cash shop? Pay per content unlock ala guild wars?

I'm really not sure personally. I really, *really* dislike the current popular model of $50 + $15 per month (especially when you throw in the $40-50 expansions). Seems like a total ripoff (I could be totally wrong of course). In the old days it made sense because of how insanely costly bandwidth was. Now though servers, bandwidth, and even employees are all cheaper. Yet the costs haven't gone down at all. Basically stayed the same (in time with inflation).

Cash shops generally suck, though I suppose if they did it right... so long as you didn't get any undue advantages and still paid reasonable amounts.

I'd like to see some sort of hybrid system. I think MMORPGs should definitely be free to download and initially play. They tend to end up that way pretty quickly anyway. The reason being is that unlike most games, MMORPGs rely on new people way way more, otherwise the game becomes quite stale and goes in a downward spiral (see warhammer).

So for costs, I'd say some sort of low monthly cost, about 5 bucks or so. Then add a cash shop, but only for non essential items, just for a way for the company to make extra cash for those with money to burn. Also, some sort of content unlock, not a lot at once, but many mini-expansion like unlocks here and there for ~$10 instead of doing full expansions that cost $40 one month and $10 6 months later. This will also help keep long boring dry periods away and let people play more at their own pace.

So in summary, use every option available but scale down the $ way more. Best of all worlds hopefully. Leave some parts of the game perma unlocked so people can come back and visit friends without paying per month, this hopefully wets their apetite as well as keeps the game populated. I'd probably still be playing WoW if they had used this model. I think all MMOs need some sort of free (but not fully unlocked) way to go back and check things out.

MMORPGs are like social networks such as facebook or myspace, they need a way to pull people into the drama. Esepcially to draw old players back between major expansions. The best way to do this is to make some parts of it free (and not just trial accounts for new players).

12-20-2009, 05:10 PM	#91 (permalink)
Zeraph Banned Location: The Cosmos	So we've been talking about gameplay, but what about business models? What do you want to see? ~$50 + free month + ~$15 each month after? Free to download and play at low levels but pay per month to unlock the rest? Cash shop? Pay per content unlock ala guild wars? I'm really not sure personally. I really, really dislike the current popular model of $50 + $15 per month (especially when you throw in the $40-50 expansions). Seems like a total ripoff (I could be totally wrong of course). In the old days it made sense because of how insanely costly bandwidth was. Now though servers, bandwidth, and even employees are all cheaper. Yet the costs haven't gone down at all. Basically stayed the same (in time with inflation). Cash shops generally suck, though I suppose if they did it right... so long as you didn't get any undue advantages and still paid reasonable amounts. I'd like to see some sort of hybrid system. I think MMORPGs should definitely be free to download and initially play. They tend to end up that way pretty quickly anyway. The reason being is that unlike most games, MMORPGs rely on new people way way more, otherwise the game becomes quite stale and goes in a downward spiral (see warhammer). So for costs, I'd say some sort of low monthly cost, about 5 bucks or so. Then add a cash shop, but only for non essential items, just for a way for the company to make extra cash for those with money to burn. Also, some sort of content unlock, not a lot at once, but many mini-expansion like unlocks here and there for ~$10 instead of doing full expansions that cost $40 one month and $10 6 months later. This will also help keep long boring dry periods away and let people play more at their own pace. So in summary, use every option available but scale down the $ way more. Best of all worlds hopefully. Leave some parts of the game perma unlocked so people can come back and visit friends without paying per month, this hopefully wets their apetite as well as keeps the game populated. I'd probably still be playing WoW if they had used this model. I think all MMOs need some sort of free (but not fully unlocked) way to go back and check things out. MMORPGs are like social networks such as facebook or myspace, they need a way to pull people into the drama. Esepcially to draw old players back between major expansions. The best way to do this is to make some parts of it free (and not just trial accounts for new players). Last edited by Zeraph; 12-20-2009 at 05:19 PM..