How should we pay for the game?

[SW01]

If a monthly fee is going to make it more likely that we get more content, if it can be proven to keep out time-wasters, I will pay it (though grudgingly). Provided, of course, it is not obscenely high.

[Guest DarthMaulUK]

I would imagine it being a monthly fee. So long as they have lots of payment options

(Various credit/debit cards, paypal, hot air), this will make it better. It took Galaxies/SOE far too long to introduce a variety of payment options, which only hindered the game

[Teiraa]

  Hallucination said:

On a semi-related note, wasn't the lifetime membership for LotRO only available before the game was released?

The lifetime subscription was available for $199 for those who pre-ordered.

Not long after launch, a new liftetime offer available for everyone appeared (at $299), which is still going on.

Since then, Turbine has been offering a discounted lifetime subscription for $199 on several occasions (e. g. for pre-ordering the expansion).

[Hallucination]

  Teiraa said:

The lifetime subscription was available for $199 for those who pre-ordered.

Not long after launch, a new liftetime offer available for everyone appeared (at $299), which is still going on.

Since then, Turbine has been offering a discounted lifetime subscription for $199 on several occasions (e. g. for pre-ordering the expansion).

Thank you, I just heard that and I thought it was a bit dumb to invest $200 in an MMO that hadn't been released at the time.

[Teiraa]

  Hallucination said:

Thank you, I just heard that and I thought it was a bit dumb to invest $200 in an MMO that hadn't been released at the time.

That is correct. But many people getting the founder lifetime subscription had been in beta for months, so they knew the game pretty well before release.

[PaintOnASign]

If this game was free, I wouldn't play it. If I have to buy an expansion every 3-6 months or "The Old Republic 2" (like Guild Wars), I wont be playing it. People need to realize what exactly they're paying for when there's a subscription cost. Everything requires an upkeep. I'm happier knowing my money/month goes to the staff in charge of the game, knowing full well that while I'm supplying money, they're still continuing to update and progress the game further.

[igyman]

For me to ever consider buying a MMO game, it would have to be option d, like Guild Wars (though I haven't bought Guild Wars yet, but I have considered it). However, like Jae said, the sad truth is that it will most likely be option b, Like WoW.

[Commander Obi-Wan]

I am some-what interested in this game, so preferably I'd like it to be either C or D. I'm not a big fan of the monthly fees.

[Web Rider]

  PaintOnASign said:

If this game was free, I wouldn't play it. If I have to buy an expansion every 3-6 months or "The Old Republic 2" (like Guild Wars), I wont be playing it. People need to realize what exactly they're paying for when there's a subscription cost. Everything requires an upkeep. I'm happier knowing my money/month goes to the staff in charge of the game, knowing full well that while I'm supplying money, they're still continuing to update and progress the game further.

 

Mathematically, I find it improbable that a game requires 150 million(15 a month x 10 million users, assuming they pay at least once a year for a month) dollars a year to upkeep, even if only half of that is upkeep and half is profit. Given that many players pay for more than once a month a year, we're probably looking at 300 million annually. That's a LOT of money. The movie Titanic only cost 100 million more.

[Hallucination]

Just an FYI, Blizzard does not make 150 million a month, because the cost of subscription is different in various places and not everyone has the same options (i.e. in China you pay by the hour).