newsfeed: Old Republic Pricing to Have "Twists"

[News]

Last week at Game Developer’s Conference, BioWare General Manager Dr. Ray Muzyka spoke to gaming blog Kotaku about the pricing plan for their upcoming MMO. While he clarified that they have not announced anything regarding their payment model, he commented that it would “be more of the traditional business model with maybe some twists [...]

 

Read the full story at starwarsmmo.net...

[RogueJedi86]

Please no "twists". Just give me a straight monthly fee, no tricks. I don't want microtransactions, MMOs that use that tend to not be traditional in scope(like Free Realms, a hard casual focus). I could accept paid race changes perhaps(like WoW), but I don't want anything involving game items bought for real money.

 

Unless of course these twists are intended to confound the efforts of goldfarmers, in which case I'd have to see what they have planned so I can properly judge.

[Web Rider]

I don't mind a few micro's(pets, decorations, costumes), I just don't want to see "premium members". I don't want to know that because Joe pays an extra 10 bucks a month, his character is always gonna be faster, stronger and better geared than everyone else.

[RogueJedi86]

I oppose the pets/decorations/costumes too though, because casuals love that stuff, I love them, and I don't want to pay extra for them. They're no big deal to gear-oriented players, but they are a big deal to the casual types. If you let the casual stuff be buyable, you better let gear be buyable too. You can't just advocate microtransactions for the stuff you don't care about.

[Jeff]

I oppose the pets/decorations/costumes too though, because casuals love that stuff, I love them, and I don't want to pay extra for them. They're no big deal to gear-oriented players, but they are a big deal to the casual types. If you let the casual stuff be buyable, you better let gear be buyable too. You can't just advocate microtransactions for the stuff you don't care about.

I don't think it's the stuff he doesn't care about, it's stuff that has no effect on the game past aesthetics. There would be a lot of griping about players buying the best gear if that was allowed, but I don't see anything wrong with them giving you the choice between either doing a quest or paying for certain vanity items.

[RogueJedi86]

Why not statted items? It'd be like legendaries in WoW, eventually you'd outlevel them and have to get more, so the effect had is minimal. Pets have an effect for some people. Like the Blizzard Game Store pets, those count towards the pet achievements, which is an in-game advantage for achievement hunters. Maybe I don't care about where the top level raiders get their gear, be it from super hard mode raids or from just buying them. Whatever floats their boats, it doesn't affect me. If raiders could buy gear, it'd trivialize the achievement of getting gear from bosses, which I feel similarly about pets and other cosmetic things.

 

So I'm saying you can't do microtransactions for just one group and expect everyone to be happy. Thus I say don't do them at all. I like pets, I like having unique looks, I wouldn't want to pay extra for those. You don't want to pay money for gear, I don't wanna pay money for pets and cosmetic clothing options.

 

So please, no tricks, let's just do a straight monthly fee and avoid the polarizing controversy of MT.

[Jeff]

Well who knows if TOR will even have achievements (yes I know it probably will), or maybe any items you get with microtransactions won't be related to achievements. But maybe there won't be any microtransactions at all, from what he said though I do expect there to be something aside from a monthly fee.

[RogueJedi86]

Technically WoW does have microtransactions, though hidden away in the form of Server Transfers and Race Changes and Character Recustomization. If you count those, I would be fine with TOR having those sorts of things you pay for, even if a sex change seems like it'd be too story-ruining(at least for romance) to allow as an option. But I'd be fine with the usual amenities from WoW that don't have a real effect in the game at all. Just no actual items in the game.

[Gurges-Ahter]

I don't mind a few micro's(pets, decorations, costumes), I just don't want to see "premium members". I don't want to know that because Joe pays an extra 10 bucks a month, his character is always gonna be faster, stronger and better geared than everyone else.

 

This is also how I feel. I don't care if microtransactions only affect aesthetics.

[RogueJedi86]

What if all statted gear looked like crap, but you could spend real money to upgrade their appearance to look like something cool? Would that be okay? It's pure aesthetics. Just buy an item that you use on your gear to change their appearance to something cool. Aesthetics are optional, we could wear tattered rags so long as they have great stats. *minor edit* (To clarify on my point there, raider-types and other non-casuals also like aesthetic/cosmetic stuff to an extent too. It ain't just the casuals who like to look neat.)

 

I really would prefer if they just didn't touch the MT stuff at all beyond my previous post's conceits of some of the stuff WoW has done.

[Darth Eclipse]

Please no "twists". Just give me a straight monthly fee, no tricks. I don't want microtransactions, MMOs that use that tend to not be traditional in scope(like Free Realms, a hard casual focus). I could accept paid race changes perhaps(like WoW), but I don't want anything involving game items bought for real money.

 

Unless of course these twists are intended to confound the efforts of goldfarmers, in which case I'd have to see what they have planned so I can properly judge.

 

I agree, I don't mind the montly/yearly fee, but I CAN'T STAND when companies make me pay extra for in-game items. It's one thing if it's a free game and then they make you pay real money for certain items (like DDO) but I really hope that ToR doesn't do anything except a normal monthly fee.

[logan23]

Hey,

Im new to mmos so bear with me.

 

I was thinking if they had a monthy fee but it cost less if you are limited to one character. If you want 2 it cost blank. Then it cost blank for unlimited characters.

 

I dont know if most people have only one character in these or a few.

[RogueJedi86]

FFXI kinda has that. The monthly fee is only like 12.99 by default with just one character. Each additional character is another $1 a month added to your monthly fee. It helps that in FFXI, you can be all classes on a single character, so you don't even have to make other characters.

[logan23]

True, but here they could gain 7 extra dollars a month if person make one character per class unless they pay the monthy that gives unlimite which would give you a savings like when you buy bulk items in a real life store.

[RogueJedi86]

Now that I think about it, I have a new theory that BioWare could potentially do as a twist on pricing. I'm not one of them "We need a KotOR3 instead of TOR!!!" fanboys, but imagine if you can buy the base game and play through the game like a single-player game with no other players for just the price of the base game, no monthly fee. But to get the periodic content updates and bugfixes and group play that are common to MMOs, you'd have to subscribe up and pay the monthly fee? That could be a "twist" that would appease the single-player crowd. Plus curiosity may even tempt them to go for the full subscription plan and play the MMO part of the game. Hell, that could be the entire basis of free trials for the game(though more limited, like a traditional single player game demo, ie just being able to play the starting world for trials).

 

I would also suggest possibly limiting you to playing only a single class if you don't subscribe up, unlocking the option to play multiple classes via going the monthly fee route. Either way, I think it's a neat twist of a suggestion.

[logan23]

Interesting, but they want to help merge and hold the hands of single players and mmo vets to get each use to and interested in the aspects of both. There will be a monthy fee no matter, it they did not have this TOR would fail, and lose a lot of money. Im sure they are looking to retain as many players as possible, through opional fee systems. Bioware was a good amount of leway since EA has already put so much money in,...EA is trusting Bioware and thier track record.

 

it will be interesting....

[RogueJedi86]

I imagine a lot of single player TOR players would get curious about the MMO part of the game eventually though, wanting to check out those sweet content updates the game gets after launch. Other MMOs have experimented with limited trial options, and one way for TOR to do it is to deliver on the RPG and get people to subscribe for all the perks of the MMO. Bridging the gap between MMO and RPG.

 

I personally would still play TOR as an MMO from day 1, along with all the WoW players who come over, and pretty much anyone who's ever played an MMORPG for any period of time. TOR wouldn't fail with the option I say. But I'm just thinking of Twists on pricing, and since I hate Microtransactions, I see this kind of bridge as another option.

[logan23]

I understand your point.

 

One idea they are looking into i bet is pre order TOR and get some bonus..etc since this has been used in other bioware games. What this could be i do not know.

[Web Rider]

I oppose the pets/decorations/costumes too though, because casuals love that stuff, I love them, and I don't want to pay extra for them. They're no big deal to gear-oriented players, but they are a big deal to the casual types. If you let the casual stuff be buyable, you better let gear be buyable too. You can't just advocate microtransactions for the stuff you don't care about.

 

Actually, I think I can advocate for anything to be, or not be. My only stipulation is that anything you can buy can also be achieved through gameplay. Sure, in theory I'd be fine with everything you can do in the game to be also buyable, but I know this would make the game unfun.

 

Why not statted items? It'd be like legendaries in WoW, eventually you'd outlevel them and have to get more, so the effect had is minimal. Pets have an effect for some people. Like the Blizzard Game Store pets, those count towards the pet achievements, which is an in-game advantage for achievement hunters. Maybe I don't care about where the top level raiders get their gear, be it from super hard mode raids or from just buying them. Whatever floats their boats, it doesn't affect me. If raiders could buy gear, it'd trivialize the achievement of getting gear from bosses, which I feel similarly about pets and other cosmetic things.

In many games, the "achievement" of getting gear is idiotic. Try a Korean MMO sometime. You think running Naxx 10 times over(successfuly, not counting the hundreds of fail raids) is bad? You can farm whole raids in some korean games a thousand times and NEVER get a good drop. WoW practically gives gear away in comparison.

 

So I'm saying you can't do microtransactions for just one group and expect everyone to be happy. Thus I say don't do them at all. I like pets, I like having unique looks, I wouldn't want to pay extra for those. You don't want to pay money for gear, I don't wanna pay money for pets and cosmetic clothing options.

Not doing them at all will equally not leave everyone happy. Having a micro-trans option does not force you to use it. So I say: you don't want it? Don't buy it. Play the game normally.

 

So please, no tricks, let's just do a straight monthly fee and avoid the polarizing controversy of MT.

It's strange that the United States(and to a lesser extent, Canada and Europe), is the only place where this controversy and objection to MTs exists. Everywhere else has them, and doesn't mind.

 

Well who knows if TOR will even have achievements (yes I know it probably will),

 

They do seem to be the new "flavor of the month" when it comes to gaming. I think achievements are pointless and only a new way for gamers with no life to show off their e-peen.

 

Technically WoW does have microtransactions, though hidden away in the form of Server Transfers and Race Changes and Character Recustomization. If you count those, I would be fine with TOR having those sorts of things you pay for, even if a sex change seems like it'd be too story-ruining(at least for romance) to allow as an option. But I'd be fine with the usual amenities from WoW that don't have a real effect in the game at all. Just no actual items in the game.

 

We are each playing our own stories from what I can tell, much like Guild Wars, and only certain aspects are Massively Multiplayer. So changing something within your own story is relevant only to yourself.

 

What if all statted gear looked like crap, but you could spend real money to upgrade their appearance to look like something cool? Would that be okay? It's pure aesthetics. Just buy an item that you use on your gear to change their appearance to something cool. Aesthetics are optional, we could wear tattered rags so long as they have great stats. *minor edit* (To clarify on my point there, raider-types and other non-casuals also like aesthetic/cosmetic stuff to an extent too. It ain't just the casuals who like to look neat.)

 

I really would prefer if they just didn't touch the MT stuff at all beyond my previous post's conceits of some of the stuff WoW has done.

 

No MMO would do that. Why? Because it knows the first thing people are going to do is buy the game. The second thing they're going to do is spend a gawd-awful amount of time installing it, signing up, registering, playing with races/looks/ect...and then they're going to play it.

 

At no point in that equation does "I want to pay more money to look cooler" come into play. If it did, it would kill the game outright in an instant.

[RogueJedi86]

Most of the Western MMO audience is opposed to Microtransactions. That same Western audience is also the one where monthly fees are well-established. Eastern MMOs may be fine with microtransactions, but they also don't have monthly fee, preferring instead things like "pay as you play" options.

 

Champions Online tried having both a monthly fee and microtransactions, it ended up pissing off a lot of people. I would think BioWare would've learned a thing or 2 from the backlash of Champions Online doing a mix of both.

[Web Rider]

Most of the Western MMO audience is opposed to Microtransactions. That same Western audience is also the one where monthly fees are well-established. Eastern MMOs may be fine with microtransactions, but they also don't have monthly fee, preferring instead things like "pay as you play" options.

Many "eastern" MMOs have monthly fees in addition to MTs.

 

Champions Online tried having both a monthly fee and microtransactions, it ended up pissing off a lot of people. I would think BioWare would've learned a thing or 2 from the backlash of Champions Online doing a mix of both.

 

Fees and Microtrans did not piss of Champions players. A horridly buggy game combind with bad support from developers paired with unbalanced gameplay, huge content holes, and many of the achievements being grindfests(kill 10,000 of X to get "special helmet"!) are what pissed people off.

 

Most Champions players don't give two cents about there being a monthly fee and microtrans. They are pissed because they game was terrible and support was nonexistant. I should know, I play CO.

[RogueJedi86]

Well a lot of potential CO players got angry at the mix of monthly fees and micros. The reason the current CO players don't care is because all the ones who cared quit early on. And either way on the Asian thing, they're more receptive to micros there, but not here. Maybe BioWare can do micros for the Asian-located subscribers, but it doesn't fly in the West. It's hard to name a single mainstream MMO that is popular in the West and also uses micros. FreeRealms is the biggest, with millions of players, but it's still considered a niche casual thing by the regular MMO-ers.

[Jeff]

Well a lot of potential CO players got angry at the mix of monthly fees and micros. The reason the current CO players don't care is because all the ones who cared quit early on. And either way on the Asian thing, they're more receptive to micros there, but not here. Maybe BioWare can do micros for the Asian-located subscribers, but it doesn't fly in the West. It's hard to name a single mainstream MMO that is popular in the West and also uses micros. FreeRealms is the biggest, with millions of players, but it's still considered a niche casual thing by the regular MMO-ers.

I think D&D Online recently went free-to-play with micros, but I don't know how popular it's become aside from hearing it's doing better than it was w/ a subscription. So I don't think you can say they don't "fly" in the West, most games have just not attempted them (1 example of Champions isn't enough to say they don't work here). I think it also depends on the playerbase, an older (25+) group probably doesn't care either way as a lot of them are in the disposable income group, but micros would probably make it harder for players still in high school and stuff.

[True_Avery]

I don't mind a few micro's(pets, decorations, costumes), I just don't want to see "premium members". I don't want to know that because Joe pays an extra 10 bucks a month, his character is always gonna be faster, stronger and better geared than everyone else.

This.

 

The monthly fee plus the Micro-transactions for, hopefully, just aesthetic stuff means more money for the developers. This hopefully means more employees, more moderators, more programmers, and so on. If it does well, it can equal more content, more patches, and greater support of the game.

 

Sure, go ahead. Maybe if some of the stuff is neat enough I'll grab a few things. As long as it, as Web said, doesn't unbalance the game through purchases.

 

Champions Online tried having both a monthly fee and microtransactions, it ended up pissing off a lot of people. I would think BioWare would've learned a thing or 2 from the backlash of Champions Online doing a mix of both.

Having played CO, I can say with some backing that the micro transactions were a very small thing off with the game compared to the sea of issues. Like, say, a good game outside of the character creator (which is, admittedly, awesome).

 

Well a lot of potential CO players got angry at the mix of monthly fees and micros. The reason the current CO players don't care is because all the ones who cared quit early on.

http://www.nizkor.org/features/fallacies/confusing-cause-and-effect.html

 

CO started off bad because people realized when it opened that it was just a slightly shiner, buggier City of Heroes with little to no end-game support, grind-tastic missions, and some seriously unbalanced multi-player.

 

The game is fun, but it just isn't that good.

 

Maybe BioWare can do micros for the Asian-located subscribers, but it doesn't fly in the West. It's hard to name a single mainstream MMO that is popular in the West and also uses micros.

D&D Online and World of Warcraft.

[adamqd]

Don't know if its just me but Its been so long and we've had so little real info that I really don't care about any updates or news now... I've completely lost interest. The website is all about Fan Friday, crap comics and 20,000 posts a second (So you cant really discuss anything).

 

How I pay for it is the least of my worries, as I don't see any information on whether its even a game I'll enjoy lol.