gaming fees...?

[Zelda_fan]

Well, the free month costs $45.

well if you insist on looking at it from that angle then you will never be able to enjoy a great game. The game and the free month cost $45.

It's just that a MMORPG offers so much more than any other game I have played. I don't think I've ever played an offline game that has a world even 1/5th the size of WoW. Morrowind was the closest, but World of Warcraft is freaking enoumous. The game has so many different things to do, and different aspects to master, it stays a new game for months upon month. For me, games get real old the second after I beat them. It is RARE that I will ever replay a FPS once I've beaten it. I mean what's the point after I've already beaten it? Now I will admit things like Unreal 2k4 I like becasuse you can't master after playing online once. Yeah, you can replay HL 50 times, but to me that is just boring. I need something new, so WoW is right up my alley.

For me the choice is this: either buy a new game every month (most of which I finish in 5 days max) for $50 a month, or I can play $13 a month for a game that will never get old. When it get's old, I will quit, but I don't see that happening for at least 6 months.

You really *ought* to at least try the game before saying MMORPGs aren't for you. Just give it a shot, and if you don't like it, cancel your subscription.

[superklye]

Except that with MMOs, the devs, as we all know, end up effing up everything at some point after they nerf and counter-nerf and counter-counter-nerf...

With an offline game, such as WC3, if you don't like what the latest patch offers, you don't have to install it, you can go back to previous versions and if you want to play online with that previous version, you can play a LAN game with friends.

WC3 is pretty limitless in scope, too.

[Zelda_fan]

Except that with MMOs, the devs, as we all know, end up effing up everything at some point after they nerf and counter-nerf and counter-counter-nerf...

With an offline game, such as WC3, if you don't like what the latest patch offers, you don't have to install it, you can go back to previous versions and if you want to play online with that previous version, you can play a LAN game with friends.

WC3 is pretty limitless in scope, too.

Yeah WC3 was for sure a great game, and with battle .net you could keep playing for months. I really, really hope Blizzard dosen't pull that nerf counter nerf **** with WoW. IMHO all the classes are very well balanced (not perfect, but about as balanced as you can get). The open beta is for testing game balance issues, not the retail product. If they start the nerfing, then I may just cancel my subscription.

[LiquidX]

I dont buy what some of you say that the price must be that high to maintain there servers. I wouldnt be surprised if it cost them just a few thousand a month for maintanece. I think there just reached that point where they are taken advantage of those with no life and addicted. And you know these guys would get alot more hold outs if the price was $9.99.Thats just about $3 or so less but seems more affordable coming from a marketing standpoint. If WOW was at that price point I may have looked harder at it but he Blizzard has about 200,000 eager dudes that are willing to pay that $13 so the hell if I matter. :cool:

[saturnotaku]

Im guessing you haven't played the game yet, THe Expansive worls are nothing more then "missions" once completed you return to town (lobby). Buttloads of people only happen in town which are still limited to below 100 (think around 50), in the mission area you can only expore with 4 people or battle our with 2 or 3 teams... thats not massive at all...

Guild/Clans happen in EVERY online game, can they too be considered MMO's then?

Guild Wars is NOTHING more then a Diablo 2 type game with a graphic INGAME lobby and a few extra features. Its no where near as massive or OPEN as EQ/WoW/AO or any other MMORPG. Guild Wars is running on Arena.net... not a closed Network like a MMORPG, consider it like Battle.net.

Guild Wars is a Competitive Online Role-Playing Game, Not a Massive Mulitplayer Online Role-Playing Game.

You're arguing semantics and completely missed my entire point of the need for bandwidth and server maintenance on both counts. It doesn't matter what people are doing, they're still sucking up server space and bandwidth when logged onto the game. There could be 10,000 people playing WoW as well as Guild Wars, doesn't mean they all have to be concentrated in a few large areas. There were at least 35 different cities when I played the GW beta, and there were more than 50 people in each one (probably around 150-200 if I had to estimate).

[WeReWoLf]

I've played WoW for about 320 hours since christmas eve.

[Zelda_fan]

I dont buy what some of you say that the price must be that high to maintain there servers. I wouldnt be surprised if it cost them just a few thousand a month for maintanece. I think there just reached that point where they are taken advantage of those with no life and addicted. And you know these guys would get alot more hold outs if the price was $9.99.Thats just about $3 or so less but seems more affordable coming from a marketing standpoint. If WOW was at that price point I may have looked harder at it but he Blizzard has about 200,000 eager dudes that are willing to pay that $13 so the hell if I matter. :cool:

oh yeah they are taking advantage of us for a whopping $13 a month....

You know how much an internet connection capeable of supporting a MMORPG costs? The internet connection alone is probably 50k per month. Not only that, but they had to put an initial truckload of money investment into the server equitment which I estimate costs around $1/2 million per realm, so that's around 30 million just to buy the servers. They also have to hire extra programmers and artists to continue developing content for future updates.

[PaiN]

No life??? hahahaha
I've been a Respiratory Therapist for 14 years, have a wife & two kids, own my house and I am well invested. I even work out( yep....real exercise ;)) everyday. I find time to play, plenty of time...I guess its because I don't watch TV, but whatever the case, its a total misconception that people who play "on-line" are pasty basement dwellers....all the EQers and WoWers I know are all professionals or students working on becoming professionals, with a perfectly normal lifes.... :p

[Zelda_fan]

I've played WoW for about 320 hours since christmas eve.

good lord, and I though I was addicted lol

[WeReWoLf]

yah. and that's even with working 40+ hours per week. And my g'f also racking up about 296 hours since i got it as well. (she uses my account)

[Acid Rain]

Lol i thogh QFT ment Quit feeding troll! *lol*

No, everyone knows it mean "Quit Flirting, Tard!"

[Edge]

oh yeah they are taking advantage of us for a whopping $13 a month....

You know how much an internet connection capeable of supporting a MMORPG costs? The internet connection alone is probably 50k per month.

So...they'd only need to sell 2,000 copies of the game a month to make up for the bandwidth costs? That hardly seems unreasonable (assuming half of the retail cost goes into packaging and markup). For other costs, lets say 200,000 people are paying $10 a month to play the game. That right there is $2,000,000, which I think is MORE than enough to cover all the support, server, and patching costs. Hell, many FULL games don't have a budget of $2,000,000, and MMOs make that on a monthly basis. And remember, if the game is gaining enough players that they need even more servers, that just means more income for them.

Though I'll admit, I don't really know how much it costs to run an MMO server. Perhaps you should ask one of these sites: http://www.gamesites200.com/ultimaonline/

[Rakeesh]

You really *ought* to at least try the game before saying MMORPGs aren't for you. Just give it a shot, and if you don't like it, cancel your subscription.

I have already played some different MMORPGs, I was invited to a few beta tests. Several of those games are fun but nothing I would pay a monthly fee for.

[Acid Rain]

I have already played some different MMORPGs, I was invited to a few beta tests. Several of those games are fun but nothing I would pay a monthly fee for.
Kinda like cable or dish t.v. A couple interesting channels but nothing I'd be will to pay a monthly fee for.

You don't expect cable to be free, do you? Why do games with the truly massive upkeep that MMORPGS have need to be free?

I dare Guild Wars to turn a long term profit;)

Some of you guys are saying things like "Well, they could pay for the bandwidth they host by simply selling a couple thousand copies of the game (assuming they aren't warezed to crap, as they are, of course).

So what your saying is that once people are buying like one copy a year (Quake III right now), and the company can't afford to support their game anymore, it's all good because at least they didn't charge?

Also, if you could make a larger profit by simply charging a little for what most people are willing to pay, wouldn't you charge?? Yes, you certainly would.

[LycosV]

MMORPGs are fun, no doubt in my mind. I know servers and bandwidth are expensive. I can remember back at the begining of EQ1 (when I played it) SOE had to get sprint to upgrade one of their hubs in LA because it was bottlenecking them. :) BUT the price is too high.

It doesn't take a degree in economics to see, look how many MMORPGs there are, Look how many have come out in the past year, they're all surviving (even ol' Ultima Online). And guess what, developers aren't done yet, they're making even MORE MMORPGs. Why do developers spam one gametype? It's not to make us happy, let me give you a hint: $.

I've been in quite a few MMORPG betas and almost all of them, during the sign up process, ask how much money you'd spend to play the game. They give you sections like $8-$10, $10-$12, etc. You know what they do is plug in the numbers, throw up a graph and pick the point where they can make the most money. It's what I'd do, it's what you'd do.

Once we start to tell them (and mean it) that we're only willing to pay $10/month, guess what, they'll only charge us $10/month.

[LycosV]

(assuming they aren't warezed to crap, as they are, of course)

Actually MMORPGs are the only games that can't be pirated. You have a CD key that links directly to your account. And if you did somehow generate a CD-key, your account is hooked to your credit card, which is hooked to your personal information. It's like wearing a shirt with your address on it while you're holding up the bank.

edited for spelling

[|MaguS|]

WEll the can't be pirated but someone can have a freeware server made (lineage 2, EQ1,UO and WoW). Some can't though due to the massive amount of info still server side.

[Acid Rain]

CD-key, your account is hooked to your credit card, which is hooked to your personal information.

If they didn't charge a monthly fee, it wouldn't. See what I mean? The companies would dry up in no time. ;)

It's like wearing a shirt with your address on it while you're holding up the bank.

LOL....I got a good laugh visualizing your dumb-ass "thief"!

[Rakeesh]

Kinda like cable or dish t.v. A couple interesting channels but nothing I'd be will to pay a monthly fee for.

I'll pay a monthly fee for that, it is worth it to me. A game isn't though. Besides, you get more than one channel with tv, with mmorpgs you only have that one game. What if you had two favorites and you get bored of one game so you want to hop on over to the other one, then you pay two concurrent monthly subscription fees or smth?

Every now and then I play starcraft (wc3 is kinda ****,) NS, and HL2DM.

If they didn't charge a monthly fee, it wouldn't. See what I mean? The companies would dry up in no time. ;)

If I don't play their game it wont bother me none.

[BioHazZarD]

I prefeer buying a game one time and then i am freely to use it how often or so and dont pay no more. I realize that MMRPGS needs fees and there are lots of people that are willing to pay thats ok, but stop saying that if i want to play doom3 rest of my life i gotta pay like 20 bucks every year otherwise what, i am a bad person ?

[Acid Rain]

I prefeer buying a game one time and then i am freely to use it how often or so and dont pay no more. I realize that MMRPGS needs fees and there are lots of people that are willing to pay thats ok, but stop saying that if i want to play doom3 rest of my life i gotta pay like 20 bucks every year otherwise what, i am a bad person ?
Totally agree. I prefer to pay once and get it over with, too.

If a game is worth it (I haven't quite decided that one is, yet) I'll pay, but, of course, I'd rather not.

Like AlphaHK, if it's not worth it to you, it's pretty easy to ignore, so the issue becomes a non-issue.

Now if they all started requiring internet access like HL2 AND required a monthly fee, I'd be pissed, and I would definitely stop playing. Start building hot-rods or something...

[Slybri]

A good MMO is more like a theme park than a video game. It's a place that you visit, not just a game you play. It's always changing and always alive with activity. WoW had me addicted for 4 months straight and in that time I think I saved up enough money (from not doing anything else) to buy an HDTV.
Of course, after I hit lvl 60 there wasn't much to do besides the same few instances (which I hated doing). So I quit. Maybe I'll go back again one day, when I get bored enough,and they have enough new things to see and do.
From what I hear, they save your characters indefinitley, so you can come back after a few months off.

[|MaguS|]

Way to resurrect a 3 month old thread...

[Elderblaze]

sony station pass for 21.99 will get you acess to 4 MMo's alpha.

[|MaguS|]

Only if you own those MMOs already though...