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Payment system MMo-RPG

Discussion in 'Playground' started by Merlanni, Apr 11, 2009.

  1. Merlanni

    Merlanni Veteran New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!)

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    Remove all ads!
    The monthly fees ruin it for me. Still I played Guild-Wars and liked it for a while. Most people seem to like this system whit the results of WOW as proof.

    I think a new system is in order, one that is based on playing time payed in advance.

    Thoughts?
     
    Merlanni, Apr 11, 2009
    #1
  2. Decados

    Decados The Chosen One

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    I think that could get rather irritating, given the addictive nature of the games. I know that I wouldn't like to find myself keeping an eye on the number of hours played so that I can buy a top-up when they get low. Additionally, for quite a few players, I'm sure that it would work out cheaper to pay for the entire month rather than for individual hours. On top of that, if an occasional player was worried about the cost, then surely a game like Guild Wars, with a one-time fee, would be the obvious answer?

    Something to note is that WoW's increased popularity over GW is unlikely to be because of the payment system, but rather because of game-play differences. The level cap, for example, is 20 in GW but is much higher in WoW. Personally, I hate hitting level caps.

    Are there any significant advantages your proposed change would offer over the other two methods?
     
    Decados, Apr 12, 2009
    #2
  3. NOG (No Other Gods)

    NOG (No Other Gods) Going to church doesn't make you a Christian

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    Personally,I like the Free2Play model of games like Perfect World, Shaiya, and the like.
     
    NOG (No Other Gods), Apr 12, 2009
    #3
  4. joacqin

    joacqin Confused Jerk Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    I used to think that the idea to pay a monthly fee to play a game was horrible but after having been a WoW addict since release and up to a year ago and now a casual player I must say that you it is money well spent. Have not played other MMOs but the amount of content in WoW makes it one of the cheapest forms of entertainment I have encountered. 10€ a month is not a lot of money. Paying for played time is an idea as the play time fluctuate wildly but then it should be like you either pay 10€ a month or you pay 1 cent an hour or something but again, anyone can afford 10€ a month and the amount of content in WoW and I guess most MMOs completely dwarves other games. Even if you are just playing WoW like a singleplayer game and compare it to other games on the market WoW is a better experience than most games out there. Add in the MMO aspect and well, it makes for one extremely addictive and entertaining game experience well worth 10€ a month.
     
    joacqin, Apr 13, 2009
    #4
  5. Taluntain

    Taluntain Resident Alpha and Omega Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Resourceful Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) BoM XenForo Migration Contributor [2015] (for helping support the migration to new forum software!)

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    It's interesting that no one's ever done (or at least I don't know about it) a per-play-hour business model... because you've got hundreds of free to play MMOs and monthly fee ones, and various combinations such a free to play + pay for upgrades... but I don't know of any MMO that charges by the actual time spent in-game. Wonder why?

    Well, my guess is that the monthly fees right now are so low (especially for Americans), that they wouldn't want to charge anyone less than that per month anyway, so there's not much point. Also, all MMOs want to suck players in and make them addicted, not to have players who are able to schedule and ration their play time... they make far more money off addicts, and they're far more likely to keep playing for much longer than "rational" players.
     
    Taluntain, Apr 13, 2009
    #5

  6. ChickenIsGood Gems: 23/31
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    Maybe they could have a by the hour system (per month), but do it so that the fee caps at a fixed rate that would be comparable (probably slightly higher) than the standard monthly fee would be. The only problem with this is it makes things a lot more complicate as far as paying goes, which doesn't seem to help anyone.
     
    ChickenIsGood, Apr 14, 2009
    #6

  7. iLLusioN' Gems: 16/31
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    I don't see whats wrong with the monthly fee thing. It's 50 cents a day. and as Joacqin mentioned it's one of the best gaming experiences I've ever had.
     
    iLLusioN', Apr 21, 2009
    #7
  8. Faye

    Faye Life is funny. Veteran

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    Yeah, I'm a cheapo. I still play Guild Wars too and not just cause its free, it doesn't pressure me to keep playing. I can just stop for a few months and then hop back into the game.

    Lots of MMOs these days (quite a few asian ones) are free and work on a "pay to get goodies" model.
     
    Faye, Apr 21, 2009
    #8
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