by
Wes
» 22 Oct 2014, 01:33
Let's look at this from two different perspectives.
The standard $15 subscription model paired with a great competitive game yields the best results long term for both the company and the game's life. As long as you provide a great game with plenty for people to do we'll be around to pay our monthly fees. If someone isn't willing to pay fifty cents a day to play the game you've spent years developing, you don't want them anyway.
Let's look at some features. Terraforming, incredibly complex crafting, enormous seemless world, and full loot pvp are just a few. With all of the great features you've implemented this game will thrive for many years to come. People will play for the rush of hearing someone knock an arrow beyond the bushes, or discovering that new source of gold in their mine. People will always be exploring, building, and altering the world.
That means an average of $120 per year per player you have. I believe this game will open up a new genre that's been missing for some time.
Now, the free-to-play model. Most modern MMORPG have gravitated towards this model because companies have realized people will pay absurd amounts of money for even the smallest advantages in these games. This works great in most games, but not the hardcore competitive games. It's easy to say you'll only sell cosmetics and convenience items, but can that really sustain your company and your wallets? Eventually people will demand more. Can you guarantee you'll average $15 per player every month just by selling fancy clothes and some house decorations? Sure, there's a large number of things you can sell that shouldn't hurt the game or make it pay to win, but it only goes so far. Eventually, people will have everything and you won't have any income aside from the stray few people who find your game years after release.
Wouldn't you rather guarantee the income of $120 per player per year and have no chance of destroying your integrity by being tempted to give in to the huge market which wants pay to win? It wouldn't take long and you would realize people will pay for 50% faster craft times, or double resource extraction, or faster skill gain. These things seem pretty minor but they would cost you players and eventually lead to even more transactions, gravitating towards pay-to-win. How do you keep that from happening and guarantee your income?
In conclusion, I vote for a buy the game and subscription model plan. I would gladly pay $30-$50 for the game and get the first month free with the purchase. And I would gladly stay subscribed for $15 a month for as long as there was a population to pvp and play with.
It's difficult to word these things exactly like I want, but this should explain the just of it.
Subscription = guaranteed income while keeping integrity forever for only ($0.50) a day.
Free-to-play = small burst of money at beginning of the game but risks integrity long term; also has no guaranteed long-term income without new things on the cash shop (eventually people will want more than cool colored equipment)