Cheap Planetside?

[Jarlo]

So has anyone been able to find PS for under $40? If so pleaes share! Most seem to be $49.99 which is way too much for a monthly cost game IMHO.

[Deadlock]

even though im still going to pay it, that is too much for somethin u gota pay for monthly anyways... sorta voids the 30 day free trial

[Melov]

Job2Win

[Rawker]

let's do a little math here.

$49.99 for the game, free first month ($10 + value)

$49.99 - $10 = $39.99

now stfu

[Feign]

Should be a longer free period at that price.

[Jarlo]

Rawker you are telling me to STFU because I think it costs too much? Look at just about any MMO game out there and they are $30 and under for the box because the money is in the monthly charge for sony. They are just being greedy bastages charging $49.99 for the g'd box we don't even need since we have the whole damn thing downloaded already!

Man the fanboi's here are rampant!

[Nubi]

50 - 15 = $35

Now of this 35 you have portion that goes to salaries, start up server costs, etc

Then you have the monthly fee which is to insure that they have money for the servers to run on and optimize them, also you have a portion that still pays salaries of GM team, and then you have a portion that's just pure profit

So it's justified

[Nubi]

Jarlo your asking them to give u a free game because ur a beta tester?

pfft yah, sure....

[CosmicBlend]

Thank god for employee discounts :D

[Jarlo]

Not free, just $30-35 for the worthless box, as nearly 100% of other MMO games are priced at release.

My main concern is that they are overpricing the box to get some fast cash becuase they are worried that subscription rates will not last.

And yes I know these are older games but--

DAOC $20-27
EQ Gold (5 or 6 CD's) $45
Anarchy On-line $20
WW2 on-line $20
Asheron's call 2- $25

See the trend? All of these come with a month free too. No biggie I'll just wait a month for the price to drop to $25-30 bucks. Weather is nice outside anyway :D

[Happy lil Elf]

DAoC on reLease 49.99, 39.99 if you found a place with a special. Same for AO, same for EQ, same for any other freaking game. The prices you're quoting now are the price that's charged after the game has been out awhile, same as any other freaking game.

It's going to be $50 initially and $12.95 per month after your free month is up. Get over it. And if you can't afford that? Tough cookies, go play something else :)

[Jarlo]

I can afford it, just don't want to. ANd yeah I probably will go play something else until it drops in price and bugs are ironed out.

And I think you are right, DAOC was $40 at release, that sounds right.

[Spider]

Wow seems we got some newbs with pms in this thread

*looks up to rawker*

[Rawker]

let's look at the development of this game.

-4 years in development (most games are 2, some games are pumped out every year over and over)
-brand spanking new game engine (alot of games use existing engines)

it would be fair for them to charge $100 for the game, but they aren't.

now stfu

[Jarlo]

LMAO $100, why not just send SOE a donation? You have more money than sense apparently Rawker.

Lemme guess, you gonna be TR right?

:trsucks:

Edit: Now has anyone actually found it for cheaper than $50 ?

[d0rian]

well according to other posts about this same topic

they think they need the need that subscription cost to pay for thier developers and all the sever equipment.

i think it is bogus. the cost of the game alone can definitely pay for thier developers. if it cant then they are over paying thier developers and need to find some lower cost and just as effective russian developers.

i seriously doubt that they need more than a 5 dollar a month subscription fee to pay for the servers considering the volume that they are probably going to have.


this game is aimed at world release. not just the usa.
this game is going to get a hell of a lot more volume than what we see in the beta.

some people are going to be very rich.

dont let them convince you of the pitty story about how much it cost them. they would be doing this if they thougth they were goign to break even.

they are going to squeeze as much as they can out. games are an addiction and they know that. they know that kids dont know any better and cant wise up to the fact that they are being fleeced.

but 10's month is not bad if that your form of intertainment for the next couple of months. just remember to cancel your subscriptions to stuff you are not going to be using in place of PS.

[Happy lil Elf]

some people are going to be very rich.

Welcome to America. If you want to play, pay the cash. Don't like it? Tough, like I've said so many times go play something else.

[GreatSageCorban]

and $12.95 per month after your free month is up.

Anything more then $5.99 and I won't be playing. The problem with Planetside is that you can get a very similar experience from other games, and these games are free. (Battlefield, Half-Life+Mods, Unreal 2k3, Quake III) If you can afford to pay $10+ a month, all the more power to you. Me, I've got bills, rent, car payments, bandwidth, cable, utyx... I just don't see why Planetside would be worth $12 a month. Jumpgate, similar concept but with Flight, not doing to well right now.

On the whole 49.99 thing. I'm not buying it that price. I can wait. (and Anarachy Online is a free download now, with a free week of play time.)

By the way, if you'll remember, games are $49.99 because people pirate the games. This information comes from EA and other publishers. If no one pirated they said they could charge $10. It's impossible to Pirate Planetside, and other MMO's people. Granted, 49.99 is standard. I wouldn't expect less.

Rawker you sure are quick to part with your money. And you know what they say about people and their money who are soon parted.

[d0rian]

i got nothign about being a rich yank( or in this case a rich ***?)

i am just weary about gettin into a subscription based on future hopes.

the game is fun for a month AS-IS.....if i pay for a game and play it for a month i fell that i got my money's worth.

thats one part of the deal ...the next part: is it worth paying a subscription....well i havent heard a price yet. but if it is steep (beyond what they are charging for EQ for example) then those rich programmers better earn that right to be rich and work to make me happy. They are not even offering hints on how this game is going to be interestng past a month.

no hint on what is to come.

i think of it as an investment. the game play is the dividends.

but i want to see how my investment is going to grow. is it worth paying more than it is worth in hopes that it will grow and provide new intertainment month after month.

for example> who would subscribe to hbo if they they had an awsome line up for the first month but then thats all they showed for the next 2 years. ohhhh i just cant get enough of 6 feet under reruns yay.

thats what i am talking about.....

SOE whats your lineup for the next season of PS? i saw the beta preview of whats comming out. Looks cool but whats next after it gets boring!

[bP-stRiKeR]

Okay think about this for a minute. They have to pay for the servers right, and the servers will have what about 5000 people on them. And a counterstrike server costs about 100$ a month with less than 50 people on it, so they will probably pay quite a bit of money every month. Even though it's very expensive it will be worth it.

[Sp3ctre]

yeah www.gameloaded.co.uk (http://www.gameloaded.co.uk) have it for �25, but thats for england. I don't know if they import overseas

[PeregineDive]

While debating about starting price, look at Asheron's Call 2. I started out at $59.99 right out of the box. I don't consider it worth that, lucky for employee discounts, even paying 40 bucks wasn't worth it. there were too many bugs and imbalances going on. It was ridiculous. Planetside is a whole other game. I would gladly pay the $52.24 w/ tax to play. Its gonna kick ass people! quit bitching about the price - we don't care and you aren't going to change it


-PD

[GreatSageCorban]

I don't know about anyone else, but I haven't been saying "I'm not buying it, and you shouldn't either!". I've just been stating reasons why I will most likely not buy it. Especially with a 49.99 price tag. I can wait for it to go on sale. I also won't be getting Planetside unless the monthly price tag is extremely reasonable.

[gonnagetyou]

Well, I'm straddling the fence on the issue at the moment. I really love the game, but I just don't know if the cost is worth it at the moment.

I bought Tribes2 years ago for $20 and I still play it and have loads of fun. And yea, I'd have to say I enjoy Tribes just about as much as I enjoy PS.

PS deffinantly has more content and I guess in the long run that's what you're paying for but the fun factor is pretty much equal for me.

So, do I keep playing games like Tribes2 that have a one time fee that I've played for years and will keep playing as long as servers are available or do I spend the money every month to play PS?

I'm not looking for any answers to this question from anyone. I'm fully capable of making the choice for myself. It's just that for the moment I'm torn.

[Jarlo]

If you don't care why did you read this thread?

:bouncy:

The sad thing is I'm getting so hooked on this damned thing I may end up buying it for that stupid price, hoping to find a deal at best buy or something on release day.

[tmartinez72]

I'm with Jarlo. I'm addicted and will pay the stinkin' $50 for the first month.

How long that addiction will last is anyone's guess, but I figure if I'm having fun and paying the price, it's money well spent.

If I didn't like the game, I'd just move on without a second thought about it.

If I get tired of it, I'll simply end the subscription. It's not a contract.

[Matuse]

D0rian:
i think it is bogus. the cost of the game alone can definitely pay for thier developers. if it cant then they are over paying thier developers and need to find some lower cost and just as effective russian developers.

Do you really need reminding that the idea here is to make money? Both the company itself, and the employees responsible for the game are interested in their bottom lines.

i seriously doubt that they need more than a 5 dollar a month subscription fee to pay for the servers

Then you have no real idea of how much this sort of thing costs. The servers are a small part of the cost. You know what really bleeds out the cash? Bandwidth and Employee costs...not forgetting taxes, food, water, electricity (a big one), HVAC maintenance, insurance, rent, zoning fees, and dozens more.

considering the volume that they are probably going to have.

Higher volumne = more expenses. I'm sure they'd be happy to have 750,000 subscribers, but that equally means they need the network infrastructure to support that many, and that means spending a TON of cash.

i am just weary about gettin into a subscription based on future hopes.

Then don't. To the best of my knowledge, Sony does not send out goon squads to pull out your fingernails with pliers for not buying the game on release. Give it a couple months. It will make the retail cost for the box cheaper, more bugs will be squished, the servers and patch servers will be better tuned for live gameplay....and on and on. Unlike an RPG game, there really isn't any substantial benefit for being in the door first.

SageCobran:
Anything more then $5.99 and I won't be playing

Well, let's just save you time at the outset: YOU WON'T BE PLAYING. The monthly cost has already been officially listed at $12.95 a month. Nice knowing you.

[d0rian]

well you know it is a tough economy out there.

the tech industry is not doing so good.

most of the cost you cited should be covered in the box price.
BF 1942 seems to handle it.

the subscription cost should only be applied to networking costs and keeping the servers running.

anything more suggest that they will be "adding improvements" not just "sustaining engineering"

this is a topic about what the right price is?

so you say that the subscription is 12.95 dollars a month?
isnt that more than EQ or DAoC?
hmmph. those servers have a continious creativity being added to the servers. new creatures and quests. allthough that in itself gets boring after a while and then they come out with new and interesting worlds.

PS has no where near the vastness of EQ or DAoC in terms of a customizable character goes. or it's worlds.
will they be able to follow the same creative flow as those other subscription games?


it is just currently a fancy FPS that can support more people per island (server) at the expense of game physics.
it aint all that great to justify 12.95.

will this game just be a fancy Halo rip off and never provide anything more than what you got in the box?

look at counterstrike....only reason people play it is because they dont have to pay subscription fees. you think people would play that game if they did......it never grows...it is the same old thing version after version.....they gave us one hit of creativity when they made the mod and then sat on thier asses gettting fat of the sales.


but now we are expected to make SOE fat with the sales AND subscription. well i think people are a bit more conservative with thier money today than back in the 90's. and they better stay lean and trim with continiuos creative imagination to make this a game worth comming back to month after month.

we currently see about 2k people per server every night on PS beta.....it would be interesting to graph that number as the months go by.

[Venoxile]

In my opinion it's worth it, i'm spending a total of 350$ just to play the game for the first month. This is upgrading my comp+buying the game. It's worth it to me because i've always enjoyed video games, and now i just find the normal ones boring... Tribes 2 same thing over and over again never changing... same with counter strike, bf1942, and raven shield. I figure that i can't get bored that fast if they keep adding more and more stuff, and i also figure that i won't have to upgrade my computer as often if not buying all the newest games. I figure about 1.5-2 years after release a sequel or expansion will come out, and i suppose they'll just add on to their existing engine so they can keep all their old customers with older computers (those that are considered top of the line now). So I probably wouldn't beable to run their higher polygon models but i don't care that much. It's an investment I guess.

[tmartinez72]

off-topic, but I'm guessing the first expansion to PS will be in 6 months after release. And that's a conservative guess. Aggressively, they can have one out in 3 months depending on how smooth the public release is.

Of course, it'll also be a retail expansion (read: pay to have the collest toys, continants, etc). That last part is all my own speculation though given SOE's track history with EQ expansions. I can be totally off-base here.

[Happy lil Elf]

Wow...where to start.

On the whole 49.99 thing. I'm not buying it that price. I can wait. (and Anarachy Online is a free download now, with a free week of play time.)

AO is a free downlaod because it's failing and they're desparate to get people to play again. I've gotten 5 e-mails to come back and try it out again for a week free of charge. No relavence to PS what-so-ever.

anything more suggest that they will be "adding improvements" not just "sustaining engineering"

Which they have already said they'd be doing numerous times.



So you say that the subscription is 12.95 dollars a month?
Isn't that more than EQ or DAoC?
hmmph. Those servers have a continious creativity being added to the servers. new creatures and quests. Allthough that in itself gets boring after a while and then they come out with new and interesting worlds.

Bullshit. First of all EQ is 12.95/month. Don't know about DAoC since I quit after a couple months because I hate the feel of the game. Wouldn't suprise me if that was raised to 12.95 as well. Anyways I don't know about DAoC but EQ is only gets "continious creativity being added to the servers. new creatures and quests." if you buy a new expansion or play on the Legends server which is $49.99/month.

[Omicron]

I will pay... pre-ordered it months ago. $50.00... hmm that is a nice night on the town or a nice dinner with the family. I can stay home one night or make dinner one night to buy an epic game that I can play with 1000s of friends and enemies on a 24/7 basis (which I cant do anywhere else). The dev's have done an awesome job squashing bugs, improving balance etc., and they will be adding new things to the game for a long time to come. As for the $10-15 a month for upkeep, np, what is $10 a month, a few beers, fast food a couple times? Besides you can quit paying it whenever you want. Pretty easy decision for me... But I understand the skepticism from some :) I have not seen one reason for me to doubt the people behind this game, they have done a very good job. Oh ya, I wouldn't have found PSU either if it wasn't for PS, I love this site lol

[Matuse]

most of the cost you cited should be covered in the box price.

The cost of the box covers the 4 years of development that went into the game so that it could be put on a shelf in the first place. 3 CD's worth of engine, art, and network code is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination. Also, a comparitively small amount of the box price actually goes back to Sony. Most of it is eaten by the distributer and the retailer (who all want to make money too, if you forgot).

BF 1942 seems to handle it.

I've never played BF1942, but isn't this a game that is run on individual servers, and not company sponsored ones? With the players shouldering all of the operating costs, of course they don't need to charge.

You could maybe use battle.net as an example, but Blizzard loses money hand over fist with that craphole...and the lag is uniformly awful....you get what you pay for.

the subscription cost should only be applied to networking costs and keeping the servers running.

You aren't reading very well. There are HUGE costs involved in this. More so than in Everquest, because they are not going to have the luxury of keeping all the game hardware in the same location (and being a twitch game, there is no tolerance for little tweaks like a less time-pressured RPG can get away with). Buying the servers and paying the internet bill is just the start. You need a whole (large) staff of in-game CSRs. You need CSR people for email and phone support (far more so than a normal game). You need a full time staff of coders, artists, developers to identify, diagnose, and repair problems that arise. You need another staff of equal or larger size for development of new content. You need community relations people. You need web designers to keep the official site up to date (particularly with the planned XML up-to-the-minute stats reporting). High-end servers are picky about their enviornment, you can't just stuff them in a closet. High power (expensive, and requiring frequent expensive maintenance) air conditioners/filters at a minimum. Several thousand dollars a month in electrical bills alone. Every employee, beyond salary, needs a proper work enviornment, OSHA regulations need to be observed...phone lines, vending machines, maybe even a full cafeteria (which would mean even MORE employees), bathrooms, 10 different kinds of insurance, fire codes, inspections (in an earthquake state)...the list is endless. The seperate locations issue is not insignificant. If you run all the servers out of one building, you can cut way back on hardware maintenance people...1 guy can do (picking number at random) 10 servers...but if those are split among 3 physical cross-country locations (which Planetside is, and no other MMO game has before), then you are also tripling your manpower requirements. On top of all of that, they need to MAKE SOME MONEY.

Yes, making money is the goal of this project. Can't do that if your overhead consumes all of your income.

[mistled]

Omicron, I don't think you realize that we're surrounded by teenagers who are living off of their parents and twenty-somethings whose budget honestly doesn't allow for their gaming habit, so they whine about money here.

[tmartinez72]

So sad, but true.

I don't want to sound mean or come off like a jerk, but I personally can't wait until it goes pay to play.

[gonnagetyou]

Oh, OK. What the hell. I'll buy it.:D

(And this has nothing to do with anything said in this post. As I think this post has gone on long enough and completely gotten off origional subject. No thanks to myself and the other 100 monkeys posting here.).:rolleyes:

By the way, no I haven't heard of PS being sold cheaper.

[Doppler]

Omicron, I don't think you realize that we're surrounded by teenagers who are living off of their parents and twenty-somethings whose budget honestly doesn't allow for their gaming habit, so they whine about money here.

Amen,

Having said that I think SOE most likely could offer an online (download) boxless version knocking 10dollars off the price on it and selling it directly therefore cutting out the middleman's cut, making more money and still saving the customer money. Of course increased bandwidth costs whould have to be factored in but I really doubt they equal up to what the distributors make off the deal.

[Omicron]

I totally agree that we are Mistled. I honestly haven't seen that big of a problem with the immature people running around ruining the game for me or alot of my friends. Granted I do get run over by a tank, ams, or shot, all by a friendly from time to time, but overall, the many squads I have played with have been pretty mature and well organized. Honestly about once every time I log on (and I log at least once a day :) ) I have a confrontation with one of the cases above. I do also feel for the 20 somethings that can't afford the game, I have helped friends pay for MMO play in the past, so I understand this. If I was still in school I would have a hard time paying for it also. Oh well sacrifices, work hard, and you will have the $ to do it sooner or later. I will put up with the baby cry here, the amount of quality posts here more than out weigh the bad ones :D

[GreatSageCorban]

Then you have no real idea of how much this sort of thing costs.

Oh, and you do. Some how, I don't think so. I've worked in Data Centers, and I currently work as part of an IT staff for our City Hall. The ONLY thing you're correct on is the Bandwidth being a major expense.

"Bandwidth and Employee costs...not forgetting taxes, food, water, electricity (a big one), HVAC maintenance, insurance, rent, zoning fees, and dozens more."

Ok, first off. food? rent? and electricity being the big one? Hahahaha. Who the f'k is hosting this? Jim Bob out of his appartment? We're talking about SONY here. You know, one of 3 company's competeing for the entire CONSOLE market (and doing very well). If you don't think Sony has some leverage on the cost of bandwidth, you need your brain checked. I mean, holy chirst, our little City Hall with 150 computer was able to shave $500 off our T1. But I digress. Lets say a typical OC3 Can cost about $10,000 a month. This Obviously A little high. (http://www.cybercon.com/oc.html) And lets say they have 1 GM, and lets get crazy and say he works 40 hrs a week, at $12 an hr. a Total just shy of $2000 a month. Now lets say we have only one server on this OC3 *rolls eyes* with the targeted 5000 people per server (2500 on, 2500 off and at work, sleeping, living normal live. ect. ect..) At $5 a month, they'd have a gross profit of 25000 dollars. Neting $13000. That's a Contribution Margin of 52%!! Did you know that most retail outlets that sell video games make only a $5 profit off a $49.99 game. $5 F'k'ing bucks! That's a 10% contribution margin. And that's pretty standard. 25% and you're doing EXTREMELY EXTREMELY well in sales. Your... like, the new Poke'mon... with Porn.

Well, let's just save you time at the outset: YOU WON'T BE PLAYING. The monthly cost has already been officially listed at $12.95 a month. Nice knowing you.

Really? cause you know... This Press Release (http://sonyonline.com/corp/press_releases/050503_pside_launch_day.html) from 2 days ago says that "the game will carry a monthly subscription fee that will be announced at a later date for continuing access to the game world.". Soooo Unless they did another press release, or you've got some inside information... I'm going to have to say your probably making sh't up again.

PS - OC3's carry 155 Mbps. approximately 90 times faster then a T1. This could possibly be to small for the game... but I doubt it. I'd have to see what the streaming data is in size. I do know you can get near CD quality sound from 20K streamed. I doubt it needs that much. Especially considering the Voice over IP is going to be stored and sent as a packet instead of actually streamed through.

[Jarlo]

I'm not jobless or 20 something, I just have a 200k mortgate, 2 kids, and a wife to support!

Oh and I don't want to give up my beer!

:cheers:

[BeerJedi]

amen to that jarlo.

I myself am purchasing this bad boy. i keep two active mmo accounts. i'm de-activating my DAoC account fo rthis bad boy and leaving my spare for SWG.

I'm a twenty something who is in the process of purchasing his first home, i'm married and my wife is ready to kick my ass for all my game time.

[Omicron]

lol My wife also. I am the same way though, I have two MMO active, my other is AC2.... That game is so nerfed right now (at almost 8 months into retail I think) it should still be in beta, but enough about that. PS is my home now, what an awesome change. I will probably keep mine open for SWG.. until WOW comes out... if I can pry my trigger finger off of PS :)

[Ouroboros]

You do realize that they will be creating new vehicles, weapons, gameplay, etc, through patches right?

Oh, right, why make a game if you dont profit off of it?

[Matuse]

Oh, and you do. Some how, I don't think so.

Let's begin at the outset with the understanding that I fully comprehend your viewpoint...that you are a cheap fuck who only cares about his own bottom line...that said, off we go!

Ok, first off. food?

Yes. Employees need to eat.

rent?

I suppose that they could simply own the very large building where the hosting takes place, particularly for the servers based in san diego, but for the others? Yes, they'll be paying rent.

and electricity being the big one? Hahahaha.

It's called reading comprehension, look into it. This is especially telling when it isn't so much comprehending what I wrote as ACTUALLY FUCKING READING IT. I did not say THE big one, I said A big one. Notice the subtle difference. I do not retract my statement. High power servers, the air and cooling systems needed to run them, running 24/7, along with all the other power requirements of an office building (also with people on-site 24/7) is enourmous.

We're talking about SONY here. You know, one of 3 company's competeing for the entire CONSOLE market (and doing very well).

Actually, the company is Sony Online Entertainment. A wholely own subsidiary of the Sony corporation. This is an essential difference, which it surprises me not even a little that you don't understand.

And lets say they have 1 GM, and lets get crazy and say he works 40 hrs a week, at $12 an hr. a Total just shy of $2000 a month.

Actually, let's be accurate and say they have per-server, 3 GM's, working 40 hours a week. $12 an hour seems decent...Taking a wild shot in the dark and I'll say they will have 10 servers at launch time, that's $57,600 a month ($691,200 a year, or 11,520 active accounts at your rate of $5 a month) just for the gomer employees who help players who get stuck under the world, or need to figure out how to fire their guns, or other non-skilled assistance. That of course is just base salary. Ask any HR manager, and he'll tell you that the actual cost of an employee to the company is *FAR* more than just what you put into his paycheck.

That of course, does not factor in the employees who make substantially more because they do skilled work. A "live" team of 10 people (producers, managers, coders, artists, testers) to work on the active game, at an average annual salary of $60,000, combined with a development team of 15, ditto + 1 hardware maintenance person per 3 servers (I think it would be more than this, but lets err on the side of caution) at 30k a year = A little under 1.6 million a year.

Then you add in the web designers, phone support staff, janitorial people, security, and whoever else I've forgotten about...and your so-called profit margin evaporates.

Soooo Unless they did another press release, or you've got some inside information... I'm going to have to say your probably making sh't up again.


My reading of developer interviews, and the officially listed cost for gamecards on Planetside at an "unknown" cost per month (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=234944) vs Everquest and its $12.95 a month cost (http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/product.asp?pf_id=206855) trumps your functioning IQ of spoiled cabbage. Since you won't be playing the game, would it be possible for you to just go away? You seem to in general be an extremely worthless person, and I for one would appreciate your conspicuous absence.

[Saethan]

Name me one successful MMOG that wasn't released at $50.

;-)

To people that bitch about monthly fees... imagine playing this game on the battle.net servers.

[staz]

Originally posted by Saethan
Name me one successful MMOG that wasn't released at $50.

;-)

To people that bitch about monthly fees... imagine playing this game on the battle.net servers.

Oh god dude that was a hit below the belt. Don't ever put battle.net and server in the same sentence. It's the equivalent of putting moral and Clinton in the same sentence

[Saethan]

BTW, companies simply charge what people will pay. Some say they'll only pay $6. Know what? You'd need over half of the potential customer base to agree with you, to get them to go with that enstead of $12. Probably more, actually, because if you have 50,000 people paying $6 versus 25,000 people paying $12, those 25,000 are going to be using a lot less bandwidth(edit: and less paid CS, GM's etc), so they'll produce more profit than the 50,000 at $6.

Do you really think they'll lose over half of their customer base by charging $12 enstead of $6? Or almost 2/3rds of their customerbase by charging $13 enstead of $5 or (insert ratio of what you want versus what they're going to charge). Probably not.

[Saethan]

Dammit. Hit quote enstead of edit. Ignore this one. ^.^

[SpacemanSpiff]

I'm surprised this thread has lasted this long. :D Those that want to play are going to pay. Nuff said. And there will be plenty of those people - myself included.

[Freedon]

Originally posted by Matuse
Actually, let's be accurate and say they have per-server, 3 GM's, working 40 hours a week. $12 an hour seems decent... hahahahaha

Yeah right. That is going to happen. Thank goodness we don't have some other game put out by Sony as a point of reference for how well they provide support. Oh wait. We do and experience says.....
Reality is over here ======================>.
.<=================== You view is over here.

Notice how far they are a part?

[Jarlo]

LMAO this thread has gone nuts!

Anyhow anyone find any special deals/sales yet?

[GreatSageCorban]

Let's begin at the outset with the understanding that I fully comprehend your viewpoint...that you are a cheap fuck who only cares about his own bottom line...that said, off we go!

Oh, because Business is all full of love bunnies, and daffodils! They don't care about a bottom line at all!

So, let me get it straight that you can't make a point without flaming me personally.

Yes. Employees need to eat.
Which employee's pay with currency. Food is not a server expense.

I suppose that they could simply own the very large building where the hosting takes place, particularly for the servers based in san diego, but for the others? Yes, they'll be paying rent.

They Do own a very large building. They own a multitude of very large buildings. This is SOE. They've also got this little game called EverQuest with exsisting installations.

Actually, the company is Sony Online Entertainment. A wholely own subsidiary of the Sony corporation. This is an essential difference, which it surprises me not even a little that you don't understand.
{sarcasm}Just like how Microsoft's OS divisions profits never help it's games devision with its X-Box. {/sarcasm}

Actually, let's be accurate...

By accurate, you mean about something you obviously have NO clue about. Myself, and one other person Handle 20 servers, 150 clients, and about 20 off site clients. 1 Maintence per 3 Servers?? Those servers would have to really suck to have that much per server. Your figures are laughable. You're adding in all expenses for all of SOE activities into the cost of running 1 game, while they have profits from many other sources.

trumps your functioning IQ of spoiled cabbage. Since you won't be playing the game, would it be possible for you to just go away? You seem to in general be an extremely worthless person, and I for one would appreciate your conspicuous absence.
That's funny. You know, insulting me in an attempt to prove your obviously baseless facts. Is there any rules against flaming here?

[simba]

Originally posted by Rawker
let's do a little math here.

$49.99 for the game, free first month ($10 + value)

$49.99 - $10 = $39.99

now stfu
:tear: :tear:
this isnt well :( . Hamma!? HAMMA!? :( where r u!?!?!?!?!
Rawker please go back to the tribalwars forums please :( or stop saying stfu to ppl who make threads.

[simba]

Originally posted by Jarlo
LMAO this thread has gone nuts!

Anyhow anyone find any special deals/sales yet?
no sorry.

[Matuse]

So, let me get it straight that you can't make a point without flaming me personally.

Act like a whiney bitch, get treated like one. Cause and effect. If the game is so objectionable to you, stop posting here and don't buy the game. Not like anything you say here is going to affect the price model in release anyway.

They Do own a very large building. They own a multitude of very large buildings. This is SOE. They've also got this little game called EverQuest with exsisting installations.

Are the Planetside servers going to be run from the same building as the Everquest ones? The west coast ones perhaps, but the others clearly won't.

Companies being generally predisposed against waste, they are either in a new building, or an expansion to an old one (I find it highly unlikely that they were partially occupying some structure with sufficient room for the-other-games and the PS infrastructure). It does cost money to do that. Has to come from somewhere, and $5 a month isn't going to do it.

Just like how Microsoft's OS divisions profits never help it's games devision with its X-Box.

Like I said, you don't understand. Subsidiary is not the same thing as division. Until a couple of years ago SOE was a completely independant company called Verant.

Did Sony corporate help with seed money to get development going? Almost certainly...will they continue to drop money into a black hole because they don't charge enough to cover expenses? No...this isn't a supermarket where loss-leaders are an effective marketing tactic.

Myself, and one other person Handle 20 servers, 150 clients, and about 20 off site clients.

So, 2 people for 170 clients would translate to 2000 people for the 170,000 clients that Planetside will have in the first couple of months...more if it is highly successful and can sustain EQ-like numbers. You've sold me!!!!

That's funny. You know, insulting me in an attempt to prove your obviously baseless facts.

I notice that your sole point of contention rests in that you think I overstate the number of CSRs, but my facts remain baseless. Development team at the aforementioned 1.6 million a year would mean 26,667 yearly subscriptions just to pay for those guys (and only their salaries, not covering all the other money a company sinks into an employee) at $5 a month. That's not including everything else.

[Saethan]

"That's funny. You know, insulting me in an attempt to prove your obviously baseless facts. Is there any rules against flaming here?"

I swear to god I've read that exact same line in another post on this board. Internet deja-vou? ^.^

Anyways, somebody that wants it cheaper, respond to my post earlier. ;-)

[GreatSageCorban]

Act like a whiney bitch...
Your the one acting like a little Middle School kid. Grow up. Argue Objectionablely without insults.
If the game is so objectionable to you, stop posting here and don't buy the game.
Did I ever say "This Game S0xx0Rz!! Y4wR!"? NO, I did not. I was just making a rational statement about cost of the product, and my finances. Quit making assumptions.
Are the Planetside servers going to be run from the same building as the Everquest ones? The west coast ones perhaps, but the others clearly won't.
No... of course the other's will most likely run in the same location as the EverQuest east coast servers. I would also like to point out that most international company's, like SOE, have more then one main office around the world.
It does cost money to do that. Has to come from somewhere, and $5 a month isn't going to do it.
Ok. Whatever you want to think.
Did Sony corporate help with seed money to get development going? Almost certainly...will they continue to drop money into a black hole because they don't charge enough to cover expenses? No...this isn't a supermarket where loss-leaders are an effective marketing tactic.
Yah, just like how Microsoft hasn't been funneling money to keep X-Box alive. (I think they've lost something close to 350 million on the X-Box so far.)
So, 2 people for 170 clients would translate to 2000 people for the 170,000 clients that Planetside will have in the first couple of months...more if it is highly successful and can sustain EQ-like numbers. You've sold me!!!!
Ok... "Who doesn't understand the difference between a client and subscription based user? Yah you do!"
We also run a webserver locally. (www.gahanna.gov) A Client, is someone who works inside the building, on their own computer which we also manage. What SOE has, is the eqivelant to a very interactive webserver. So I guess what I'm saying is 2 people manage well over 150 computers, 20 servers, 1 web server, and all those people who come and visit the site.
I notice that your sole point of contention rests in that you think I overstate the number of CSRs, but my facts remain baseless.
I'm glad you think your facts are baseless too. Oh so you went through their budget right? Oh wait, you know how many they have on staff? Or, wait you know exactly what they plan on hiring! That must be it!

Little ol' me, all I've got to work with is a working model with a real budget ranging from 200,000-250,000 a year including salaries. But of course, we've also got 30 PC's we replace every year.

Now actually, if you'd listen. My only contention is that The rest of the World is playing FPS's for free. I really don't know how well SOE will sell the game in the long run, if it's $12 a month. Jumpgate made that mistake and I think it's down to about $9, and a free download. I was also contesting my budget, and what would make it reasonable for ME. What's this thread about again? The Price?