How much subscription are you willing to pay?

[Bags]

Originally Posted by Jonny

And that kinda sums up the problem with an expensive fee. You feel more compelled to play to get your moneys-worth, and become more addicted to a game, which is obviously a bad thing.

I pay $15/mo for wow and play 1 - 2 nights a week... I do not feel compelled to log on just to get my money;'s worth in the least.

I imagine it will be around $15/mo, $28/2mo, $39/3mo, etc.

[Bhopx]

Originally Posted by Aractain

I still think having a required sub is going to be bad for a game competing in a space that has mostly 'free' games.

There needs to be an option for those who play casually or they wont play at all. Its not even just about the money remember. Low pops = no fun, no fun = canceled accounts and LOWER pops. Planetside had this problem. The perm trial helped for a while but was a poorly implemented idea - there was no way to monatise those players.

I disagree. What are you comparing Planetside to, Bad Company 2? BF2142? Those games really aren't comparable to a game with a persistent world with several hundred players per server. Planetside didn't lose subscribers because there weren't enough players, they lost subscribers because they introduced BFRs and other changes that impacted enjoyment of the game for a large segment of the player base. As long as the content is fun, people will pay to play it.

[Timantium]

OVER 9000!!!11!!!!!!!11oneone

Couldn't resist.

On a serious note, the sub price does need to be looked at. If they want to attract new players, it needs to be affordable (read: compete with FPS games on X-box Live).

How much is X-Box Live? A lot less than $14.99/month. This doesn't mean they have to straight up match the rates, since they will be offering a much more in depth FPS experience than halo, CS or CoD has, but they need to keep it competitive.

[Aractain]

Originally Posted by Bhopx

I disagree. What are you comparing Planetside to, Bad Company 2? BF2142? BFRs

Pops were dropping before BFRs, even core combat. People just got bored for part of it but there was several reasons; most of the outfit I was in at the start quit before CC - most were because they could get a 'better' game for 'free'.

Which game? All of them. Planetside has gameplay from many different types of game. People came from Counter strike, UT/Quake, Operation Flashpoint or WWII Online, they came from EQ and the other MMOs out back then. They came from all over and most left. The few that bought the game and stayed (about 50k?) were decimated by terrible design.

This will have to be the BEST game on the market to justify any monthly price for the people I know.

[Bags]

A lot more people are willing to pay to play/pay microtransactions now. Look at the success of farmville, WoW, and TF2's item shop.

Everyone I know who has quit PS is willing to come back to PSN in a heartbeat, assuming it doesn't completely suck.

Look at it logically: For $15/mo you get unlimited access to planetside, versus $15 for a two hour movie.

[Hamma]

Aye LoTRO actually made a shitload more money now that it has MT's than it did before. I still think 9.99 is a better sweet spot for a game of this nature.

[Bags]

I'd love $9.99 but I'm sure they'll crunch the numbers to see if $15 is the best price point. Well, this is sony, so I really don't know what they'll do.

[Raymac]

I don't want to get into a microtransaction debate because there is already a heated thread on that, but I think they should be able to find a way to make it work. I think back to the Fodderside days and what a great injection of players it was. The MAJOR thing they need to take into account is eliminating hackers. Hackers will kill this game more than most since we are all in the game at the same time. There's no switching lobbies to avoid them.

Having said that, my answer to the subscription fee is this. I will tell SOE there will be no money, however, on their deathbeds, they will receive total consciousness, so they'll have that going for them...which is nice.

In reality though, whats likely going to happen is I'll just give SOE my credit card number and tell them to just leave me whatever little money they think I should have.

[Kirotan]

If you buy a copy you should be able to register and not have to enter a credit or game card before you can play like most MMO's. This way the FPS gamers that are used to playing subscription free get hooked on it in their first 30 days, and are more likely to pay and stay. I don't remember being able to activate accounts without a CC/gamecard up front...you usually get the first 30 days after they have your info. It's a small thing, but it might help.

The most I will pay is $14.99. I think 9.99 would be better and more appropriate, though.

[Jamini]

If they want to stay competitive, nothing over $7 a month. By simply requiring a sub they lose out on a huge pool of players who would play otherwise.

Honestly, they should really focus on the micro-transactions market. As shown in certain other popular, successful, shooters it's a great way to keep revenue flowing while not deterring people from buying and playing the game.

[Rbstr]

All the good MMOs cost about $15/mo.

If PS:N is good enough to play I'll pay that just fine.

If pay other successful shooters that use micro transactions you mean TF2 (haven't played any others), you're comparing apples and oranges. Valve doesn't have to host the whole game, for starters.

[Jamini]

You do realize since the release of the MannCo store, less than a year, they've made more than planetside has in the last several years, right? Go check youtube, there is a nice long interview with Gabe Newel explaining exactly how much money they've made in the micro-market. A recording from an distance learning economics class.

The fact of the matter is, people will pay money for the stupidest things, so long as they don't feel like they are forced to pay. TF2, LOTRO, DDO (to a limited extent), and a few others are all very sucessful AND profitable because of the microtransaction market, and you don't need to pay a dime after the initial price if you don't want too in order to play. (Hell, LOTRO is totally free to install even. Yet it has a reasonable playerbase AND updates that are coming out. All paid by micro-transactions.)

The fact of the matter is: subscriptions are an outdated and less effective means to make a game profitable. By not charging a sub, you attract more customers. By giving people the option to pay for extra things for their characters (and if you look at the TF2 example, they do NOT need to even have a real in-game use. Hats and keys(a lottery ticket for a extremely rare type of hat) are the hottest sellers. Not weapons, not even the weapons that you cannot create or get via achievements.) many, probably most, will do so at least once in their career. Longer term players are likely to do so more than once, especially if you regularly release content.

I understand that your comparison between TF2 and PS also has to take into account server maintainance, however I'd like to point out that TF2 has for the entirety of it's existence always had at least a partial team working on new content. Planetside has had ONE major expansion, and a few minor updates with a well-known and extremely tiny development team that no longer even exists. The fact of the matter is, the subscription model is inferior. End of story. Coda.

Edit: Another way to think of it. Remember the fodderside system? Before hacks became very easy to obtain it worked excellently for boosting pops and getting more players into the game. A microtransation system could work very well along such a thing. You can play for free up to BR6. Once you hit BR6 you can pay to unlock additional BR and certs (one-time fee)... or you could pay a lifetime subscription for an amount close to the same eventual price (and possibly at a discount) and have everything unlocked at the start. Additionally, alternative cosmetic options such as goggles, command earpeices, new hat types (standard Beret, officer's cap, helmet, and no helmet by default. Perhaps alternatively-styled helmets or even recolored versions of other empire helmets as buyable. Really with cosmetics the sky IS the limit) are released each month available for a very low price.

Hell, you could even tie an in-game currency like LOTRO does and give people in-store credit for achieving certain merits (Specifically, support merits, driver merits, air drop merits.) and even more if they refer a new player who buys a sub or makes any purchase in the store. (encouraging grassroots advertisement and expanding the player base.)

There are millions of ways that micro-transactions could be used to improve revenues after launch, and it need not be exclusive to a P2P model.

[Bags]

Originally Posted by Jamini

The fact of the matter is: subscriptions are an outdated and less effective means to make a game profitable.

WoW's five million non-chinese subscribers says otherwise.

[Timantium]

Originally Posted by Bags

WoW's five million non-chinese subscribers says otherwise.

Yes, but does WoW make more money from subs or the paid character transfers, name changes, race changes, etc?

I bet EQ2 makes more money using station cash than they do for subs. Check out EQ2 Extended if you think SOE can't put together a F2P MT mmo.

[Bags]

Only Blizzard knows that.