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WildStar's Stephan Frost on using the subscription model
Launching with a subscription fee in the current MMO market isn't a winning proposition; pretty much every newer title that has done so has moved over to free-to-play before long. A recent interview with WildStar's design producer Stephan Frost saw him liken the subscription fee to the extra fee for viewing cable stations such as HBO. People pay the extra money every month because the channel produces good content, and a subscription MMO has to do the same thing to justify that ticket price. Frost goes on to state that players should see new content in the game roughly every 28 days, with a vague mention that the team may do an expansion at some point but is mostly concerned with justifying the subscription price. It also ties into the CREDD system, which he states helps to cut down on gold-selling practices while also creating some parity between players with more real money and those with more real time. Time will see if the game justifies that subscription; you can try it out for yourself when the open beta goes live tomorrow.
The Elder Scrolls Online runs into free sub time billing issues
The early access period is over, and The Elder Scrolls Online has launched. Unfortunately, it's running into a bit of a subscription problem. Thirty days of free time are included with the box purchase, something that most subscription-based games include; that's not the problem. The problem is that the game won't let players start in on those 30 days of free time until a subscription has been set up... and paid for, it appears. At the moment, cards used to set up accounts are being charged the subscription cost immediately as a verification measure, which means that players who are not able to pay yet are locked out of the game. This is a strange state of affairs, obviously; most verification charges are for a single dollar, but people are reporting a full month's charge being applied immediately. It's most likely a mistake, although it can cause problems for those looking forward to playing on the free month during the launch weekend. [Thanks to anonymous for the tip!]
The Elder Scrolls Online won't require a PlayStation Plus membership
If you're looking forward to playing The Elder Scrolls Online on a console, it's going to be cheaper to do so on the PlayStation 4. Why? Because subscribers will not need a PlayStation Plus subscription to subscribe to the game and keep playing online. Xbox One owners, meanwhile, will require an Xbox Live Gold membership in order to subscribe, bringing the cost up ever so slightly beyond the normal price of entry. That's the takeaway from a recent post on the official PlayStation blog by game director Matt Firor. Other important points from this blog entry are the fact that the servers for the game will be split by platforms, meaning that PC players cannot play with PS4 players and vice versa. Firor also stated that while the team does not have an exact timetable, a beta on PS4 is incoming for later this year. The game is launching on the PC on April 4th, 2014.
World of Warcraft has 9.1 million subscribers, down by a million since May
World of Warcraft remains the reigning titan in terms of subscription-based games... but the titan is looking just a little bit leaner at the moment. The most recent subscriptions numbers for the game were released today in the Activision Blizzard earnings report for Q2 2012, and the game has dropped to a total of 9.1 million subscribers as of the end of June. For those keeping track at home, that's a loss of 1.1 million players since the last update on subscriber numbers in May. Despite the subscriber loss, the overall earning report is positive, citing the announced launch date of Mists of Pandaria and the success of Diablo III (it sold over 10 million copies) as major milestones for the company. According to the report, most of the lost subscriptions are coming from Eastern players rather than US and European players. This is the first time in several years that WoW has been beneath 10 million players, and it's certainly interesting in light of recent discussions about the future of games with a subscription fee.
Analyst predicts The Elder Scrolls Online will launch with a subscription fee
Are you hoping that The Elder Scrolls Online will be part of the classic subscription model rather than go the free-to-play route? According to analyst Nicholas Lovell, founder of Gamesbrief, the odds are good that you'll get your wish. Lovell notes that since the game began development in 2007, when subscription games were at their apex, Bethesda is likely to launch using the more familiar business model. Whether or not it will remain as a subscription game is another matter. Of course, the price of play is far from the minds of most fans -- the real question is what the game will look like when it's actually playable. Director Matt Firor recently sat down to discuss the game's earliest stages of development, the relationship between ZeniMax Online Studios and Bethesda, and working within the lore of the established IP. It's an interesting look behind the scenes of development, and if you're interested in the game, watching the video is certain to be six minutes well spent.
RuneScape increasing subscription prices on February 1st
In a new post on the official RuneScape site, the game's vice president Daniel Clough has announced that, beginning in February, RuneScape membership prices will be rising from $5.95 US per month to $7.95 US per month. If you're already a member, don't worry! Anyone who is a registered member prior to February 1st will still be able to subscribe to the game at the current fee of $5.95 US per month, and the rate will not rise as long as the subscription isn't cancelled. So if you were thinking about shelling out for a RuneScape membership, act before the end of the month in order to lock in the current, lower pricing model. For the full details, click on through the link below to the RuneScape official site. [Thanks to Sean for the tip!]
RIFT introduces 3-month, 6-month, and yearly subscription plans
It's a new year, and the folks at Trion Worlds want you to spend it in Telara. In order to entice players to stick around, the studio has announced three new subscription plans for those who are tired of dropping $15 US every month. RIFT players can now subscribe for three months for $12.99 US per month (that's $38.97 US, billed every three months), six months for $10.99 US per month ($65.94 US every six months), or one year for $9.99 US per month ($119.88 US every year). But wait, there's more! For a limited time only, Trion is offering players a discount on the yearly subscription package. Instead of paying $9.99 per month, players will pay $8.25 per month for a total of $99.00 per year. So if you're one of the many RIFT players who have been waiting for multi-month subscription options, all you have to do is head on over to your account page and make the switch. For more details, check out the game's official subscription information page.
Ask Massively: This is a sneaking mission edition
Let's get something straight: Even though I'm late to the party with Metal Gear Solid 4, I'm a fan of the series. It's not perfect by any means, but it's one of my favorite franchises of all time. That having been said, why is it always a sneaking mission? Just once, I'd like to be told that this is a march-in-with-an-automatic-gun-and-shoot-people-in-the-face mission. But no, solo sneaking mission, every single time. I know, it's the series hallmark, but since my second playthrough is already going to be a bloodbath with a stealth unit equipped, part of me wants to do that on the first playthrough. Just once. Appropriately enough, this week's questions for Ask Massively involve stealth in MMOs. They also involve subscription fees, but that doesn't really segue naturally. If you've got a question you'd like to see in a future installment of the column, feel free to leave it in the comments or mail it along to ask@massively.com.
Square-Enix announces end of Final Fantasy XIV's free play and roadmap for next year
The latest patch for Final Fantasy XIV brought some major changes with it, but there are more coming. In a new series of announcements, Square-Enix announced that the unbilled period of the game will be coming to a close between late November and early December in recognition of the large-scale work done by Naoki Yoshida and the game's team. But the announcement was more far-reaching than that -- no, the entire game is going to undergo a major process of changes well through next year, including a graphical engine and UI overhaul as well as major changes to the game's maps. Several design documents have been posted along with this update, making it clear that the changes will be observed and influenced by players taking part in content during this time period. And these changes will be massive -- the new UI will not only look much cleaner but also be able to support player add-ons. With a promised redesign of maps, changes to the landscape, the upcoming PlayStation 3 version, and major updates to the battle system and armoury system, it's going to be very busy over the next few months as Final Fantasy XIV moves toward version 2.0.
The Daily Grind: Are multi-month subscriptions worth it?
When Trion Worlds offered RIFT pre-order packages, all of them granted players the option to buy into special "Founder's Subscription Plans." While pre-orders players could opt for the normal $14.99/month pricing, by purchasing multiple month subscription packages, they could get a decent discount. So if you pay $35.97 for a three-month package, you're effectively getting a $11.99/month subscription price; likewise, a $59.94 payment for a six-month block translates into a $9.99/month fee. RIFT is hardly the only MMO that offers discounts on multi-month subscriptions. DC Universe Online and Warhammer Online tempt players with discounted fees when game time is purchased in bulk, for example. While the studios stand to lose some revenue from these discounts, they can come out ahead by enticing customers to purchase time they may or may not actually use, especially when you consider that the average retention rate for an MMO is around six months. So what do you think: Are multi-month subscriptions worth the cost up front in exchange for the discount? Or is it a risky proposition that locks you into a game you may not be interested in after a few months just to save a few bucks? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What's a fair price for subscription fees?
Subscription fees are a fact of life for us MMO players. Most of our favorite games come with one, and it's usually 14.99 nowadays. Ages ago, we could remember paying the 9.99 a month for our games, before that slowly rose to 12.95 a month and then became the current plateau of 14.95 a month.Sure, we always have the option of playing more money up front to pay a reduced monthly cost, thanks to the miracle of multi-month subscription plans, but today's question isn't about that. It's about your thoughts on the subscription fees. What do you think is a fair price to charge?Now don't be silly and say free, because we all know servers don't run themselves and bandwidth isn't free. While we're not all in the know about the cost to a blockbuster MMO, we do know how much we're willing to shell out for our games. What's the price you'd like to be able to shell out?
How much is too much? WAR to push the envelope?
When you sit down and look at the costs involved in being an MMO fanatic, the dollars per hour of entertainment ratio is actually pretty good. After an initial down-payment comparable to any other game out, you pay a paltry $15 a month to keep the servers running, keep the developers churning away at new content, and toss a couple bucks at the corporate investors to keep them behind the MMO phenomenon. A whole month's entertainment comes out to be cheaper than a night at the movies, unless you're using a senior citizen's discount. But as good a value as we get, are we poised on the brink of another across-the-board price hike? Keen and Graev make an extremely pertinent observation in TTH's Warhammer Online FAQ. Namely, they're quoting EA Mythic's Mark Jacobs as saying that WAR's subscription fees could quite possibly exceed the $14.99 a month mark.It just has to be EA that's talking about doing this, doesn't it? As much as I try to resist falling into the trap of bashing EA for being a thoughtless corporate machine, they're just always getting themselves into trouble like this. I'm not quite ready to renounce the capitalist system and move to a commune in the jungles of Costa Rica just yet, but they really are making me think about it. What about WAR would justify the increase in costs over the competition? Is it because part of the core demographic actually plays the tabletop game, where you can drop over $70 on a single unpainted pewter miniature? Unlikely. Is it because of the higher cost of oil means that it's harder to fuel the server farms it's going to take to keep a game like WAR going? Not exactly, but closer. Or is it just because they can? Circle takes the square.
