subscription-model
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Forbes: ESO's subscription model is just 'a compounding factor' to risk
Forbes is firing back at Pathfinder Online CEO Ryan Dancey, rebutting his faith in the subscription model by observing, "The general, obvious trend is that games are moving to microtransactions or optional subscriptions at best." Forbes contributor Paul Tassi casts doubt on the subscription chart estimates provided by Dancey, saying that they leave out costs and other factors and are mere guesses to boot. The article points out that virtually all newer MMOs have either launched with a hybrid or mictrotransaction model or have moved to free-to-play in recent years. "With rumors of a massive budget, indicators that the game itself isn't anything phenomenal, and the insistence of the subscription model across all platforms, I stand by my assertion that Elder Scrolls Online has the potential to be a huge miss for ZeniMax and Bethesda," the article concludes. "Honestly, even a free-to-play ESO would have seemed incredibly risky by itself, and the subscription fee is just a compounding factor."
The Daily Grind: Do you look down on players who game for free?
For some reason that escapes my attention, it seems like a lot of people have been talking about the pros and cons of subscription-only MMOs as of late. Maybe it's a passing fad, I don't know. But in reading the always-entertaining comments section of some random article, I noticed a distressing tendency for some pro-sub players to be slinging derogatory terms at others who don't like to pay for games, calling them "welfare gamers" and the like. I guess that means today I need to ask if these are the words of a few folks looking to discredit the opposition or if there's an actual undercurrent of dislike for F2P players who never spend a dime. Do you look down on players who game for free, and if so, why? 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 Elder Scrolls Online will be subscription-based [Updated]
WildStar isn't the only upcoming MMO that's dipping back into the subscription well, as The Elder Scrolls Online has announced that it will be subscription-only when it launches. ZeniMax General Manager Matt Firor confirmed TESO's subscription model in an interview with GameStar. "Charging a flat monthly (or subscription) fee means that we will offer players the game we set out to make, and the one that fans want to play," Firor said. "Going with any other model meant that we would have to make sacrifices and changes we weren't willing to make." Firor was adamant that this was the right move for the game. "The Elder Scrolls Online was designed and developed to be a premium experience: hundreds of hours of gameplay, tons of depth and features, professional customer support -- and a commitment to have ongoing content at regular intervals after launch. This type of experience is best paired with a one-time fee per month, as opposed to many smaller payments that would probably add up to more than $14.99/month any way." TESO will offer 30 days of play with the purchase of the client. The subscription price will be $14.99/€12.99/£8.99 a month, and Firor said that the studio will announce pricing discounts in the future. [Update: Fixed quotation.]
The Daily Grind: Are subscriptions worth it any more?
It's amazing to me how quickly the MMO industry (at least in the west) went from being dominated by a subscription model to adopting free-to-play nearly across the board. In just a couple of short years, the hold that subs had over us was broken and players were free to sample way more MMOs for no money down than they ever could. It's also amazing to me how this movement has turned my general acceptance of subscriptions into somewhat of a dealbreaker. When I went back to World of Warcraft for a 10-day free trial a few weeks ago, the looming thought that this game would require a subscription to continue deeply influenced my enjoyment of it or interest in pursuing it past those 10 days. I had to ask myself the question, "Does this MMO offer something above and beyond what I can get elsewhere for free or a one-time purchase?" And I felt like the answer was "no." Subs aren't dead, of course, and they certainly have their attractive aspects (cutting through F2P red tape and getting exclusive benefits, for example). I like having the option to sub, but I no longer like being tied down by one. So what say you? Are subscriptions worth it any more? 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!
Scott Hartsman pontificates on the future of MMOs
We hadn't heard a peep from Scott Hartsman after he left his position as executive producer at Trion Worlds... until now. The former EverQuest II and RIFT lead spoke with Forbes not about where he's going but about where he thinks the MMO industry is heading. Hartsman sees the increased cost and competition of MMOs becoming a major problem as more time goes by: "Can companies keep up with the expectations and each generation of MMOs costing more and more? It's an arms race that no one can win, it's not sustainable in its current direction." He also thinks that we've hit a cap on the number of people willing to subscribe and that the newer (read: free-to-play) models are providing attractive, flexible alternatives for a wider playerbase. "It's all about finding business models that serve larger numbers in a fair way," Hartsman said, pointing to League of Legends as an example of how "friction-free" an entry to a game can be.
The Daily Grind: Do you still subscribe?
Even in an era of extreme free-to-play proliferation, the subscription model isn't dead. There are still plenty of sub-only titles chugging on (EVE Online, RIFT) and many of the so-called "F2P" titles are really hybrids that also allow the option to subscribe. Subscriptions are what many of us MMO gamers grew up on, and for some they're still comforting to use. For $15 or less a month, players can bypass F2P restrictions, earn additional store currency, and access the game's full content without a care in the world. Studios are now treating subscribers better, almost like royalty, because the subscribers represent loyalty and a steady income in an increasingly competitive market. So do you still subscribe to an MMO, and if so, what? Do you feel like you get your money's worth every month? 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!
ArenaNet dev says Guild Wars 2's business model will result in a more diverse playerbase
Guild Wars 2 Lead Producer Chris Whiteside has a pretty straight-forward opinion of MMO business models: He says that subscriptions are "a huge barrier to entry." He says that Guild Wars 2's model, which has no subscription but does charge a one-time fee for the client, each campaign, and optional microtransactions, is far more accessible to gamers. Whiteside also thinks that free models have an added benefit for players: "The interesting and ironic thing about it is when you do more free-to-play games, it becomes more competitive, which is even better for the consumer." ArenaNet expects a more diverse playerbase due to its business model, Whiteside said. He also addressed the difficulty of balancing an MMO for both newcomers to the genre and longtime vets: "As an industry, we could all do a better job of teaching the player how to get to the point where these more complex systems are in the game and then having more enjoyment by understanding what they are, rather than kind of feeling like an outsider."
Time Inc. relents, moves iOS magazines to Newsstand
Time Inc. appears to have relented in its refusal to sell subscriptions via its iOS apps, from which Apple takes a 30 percent commission. The Sports Illustrated publisher had resisted the move, forcing people to subscribe to the print edition in order to receive it digitally, but an update has moved the apps into Newsstand and now offers digital-only signups. It's not clear what sparked the change, but we're just glad to see everyone thinking about the trees and getting along.
How Blizzard's over-caution saved it from a PR nightmare
Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Mathew McCurley takes you through the world running parallel to the games we love and enjoy, full of rules, regulations, and esoteroic topics that slip through the cracks. The Titanic was the largest cruise ship ever built. It was proclaimed to be unsinkable, defying natural laws to those who did not understand how the behemoth could float. In the end, the Titanic sunk not because she was a weak ship but because the ship tried to turn from an iceberg, causing catastrophic hull damage. If the ship had plowed through the iceberg and not changed course, there is a greater chance it could have avoided catastrophe. While comparing Blizzard to the Titanic doesn't exactly evoke a positive connotation, it should. The Titanic sunk because of mistakes made. Blizzard's conservative game design attitude and philosophy have served it well -- being open to change and modification while holding on to the core concepts of WoW and trying not to deviate in profound, risky ways. The risk sometimes works -- transmogrification, void storage, Raid Finder, Real ID (and soon Battletags), etc. Sometimes, the risk doesn't exactly lead to the best reward -- the Real ID debacle, the vocal hardcore minority and Cataclysm heroics, and the Dance Studio. Blizzard understands that the juggernaut cannot turn too quickly, or it risks the type of deep, jagged incision that sinks the unsinkable.
Turbine: Subscription model isn't dead
Turbine doesn't think subscription MMOs are dying, which might come as something of a surprise to fans of the pay-as-you-go business model that's spreading like wildfire across the Western MMO landscape. "It's probably not right to say the subscription MMO is dying, it's probably more right to say the idea of forcing a player to only have one option for having to consume your content -- that's probably dying," says spokesman Adam Mersky in a piece at Eurogamer. Mersky goes on to say that brave new business models are the norm across the entertainment spectrum, and he also claims that Turbine "certainly pioneered" free-to-play in the online gaming space (though it's worth noting that Funcom introduced a F2P option for Anarchy Online in 2004, five years before Dungeons and Dragons Online took the plunge). Finally, the Eurogamer piece touches on the upcoming Menace of the Underdark expansion as well as the unnamed "future project" that the company first hinted about in 2009.
SWTOR launch day questions answered
The community team at BioWare told us that we would know when the train was coming, but it came crashing through our house when half of us were still sleeping. As we reported earlier, Star Wars: The Old Republic set its launch day for December 20th for North America and December 22nd for Europe. All the fans exhaled in relief, then promptly started asking more questions. First off, the Australian and New Zealand launch dates have not been set, and BioWare cannot commit to a launch day yet for that region. However, back in August, Senior Community Manager Stephen Reid posted on the official forums that "There are no plans to 'region lock' or 'IP block' players from the game. You may experience some latency issues if you're not playing in a launch territory." This still holds true today. To prevent signup issues on launch day, log-ins will be throttled. However, pre-order customers will still gain early access to the game. Senior Community Coordinator Allison Berryman reported on the official forum: "The beginning of Early Game Access will depend on a number of factors, including results from our Game Testing Program and Pre-Orders, but there will be multiple days of access." Lastly, in case you missed it earlier, BioWare did announce the subscription costs. It comes as no surprise to most MMO gamers that the first month is free with the purchase of the game. After that it's $14.99 per month (£8.99 or €12.99), $41.97 for 3 months (£25.17 or €35.97), or $77.94 for six months (£46.14 or €65.94). There have been no lifetime subscription announcements as of yet, but we will let you know if we hear anything.
Wasteland Diaries: F2P -- What to expect
Fallen Earth is going free-to-play on October 12th. That's the plan, anyway. Four different subscriber levels will be available. The free accounts will actually have quite a bit of freedom with in the game (in fact, I'm shocked at how few restrictions they will have). The highest tier is a bit pricey for what you get, but we don't want a pay-to-win system, right? There's a fine line between giving paying customers something worthwhile and upsetting the balance of the entire universe. I'll discuss each subscription level later on in the post. There are still a few concerns that many in the Fallen Earth community (including me) have about the F2P transition, and not all of them are technical concerns. I'm really not sure what to expect exactly as far as numbers of players, but I'm sure we'll see a huge influx of players both new and returning. How many exactly? I don't have a clue. I'll cover the sub levels first and then discuss my fears about what's to come afterward. So click past the cut and let's get started.
The Soapbox: Subs and cash shops - Two great tastes that taste awful together
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Hoo boy, The Secret World. On the one hand, I was really looking forward to it. On the other hand, it's now joined the likes of EVE Online, pretty much every Sony Online Entertainment title ever made, Star Trek Online, Champions Online, and Funcom's own Age of Conan in my personal double-dipping doghouse. Yeah, The Secret World is going to have a subscription model (hooray) and a cash shop (boo, hiss, and zomgwtf). This should surprise no one, really, since game industry devs have been going all Gordon Gekko on us for a while now, but it was nonetheless a disappointing reveal on several levels. Equally disappointing are the folks who defend the subscription-plus-cash-shop model and erroneously refer to it as an example of consumer-friendly choice.
Wasteland Diaries: Coming soon
Due to the new partnership between Fallen Earth and GamersFirst, there are some huge changes coming in the very near future and massive changes headed our way before the end of the year. Sector 4 is going to be released soon along with a major re-write of the skills and abilities system. There are still a great many questions that remain unanswered, but the developers on both sides have dropped some subtle and not-so-subtle hints here and there. There are still many players asking questions in global chat and on the forums that have been answered already. A few of the answers given have left me scratching my head, but I'm still optimistic at this point. But there's still a lot of confusion within the community about what is coming and when. I've dug up many of the responses to the toughest questions by Marie Croall of Fallen Earth and Joe Willmon of GamersFirst, who are holding their cards close to their chests but have nevertheless given up some good info. After the cut, I'll try to clarify what's going on in the short and long term, but it may result in some speculation on both our parts.
Editorial: Google clarifies Chromebook subscriptions, might have just changed the industry
Following Google's second I/O keynote, we were ushered into a room where a number of the company's executives were on hand to field questions from the press. Or in other terms, dodge bullets and tell us what we're probably not looking to hear. All jesting aside, the Chrome team was rather forthright during the session, and a number of details surrounding the outfit's (potentially game changing) subscription model were unearthed. Details on contract terms, what's included / not included and where the line is drawn between enterprise and consumer lie just after the break, along with our take on how this monumental announcement may or may not change the way we buy computers.
Ragnarok Online goes free-to-play
Ragnarok Online's been pretty quiet following its Renewal update last year, but the free-to-play train is now passing through town and it looks as though the game is hopping aboard for the ride. Gravity Interactive has announced that it is dropping the subscription model from Ragnarok Online effective immediately. The company encourages new and returning players interested in this F2P format to make their home on the Yggdrasil or Valkyrie servers. The company is also offering a premium VIP subscription package for players looking to turbo-boost their advancement. VIP players not only have the option to play on a VIP-only server (Ymir) but will also benefit from a 50% increase in experience gain, loot drops, more storage, a lessened death penalty, access to special areas, and the full use of all nine character slots. If this low, low cost of entry tempts you to check out the game, all it takes to play is a free Warp Portal account through the official website.
Popular Science has sold 10,000 iPad magazine subscriptions
When Apple introduced its new subscription terms earlier this year, Popular Science embraced this change and introduced subscription-based billing into its iPad-based magazine. Now that six weeks have elapsed, publisher Bonnier Technology Group is happy to report that Pop Sci now has 10,000 iPad subscribers. Each subscriber pays US$14.99 for one-year of access to the magazine's digital content. Gregg Hano, VP-group publisher at the Bonnier Technology Group, says the publisher had no idea what to expect when it launched its magazine subscription and is "very excited" by these early results. Though this 10K figure is small compared to the 1.3 million paid print subscribers, it is a step in the right direction for the publisher. The biggest drawback to Apple's subscription model is the lack of subscriber information provided to the publisher. Subscriber information stays within Apple's iTunes system, and Hano admits the publisher currently has no demographic information on the individuals purchasing its digital magazine. Continued growth may require the publisher to develop an alternative method to find out who is buying and reading its iPad magazine.
PAX East 2011: Turbine makes the case for the free-to-play model
"Pioneers get the gold!" Turbine's Fernando Paiz is fond of saying. "And they get the arrows too..." Instead of the wild, wild west, Paiz was referring to the frontier of MMORPG business models, companies that have diverged from traditional subscriptions over the past 10 years. In a presentation at PAX East titled "The Game Monetization Revolution," he shared how this movement has come about, ways that it can fail, and how pioneers have grabbed the gold by getting it right. Of course, Paiz has a great perspective on this revolution, having helmed Dungeons & Dragons Online as it made the transition from a pure subscription game to a hybrid free-to-play/subscription title. Both DDO and Lord of the Rings Online have done tremendously well since moving to this business model, proving that AAA titles can thrive outside of the subscription-only checkout lane. Hit the jump as Fernando Paiz takes us down memory lane and addresses the biggest fear players have with F2P.
The Daily Grind: Is the sub fee preventing you from playing DC Universe Online?
Superheroes have been generating a lot of discussion around these parts of late, and SOE's DC Universe Online is the primary reason. Whether you side with the folks who view the new title as a worthy genre competitor or those who label it MMO-lite and move on, it seems like most gamers have an opinion one way or the other. Interestingly, SOE chose to go with the traditional monthly subscription model for DCUO, flying in the face of the F2P bandwagon that's gripped the industry over the past year. Ostensibly the sub fee will cover ongoing content updates -- which SOE has repeatedly said will come on a monthly basis -- in addition to the usual costs of maintaining and improving a large-scale online service. All that said, comment threads here and elsewhere have featured gamers who write off DCUO because a) it requires monthly payment and b) it doesn't have a free trial. For this edition of The Daily Grind, we're curious where you stand on the issue. If you're not playing DC Universe Online, is the sub fee the primary culprit? 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!
Bigpoint vs. BioWare: CEO says The Old Republic will never be profitable
As a high-profile MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic is proving itself to be a big target for attack. Bigpoint, the German game developer that's working on Battlestar Galactica Online, stepped up to take a swing at the as-of-yet-unreleased title. At the London Games Conference, Bigpoint CEO Heiko Hubertz made the bold prediction that The Old Republic will never see a profit: "If you look at Star Wars from EA and BioWare, they estimated a development budget of over $100 million. This is an online game for many million of subscribers, so the publisher does not understand that a subscription model is not the future. With microtransactions maybe I see the game having a chance but I don't think that EA or BioWare will ever be profitable with this game." EA BioWare has yet to release a definite pricing plan for TOR, although it is widely believed it will be subscription-based. Earlier this year, Dr. Ray Muzyka said that there will be "more of the traditional business model with maybe some twists as well."
