WAR’s Higher Price Their Downfall?
Posted by Stropp on January 16, 2008Keen and Graev have had enough of rising subscription costs.
Keen is commenting on a single item on Ten Ton Hammers Warhammer Online FAQ that addresses the question of Warhammer's monthly fee. The answer was in the affirmative, as we all expect, but also notes that Mark Jacobs (EA Mythic President) has said that the subscription may be more than the standard $14.99.
Keen makes the following statement.
I don’t know about any of you, but I’m not ready to start paying more money. Maybe I can afford another couple dollars a month but let’s look at the big picture here. Where is this money going? I’m not seeing any drastic change for the better in how MMORPG's are developed and I’m certainly not finding that the customer service is any better.
While I agree that there does not seem to be much difference in how MMOs are developed, there is one thing happening in the world of MMO development that is much different than the projects of the past. That is the cost of development. MMOs cost far more to develop now than they did just a few years ago. Consider a sixty million budget for WoW as opposed to low millions for earlier games, and that was 2004.
Investors in these games want to get back their cash as soon as possible. That there is motive enough for higher subs.
While I understand the motives, I don't necessarily agree with them, I certainly don't want to pay more for my gaming pleasure. In the end though, the price of a thing is what the market will bear. That's essentially the foundation of the capitalist system.
But will the market bear a higher subscription for Warhammer Online, or will they price their game out of the market?
I read a couple of financial blogs as well as the usual gaming blogs, and there is a lot of evidence that the US economy is heading for some tough times. Just today I read this article on the Daily Reckoning Australia. It notes that Americans are cutting back on their spending.
What with rising oil costs, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the continuing war in Iraq, and all the fear and frustration this is generating, I'm not surprised.
In times of economic uncertainty people cut back on unnecessary spending in case things go bad in their personal lives.
It's probably not the time to be thinking of introducing a game with higher subscription costs. If the US suffers a recession in the next few years, the entire MMO industry may suffer some pain. While the entertainment industry often fares better than most during the bad times, players having to tighten their belts will look to cheaper alternatives.
Take into account the rise of subscription free games, and thinner wallets, gamers might look at the Warhammer Online subscription price and decide to stay with WoW, or pick up Mythos, Dungeon Runners, or any of the other subscription free games out there. Players currently multi-boxing may decide to cut back to a single account.
Are you like Keen who says that he has had enough of subscription price rises and won't be WARring if it is too much more than the standard $14.99?
Or will you grin and bear it, paying the higher price even if you have to scrimp and save to afford it?
The cost of online games imo is already too high and is a joke. Look at it this way with wow for example the original cost to get the game was about £30 then i was playing it for about a year paying £10 a month then i purchased TBC which was another £30 + the subscription fee, add to this the cost of simple things like changing realm and changing your character name Blizzard must be laughing all the way to the bank. IMO Blizzard should introduce a one off lifetime payment like LoTRO which i think would be a reward for their loyal players.
I dont understand how they can charge a subscription and bring in some things with a patch but hold off big content (which they could easily patch) and sell it as an expansion. It is a big money maker thats for sure which is why you see more and more games getting developed, us the players are willing to pay for it but what is the limit?
I personally refuse to pay over what i am for warcraft and will probably let my mate try out warhammer.
I should add they will be relying on the fan base they already have for the Warhammer/games workshop stuff which may work in the short term – longterm however i dont see it doing well. IMO people have left it too late to give warcraft a proper challenge.
I think the laughter is to the tune of half a billion a year, but anyway.
I think a lot of people fall into the category you are in. They’re not really happy to pay the monthly fee, but they’ll pay because they like the game. Will Warhammers extra be too much? Possibly.
Something I didn’t mention in the article but probably should have is that EA Mythic very likely did a substantial amount of market research on how much people are prepared to pay. How accurate or realistic that is, is another matter.
It wouldnt surprise me if it was half a billion which is a phenominal ammount of money, sure developing and running the game has costs but surely discounts could be introduced for loyal players.
Out of interest how much was the lifetime subscription you paid for LotRO?
Businesses usually introduce discounts either to get new customers or retain existing ones. Since WoW is still doing very well, Blizzard doesn’t need to offer discounts. In the future this might very well change, but at the moment I think they are quite comfortable with the status quo.
The lifetime subscription was US$199.
Well as long as it does not go too high should be okay. Till then, you might aswell checkout some warhammer online videos http://warhammeronline.tv
While I’m not in a MMO now, from what I am hearing about WAR, I may consider paying the price needed for the monthly sub. I’d like to get in the beta first though…
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