In most MMO’s if you want to play, you have to pay.  It’s just a part of the game.  There are the exceptions out there like Guild Wars and a few others, but the standard MMO has a monthly fee.  In this editorial I look at the following questions and answer them from my point of view.

Does paying a fee drive players to squeeze more enjoyment out of the game, or does it make players more likely to quit at the first significant hurdle?  Nobody likes the monthly fee, but what good comes of it?  Are game's pricing models a good fit for the player base, and do they change based on the player base?  For games without a monthly fee, such as Guild Wars, do you find yourself less forgiving of other fee-based MMOs? Does the lack of a fee make players less intense about playing regularly?

All interesting questions about the monthly fees and all will be answered.  If anyone has any others, please send them in and I can add them on to the editorial at a later date.

Does paying a fee make players squeeze more out of a game? I don’t really believe it does, although I can see that a fee will make players leave a game.  If you need to pay each month to play a game and you are constantly getting stuck or frustrated with it you are FAR more likely to stop playing the game than a game you can play whenever you want for free.  In a traditional video game once you have bought it you are free to play it or not as frequently or infrequently as you choose, with no additional fee.  With an MMO you are almost forced to play more so that you feel you are getting your moneys worth out of your monthly fee.

The argument here is that if you are paying $15 a month (a standard fee) and only play 3-4 hours a week, you are paying $1 per hour.  However if you play a lot, say 30 hours a week, you are paying roughly 13 cents per hour.  Which do you feel better paying for a game?

What good comes from a monthly fee?  This really depends on the game and the developer, but the absolute minimum that it will get you is some form of support with the game, GM’s online to resolve issues, the servers being maintained so that a world exits and patches to resolve issues.  Beyond that it is very company dependant.  What should come from monthly fees are mini free expansions, in game events, and other new content.  For the games that do provide new and updated content on a regular basis it makes a huge difference to the player base.  They “feel” that their money is going someplace and doing them some good.  The games that provide this generally have far fewer trolls complaining about fees on their forums.  Of course not everyone can be happy, and part of that has to do with our next topic.

Are the games pricing models a good fit for the player base.  This can mean two things very easily.  How does the price fit to the target demographic and how does it fit to the number of players.  The first for WoW is probably bang on, $15 is a fair fee for a normal players game.  They are not aiming for an older crowd, but a normal gaming crowd.  This means $15 (an industry standard) is average and should fit.  If a game was marketed to older players specifically a fee can be set higher because in general older players can afford and will pay more than younger players. 

This can be compared to Collectable Card tournaments of Wargame tournaments.  By setting a higher or lower price you can “pre-select” the players that will attend.  For example a MTG (Magic the Gathering) tournament that is $5 to play in will likely draw a younger crowd as they can afford to play and it isn’t a big loss when they do not win.  A $50 MTG tournament will generally not attract the young players (other than the ultra competitive ones that have a reasonable chance of winning), but it will not scare away the older players.

The second part of how the fee fits the number of players in the player base is a whole other matter with WoW.  To be fair, Blizzard puts a ton of work and effort into maintaining WoW, despite the complaints to the contrary on the forums.  However for the player base that they have they do not put as much new content in as they should.  With 6 million paid subscribers they are generating roughly 90 million dollars a month in subscriber fees!!  Some of this obviously goes to pay back their initial investment in development (which is equally obviously paid off!), to support their servers and infrastructure and to create new content.  Each developer has a set number in mind when they create a game as to how many players they need to break even, and how many to make a nice profit.  Blizzard never reasonably expected to have 6 million paid subscribers, and therefore never planned on the cash inflow. 

Based on the inflow of cash Blizzard is receiving one of two things should happen.  The first is that more development should take place or the other option is that monthly fees should drop. Blizzard in all likely hood expected roughly 1 or 2 million players, meaning $15 to $30 million a month.  They are generating 3x the high end of that.  Come on guys, it’s a success and a cash cow, either cut us a break (say $10 a month instead of $15) or triple the amount of content that is released.  Like I said, Blizzard has been doing a good job on new content, just not $90 million dollars good.

Lastly for all the games that do not have a monthly fee, do you find yourself less forgiving of other fee-based MMOs? Does the lack of a fee make players less intense about playing regularly?  Obviously it does, at least to me.  Guild Wars provides an amazing environment and tons of support, and they do this without charging a monthly fee.   Players that are really into GW are very resilient to playing a game that does require a fee, simply because they have an example of how good one can be without forcing you to pay. 

The lack of a fee also does bring the casual player into it easier than a fee based game.  This can be good or bad depending on your expectations and desires in a game.  If you’re a teen or a student its awesome as it allows you to play.  If you’re an old timer and want tight community then its probably bad as you are bombarded by newbs and kiddies.  It’s all in personal preference.

Hopefully this editorial has explained a bit more about the monthly fees and given you some additional things to think about when shelling out your hard earned cash each month. 

Have comments or suggestions? Thought of something that has been missed? Found another tactic that can be used? Found an error? We would love to hear from you! Email us at [email protected].