Welcome to the 1,194th edition of Loading...

Loading... is the premier daily MMORPG news, coverage, and
commentary newsletter, only from Ten Ton Hammer.




Ten to twelve years ago, players got nothing more than the ability to play an MMO and an occasional minor patch for the price of the monthly subscription. The rise of subscription-free gaming led to "content updates," free expansions, and other attempt to periodically add value to subscription games, but is there a simpler, simpler approach? Our thoughts in today's Loading... The Sinking Sub.

Loading... Daily

Subscription MMO games suffer from a paradox that explains, at least in part, why most typically get undeservedly low review scores. If you shell out $50-$60 for an offline or hosted multiplayer game, you're looking for reasons to enjoy the game you bought. As soon as you introduce a monthly subscription, especially in a tight economy, a certain percentage starts looking for reasons to dislike the game, so they can save some money and dole out a mostly contrived or secondhand stankbot opinion to look smart to their gaming friends.

If you're like me, you tend to prefer subscription MMOs for the same reason that there's typically little crime inside airports - it's not that the security's absolutely airtight, it's that it's not worth the price of a ticket for a vast majority of the potential troublemakers to get in. It's no surprise that a vast amount of a game's illicit RMT trade flows through trial accounts, and kudos to the games that lock down these accounts as soon as they take receipt of large amounts of goods and currency. It's not just the my asshatted concept of exclusivity, I'm willing to pay my share for the service, support, performance, and overall quality of community I get from most subscription MMOs. And with apologies to Champions Online, Star Trek Online, EQ, EQ2, and even WoW, combining revenue models and opening revenue hurts the subscriber base in the long run. Even if players are only buying optional or cosmetic items a la carte, the more complicated the pricing scheme is on top of the subscription, the more suspicious players naturally become and the more desperate developers look..

At the live preview of LEGO Universe last week, I caught myself thanking Mark Hansen and the team for deciding to make the game subscription-only, no microtransactions. If there ever was a game that could make a bundle on selling individual pieces, it's LEGO Universe. Visit the LEGO Store at the mall and you'll pay $8 for about 1/4 lb. of bricks. Order on the official store and you'll pay $.10 or more per piece plus shipping. Since loot in LEGO Universe consists entirely of LEGO pieces, I could envision parents going slowly bankrupt buying virtual blocks for their kids.

But going sub-only means that a game has to keep an increasingly skeptical market on-board for another month and another month. It goes without saying that players expect ongoing content for additional gaming dollars, but more endgame content has increasingly limited retention value nowadays. So how can subscription-driven games keep their customers?

SOE was the first to change-up the pricing model with the Station Pass program, which began in 2003. Sadly it's an idea that hasn't caught on - had NCSoft had a similar plan, perhaps Auto Assault and Tabula Rasa would have enjoyed greater success or at least hung on for longer, Planetside-style.

Aside from these all-you-can-eat buffets of gaming, last week Hi-Rez presented a fairly creative pricing plan for Global Agenda when it's released next year. In case you missed the news, everyone buys the box and gets a free month's subscription, afterwards you can let the sub lapse and play it as a multiplayer online shooter for free or keep up your sub at the sub-par price of $12.99 to enjoy the more MMOish overworld "Conquest" side of the game. I think it's brilliant - how much more likely are you to subscribe if you're already playing the game for free? It's just a matter of finding the right group of players and wanting to take the game to the next level.

Innovative pricing plans are one way of overcoming the subscription gap, but this is probably even simpler than all of the pricey marketing teams make it out to be. I like to eavesdrop on Sean Stalzer's quarterly newsletter to his highly respected guild, The Syndicate, and in last month's broadsheet he asked this question: "If the technology exists to let a player order pizza through a Playxpert widget, why can't a game allow a Guildmaster to update the message of the day, maintain the guild roster, and see the guild bank from a secure browser page?" He went on to push for other community tools like a web-based calendar, out-of-game instant messaging, an MOTD feed, and other tools for easily keeping players connected without running officers and guildmasters ragged. It makes sense that stronger in-game communities make for stronger MMOs, or at least it did before World of Warcraft. Maybe it's time to get back to our gaming roots.

Will subscription MMOs exist in 10 or 20 years, or is free-to-play is the future? Can better tools, microtransaction options, or more pricing options help preserve the subscription model? Share your thoughts in the Loading... forum.

STO or Jumpgate Evolution?

When
it comes to upcoming space games, which one's got your attention: Star
Trek Online or Jumpgate Evolution? Maybe you have room in your gaming
roster for both. Or perhaps you think comparing these two games is like
comparing apples to oranges. Whatever the case may be, have your say.

==============================

Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread


"The two games really will be
vastly different - I don't doubt that some
people will end up playing both (I'm pretty certain I will at any
rate), but otherwise it might just come down to which type of core
gameplay you like best."

- Sardu
==============================



Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums? Tell
us!

4 new Ten Ton Hammer MMOG features today! 107
in October! 2,055 in
2009!



Today's New Features & Guides

• Star Trek Online VIP Q&A with Craig Zinkievich
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75826
  
  
  
  As
  part of our Premium Membership Program, members get a chance to ask
  their own questions of the developers for various MMOGs. This week, we
  talked to Cryptic Studios about Star Trek Online. Craig Zinkievich,
  Executive Producer, was more than happy to answer questions from our
  readers ranging in topic from ground vehicles, to some hints about
  crafting, to instancing and raiding.
  
  
  
• Ten Ton Hammer's First In-Depth LEGO Universe Preview
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75955
  
  
  
  LEGO Universe Creative Director Ryan Seabury and LEGO's Mark Hansen took Ten Ton Hammer on a tour of the first three play areas of the game. The visuals are genuinely and impressively LEGO, the customization is first rate, the fun social tchotchkes are all in place, and the gameplay has plenty of action combat-oriented platforming and puzzling appeal. LEGO Universe has style a-plenty, but does it have group-driven substance to match? Will the game appeal to LEGO lovers of all ages? At first blush, we certainly think so. Why? Check out Ten Ton Hammer's first ever preview of LEGO Universe!
  
  
  
• Mabinogi Magic Broom Video
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75882
  
  
  
  Mabinogi,
  a second generation free-to-play from Nexion, has just released a new
  item to its players and its just in time for the Halloween season. The
  Magic Broom is the perfect holiday accessory, it comes in the Oak and
  Straw varieties with Oak being the slightly faster of the two, this
  broom also doubles as a...well... a broom! It can be used to sweep
  areas to uncover hidden items as you traverse the lands. Join us as we
  take a look at in game footage featuring the new riding mount.
  
  
  
• Cities XL Introduction Video
  
  http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75881
  
  
  
  Cities
  XL is a new game that bridges the gap between single
  player simulation and persistent world gaming. The game features a
  standard single player mode, or for a fee you can chose to create and
  grow your community in a massive mutiplayer setting. To get you up to
  speed we have a video that features all you need to know to get
  started in the next generation of virtual world building.

Hottest Content:

1. Ten Ton Hammer's First In-Depth Preview of LEGO Universe
2. Star Trek Online VIP Q&A with Craig Zinkievich
3. 15-day Trial Key Giveaway for Fallen Earth 'Days of the Dead' Event
   
   
4. Global Agenda:
   Conquest and Pricing Options Interview
5. Recession
   Proof Gaming - A Look at Free-to-Play Games
6. Mix
   It Up: A Guide to Synergies in Champions Online
7. Which
   World of Warcraft Class makes the best Tank?
8. Exploring
   the Lore of Star Trek Online Interview
9. Champions
   Online: Millenium City Overview
10. Gated
    Communities: Finding the Right Gaming Home
11. Aion
    Beginner's Guide to the Abyss
12. Can
    Aion overcome the resubscription blues?

- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle and the Ten Ton Hammer
team