by Chris Noll on Jun 25, 2010
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What does it take to survive in today's MMOG market? It's
becoming clear that fewer are willing to pay a subscription fee for
more than a small handful of games. Developers everywhere are taking
the hint and adopting new free-to-play services, changing a game from
subscription to subscription-free. Is this the answer for everyone?
Today in Loading...
If it Ain't Free, Don't Charge It.
You vote with what you
view at Ten Ton Hammer, and the
result
is the Ten Ton Pulse (What
is The Pulse?).
Today's
top 5 Pulse results this week:
Biggest
movers today:
Upcoming
Events
In an era not so long ago the only free-to-play titles we had
were either so poorly designed or such bad translations that they were
unplayable. "Quest! Find making 20 war. Up with never want." ...
Yeah.
That's not the case any more. More money and talent is going into
subscription-free models than ever before, and several companies are
benefiting from it. The most recent to join the subscription-free
mindset is Hi-Rez Studios with their action-shooter MMOG,
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/86209">
style="font-style: italic;">Global Agenda.
To be clear, the game is still offering a subscription plan, but it is
also offering free and one-time payment options.
For a game like Global
Agenda, this move is not only a smart choice, but probably
necessary. We live in a time when MMO games are being released at an
incredible rate. Heck, we saw
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/e3">over 30 MMOGs at E3
alone this year. There's no way to compete in an oversaturated market
if you need to convince your audience to not only buy a boxed copy of
the game, but then pay a monthly subscription on top of it. While that
option should certainly be available for those who wish to invest most
or all of their time into that specific game, many games won't even
make it to an installation screen in most homes if there's not at least
some sort of free or cheap way to try out the game and continue playing
it. (I'm not talking free trials. Those are limited in functionality
and time).
So how have the Global Agenda players responded? The official forums
seem to be filled with mostly positive comments about Hi-Rez' decision.
The players like having the option of playing free, or buying a copy
for more content, or paying a subscription for full access. For gamers
on the go, or playing multiple games, it only makes sense to have
multiple options.
If we take a look at the Lord of the Rings Online community though, we
see a much different response. Current players are enraged that Turbine
would even consider bringing more players into the game. They're livid
that a company would try to capitalize off their product. So why the
difference in tone between players of Global Agenda and those of LotRO?
Time.
You see, LotRO has been out for a long time now. It has always been a
subscription-based game. Players have been playing it for years under
that model. To have it change now makes players feel cheated; feel as
if they have been subscribing all this time and now that money spent is
money lost. Now this may not be precisely accurate, as a subscription
under the new model will net the same as it did before, but
nonetheless, there is a more emotional response from invested players
than there is in games like Global
Agenda who have only been playing a short while and have
never really experienced a full, thriving community yet.
So, changing a game's model late in its lifespan is a move that will
garner resentment. I don't imagine we'll see this happen more than a
handful more times though, as most games now are launching with the
knowledge that they need to have a variety of revenue options instead
of an outmoded $15/month subscription fee. If a company is to make the
switch late in the game, they have to be ready for the hatemail.
But how late is too late? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
From our
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6">Articles,
News and Events Discussion Forum
Chinese Govenment to Ban Minors from Making
Microtransaction Purchases
Remember when a buck used to get you a whole bunch of treats at the
corner store? Grandparents or aunts and uncles would come visit and you
knew you were going to get a dollar to get a sugar high. Times are
different, and now minors get credit card numbers for online
microtransactions to keep them busy. But China is going to put a stop
to all that.
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"...It's
actually a very good idea.
style="font-style: italic;">
Games aimed at minors
should not contain inappropriate content and should charge for access
to the service only, not for virtual items within the game itself.
style="font-style: italic;">
There are thousands of
MMO gamers who'd love to see something like that imposed in North
America, it would mean subscription fees only, not item shops "
-
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/member.php?u=14272">bobfish
==============================
Have you spotted an Epic Thread on our forums?
href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=32559">Tell
us!
2 Ten Ton Hammer
features
today! 111 Ten Ton Hammer
features
in June! 701
in 2010!
GIVEAWAYS
Need for Speed World Beta Key Giveaway
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/nfsw">
style="font-weight: normal;">http://www.tentonhammer.com/giveaways/nfsw
Join
thousands of other racers in EA Black Box's upcoming triple A massively
multiplayer online racer with your own beta key from Ten Ton Hammer.
These keys are valid starting next beta session which begins Monday,
June 28 through Wednesday, June 30.
Simply click the button to claim your key then head over to the
href="http://world.needforspeed.com/codes?code=Key&sourceid=5021"
target="_blank">Need
for Speed World site
to login and/or create a new account and register your beta key. These
keys are available for anyone to claim, so grab one while they last.
FEATURED EDITORIALS AND
GUIDES
StarCraft II -The Art of
Scouting
http://www.tentonhammer.com/starcraft2/guides/scouting
Perhaps the most overlooked aspect of improving your game in
StarCraft II is scouting. Far too often, players are in the dark about
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