by Jeff Woleslagle on May 14, 2010
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Premium account services have crept into nearly every top tier MMORPG, but does the ability to change your name, server, appearance, race, and even gender for a fee impact players' attachment both to their characters and to the game in general? We'll compare the availability and pricing of premium account services across ten of today's hottest MMORPGs and take a quick look at how these options affect players in Loading.. Change at a Cost.
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Logging back into the Age of Conan account this week to re-up my subscription for the Rise of the Godslayer expansion, I was suprised at how many premium account services were available - server transfers, more slots, a name change, but all for a price. I decided to compare the availability and pricing of the most common of these services among our Pulse top 10 games for the last 30 days, and did with the fully patched help of Ben, Sardu, and Shay on several games (thanks!).
Account services (right)
Game (down)
Character Transfer
(to another account)
Some notes: all prices are USD. Where account services require currency conversion (i.e. dollars for points), I picked the most unfavorable conversion (meaning lowest points for least dollars) for comparison's sake. Many of these account services have additional restrictions, especially character transfers to another account and guild name changes, but some server transfers were free to certain servers (i.e. EQ2 transfers to Exchange servers).
A quick analysis of what we find here: being the nominal pioneer in premium account services, it's no surprise that WoW offers the most premium services (7) followed by EverQuest 2 (6) and EverQuest (5), while Warhammer Online and Vanguard offer the least account flexibility. Server transfer and Name Change are the most ubiquitous premium account services, followed by Re-Customization and Gender Change. The least common services were game time card to currency conversion (EVE still stands alone among the Pulse Top 10), account transfers, and guild / corp / legion / etc. name changes. Most games appear to have followed WoW's lead in pricing, though Age of Conan consistently undercut WoW's prices by $5 and EverQuest and EverQuest 2 went $5 over WoW's price for a name change. Faction changes are the most expensive service ($25 - $30), followed by server transfers ($20 - $25). Name changes are the least expensive service at $9.99 - $15.
What does this mean to MMO gaming? Clearly premium account services are increasing in prevalence and popularity, and many devs we've talked to view it as a win-win - players get more flexibility and developers get a new revenue stream for comparatively little development and customer support effort. Detractors usually complain that the prices are far in excess of the cost of these services (that is, unless the game's account support tools are terrible) or that using such services make initial character and server decisions less weighty, encouraging players to change their appearance or shard rather than make the best of the cards of their circumstances.
Both are valid concerns, and the second complaint addresses a major part of the fun in most RPGs, but 1) the latter complaint is addressed by the former, in my opinion, since the price may make you think twice about changing things on a whim, and 2) once one game offers premium account services, other games start to look backward or inflexible for not offering such services.
What's your take? Is there a sound correlation between the number of premium account services a game offers and its success? Do these options effectively kill the golden goose - weakening a player's attachment to a character or game in general? Share your thoughts in the Loading... forum, and have a great weekend!
From our PC & Console Games (Non-MMO) forum
Game Deal of the Day Thread
Odds are that if you play MMOGs you play other games as well. That's why we have a PC & Console Games forum.
And it's why, nearly a year ago, Ralsu began today's epic thread to
highlight the Game Deal of the Day. Check near the end of the thread
for a free (and, need I say, awesome) game download from Steam. Bookmark this thread for future game deals, and don't forget to share your own finds!
==============================
Awesome Quotes from the
Epic Thread
"Now that's a deal!"
- Landric
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2 new Ten Ton Hammer
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in 2010!
FEATURES & GUIDES
EQ2: Basics of Armor
http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/55031
Try
as we might, fighting naked will never be the thing to do in EverQuest
II which means, at some point in time, every player will need armor.
One of the best features of the game is the wide variety of armor
options, but this also ends up being its downfall for players who are
not well versed in gear jargon. No worries, we have the basics all laid
out for you. From armor classifications to where you can find some of
the most treasured pieces, we touch upon nearly every topic for
dressing up your toon.
WoW: Cataclysm Professions- Change We Can Believe In?
http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/editorials/cataclysm-profession-preview
As
Cataclysm draws ever closer Blizzard throws out juicy tidbits of the
changes to come for us to enjoy. This week Blizzard gives us a glimpse
into what they have in store for professions as they work breathe new
life into them. Will their overhaul be successful or will the changes
leave players wishing for the good old days?
Today's
Hottest Articles, Guides, and Features
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- Jeff "Ethec" Woleslagle
and
the Ten Ton Hammer team