» Wed Nov 27, 2013 4:45 pm Before Reading
First off, I’m not saying that the subscription model should be completely done away with, but rather an alternative payment option should be available, or at least a reduced monthly fee. Zenimax states that they want the subscription model to assure players a steady flow of frequent, good quality content every four to six weeks. In a massive world such as Tamriel, there will inevitably be an influx of money required for maintenance/new content. However, is the standard $15 monthly fee absolutely necessary for this, or are there other ways to ensure that ESO is the next prodigal success in the MMO genre? Below is my opinion on why the $15 subscription model should be reconsidered for an additional payment option as well as some alternatives to the subscription model.
Subscription Games
From a financial standpoint, this makes sense. One subscriber for a year is $60 up front with one month free, plus 11 months at $15/month = $225 for one person for the first year. Without a subscription, it would roughly take four buyers to equal the $225 for the first year subscriber. So in the long run, they will have a smaller player base due to some people not wanting to or able to pay the monthly fee, but they will potentially make more money in the long run.
Pros of Subscription
- As mentioned above, more money in the long run
- A steady, guaranteed income to ensure new content frequently (whether or not Bethesda needs $15/month from everyone to accomplish this, I don’t know)
Cons of Subscription
- Loss of player base due to the turn off of having to pay to play, and for the current player base this means you will have fewer players to run dungeons with, fewer players to do raids with, and smaller and/or fewer guilds to choose from
- Games also gain players by word of mouth and peer pressure, and with a smaller player base this word of mouth and peer pressure will be less
- Some people who live paycheck to paycheck can’t afford a $15/month “bill”
- In my opinion, when I pay to play a game, like WoW, it makes me feel like if I want to take a break from the game for even a week or two, for whatever reason, I’m just giving my money away for something I’m not using at that time
Additional/Alternative Payment Options
Companies should always keep their customers thoughts and desires in mind when making their products, but making everyone happy isn’t easy. Only giving one payment option will leave many people unhappy. Why not give the players two payment options? This will still not make everyone happy, but it will bring in more players and keep a steady flow of cash for Bethesda. Point 1 could be an alternative to the subscription model, while point 2 could be added in conjunction with the subscription model; players would choice one or the other.
1) $60 up front with micro transactions
This has to be done carefully, avoiding “pay to win” for a start. With that being said, there are plenty of games that follow this model (or are free to play in the first place) and earn their money from micro transactions. Just sell purely cosmetic items, League of Legends follows this and look how successful and popular it has become. So for ESO, some cosmetic items could be special/unique mounts, unique looking armor (no stat differences, just cosmetic), unique costumes for companions, or special or different looking companions (like different race/outfits, but still no better stats than normal companions).
2) $60 up front with an upfront lifetime subscription
Some people, including myself, are not going to get the game if we have to pay 25% of the retail price every month. This means every year of subscriptions, you bought the game three more times… Also, this is a game that could survive for years, just like WoW, but overtime I don’t want to spend that much money, and I won’t. Hell, even a $200 up front lifetime fee would be fine for me instead of a monthly fee, since I planned on playing ESO for a very long time.
3) Lower Subscription Fee
$15 a month has been the norm for many subscription based MMOs ever since WoW paved the way in the early years. For many people in today’s online community, $15 is a bit steep for a monthly subscription given how many other good quality subscription based games are out on the market, not to mention all the free to play MMOs. Why doesn’t ESO prove to the online community that it can step back from the norm, $15/month, and maybe try $5-$9.99/month and still be able to push out good quality content frequently like they want to? I’ll bet that the people hurting for money in today’s economy would be onboard for a lower monthly fee that they could afford.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully everyone will look at this from all angles before voicing their opinions.
