Smashbrother Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 We have a somewhat tier system right now with f2p, preferred f2p, and subscribers. What about having a tier system for subscribers. Subscribers would be able to choose the right plan for them based off of their game style. I was thinking of a $5, $10, and $15 plans. All plans would get full access to everything according to current subscription except for Warzones, space missions, flashpoints, and operations. The $5 plan would unlimited Warzones and space missions. The $10 plan would be unlimited, Warzones, Space Missions, and Flashpoints The $15 plan would be unlimited Warzones, Space Misssions, Flashpoints and Operations We keep the $15 plan to have the discount price per month if we subscribe in bulk like we do now. With a 6 month sub and getting 600 CC per month, you're effectively paying $7 a month for the ENTIRE game unlimited. This is much much better than just paying $5, getting no CC, and only limited to WZs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mazikeen Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 it isnt a problem for me, but for people $180 a year to play a game might seem kind of steep.. $15/mo for unlimited playtime, no restrictions is expensive? Anyone who thinks $15/mo is steep needs to log off, sell their computer and rework their finances. How many people shell out $40-$60 for a console game they beat in a month? How many people have an adult website membership for a fee? How many people eat out, but designer clothing, etc? This is not an issue of SWTOR being expensive or not, it's an issue of people wanting something for nothing. I personally think $15/mo is fine given the fact you have no restrictions (compared to F2P). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noodlehaus Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 $15/mo for unlimited playtime, no restrictions is expensive? Anyone who thinks $15/mo is steep needs to log off, sell their computer and rework their finances. How many people shell out $40-$60 for a console game they beat in a month? How many people have an adult website membership for a fee? How many people eat out, but designer clothing, etc? This is not an issue of SWTOR being expensive or not, it's an issue of people wanting something for nothing. I personally think $15/mo is fine given the fact you have no restrictions (compared to F2P). it's an issue of people thinking if the game is worth their $15/mo commitment or not. food is food, a console game is a console game, an adult website is an adult website, and an mmo is an mmo. stop using this stupid approach of a comparison in valuing things that are totally different in terms of experience and satisfaction given. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarWarsWoox Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 I would remove the subscription option and make this game entirely F2P. 1. i don't want a gimped gaming experience if I spend more than $15/month on cartel coins 2. I'd rather spend that $15/month sub fee on cartel coins ($15 gets you 1500 CC vs the 500 CC sub stipend) 3. The play-when-you-want and pay-when-you-want of a purely F2P game is more appealing to me 4. You won't have a divided player base (no sub vs f2p player bull) This isn't any of that fanboy comment bull. i like this, i do really dislike the division Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarWarsWoox Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 $15/mo for unlimited playtime, no restrictions is expensive? Anyone who thinks $15/mo is steep needs to log off, sell their computer and rework their finances. How many people shell out $40-$60 for a console game they beat in a month? How many people have an adult website membership for a fee? How many people eat out, but designer clothing, etc? This is not an issue of SWTOR being expensive or not, it's an issue of people wanting something for nothing. I personally think $15/mo is fine given the fact you have no restrictions (compared to F2P). those things are drastically different, a console game often has online play that is unlimited anyways, just hard to compare those Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelKer-Nal Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 Some think its greed, (it could be) but everyone has to realize it is a business trying to keep a product a float. I could see the subscriptions prices start to fall only after they start to see a profit. 200 million has yet (most likely) been recovered just from the production costs. If they were concerned about keeping the product they invested hundreds of millions of dollars in afloat they should have listened to their customers (beta testers) while the game was still in beta. It's a bit late to close the barn door after the horse has run out. Having said that, F2P and the Cartel Market give them a bit of an extension before they need to shut the servers down. If they can actually spend some money on development instead of voice acting and write a decent game, TOR may survive past the 3 year mark. Don't get me wrong, I love the fully voiced dialog, but they cloned a 2004 game for release in 2011 and wonder why they can't keep subscribers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skyrison Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 I always thought they should have done a 12 dollars a month deal. Cause even though it's only 3 dollars people would go "omg..it's only 12 dollars a month!?" and psychologically it would "appear" to be a lot less. I never got why mmo companies don't make 10 dollar a month games or even 8 dollar a month games and feature updates every single month, good updates no shannanigans! Too easy though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarWarsWoox Posted November 25, 2012 Author Share Posted November 25, 2012 keep the suggestions coming i'm enjoying reading them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColonelKer-Nal Posted November 25, 2012 Share Posted November 25, 2012 To be on topic, Had EA written a decent Star Wars MMO I'd gladly pay $20/month rather than see it go F2P with a cash store. Unfortunately, they didn't write a decent game (despite the very excellent stories, haven't played through one I didn't like yet) and many, many people voted with their wallet/feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarWarsWoox Posted November 30, 2012 Author Share Posted November 30, 2012 still looking for more responses and ideas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KariTalRathe Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Hi, I was just thinking about this and decided to throw this out there for a good debate topic. I would love to hear both sides of the argument. 1) With the rise of the Cartel Market, there is a new flow of cash going to the game, could this money help lower membership costs? should it be used in that sense? or should it be used in addition to the already existing cash flow to expand the game content? 2) Lowering membership prices could increase the amount of F2P players deciding to subscribe, this could nearly make up for the loss in revenue in the long run from the initial decline in monthly membership income and add more players and boost the overall player experience and keep the game alive Feel free to comment for and against, and also post your ideas on how lowering the membership costs could benefit/hurt the game! Thanks, Woox As regards number 2, in my experience players of FTP games who don't go on to subscribe are usually prohibited by a lack of credit card, access to physical time cards etc. The cost of the subscription rarely factors into it. When you consider that a year's subscription cost is just a little over what I pay VM per month (for those outside the UK, that is the charge for my broadband and tv service), gaming subscriptions are incredibly cheap and have not been hit by inflation in the way other services and products have. I can't think of anything else that is the same price today as it was 10 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlacke Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Subscription is just fine the it is, no one can complain really since we are getting 600 cartel coins on a monthly basis to spend on whatever we like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevlarto Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 (edited) If we use the Steam discount sales as an analogy, giving huge discounts on games actually is a good business model because they are making profit off sheer volume. In the same way, lowering member prices will also encourage more people to sub or pay. So instead of lowering membership prices, how about we make it more interesting? Give discounts on certain periods rather than lowering membership prices outright. Say for christmas, they will give 50% discount on certain things in the cartel market. Yep lotro has sales all the time due to the time of year holidays in the real world as well as holidays in Tolkien's world, plus I think they lowered the sub to 9.95 not sure if that is all the time or special offer, but incentives go along way and make boat loads of money by volume kinda like the walmart philosphy of volume sales.. Edited November 30, 2012 by kevlarto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vandicus Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 If we use the Steam discount sales as an analogy, giving huge discounts on games actually is a good business model because they are making profit off sheer volume. In the same way, lowering member prices will also encourage more people to sub or pay. So instead of lowering membership prices, how about we make it more interesting? Give discounts on certain periods rather than lowering membership prices outright. Say for christmas, they will give 50% discount on certain things in the cartel market. This is the only really viable suggestion in this thread. A decrease in sub price must result in a corresponding increase in subscriber numbers(which can be a huge difference to expect from a relatively tiny price change) many of whom might already be purchasing weekly passes for the content they prefer rather than the more expensive price for everything(only warzones is cheaper than a sub, but sub is the bulk price for everything). Sales are an effective revenue raising device though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarleysRule Posted November 30, 2012 Share Posted November 30, 2012 Too bad Bioware doesn't offer an option that allows people to play for free. If they did people could drop their subs whenever they felt they needed a few extra bucks for a month or two, or however long they felt it necessary and still play the game with some basic restrictions. I am intrigued by your theories and would subscribe to your newsletter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StarWarsWoox Posted December 1, 2012 Author Share Posted December 1, 2012 Yep lotro has sales all the time due to the time of year holidays in the real world as well as holidays in Tolkien's world, plus I think they lowered the sub to 9.95 not sure if that is all the time or special offer, but incentives go along way and make boat loads of money by volume kinda like the walmart philosphy of volume sales.. i agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts