- MMO Gamer Chick had an interesting post up Wednesday that struck a nerve with me. In it, she reveals that she likely won't continue to play Star Wars: The Old Republic for much longer now that it is going free to play. I also prefer the subscription model, and I think for a similar reason.
- The pressure of a monthly subscription forces me to get the best use out of my gaming time. If I pay for a month and then fritter it away, I've wasted $15 dollars for no good reason. There is freedom in knowing that I have access to the entire game for my fifteen dollars, even if it is only for a month.
- But as soon as the game goes free-to-play, that pressure goes away. There is no incentive to use my time wisely if I'm not spending money, so I don't play at all. Oddly enough, I discovered something similar with my lifetime subscription to Champions Online. Once I got the value out the purchase, I drifted right away from the game.
- I don't really need to bring out my old prejudices again the Free To Play model. Especially when Wilhelm is already doing such a great job throwing up the caution flag. But that's always going to be in the back of my mind as well.
- I'll have more thoughts about the WoW Annual Pass in a couple months, so stay tuned. But until then, I'll stick with my subscriptions, thank you very much.
© 2012 Marty Runyon. All rights reserved.
Bullet point #3 is exactly what I've had to deal with since the f2p model took off. Learning to use my gaming time wisely is something I've struggled with for ages.
ReplyDeleteThe pressure is the key -- it's a huge part of the motivation driving me to play a game. Also, I realized I've been subbed to at least one MMO at any given time for the last few years and that's probably not going to change any time soon. Until it does, F2P games have to take a backseat.
ReplyDeleteAnd, I might add, after much deliberation point 3 is also why I'm probably not going to pull the trigger on the lifetime for TSW.
ReplyDeleteFrom the other end, this is just about the only thing that would make me reconsider playing swtor again. I'm a huge star wars fan and would love to see more storylines but, I don't feel so compelled that i'd pay a sub. F2P on the other hand...
ReplyDeleteTangentially, I wonder how many "lifetime subscriptions" WoW could sell if it started to sell them with Pandaria.
ReplyDeleteThat is an amazingly good question. Would it be worth it to them? Were they happy enough with the annual pass to do that again this year? Would they lose too much money over the long run if too many people go for the lifetime? Could they limit the numbers and ask for a premium price? Would it even be worth it for their customers at this point?
DeleteMy head is spinning.
I prefer to have the pressure removed, because if that's the only thing getting me to play then it's not worth it. But I've been playing with no pressure for a long time since I had a lifetime for LotRO at launch as well as Champs and STO.
ReplyDeleteI've actually had the opposite reaction to the news. I may actually come back and play again after F2P just to finish up my renamed main's story. This will possibly make the game feel more like KotOR 3, which maybe EA's starting to wish they'd done.