Compromise: Just Charge $5 For Now. Once 2.0 is Out, Then Charge $12

[Rentahamster]

I understand a lot of people want a different agreement, but the box of the game says specifically that there will be a fee, ANyone who bought the game knew that there would be a fee. It was never billed as a f2p game, they didnt even advertise it that way.

Of course we all knew there would be a fee. What a LOT of people didn't know, was that the game would be an incomplete mess with all sorts of problems that caused mostly everyone to give up in disgust. We paid $80 at launch for a decent MMO (which we all knew would have a monthly charge. Hell, I bought a bunch of crysta in preparation too). We didn't get that, and that made many many customers unhappy.

A lot of people feel that the game isn't worth $12 a month yet, and that's fine for them to feel that way. However, trying to argue that they somehow didn't realize this was a P2P game when they bought it is just ridiculous. Of course they knew that.

[Physic]

Of course we all knew there would be a fee. What a LOT of people didn't know, was that the game would be an incomplete mess with all sorts of problems that caused mostly everyone to give up in disgust. We paid $80 at launch for a decent MMO (which we all knew would have a monthly charge. Hell, I bought a bunch of crysta in preparation too). We didn't get that, and that made many many customers unhappy.

A lot of people feel that the game isn't worth $12 a month yet, and that's fine for them to feel that way. However, trying to argue that they somehow didn't realize this was a P2P game when they bought it is just ridiculous. Of course they knew that.

this was in response to someone who said they basically want the game for free, and think even the 5 dollar price tag you suggested is too much. Honestly at the point in december, 1.3 years later, i dont think its insane that a business might try to make money. The people that want the game to be f2p for a year, arent really being realistic. I have no problem with a reduced price if they choose to do it, but if i was the company i wouldnt base it on anything but what would make the investment most profitable in the long term.

IE if 5 dollars is a better price point, or they get some other gain that will lead to increased revenues in the long term, then they should do it, if not, there really is no point.

And yeah a lot of the people in the thread are basically saying, they should have a price reduction or have it for free, for no other reason than it is better for them to have the game for free. Be assured that if the game doesnt seem like it will hit whatever profit margin they have in mind eventually they will discontinue it, If charging 5 dollars wont help it reach that margin they should not do it.

Im all for viable plans that will allow the game to be a sustained effort that will last for some time, and bear fruit in terms of content and enjoyability, Im not really for people just saying the game should have no revenue, because what they are basically saying is the game is not a viable business, and if it is the case, as a business they will have to close it. And if it really is the case, then they will have to close it anyhow free or not free.

And to the overall point of your thread, i honestly dont know if they will retain or attract 2.6 times as many players with a 5 dollar price tag, i think that 12.99 might be high, but at 5 they would need so many more people to play or stay, that i cant really see that being the price point.

[Wynn]

Of course we all knew there would be a fee. What a LOT of people didn't know, was that the game would be an incomplete mess with all sorts of problems that caused mostly everyone to give up in disgust. We paid $80 at launch for a decent MMO (which we all knew would have a monthly charge. Hell, I bought a bunch of crysta in preparation too). We didn't get that, and that made many many customers unhappy.

You know, Renta, I respect your posts but I really find this to be completely retarded. I don't know of a single mmo that had a smooth launch where everything the devs wanted to include made it in before go time without any bugs or issues. Not a single one. There are only 2 things an initial purchase guarantees you will get when it comes to an MMO: The software and a registration key. Optionally, it can come with a free period of time to try the game. Nowhere on the box does it say "guaranteed you'll love the game or you play for free until you do." Replace free with reduced cost if you like. Still sounds just as stupid.

No pay to play MMO in history has given such a long free trial period. That time is over. Anyone who still doesn't feel the game is worth paying the asking price come 1.20 knows exactly what to do, and the answer isn't whine about having to pay to continue playing.

[XxOstiaxX]

I'm in four linkshells. One of them has to repearl every couple of weeks because it fills up super quickly (out of all the people, about 5 have expressed disinterest from paying. That's 5/137).

Another was dead for a long time and suddenly got rejuvenated and people are committed to coming back and are willing to pay.

I have another that is continuing to grow every day, and we have a poll on our website and out of 66, 4 people are leaving. Everyone else is willing to pay.

The fourth is a melting pot of people, as well. I have not heard anyone say they won't pay.

So... what the hell are you talking about?

SC or dint happen

[AmyRae]

You know, Renta, I respect your posts but I really find this to be completely retarded. I don't know of a single mmo that had a smooth launch where everything the devs wanted to include made it in before go time without any bugs or issues. Not a single one.

Rift.

Now you know a single one.

[Wynn]

Rift.

Now you know a single one.

ROFL

What a joke.

[Physic]

Regardless of my stance on the whole "is it too soon to pay" debacle I will say this... if no one sounded off, and everyone was complacent we would have never received Yoshi P, and this game would be 6 feet under. The Dev team is open to feedback on the topic, as they have stated. So for the ones arguing "if you dont feel the game is worth it, leave!" that is not constructive. It's best for them to hear why people feel they should not have to pay, or pay full price. Us turning and attacking each other for our POV isn't helping the situation, not at all and in fact it is just derailing the thread.

i agree with this, everyone should say what they feel, thus, i too have to say that i feel, the people who say the game should be free are offering nothing, they are just telling developers they have a game no one would pay for. The people who want a reduction may have a point, but in order to make that point they should show how the long term profitability is similar, or surpasses what they would get with a 12.99 price point.

personally i dont really think they can attract 2.6 times as many players with a 5 dollar price tag, but i admit i could be wrong. maybe 5 dollars is the magic number that makes people say screw it, ill pay that even if i dont like the game. Its a real possibility, but i think that maybe 8 dollars, feels like the perfect price point, substantially lower than people imagined, but would only require them to attract 1.3 times the amount of players who would pay 12.99.

[AmyRae]

ROFL

What a joke.

Yeah, a joke that has a million subscribers. What a fail launch that was. FFXIV was so much better.

[Wynn]

Yeah, a joke that has a million subscribers. What a fail launch that was. FFXIV was so much better.

Who said anything about failed launches? lrn2read

But you know what, RIFT is a joke. If SE literally took WoW source code and slapped the final fantasy name on it perhaps they would have made RIFT instead of Trion. No wonder they had a smooth launch. Another developer did all their work for them. About the only thing that is even seemingly original is their story and even that was stolen from a pen and paper RPG that Trion didn't think anyone would recognize. Yep, awesome game.

Fail

[AmyRae]

Who said anything about failed launches? lrn2read

But you know what, RIFT is a joke. If SE literally took WoW source code and slapped the final fantasy name on it perhaps they would have made RIFT instead of Trion. No wonder they had a smooth launch. Another developer did all their work for them. About the only thing that is even seemingly original is their story and even that was stolen from a pen and paper RPG that Trion didn't think anyone would recognize. Yep, awesome game.

Fail

Actually, Wynn brought up launches, which is why I mentioned Rift, so get some context before you make yourself look worse.

Rift specifically targeted WoW players who wouldn't play anything less than a game with a perfect launch. And that's exactly what they got. Apparently, a million of them are happy with it.

How many subscribers does FFXIV have now? Oh yeah, exactly zero.

The 2.0 version has the potential to be a Rift-like launch (if you pretend 1.0 was a bad dream, at least). But what we have now can never be as satisfactory. I think the price should reflect that, especially if it can convince a great deal more people to stick around.