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Subscriptions and DAC's: Can You Afford Them?


DarkHorizon

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8 hours ago, DarkHorizon said:

I like paying only once for a video game,

 

some people are suggesting we are only one or two generations away from stream-only games where you don't own the game, just the hardware it runs on.

 

You do not own games just like you do not own music. You pay for a license to use the game/run the code in a way specified by the license. As such a subscription is basically just a license which (generally) renews on a monthly basis.

 

I'll take the monthly model for MMO games always..

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I have RL job and I can  "gamble" on alpha 1, 2 and beta stage. After that if game earn it, I'll be subscriber.

 

In my opinion it is not problem   "Can  I afford the game,?" main question is will the game be good enough to attract my money  for a long time? ;)

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I think everyone "can" afford it if they so choose.  The question is..... "Is it worth it?"  

A nice easy answer says, "If the game is good enough, then it is worth it."

However, when considering someone who has a limited amount of time to play the game (Job/Travel), that person must also consider if their limited amount of time spent is worth it.  Personally, I would love to play games everyday, and if I could put in 2-10 hours a day to play the best game ever, then a sub is no problem.  But if I only have a few hours to play a week/month then maybe the cost is not worth it for me.  

Someone pays $15 and gets to play 2-10 hours a day.  I pay $15 and get to play 2-10 hours A MONTH.  There is a big difference, and it doesn't matter how good the game is.  Can I afford the sub?  sure, but I can't always afford the time + the sub.  I would much rather play a game, where I can take 2-3 weeks off from playing and not have to pay for that time that I am not actually playing.   

 

Free to play is broken = Agreed.  

Unfortunately, no one has been creative enough to come up with a NEW model that incorporates casual players or sporadic players (due to job, etc).  

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Also, DU, like most MMOs, would really not be suitable for the 'a few hours per month' kind of player. The expectation is, and NQ has said as much, that DU will follow the general norm in subscription fees so $15/mo is reasonable to assume to be pretty close.

 

The argument how one can spend many hours and someone else can't while paying the same amount IMO is completely bogus and irrelevant. Eve _if_ NQ would consider a solution to that which can only be a metered price and would be totally impractical, that would result in the few hours user paying a _lot_ more per hour that someone spending more time if only because the argument than can and will be made that he contributes more and thus is entitled to a discount. Even if you play 10 hours a month, your cost per hour is $1.50 and I mean seriously, how is that even an argument?

 

This is all trivial and pointless to debate though as NQ has been very clear that the subscription model is not up for discussion. So if it's something you can't live with you know what to do.

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6 hours ago, blazemonger said:

which can only be a metered price and would be totally impractical,

 

that would result in the few hours user paying a _lot_ more per hour that someone spending more time if only because the argument than can and will be made that he contributes more and thus is entitled to a discount. Even if you play 10 hours a month, your cost per hour is $1.50 and I mean seriously, how is that even an argument?

Impractical?  Why? 

You find this type of metered usage everywhere....phones, internet, rides at a carnival, taxes, buses, planes, coffee shops, arcades, the list goes on.  It is not new to the world, just video games.

 

I don't see what is so hard for people to understand.  You take the average of time of all players in the game, for illustrations sake say "1.5 hours a day" = 45 hours a month = 30cents an hour.  Then we do a simple comparison..... If someone plays 20 hours this month they are charged $6.  If someone plays 30 hours this month they are charged $9.  And for the die-hards set the cap at $15 for the month even if you play more than 45 hours. 

 

Now, how does this change the dynamic???

 

Well, NQ still gets paid, yay! It opens it up to a larger spectrum of people with time limitations.  And allows the player to evaluate and make decisions based on RL.  If I take 3 weeks off from the game, I still pay for my time playing without having to worry about paying pointlessly for my NON-play time.  It will also make my investment in the game mean a little more without taking away my freedom. 

 

Whether or not you think this argument is irrelevant, is irrelevant.  This argument takes into consideration more people than just yourself.  Thinking about other people and their lifestyles, is not a new concept either, you should try it sometime. This entire game is being built in order to utilize teams and community.  So before you write someone off, how about you pause for a second and think about someone other than yourself.   

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8 hours ago, Radaxys said:

Unfortunately, no one has been creative enough to come up with a NEW model that incorporates casual players or sporadic players (due to job, etc). 

It may not make any business sense to do so, especially if you're talking about only $15 per month. If it was like $50 a month, then it might make more sense to have lower rate plans based on time used. There also hasn't been much demand for this expressed in the forums.

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5 hours ago, blazemonger said:

There is no argument as NQ has stated this is not up for discussion. So you can choose to agree and play or not agree and not play.

Not only this, but the fact that you will still train skills while offline. the metered system wouldn't work at all when you take that into account. The DAC and the way skills are planned to be trained make it so someone who cant play 15hrs a week to gather resources because they are working is able to supplement that with the use of DACs on the market. That is imo what Plex/DAC and similar systems are actually for. If you get on 10 mins even at the end of your skill training timer...you arent falling behind someone in skills, even if that person is playing 1hr for every 10mins you play

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