MMORPG Prices on the Rise?

[zehly]

Hail all!

I'm wondering what you all think about Sony's recent decision to increase the prices of it's Station Access account.

The thing with Sony is that you pay a little extra for Station Access, and then half of the features are dysfunctional on the website (besides the users). How much is too much to pay for an RPG?

For those of you that play MMORPGs, how much of a price increase would it take for you to give up on your affinity for playing games that have more /emotes than Trillian has smileys?

The next thing is that of Expansion/Adventure packs. It's my understanding the WoW players get free Adventure pack updates, whereas EQ2/Sony players pay for them? Is it worth it to not only have a price hike, but then pay for the expansion/adventure pack? (I don't know a single person that has NOT purchased an expansion or adventure pack when it's been released!)

And lastly, do you think paying for your MMOs makes a game more involved to the person (i.e. want to play more, addiction) than a free game like Guild Wars (minus inital cost to purcahse)? Remember how Diablo II was free with Battle.net? People were still addicted, I think, to the point where there were level 99s like a week after ladder resets!

*prepares for any flames because she is starting a thread after only having made three posts!*

[Poofta!]

in response to yoru second point, i think having a game with a monthly price on it greatly reduces the amount of crap you gotta put up with at the higher levels, since by then only the people who really like the game stay.

in response to your initial point, i play City of Villains, but have played just about every major MMORPG at one point or another. i remember when 9.99$ was standard price for MMOs. its about 15$ now. i think i wont pay more than 15.

[stressboy]

A lot of WoW's patches and updates have included new dungeons, quests, spells, etc. Places like Dire Maul and Blackwing Lair were not in the game when it launched. There are more but the name escapes me at the moment. Of all the games I have played it has had the most content added without actually charging you extra for it. Game is 14.95 a month, and is worth it because they game is updated all the time.

Now there is an expansion coming out later this year that you will need to pay for. 2 new races, new continent, level cap increase, etc.

You really do not want to miss out on expansions because you will lose a lot of the game doing so. Expansions also generally take a lot of time to make, so they charge for them. You don't NEED them, but you will be seriously gimped if you don't. Expansions also are normally not as expensive as the full game was at retail, unless you got the game a year or more after release.

In my experiences with Everquest, they didn't add dick that you did not have to pay for, both when the game was young and after SoE took over. Expansions were often rushed without being completed, and they were busy announcing their next expansion before they fixed all the shit they introduced into the game. SCEA really needs to take control of SoE and fire all of them.

As far as prices are concerned? Thats what keeps the servers running, the game patched, and pays for staff and network costs. Also, these games are like crack. An increase won't affect a thing.

[calthaer]

For me, any price is too much to pay for an MMOG. There's so much potential for MMOGs to have cool things like large, dynamic economies and epic battles, but just about every one I've seen turns into a glorified hack 'n' slash. I'm not paying for that - I'd rather play a multiplayer coop with a few friends and eschew the hordes of griefers and JEFFK-wannabes that populate MMOGs today.

I played the games in previous years, but after a few years of playing those things, IMO they just failed to deliver in any way above and beyond single-player or multiplayer coop that would justify the monthly fee.

[Mangar]

Higher prices are here to stay i'd imagine. Think of it like this....

If you are currently playing and enjoying a game you are paying 15$ a month for, you aren't going to stop if they announce a 1$ price increase. Which in the nd means depending on the game - An extra million dollars per month in the companys pocket.

Also don't forget that some years back with Everquest 1. Sony decided to gamble on a "Premium Legends" server. It was for all intensive purposes - The exact same game/server as all the others. Just with more GM's, better customer service, and the ability to better access in-game content. IE: Dungeons, etc.. - All of this with a 50$ a month pricetag.

Many guilds and people flocked to it. Which was bad imo, since it proved exactly how much money people are willing to pay for their gaming fix. Especially when you get into the folks who had multiple accounts there....