Monthly Subscription Instead of Coto

Exactly! Maybe players with a lot of spare time are an exception and don't need the COTOs Anyway - Elder Scrolls Online and SWTOR started with a fee but both games terminated the toll within their first year. What do you think will happen with SotA and the COTOs after the game is released? Everything has it's time - maybe MMOs are over the hill meanwhile. Nowadays you make money with single player games (hehe I can hear the storm of indignation already ). Okay, here is an example - the polish development studio CD Project RED has published its financial result for the first half year - the aggregate turnover amounts to € 74.000.000 or $ 82.785.650 - thanks their game Witcher 3! Here is a link (the articel is in German language).

Don't get me wrong. I really like SotA - even the MMO part. And I wish that this game will be successful. The selective multiplayer modes are outstanding! But I believe that the story is the most important thing to be successful in the long-term.

 

Not entirely accurate.

I can't speak to Elder Scrolls, but SWTOR has always had an Subscription Option after the transition to Micro Transactions.

I know, I maintained one.

 

I feel like I am already paid up for the lifetime of the game from all that I've spent on my pledge and what I buy from the add on store, and what I will buy from the store in the future.

This game was sold as B2P with an add-on store, but I fully expect it will have a subscription tacked onto it later, and even be F2P with B2P option sometime after episode 1. I simply will not pay a subscription fee on top of what I have already spent on my pledge and what I will be spending in the add-on store in the future..... ever.

If it was ever to be a subscription game instead of B2P it should have been that from the start, but that's just how I feel.

 

Do the work, or just dont have a house.

 

An option is still an option and not a must

 

True... but SWTOR didn't "Terminate" the toll, they made it optional, and built in additional rewards for maintaining one.

They didn't Terminate the Toll, they Terminated the Requirement.

Semantics, I know... but I'm a geek and I can't help it.

 

I'd pay up to $40/month for a subscription before I'd spend $5 in a cash shop. Why?
Because the existence of a cash shop skews and biases development efforts to promote the cash shop almost exclusively, in my experience.
A subscription allows a game to be designed around fun, story and innovation, rather than gimmicks for profit.

 

I oft lament that the industry as a whole has rejected subscriptions and don't understand why the vast majority of the market now prefers MTX over subscriptions.

Actually, I do understand it... because F2P games are paid for by about 1% of the installed userbase... 99% riding for free on their backs and pockets.

 

I actually am someone that prefers a subscription based game over B2P anyday.

If Sota had been billed as subscription based from the start I'd be good with that. It takes away from gameplay in favor of what can be sold in the add-on store to get more money. Seeing as it was B2P from the start with an add-on store though, and we have spent 100's, 1000's, tens of thousands of dollars on pledges, I can't justify a subscription option. Now if they cut the add-on store completely, then they might be able to sway me better. Add-on store and subscription though, nope.

 

Interesting conversation. In my humble opinion, the add-on store and COTOs system is working just fine. I can see no benefit in a subscription and would be exceedingly unhappy after having donated a significant sum to help with the development of the game to then be asked to pay a monthly subscription in addition.

 

As with many games now, a hybrid model with an optional subscription works in some cases.

 

at current prices, you can cover the property taxes for a village deed for $7.50 per month (by pre-paying $90 for a year's worth of COTOs), so there effectively already IS a subscription option. They don't need to add it, you just buy COTOs from the store.

 

And as with many other games now, a non hybrid model without an optional subscription works in those cases.

Seriously though either model is fine, and adding a sub model with different tiered subs that just paid your house lots automatically, obviously would have to be scaled so the cost was same as buying Coto`s
could work just for piece of mind for some players ie pay the sub and know all houses are safe for $XX a month, no other benefits.

 

Here are the numbers...

• Row Lot = 52 COTO/year to pay taxes, or $4.34/month. ($3.68 with bulk buy discount... a couple gallons of gas you won't burn because you're playing SotA instead of Driving)
• Village Lot = 104 COTO/year to pay taxes, or $8.67/month. ($7.37 with bulk buy discount, and if you decided to pre-pay your lot for a year, you could get this discount... one less 6-pack of decent beer a month)
• Town Lot = 208 COTO/year to pay taxes, or $17.33/month. ($14.73 with bulk buy discount... about the cost of a normal Subscription when such things were common for a large lot that's meant to be owned/maintained by a small group)
• City Lot = 365 Coto/year to pay taxes, or $30.42/month. ($25.85 with bulk discount... A city lot can support many Avatars... divide the cost among yourself and your friends)

If you don't/can't grind the taxes, and would prefer a voluntary subscription instead to pay your taxes... there's your plan. $9.00 a month pays for your village lot... That's not much and it's something you can do Today, and you have entirely in your control how far into the future you'd like to pre-pay.

Or, you can grind the gold... @Chris is fixing the current problem... it should be easier soon.

Time == Money

You have the choice as to which you'd like to spend right now.

 

Stop it, that's crazy talk. /sarcasm

But yes, my concern also is when a company rolls a game out the door with a finger in the pie of every conceivable revenue stream, I'm hesitant to think they'll scale that back voluntarily and then roll over into a model that doesn't involve $12000 packages. Traditional players view the secondary market as distasteful. The cash shop model attempts to infuse secondary market with a semblance of validity and respectability, but I'm not sure it works. I understand that game development has to be funded, but I still get a sinking feeling in my gut when add ons are promoted to me and the game is selling something beyond basic access.

 

Throw more $$ at Shroud you say?

Ah hHahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Omg you are SERIOUS?

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Ah hHahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Ah hHahahahahahHahaAh hHahahahahahHahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

 

I know, right? Where did that money come from prior to kickstarters and "addon" purchase stores?

I won't get into the concept of paying once for a product and actually getting everything. Now you just pay for the "honor" of owning a game, and then the real expense starts.

My favorite is SWTOR probably - log in to that game "free to play" some time and check out the UI. I think they have a pay to use this feature plastered on every little UI element they could find.

Reminds me of this:



All joking aside, I don't mind paying for a game I believe in. I've dumped more money into games than I care to admit. I usually like to see those games in action before I spend massive amounts of cash, so I know what I'm buying into.

 

5-10 usd anything more per month and you would lose me. option to pay with gold crowns ingame for 30 days.

 

I'd be happy if we just went back to the traditional subscription without cash shops and real currency... but that won't ever happen again.

 

You are right - but this point was a side issue actually. My focus lies on the fact, that you can make a huge amount of money with story driven single player RPGs like Witcher 3