So I came across and article recently that asked the question
“Should wow still have a monthly fee?”
And one thing they stated was that one big reason WoW may still have a monthly fee when a lot of MMOs recently do not is that…people still are willing to pay it.
Which is a fair point. I have been playing since back in vanilla launch and luckly I have always had income enough to spend on WoW and thus I have never really thought about it much. It has become as routine as a power bill (good or bad as that may be).
But I was wondering if you all think WoW NEEDS a monthly fee anymore? Big scope games need big income to sustain I know but do you think if WoW loses a lot of players due to them not feeling like $15 a month is worth it that they would consider changing it to a pre-xpac model like GW2?
I mean even Amazons new MMO “New World” is not going to have a monthly fee (if my research is correct). And for the most part the only “big name” MMOs that require a monthly fee at the moment are WoW and FF14.
Do you think it is going to be a trend where new MMOs will abandon the monthly fee model and that eventually WoW and FF14 might do the same down the line?
2 Likes
It depends if you want micro-transactions or not.
If “New World” is going to be free-to-play, it’s not because Amazon is being nice; it’s meant to generate a profit. In addition to micro-transactions, it may have ads. It may require Amazon Prime.
That said, what if WoW reduced the monthly? I have no idea, but I’m sure analysts at Blizzard have looked at this. OTOH, it’s remarkable to me that the fee has remained $15 since 2004. Going by general inflation, it should be close to $22.
2 Likes
Yes, because the alternative is a microtransaction hellscape.
6 Likes
Adjusting for inflation, we should be paying $20/month by this point. They should raise the monthly fee.
2 Likes
I agree…many of the “free” to play games have way more microtransactions. I personally see microtransactions as a part of a problem that has even reared its ugly head in WoW with the tokens and the boosts.
The day WOW becomes F2P is the day the game is dead.
10 Likes
I am likely wrong about this, but I think they will remove it. A game that gets most of its $$ on store sales, like WOW, has a lot of incentive to remove barriers, like a sub, that might block people from playing their game. The more time played the more chance of those sweet sales. I bet Blizzard will remove the SUB at some point for that reason.
1 Like
If the product is free OP it’s because you’re the product
5 Likes
The monthly fee is nothing compared to how much some whales spend on this game tbh. I know because I have three friends who probably spend at least 1k a month on random Blizz crap and tokens
2 Likes
Well the devs have said there will be a “for payment” store but that it will ONLY be for cosmetics
Now…not like the first time devs have promised something like that only to backtrack but at the moment that is what they are going with.
Free to play is what you do when your game is so bad nobody is willing to pay for it.
1 Like
IDTS my dude/dudette, look at Roblox. F2P is just another pricing model where you make your money somewhere else (the shop)
I like the monthly fee, because it allows me to decide month to month whether or not the game is worth paying for.
I did get suckered into a 6-month sub 3 months ago because I saw what 9.1 looked like and I was hyped for it. But with everything going on right now and their constant delays, I’m doubtful I’ll ever subscribe beyond a single month again.
1 Like
I still hear people say “bro, my game time runs out tomorrow so I wont be on for a while”
Life isn’t fair to everyone so it would be nice if everyone could play for free.
You think trade chat/spam is bad now? Make it ftp and see what happens.
IMHO, yes it needs to have a sub if only to not make it worse.
2 Likes
To say nothing about bots. You think bots cause trouble now? Going f2p in a game like this is like throwing a loaf of bread into a flock of pigeons
3 Likes
As long as WoW is active at putting out content, then yes they should always be a subscription-based game.
1 Like
Doesn’t final fantasy still have a monthly fee?
1 Like
Yes, it does but with the free trial you can get to level 60.
Thats another thing the article stated. That the author felt that WoW was not keeping up with the content pacing that the devs said they would have on schedule.
Granted COVID and all but even before then.