Value for your dollar?

Community General Discussion
43

Subscription Games are… weird.

There are 4 monetization schemes in gaming, mostly.

1: The Box Price

2: Microtransactions

3: DLC

4: Subscriptions

A typical AAA release ends up coming with the Box Price and ~2 DLC a year, and probably some form of Cosmetic Microtransactions as of the last decade or so.

It’s really only MMORPGs that tack the Subscription Cost on as well.

Are the server costs really that much higher than a typical game to justify that? WoW doesn’t exactly see more players than expected for a hyped non-MMO game release. Does the fact that hundreds of people can play in the same field as opposed to to the 10-40 you see in most online shooters and such make it that much more expensive? Or is it the total players online that matters?

If the server costs really are that much bigger because of how MMOs function, okay, fine, I get it, conversation over.

If they’re not, then subscriptions are a scam, and Sub-Based MMOs are tacking on a significantly greedier alternative to DLC that no other genre tries to pull.

DLC is the vehicle that feeds post-launch revenue for a standard game.

x.1, x.2, x.3, x.4 - type patches are the equivalent in a game like WoW. The Major Content Patches. We don’t pay for them. But the sub cost is like $135 per major content patch (based on a 7-month patch cycle, no, micropatches aren’t relevant). That’s ridiculous if it’s just acting as the DLC alternative.

Idk. I don’t have a problem paying the $15/mo. In a vacuum, $15 is nothing. You’re paying that to get fast food 1 time for yourself, just about. but I do question if there’s an actual technical reason these games require more money to run than other large online multiplayer games. That $15/mo is a LOT in comparison to what you’d be paying if we paid for content patches as DLC instead.

$50-$90 Box + $315 in sub fees + Optional Microtransactions is kind of a lot for 1 game (over its ~21 month lifespan before the next expansion cycle).

MOST games I touch I’m paying a box price, probably $20 - $50, and that’s it.

The games I have the MOST playtime in other than WoW have all been in that category.

So…

While it’s commendable that the sub price hasn’t INCREASED with inflation, WoW is still wildly expensive compared to any non subscription video game, which is the vast majority of them. It’s just a question if that’s by necessity or due to raw greed.

44

I think this is a bad way to look at it because you would have to value time played and not just time of renting. If I was to use this equation on say Terraria it would cost .0019 cents a day which is which is like .02% the price of a single wow xpac.

45

Calculating $15/mo + $90 expansion (assume annual for simplicity), and throw in $100 of cosmetics and services each year.

If you play an average of 5 hours a day for 365 days that comes to about 95c per day, or about 15c per hour. If you remove the $100 services for the year it’s 66c a day, or 13c an hour. That’s not bad imo

46

There are few things in life that I spend money on that are better value for money than WoW. I spend more on breakfast in one day than I pay monthly for WoW.

Even buying epic editions and a few shop mounts here and there barely registers. It’s such a tiny expense in the overall scheme of things, and for that I get many long hours of entertainment.

I wish more things in life where as good a value for money as WoW is.

1 Like
47

i spent that on a night at the bar in my younger days. a full year of entertainment for that price? easy decision.

1 Like
48

WoW is the only game and I never felt bad paying full price plus sub for since I started playing in mop retail. Before that I came from wotlk private servers from back in the day (2008) and those were free to play, and then I transitioned to retail and I’ve never regretted it since.

49

Bro that’s like three large popcorns. You are throwing it back!

But nah as far as value goes, I don’t buy cash shop stuff, haven’t paid for a service since Legion, and I sub month-to-month so when I’m not playing I’m not paying.

It’s been good value for me.

1 Like
50

Oh, so Canadians can play for gold. Good to know.

51

IF the game servers weren’t complete crap and worked, and the designers actually bothered to balance the game, finish content, and cared. I’d say the price was perfectly fine.

Problem is what we are promised and what is delivered are two VERY different things. We’re paying for the gaming equivalent of fine dining. Repeated xpacs, high end systems requirements, subscription fees, online shop, the whole 9 yards. And yet we’re getting McDs level content. You can’t even get a real human GM for in game issues, instead some AI bot… for 15$ a month?

52

I think it depends on how much you play.

I think WoW is less worth it if you play a lot of other games and have a family or a lot of commitments.

Now for me:

  • Play Retail/Anni/MoP
  • Spend probably 2 hours on average per day on it
  • I enjoy getting my goals and that grind to get all the Druid/Monk things lately.
  • Legion Remix has ramped my time played… sometimes easily 6 hours.

is the 12th month reoccurring $249 AUD worth it? Yes by a long shot. I’ve payed a lot more for less value in food, entertainment and a lot of others.

Now with that said. I’ve got a few friends who only like KSM and for 3 expansions it’s been the exact same formula. Buy the game, KSM and AoTC season 1 then quit till the next expansion. It’s like clockwork 4 years in a row. I genuinely don’t think it’s worth the $$ for them but they still seem to feel it’s fine. They have already committed to Midnight.

53

I think it is rather expensive… for now I enjoy it but if I had to make a hard dollar per hour of entertainment wow wouldn’t win over epic free game give aways or humble bundle.

1 Like
54

The amount of entertainment I get for the money is ridiculous.

It’s some of the cheapest entertainment out there.

2 Likes
55

Is it really?

I can’t see how to be honest. You get a free game every week from epic. Bundle sites offer some really good older games for 10 or so a month for the price of a wow sub.

Its not a bad deal but entertainment always gets cheaper and cheaper. What was cheap yesterday is steak and lobsters today.

1 Like
56

The only cheaper entertainment that comes to mind is getting books from the library.

1 Like
57

You can get entire games on steam sales for 2$-5$. And we’re talking AAA titles. WoW is one of the more expensive games out there.

58

For me, it’s $15USD. Thats a single hour of work minimum wage in my area, a month.

Classic and Classic anniversary provide a ton of content and don’t require the current expansion.

I think this is your issue, not the price structure

59

Are you delusional? :joy:

60

I used to not mind paying the sub and buying expansions, I felt like the money I spent was going back into making a good product.
I will say though that in recent times I’ve felt the opposite about this.
Blizzard used to have great customer service, I always felt that the sub helped ensure that by providing revenue and a want to keep good cs to keep said revenue. Now days I can make a ticket with behavior clearly breaking tos rules, with screenshots and get nothing back and the same people are doing the same stuff. Not even talking just bots, but player behavior.
Also the game quality feels like it has taken a nose dive in recent years. Blizzard Polish is a joke, and has no meaning.
The dollar amount doesn’t bother me, but I don’t feel like I’m getting what I pay for really anymore.

Just unsub then if you’re unhappy

I actually have, sub runs out in March.

2 Likes
61

Oh, I guess I meant entertainment that I’m actually interested in. I pretty much only play MMOs, and either way most games that are $5 on steam are probably $5 for a reason.

2 Likes
62

So you have no idea what is a good amount to charge for a game, but you’re here to interject anyways…

/facepalm

2 Likes