Pics of the Day: My Little Necromancer

MMOGC shared her Asura last night, and inspired me to get pics of my little guy out there. I'm still coming up with a good name—and it won't be my main—but I definitely will role an Asura Necromancer come Saturday.

Ready for action!

The Death of the Subscription Model, Warmed Over

The news that SWTOR is transitioning to a "free to play" model (actually a hybrid P2P/F2P model) has sent the gaming/blogging/tweeting world into yet another tizzie. The pro-F2Pers are dancing in the streets to the strains of "Ding! Dong! Subscription's Dead!" Meanwhile, the self-appointed MMO pundits are sitting back in their armchairs, declaring, "I told you so," and trying yet again to nail the coffin shut on SWTOR. While I think the Truth is out there, I doubt we'll ever have enough information to prognosticate the end of the sub-based MMORPG.

by quaziefoto

Lest We Forget

The solar radiance of WoW shines a huge light on the matter. The elephant in the room has more active subs than all other "AAA" games out there combined; and while there are chinks in Blizzard's armor, I don't see that changing in the foreseeable future. Add to this shining example other veteran MMOs like EVE and Rift (does it count as veteran?) and you begin to see a trend—or at least a plateau.

But look, the "pundits" say, at all the games that have free to play just to survive! LOTRO, STO, CO, AoC. Now add SWTOR, the biggest budget game since . . . EVAHR! And they just cried uncle. ArenaNet didn't even bother, they're launching GW2 as F2P just as they did with the original GW. Clearly the trend is toward free-to-play.

Things are tough all over, even for Blizzard. But time and again I hear people say that they are willing to pay for a quality gaming experience. Some others would rather not pay a sub on top of a stiff box price. Stil others refuse to pay a subscription for any game, no matter what. These people are giving their personal philosophies rather than actually commenting on the business models. There are quality games that have no monthly subscriptions. Many more have a hybrid model, where for an upfront sub fee, you get extra content privileges or a stipend in an otherwise RMT shop. Others require a full subscription to play at all. If the quality is there, this is not a problem for me. But when I stop having fun, I don't want to pay anymore.

Everything Must Go!

Tesh commented on the recent Steam sale as well, and I think it is related. Sales are always great for the consumer. But we all to often think the sellers are doing us a favor, partly because they try to make it seem that they are. The reality is very different.

Imagine you're a shopkeeper. You've paid a hundred bucks for some cat food, 50¢ per can. You figure you can sell for the cat food for twice as much as you paid, $200. You sell about 50 cans at a dollar a piece. With a quarter of your inventory gone, you're half-way to the break-even point. But then sales start to dry up. Everyone willing to pay a dollar for a can of cat food has done so. So you reduce the price. And put a sign up. SALE! Cat Food, 75¢! You sell a few more but then sales dry up again. So you reduce the price again. Given the trend, you'll probably break even, but you won't make your profit goal. Under some circumstances, however, you'll be more worried about cutting your losses than making a profit.

While development costs muddy the water, the cost to produce a game license (because that's what you're really buying) is so close to 0¢ that it may as well be. Therefore, if a company can get any more sales by reducing the price from an initial premium, it is only to their advantage to do so. If it gets to the point where you're only paying a few dollars (or euros) for it on Steam, it's still worth it to the producer to sell it, regardless of whether they are making a profit or recouping a loss.

by Martien van Asseldonk

A game transitioning to free-to-play may be the best thing that ever happened it, turning a foundering title to a profitable venture. If reducing the box price of SWTOR and offering a F2P option induces more players to try it, that can only be good for EA/BioWare. It doesn't alter any perceived flaws in the game, itself.

As I said before, many people are willing to pay a subscription for quality content (much like a magazine sub). They say it's a more honest model. Others want to play for free and buy stuff from the cash shop only if necessary. Luckily, as I also said, most (all?) of the F2P games I've mentioned have the subscription option. Let's face it, the developer/publisher needs to make a profit to continue providing the game service. The money has to come from somewhere.

More Bang For Your Buck

The real question is, Does the game service provide you value? That is, is the game designed to your tastes? Do you enjoy playing? Is your investment in time (and money) worth it? If not, move on. Hopefully, the game will find its audience and succeed. If not, it will fail.

The other question is, Does providing the game service give value to the producer? Are they getting a return on their investment? Don't forget sunk costs, which can be a problem as the executives irrationally try to get back what they put in, perhaps throwing good money after bad. Or focusing too much on the bottom line and not enough on the art.

Regardless of the quality of the game itself, SWTOR may simply have been too ambitious a project, with too much money thrown at it in an attempt or expectation of WoW-like player populations. Like LOTRO and several others, SWTOR will hopefully find its footing in the hybrid model. There are too many games on the market, and they are all—for good or bad—in orbit of the elephant. It is my hope that new projects will have more realistic expectations of player populations, whether P2P or F2P.

As for those that bemoan the communities that may or may not sour as a result of the "rabble" invading the Halls of the Emperor, I say you can find the community you want in every MMO. I, for one, am grateful to be part of the (now) meta-Guild Republic Mercy Corps, as well as the relatively small community of like-minded bloggers and twitterers I follow. Every game I have played has brought me more friends. We don't always agree, but we always have fun. If we aren't having fun, then why play?

I'm Not Signing Up For the Guild Wars 2 Beta

Even though I indicate above that this blog includes posts from Tyria, I have actually posted very little about Guild Wars 2. I follow Hunters Insight and get news about the game from various sources. But the last two betas I was involved in spoiled the opening of the game for me to point that I am not very interested in doing it again. I didn't play the original Guild Wars, and don't intend to change that anytime before the sequel comes out. I hope to catch maybe a novel or some other background on the game. But I hoping to recapture a little of the wonder I experienced those first few months I played WoW. Involvement in the beta will only dilute that experience, at best. So while I eagerly look forward to the release of GW2, I will not be in the beta.

Early Access and Launch Queues, or Stop Whining, You Little Brat.

The following is pretty much an  unedited copy of a comment I made on GeeCee's blog post about the SWTOR launch, also of merit is Scarybooster's comparison of the SWTOR launch vs. WoW's launch seven years ago.

I got in "before lunch" on the second day, having preordered in September, the day they announced the 20 December release. Being at work, and unable to take the day off, it didn't matter to me what time of day I got the email.

People seem to forget that their preorder purchase--a whole 5 bucks for basic and DD editions--"guaranteed" only that they would have a copy of the game on the day of release. Any early access, whether one day or seven, is free gravy. The EARLIER access was a reward for preordering EARLIER. Those who ordered later, like me, got what they deserved and have "no standing," to borrow legal jargon.

As for queues, I encountered minor ones early yesterday morning before work, but was pleasantly surprised to waltz onto Sanctum of the Exalted during primetime. I have a friend on Mask of Nihilus (sp?) with 25-30 minute queues, nothing a few minutes doing dishes or reading a story to your kids can't cover.

Here's a nickel's worth of free advice: When your chosen server is full and the queue is intolerable, role a minor alt on an open server. Sure, you want to play with friends and guildmates. But having a back-up plan and having fun at it is way better than getting your blood pressure up and nerdraging on the SWTOR forums. Besides, you never know when your server might crash in the future and you'll be ready with a little side character.

A few hours ago in a galaxy very very nearby. . .

I had to get this pic out for for those of us who will be consistently playing both sides of the Galactic Cold War. (Thanks to Jac Thomas of BioWare for posting it to G+) I am so excited to start playing SWTOR. For Realz. I'm pretty sure I won't get in today. But I can wait. Sctrz has RL stuff keeping her busy this week, so I don't want to distract her. I just hope I can go with most if not all of my planned names. More to come when I get in myself.

So what side are you on?

For all those who are in the fight already: May the Force be with you.