So...where's my Life-Time Subscription Offer?
By
Chase_Arcanum,
Posted on: 2010-12-02 01:38 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
Quote:
No, they've already got enough people hooked to play monthly LTS seems to work best as a way to quick infuse cash, we should be invested in more renewable funding options.
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Originally Posted by _Akry_
I was just thinking about this today, and as odd as it may sound, I think that for this game, I WOULD get a life-time subscription offer. It's proven itself to be pretty reliable, though I think as a business plan, the $15/month works better than a short-term investment for NC Soft.
You guys think they should offer one? Would you guys buy into it? And, no, I don't think this game should ever go free-to-play. |
Lifetime subscription plans are a bet on the publisher's part -- a bet that the one-time sum of a LTS will get them more money from you than the monthly subscriptions they expect to be getting from you. The only time it makes sense for them to offer one would be when they don't think the majority of players will still be playing long term and they're in bad need of a quick cash infusion.
Neither of those are the case for CoX, and fortunes permitting won't be the case for a long time.
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Life-times are for games that actually are unsure if they still excist in 3 years time. Grabbing as much money as you can get at the start...
Monthly subs are a lot more reliable.. and in the long run earn a LOT more money. Life-time subs are a bad idea for games that do well. And COX does very well in the reliable sub part.
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A Lifetime Subscription offer would be more convenient (and obviously cheaper in the long run) for me as a player. But I think, as others have stated, it would be a bad business decision at the current time.
Besides I look at it this way: I still get a good amount of enjoyment from playing this game and I don't really mind paying reasonable prices for good entertainment. I'd rather keep paying to support this game than to save a few bucks and have the development budget of our Devs suffer for it. 
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Life-time subscriptions have universally been proven to be bad business operations for any MMO. Just think for a second what happened to the two most recent games that attempted to try and use the business tactic.
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Originally Posted by _Akry_
I was just thinking about this today, and as odd as it may sound, I think that for this game, I WOULD get a life-time subscription offer. It's proven itself to be pretty reliable, though I think as a business plan, the $15/month works better than a short-term investment for NC Soft.
You guys think they should offer one? Would you guys buy into it? And, no, I don't think this game should ever go free-to-play. |
Quote:
You mean like short people who drop rings?
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Originally Posted by je_saist
Life-time subscriptions have universally been proven to be bad business operations for any MMO. Just think for a second what happened to the two most recent games that attempted to try and use the business tactic.
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Yeah...riggghhhtttt. The Game That Shall Not Be Named is failing because of those Lifetime subscriptions and not because of the game itself...
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Originally Posted by je_saist
Life-time subscriptions have universally been proven to be bad business operations for any MMO. Just think for a second what happened to the two most recent games that attempted to try and use the business tactic.
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@Doctor Gemini
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Which is now F2P and received a certain amount of criticism from their lifetime subscribers when it did (although that seems to have subsided).|
Originally Posted by LISAR
You mean like LOTRO?
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The other example of lifetime subscriptions that comes to mind is a Certain Other game that caught merry hell from their players from their initial offer, then another round after the game went F2P, and most recently is dealing with the latest after re-offering lifetime subscriptions at an inflated rate.
While I don't regard lifetime subscriptions as inherently bad, there are enough bad precedents that I'd be suspicious if NCSoft started offering them for CoH.
I'd buy it if they offerd one even at $1000! I'd still save money in the long run cuz I dont ever plan on quiting.
The Other Hero game did it. That was a big mistake. Now they're charging out the butt for all their costumes in the (Letter Redacted)-Store in hopes they can keep revenue coming in. If you've ever gone to that site and/or played that game, you'll know that 40% of the costumes available require money to use.
No lifetime sub for me. Despite having 4 years of playtime under my belt, I'd gladly keep giving my monthly $15 to NC/Paragon and keep them gainfully employed than to pay a lump sum and stop supporting them as a company.
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Forgetting for a moment NCSoft's policy of not naming, talking about directly, or conversing about other games using their proper-names, Lord of the Rings is a horrible example for you to use, and proves my point.|
Originally Posted by LISAR
You mean like LOTRO?
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Here's why: http://www.lotro.com/free.php?
LORTO had to change their base business model. Yes, LORTO has made that business model work. They offer a good quality product with relatively low entry costs compared to other games in the same genre that is saturated with competitors, one of the few places where going Free-to-Play can offer a market advantage.
They still failed at their original subscription model. Life-Time Subscriptions were still a very bad business move.
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It hasn't. We've all just pretty much given up, but we're still very bitter.
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Originally Posted by TrueGentleman
Which is now F2P and received a certain amount of criticism from their lifetime subscribers when it did (although that seems to have subsided).
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How is proving your point horrible?
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Originally Posted by je_saist
Forgetting for a moment NCSoft's policy of not naming, talking about directly, or conversing about other games using their proper-names, short people who drop rings is a horrible example for you to use, and proves my point.
SPWDR had to change their base business model. Yes, SPWDR has made that business model work. They offer a good quality product with relatively low entry costs compared to other games in the same genre that is saturated with competitors, one of the few places where going Free-to-Play can offer a market advantage. They still failed at their original subscription model. Life-Time Subscriptions were still a very bad business move. |
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I imagine it's horrible because he's the only one who can understand how you proved his point...
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Originally Posted by LISAR
How is proving your point horrible?
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@Doctor Gemini
Arc #271637 - Welcome to M.A.G.I. - An alternative first story arc for magic origin heroes. At Hero Registration you heard the jokes about Azuria always losing things. When she loses the entire M.A.G.I. vault, you are chosen to find it.
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Look! Over There! Robot Ostriches!|
Originally Posted by LISAR
You mean like short people who drop rings?
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Well, if they failed as a subscription before the point where LTS was passed by monthly subs then the game failed despite of LTS not because of.|
Originally Posted by Doctor_Gemini
I imagine it's horrible because he's the only one who can understand how you proved his point...
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If say a game about fantasy boogey men fighting elves and midgets was released with a LTS about the same as 13 or 14 months and was forced to change at about 40 month mark to remain profitable it could be argued there was a loss in long term funds which accelerated the change.
I don't see a change in business model as proof of a failing just of proof of a potentially more profitable market. To prove a failing you would need to show a reported loss over time with no plateau.
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Not entirely. |
Originally Posted by Liz Bathory
Life-times are for games that actually are unsure if they still excist in 3 years time. Grabbing as much money as you can get at the start...
Monthly subs are a lot more reliable.. and in the long run earn a LOT more money. Life-time subs are a bad idea for games that do well. And COX does very well in the reliable sub part. |
1) Lifetime subscriptions are good for a game at launch because there are excessive launch investments (server infrastructure) that must be made before the revenue starts streaming in. That is usually paid via business credit and gradually paid back over the life of the subscription (plus interest). Games have found that pre-launch Lifetime sales help reduce or eliminate this need for launch credit... saving them significant interest costs.
2) As you mentioned, Lifetime subscriptions do help them hedge their bets-- they get more revenue upfront than they would if the game isn't well received.
3) During the credit crunch through the Great Recession, businesses that frequently use lines of credit (to develop an expansion, launch a game, or just get through a lull period) found that they'd lost access to ANY line of credit through no fault of their own. Offering a lifetime sub plan gave them cash-on-hand to address whatever project that would have been paid via a credit system.
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As for CoH, I'd buy one, but I don't think they'd ever offer one. They managed Going Rogue- their biggest surge in expenses- without resorting to one (though they did offer sweet yearly plan deals & preorder promotions that may have served this purpose to a lesser extent). They don't publicly acknowledge any project that would be at a point requiring a large cash infusion, and they do have a tried and tested loyal long-term playerbase...
Because City was a successful MMO from the start.
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One of the interesting things I've been wondering whether it provides an insight into normally-obfuscated information is the year plan deal. The presumed implication is that the cost to them of giving out the bonus deal free months is less than the cost to them of getting credit. In effect, they're getting a distributed loan from the player base. |
Originally Posted by Chase_Arcanum
As for CoH, I'd buy one, but I don't think they'd ever offer one. They managed Going Rogue- their biggest surge in expenses- without resorting to one (though they did offer sweet yearly plan deals & preorder promotions that may have served this purpose to a lesser extent). They don't publicly acknowledge any project that would be at a point requiring a large cash infusion, and they do have a tried and tested loyal long-term playerbase...
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It's also possible that the "cost" here is less monetary, and more a NcSoft paperwork issue; if they have to jump through a lot more hoops to hire someone today to work on a feature that will hopefully improve revenue next year, versus allocating the player's distributed up-front "investment" that they already have in hand.
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One of you just reminded me indirectly about one of the best things I like about this game: customer support! For this alone I'd remain with the monthly payment of $15. I totally forgot about the yearly plan they had going until I opened up the game last night. It's a sweet deal if you can swing it, for sure.
I don't think The Game That Shall Not Be Named (tGtSnBN?) failed because of it's payment model. As a matter of fact, I thought it had a good payment model going for it right up to when it launched. Pulling a fast one and completely revamping the game from beta to launch sort of got players angry, as did other various things. Point aside on why it's struggling, I still think it's got a good model going even today.
No, I wouldn't like that for CoH, though sometimes the little $10 expansions remind me of this other model. I don't mind paying the $10, bought every pack so far (except the Origins one, need to buy presents for the kiddies). I'll be honest and say I'm acttually very surprised CoH is still using the monthly model, but thank goodness it is. Still, for personal and reasons of greed, I'd still buy a life-time subscription if it was ever offered.
Then again, I play red-side, so it's really all about me. 
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I just signed up for the 12+2 month promotion. It'll take effect when my current subscription expires in June 2011. Paid up until August 2012? That =IS= a lifetime on the internet!| So...where's my Life-Time Subscription Offer? |
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Only one person does, that was my point.
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Originally Posted by LISAR
I don't see a change in business model as proof of a failing
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@Doctor Gemini
Arc #271637 - Welcome to M.A.G.I. - An alternative first story arc for magic origin heroes. At Hero Registration you heard the jokes about Azuria always losing things. When she loses the entire M.A.G.I. vault, you are chosen to find it.
Quote:
December 2012. 103 months then |
Originally Posted by NuclearToast
I just signed up for the 12+2 month promotion. It'll take effect when my current subscription expires in June 2011. Paid up until August 2012? That =IS= a lifetime on the internet!
--NT |
total kick to the gut
This is like having Ra's Al Ghul show up at your birthday party.
I would have to say that life-time subscriptions at the very beginning is a great way to get a lot of cash up front and I can see why lots of games offer initial lifetime subscriptions. However, it does hurt your cash flow over time and that is an important part of any business.
I remember when I was teaching karate, they offered a regular life-time membership deal where you pay X amount of money and then you are set for life. After awhile you end up teaching for free and that's not good.
While I would love to have a chance to get a life-time subscription to CoX, I don't see them offering it unless they were really hurting for short-term cash.
My life-time subscription for LOTRO has already paid for itself and I was really glad to have gotten it. But I'm really not contributing much to their cash flow.
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I was just thinking about this today, and as odd as it may sound, I think that for this game, I WOULD get a life-time subscription offer. It's proven itself to be pretty reliable, though I think as a business plan, the $15/month works better than a short-term investment for NC Soft.
You guys think they should offer one? Would you guys buy into it? And, no, I don't think this game should ever go free-to-play.
To help others, first you must be able to help yourself.