Is There A Lifetime Sub Option for CoX?
By
Ad Astra,
Posted on: 2011-03-02 08:13 in CoH and CoV General Discussions
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What do you mean 6 months later? They detonated the atomic nerf bomb the day the game launched. Pissed off a ton of the people that bought Lifetime subs and they refunded a good portion of them to disgruntled customers that immediately cancelled their subscriptions.
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Originally Posted by Willowpaw
(an additional 6 months later)
WTF? That huge round of nerfs was unexpected. The game is definitely unfun now. Too bad they won't refund any of that lifetime subscription I paid 6 months ago. |
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Not just finances. You may have been joking with your first sentence but it is actually an important concern. With a monthly subscription model, the devs and NC Soft need to worry that they will lose our interest and therefore our money; with a lifetime subscription model they already have our money. The implied threat of us taking our money and leaving is a constant drive to maintain and improve the game to keep that money rolling in.
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
I don't know... On the one hand, it would save me money in the long run, but on the other hand I can never threaten to quit again. Decisions, decisions...
Seriously, though, I'd get a lifetime sub if one were offered, but I fear this would do more harm than good to Paragon City's finances. |
Arc #40529 : The Furies of the Earth
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This actually seems to be true. Anyway, I'd rather pay on the three months at a time plan. I save a few bucks but the game gets a continuous cash flow. They deserve it.
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Originally Posted by Silencer7
The only games that offer lifetime subscriptions are games that don't expect to last very long. The only reason to offer a lifetime sub for 100 bucks or something is that you don't think players will want to spend more than five or six months playing your MMO anyway.
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Yup. I actually expect DCUO to go F2P, but like with Cryptic all that's going to mean is that my lifetime sub gets me premium status forever. That's all I was looking for. |
Originally Posted by Golden Girl
They launched with a little shopping cart icon as part of the social UI
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That game has potential. It won't take me from my beloved CoH ever, but it's fun for some mindless bashing once in awhile.
The City of Heroes Community is a special one and I will always look fondly on my times arguing, discussing and playing with you all. Thanks and thanks to the developers for a special experience.
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I don't think he/she was talking about CO specifically.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
What do you mean 6 months later? They detonated the atomic nerf bomb the day the game launched. Pissed off a ton of the people that bought Lifetime subs and they refunded a good portion of them to disgruntled customers that immediately cancelled their subscriptions.
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Anyway, I agree that LTSs wasn't what killed CO, and doesn't mean immediate death for any game. The nerf you mentioned and the fact that CO wasn't really that great to begin with is what killed it. STO had a similar situation in that it was horrible at launch, but so far it seems they got their stuff together fast enough to save the game.
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Originally Posted by Night-Hawk07
I don't think he/she was talking about CO specifically.
Anyway, I agree that LTSs wasn't what killed CO, and doesn't mean immediate death for any game. The nerf you mentioned and the fact that CO wasn't really that great to begin with is what killed it. STO had a similar situation in that it was horrible at launch, but so far it seems they got their stuff together fast enough to save the game. |
No LTS's don't mean an immediate death for any game but here the permanent loss of subscription fees would bring the death of this game. This game isn't staying afloat because we keep bringing in new players. It's the vets subscriptions that are the games bread and butter. After the huge influx of cash the LTS's would bring in the steady income from the monthly subs would dry up and that would be the end of this game being profitable.
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No there isnt.. because this game is good and actually WORTH paying for...
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Originally Posted by CanaDixieMan
I see that the Distinguished Competition has been offering this, but I don't really think I want it. I WOULD take advantage of a "lifetime" sub to CoX, as it's proven itself to be the source of thousands of hours of creative recreation. Yet I don't find an option for this in account management.
Who else would shell out for a "lifetime" sub? |
The hard things I can do--- The impossible just take a little bit longer.
If numbers are so much more important than a teammate who is fun to play with, forget about the game altogether and go play with a calculator instead. -Claws and Effect-
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You appear to be equally math challenged as Je Saist|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
I find it funny that you aren't aware that a Lifetime Subscription is usually equal to the cost of a year's subscription + or - a couple months and that when you buy a year's subscription for CoH when the company offers it it's discounted to roughly $10 bucks per month.
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DCUO $200 lifetime
CO $200 lifetime
LOTRO $200 lifetime
(I don't really consider Hellsgate:London a normal MMO)
Monthly fees $15 per month. If we take longer chunks they do scale down somewhat (can't seem to find the 12 month price for COH, for 6 months it was about $13 per month last time I renewed, so I doubt 12 months drops it $3). CO does come up with a $10/month price, but DCUO doesn't get that low even at 12 months, it only drops to a bit over $11.
So let's look at a year. If we assume your Pricing model ($10 per month, which doesn't exist too often), you claim of 1 year +/- a couple of months fails badly ($200 vs. $120). Assuming base pricing, $15/mo you actually manage to be correct ($200 vs. $180).
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| The thing Je Saist got wrong was his statement that Lifetime Subs were what killed CO. CO only offered LTS's during the 1 month prior to the games launch. Most of the CO playerbase never had the opportunity to buy them. They only started offering them again after they realized the game was failing and they'd be switching to an F2P business model. |
People should not presume to make economic analysis when they don't understand what they are talking about.
Too many alts to list.
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I take a very cynical view of lifetime subs. They have always given me the sense that the game in question's outlook is grim, and that the lifetime subs are a way to get a bunch of money from people when it's actually feared that the game's initial subscription policy won't hold water. Case in point - CoH's first in-genre competition.|
Originally Posted by Goliath Bird Eater
The catch is that there must also be sufficient regular subscriptions to maintain operating costs and pay for further development once the initial boost of cash provided by the lifetime subscriptions runs out, as most lifetime subscription prices only average out to a year or so of regular monthly subscription fees. That is where the problems usually start.
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I would be extremely wary of such an offer from this or any game. I would rather pay based on a monthly sub.
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If CoX had a lifetime subscription, I'd buy one, just like I did for DCUO, CO, and STO.
But until then, I'll keep paying the yearly rate.
--NT
They all laughed at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian.
But I showed them, and nobody's laughing at me now!
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Wonder what would happen if they offered a 18, 24 and 36 month sub plan with appropriate discounts... I'd probably sign up since I'm annual.
Paragon Studios should sell 'lifetime' subscriptions, with one twist: They should announce that the 'lifetime' will be only 5 years, and they will spend the money they get from the subs to develop CoH2 during that time.
Given that situation, I'd buy two subscriptions. (I only have one now, but I'd like to encourage them to develop a new game.)
...
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Random note: since going annual on COH and getting a lifetime on STO? I've actually played both game less than when I was a monthly subscriber. One of the biggest selling features for any game is not some graphics feature or gameplay element - its the players of the game. As such, while Paragon/NCSoft has got my money (and less of it to boot), they don't have me nearly as much, helping my SG, doing PUGs, etc.
If that's the norm for long-term subscribers and lifers, I'd argue its not so helpful for the game. The instanced nature of COH can make it look deceptively empty at times, and that could be a turn-off for people who are trialing the game or deciding if they want to stick with it.
Random note #2: I personally think that's one of the reasons why we've got Leagues, the queing system and these big raids coming in i20. Even if the player population doesn't change, I think it'll look fuller and busier because you'll have all these players in one place working together.
On topic: I think I would get a lifetime to COH if made available as I'm reasonably sure it will last long enough for me to get my money's worth and more. However, as a 6-year player (who, again, went annual), I would imagine NCSoft/Paragon would greatly prefer me to pay for another 6-years on a subscription than to just get a single lifetime purchase from me.
I mean, hell, notice that Ultima Online, EQ1, Asheron's Call, Lineage I, etc., are much older than COH and have yet to offer lifetimes or go to some sort of free to play model (freemium, micros, etc).
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Have MMO sequels really done well enough to justify a COH2? I read an article years ago suggesting that they are likely to cause a portion of players to leave then split the remaining players, causing both games to be weaker than the original, but one of them having a massive development bill dragging it down.|
Originally Posted by RemusShepherd
Paragon Studios should sell 'lifetime' subscriptions, with one twist: They should announce that the 'lifetime' will be only 5 years, and they will spend the money they get from the subs to develop CoH2 during that time.
Given that situation, I'd buy two subscriptions. (I only have one now, but I'd like to encourage them to develop a new game.) |
The only way I'd want a City of Heroes 2 is if there was a Marvel Ultimate Alliance- or Freedom Force-style City of Heroes 1. Sequels for stand alone, non-MMO games? Sure. I'd go for that...
*cough*BlackPebbleareyoureadingthis*cough*
I find it funny that you aren't aware that a Lifetime Subscription is usually equal to the cost of a year's subscription + or - a couple months and that when you buy a year's subscription for CoH when the company offers it it's discounted to roughly $10 bucks per month.
The thing Je Saist got wrong was his statement that Lifetime Subs were what killed CO. CO only offered LTS's during the 1 month prior to the games launch. Most of the CO playerbase never had the opportunity to buy them. They only started offering them again after they realized the game was failing and they'd be switching to an F2P business model.
Star Trek Online is the game where they are always offering the Lifetime Subscriptions.