If the game is somehow saved...

... and a new publisher picks up the game, knowing what we know now about the future planned for CoH, would you be willing to invest $1,000 for a lifetime membership?

I ask because we all know that many games offer a lifetime sub for a substantial fee for quick funding. If another company picks it up, the chances are that they will have less funding after paying NCsoft for the IP and whatever fees it costs to Cryptic for licensing their engine. Then also take into the cost of the "secret project" that Paragon was designing (which seems to have been a follow-up title to CoH). And finally, there is also the cost of the new publisher to create their own studio as well as paying the salary of the new developers and HOPEFULLY the salary to get the Paragon Studios staff back to keep working on the projects.

Knowing that most longtimers have spent numerous thousands over the lifetime of the game, if a new company is able to get everything together, is $1,000 too much for a lifetime subscription knowing what will need to go into letting CoH live on?

I always said that I'd be willing to pay for a lifetime sub if one were offered. Since it's on par with other games, $500 seems reasonable to me for that. Considering that we have two accounts in our household, theres the $1000 you were talkiing about.

Where the game would make money from me is in all of the bits and extras. To be honest, I have purchased just about every booster pack (remember those?) costume set, power set, and sparkly the game has ever offered.

I have to say, I think it probably is too much. Edit: I mean $1000 is too much. $500 is probably still too much, but its a lot closer.

The weird part, is I could see myself paying it anyway.

But the problem is, I could only do that because I'm a single guy with a significant disposable income. I don't think I know anyone else in real life who could legitimately justify that cost up front, even if it's a reasonable amount to imagine spending if you paid a standard sub (or anything like it) over the long haul.

There are a couple of reasons here. The first is the matter of cash flow. Throwing a grand out there puts a big dent in most people's cash on hand - money they need in any given month to pay bills, buy real-world stuff like groceries and gas, etc. Even if they can dip into savings or credit (ew) to pay it, that is going to be a big chunk out of those reserves that a lot of people keep on hand for unexpected expenses.

Now, people definitely do blow that kind of money from time to time on various non-critical stuff, like new TVs, new computers, etc. If you don't see yourself needing any of those other things for long enough that you can manage the dent in reserves, then sure, you might be able to justify the spend.

Of course, if you're married, unless your spouse is also seriously in love with CoH, I could see it being a hard sell. And actually, that makes me think of something, for those couples who do game together ... multiple lifetime subs per house seems really painful at $1000.

I think it's almost certainly too much for most people. The sticker shock factor is probably too strong.

You are missing part of the question Commander.


If the community winds up paying for their purchase of the property, what guarantees are the new owners willing to make to the community ?

I am really not looking for a badge, an in game mask, and an I saved city of heroes only to be taken advantage of by the new owners shirt.

I'd want to see some provision made that the game would go on and be available for the community, if for any reason the new company was happy with our initial money but no longer wanted to be in the MMO business. At the very least some sort of code/IP escrow would seem to be in order. Unfortunately because of the cryptic engine open sourcing the game wouldn't be possible, but we could have qualified people from the community collaborate with the new company, and be involved with the build and maintenance processes for the game. I have no idea what the encumbrances on the use of the cryptic engine are but we would want that held in such a way that it wouldn't be an asset of the new owners.

I know what I am talking about is extreme, but asking someone to pay for your business without giving them shares in it, or rights to what they are paying for is pretty extreme as well.

I'd pay a subscription, for two reasons:
(1) I want to support the ongoing development of CoX, and to do that, the company needs a revenue stream. A game/company that offers lifetime subscriptions is not thinking long-term.
(2) Let's assume that in the new world, the subscription cost has to rise to $20/month. It will take more than 4 years before the $500 membership is cost-effective and more than 8 years for the $1000 membership. As much as I love CoX, I'm not going to make that kind of bet.

Z

Regular subscription, with caveats;

Is it a company with a track record of keeping their games alive for a long time? If yes, then I'd be willing to spring for a lifetime sub.

I would also be willing to pay more - $20 or $25 per month, if necessary, but also depending on how the new publisher handles the game development and/or support.

An open letter to NCsoft

You're missing another option - the free-to-play cash shop one. I'm not going back to paying a sub for any game, I don't think. But I will drop considerable money on stuff I like. In fact there's nothing that Paragon put out that I didn't buy - but I only subbed VIP every couple months.

A regular subscription at best.

Depending on the situation, I could give a fair amount above but would not want a life time subscription. If we were to somehow get the game either picked up by another publisher or if paragon finds a way to do it alone, they will need continued revenue above and beyond what the initial "buy the ip off of ncsoft" would require. eh, i understand people spent crazy money for the black wolf pet, i'd be spending a bit above comfort zone to retain the game entirely. and feycat has a point, a cash shop would likely be a part of the continuing business plan.

Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.

Frankly there were many months where I've barely managed the $15 a month the game already cost.

The only way I'd ever be able to drop $1000 at one time on anything is if I didn't spend that $15 for the next 6 years and instead saved it up. NOT contributing to the game monthly in order to save up to contribute to the game lump sum at some nebulous point in the future would kind of defeat the purpose.

@Oathbound & @Oathbound Too

I don't think that I will ever pay a lifetime subscription for anything. Because I have no idea when I'm going to die and even less of a clue when the business is going to die.

I'd offer support with a regular sub in a heartbeat. Continued revenue as I understand it makes a difference long term.

I'd also be willing to by a significant block of points, several hundred dollars worth, up front.

And lastly, were there a crowd funding effort to help launch a reformed, leaner but just as mean, fully independent Paragon Studios that would help guarantee the legal longevity of the CoH franchise and at least another 4-8 years of this particular game, I'd be willing to give substantially to that, on the order of a few thousand at least. (I would of course want some sort of decent perk, not a pay to play perk, but something fun. I.e. I'd like to say "Hey, for my donation, can we get a simple scuba tank in the costume bit queue?" Or get one of my character names, after vetting of course!, included on a future history plaque or exploration badge, etc.)

I really can't find $1000 to pay on a game. $500 might be possible, if it happened to fall during the times twice a year that I would likely have a bonus from work as extra cash to blow on something.

Thos of us here in middle America, with middle class jobs (NOT the middle class that makes $250K or more per year) would have a hard time coming up with funds in those amounts without seriously hurting our household cash flow, as Uber said above.

Increased sub - sure, no prob.

Kickstarter contribution - pretty likely, even a sizeable one, but that's because I generally support the kickstarter concept as a business model, not just for PS.

Lifetime sub of $500 - $1000 - not very likely at all. Smaller amounts or payable in installments, more likely.

I think you may have priced the lifetime sub too high to get good results for this survey.

Way too rich for my blood.

Also, don't lifetime subs do more harm than good to the publisher?

Not a chance. I doubt I'll even resub at all. This whole experience has completely soured the game for me.

I have bought 3 lifetime subs. None of them were over $300. $500 or $1000 is far, far too much for me. It doesn't matter how good a deal it is, that still ends up being too much to put out at once for a video game.

you forgot the free to play shop option and the coh is dead to me option

nc-soft has killed my desire to throw money at a game like i used to
your prices are way to high not that i would buy a lifetime

if a game releases with a life time sub i dodge them to me its a sign there milking me
box + life = f2p within 6 months

I would only invest in a lifetime sub if I had some kind of guarantee that the game would be around for a while. It would really suck to shell out for a life-time sub only to find out that the "life-time" only lasts another year.

I'd gladly pay $500 if I knew the game would last at least another 5+ years. $1,000 would be too much for my current budget, but if I had it to spare, I'd be willing to pay that much too. Without any such guarantees, though, I wouldn't invest in a lifetime sub, but I'd always be willing to go for a monthy sub, no question.

$1,000 and $500 are way out of my price range for any LTS. The most I could reasonably come up with on my fixed income would be $250.

Now as to the question if I would actually buy an LTS. That depends on how it's set up and what type of business model they are using to keep the game running.

I think it's a very bad sign if LTS's are offered indefinitely for a business model that is solely subscription based.

Every game sub based game I've bought an LTS to has been forced to go F2P after 2 years. Fortunately for me their LTS's were the same price as a years sub so I got my monies worth.

From what I've seen of the F2P hybrid MMO's that offer LTS's it seems to be successful so far for them so it might work here as long as we remain F2P hybrid.

I am jumpin' to the bottom, so if I reiterate, sorry.

I voted regular subscription. I *have been* doing that. Even the two months I took off here and there... the subscription NEVER lapsed. Because I believed in the game, and knew I'd be back.. I just had issues.

$500 or $1000 is quite a lot of coin for someone to dump into even this at once. The reason I could do the monthly is just that: It's not $150 I have to deal with once a year. Easier on the wallet to dole it out in chunks.

And it's not $1000 I have to dump into once... then what? If everyone shot their money in at once... sure, that's great. Then the game is not financed from that point on.

F2P with premium, vip and microtrans was a pretty good deal, I thought. I got my stipend of points, I could buy what I wanted, and not buy what I didn't, and I got all the VIP stuff that I was used to in updates, SSAs, etc.

I would continue to support that, without question, and might support it more monthly, but... yeah. I don't think it's about lifetime subscriptions, as I don't think it a good business model in the first place.

Mike

I answered $500, because I love this game to death, and if I saved up for it (which I would), I could make that work, but I just can't afford $1,000.

From what I have seen, typical lifetime subscription options run in the $2-$300 range for a product you have probably never played before, so I guess I could see $500 for a game you already know you love being acceptable, but that is still a pretty high number.

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