No Subscription MMORPG Model
NCSoft hopes to create a large enough fan base to guarantee sales of sequels and add-ons. Support costs have been trimmed through new technologies, and there are no free downloads. “There are a lot of new technologies in Guild Wars which other products do not have,” Garriott says. “If others decide this is a good business model they will have to do the things we have done and that will take time. In any business, time is how you win.”
A MM game without a subscription fee is certainly more attractive to me.. and well.. anyone I would think. The motives of Mr. Garriot are almost altruistic for the industry as a whole, but homeboy is lookin to make some cheddar too.
-
Vincent Grayson
replyHonestly, if they had charged a monthly fee for GW, it would've had to have been a much more substantial game, IMO.
It basically plays like Diablo 2 did on Battle.net, albeit with the initial "rooms" in which to gather for playing, being towns that you can go to, there simply isn't enough in the game, IMO, that it would've warranted paying $15/month for.-
Agreed. GW is not an MMO in the traditional sense of the word. Its not revolutionary the way UO was revolutionary.
GW is basically battle.net with 3d chatrooms. The support costs are also minimal compared to even the oldest MMOs. -
GW to me plays more like a sp game where you get X hours out of it... rather than something ongoing and multiplayer. the pvp is for ultra hardcore only, so there's nothing to do once you beat it unless you want to immerse yourself into a crowd that eats, sleeps, and breathes the skills stats. I think they need a plan in the long term for better persistance... more for PVE players to do. Could they have done more with a monthly fee? Who knows. There are games there isn't shit all to do that have a monthly fee. It comes down to design in my opinion.
-
