Daekar, on 06 December 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:
I cannot fathom why the industry moved away from subscriptions... it was constant cash for devs and high quality content for players. And especially when F2P gives such a comparatively poor value per dollar... why would players support such a transition? Are we that stupid?
It's easy - not many games can support a large enough subscription population to be profitable.
Gamers these days are fickle, they move from game to game, leaving only the hardcore fans to pay their monthly subs - and it's usually not enough unless you have a runaway success like WoW.
The alternative is to use those fickle gamers; to let them play for free but try to get them to pay for *something* while they're here.
Also, a lot of P2P games go to so-called freemium models when populations dwindle; a free-to-play part, and a subscription part with added benefits, and a cash shop for everyone to buy things. It's a very popular and very successful method. See e.g. Lord of the Rings Online, Champions Online, Star Trek Online, Age of Conan, Dungeons & Dragons Online - all originally pay-to-play, now freemium.
MWO has a freemium model off the bat; you can play for free, and you can sub for added XP/CB. There's also the cash shop in which to spend money. The model is tested and true, and while things like pricing can always be debated, it's a very effective method to generate revenue.
Edited by stjobe, 06 December 2012 - 02:40 PM.