Is Blizzard charging too much per a sub?

[Varaben]

By pure numbers, WoW is incredibly bad value for money gaming-wise. You can get a lot more content and a lot better game design by spending the money elsewhere.

I'm curious what you mean by this. Consider a new player starting the game who doesn't have any alts, has never run old dungeons, has no gold, etc. There is an enormous amount of things to do in this game from fishing to archeology to achievements, etc. Many of us have been playing it for so long that those things are old hat and dont look like content. From an objective standpoint, WoW has hours and hours of content.

The average AAA single player game has 40-100 hours of content, agreed? How many hours /played do you have on WoW? I probably have close to 300 DAYS played across all my toons. That's 7200 hours or 72-180 AAA games worth. If I bought 72 games at $50 each, that's $3600. My sub over 10 years would be $1800, that's half as much as those games. Even when you add in expansions ($50 each times 5), you're still at $2,050, which is way below what 72 games cost. Consider when those games are only 40 hours each, and I'd have to buy 180 of them. That's $9k vs.s $2k for WoW.

Maybe my numbers are way off here, so correct me if so, but to me that's hella value. Every time I stop playing WoW and start trying other games, I quickly realize I am spending a LOT more money and getting less. The numbers support that impression.

Edit: To be clear, I'm not saying WoW is the best game or is the only game you should play, etc. I think it's gone way down hill and I hope Legion rights the ship somewhat. WoD and Cata were both way in the wrong direction, so I think it has a long ways to go before it's truly a great experience again. My point is that IF you enjoy the content Blizz provides, the value is definitely higher than comparable AAA single player games.

[Packing an i5]

I am amazed they have not increased the price like 20 cents a year since it released. They know they can't though as the game is only losing appeal due to a continued focus on instanced raiding and content droughts.

[Kolvarg]

Imho it's not so much about the sub being low or high, but that for the most part the game is vastly designed in a very different way now than what it initially was.

When it was a game trying to be your "only" game, meant to be something that would take you multiple days of /played time to do something as "simple" as getting to max level, the subscription-model felt very appropriate.

Nowadays that the game is more than ever "cyclical", with many people having the bulk of their playtime in the couple months after an expansion or big patch release, higher box prices and the inclusion of an in-game store, the subscription-model doesn't feel very appropriate imo. A B2P approach would match the current game (and the playerbase it catters to) a lot more.

Don't think it's impossible they swap to it someday, but I think there's a big problem which is the ammount of servers/realms, and how many are empty or just half-full. They already did a lot of work with this, but I'd bet it's still fairly unneficient (servers cost to service provided ratio) compared to more modern systems.

If they could get past that, I can 100% see a WoW with F2P (trial) extended for a higher level limit, B2P for the base game, and Subscription for premium service (ie pay $14/month and get access to every store item they add without having to pay for it). Well maybe more "hope" than "see" =P But defenitely not impossible even if unlikely.

They'll likely be greedy and when they decide it's worth changing because subs are too low, many people will already have moved on.

[BubbaDuke]

Well $15 a month to play a game that offers nearly endless content with frequent updates is a fair deal.

That really isn't WoW at the moment though.

[thewespie]

I haven't paid for a month of wow in over a year. Since they put the WoW token in game, I am okay with what they charge. I am not paying so it's not an issue.

[Betelgeuse]

Think about it this way:

14.99 X 3 million subs = 44,970,000 PER MONTH, that is 539,640,000 per year! We don't actually know how many subs there are, that information is no longer released. That is just a random estimate since the last reported sub count was about 5 million. Wrath was like 10 million, right? 14.99 X 10 million = 149,900,000 or 1,798,800,000 per year. For those numerically challenged that is 1.8 billion dollars. That is a shitload of money for a video game subscription. Sure, they could lower it, but why? You, me and 2.999 million others are paying that 15 bucks, it's good enough.

I laughed when Blizzard announced they want to push an expansion every year instead of the two year cycle that has occurred in the past. That means instead of just the 45 million per month, they also reap a 49.99 X 3 million = 149,970,000 per year expansion upgrade bonus instead of every two years. You get less for your money but at least there is new content, right? Nope. If this expansion releases by September you will have endured a 22 month cycle instead of the awful long 24 month cycle.

Yes. I am jealous for not thinking of this and reaping this crazy windfall of money from ONE GAME. If there is a significant drop off of subs that brings them below the subsistence level, I could imagine a restructuring of the sub price to entice more people to play, but they have made up for any losses so far with the WoW Token which sells for $20. Genius move, imo. Legal gold buying is just good business. Blizzard has set a business model that has allowed them to develop many other games, pay to win or otherwise, from one subscription MMO.

[Alopex Major]

I don't feel that the sub is too much when I am actively engaged and playing the game, but right now I feel $15 is too much for what I get, so I am not subbed.

[Foj]

They've been bleeding us dry for years man.

I've got plenty of blood left.

[Tart]

I've got plenty of blood left.

Lets hope nobody accidently spills it then.

[Foj]

Lets hope nobody accidently spills it then.

Not even sure what metaphors you are trying to mix here.

[Blackmist]

I don't think it's too much for those play. We're already addicted, we know what we're paying for, and happily pay each month.

I do however think the existence of a subscription fee has killed any further uptake of the game. It's an MMO. It thrives on other players. Players are practically Blizzard's currency here. And they're just not coming. Realms were dying. They got merged. The merged realms are dying. Player count is a serious issue.

It may not be time to go free to play just yet. They do need to merge everyone together in some way. Even if it's just as simple as allowing realm-to-realm trading and joining guilds on other realms (and you could then appear on your guild's realm as your default, even if you keep your Name-Realm character name). Allow different types of PvP servers that you can jump between. Faction vs Faction, Guild vs Guild, Every man for himself. Allow people of different factions to do PvE content together (and don't say that doesn't fit the lore because the entire Wrathgate sequence was about just that). There's lots of possibilities for what they can do with the system.

Once that starts to dwindle, then it's time to go free. But by then, the death march will have probably gone on too long to stop.

[Dukenukem]

12.99= 2 beers out on a friday night
i could go on but yeah.

2??? what sick country you live in? I have 9-10 for that price (and not some piss beer, Pils in all best quality).

[Deleted]

12.99= toiletpaper per month
12.99= 4 cans of soup
12.99= half a movie ticket
12.99= 10min cab ride where i live
12.99= 2 beers out on a friday night
12.99= 2 lightbulbs
12.99= hairproduct for 3 months


i could go on but yeah.

All of which offer far better value.

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Think about it this way:

14.99 X 3 million subs = 44,970,000 PER MONTH, that is 539,640,000 per year! We don't actually know how many subs there are, that information is no longer released. That is just a random estimate since the last reported sub count was about 5 million. Wrath was like 10 million, right? 14.99 X 10 million = 149,900,000 or 1,798,800,000 per year. For those numerically challenged that is 1.8 billion dollars. That is a shitload of money for a video game subscription. Sure, they could lower it, but why? You, me and 2.999 million others are paying that 15 bucks, it's good enough.

I laughed when Blizzard announced they want to push an expansion every year instead of the two year cycle that has occurred in the past. That means instead of just the 45 million per month, they also reap a 49.99 X 3 million = 149,970,000 per year expansion upgrade bonus instead of every two years. You get less for your money but at least there is new content, right? Nope. If this expansion releases by September you will have endured a 22 month cycle instead of the awful long 24 month cycle.

Yes. I am jealous for not thinking of this and reaping this crazy windfall of money from ONE GAME. If there is a significant drop off of subs that brings them below the subsistence level, I could imagine a restructuring of the sub price to entice more people to play, but they have made up for any losses so far with the WoW Token which sells for $20. Genius move, imo. Legal gold buying is just good business. Blizzard has set a business model that has allowed them to develop many other games, pay to win or otherwise, from one subscription MMO.

You have no idea what you are talking about. Blizzard do not make or ever has made that much per sub.

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I'm curious what you mean by this. Consider a new player starting the game who doesn't have any alts, has never run old dungeons, has no gold, etc. There is an enormous amount of things to do in this game from fishing to archeology to achievements, etc. Many of us have been playing it for so long that those things are old hat and dont look like content. From an objective standpoint, WoW has hours and hours of content.

The average AAA single player game has 40-100 hours of content, agreed? How many hours /played do you have on WoW? I probably have close to 300 DAYS played across all my toons. That's 7200 hours or 72-180 AAA games worth. If I bought 72 games at $50 each, that's $3600. My sub over 10 years would be $1800, that's half as much as those games. Even when you add in expansions ($50 each times 5), you're still at $2,050, which is way below what 72 games cost. Consider when those games are only 40 hours each, and I'd have to buy 180 of them. That's $9k vs.s $2k for WoW.

Maybe my numbers are way off here, so correct me if so, but to me that's hella value. Every time I stop playing WoW and start trying other games, I quickly realize I am spending a LOT more money and getting less. The numbers support that impression.

Edit: To be clear, I'm not saying WoW is the best game or is the only game you should play, etc. I think it's gone way down hill and I hope Legion rights the ship somewhat. WoD and Cata were both way in the wrong direction, so I think it has a long ways to go before it's truly a great experience again. My point is that IF you enjoy the content Blizz provides, the value is definitely higher than comparable AAA single player games.

Compared to huge number of games your monthly sub can buy from Steam and Steam sales WoW offers appalling value in comparison. I've spent far less than you over years and have over 300 games a good 40% of which were AAA tiltles - just not bought on their release.

[Mytheros]

Value (for anything) is ultimately set by what people are willing to pay for it. I know it seems like a simple and maybe even lazy reply but its true... if customers refused to pay for a service at the current price -- the business would likely lower it. Simple in concept but extremely difficult in execution -- why? Well you'd need a VERY large amount of customers to stand with you in refusal to pay the price unless they lower it and there is the rub....people will complain something is too expensive but yet its nearly unheard of for people to actual put those convictions in actual action in reality so pricing doesn't change.

That's the explanation.....but to me I'm fine with it at the cost it is...its the old comparison I mean unless you are dirt poor (at which case I'd say anyone dirt poor and their concern is the cost of playing a computer game -- that person needs a SERIOUS crash course in priorities in life) , at $15 (and let me say I haven't paid the $15 rate in ages, depending how you feel about pre-paying you can get as cheap as $13/month ) that's .50 cents per day each month.

.50 cents isn't worth my time to argue against it being unfair, if it meant that much to me I'd just quit.

$15 a month , thankfully takes me about 20 minutes to earn. So to me the unlimited entertainment (meaning I can play as long as I want whenever I want)....still a great value.

[Deleted]

#1 where is the vote?
#2 you compare ea (crap) games with Blizzard?
#3 you compare single player games with an mmo?

[unbound]

So, while i was searching which game i should get next, i came across a thing called Origin Access; Long story short, it offers couple AAA games for 4$/month, which got me thinking, is Blizzard charging too much on a monthly basis for a single game?

Let me introduce you to the reality of the markets. Supply side economics has long been debunked. Markets charge the prices that people are willing to pay. Due to lack of competition (as much in people's minds as in reality as WoW hasn't been the leader in MMORPGs in at least 6 years now), Blizz continues to charge that price because people think it is worth it.

The same thing happens for bad restaurants. It is amazing what people think are good restaurants based solely on what the restaurant charges and their ambiance while having not particularly well made food.

Basically, Blizz will continue to charge that amount until a lot more people stop paying it. They were smart enough to start the token system which gives them even more money...the fact that token purchasers don't pay the $20/mo is irrelevant...they are still getting that money. So that would have to halt as well for Blizz to start dropping the price.

[Varaben]

All of which offer far better value.

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You have no idea what you are talking about. Blizzard do not make or ever has made that much per sub.

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Compared to huge number of games your monthly sub can buy from Steam and Steam sales WoW offers appalling value in comparison. I've spent far less than you over years and have over 300 games a good 40% of which were AAA tiltles - just not bought on their release.

Fair enough, my calculation didn't consider sales or AAA games after initial release. But, the WoW cost for buying it after initial release goes down too. If you bought WoW fresh today, it would be MUCH cheaper than being subbed for 10 years, yet you could still go do old raids and quests and stuff. I think "appalling value" is putting a bit of a ridiculous spin on things. I agree that in recent history, patch cycles are far too long, but you have the choice to stop the madness at any time by cancelling your sub. What if you cut out half of the sub price and only subbed during new patches and expansions? Is $1k for 10 years of content not good enough? I think you're setting an unrealistic comparison, especially if you bought all your games at 80% off and AAA titles only months and months after release on sale.

How could any one game compete with that?