Xbox PC Pass: $4.99/m, WoW: $14.99/m

[styil]

Xbox's latest PC Pass has over 100 games on offer for a $4.99 a month subscription. Meanwhile Blizzard is still charging $14.99 a month for WoW. To rub salt into the wound, WoW's subscription prices have even gone up over the years in some regions.

How can Blizzard justify these monthly subscription prices in 2019 when other gaming companies are providing much more for a far cheaper monthly subscription fee? Blizzard needs to provide much more at a lower subscription price if it wants to remain competitive in the 2019 gaming market. Blizzard is never going to get any new players at $14.99 a month when they can simply subscribe to cheaper options and get far more.

[Blackmist]

Ah, but you're not addicted to Xbox, are you?

[Shuji V2]

Because it's Blizzard, Activision-Blizzard mind you. Don't expect this to change anytime soon. Microsoft wants to pave the way as an innovator, Blizzard rather wanna milk their customer base.

[lappee]

Don't want to pay? don't pay. Stop making the same threads over and over, it won't change anything.

[MuricaIsDead]

Stop using the numerical time designator as an argument. The fact that it's '2019' is arbitrary. Also, if you can't afford $15, you need to rethink your priorities.

edit: Think about it. As time goes on, money loses value, so you're actually paying less. Today's $15 was worth around $1200 in 2004. And in 1842? Today's $15 was worth a whopping 1.7 billion dollars!

[Fight4Fun]

Today's $15 was worth around $1200 in 2004. And in 1842? Today's $15 was worth a whopping 1.7 billion dollars!

Thats some 999 IQ NA math

[Sliske]

Because there isn't any other option for an MMO. If Xbox raises its price too high, people just go to Sony, who already are dominating the current generation of consoles.

Xbox on the other hand have been the laughing stock of this generation - even Nintendo are releasing better exclusives.

Now look at the MMO market. What do you have? WoW, FF ... maybe BDO, GW2 and ESO?

So right off the bat, FF just looks and plays worse than WoW, which is i know hard to believe seeing as WoW is much older.

BDO appeals to two kinds of people - east asians and weebs.

GW2 has insane content drought and no traditional end game. Only people that play it are collectors/achievement hunters.

ESO is a Bethesda style RPG which have died faster than blockbuster in a post Witcher 3 world. Their RPGs simply don't stand up anymore. They're still using bows and arrows while everyone else is firing lazer guns at them.

On top of all of the above, lets look at the actual most important thing - perception. Hardly anyone even knows any of those games i listed exist. None besides WoW. Your parents know what WoW is. They probably don't even know what Final Fantasy is, let alone its MMO. The closest one in terms of sheer perception is ESO, but as ESO launched in such an abysmal state, it has become the same as pretty much every MMO besides WoW - a game attempting to climb out of a hole.

Don't know what i mean? Lets have a look through the years.

WoW - launches to enormous success.
Aion - launches to immediate poor reception, likely closed?
GW2 - launches to immediate poor reception, is now massively overhauled and has a somewhat decent endgame, but who is around to play it?
Wildstar - launches to immediate poor reception, is now closed.
ESO - launches to immediate poor reception, is in the same state as GW2.
FF - same as GW2 and ESO.
BDO - same as GW2, ESO and FF.
SWTOR - same as GW2, ESO, FF and BDO.

If theres one thing that is a near guaranteed thing, its that a product almost never gets a comeback story. Nobody cares that Heroes of the Storm right now is a great game. Nobody cares that Heart of the Swarm got balanced and is not just cheese now. No one cares that Halo got better after its low point.

It takes extreme amounts of marketing and overhaul in order to revitalize a product. An example of this is Resident Evil. Most people would say Resident Evil was dead after the 5th game. It just became a shitty action game - zero horror. Now its back and better than ever and YOU know about it, because they marketed the fuck out of it.

Who is going to give a marketing budget to BDO or SWTOR or ESO? No one. No one cares if they're good or bad. People *think* they are bad and thats that.

So, all of this is a round about way of saying - WoW can milk your wallet because it has a monopoly. If you aren't playing WoW, you aren't playing MMOs.

[Justpassing]

Yeah too bad Blizzard is roaming the streets, knocking down doors and demanding that subscription from people at gunpoint, forcing them to play WoW.

[Unholyground]

They will have no choice, I stopped paying for WoW out of principle that it is no longer a deal worth the fee. WoW is getting a freemium edition anyways that is locked down come Blizzcon.

[Soon-TM]

Compared to its competitors, WoW is expensive indeed. A single monthly fee of WoW pays for an ESO sub plus a lot of cosmetic stuff in PoE - at least in local currency.

[Kraddark]

Game pass will be more expensive after the beta ends.

[Dakhath]

I just let a 6 month sub go through yesterday and I'm playing about 2-3 hours a week tops. If the monthly sub cost is even worth thinking about, you don't have enough time to complain about it on forum.

[MuricaIsDead]

Thats some 999 IQ NA math

I apologise. I was schooled in Iceland until the age of 16.

[Scathbais]

Xbox's latest PC Pass has over 100 games on offer for a $4.99 a month subscription. Meanwhile Blizzard is still charging $14.99 a month for WoW. To rub salt into the wound, WoW's subscription prices have even gone up over the years in some regions.

How can Blizzard justify these monthly subscription prices in 2019 when other gaming companies are providing much more for a far cheaper monthly subscription fee? Blizzard needs to provide much more at a lower subscription price if it wants to remain competitive in the 2019 gaming market. Blizzard is never going to get any new players at $14.99 a month when they can simply subscribe to cheaper options and get far more.

$4.99 is an introductory price. Then it goes to $9.99. Exclusions apply, such as not being able to play new games in first 30 days after launch and some games are excluded. Also if a game is dropped from library you will have to buy it outright to continue playing it.

As others have said, you WANT to play WoW as opposed to what Microsoft is offering, so you pay what Blizzard asks or you don't.

Or perhaps you want to pay Blizzard only $4.99 and be 30 days behind everyone else on new content releases? /s

[edw]

Xbox's latest PC Pass has over 100 games on offer for a $4.99 a month subscription. Meanwhile Blizzard is still charging $14.99 a month for WoW. To rub salt into the wound, WoW's subscription prices have even gone up over the years in some regions.

How can Blizzard justify these monthly subscription prices in 2019 when other gaming companies are providing much more for a far cheaper monthly subscription fee? Blizzard needs to provide much more at a lower subscription price if it wants to remain competitive in the 2019 gaming market. Blizzard is never going to get any new players at $14.99 a month when they can simply subscribe to cheaper options and get far more.

Well I for one if i have to choose between Xbox and blizzard's games I wold go 100% blizzard, Xbox can keep there games

[cface]

What other MMO is out there that have endgame like wow?

[glowpipe]

because blizzard sell you access to something unique. You can play all these other games on the pass by simply buying them, and you get to keep the games aswell. instead of borrowing them, you have no other way of playing wow other then paying for the sub and people do it. Thats why

[Scathbais]

Compared to its competitors, WoW is expensive indeed. A single monthly fee of WoW pays for an ESO sub plus a lot of cosmetic stuff in PoE - at least in local currency.

There are no competitors to WoW. That is why other mmo's are cheaper.

[Kyphael]

Isn't the annual Playstation pass even cheaper? Like 60 bucks and you her hundreds of games or something. The point is, none of those console games are as engaging or interactive as WoW.

[MuricaIsDead]

What other MMO is out there that have endgame like wow?

EVE Online. The PVE content these days in EVE is nearly endless, though it's a sandbox, very little hand holding.