There are a few threads on the forums now regarding possible payment structures and their implications. I am firmly in the 'charge me a sub and give me everything' camp but I can understand that others might not be. I also understand that MWM HAS to be a for-profit venture or all of this work is for nothing. However I still like things simple with regards to my game subs. This idea struck me just now: Instead of a single sub level (with or without F2P), why not have a two-tiered sub?
F2P players pay nothing per month but are charged a bit for doing many things in the game such as opening new ATs, new powers, new missions and so on. A really busy player might wind up spending MORE than he would have with a sub, thus encouraging him to GET a sub. More casual or beginner players might save a bit and still be perfectly happy with the game.
Basic subscription: This level grants players more access than F2P but still charges for things like special events, big raids and so forth. The advantage for MWM is that they will have a steady stream of revenue. For the players who simply don't like raiding, crafting or whatever they don't have to pay for it. If they ever do decide to come over to the dark side they can increase their sub for a month, try it out and decide for themselves if they want to stay or not.
Cadillac subscription: This is where the die-hard players will be. This is a higher sub fee (I'm thinking $20.00) but now the player is worry-free. No charges for raids, missions, zones or whatever. As new ATs and powersets open up the full subber will have access to all of that as well. This is the golden ticket...pay once a month and have it all. In some cases the player is paying more than they might have to do a lower level sub if they have a busy month and they can't play but not everyone counts their pennies that closely.
So...suggestions or comments?
I remember when Star Wars was cool...a long, long time ago...
Smart PAK is $5.99 /mo?
Pro PAK is $10.99 /mo?
Everything PAK is $15.99 /mo?
Lifetime PAK is $800 One time, plus your get your own Building in-game. (or other stuff) ;)
- No rent for the lot the building is on. But there is a Movers fee if moving the building from downtown to Uptown (or any Other lot). :)
(Fee includes Demolition and cleanup costs of older building being removed)
The idea behind microsubscriptions is similar to this, but more fine-grained. Each perk that is part of any "subscription level" is individually subscribed to. The "tiers" of subscriptions are really subscription packages which are just auto-grouped "popular sets" of microsubscriptions, and can be used by those who don't want to micro-manage their microsubscriptions or can be modified by adding or removing microsubscriptions from them. Players will have exactly what they want from their subscriptions.
[color=#ff0000]Business Manager[/color]
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I'm not against the $20/month price point for the "cadillac" sub, provided I just get all the new costume pieces and SSAs and so forth when they roll out. I would also point out that beyond that, you could still charge me for things I don't really need all that often, like changing my global chat handle (if that's even allowed), or other personal account functions.
Another idea I had was maybe offering some kind of family plan, whereby you have one credit card or contact person (e.g. dad) paying for like 2 or more global chat handles every month out of the same credit card or whatever (e.g. @radiac, @Wife-iac, @Daughter-iac, etc). You could maybe offer a cheaper per-person rate and only charge like $$20 for individual, $35 for two players, $45 for three, $55 for four, or something like that. While it's true this might encourage people who AREN'T related to each other to form "surrogate families" to take advantage of the discounts, that's still a pain in that the one guy has to actually get his money from the other two or three and it's only saving each person like $5 a month, which brings it back down closer to the $15/month most people probably expect.
R.S.O. of Phoenix Rising