Are game like WoW and EverQuest2 worth the monthly fee ?

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Labrador

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I bought WoW this week, and really like it alot, and it's my first mmorpg :) But I have never paid a monthly fee for a game, I mean games like Never Winter Nights dont require a subscription, and it's pretty wicked online.

My brother would like to pick up WoW too, but he doesnt see the point of the monthly fee for a game, where like I said NWN doeant have one.

So in your opinions, why is it worth the monthly fee for a mmorpg ?


EDIT:

You guys/gals dont understand my point :) I am trying to compare NWN to WoW, not WoW to CounterStrike:Source, of course you should never have to pay for a deathmatch shooter :rolleyes:

My Bro's and buddies, say they have been playing Never Winter Nights since it came out 2yrs ago, and they dont have a monthly fee, in fact their argument is that there is a ton of "free" content all over the web for NWN, like tons of user made modules that are very slick.

They say if a game like NWN can do it with out a monthly fee, then they would NEVER pay for WoW. I know the two games are a little different, but NWN is even more detailed, and has a great thing going for it ?

Also their complaint is this: What if every new RPG starts charging monthly to pay, shit you could be paying $30-$45month to just play 2 or 3 of your favorite games. Then where does it stop ? If it's $15 now, next year it could $20per month for 1 game ?
 
i think monthly fees are ridiculous... im just waiting for guild wars... it will be great no monthly fees!

-warsaw
 
Monthly fees are rediculous. Secondly, the content of those games is stagnant. Theres no immersive story line, the graphics don't wow me either. Not even in EQII. It's good for what it is.

Basically heres what you do. Take some lame quest with no plot, level up, get new gear and repeat. It gets old fast. I won't pay a monthly fee for that. Especially not after paying $50 for the game.
 
Ya and when the developers go out of business or close the servers then what??

Look what happened to that game MotorCity Online :(
 
Labrador said:
So in your opinions, why is it worth the monthly fee for a mmorpg ?
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Ever played Diablo2 or Starcraft when they first came out? Was hard to get into a game, then there was trying to play with huge amounts of lag. Free servers are great and all, but they can only do so much without a source of income. Major lag should not be an issue in a mmorpg with a monthly fee.

As for guild wars. I think it's going to be interesting to see how they do. I've heard quite a few people that are "waiting for guild wars." This may proove my point.
 
Honestly you get what you pay for, Games like EQ2 have huge huge game worlds with all kinds of updates and additions all the time. If I play it in excess of 3 hours a day and there is new stuff to do all the time then this is money well spent.

The idea of free mmorpgs like guildwars is a good one but these games seem so bland and lifeless compared to the bigger ones who pay all those people to work on the game world. I mean in guildwars there are only 20 levels and after that the only difference in characters is item drops.
 
MMORPG vs games like D2, NWN, etc? Hmmm... Thats not really a valid comparison. They are so far different in scope and scale. MMORPGs are much much larger in both.
Games like DiabloII and NWN are really not much different than say CounterStrike or Quake. They are static in nature, the same things happen all the time, you play the same "maps" all the time. The only thing that changes are the actual people you are playing with, and the amount of people you are actually playing with is extremely limited. There might be thousands of players logging into bnet, but there aren't thousands of people interacting in the same world you are. They are just going into their own minigame that is no different than what you are seeing in yours, and the game is limited to what you are seeing on your screen. ie: when you leave a spot on the map, it essentially dies until you come back. You quit, the game ends.

Without getting carried away with the details, MMORPGs are huge, ever evolving and changing worlds with thousands of players, creatures, and NPCs interacting with eachother 24/7 365, all in one place, and it is going on regardless of your location - online or off. It costs a lot of money to keep something like that going, which is why they charge a monthly fee.

Is it worth it? To some it is. I played Anarchy Online for quite a while before I got bored and realized I was wasting my money. After that I was in the SWG beta for about 9 months before it went to the Open beta, I didn't subscribe. I also played WoW beta, didn't buy it either. They are all the same thing, over and over. Kill stuff so you can level up and use that new weapon to kill more stuff so you can level up to use that new weapon so you can kill more stuff. The only thing that changes are the graphics. The games get prettier, but the gameplay remains the same as they were before they even had graphics lol.
So, to me, it isnt worth the money.
 
Ok, I don't know why people are comparing it to other games....

I personally don't think it has anything to do with the game itself to some point...

It is a matter of what your hobbies are and what you choose to do? To a teenager, Is it worth $20 a week to just go cruising with your friends all over the place? To the adult, Is it worth spending your money at a bar? Buying a carton of cigarettes? Going to the movies all the time? Renting movies? Bowling? Golfing?....The list could go on for freaking ever....


I personally don't do any of those things. I work, I come home spend time with my family, I go to Taekwondo 3-4 times a week and I play on my computer. Those are MY hobbies. I personally love my computer and love World of Warcraft. I personally think paying $15 a month to support a hobbie that I enjoy is no different than the person that belongs to a bowling league, or a hunter/fisher that blows money on bait/ammo....you honestly can't say this (MMO's) is one of the more expensive hobbies out there.

$15 a month in my opinion is cheap entertainment and it is something I thoroughly enjoy. For each person it will be different. But seriously...if the fee bothers one so much...why play? You need to do what makes YOU happy....not what every other lamer out there thinks, because their likes are not necessarily your likes?

Hope this helps and maybe puts things into perspective. :rolleyes:
 
NEVERLIFT said:
Ya and when the developers go out of business or close the servers then what??

Look what happened to that game MotorCity Online :(
Click to expand...

Yeah wtf was up with that. I was playing perfectly happy one day and the next day i go on and all the servers have been taken down WTF. Bastards tryin to rob me.
 
Well, lets see for $15 a month in comparison to free online FPS I get......

1. No cheating or hacking
2. Less 12 year olds acting like total fucktards
3. Fewer server crashes and more stable bandwith
4. More people dedicated to having a good time and enjoying the game
5. Less spam and smack talk
6. No campers *EQ2 prevents this completely*
7. A continually updated, revised and improved game world, with new opportunties, adventures, land to explore, quests.


Yep, for $15, thats money well worth spent. Far as im concerned, im about done playing FPS games online, as all I get is servers with shitty pings, crappy, immature teenager dorks, hacking and cheating, campers. Yeah, thats how I wanna spend my time, playing games

To each his own. *returns to private fantasy world*
 
Yeah, word to the wise: Avoid any MMORPG Electronic Arts puts out, if they actually put any more out lol
 
Alex A. said:
How do you camp in a MMORPG? :confused:
Click to expand...

Corpse camp. Zone camp.
Basically you hang out in a spot where you can ambush someone in a way that gives you a major unfair advantage. Like when they are loading into a new zone or resurecting their corpse.
It's about as fun as getting TK'd at spawn in CS or someone base camping in battlefield. lol
 
There's also spawn camping where you used to have to sit in the same spot for hours waiting for a rare spawn to pop in the one spot that it could spawn. One of the many things I came to hate about EQ.

Personally I really enjoy MMORPGs and paying $10-15 a month is cheap entertainment for me and my wife. We played D2, NWN, etc together but eventually got bored of each them. WoW is very fun for both of us and we will playing it for a long while to come.
 
MMORPG's are gay and here is why.

Money money money. I'm not talking about game money either. The end result is that I'm forced to sit around looking at the fucking ground for 12 hrs straight hoping some rare shit would spawn so I can brag and show off to n00bz.
 
I think MMOs have a pretty good money to entertainment ratio. I could easily spend $50 for some game I'll beat in a few hours or simply get bored with (*cough* Doom 3).

Or, I can go out drinking with friends and spend at least $30 on drinks or lap dances or whatever and that only lasts a few hours.

OR, I could even spend $7 for a 2 hour movie that's not even worth that little bit of time.

On the other hand I can spend $15 a month and have some enjoyment for as long and as much as I want during that month. The moment I get bored, I stop paying.

MMOs aren't for everyone obviously (see Gibzilla) but I enjoy them. I don't see paying the $15 or whatever a month any different than paying $40 for 10 HBOs and some other shitty cable stations.
 
I agree with phobic 100%. I feel $15 a month isn't that big of a deal for the entertainment from it.
 
I quickly skimmed this, so if these points have been mentioned sorry.

I for one am opposed to paying monthly fees, thus I don't buy those games. However, I do understand why. Besides that if you read (usually on their websites) you'd see why you pay.

For one thing, I know most charge you for yes the servers and all, but really its so that they can continually improve the game. As MMORPG are so ..well..Massive their are many things the creators wish they could have done but didn't have the time and funds to do. By charging you a portion of the money goes back to them, which enables them to crank in some more hours to make additional addons for the game thus giving you, the gamer, a better gaming experience.

I also did some quick random calculation one day, and it turns out from a business standpoint MMORPG's are the greatest way to make a ton of money really really really fast.
 
Single player games suck compared to MMORPGs. There really is no comparison between the two. I have played (and paid) Everquest for nearly 6 years and most single player games no longer hold interest for me anylonger save for strategy games and HL2. You get so much more for your money in MMO that its nearly rediculous. My wife loves Everquest also and she has never in her life played another video game. Nuff said.
 
Sir-Fragalot said:
Monthly fees are rediculous. Secondly, the content of those games is stagnant. Theres no immersive story line, the graphics don't wow me either. Not even in EQII. It's good for what it is.

Basically heres what you do. Take some lame quest with no plot, level up, get new gear and repeat. It gets old fast. I won't pay a monthly fee for that. Especially not after paying $50 for the game.
Click to expand...

LOL!!!!!! :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
 
Labrador said:
I bought WoW this week, and really like it alot, and it's my first mmorpg :) But I have never paid a monthly fee for a game, I mean games like Never Winter Nights dont require a subscription, and it's pretty wicked online.

My brother would like to pick up WoW too, but he doesnt see the point of the monthly fee for a game, where like I said NWN doeant have one.

So in your opinions, why is it worth the monthly fee for a mmorpg ?
Click to expand...
for WoW, MOST DEFINITELY!!!

I just picked up the game myself, and enjoying it very much. I'm on the 6 month plan, where they deduct ~78 bucks outta your credit card / checking account to play (which equates to 14 bucks a month roughly).

Everquest, I will never EVER pay for again. I can't believe I wasted 6 months of fees on that POS game.
 
For EQ2, hell yes it's worth the monthly fee!!

Of course I'm still in my first month, which is free with the game, but I'll definitely be paying to continue after that. This is my first mmorpg, and I was a little apprehensive at first, about buying a pay-to-play game, but now love the concept and the game. Having 99% of the attention-deficit/sugar-cranked dumbass kids filtered out because of the cost, is well worth the monthly fee.
 
In the past I would have said no, they aren't worth it. However, I'm in love with WoW. I can't explain it, but It's got something that grabbed me. I've tried all the other mmorpgs and never stuck with one for more than 4 days.
 
MMORPGs are all the same. I played DAoC and a few others for quite a while.

You're going to get bored of the game, and that's when it's the worst. That's when you realize "damn, I've been playing for 6 months, that's over $70" and that's if you have one account, with 2 you're talking $140.

Oh but you say "It's worth it because I'm having fun that whole time." Well, I disagree. You're a huge liar in fact and don't deny it because it's impossible and you're a smelly robot. The first month to 3 months of an mmorpg is fun. After that, the only thing that could possibly keep you is your own inflated egofest(omg I have teh uber kills in PvP!), the social life(you crazy cyb0r freak, go outside), or that next patch. Well guess what, the new patch is most likely just going to make the game even less balanced. It's going to screw up one of your characters and/or make the game miserable for others.

MMORPGs aren't like RTS games or FPS's. You don't get to really start over, you're stuck on whatever side unless you're a frontrunner and reroll every month or so. Your character is an investment and has to be treated as such to some degree. The sides are NOT equal. The other side will always have abilities you don't and vice versa and no it doesn't make for "tactics" it makes for hidden hands pulling strings while you whine on a number of forums like the VNs where nobody really cares. And if you think Sony/Mythic were bad about updating, wait until you deal with blizzard. Anyone remember all the D2 nerfs to Sorcs/Barbs/Amazons etc?
 
IMHO If the games did not cost as much initally ie WoW 49.99 I would have no problem paying the monthly fee. But for me to put up $50 for a game I may or may not play after the first month seems like a waste.
 
phobic said:
I think MMOs have a pretty good money to entertainment ratio. I could easily spend $50 for some game I'll beat in a few hours or simply get bored with (*cough* Doom 3).

Or, I can go out drinking with friends and spend at least $30 on drinks or lap dances or whatever and that only lasts a few hours.

OR, I could even spend $7 for a 2 hour movie that's not even worth that little bit of time.

On the other hand I can spend $15 a month and have some enjoyment for as long and as much as I want during that month. The moment I get bored, I stop paying.

MMOs aren't for everyone obviously (see Gibzilla) but I enjoy them. I don't see paying the $15 or whatever a month any different than paying $40 for 10 HBOs and some other shitty cable stations.
Click to expand...

IMO this is the only post needed in this thread. And for WoW I believe it's worth it.
 
I've been playin Star Wars Galaxies since launch...the game has changed drastically since then. A lot of it not good, some of it good. I enjoy it, but for the most part...what people say is true. It gets redundant after awhile. The problem is that essentially your paying top dollar for an "unfinished" game, and paying extra for it to be fixed. The WORST part about MMOGs is you tend to be at the mercy of very short sighted developers...
 
Why do you guys complain?

If you dont like the game (BF1942) you can...not play.
If you dont like the game (WoW) you can...not subscribe.

If you *do* like the game (BF1942) you can...play. But you think there should have been some more work done on the physics engine. Or the terrain. Or the map. Or the graphics get stale after a week. Or...
If you *do* like the game (WoW) you can...play. You think a new dungeon would be cool. It magically appears. Wow. Impressive. I never had a problem paying for UO. And if you dont like it you just dont subscribe. No big deal. You have to pay $50 to get any game these days.

Nasty_Savage said:
The WORST part about MMOGs is you tend to be at the mercy of very short sighted developers...
Click to expand...
This man speaks truth. I could kill whoever decided on some of the UO changes...
 
If you play 2 hours a day on average over the course of a week (most of which would probably be on the weekend) then you are getting 14 hours of entertainment a week, 60.67 hours a month, 728 hours a year. The price of this is ~$15 a month, or about 25 CENTS an hour.

The only other entertainment media that's as cheap is Cable TV, if you have no premium channels and watch it about 30 hours or more a week (varies a great deal depending on your local prices and your contract).

If you enjoy the game and play regularly then there is absolutely no reason to complain about a monthly fee. If you don't play a fair amount then obviously the game isn't for you and you should quit anyway.
 
IceWind said:
Well, lets see for $15 a month in comparison to free online FPS I get......

1. No cheating or hacking
2. Less 12 year olds acting like total fucktards
3. Fewer server crashes and more stable bandwith
4. More people dedicated to having a good time and enjoying the game
5. Less spam and smack talk
6. No campers *EQ2 prevents this completely*
7. A continually updated, revised and improved game world, with new opportunties, adventures, land to explore, quests.


Yep, for $15, thats money well worth spent. Far as im concerned, im about done playing FPS games online, as all I get is servers with shitty pings, crappy, immature teenager dorks, hacking and cheating, campers. Yeah, thats how I wanna spend my time, playing games

To each his own. *returns to private fantasy world*
Click to expand...

Completly Agree.

My first observation with these forums are (mainly) that 'most' of the gamers here are still stuck (keep in mind I said most) in the FPS & RTS mindset, as I was. I would only play games like CS, UT, Doom series, Far Cry, Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft you know... *cough* the popular games. As years passed and my frustration with rampant online cheating grew, I began to lose faith in PC gaming. I mean ... how fun is it (reguardless if there is no monthly fee) to login into ANY game and have to deal with yelling 12 yr olds who are cheating no matter the reason ? Its not (well it wasn't for me). I honestly had to take a step back and ask myself, .. "Shit man, all of these games piss me the fuck off now a days."

... enter City of Heroes (MMORPG), my first MMO. I ALWAYS said I would NEVER pay to play (like A LOT of you [H]arders here do), and swore it was a stupid idea, and only complete idiots would pay to play a game.... oh how I was so wrong.

I'm 25 and $15 a month is piss money, so for me ... I justify it as this. I can either go out 2 3 nights a week, each night costing 40-80$, or ... pay $15 a month and stay in during the week and just go out on weekends. Easy, so I gave it a try. I was and have been so pleased that I in turn got many many other buddies (who also swore to never pay to play), to yes ... pay to play, and they all love it.

Mature environment
No cheating
New updating worlds.
Repsonsive GMs
and the list goes on ...

In my book, the fee is so beyond worth it I can't even word it properly.

Maybe years from now I may get tired of the MMOs buts thats not now. My only advice to someone who insists on NOT playing MMOs is to ... TRY IT. One day you WILL, and when you do you will finally see why people pay to play. Then you will sit back and realize how many AWESOME games you missed out on because you were not open minded ...

that is all ...
/bows
 
First of all, MMORPGs are NOT for everyone. Some people love them, some people dont. It is entertainment, that is all a game ever should provide. Fifteen dollars is nothing when you really think about it. As another guy said earlier you end up paying more money for less hours of entertainment. If you enjoy it get it.. It will entertain you for multiple months, as a gamer I usually get a game anyways any few months, but instead I will just play WoW. It works out fine.
 
arentol said:
If you play 2 hours a day on average over the course of a week (most of which would probably be on the weekend) then you are getting 14 hours of entertainment a week, 60.67 hours a month, 728 hours a year. The price of this is ~$15 a month, or about 25 CENTS an hour.

The only other entertainment media that's as cheap is Cable TV, if you have no premium channels and watch it about 30 hours or more a week (varies a great deal depending on your local prices and your contract).
Click to expand...

You forgot to add in the price of the game, $50, and since you compared it to cable i guess it is only valid if you add in you pay $x for an internet connection. So, in reality, you are paying ~$45/month ($15 game, $30 net) + the $50 upfront for a total of nearly $50 a month.
2 hours a night comes out to about 80 cents an hour in that case. (Note: My satelite package, with premiums, is $42/month.)
And it costs that same amount regardless of your usage. That could be a good or bad thing. If you play a lot, the $ per hour drops.. But if you only play say 2-3 hours on the weekend, you are paying quite a bit.
However, you are excluding a hell of a lot of entertainment in your comparison. Cable? What if I play a game like say Battlefield Vietnam for 2 hours a night for a year? I bought the game for $45, and I pay $0/month to play it. Excluding the price of an internet connection, that comes out to roughly 6 cents an hour.

Anyway, to me the value comes from what you get out of the game. If you become bored of that MMORPG after 6 months, what did that $140 get you? It better have been a heck of a lot of fun for a game to be worth $140. Thats a lot of money to sink into something that leaves you with NOTHING when you quit.
Hell, if you get bored after just 2-3 months you have already spent 2x the price of the average game.
 
Maturity is the main reason i like mmorpgs. No children. Its a friendly environment.

Bad Goat said:
Ok, I don't know why people are comparing it to other games....

I personally don't think it has anything to do with the game itself to some point...

It is a matter of what your hobbies are and what you choose to do? To a teenager, Is it worth $20 a week to just go cruising with your friends all over the place? To the adult, Is it worth spending your money at a bar? Buying a carton of cigarettes? Going to the movies all the time? Renting movies? Bowling? Golfing?....The list could go on for freaking ever....


I personally don't do any of those things. I work, I come home spend time with my family, I go to Taekwondo 3-4 times a week and I play on my computer. Those are MY hobbies. I personally love my computer and love World of Warcraft. I personally think paying $15 a month to support a hobbie that I enjoy is no different than the person that belongs to a bowling league, or a hunter/fisher that blows money on bait/ammo....you honestly can't say this (MMO's) is one of the more expensive hobbies out there.

$15 a month in my opinion is cheap entertainment and it is something I thoroughly enjoy. For each person it will be different. But seriously...if the fee bothers one so much...why play? You need to do what makes YOU happy....not what every other lamer out there thinks, because their likes are not necessarily your likes?

Hope this helps and maybe puts things into perspective. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

totaly agree. well put
 
You guys/gals dont understand my point :) I am trying to compare NWN to WoW, not WoW to CounterStrike:Source, of course you should never have to pay for a deathmatch shooter :rolleyes:

My Bro's and buddies, say they have been playing Never Winter Nights since it came out 2yrs ago, and they dont have a monthly fee, in fact their argument is that there is a ton of "free" content all over the web for NWN, like tons of user made modules that are very slick.

They say if a game like NWN can do it with out a monthly fee, then they would NEVER pay for WoW. I know the two games are a little different, but NWN is even more detailed, and has a great thing going for it ?

Also their complaint is this: What if every new RPG starts charging monthly to pay, shit you could be paying $30-$45month to just play 2 or 3 of your favorite games. Then where does it stop ? If it's $15 now, next year it could $20per month for 1 game ?
 
Actually, you seem to be missing the point. NWN is no different than any other play for free online shooter, RTS, or RPG.
It is not a persistent world.
 
-freon- said:
Actually, you seem to be missing the point. NWN is no different than any other play for free online shooter, RTS, or RPG.
It is not a persistent world.
Click to expand...

Never played on a Persistant NWN world have you??? There are a ton of them. Go get NWN, log onto GameSpy, and look up the list of them. If you like to Role Play there are some for that. If you like a more action one there are some for that (NeverSummer and Soul Forge come to mind).

I would never pay to play any of these MMORPG's because they are just level grinding with little or no DM'ing. At least if you play on an active NWN persistant world there is DM'ing and you can feel like you are actually *involved* in the world. And how much does that cost? $20 bucks when the server has a donation drive going?

Yes it is a smaller world but so what. How many people do you actually meet and play with on these MMORPG's? A dozen tops? How would that be different from a server with a 64 player limit?

So to the original poster: If you find a NWN world with friendly people, active DM's and active moderators, and you like the environment, then stay with it. Just donate to the server whenever they have a money drive going and keep it up and running.

To all the MMORPG fans: I will take the $200 I save a year and buy 4 more games with it thank you very much.
 
Mayfield said:
To all the MMORPG fans: I will take the $200 I save a year and buy 4 more games with it thank you very much.
Click to expand...

That's cool, I had NWN, but I never finished it....got a little too stale for me at the end (though I do have a tendancy not to finish games and move onto the next. I tried it online a few times before a lot of mods went into it and it was a lag whore. But there is something to be said about community feel in MMORPG's that you do not necessarily get with a 'free' game. You'll have your griefers and infantile behavior sure. But if you join a guild and adventure along with friends for a year or more consistantly...its infinitely more fun. Unfortunately...patch days and nerfs tend to piss a lot of people off and sometimes communities break down. That's why MMORPGS are always a great deal of fun in the beginning. SWG is my first and I've been playing since the launch. You have a better chance of staying with a group of peeps from the beginning and having that friendship and fun LAST longer then you normally do with a FPS or RTS game because:

A: everyone is paying for it and they're not so quick to move onto the 'next thing'
B: there's a real sense of cooperation between your friends with different classes of characters.

After a year, SWG is breaking down a bit....even after Jump to Lightspeed was released (which really is like a whole other game connected to it).. A lot of people are tired of slow development by SOE and their poor/slow response to the community so a lot of my old friends are leaving for WoW and EQ2. But they keep in touch and both games have offshoots of my guild should I decide to dump it too at some point. That's not to say it can't be done with a free game, but I think you can more 'expect' it from a MMORPG as it was designed that way. It takes more of an effort to do it with a free game...which is why I think it appeals to older gamers like myself (I'm 31). My 2 cents.
 
To many people, $15/month is a drop in the bucket compared to the entertainment value they get from these games. Sure, NWN is a great game and does have persistance worlds, but how many of those persistant worlds have thousands of simultaneously connected players? In fact, how many free games in general have thousands of simultaneously connect players. My guess is zero. When you start ramping up the number of players in the thousands (there's usually around 3000-3500 players on my FFXI server), you have to cluster multiple servers together as well as creating software that can effectively load balance between the servers. That's why these games cost so much money. They aren't called MASSIVE multiplayer online RPG's for nothing.
 
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