Is 30-days worth 50 bucks?

In the past couple of years I’ve purchased several games where my subscription only lasted a couple of months after release.  Age of Conan and Aion both earned that distinction.  I feel like 60 days of enjoyment is worth box price + 1 month subscription, beyond the 30-days that typically comes with the purchase, if I enjoyed it so much that I clocked a lot of hours  However, if your enjoyment wanes before you even complete the 30-days for free, was it worth the $50+ box price?  I’m not so sure.

Playing casually as my time permits these days, being involved in a game for only 30 days probably means I played less than 40 hours in total.  And obviously, that time played wasn’t all that great for me at least, or I wouldn’t bail so early.  50-dollars here, 50-dollars there, starts to add up.  Star Trek Online wins the award for shortest play-time for a subscription game.  I’d canceled my pre-order but forgotten that I’d ordered a copy for my son and/or nephew to share, until it arrived. 

I thought the BETA was enjoyable if you took STO for what it was – not so much MMO as cooperative play.  There was also lots of little busy work for progressing your character, your ship and your bridge officers.  Space combat was really fun and usually exciting, combined with passable land combat I thought, “Eh, it’s enough for now.”  Unfortunately, what happened was a more rapid decline in a desire to play.  I was having a similar experience as I had with Aion but worse.  I had fun when I bothered to log into the game to play.  However, nothing excited me enough that it drew me to bother signing in to play.

With Aion there was at least the crafting and exploration diversion.  With STO there is…  Uh, not much to wander around and do.  If you lack the motivation to log in and play a subscription based game then it’s a waste of money.  Less than two weeks in, I canceled and uninstalled STO.  I think that’s a record for me.  I’m not trying slam the game.  I realize there are many players who are enjoying themselves and I’m glad for them.  Tipa at West Karana is having a blast.  So is Sister Julie from No Prisoners, No Mercy.  For me at least, I’m done paying subscriptions to games I only like “this” much waiting for things to improve.   Three subs here, two subs there – hanging on for better times; I think this is sending mixed signals to game developers and publishers.  I’m not okay with the quality of AAA MMOs that have released in the past 2 years.  I’m not okay with being marketed one thing while something else is delivered.  I’d just as soon give my money at my discretion to a F2P game or play something more Indy until this situation rights itself.

On the surface, 40 hours for 50-bucks seems like a good deal.  But it’s not when you consider that these games are supposed to be designed for a longer gaming experience, yet they are not delivering on expectation or potential.  All I can do is vote with my wallet and I’m saying, “No!”  As much as I enjoy being there with the crush, I might have to start taking the Van Hemlock, “Wait a few months and see,” approach, on this new generation of P2P MMOs.

Comments

[mbp]

It took me almost a month to complete the single player game "Dragon Age". It was a well crafted game with an engaging story line and I consider it good value for the $50 or so it cost me.

Unfortunately the situation with most mmorpgs is not as clear cut. They are generally not as well made as single player games and in one month you will do no more than scratch the surface of whatever story there is.

MMORPGs offer value in their longevity but very few mmorpgs could compete head to head with good single player games as a high quality short duration gaming experience so I would say that $50 for one month of an mmorpg is generally not worth it. The exception would be something like Guild Wars which is episodic in nature and which could potentially be played as a one month stand alone game.

[Tesh]

I don't spend $50 on *any* game. I haven't for over two decades. If I'm going to spend that much again, it's going to be on a game that I don't need the internet or a subscription to play. No DRM, no "activation" nonsense. If I'm shelling out that much for a game, it had darn well better be one I can play whenever I want to, for as long as I want to, forever.

[Retro]

You are spot on, Saylah, every MMORPG that's been released from WoW to present isn't worth the money...or more importantly...the time.

That's why I've chosen work my way back in time from November 2004. Currently, I'm in the 21-day trial of Ryzom and loving every minute. Finally, a game that doesn't treat me like a mindless hamster. Sure, I can see where the game could get grindy, but only because that would be a path that I chose...not that I was forced into.

Of course, I realize the graphics of these older games will probably be a little distracting. Still, I'll take creative, challenging, and immersive gameplay over high-end graphics any day of the week.

In fact, I'm 90/10 in favor of subscribing to Ryzom, especially considering the low sub rate. But, I'm also looking forward to original EQ, DaOC, and AC! One thing I can say so far...the community in the older games just can't be beat.

[Alysianah aka Saylah]

I'm a graphics nut. It's an important part of the overall experience for me. As you can see just by the sidebar, I like to document my adventures with lots of pictures. I'm getting sick of the Ferris Wheel. I'm not one for jumping from game to game. That doesn't provide the vested character growth and progression I crave in MMOs. I would at least like to have a journey to max level geez. I hope Allods will be that for me. I'm "this" close to re-installing The Sims 3. Goodness grief.

I agree that it's not worth the price when you can get an RPG for that price with a very detailed and personal experience. As Tesh said, in under 30-days you've only scratched the surface in most MMOs. I think the players are partially to blame, myself included. Some of us have been SO DESPERATE for that next game high that we're buying whatever comes out. This is the mixed signals I mentioned.

I think it confused developers into thinking more about how to fix the part they perceive as a retention issue, where as the base game is probably flawed from jump-street. But because they sold so many boxes up front, they blame the decline on WOW-tourists, retention, end-game, blah when it's probably more fundamental than that.

[Pan]

Completely understandable and I agree wholeheartedly. There's been too many derivative works in the last few years and not enough innovation beyond better graphics. The advances in MMO gameplay have stalled or become gimmicky. I too hoped Aion would be a game I could stick with, but couldn't. I was disappointed with WAR and so many others.

I've gone the Indy route in search of something better. For the last two months I've been playing Darkfall and I'm not bored yet. It can be brutal, but it's so nice to play in a game that's challenging, beautiful, and rewarding. If you don't like PvP, don't go near it. If you do, it's worth investigating. My three line summary for a friend that is considering the game was:

1) Expect to eat dirt for a month or two in solo PvP
2) The UI is terrible, but you get used to it
3) Overall it's a lot of fun....

Anyway, good luck trying to find a game that keeps your interest and is worth the price.

[CreepTheProphet]

Ryzom is a pretty addictive one. I couldn't really get into it but it's a fun one to play for sure.

I'm with Saylah on subscribing to newer games. It really doesn't seem to be worth the $50.00 investment. To me, if the game doesn't have a trial, it's going to be really hard for me to drop the cash on something that may or may not grab my attention. I mean especially that much cash, that's 10 mochas!

[Sente]

The subscription-based games worked out better when there were not so many alternatives to choose from and players were perhaps less time conscious in general than today - partly because it felt still relatively new for many.

The whole game release approach for subscription-based games are still very much using a similar approach to typical offline games and try to sell as much as possible as fast as possible. This is probably due to that statistics have shown that mist MMOs decline in population after reaching a peak shortly after release.

I think though that there is a chicken and egg problem here - that pattern is likely much tied to the business model used. The approach is still quite similar to marketing offline games and I think it not a good approach for something that supposedly should be long term products.

With many other software packages people do not buy the 1.0 release, but wait a few releases/updates - that approach should be valid for MMOs also.

[Saylah]

I totally agree Sente. Players stayed with a game longer when there was less diversity in selection and our tolerance for imperfection was higher. It all feels so stagnant now. I just hope something really compelling comes along for me before I out-grow this hobby. :-(