Subscription MMO Stress

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One thing driving me crazy about playing World of Warcraft is that I have to pay a monthly fee for it.  In the past all MMOs were set up with this subscription model, but with the rise of free to play I noticed that a monthly subscription is really bugging me.

The subscription fee makes me feel like I have to play WoW with all of my gaming time.  If I don't, I feel like I'm not getting my money's worth, like I'm throwing my money away, which stresses me out.

There have been a few times in the past week when I was playing WoW but actually felt like playing a different game.  I ended up staying online because I really wanted to make my subscription count for something.  In hindsight I know I would have had more fun playing something else.

Does this reflect badly on my mental state or is it the exact way that subscription MMOs are intended to function?  Does anyone else feel the same pull while they're subscribed?

This feeling is only increasing my appreciation for the free to play model that so many MMOs have started to adopt.  Then I also see things like Guild Wars 2 on the horizon with no fee at all (except the box) and it makes me wonder how long the subscription model can survive.

Comments

  1. AndrewDecember 30, 2010 at 5:07 PM

    That feeling is EXACTLY why I refuse to play subscription MMOs anymore. I last 3.5 years of gaming to WoW - I could never mentally justify other games when my subscription was active.

    ReplyDelete
  2. VoidDecember 30, 2010 at 10:38 PM

    When I stopped playing WoW last time almost all MMOs were still using a subscription model. I think the recent emergence of so many F2P games is really what made me take notice when I resubscribed this month.

    I wonder if WoW will ever go F2P? Not for a long time, but maybe eventually.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AndrewDecember 31, 2010 at 10:19 AM

    Well if you think about it, WoW already offers non-subscriptions services...... if you live in Asia.

    There's nothing - aside from stubbornness - that keeps them from offering similar payment options of North Americans and Europeans.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousMay 29, 2011 at 6:41 AM

    After living purely off ftp mmos, and then switching over to WoW recently; I can say I prefer to p2p model. Most(if not all) f2p mmos give paying users an obvious advantage over other players, make the game easier, open exclusive content, ect. And if you compare the prices of items in a cash shop, and the average amount people who play those games spend; it's generally found that they spend waaayyy over $15 a month.

    ReplyDelete

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