I'd pay up to $25 per month if I really liked the game, but as far as friends and family, as well as Pantheon's too-many-target-audiences-disorder, I'd like to see $15 or so.
Also include expansions that you charge for, which serve as a promise to us that you will work hard on good expansions.
Finally, subscribing to someone on twitch comes with tiers and I don't see why that can't happen in games too. If someone wants to pay extra and maybe get some unique, non gameplay destroying benefit (even if it's just a cool title or nameplate) they should be able to.
Many of the backers here are probably willing to pay $15 a month, some up to $20 a month. Realistically, if VR is intending to keep the game accessible to as many people as possible while still receiving enough revenue to stay in the black, then $10 is more reasonable in my opinion.
Subscription based especially if helps avoid a cash shop. $15-$30 a month depending on the quality of the game. Expansions depending on the content $30-$60 per release.
With the sub I'd expect a full release of the game and all content and no other financial askings until an expansion.
Nekentros said:Everquest was $14.99 per month by the end of 2005, so adjusted for inflation that should come out to $19.49 in 2021.
With that in mind, I think I would be comfortable paying $20 a month for a game that releases with around the same amount of content that EQ released with in 1999.
In addition to that, I would be willing to pay between $40-50 for each full expansion thereafter, but the expansions would need to be on the scale of Kunark and Velious.
That's it. Nothing more.
This is pretty much my line of thinking as well.
Mathir said:$19.99 Per Month as the default rate.
$17.99 Per Month if you purchase 6 Months.
$14.99 Per Month if you purchase 1 Year.
I think this is the route to go, offer the standard 14.99 per month if they lock themselves in for one year. Just $2 more a month on top of the current industry level of $14.99 with a modest player base of 50k users is an addtional $1.2M a year. On top of that I would say that this subscription should also include the following:
- Consistent bi-weekly bug fixes or minor changes
- SLAs that maximize server uptime
- Quarterly balancing and content rollout for the existing continents/expansion
- 24/7 CS
Some of the optional things I'd be ok with would be -
12-18 month expansions that either are purchased at $30-$40 or roll expacs into the subscription cost and keep it at $19.99.
$15.00 Server changes - I hated in EQ when i learned some friends played also and I couldn't join their server without starting over. I'd be happy to pay an amount to do that.
$15-$20 /mo is pretty reasonable and what most gamers will expect to pay. More than than runs the risk of cutting down on the number of people that subscribe to the game. I definitely would prefer to NOT see this game as Free to play, the toxicity I have seen in too many other games just makes it a LOT less fun when the trolls jump in a F2P game. I am ok with a Cash shop if it is needed to keep the game afloat for as long as I would like to see Pantheon stay available, but it needs to be ONLY cosmetic. Kudos to you all for stating that IF it becomes necessary that it would stay cosmetic only. DLCs/Expacs I would be fine paying $40-$50 for , as long as there is a reasonable amount of new content added in. I think it should be a separate fee and not included in the subscription fee unless the Sub runs $20 or higher per month. I feel that servers should be available 24/7 unless a patch is being given OR if there is legitimate server maintenance window. CSRs should be available for bug reports or harassment reports at LEAST from 6am to 10pm server time PST/MST/CST/EST as applicable.
$20/month.Easy.
If the game is truly captivating and in-depth as I hope, I would have no problem paying $30/month.
Comparatively, this hobby (Pantheon) will be way cheaper than my current golf hobby where I spend $80-$160/month.
Golf: 16-40hrs month.
Pantheon: at least 60hrs a month
To pay $30/month. No cash shop would be a must and an active GM presence would be nice.
Also, add a donate/pledge box underneath sub option for expansion development (if that still is needed).
$1
$2
$5
$other
I would be comfortable paying up to $40/month TOTAL to play Pantheon as described below. At $50 it starts to become something I need to work at to keep paid. I expect to pay for expansions that add significant amounts of new content. Exception to this would be content that most of us have been expecting to be part of the base game "at or soon after release".
What I want mostly concerns how many character slots I get. I'm a longtime altaholic. I want to play 6 of the classes at least, and am very attracted to several more. I would strongly prefer to have all of those chars on the same server.
Different tiers of sub seems to have potential, so hopefully there will be a tier that lets me have 10 slots. If sub tiers are not how one gets extra slots, then I would be willing to pay a one-time, flat fee to add slots to my account. If VR allocates slots on multiple servers to each sub, I would happily give up those slots on other servers for more on the one I settle on.
Beyond char slots, I just want the game to be absolutely the best game ever made. Period.
Joking aside, I expect:
The servers up most of the time - aiming for 24/7, but stuff happens - and downtime is minimal, or at least slowly trending towards minimal as we get further from opening day.
Some level of live CS available whenever the game is up.
Tech help available on a dedicated board of the forums.
Regular bug fixes and ongoing fine-tuning of the game.
Regular additions of any content that is expected as part of the base game but doesn't make release - Bard/Necro for example.
Serious bug fixes happen when and as you need them to, but for planned changes/addition of content I'd like a set day of the week & the month for those downtimes, so we can be prepared for the onset of withdrawal symptoms :)
A prominent and frequently updated "server status" section on the website. And I want that status to be brutally frank. If the truth is "We don't know when it will be up but since we haven't figure out what's wrong, it won't likely be up today" then that's what it should say.
In regard to tiers, the biggest thing I DON'T want is to be out adventuring in a group, far from town and have someone say "Oh shoot, sorry, I can't continue. My tier is too low to do that content". I also feel that having different tiers include varying levels of access to ingame CS, tech help or login priority would be divisive and counterproductive to building community.
I've read VR's plans for limiting free trial accounts so as to keep them from bothering the paying customers. If those plans included a time limit on a free trials in addition to the other restrictions (perhaps 30 days), then I don't believe they would be a problem. Since free trials are a significant help in attracting new players, I think VR should offer them.
It's way to early for me to worry about expansions. If VR makes "the best game ever made" then I might not hit level cap on any class for 2 years. If they just make a real good game, I doubt I'll get anyone there in under 1 year. On the first of many.
Like many have already indicated - a base of $20/month seems reasonable. Expansions being suggested as costing around $60 then why not simply roll that into the subscription and I'd pay $25/month.
My primary reason for this is that if you go for having to pay outside of the subscription for the expansion then you have to spend time ensuring content is locked and unavailable for those who haven't bought the expansion. Or for those who haven't implemented the expansion at the same time as others. Just rolling it into the subscription ensures everyone all the time at any time is playing the exact same content.
Back when EQ came out I willingly subscribed to the game. About 6 months in I accepted the fact that I would rather play EQ than watch TV and I ditched my TV and all the monthly subscriptions that came with it (I do miss watching the World Series and watching Curling, though). I was a stalwart all these many years and only relented last year with COVID lockdowns and two young kids and my wife convinced me to take on a subscription to Disney+. Her selling feature to me was "I would get to watch all of The Simpsons (minus I think three or four episodes)." Having Mandalorian was a nice bonus. Heck, the COVID lockdowns had me returning to making my own coffee and not going out for coffee. Can easily pay for three subscriptions a month if I am not doing my regular coffee shop routine.
If the game is engrossing I firmly believe the subscriptions will hold and the, albeit, higher cost will be sustainable because there will be people who will weigh the various subscription services they already have (software, media, communications, gaming) and will make the decisions based on where they spend their time. And Pantheon will come out on top if it is engrossing. If people would rather watch TV than play Pantheon, there isn't any kind of subscription that would make them switch.
My preference is for a monthly subscription is for access only and does not include major content releases rolled into the base price. The main reason being that if an expansion is delayed, that there is less of a sense of resentment by the player base who might say 'I am already paying for it and I want it now' or 'The delay effective increases the price of the xpac'. Realistically I believe pricing for a 12-month to 18-month expansion should range about $35-$50 per expansion with no premium or collector's edition that might offer items that are considered 'pay to win'.
I also believe that from a consumption standpoint that the monthly sub needs to remain below the psychological standpoint of $20/month. An MMO is a form of entertainment, much like Netflix, and keeping it on a $19.99/month seems to avoid that trigger point where people start having to continually justify the expenditure. An additional 'hook' of loyalty items/veteran rewards based on contiguous subscription time is another layer to ensure that players feel inclined to continue renewing their subscription (for renewals of greater than 1 month the bonus is unlocked at the time of payment). I am also a strong proponent of discounts for extended game time purchases, examples shown below.
1-month -- $19.99/mo
3-month -- $18.99/mo ($3 savings)
6-month -- $17.99/mo ($12 savings)
12-month - $16.99/mo ($36 savings)
18-month - $15.99/mo ($72 savings)
24-month - $14.99/mo ($120 savings)
ThevSonata said:According to everyone here, I'm freaking poor. I could never consider a $20+/month cost, recently even having that much net gain in my account was a miracle lol. Everyone's life is different I guess =/
You honestly are not alone. In fact household income hasn't changed much since 1999, people don't have much more money to spend on these things. I am sure there is plenty enough market research at this point leading to companies staying at or near 10-15 a month for subscription services, if the data pointed to being able to get away with more they absolutely would.
ThevSonata said:According to everyone here, I'm freaking poor. I could never consider a $20+/month cost, recently even having that much net gain in my account was a miracle lol. Everyone's life is different I guess =/
People here are posting unrealistic subscription numbers for today's economic reality. Although there are a subset of people who could absolutely afford to pay $20+ a month for an MMO subscription alone, it would not net the overall numbers needed for Pantheon to survive long-term. When determining prices for services, demand is considered as a variable. As prices rise, demand decreases for an elastic good such as an MMO subscription. Many posting here are ignoring that fact or not considering that the drop-off in potential subscription numbers would be steep as prices go above $10-$15 a month.
Iksar said:ThevSonata said:According to everyone here, I'm freaking poor. I could never consider a $20+/month cost, recently even having that much net gain in my account was a miracle lol. Everyone's life is different I guess =/
You honestly are not alone. In fact household income hasn't changed much since 1999, people don't have much more money to spend on these things. I am sure there is plenty enough market research at this point leading to companies staying at or near 10-15 a month for subscription services, if the data pointed to being able to get away with more they absolutely would.
This is correct. There is a reason why even FFXIV doesn't go above $15 and has plenty of discounted subscription options.
*sigh* I dont like the idea of Premium servers but I do like the idea of servers with different rule-sets. However what ends up happening is the population dwindles and cannot support the particular server on its own and then mergers occur. This is an argument for a single subscription price point.
I like the idea of one account per server, but I understand others like to play alts- so, start with 3 char slots across the board? I dont know how I would feel about a one time cost for additonal char slots at specific times like new game purchace, or expansion purchace.
If you are on welfare (in the U.S.) the amount of 20.00 a month is just at the edge of discretionary income and "they" know it. When you are on welfare (in the U.S.) All the things thrust upon you, advertised or otherwise that offer hope to get out of welfare, costs 20.00.
I'll call 20.00 the baseline. I'm ok with 30.00 personally. A dollar-a-day logic is an easy sell to ones self, some pay more in cigarettes.
But I am willing to go to 40.00 US with a 60-80 expansion cost, (let the nerds get their collectors editions for more) for a independently controlled MMO, with a Dev team that has consistency, and accidentally meet in game, unknowingly. And who run events, be they cruel or benign, with unique artifacts. I also want to hear of the infrastructure being revisited, and new people coming in or old people being brought back in for a bit.
My only other consession would be... concessions, or merch. You know what I mean, kool kitch.
