MMO Micro Subscriptions

There are two standard payment models on MMOs at the moment Free to Play and Subscription, is there some middle ground?

Warhammer Online Currently

Lets take for example Warhammer Online’s current subscription offers:

  • 30 Day Subscription – $13.99
  • 90 Day Subscription – $37.99
  • 180 Day Subscription – $69.99

Now lets break down each subscription price to work out the monthly, weekly and daily cost.

30 Day Subscription

  • $13.99 per month

Which works out as

  • $3.50 per week
  • $0.47 per day

90 Day Subscription

  • $37.99 per 3 months

Which works out as

  • $12.66 per month
  • $3.17 per week
  • $0.45 per day

180 Day Subscription

  • $69.99 per 6 months

Which works out as

  • $11.66 per month
  • $2.92 per week
  • $0.42 per day

Possible Opportunity

A month is a long term commitment, a lot can change in a month. Certainly my playstyle changes and I play a number of different games within a month. Would there be a gap in the market for smaller subscription models?

Positives

There are subtle marketing opportunities here, people may be put off a by a full price subscription model, but think actually, I want to catch up for a day, or a week. Maybe a day is too short a time to offer and weeks should be offered only.

Negatives

There are downsides to micro subscription models, longer payment plans generate more money, allowing payment of staff. There is a chance for less money being generated as a result.

Balance

The solution is to see a balance, increased numbers from smaller subscription plans vs the decrease of money from a single subscriber.

This would have to be tiered up from the above prices, as there has to be benefits for having a longer subscription. The following prices are a logical progression from the prices that exist, with a minimum and maximum value.

Daily

$0.5 – $1

Weekly

$3.99 – 4.99

Your Thoughts

I don’t mind paying a full subscription for a game that I will dedicate my full time to, but I have a lot of games to play and I don’t want to pay full price for something that I won’t spend all my time on.

I also never have a subscriptions exactly, I have a pay as you go model, I subscribe and cancel immediately.

What do you think about the current subscription models that exist for your game? Do you prefer the free to play cash shop style?  Full subscription model? or would you be more tempted by shorter subscriptions?

* Multiple Choice on Poll

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Category : Dark Age of Camelot, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
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