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Posted 10:30am 09/5/10
Posted 10:31am 09/5/10
Posted 10:38am 09/5/10
Posted 10:44am 09/5/10
last edited by unclebobsticle at 10:44:27 09/May/10
Posted 10:49am 09/5/10
Posted 10:52am 09/5/10
Posted 10:54am 09/5/10
Posted 11:01am 09/5/10
Just read the transcript praise the lord it wont apply to us, also interesting to read in there they talked about a new pricing structure for WoW?!
Posted 10:58am 09/5/10
some of you newbs need to RTFA
it's a pricing structure aimed at helping those in poor countries (where USD$59.99 = a bajillion local pesos) play the game
you can afford ~$59.99? then this shit won't concern you
Posted 10:59am 09/5/10
Posted 11:05am 09/5/10
We're not included. Our retail boxes are the full deal. You can take that to the bank.
The sub-based box is massively discounted in local currency, and includes 6 months of multiplayer with an unnannouced sub after that.
To be honest, I wouldn't mind if we had the option as well. I know a few people who would get value out of it - I expect to be playing SCII online at least six months from launch, but surely for lots of people would be an even bet or better that they wouldn't, and no doubt the
expansions"extra volumes" would include a recharge anyway?I know I've paid full retail for MMOs and then a month or two sub and THEN dropped it ... hi Aion ><
This looks like a good deal for the included countries? They can always pay full dollar for the box we get, after all.
Posted 11:26am 09/5/10
As for us, if it comes here well id laugh my arse off at how poor the world thinks we are :P
Posted 11:47am 09/5/10
Posted 11:52am 09/5/10
stuff this Im not buying the game if this is going to happen.
They are 'testing the waters' to see if they can do it all over the world.
Im not gonna stick a drip in my bank account to play a game.
Posted 11:59am 09/5/10
heh, you'll buy it.
Didn't notice the single player as well. That's a bit lame - imo a shitkunt country account should collapse to single-player only once the sub ends.
We have the opposite problem. See Civ5 thread ><
Posted 02:00pm 09/5/10
I really don't want to have to change bnet accounts and pay extra just because I'm overseas for a year
Posted 02:03pm 09/5/10
I guess for mods maybe. Except for Doom and GTA I can't even remember many other games I've played through the single player experience more than once. Definitely no RTS games.
Posted 02:20pm 09/5/10
I would doubt it. Japan has coin.
I think its more to have it than anything, maybe someone else would want a crack or something.
If you pay for a SP game you should be able to play it "offline" whenever you want, vs AI skirmish mode etc. For that matter they should have LAN support too >< SP / offline isn't just about the story mode.
Posted 02:59pm 09/5/10
Games will get shorter and shorter, which is already happening, and you will eventually pay to buy the game, which will probably only include the first month or something of gameplay, single player or multiplayer, it wont matter because it will all be online via stuff like battle.net.
Then you will have to pay a monthly subscription to keep playing the game, single player or multiplayer. Then when they decide they dont want you to play the old game anymore, they will just take it away, so you have to buy the new version. I can see games lasting only 6 months to 1 year before they take them away from you you have to buy the new version.
Within ten years I reckon.
Posted 03:02pm 09/5/10
It beats games that are full of bugs , never work , and have constant problems.
Posted 03:11pm 09/5/10
There is no negative side about this to be bitching about. The areas that are getting the subscription option, can also buy the game outright like everyone else.
But they are also given the option of paying a a fraction of the full-game cost to play on a time-based access model, as alot of the people in those areas don't have enough expendable income to purchase the game outright.
fuck.
Posted 04:24pm 09/5/10
Seems a few people are trying new things with the subscription based model these days. I was just reading an article yesterday about that APB game which is going to have the option to buy hours like you would on a prepaid mobile. So you could just get a regular monthly subscription for $10 a month, or you could buy 20 hours for like $6 and use them when you want. Pretty good idea for someone who's just playing it casually for an hour here or there.
Posted 05:39pm 09/5/10
I don't doubt that companies are trying to secure and monetise the PC as a gaming platform via the internet and subscriptions.
But this will be market driven though. If the consumer thinks they are getting a raw deal / bad value then the games won't be bought and the subscription model will fail.
Just how many failed MMOs are there? For every monolithic StarCraft II Battle.Net there will be an upstart HoN looking to find market space and niche.
Posted 10:07pm 09/5/10
Also, I think people aren't getting annoyed about the specifics - it's that it's happening /at all/ because it's such a massive huge departure from the status quo - especially for Blizzard games. If you bought StarCraft back in the day, you're eligible to play it for ever (well, as long as they keep Battle.net up, anyway). If you bought Quake back in the day, you can play it forever. etcetc.
The real scary thing is the precedent that this might set for other games, not just in these 'developing' nations but in western nations when they decide that this is the next way they want you to play video games.
But why wouldn't they? WoW and MMOs have taught developers/publishers that people are happy to pay monthly for good games as long as they're getting value out of them. Shit, they could do it for 12 months for SC2, make double their money, and THEN say "ok it's free for ever now"!
Posted 10:28pm 09/5/10
StarCraft 2 To Have Subscription Model option in Some Regions
Posted 10:28pm 09/5/10
But, as I said above, that's not why I think it's interesting / newsworthy / relevant. It's about the precedent it sets, whereby a brand that was once something you paid for ONCE and then got to play forEVER for FREE after that, has changed - even in a small way - to one where that is no longer the case.
I blame everyone that bought DLC personally
Posted 10:45pm 09/5/10
b) it's not clear yet, to me anyway, that you get a second option. The Blizzard CEO made it sound like its an option in his speech, but the Latin American pricing seems to imply they only get ONE option - to buy the game cheap up front with a six month subscription and then if you want to pay after that, you have to pay more.
Posted 10:47pm 09/5/10
But the market isnt very smart, or just wont realise they are being screwed because it will happen slowly.
Imagine going back a few years and telling all the people playing COD4, the next COD wont have dedicated servers, wont have a console, wont allow user created maps and will cost $15 for new maps, and will also be the most highly profitable PC game ever.
No one would have believed you.
Yep, and by extention, console gamers, they accepted this pay to play online model, with xbox live and DLC etc.
Posted 12:07pm 10/5/10
Also, does anyone have the comprehensive list of reasons why "faceman" will not be buying the game....but will probably buy it anyway?
Posted 01:39pm 10/5/10
Its an interesting way to move, and i think its worth a try.
Posted 01:48pm 10/5/10
Becomes a bit like paying for a demo though doesnt it ?
I dont understand people paying for WoW every month.
Im going to guess its what $10 a month ?
2 years of gaming you've payed $240 for the game + Initial outlay.
I can see its rewarding for the Developers but its tough on the Punters.
What if you play 2/3/4 games like that ?
Suddenly your paying +$50 a month for gaming ? + hardware costs + Internet access.
Posted 01:54pm 10/5/10
Posted 02:07pm 10/5/10
OK I'll give you a go FaceMan. Lets see if you can come up with a response that doesn't get you put back in the Do Not Reply box.
The game is worth whatever the market says the publisher can charge for it. They are investigating a combination of retail and subscription for emerging markets. Blizzard are very good at monetising PC gaming and they are looking at ways to increase revenue in markets where western boxes do not perform.
I paid $150 for the CE of starcraft 2 at EBGames because I wanted to know that I had it squared away, it wasn't a pre-order with a company I couldn't deal with face to face if need be. I reckon I've thrown away up to fifty bucks vs online purchases.
But its a price I was happy to pay (and EBGames sold out of their CEs at this price) which means that it was appropriately priced. If the value in the CE (and the experience of pre-ordering via EBGames, for example I miss out because they fuck somethign up) is unsatisfactory then I will not use the service again, and I will relate my experience to others which will further damage their ability to charge high prices for CEs.
A similar is happening with civ5 AU pricing. They are experimenting if they can blatantly just fuck us in the arse, and I expect that their Steam sales will plummet as a result of consumer reaction. The bean counters will know if it was worth it.
Free markets.
Posted 02:13pm 10/5/10
you buy a game for $50 and get 2-3 weeks of gameplay out of it (minus the few games that actually give you more). or you could pay $50 worth of subscription and get 4-5 months worth of gameplay.
Posted 02:17pm 10/5/10
Not just one.
Posted 02:49pm 10/5/10
I was just mainly pointing out how people can pay for a subscription for wow ... starcraft subscription wouldn't work as it's mainly player base keeping the game going rather than blizzard churning out map packs each month.
but the subscription isn't going to happen in australia or any well off countries. not enough details have been released but from the sounds of it, my guess is the game will be offered at an relatively cheap price so those in not so well off countries could afford it.
Posted 05:45pm 10/5/10
Posted 06:23pm 10/5/10
This just strikes me as a prettied up version of 'always on' DRM with the added bonus of doing something nice (i.e. letting people in poor countries play legitimately). These regions have the highest rates of piracy in the world. By making the game require a subscription service that requires a net connection for single player gameplay, they are making the game harder to pirate.
Posted 06:35pm 10/5/10
Posted 11:59pm 10/5/10
Starcraft was a huge hit there, but most people do not own the game, as its too expensive to own/have a PC to run it. They have huge gaming dungeons that most people pay to use per hour. The idea behind this is to make the game more accessible in these places, this model won't even be available to Australians.
The idea is to get more cash in their own pockets, instead of these mass gaming dungeons in countries where games like this are too expensive. good on them i say, why should someone else make cash from their hard work (cough cough Aussie market price gouge)
Posted 12:06am 11/5/10
Then people playing (and buying) the game don't care about those things, or are dissatisfied enough with the result that they won't go back.
If people (stupid or not, most people are stupid people imo) knowingly & wilingly part with their money for the gimped product then who is to blame?
Posted 12:13am 11/5/10
What? South koreans cant afford $20 for a game or computers to run the game? What do you think south korea is, some 3rd world country? lol.
last edited by CSIRAC at 00:13:17 11/May/10