News The Secret World drops subscription model

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2012/12/13/the-secret-world-drops-subscription-model/1

 

That didn't take long. Aligns pretty well with my take on subscription/non-subscription-based games. Either you pay for the game at retail and then playing is free or you pay a monthly fee but get the game for free.

Also, caught a typo: "Players will only be required to play an upfront amount..". I'm sure that should read "pay".

 

WOW still has 10mil subs.

Till that number drops to somewhere closer to 5mil, No Paid MMO will ever succeed in the numbers they require to make it successful. if your gonna pay £8 a month then you may as well pay it to blizzard is the general oppinion many have.

Rift is the next biggest mmo with 1million players.( its the only other paid mmo to have maintained a paid player base)

I also personally feel the time of MMOs is passing, The day when they were for the hardcore elite players is long since gone and that will not return.

 

I'm surprised they are offering only a 10% boosts/discounts for subscribers. That really doesn't seem worth the money and I wonder if this plan will work out well for them in the long run.

 

I think developers should give up on the traditional mmo for a while. Let WoW shed its subscribers and try again in a couple of years with some fresh ideas, not just copying Blizzards.

 

This game has lots of fresh ideas though. It's set on Earth (albeit a freaky spooky version of it), it has no levels, it has assault rifles and shotguns and whatnot - as well as magic, there are no fixed classes - you just buy skill points in whatever spells or abilities you want as you go, and they really took questing to a whole new level with the investigation quests and some of the other more interesting ones.

It's pretty far from perfect though, but I really liked it and I think most people gave it a harder time than it really deserved, or just didn't even try it at all. I think it's a shame. Although now I get to play it for free! So I'm happy.

 

wasnt this game about £13 a month though? takes the whatsits!
it pains me to pay out £9 a month for the other mmo's ive played, this one was far too high

 

Rift and wow are at about £8 im not sure what this is or was. 15 euro i read not sure what that transfers too.

 

Yeah it was more expensive than the others. But now there is no subscription at all, you just buy the box and then play free forever. There are even some really good deals on the box itself too.