RPGDX > Forums > General Discussion > How much would you pay for a subscription based RPG?

DarkDread · Last edited by DarkDread on Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:35 pm; edited 1 time in total

EDIT: That should say YEARLY not monthly. My bad. That's what I get for posting first thing in the morning. So, once again, it's YEARLY.

Yeah, as the title says... I'm wondering how much is too much... and how much is enough, when charging for a subscription based, episodical RPG.

Now then, here's some information about the RPG itself: An episode would be released 4 times a year, and each episode would contain 10-20 hours of gameplay. Your characters would always start at level 1 with each episode, however, you would have the option of carrying over items and money from the previous episode... even if the new episode stars a different character.

Basically, style wise, it would be a mix of Final Fantasy V, and VI, and be released for Windows, of course.

Now, what I'm asking here, is how much you would pay, per year, to subscribe to such an RPG... keeping in mind that the costs I'm estimating here, would have each episode delivered to you through email (For snail mail, jack that cost up by at least 5 bucks).

I didn't put in an "I wouldn't pay." option... however, if you wouldn't pay, and can give me some good reasons as to why not, then by all means, I'd like to hear them.

So, there it is... if you vote, please let me know which one you picked, and why (If you don't mind).

Oh, don't go for the cheapest option right away... I ask that you please consider it before voting. Keep in mind, the cheapest option would probably only see 10 hour episodes, whereas the most expensive one would probably see full-length games at over 30 hours. So the real question is, would you pay for more game time, or would four 10 hour games be enough, per year, for you?

One more thing, payment would be done primarily through payapal, but internation checks, and hidden cash would be fine too. Finally, back episodes would be available... at anywhere from 5-10 dollars per episode (depending on the length), and at a discount for subscribers, of course. Subscriptions would probably be available in 1-3 year packages... with the 2 and 3 year packs being cheaper than subscribing just once a year.

If you need any more info, by all means, feel free to ask me.
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Verious · Mage Joined: 06 Jan 2004 Posts: 409 Location: Online

If the updates are quarterly, what incentive is there to pay monthly? Why wouldn't someone just cancel their subscription in between releases? If I were paying monthly, I would expect new content monthly... especially, if this is an offline game, which it sounds like.

DarkDread · Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 3:37 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I meant to say Yearly not Monthly. My bad... argh... anyway... yes, it should be, for example, 10 dollars a year, and that'll get you 4 episodes, all around 10 hours of gameplay.

So yeah, the incentive is there to pay... but obviously, that should've said yearly... not monthly... argh.
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Ren · Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 4:54 pm Post subject:

Depends on the standard of the game doesn't it? I'd pay $10 a year just out of interest, because I know you and such, but i'd have no problem spending $20 if I knew I was going to get something awesome every quarter. Although I should proberbly mention that in England the minimum price for anything is £5 ($10), and most things cost £10 ($20), so we're used to paying too much for everything, heh.

Nice to see you around by the way. Are you considering making a makeshift living out of something like this?
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XMark · Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2005 8:36 pm Post subject:

Can it be? Darkdread has returned!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoOT!

(EDIT: okay, I admit that was annoying, woot shortened)
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Nephilim · Mage Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Posts: 414

Well, I wouldn't pay anything, because I don't run Windows.

But if you were making a cross-platform product, and the games were good (which I suspect they would be from your previous work), I'd probably pay in the $20 range. That works out to $5 per game, which is eminently reasonable. I'd pay more if they were particularly good, but the not-knowing-ahead-of-time-buying-on-faith aspect lowers the value somewhat.

Some things I'd want to see in a subscription model:

* Each episode should work on its own as a self-contained story, and not require other episodes to understand what is going on. Larger story arcs and recurring characters are good (and would help retain subscribers), but I would be pretty annoyed to have an episode end with a cliffhanger, with the next episode at least three months off.

* I'd expect them all to take place in the same game world. I don't want to pay for a subscription based on a cool dark fantasy land (say), and then have the next episodes be sci-fi and humorous fantasy. Since you said you could retain money and items, I suspect this is what you're going to do.

* When it comes time to renew or sign up, there should be a synopsis of the upcoming four games I'm paying for and their release dates.

* I'd want access to at least part of the first episode for free so I can see what the gameplay and game mechanics are before I sign up.

Good luck on your venture. I suspect many of us have toyed with the idea of subscription-based RPG's. I'd be happy to see you succeed in that area.

(edit)
By the way, I'd probably pay more for shorter, monthly episodes. If the time span between episodes was shorter, I'd also be more tolerant towards cliffhangers and other cross-episode story elements.
(/edit)
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janus · Mage Joined: 29 Jun 2002 Posts: 464 Location: Issaquah, WA

Why not just sell the individual episodes?

DarkDread · Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 10:24 am Post subject:

Hajo · Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 11:18 am Post subject:

I didn't read the first post so I mistook monthly and yearly. I voted for "less than 10" but if we say yearly, it'd be "less than 30". If it's good even a little more (12*5 = 60 that's what I'd be happy with).

I'd like a system that allows to play the basic game for free, and if you like it you can purchase/rent additional features. It depends a bit on the details, if it's overdone I guess I wouldn't like it anymore.

I have no problem paying for good things, making the basic game free just makes it easier to get into it, and see if it my taste.

A limited time of free play is no real incentive for me, becuase I know I easily get hooked on many games, and I'm sure I'll always have to pay just to avoid lossing ym characters so soon. So I rate those as if I have to pay at least three months.

BadMrBox · Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:01 pm Post subject:

Hello there DD.
First of, I would like an episode for free (yeah, you have mentioned it) to see if it is anything to spend my money on. I think it could be as you haven't done crappy games before and I don't think that you intend to do it now :). I would also like to have some info of the four upcoming games before paying anything (also mentioned before). If the quality is good I would pay up 20$ per year.
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Ren · Posted: Fri Apr 01, 2005 5:17 pm Post subject:

tcaudilllg · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 3:28 pm Post subject:

No more than $20, I don't think. That'd be comparable with games like Final Fantasy Origins, and I'm inclined to believe your games would be at about that in terms of quality, right?

So if you pay $20.00 for Final Fantasy, and get between the two, about 30-40 hours of gameplay, then one would expect about 15 hours of gameplay per episode. $5 for 15 hours, not too bad.

On the other hand, the content would have to be top-notch. You'll really have to work your creative energies to make this a success.

Xegnma · Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2005 6:22 pm Post subject:

Nice idea! But I wonder about gameplay becoming monotonous.
I suppose the success of this kind of thing would hinge on the strength of the story elements employed per episode but will the game mechanics stand up to the test of time? I am assuming you will have a constant set of interfaces,game mechanics, and the like from episode to episode. So my question is , aside from story, how do you intend to keep gameplay fresh?

Nephilim · Mage Joined: 20 Jun 2002 Posts: 414

Maybe he could make each year's subscription use the same engine, and then upgrade the engine each year. That would give some consistency, let people know what they're buying for the year, but still allow for innovation and development of the underlying game engine. (It would also give another reason to renew subscriptions - new game engine features.)
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Bjorn · Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2005 1:48 am Post subject:

I would not pay, because as much as I agree in rewarding people's work, I also like to think there are a lot of people (like me) who enjoy spending some of their free time to work on projects that others enjoy spending some of their free time with.

Still, a free first episode could always convince me to buy the second. :-)