Just to prevent any potential collapsing in shock upon discovering subscription costs for Age of Conan on launch day, Funcom's revealed the full pricing structure for the MMO three weeks before release.
In the UK it's £10.34 per month - which is £8.99 plus VAT - £28.95 for three months or £53.06 for a six-month block. So obviously it works out cheaper if you pay for the subscription in three- or six-month blocks (and we didn't even need to consult our bean counter to work that out).
60-day timercards will be available for purchase from games emporiums too, which cost 29.99 euro. A GBP price isn't given but that works out at around 23 quid in direct cash translation.
How does it expect to compete with WoW when it's price per month is higher. I know it's not alot, but with the game itself needing to pull out all the stops to even make a dent it the WoW playerbase, how does it justify a higher rate?
'ooh onz it's not cheaper then wow therefore epic fail'
Please, this still isn't the most expenive sub out there, plus it's not the devs that think 'ooo we have to beat WoW' it's the fans, plus seeing as it's going to be ported over to the 360 in a year-ish, think about the fact that your paying kinda for LIVE access once this happens and your paying what an extra £1.50?
I'll be still waiting on WAR ethier way but FFS stop with the 'will it beat WoW?' stuff theres plent of the market that don't play WoW and aren't obessed with it, WoW will end on it's own terms devs know that and they also know that a good chunk of 'WoW players' wont play any other mmo so why target them?
Yes WoW is popular but theres no way the MMORPG industry revoles around it.
Seems a bit too steep, and will have to go some to tempt players away from the MMO market leaders, whether that be WoW, LotR, or the very sub free Guild Wars.
I mean, yeah, it's only a pound and some pennies, but over a year we're talking over £15 extra a year over the likes of WoW, so AoC going to have to impress very quickly or sink without trace in a matter of months.
Please, this still isn't the most expenive sub out there, plus it's not the devs that think 'ooo we have to beat WoW' it's the fans, plus seeing as it's going to be ported over to the 360 in a year-ish, think about the fact that your paying kinda for LIVE access once this happens and your paying what an extra £1.50?
Will this sub apply to the 360 version of this too, that's the real question. If it does, I can't see it being worth while porting it. I know at least half a dozen guys that have refused to get it if they need to pay a sub as well as pay for live membership. I can see their point.
Marty - as far as I know like FFXI this will run off sliver memberships, i dunno what MS are doing with the gold but i'd assume that this sub would assume your running off silver, but then again it's still a year off...
From prices and specs I can't blame the 360 owners holding off on this... It'll seem like it's a far better deal (although pc owners can't complain look what we get, better versions of DMC, Gears and Mass effect) it does seem like PC users will have a slightly raw deal, but then again keyboard/mouse > pad
Guys, read the AoC community forum too: FunCom have managed to kill this game before it even got the chance to get off the ground. It's all gone Hellgate: London.
First, specific information about the game has been witheld right up until the last minute: this is not the Open PvP-fest we were given the impression of all those years ago. Rewards are heavily biased towards performance in instanced PvP mini-games which decide who has the right to lead a siege and pick who gets the limited slots available to take part.
Second, the 'open' beta isn't. I've never before heard that anyone has had to pay to take part in an open beta(through the awful FilePlanet) without having their money refunded in some way: pre-order boxes sold in shops containing a beta key and disc with goodies, the price of which is taken from the eventual purchase. Only FunCom and their fanboys are pretending the FilePlanet way is usual and normal. It's not normal. FunCom and FilePlanet have done for open betas what King Herod did for baby-sitting.
Third, complete mis-communication and still no real clarification on the pre-order bonuses. A lot of people say they've cancelled their pre-orders because they simply can't tell if it's worth it.
How does it expect to compete with WoW when it's price per month is higher. I know it's not alot, but with the game itself needing to pull out all the stops to even make a dent it the WoW playerbase, how does it justify a higher rate?
the simple answer to that is its not expecting nor is it trying to compete with wow
Guys, read the AoC community forum too: FunCom have managed to kill this game before it even got the chance to get off the ground. It's all gone Hellgate: London.
First, specific information about the game has been witheld right up until the last minute: this is not the Open PvP-fest we were given the impression of all those years ago. Rewards are heavily biased towards performance in instanced PvP mini-games which decide who has the right to lead a siege and pick who gets the limited slots available to take part.
Second, the 'open' beta isn't. I've never before heard that anyone has had to pay to take part in an open beta(through the awful FilePlanet) without having their money refunded in some way: pre-order boxes sold in shops containing a beta key and disc with goodies, the price of which is taken from the eventual purchase. Only FunCom and their fanboys are pretending the FilePlanet way is usual and normal. It's not normal. FunCom and FilePlanet have done for open betas what King Herod did for baby-sitting.
Third, complete mis-communication and still no real clarification on the pre-order bonuses. A lot of people say they've cancelled their pre-orders because they simply can't tell if it's worth it.
The game will tank.
One question... have you actually played it?
Cause I have and if you had played it you wouldnt be saying such things, the game is awesome, ok theres an issue there with PVP but theres also alot of people out there, me included who cant wait for its release and alot of beta testers like myself who absolutely love this game! Also Hellgate London is nowhere near the same league as this game...
Please, this still isn't the most expenive sub out there, plus it's not the devs that think 'ooo we have to beat WoW' it's the fans, plus seeing as it's going to be ported over to the 360 in a year-ish, think about the fact that your paying kinda for LIVE access once this happens and your paying what an extra £1.50?
Will this sub apply to the 360 version of this too, that's the real question. If it does, I can't see it being worth while porting it. I know at least half a dozen guys that have refused to get it if they need to pay a sub as well as pay for live membership. I can see their point.
It will be interesting to see how this works out. MMOs require monthly fees for maintanence of servers, bug fixes, and constant content developement. So I would think the gold memberships would not support this income directly.
Although its unlikely it will be free to play on the xbox, but pay to play on the PC.
MMOs have yet to really succeed on consoles. I don't think AOC will be the right one to do it, but I think the concept is there.
Turn The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion into an MMO, add deep voice chat functionality, and you've got yourself the first half decent console MMO.
Please, this still isn't the most expenive sub out there, plus it's not the devs that think 'ooo we have to beat WoW' it's the fans, plus seeing as it's going to be ported over to the 360 in a year-ish, think about the fact that your paying kinda for LIVE access once this happens and your paying what an extra £1.50?
Will this sub apply to the 360 version of this too, that's the real question. If it does, I can't see it being worth while porting it. I know at least half a dozen guys that have refused to get it if they need to pay a sub as well as pay for live membership. I can see their point.
It will be interesting to see how this works out. MMOs require monthly fees for maintanence of servers, bug fixes, and constant content developement. So I would think the gold memberships would not support this income directly.
Although its unlikely it will be free to play on the xbox, but pay to play on the PC.
MMOs have yet to really succeed on consoles. I don't think AOC will be the right one to do it, but I think the concept is there.
Turn The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion into an MMO, add deep voice chat functionality, and you've got yourself the first half decent console MMO.
Yeah, that'd be ace, but I'm not convinced that us Live users would pay a sub for a game AND a sub to pay everything else on line (it's a rare gamer that EXCLUSIVELY plays one game, and one game only, lets be fair).
Please, this still isn't the most expenive sub out there, plus it's not the devs that think 'ooo we have to beat WoW' it's the fans, plus seeing as it's going to be ported over to the 360 in a year-ish, think about the fact that your paying kinda for LIVE access once this happens and your paying what an extra £1.50?
Will this sub apply to the 360 version of this too, that's the real question. If it does, I can't see it being worth while porting it. I know at least half a dozen guys that have refused to get it if they need to pay a sub as well as pay for live membership. I can see their point.
It will be interesting to see how this works out. MMOs require monthly fees for maintanence of servers, bug fixes, and constant content developement. So I would think the gold memberships would not support this income directly.
Although its unlikely it will be free to play on the xbox, but pay to play on the PC.
MMOs have yet to really succeed on consoles. I don't think AOC will be the right one to do it, but I think the concept is there.
Turn The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion into an MMO, add deep voice chat functionality, and you've got yourself the first half decent console MMO.
Age of conan laughs in the face of repetitive oblivion with its weird character faces!
Thing is these sub and pvp 'issues' could be changed on the fly without changing the core game, lower the subs (or the playerbase acsepting the sub price as it's not that bad) and favour the pvp systems rewards to the board kingdoms and bingo! players will eat it up..
The core game itself is sold it's just a few minor things blown up to seem like they are gamebraking.
Anyone thinking this would be an instant success is foolish, but with a little tweaking and word of month happening the subs will claim, i mean it's not like TR/Vanguard at least were the core game is actally half done at least thats good, isn't it?
I earn a tidy wage, and was quite willing to pay in line with current MMO pricing but to whack it up to over a tenner is giving me the royal jitters. Unless my first month of included play-time blows me away I don't think I'm going to be able to justify paying >£10 a month. It may not seem like much however:
I would very much like to point Funcom in the direction of a television and sit them down in front of the BBC news. At the moment, we are not a country willing to spend over the line for a bit of swords and sorcery. If they whack it down a few quids to around WoW and LOTRO prices I'll be knee deep in corpses. Until they fall in line with the rest of the pack it'll be hibernation for Mr Conan and his account.
Age of conan laughs in the face of repetitive oblivion with its weird character faces!
All credibility of anything you might say has just taken a serious hit...
For me that happened when he went for the "have you played it?" gambit. I didn't make any claims that required me to play it. I'm sure there are many things great about the game, but there were also many things great about Stubbs the Zombie. He doesn't address any of the points I made.
With all this talk of MMOs moving away from subs and towards alternative funding methods, I personally won't be buying into something that's charging over the average.
Maybe if I didn't have to pay out a big chunk before hand for a boxed product, I'd risk giving it a go, but Age of Conan doesn't yet strike me as something worth paying a premium for.
Second, the 'open' beta isn't. I've never before heard that anyone has had to pay to take part in an open beta(through the awful FilePlanet) without having their money refunded in some way: pre-order boxes sold in shops containing a beta key and disc with goodies, the price of which is taken from the eventual purchase. Only FunCom and their fanboys are pretending the FilePlanet way is usual and normal. It's not normal. FunCom and FilePlanet have done for open betas what King Herod did for baby-sitting.
Fileplanet is not normal for an open beta, but how many betas are around 12gb (I think that is the size I saw) in size? I doubt anyone is going to run a server and let you download that much for free.
I've never tried to get into an open beta before as they are generally s**t lag fests. Pre-order promos are just marketing ploys to get people to buy early. I'm not even going to pre-order and play a MMO on the day of release again as it's not been much fun for any of the ones i've played.
The game might tank, but I think there are plenty of people who quit WoW due to boredom who will be willing to give the game a try. I'm waiting for a review before I make my mind up. Most of the people complaining on the offical forums are hardcore PvP snooker cues who think the game should cater specifically for them.
I think that the £8.99 should of included tax like WoW and LotRO, but EVE is still more expensive at current exchange rates I think. I'll wait and see how things go before I make a decision.
I expect there to a similar or even greater outcry over WAR when it comes close to release, maybe not over the price but people will find something to slag off without even having played the game. They are exactly the same as those idiots who blame games for violence on the News having never played a game in their life. Leave your lamentations until the game is actually out.
Well I *have* played it, and while I know a lot of people are finding no problems, there are FAR more with endless issues, ranging from simple bug problems, to not being able to install the game.
My personal issues haven't been fixed since the PVP beta and due to MASSIVE issues, I won't be touching this game until - well - probably never.
It looks fantastic, but it's just nothing sufficiently new enough to drag me away from decent (and polished) games like GTA4 and Oblivion.
I must comment that people will always adore the crappy games. There are people who love Pirates of the Burning Sea and others who couldn't find any fault in Horizons, so one has to wonder about just how low their expectations actually are.
People commented about Hellgate London, Age of Conan isn't far behind that in terms of needing six more months development, and that's clear when you play the game.
It could have been so good, but instead it's a 70% complete game with major balance issues and requiring an awful lot of polish.
I think you fail to see the fact that people like things for different reasons and they may not have low expectations, just different tastes from yourself. I found WOW to be a boring grind with pish cartoon graphics but what do I know. AS for Hellgate I think another year in production might be more accurate.
In fact, Funcom has be telling fat porkies to the press and its public for well over a year. Last I heard half the game had been cut and the people making the game say things like 'there's just not much of a game'. Funcom have been keeping quiet regarding the lost features on the basis that it would (obviously) hurt the share price and there are (obviously) several fat cats who therefore stand to lose a packet if such things were to hit the news (guess this has torn it?).
That said they may be pulling out all the stops to get all the cool stuff in before release, but only time will tell.
Price-wise - sounds a bit steep to me too.
Made it Played it Tweaked it Played it again Complained about it Shook my head at it Left it
I've already preordered WAR but AoC is looking more and more interesting all the time. I've avoided getting into the MMORPG's for some time due to the auto combat looking dull, if the combat in this is superior to WAR then I may not be paying mythic any long term subscription fees.
I wouldn't mind playing some of these, but I also refuse to pay stupid amounts of cash to play a game. Normal games are £20-30.. Why should I pay over £100 or even more to play this or other mmorpg's?
You pay ful price for the game.. you then pay monthly.. and then you pay for addon packs as well.. nobody should play these games imo.
Even at £1 a month they would still rake in the cash, that's what I would pay, and no more.
Bah very silly price that will leave a lot us undecided. If Eidos had set the price at £9 per month, it would had been cheaper than wow and more of us would had jumped on board. Then once they get people on board they could had raised it a year later. Thanks to the higher price gonna wait for Warhammer online as well now or stick with WOW for the time being.
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