Hate Subscription Fees? EA Says Star Wars MMO Will Use Microtransactions Instead
Posted 12/10/08 at 12:34:09 AM by Nathan Grayson
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Update: *Waves hand in front of your face* This is apparently just a big misunderstanding. EA told Shacknews that "no statements have been made about the Star Wars business model," and that Ricitiello's statement was misunderstood. Thus, we can't really know how EA will sink its hooks into your wallet until February rolls around. So yeah, these droids? Totally not the one's you've been searching for.
Subscription fees, as we've discussed at length, are the beginning of a slippery slope down Blizzard's single, mega-games' throats, but microtransactions might be a different a story. Most titles that take up the little big label offer their services for free (or a small nominal fee), hoping that you'll drop a few coins into their cup at some point in the future. And if EA has its way, Star Wars: The Old Republic will be one such game.
"We are continuing to stick to the plan relative to building out our direct-to-consumer models which include microtransactions and subscriptions," said EA CEO John Riccitiello in a recent conference call. "The recent launch of Warhammer [Online] is a great example of that."
"Other initiatives we've announced, for example [the] Star Wars online MMO, are mid-session games which are microtransaction-based," he continued. "You'll be hearing more about those in the February [conference] call."
This announcement certainly seems to suggest that BioWare's galaxy far, far away won't take subscription fees as a viable method of payment, though Riccitiello didn't go so far as to completely rule them out.
Regardless, the potential accessibility of a "free" MMO combined with the production values and gameplay of a Scrooge McDuck-level big-budget game could very well melt the Lich King right off his frozen (and likely very uncomfortable) throne -- probably ending all productivity as we know it.
tl;dr: Looks like the Mayan Apocalypse might be coming early this existence. Neat!
screw that. im gonna get
Submitted by hogkill on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 3:29pm
screw that. im gonna get guild wars 2 instead
YOU SHOULDNT HAVE TO PAY FOR SOMETHING YOU ALREADY BOUGHT
Where's LucasArts Mentioned In This
Submitted by jediken21 on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 5:24pm
I was under the assumption that LucasArts would definatlly be publishing the game, I mean the publisher decideds that kinda stuff I thought.
It's actually a partnership
Submitted by Vahn16 on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 6:34pm
It's actually a partnership between EA and LucasArts, since EA owns BioWare.
No, thanks. I'd much rather
Submitted by horzo on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 12:43pm
No, thanks. I'd much rather pay a set monthly fee for access to all possible game content than be held up for a few bucks every time I want to do something interesting.
Submitted by neo1piv14 on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 12:21pm
Make your games good and I'll be willing to give it a try. Personally, I don't like the subscription model because it makes me feel like I HAVE to play the game. Like if I don't play it, I'm wasting money. That's why I liked Guild Wars. Arguably, it was a less complete game than WoW, EQ2, or WAR, but if I got tired of it, I just put it on the shelf for a month or two, then came back to it later and it was fun again for a while. Or look at smaller niche games like Materia Magica. It's free to play, but you can donate for items to help you along or give you something special. You can get all these in game by just saving up your ingame money, but there are people out there that are willing to throw down the money because they want things right then. But at least if you're going to charge people per month, charging them at the store is just a slap in the face to go along with the kick in the nuts they're getting every month. Warhammer is the prime example of this. When I bought the game, there was nowhere on their website you could go to download the installer and just start paying monthly right away. As opposed to Lineage II where you can download the installer straight from their site and not have to pay in store. Besides, it gives those companies a chance to make some extra cash by having Special Edition packs or something at the store. Give us some reason to actually go buy your product instead of downloading it from Bit Torrent (I consider it legal if I'm paying for it every month, but I don't know the official stance on it).
Submitted by zioburosky13 on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 9:03am
Big deal. Microtransactions has been the staple and reliable method for small time mmo company to survive (in asia, that is, where there are shit-load of mmo game getting release every few months)...
Submitted by Velcrow on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 8:39am
EA have been the masters of epic fail lately. Can anybody honestly feel sure of this venture? I'm not talking about the quality of game, though I've heard mixed views of the first Star Wars MMO. Microtransactions are risky to me, both to players and the business. The amount of revenue the game is generating will determine how much additional content we get. So we have to hope that microtransactions produce more for the business than monthly fees, or it will be gamers that suffer. Since it's Star Wars we have to assume a million+ players will at least try it the first month. That's a lot of resources to cover for free from start. And I know I won't be buying crap from the shop. heh
To be honest, I don't feel so warm and fuzzy about another Star Wars MMO. I'd rather they make an awesome remake of Tie Fighter and just bank off that. Now if they make a Tie Fighter-esque part in the MMO, we may be in business.
Submitted by habuza on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 7:12am
It's a huge pile of stinky fail sailing the fail seas on the damn failboat. The instances are crap, no strategy, just toss assloads of dps at it and tada. Done.
Huge Money
Submitted by chewyfurball on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 6:45am
If any of them are really smart they might want to look into what acclaim is doing with there games, free game
free updates, you pay for acclaim coins to use in the game which buys you bonuses in the game such as bonus exp, outfits, potions, etc. they make bank off of this they have double, and triple exp in game + exp amulets. 2 moons is a great looking and running game. Plus its FREE it doesnt seem expensive when you purchase $20 worth of acclaim coins numerous times, then you realize that after 7 months of play you have spent over $100 on a free game. Screw monthly pmts. I hope Blizzard doesn't do this with Diablo III.
Submitted by Vegan on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 6:16am
If they're smart, the actual software will be free, too. I always thought it was stupid that you have to go out and put down $50 or whatever on an MMO just for the privilege of taking it home and signing up for monthly fees on top of that.
Submitted by dracoress on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 5:12am
If you can't afford 15 dollars a month, 3.75 cents a week, .54 cents a day then you shouldn't play video games. Your not paying for the game more then once, your paying for the added content that they develop between expantions. New instances, new world areas, more content, new PVP seasons and rewards.
As far as Micro transactions, to me it equals pain in the ass. I want the best gun...money down. I want the best lightsaber, money down. I want the best pet...money down.
Nope, I want to pay a fee and make everything available to me if I so desire it. I was interested in a new Starwars MMO, now not so much. I'll play WoW until Blizzards new MMO comes out. hopefully it will be a space setting. And then maybe a can pay a reduced fee and play both at the same time. Then Blizzard will probably take over the world :)
Submitted by DaveyMunster on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 2:58am
First of all soon all games will be sub based. If the MMO is good or fun enough i dont mind paying. 1 month play for one trip to the cinema isnt breaking the bank.
A few simple facts i will
Submitted by frdbrlw on Wed, 12/10/2008 - 12:57am
A few simple facts i will never pay for a game twice, if i buy i game nothing pisses me of more than getting home and finding out there is a mothly fee. Yea yea it cocts money to run the service but i would rather pay a flat fee once than a monthly subscription. On the other note i cant wait for the new star wars mmo to come out as i am a huge fan of KOTOR 1 and 2. As far as WOW goes i have never really played it.
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