MMORPGs cost a lot to maintain. In my last article I discussed what costs are involved with launching and maintaining servers for those games. It all adds up very quickly. Yet these companies, the publishers and developers, do make money. They must, or else there wouldn't be so many new developers rushing to this gold mine as there currently are. With every new generation, new developers take the plunge. Just compare the upcoming third generation games that are slated to come out compared at the number of second generation games that are on the market right now. Of course, what the industry likes about these games is the continuous flow of money that is involved. We're not talking about small amounts here. This is a multi-million dollar monthly business, and every year there are new players rushing in. And these players still crave for more!

We all want the same thing...do we?

There's a very nasty rift keeping the consumers (in this case they are gamers) and the businesses involved in the developments and publishing of MMORPGs. This rift is easily explained, and it is one that you can find everywhere: Consumers want more of everything for less money, while businesses want to offer the bare minimum at the highest possible price. The key for businesses is to find the maximum price they can charge for the type of services they offer without getting the consumer to feel as if they are being ripped off. At the same time they will always be looking for ways to lower their costs so that they can squeeze more out of the same amount of money they are charging, without taking away anything from the consumer.

What does that mean, or how could that be achieved with MMORPGs? What is lurking in the minds of those who are currently testing the market? Yes, do not kid yourselves, my dear friends. Up until now, we have been guinea pigs. MMORPGs are still part of a rather new market. Publishers are still not entirely sure how much they can charge us every month. The proof is the many threads on many message boards in which people ask "How much would you be ready to pay for an MMORPG?". Have you ever seen such a question about a regular CRPG? No, everyone expects to pay $50 to $60 USD and have a return of at least 50 to 60 hours of play. Sometimes a rare game will come out and charge more, but then those are usually the games we expect more out of, and the fan base doesn't complain too much. The industry knows this, the gamers know this, it's a world of harmony. Not so with MMORPGs...

The Cost of Service

How much could, or should, a good MMORPG cost? Can you truly answer that for all gamers? I heard some answer they could pay as much as $40 USD a month if the game is good enough! Most people say they wouldn't pay more than $15, some say they shouldn't have to pay at all...How could the industry cater to all these people? How could they squeeze more money out of our pockets without us feeling as if we're being ripped off? Since customer support is probably the single most problematic issue for a publisher to deal with, how could they segment the market so that they maximize their efficiency? The answer isn't pretty.

In my opinion the solution will lie in multiple pricing tiers. The publisher would offer you a selection of plans for you to choose from depending on what kind of gaming experience and service you want. Much the same as current Internet providers offer right now. Here's an example of how I see the pricing structure would work:

Plan 1

Cost: $0.00

Description: Player logs in free of charge. The top quarter portion of the game screen will be reserved for banner adds, and some pop up windows once in a while. These windows will be unobtrusive to the player but might cause distraction from the game. There is no customer support with this plan. Any and all inquiries will be forwarded to our comprehensive FAQ on our website. Players might also be affected by server wipes. Play time is limited to a maximum of 2 hours a day.

Plan 2

Cost: $5.00

Description: This subscription plan allows the removal of the banner adds and pop-up windows in-game. It also grants the customer to free online assistance by email only if the player requires customer support. There is no guarantee on the response time. All characters stored in the server's vault will be safe from server wipes. There is no daily play-time limit.

Plan 3

Cost: $10.00

Description: This subscription plan gives the customer the benefits of Plan 1, but also gives the player a long distance support phone number in case of emergencies. It allows for the right to contact in-game customer service representatives if there is need (right for appeals) and assures a 2 hour response time for all email based customer support inquiries.

Plan 4

Cost: $30.00

Description: This is the VIP service plan. All subscribers are guaranteed a 30 minutes response time on all email service requests. Players are also given a toll free customer support number for emergencies, and in-game customer representatives will respond in an optimal amount of time. Players are also granted access to our premium ultra-fast server where they are treated to special zones and items unavailable on other servers. Players are also allowed to use a maximum of 5MB of space on our web server to host their own game-related web page.

Looking into the Crystal Ball

I'm not saying all this is good. It's not necessarily bad either. What it amounts to is the publishers would be adding options for players who would be willing to pay more, and others for players who want to pay less, without really changing the current pricing plans. It would also open up the games to those who don't want to pay for it, or want to try it before they decide to invest their monthly earnings. All I'm saying is that it's probably where the MMORPG market is headed in the years to come. Just take a look at Sony Online Entertainment (SoE) and Ever Quest. The customers aren't necessarily flocking to their "premium" $40 server, but there are enough players for them to continue offering the service. I think what SoE did must be taken seriously. Heck, they even started to charge for character transfers (look here) and re-naming (look here)! If it all works out, even on a smaller scale, it will catch on. Then someone will come along and offer their game free of charge if you don't mind having adds all over your screen, like some of those "free" internet service providers. It's all going to fall into place eventually.

Of course, the success of such a plan would require that either everyone follows suit, or that one of the bigger and more popular games implements this successfully. Perhaps only in 2 or 3 generations of MMORPGs will we see such choices of billing plans offered to the gaming public. We'll just have to sit tight and see what happens.