This is something I would really like to see Funcom take in serious consideration for Conan Exiles, at least for PVE servers.
A monthly premium service for official servers, and since I already hear people screaming “pay to win”, this would be best for PVE servers only, or maybe for pvp as well, tailoring the offer properly.
This is something that almost every online game applies, I am not certain why Funcom didn’t follow this business model yet.
The main benefit I would pay for is having a doubled decay timer for example, because not everybody is a youngster with illimited time in his hands, and a week of away timer is just not enough if you have a family, a job and so on.
But if you have a family and a job means also that you can afford with no effort a monthly fee to manage you free time in a better way.
Another feature I would pay for is an XP boost .
I like to reroll characters in different servers, and after more than a year playing, the grind can be tiresome sometimes.
Anyway, the options to provide for a premium service could be many and varied.
A premium membership could go for 10 euro/dollars a month, and maybe could include few other benefits like some exclusive aesthetical items.
If Funcom could reach and maintain a good amount of monthly premium subscribers, all players would benefit from it, more revenues for the company mean more contents and frequent updates for everybody.
The problem with the concept of “Premium membership” is that it divides the community to those who have extra money and those who don’t. In this business model, the latter would inevitably fall to become second-grade customers. We already have more than enough division (and conflict) between PvE, PvP and Solo/co-op player bases.
I’ve seen online games with this business model before. The Premiums get upset whenever the “free” players get an update, feeling that free players shouldn’t get anything because they’re not paying for anything beyond the base game. Free players come to resent this elitist attitude.
And ultimately, the business model encourages the game developer to publish all, or at least most, of new content behind this paywall, leaving free players dry.
I’ve the best of both worlds, being happily employed (so I could easily afford the Premium membership) and happily unmarried (so I have all the time I want to play Conan Exiles), but I strongly oppose this Premium business model because of the division it causes in communities. And although I’m a strictly Solo player myself I understand that it’s not the players who keep the game alive - it’s the community.
The current model, with free updates with all new game features available for everyone, as well as cosmetic-only DLCs for those with extra money, is already doing what you’re suggesting, without the problem of splitting the community.
But then again, If I could pay 5€/months to get double decay timer, I would do it.
I dont always have time. I am sometimes not here (busniess trips) and often still work from home (lead developer)… And in the holidays even 14 was to short for me (was 20days gone).
If you have a 9-5 job and no kids, then yeah a week is enough…
Not into premium time. Bad idea…
I love cosmetic dlcs, and honestly i do not feel any disadvantage against the derketo owners (even though they have access to stuff i do not have), because they r as mentioned above , cosmetic… Its like i envy the khitan dlc players cause they can craft Jade cat idols… And i am against any monthly subscription… The conan universe has so much to be small transactions that id prefer this side… Why not get in a fair small amount stuff from its comic series (imagine the riddle if steel dlc but in way lower prices and way smaller parts included in it) lets say we could get additional haircuts for lets say 2 euros, or having small pets at ur sides, or getting a weapon/shield from its universe (examples would be the subotai bow, or juma’s shield, or some special outfit like momoas conan or anything deriving from movies and comic versions - lets get excited and say enchantress daggers), and those could be a self recipe ,like the antantean sword,or the royal armour would be nice… And not obligatory…
While a subscription base is a way to support a game developer , Conan Exiles is not the type of game that I would pay to play as much as I DO enjoy Conan a lot we already have to pay for the DLC which makes it to where a paid sub is not worth it . Plus a paid sub also makes the game a pay to win kind of game and we would loose alot of players .
That’s probably the reason they don’t charge monthly fee. If you pay for a server to play, you’d expect some kind of order in the shape of a moderator or admin, otherwise it’s moot. And I think Funcom is not much into moderation of public servers, that’s why they offer the option of private rented servers, where admins exist and keep things calm.
I can @Kapoteeni only agree. Your idea is terrible.
In addition, we already pay all for extra content called DLC.
All these premium services destroy a game.
WoW have been playing for a long time players no longer for money, because rather on private server to be able to play it for free.
Why should you pay a lot to play, there are already enough things to pay for in life.
This would be a seriously bad idea, especially for console players, as we already have to pay a subscription to even play online (PlayStation Plus for PS4 and Xbox Live Gold for Xbox One), so having an extra one on top would just be unfair.
Even if they did what Square Enix did with Final Fantasy XIV on PS4, eliminating the need for PlayStation Plus due to the game’s subscription which is required to play, I still wouldn’t support it, as others have stated, this would make the game “pay to win”, as those with the added benefits would have an advantage over non-premium players.
If this ever did happen, which I highly doubt looking at the staunch opposition to the idea, I pray they don’t do what the developers of DC Universe Online do, at least for the PS4 version, if you want to unlock the game’s trophies, you need to purchase the premium subscription.
I would definitely pony up my share of a Nitrado Hosting Solution server if it were PvP Official. The dynamic of the Conan Exiles experience catalyzes at above 40 active players; it’d be great to have a few Officials with a 70-pop max again, and Nitrado’s premium solutions can afford that.
As a PS4 player I recognize my Plus Membership is in addition to what I paid for the game. On the PC, there is no similar networking upcharge to enjoy multiplayer, therefore I think some people might be comparing apples to carburetors.
