Subscription overhaul?

Anarchy Online General Discussion
1

Since things are looking quite good for Funcom (Conan Exiles is in the Top 10 in the category Top Games By Current Players on Steam Charts), maybe now is the time to consider overhauling the subscription for Anarchy Online?

This might be beating a dead horse, but I’ll ask anyway: Can 2018 be the year where Anarchy Online truly goes Free To Play, or even Buy To Play, with an optional subscription (á la Secret World Legends), or is this something that will never ever happen?

It would be really nice to know, once and for all.

Thank you in advance.

2 Likes
2

There’s plenty of things they could do to reignite interest in this game that would take almost 0 effort, changing the sub model would be one of them.

Unfortunately I don’t think they will do anything because they’re literally putting the lowest amount of resources possible into this and the game is effectively under maintenance.

3

Even AoC got dropped to $12.99 / monthly or $7.99 / monthly if you buy the 1 year sub. As old as AO is and the fact it’s abandoned, the sub shouldn’t be above $9.99 / monthly.

2 Likes
4

I wish. But I doubt anything will happen on that front. Wonder if they’ll even do a sub offer for anniversary this year.

5

The game is in maintenance mode yet they are charging a sub that is more costly than TSWL because your stripped of content if you don’t sub. I really would like someone from Funcom explain this.

6

I don’t know what the impact would be overall, but I for one would probably resubscribe if the sub was at a reasonable level.

At the current level it really is not good value anymore for those who might like to pop in from time to time, rather than playing every day.

7

If Funcom would reduce the single month to 10€ with appropriate discounts for multi-month subs, I’d fire up my crat again.

1 Like
8

you just have to buy a years worth, so youll only pay cca €10/month.

9

Less that 10e per month i would cancel my netflix and pick AO instead lol.

10

It will be interesting to see what today’s Special Offer entails.

1 Like
11

I’m just going to say that if it’s a special offer for a low low price for a year’s subscription, someone’s been terribly hard of hearing somewhere in marketing.

12

I’ve played a bunch of free-to-play games and all have been essentially the same: For free player, the first 20-30 hours are fun and then the horrible grind begins; unless you pay to ease it.
In AO’s current form there really isn’t much grinding for levels or for tokens due to daily missions. I don’t think enough people would opt in to pay for it to be faster so the grind has to be made worse.

I like the current system which doesn’t pressure players to pay just to ease the grind or to have more powerful character than the other guy. Froob and paid are two different games in one package and full F2P with expansions would destroy the other game. Current item store twinking items are reasonable and not too overpowered.

Free to play is almost always pay to win or pay to avoid horrible, mind-numbing grind. I don’t want that in AO.

Price for subscription should definitely be lowered.

4 Likes
13

here here, my hosting cost pro year makes 109 €.
just wait 4 it.

14

The game is in maintenance mode yet they are charging a sub that is more costly than TSWL because your stripped of content if you don’t sub. I really would like someone from Funcom explain this.

Hello Sir,

Frank F. Funcom here with an explanation to your burning inquiry. The answer is we make more money the higher the subscription cost is.

Hope that answers your questions. Any further concerns, please speak to my secretary.

-FF
15

It’s .50 per day. That’s crazy cheap for anything.

Do you expect other people to pay for your game time by purchasing things from the item store?

You can already play the original AO for free, but that is not enough for you? Why do some people think it’s ok to demand other people’s/company’s services completely free?

16

“Best things in life are free” :slight_smile:

17

Crazy cheap you say… right.

It might not be so bad if i could pay in dollars. But unfortunately funcom still translates their prices 1$=1€. And to make things worse here in the EU they also add VAT on top of that already a lot higher price.

In my case it’s 17,19€/month (that’s $19,95/month). In most other MMO’s and other online games with a monthly fee, the VAT is already included in the price and the usual subscription prices are around 10-12€/month. That’s the case even with other funcom titles like TSW/SWL.

I have three active accounts, so the only way for me to afford playing AO is the 12month subs, which brings it down to under 10€/month. But that’s still about 330€ a pop since all my accounts expire almost the same time. Every year the Real Life™ and Work™ interfere with my gaming and i end up paying for 3x12months but i only get to actually play AO only a few days/month. And sometimes a couple of months go by without me being able to log in at all. Because of this a reasonable monthly cost would be much better option for me.

330€/year is not crazy cheap. That’s a lot of money. Unfortunately i love the game. And i love making alts. At this point i can’t see myself playing the game with just one account. So at the moment i just pay the insane amount.

I’m pretty sure i’m not the only one with the same problem… in fact, everyone i know in game has more than one active paid account.

So i’m quite certain that lowering the sub to a more affordable and reasonable level would bring in more cash for FC.

I don’t like the common f2p/p2w model at all, in fact going f2p has made me stop playing games in the past.

I think a reasonable monthly sub where you feel you’re getting your moneys worth is the best model. At the moment, i don’t feel i’m getting my moneys worth in AO paying the 330€/year due to us getting no bugfixes or updates and the “rebalance” being completely broken since the last chances which were originally meant to be only the first step of fixes.

They could also introduce more fluff in the item store with an option to buy that stuff ACCOUNT WIDE to make people use the store more. It makes no sense to pay 10-20€ for one convenience item like a beacon for one character when you have like 12+ characters in your account and in most cases more than one account. In most other games an item for one character only costs a couple of euros at most and paying a bit more you can unlock it account wide. Guess what, many people opt for the more expensive account wide option even if they’re not going to use the said item on all characters.

Sorry about the rant but after seeing someome say AO is “crazy cheap” i really had to vent a bit.

TL/DR: 17.19€/month is not Crazy Cheap. WTB lower monthly subs! WTB account wide options in the store.

1 Like
18

“Best things in life are free”… ? You mean someone else pays for them?

1 Like
19

Yes, an AO subscription is so cheap, it’s practically INSANE. It costs less than one dollar per day. Don’t even try saying that’s expensive. What a joke! In the example you give, AO costs you .30 per day per account, and still less than $1 per day with all 3 of your accounts combined! That’s even cheaper than the .50 I stated. If your living budget hangs on a string of less than one dollar per day, perhaps a review of priorities is in order. Seriously. Real talk.

I hate to be blunt, but if you cannot afford your 3 accounts, then you need to cut down to one account or maybe play as froob if you cannot afford to pay for a subscription. That’s just life. Live within your means. Don’t do things that are too expensive for your budget. If you cannot afford your hobby, then you need to find a cheaper hobby. You are NOT entitled to play AO. It is an entertainment service that must be paid for one way or the other. The whole reason “froob”/free to play base game exists is to tempt players into paying for a subscription. It is a business after all, and businesses exist TO MAKE MONEY, whether you like it or not. THAT IS THE ONLY REASON ALL BUSINESSES ON THE PLANET EXIST. Funcom has a a right to make a profit from its creation. If you don’t think it’s worth the money, stop paying for your 3 accounts that you can’t afford.

Don’t expect others (Funcom, paying players, players who purchase things in the item store) to pay for your entertainment. Pay for it yourself, and if you cannot afford it, find something cheaper to do. I hear walks outside are nice + fresh air + free.

I agree with you 100% that more, or even all of the things in the store should be account-wide. Given your tight budget though, I doubt you’d be purchasing any of those things, even if they were all account-wide. You complain that the subscription fee is too high, so I doubt you’re spending any extra money in the item store. After all, you said in your post that you can only afford your subscriptions using the 1 year option which brings it down under 10 euros/mo. You can’t afford to spend more money than that.

TL/DR: AO sub is crazy cheap. Your are not entitled to other people’s (intellectual) property, or services for free/discount. Other people (players, Funcom) should not have to subsidize your AO addiction. Live within your means. If you cannot afford to pay .50 per day for AO, find a cheaper hobby, or find a way to make more money.

20

Well you kinda missed the point there…

AO is the MOST expensive MMO in the market. And one of the oldest.

I want more players in game to play with. I don’t want the game to go f2p. The current pricing is way too expensive for many people to even want to try the game. Hell, some of my friends i’ve tried to get to play the game didn’t even want to try as froob when they saw what the sub costs. They said that they don’t want to take the risk of getting hooked to the game because they don’t want to pay so high subs. And those guys do play several other MMO’s and always subbed instead of f2p.

Maybe what i meant to say in the last post got lost in translation a bit because english is not my native language. I can afford the three accounts. I don’t want other people to pay for my gaming.

My point kinda was that compared to other games AO is extremely expensive.

I really want more players in general to AO. More actual players. That won’t happen with the current super high sub.

You just want me and others who think AO is expensive to stop playing, right?

I want more players, not less.

3 Likes