Video Games MMORPGs: Paying 2 Play

So I know there are a few on this forum, like myself, that have taken part in the Massively-Multiplayer-Online-Game franchise, which leads me to the question: what do you think of the P2P concept? Is it fair? have you boycotted games like this just for that reason?

Honestly, I don't really care. If it's necessary to pay a small monthly fee of 10 dollars Canadian a month (rounded) to keep great games like this going, than that's fine, not a big problem for me. Though, I can't speak for everyone, what do you think?

 

I recognize that the cost of maintaining a large server is very high. I also recognize that the developers and publishers who create and release these games are in the business to make money. However, since home gaming began to become successful back in the 1980's, the standard has been for the profit to be made on the sale of games and accessories. Nowadays, companies are trying to gain additional profit by not only charging you to play the game as well as to purchase it. They can feed you all this garbage about trying to meet increasing overhead costs, but they are really just trying to skim as much profit as possible.
Also, you have players like me who do not have a whole lot of disposable income and can scarcely afford to purchase a game. On average, I can only spend about 80 to 200 of my Canadian dollars on purchasing video games. This gets me basically two or three games, or more if I buy used (which is always funny because then the game companies actually don't make any money from my purchase). Were I to shovel out 90 to 100 dollars for a nice, shiny MMORPG, my budget would only allow me to play that game, and that game alone. Furthermore, with the cost of Internet access going up here and there, I probably would not be able to afford to play the game at all.
In my experience, online games have no plot, or have very little plot. When I play an RPG of any sort, this is what I look for most. No plot, no purchase. Still, I would probably play these games if I could afford it.
My stance, overall, on online RPG's is that the cost is too high. By profit-skimming, game developers like Square-Enix are very close to alienating a large portion of an otherwise loyal audience.
If I went to a gaming store with eighty dollars in my wallet to buy a new game, I would not even pause to look at the online-only game which retailed for 60, because the long-run aggregate cost curve (to throw economic theory into the mix again) would be too steep. On the other hand, if I saw another game, likely a "traditional" RPG, priced at 80 dollars, I would pick that title up. The initial cost would be higher, but I would get more use out of this product because I would not have to pay any extra costs to enjoy the game.
I have always maintained that once you have payed for the game your responsibility to the publisher has ended, and you should just be able to enjoy the purchased product.

 

Duly noted.

I don't know why I'm about to post this, because it is kind of hypocritical of me being the MMOG player that I am but.. once you think about it, There are ALOT of problems that come with online RPG's, ones that any person would have a beef with, other then just the monthly cost:

The lag, my god I hate lag. for those of you on consoles and have never played higher end computer games with a lower end machine, or online games. Lag is when the game slows down, I don't know the scientific definition for lag, but it almost seems like the frame rate of the game is slowing down. Another crucial computer problem is computer crashes; Your just about to finish a tough quest that you've been working on for a long time and all of the sudden the server goes down, PROGRESS LOST. Even going linkdead (losing your internet connection) or your own computer crashing can result in this < NOT COOL. :anger2:

Then there's GM's or Game Masters. Sadly, I have only came across one GM that was actually a nice guy, which doesn't really matter anyways cause he never helped me with my problem anyways. :dizzy2: It's also hard to get into games like this if your just a casual player... I just ran upstairs and talked with my dad who is playing EverquestLive, we did a "/play" with his level 65 Cleric.. he has played roughly 26 full days, so 26 days x 24 hours = 624 hours, 624 hours on 1 character. But honey, that's nothing, he has 7 other high level characters.. levels 50 and up that he has spent a bunch of time on to. (65 is the highest level one can obtain in that game, and I think in an upcoming patch they're raising the level cap to 70)

And even after all of that paying money, In order to keep the game alive and going, there must be expansions, and with expansions goes more of your hard earned dollars. $_$

 

Your first problem can be solved in two ways:
1. Get a better computer (but again, this costs $$$)
2. Better servers (but this, in turn, increases overhead costs, therefore increasing monthly fees)

It is really annoying when you try to get into a game you just got and you can't do anything because everyone around you is such a higher level. When I first started playing Diablo back in the day (I always liked that series because they play for free), every time I got a decent item I'd get killed by a higher-level player. That'd suck even more if you were paying for the time it took you to get that item and then some bastard stole it.

 

Actually, those problems were directed to anyone who plays online games in general, and also out of the MMO's I have played, difference in servers hasn't cost extra or less. The only exception is the "Everquest Legends Server" and even that wasn't increasing the quality of the game, that was adding more stuff to the game for advanced players.

 

Good to see you're not selling out. The same old BMS.

Seriously, it comes to an arguement of the law of diminishing returns, and marginal utility, and a bunch of other economic concepts (sorry, I've been studying). As I've said before, for each increased dollar of price spent to play a MMORPG, the "utility" (or "enjoyableness") purchased by said dollar decreases. But I've already covered that in a previous rant.