THQ Going to Try Different Monetisation Models

Malefactour · **Joined:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:13 am **Posts:** 501

I sincerely hope that they adopt a "freemium" payment plan from the outset, it's a good idea, offers the widest choice and would be easier to implement to the satisfaction of the customer base before the game is released than after the fans have gotten used to the initial payment plan. Gaining a few tourists at the expense of the residents down the line is a bad move, IMHO.

jmpatter · **Joined:** Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:17 am **Posts:** 95

Agreed. For hardcore and normal gamers, it brings the illusion that if a game goes f2p from a subscription base that the game is going down the sinkhole of failed mmos, never to return again.

Memnon · **Joined:** Mon Nov 07, 2011 10:21 am **Posts:** 3

I am ok with their having different modes of play, but F2P means either low or shattered expectations to the MMO crowd.

This is a delicate situation. Being F2P in some markets from the get-go means "we know our game is going to suck".

jmpatter · **Joined:** Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:17 am **Posts:** 95

Memnon wrote:

I am ok with their having different modes of play, but F2P means either low or shattered expectations to the MMO crowd.

This is a delicate situation. Being F2P in some markets from the get-go means "we know our game is going to suck".

+1

Malefactour · **Joined:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:13 am **Posts:** 501

In my vision of a good freemium model, they would charge for initial boxes and expansions just like other games, but the subscription would be the option. Initial development costs could be recouped through box sales and this would take the strain off the cash shop and allow them to just focus on cosmetics and some quality-of-play items such as character slots, name changes, server transfers, etc. Another thing that I, personally, would love to see would be a price on roleplay servers for the free players. In the event that DMO has different rules set servers, core, pvp, rp, etc. then at least let the people that are interested in roleplay support the added cost of game masters for naming violations, griefing, etc. Should Vigil choose to implement server types, give the sub players free reign to chose whatever servers they like but charge the tourists a small fee if they want to grief roleplayers or make characters with stupid names (xXH0ruSpwNzUrmoMXx).

bonestorm · **Joined:** Sat Aug 13, 2011 1:49 pm **Posts:** 35

even if it wasn't just limited to RP servers but Subscriber only servers would be a big enough draw for me to kinda stay away from the common people

Malefactour · **Joined:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:13 am **Posts:** 501

bonestorm wrote:

even if it wasn't just limited to RP servers but Subscriber only servers would be a big enough draw for me to kinda stay away from the common people

In principle I think this would be a good option for some though if the game is to be a success residents should be among the tourists to help those that are sincerely interested in the game but may just need a little help or information. What I've discovered with the free trial of Warhammer is that there are alot of legitimate players out there that could be good members of the server community with a little encouragement. A member of my former guild was a trial and I talked him through some difficulties in choosing a class and he eventually levelled to cap and became a fantastic tank in both pve and pvp. Only took me about 10 minutes of explaining the different tank mechanics to him and helping him find a better fit for his playstyle.

Yellow99 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 10, 2011 5:18 am

So it might go free to play? EVEN BETTER!
If it goes to subscription. I'M FINE WITH THAT!

Malefactour · **Joined:** Fri Jan 14, 2011 4:13 am **Posts:** 501

On reflection, I thought it would be good to expand my thoughts on a freemium model that I think would work well for DMO, or for any up-and-coming MMO for that matter.

Right out of the gate, you have the box price. This is the price to play for the CORE game. All the pve/pvp/activities/options at launch would be covered under the box price and this would be the primary recovery of initial expenditure for Vigil/THQ. Everyone buys the box, gets the races and classes available from the core game, and can level and advance to the cap in whatever ways are available. This would hold true for future expansions as well. If Vigil and THQ build a quality product, give it the development time it deserves to shine, and support it with aggressive press and advertising, getting their ~$50,000,000 back shouldn't be that big of an issue at launch or shortly after.

So now the games up and running and players are given the choice of subbing or playing free. What exactly would separate the free players from the subs? As I said, cosmetics and quality-of-play options. How do you make it equitable for all concerned? I envision that a sub would grant you unrestricted access to the comestics, be they from achievements or quests or in-game vendors. I'm all for having things like weapon and armor skins (read: statless cosmetics) being available as unlocks or purchased using in-game currency. You want that gold trimmed bolter? Just go do the quest and next time your back at base you can hit up the artisan npc and viola, there you go. Want to dye your customisable armor slots, hit up the artisan and pay your thrones. For the free player, they just hit up the store and throwdown their $1-$5 for the specific customisation they're after and it unlocks for that character or possibly for the whole account. Don't want to hunt for achievements for your gold trimmed bolter skin? Pay the store and you don't have to. Want to dye armor? For a small fee you can unlock those options from the in-game merchant for that character/account.

On the subject of quality-of-play options, the subbed player would get a couple credits/month applied to their account that could be traded 1 for 1 for a name change or single character server transfer. Subbed for 3 months? Your account would have 6 credits, enough to move a small stable of characters to another server should you want to. Free players would just have to pony up the $5-$10 per depending on what they want.

This is a pretty simple outline for how it could be done and so long as Vigil and THQ don't get overly greedy would make everything in game available to everyone regardless of their payment choices.

Secondat2 · **Joined:** Tue Jun 07, 2011 11:14 am **Posts:** 159

I'd like to trust them to do the right thing. It sounds like they've put a lot into their market research.
There's very little to go one though, all they've really said is "it's a different model and it will be different depending on your continent".

THQ Going to Try Different Monetisation Models

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