Comments on: Would You Pay More to Pay More?

By: Joe

Joe — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:34:15 +0000

Back when I played World of Warcraft I stated numerous times that i would gladly pay double the subscription rate just to have a server with a minimum age limit.

By: Tell Me How Very Wrong I Am at Kill Ten Rats

Tell Me How Very Wrong I Am at Kill Ten Rats — Sat, 26 May 2007 10:22:23 +0000

[...] is to learn. We toss ideas out and see how far they go. The blog has ideas, opinions, anecdotes, questions, speculation, snark, rants, reviews, half-formed ideas, and well-considered proposals. My specialty [...]

By: Jezebeau

Jezebeau — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 04:41:56 +0000

That much is true, but becoming less of a barrier all the time. Parents seem to be a lot more willing to pay a monthly subscription than they used to be.

By: Relmstein

Relmstein — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 20:45:48 +0000

I tend to aggree with most of the comments in here. I would rather have a barrier of entry for a game built on a learning curve rather then on a price tag.

I’ve known a couple of friends who played with me that used gold buying services to get decent gear but thought learning to stance dance or ice trap in dungeons was too hard. Basically a money barrier does not guarantee maturity or good players.

On the other side of the argument: any game that doesn’t require a monthly payment (credit card) will attract younger players.

By: Lachek

Lachek — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 15:56:49 +0000

/second

I don’t think price has anything to do with it. There are many free games with a better community than a pay game like, say, WoW.

However, price certainly plays into the level of maturity, in a backwards kind of way - it’s not that the game is free that attracts minors, it’s that the game is built for minors that causes it to be free (see Maple Story, RuneQuest, BattleOn, to some extent Puzzle Pirates). Games built for kids are often designed to be free with micropayments to reach higher levels, which works well for player retention and maximum nag factor.

What plays a BIG role is the game’s level of complexity and focus. Immature gamers - young and old alike - may be scared off by a game that is different, or has a learning curve. Note that I do not equate “mature” with “hardcore”, and by corollary “casual” with “immature” - my definition of mature falls more solidly in the vicinity of “ability to postpone gratification”.

This, I think, is why I have had a good time playing EvE, ATITD, and other more obscure titles with somewhat alien gameplay mechanics and steeper learning curves.

By: Cyndre

Cyndre — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:23:38 +0000

I debunk every claim that money or some type of grind is a gate against immature people. As a professional, parent, husband etc., I am both more mature and more casual then I have ever been before. When I was twelve I was gaming and I doubt I would want twelve year old me in my guild today. I had endless free time to play, basically no financial issues due to no expenses etc…

So I think if a game design accounts for social functions to allow player moderated community partitions, that is all that I need to have a good experience.

/ignore

/leave General Channel

/join Guild of mature people

That all it takes to get into my gated community in any game enviornment.

By: Solidstate

Solidstate — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 13:14:37 +0000

Two points against this idea:

1. There are stupid/obnoxious rich kids/people, not just poor ones.

2. There are nice/interesting people I would like to play with who would not bother to pay the higher price - either because they could not afford it or simply wouldn’t feel it was worth the effort. So by going to such a game/server I would be denying myself the privilege their company.

For the above reasons, I don’t think having a server or game built on the “exclusive club” idea would be something I would like. Having guilds is I think a good enough solution in MMO games for this problem. You can make/join a guild only of people you know/trust/like, and if someone outside the guild is giving you grief - well, that’s what the /ignore command is for… :)

By: Martin

Martin — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:57:04 +0000

Pay more to pay more - that’s exactly how society works. In expensive high-class clubs, restaurants and shops, you do not pay for value (alone), you pay for exlusivity and not being bothered by those have-nothing low-class mobsters. Or look at refuge cities, like Sun City, where you can only be if you have the money: You want to live there because all people living there have the money. Rich people want to separate themselves from the poor.

I don’t know if this is good or bad. I can have fun, with or without money.