Well I think the larger objective truth about what most people are willing to pay is born out by the market facts: Not much as many games go f2p - even if that was not their initial goal.

For me personally it is more subjective - I think most MMOs pretty much play the same as all the other MMOs (the WoW clones if you will), so I don't think one can really be that much better than another. I'd like to say that even for the best of them I'd not pay more than $45 for the box and $5/month for the sub, but the truth is I wouldn't even spend that because the game play in all these games is so damn bad.

since they all pretty much play the same and have the same underlying game mechanics and most of them are F2P or headed that way then I'd say that is the general overall answer. They aren't worth it for me. I could easily afford it, but don't want to encourage more of the behavior on the part of game companies.

The only thing about this game that half way held my interest was the intellectual property.

[edit] but I thought all these rumors about the game cost from twitter were debunked?

I think the issue with f2p is as the one gent pointed out, content takes a back burner to a shiney new jacket. People don't value a f2p game and tend to not devote much time to them because they're free, and play when the server on the game they pay for is down.

frankly who cares how much it costs to make. none of that is relevant, the only thing that matters is whether the enjoyment you get from the game is worth the $15 a month. I'm in australia, where the minimum hourly wage for an advlt is roughly $15, so you have to go to work for an hour a month extra in order to cover the costs of the game. I'd be surprised if anyone struggled with that cost.

To put it in perspective you can't even buy 2 meals at McDonalds for less than $15 in Australia, so go without your Big Mac twice each month and you can play TESO until your hearts content

An MMO is pretty expensive, yes the total fails are cheap but the more sucessful ones is worth billions.

They are also rarely for sale so even if you was Gates or Musk you would have problems getting your hands on a good one.

Thank you OP for a great post , IMO the price is fair, I would have paid more for both the game and per month.

In the U.S. the minimum wage is lower and you can buy about 3 meals for that amount of money (at McDonalds).

But McDonald's is a good example because it hits right to the heart of the matter. Yes it is affordable, but the value is not really there in terms of paying for quality.

That to me is the issue. Whenever I read a poster complain that people are too cheap and they want things free or some other entitlement based argument I take it for what it is: a cheap shot in a debate. I've not read anyone say they can't afford it - what they say is that it not worth it. The argument is not whether it is affordable - the argument is whether it is valued. Look at the MMO market - there is your value. Basically I see a video game wasteland with gimped game play and compromises in every direction to satisfy video game addiction. That is essentially what they are for.

It's flat out overpriced. No doubt about it.

But let them figure that out on their own. Give them time.

Lotro has a good set up. You can play for free whenever you want. Unlock the expansions when you have the money, or when they all go on sale, like they did in October, when they offered all the expansions for 20 bucks. All except for Helm's Deep, of course. There's so much more flexibility and affordability with that game. It keeps everyone happy.

Who knows what they make off Lotro, but one thing we do know is that Warner Brothers pulls in about 12 Billion dollars a year. So Lotro is insignificant. Not that they don't care, but it's probably just a tax write-off for them.

And ZeniMax. They're worth at least 2 or 3 billion. Maybe more.

So how much is too much for Random Guy & Debra May Page to pay these guys?

60 + 15 a month is too much.

My point was that if it affordable and reasonably priced (which although it could be slightly cheaper maybe, I'd say it's not unfairly priced) and I paid US$107 for the digital imperial edition.

The only question you need to ask yourself is what can you get for a comparable price and how much enjoyment / time will you get from it.

As I said in my last post the current cost is about 2 meals at McDonalds, less than a movie ticket, almost half the entry fee of any nightclub and about the same as a 6 pack of beer. Now if you think that having any of those things once a month is better than unlimited play time for this game, fine, go and enjoy those things instead. I personally would rather have to go without one of those ONCE a month in order to play this game as much as I like

Australia sounds cheap. Where I live the average movie ticket is $10-12.

Yes we agree the derived value is the real deal. No value = http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1492684-how-much-money-is-an-mmo-worth/no deal.

I wonder how long people are going to be satisfied playing the same game with a new skin every year? Just another one armed bandit scenario to me.

Theres no way that swtor costed more than 20 mil ,

in a shareholders meeting for E.A ive seen the transcript with the potential earnings and they had said that if they sell 500k copies they would have made a profit out of it . Now 500k x50 dollars which the game costed back then = 25 millions and the making a profit out of it plus paying royalties and such in it .

Dont believe the idiotic hype games cant cost more than few tenths of millions cause then companies would have gone bankrupt in the first release.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying, I was saying the game is less than a movie ticket, movie tickets are about $20, nightclub entry $30, six pack of beer $15, pack of 20 smokes $15, McDonalds meal $8 or so. Australia is not really cheap....

I admit I did not read your entire post, nor did I read any responses.

In the mid 80's I was going to the arcade nearly every day after school and spending 25 cents per game. 3 lives, maybe 10 minutes gaming time and that was it. If you were good at the game you could earn extra lives and play longer. If you were really good you might get half an hour out of that 25 cents. But you spent A LOT of money on your path to becoming great at it. Kung Fu Master was my game. I ruled. But I digress...

TESO costs 50 cents PER DAY to play as long as you want.

Kind of puts things in perspective.

TESO is WELL worth the money in my opinion. In fact, it's a steal...after buying the game, it almost seems free by comparison.

$$$$ amount makes no difference at all. If the game cost $500 to buy and then $50 a month I would pay it if it was great.

As long as the game makes lots of sense and is enjoyable. Sad to say that most games that I try don't make the cut, not long-term anyway.

A game is worth how much anyone is willing to pay for it.

I think $15 a month is a bargain for what we are getting.

FTP and PTP both have their benefits and strong points depending on how well they operate and focus on the needs of the players. The only thing I question is, if people can get a "DIGITAL DOWNLOAD" of the game, or any game for that matter, why should it cost to purchase the game and then have to pay to play? I understand buying physical property but I would like to see gaming companies charge you for 3 months of gaming and give the game for free.. Digital download only of course. This would also help them by locking you in and it would be more likely that someone who didn't grasp the game right off might enjoy it with more time spent, unlike charging a lot for the game itself and then that person feeling like the game was a let down the first month of play and not really getting into it and feeling they have nothing to lose by quitting early instead of "on the other hand" having say 3 months invested instead of 1 month and not wanting to leave something they put time in already. Just a thought.