Dungeons & Dragons Online Sees 40% Subscription Increase
In an interview with Ars Technica, Turbine (developer) let it be known that Dungeons & Dragons Online has seen a 40% increase in subscriptions since it went to its free to play model.
Right now you can play D&D Online for free but are limited in available classes, races and quests. For a $15 a month fee you can unlock everything or by using a micro transaction system just what you want.
Quote:
"[Free players] get to try the game, not be constrained by a one-week trial, and then decide when they've made the commitment that they're engaged enough that they're ready to spend money," executive producer Fernando Paiz told the site.
"We have a good chunk of the population that is spending more than $15 a month," said Paiz. "The traditional subscription model can only make X dollars off a player. This kind of removes that cap."
That's a meaningless statistic, however, if many of those people are like myself...create an account, play for an hour, and never go back.
Additionally, what really matters for Turbine is transitioning free-to-play accounts into cash cows. Whether they'll get any extra milk remains to be seen...
but that was the first month effect of the new play system.
I suspect they make more off of selling +2 stat tomes for ~$6 a shot , than they do off these new subscriptions.
It's a game for those in clans the solo content is still abysmal and the raids are still whack (in D&D 3.5 terms).
That's a meaningless statistic, however, if many of those people are like myself...create an account, play for an hour, and never go back.
Subscription means they are paying for it, I'm sure they had a much larger increase in new/active accounts. It's not surprising, I'm sure the number of new people that decide to pay would far outweigh the number of people currently paying, that decide to stop because there's a free option.
Subscription means they are paying for it, I'm sure they had a much larger increase in new/active accounts.
Indeed. I fail at reading comprehension. I'll blame the beer I'm drinking, and the baseball I'm watching, and the game on my DS that I'm playing, and the food that I'm eating, and the fact that I'm hardly paying attention to what I'm reading at all.
However, it won't mean much if they subscribe and then quit, or if they're losing subscribers from prior to the 'free-to-play' switchover. I gave up pretty quickly. Not interesting enough.
However, it won't mean much if they subscribe and then quit, or if they're losing subscribers from prior to the 'free-to-play' switchover. I gave up pretty quickly. Not interesting enough.
True, but ultimately, assuming the increase in costs due to new users isn't much (and I don't think it would be), it's still a smart thing, IMO. MMOs do well with the F2P/Sub/MT combined model, allows people to essentially invest what they want into the game, and creates the social classes between free/paid players, which also helps (for better or worse).
Indeed. I fail at reading comprehension. I'll blame the beer I'm drinking, and the baseball I'm watching, and the game on my DS that I'm playing, and the food that I'm eating, and the fact that I'm hardly paying attention to what I'm reading at all.
However, it won't mean much if they subscribe and then quit, or if they're losing subscribers from prior to the 'free-to-play' switchover. I gave up pretty quickly. Not interesting enough.
Yeah, I played it a lot for about a week when it went Free2Play, but lost interest quickly.
"We have a good chunk of the population that is spending more than $15 a month," said Paiz. "The traditional subscription model can only make X dollars off a player. This kind of removes that cap."
So you have to pay more than the base subscription to get everything? If I played this I would be severely pissed the failing title saw a price increase.
So you have to pay more than the base subscription to get everything? If I played this I would be severely pissed the failing title saw a price increase.
You'll only pay more than the subscription price if you use a "free" account and buy a lot of upgrades. If you subscribe everything is included.
