Dear Kings Isle,
I really like Wizard 101. It’s a great game, and while I’m quick to point out some of its flaws, you have a great piece of work on your hands. I also appreciate how you address concerns, like your recent revamp of the bizarre Bazaar and the ill-received boss encounter alterations.
I’m especially fond of Access Passes, since my casual gaming schedule makes subscriptions extraordinarily poor value for my money.
I know, some people get great value out of subscriptions, and your current sale price of $60 for a year of subscription is a fantastic value for those who like subscribing.
For the moment, though, my question is merely this: When will Access Pass players like myself get similar bundle value out of Crown purchases? 50% off of the subscription price is a great deal. For a time, there was a bulk bonus for Crown purchases (about 25% maximum, if memory serves), but even that doesn’t match the subscription deal.
Perhaps the fact that Crowns can be used for things other than Access Passes is a problem. Maybe it’s time for an Access Pass sale, then. Yes, that might mean different mechanics to keep those Crowns that would be spent on Access Passes from going elsewhere (though the current Crown gear is underwhelming, to be frank). I believe it would be ideal in the long run, since Access Passes are one of your best ideas.
Why does it matter? Simply, I’ve been on the edge of giving you more money, but at the moment, I’m waiting for a deal. Valve established that bargain sales can be profitable with their price cut on Left4Dead. In a stressful economy, people are more price sensitive.
If you were to sell Crowns at 50% off, like the subscription deal, even for a limited time, I would give you some more money. It’s that simple. An “Access Pass-exclusive” package deal would be extraordinarily enticing. It would be very much like buying a Guild Wars expansion when it went on sale, which I have also done. Of course the margin isn’t as high on sale items, but you make it up on volume *and* on triggering sales that wouldn’t even otherwise exist. Also, when you’re just dealing with bits and bytes, with no real storefront overhead or CDs to press and distribute, those margins look even better.
In the meantime, thank you for making an excellent product, a true gem in the morass of modern MMO mundane design. I wish you the best of luck.
Sincerely,
Tesh
(Scot Silverblade, Balance/Death Wizard currently enamored with Marleybone)
It shocks me that fewer companies are offering better deals on bulk subscriptions. Some do obviously but I am just like you.
I feel that if I am committing my money in advance for services yet to be rendered I should get a deal. Why would I buy a three month subscription if it is the same price as three one month subscriptions? I wouldn’t and I don’t!
If we got larger discounts I would honestly buy more time. The whole “$1.00 off each month” for three months and “$2.00 off” for six months just isn’t enough for me to “risk it.” Volume people! Even if I’m not playing I’ve already paid. If you only get $1.00 that is one more than you’d get on my month to month plan.
Yes, I’m surprised they do bulk buying deals on subs but not on crowns. I guess they want to keep subs appealing to people precisely because you can use the crowns for other things too … so their ideal customer probably has a sub AND buys crowns. And that’s the model they’d like to encourage.
I have a bad feeling that this is the model a lot of games will be using. It won’t be subs or RMT, they’ll be pushing for both (like city of heroes, for example).
They’re charging a fairly high premium here for the privilege of not being tied to a sub. And if you’re a casual gamer then the crowns are probably still a great deal (it’ll take you a long time to get through all those zones).
I have never played the game before but your post got me curious. I think you are overlooking two facts. The first fact is that crown offers a real value compared to subscriptions.
“Once players purchase an area, they can access it forever, with all the characters on that account.” As I read it, that’s not true for subscriptions. Once the subscription is over you’re done. Since I haven’t played the game I don’t really know the replayablity of the zones but certainly if that’s a factor owning a zone permanently is a real and sustainable advantage that crowns have over subs.
The second factor is that, as the game stands, $80 will buy you 60000 crowns which buys you every area of the game forever. Without the discount, an $80 subscription buys me access for just one year. In that situation, taking crowns over the subscription is a no brainier. The only real advantage the sub offers is unlimted PvP. Even at $60 a year it might be possible that the sub is not competitive with crowns, depending on replability issues.
As an outsider there might be something I’m missing. But as I read it crowns should be selling at a preimum to subs because they offer more value.
I’m not ignoring the value calculations of crowns vs. subs, that’s a core part of why I’d buy crowns in the first place. I’m just pointing out that sales have a tendency to do well, especially in a troubled economy. Of course, yes, from the other side, subs are better value for the company. There’s no doubt about that.
Put another way, though, comparing W101 to something like Guild Wars, it comes up short on content, even just with the core GW game, which retailed for $50 initially, then came down in price as time went on. $80 doesn’t look so nice compared to that. The “lifetime subscription” to LOTRO looks even worse.
These games need to offer compelling value to compare favorably to offline games. W101 (and nearly any other MMO for that matter) could work perfectly fine as an offline game with optional online multiplayer. They either need to offer great reasons and value for being online in the first place (or maybe allow offline play), or start following pricing trends that consumers know all too well from offline games. That includes prices going down over time, sales, and as Ferrel notes, bulk deals.
Of course, if they would embrace their “onlineness” as we’ve bandied about here and there, with dynamic worlds and player-driven content, they would merit a subscription far more effectively.
Spinks, that’s why I suggest a “Access Pass” deal. Crowns alone are a bit too useful, perhaps.
Tesh. Most people who play online games, like most people offline, are not very smart and/or well informed. The average shopper is not a comparison shopper. They pay what the price is and move on. Given the opportunity costs involved, sometimes that’s the best approach. For example, about one third of all consumers in the USA pay sticker price for their car/rv/bike etc. despite the fact that everyone knows these prices are inflated.
So I wouldn’t assume that the pricing scheme is directed at the smart money. Assume it’s directed at the dumb money.
Fair enough, but that doesn’t preclude the effect that temporary deals can have on bottom line sales. Our society is ever so slowly being forced to be a bit more price conscious, and a savvy marketer will take advantage of that.
Daniel: Do you really think they’d go a whole year without adding any extra new zones? If you pay $60 for a year’s sub then you get everything they do for that year.
If you pay $80 for lifetime access then you probably have to still keep paying more every time they put out a new patch if you’re quick at consuming content (if you aren’t then the crowns are likely way better value than the sub). And it’s in their interest to put out new zones reasonably regularly — not sure how often they do that now, but let’s say 3-4 times a year, 3+ zones each time.
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