[gameprogrammer] Re: Indy MMOG - How much to charge?

On Sat, 2007-04-28 at 13:04 -0700, Kevin Jenkins wrote:

Personally, I would make the first 10 or 15 hours of play free and then
charge by the month with a discount for buying more than one month at a
time. I think $15/month is a good deal.

                Bob Pendleton

> With my Indy MMOG coming near it's time to decide how much to charge. 
>   I'd like to ask the list advice on what is good price from both the 
> perspective of the developer and as the owner.
> 
> For background, my MMOG is a action-based space shooter.  It's based 
> on short-play sessions that are fun, and your interactions with other 
> people in a competitive context.  While there are levels and items, 
> they are a minor side part of the game.  It is not like a traditional 
> MMOG where the point it is explore a huge world and collect stuff. 
> It's closer to Planetside in that regard, though on a much smaller scale.
> 
> The MMOG value in the game comes from that the server zones can have 
> up to 500 players - not something you will see on a standard match of 
> Battlefield 2142.  Also, there are persistent rankings, characters, 
> and zone events.  The kind of stuff you get from hosted games.
> 
> So I'm faced with the question of how much to charge.
> 
> One argument is that I should charge something near what other online 
> games charge.  This argument goes that people value their time more 
> than the usual rate $15 a month - the market is quality sensitive over 
> time sensitive.  Charging $5 instead of $15 only loses $10.
> 
> The other argument is that I should charge much less.  The argument 
> goes that since my game is simpler and cost less to make, it should 
> according cost less.  People who are price sensitive will play and 
> having more people play is better than less since community also in 
> itself draws players.
> 
> A few differences:
> 
> I'm not charging for the game itself.  Other MMOGs charge $50 for the 
> first month and $15 for every month thereafter.  I am simply charging 
> $X per month.
> 
> Credit card transaction fees for me are very high.  If I were to 
> charge $5 a month, the transaction fees are about 5% of my total revenue.
> 
> I need to scale slowly because I don't have the capacity to support 
> more than 10,000 players at launch.
> 
> Right now I'm considering the following
> 
> $15 a month - I want to start high to grow slowly, and I'm still 
> cheaper as other games are $50 for the first month.
> 
> $7 a month - I should charge proportional to the development costs. 
> This will help me compete in a crowded market.
> 
> $20 for 3 months only - This minimizes credit card fees, and is still 
> affordable to the average person.
> 
> $8 for one month, $20 for 3 months, $35 for 6 months - Minimizes 
> credit card fees, allows players to pick what they can afford.
> 
> So as gamers on this list as well as developer, what do you think I 
> should start out charging?
> 
> Thanks.
> 
> ---------------------
> To unsubscribe go to http://gameprogrammer.com/mailinglist.html
> 
> 
> 
-- 
+--------------------------------------+
+ Bob Pendleton: writer and programmer +
+ email: Bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxx             +
+ web: www.GameProgrammer.com          +
+ www.Wise2Food.com                    +
+ nutrient info on 7,000+ common foods +
+--------------------------------------+



---------------------
To unsubscribe go to http://gameprogrammer.com/mailinglist.html

Other related posts: