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MMOs... why they cost money, justifiably

SquatsAreAwesom · 2009-09-18 07:16:45

Many people have argued in the past that MMO subscription fees are a ripoff. However many of us have argued that it is used to sustain the game word. ASIDE from the subscription fee being used to help further development for FREE new content, here are some additional things they are used for...Blizzard just revielded some raw numbers:http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=25307In a keynote to GDC Austin, two Blizzard developer pulled back the curtains on some aspects of World of Warcraft that players might not consider much, and dropped an interesting tidbit about how the series evolved from RTS to MMO.Gamasutra, covering the keynote, reports that World of Warcraft grew out of a Blizzard team's frustration with a concept called Nomad, which was to have been a squad-based RTS. Unable to find much purpose in the work, they chucked Nomad and asked 'What would we do if we wanted to start a project today?' The answer was World of Warcraft.'Operating an online game is about more than just game development,' said Pearce. 'World of Warcraft has completely changed the organization'.As proof, Pearce supplied numbers for the staggering amounts of manpower and computing infrastructure the game needs just to stay up and running, such as:• 20,000 computer systems • 13,250 server blades • 75,000 CPU cores • 1.3 petabytes of storage • 4,600 staffers • A partridge in a pear tree.Kidding about the last. But they don't stop there. Warcraft's a game with 7,650 quests, 70,000 spells, 40,000 NPCs, 1.5 million game assets, and 5.5 million lines of code. QA's swatted some 180,000 bugs. And the playing community has unlocked 4,449,680,399 rewards.The keynote, mostly a department-by-department breakdown of those who keep the World of Warcraft running, is reported fully over at Gamasutra. Here's another number: 5. It's World of Warcraft's age as of November. I'm not sure if it seems like it released just yesterday, or a dozen years ago.

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hiiijack

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#51 hiiijack

Member since 2009 • 42 Posts

[QUOTE="hiiijack"]Shame on Blizzard on trying to turn a profit! I shall tell Barack Obama at once!topgunmv

Congratulations, do you want a cookie?

I don't know... what kind are you offering?

15 years ago

Birdy09

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#52 Birdy09

Member since 2009 • 4775 Posts

[QUOTE="Birdy09"][QUOTE="xDimMaK"]
^ I can't answer that question because I'm biased: I think MMOs in general suck. But there are certainly plenty of people who play free-to-play and one-time-payment MMOs. A monthly fee is not a requirement for MMO fans to have a good time. But please. Keep trying to justify it to yourself.
xDimMaK

Right because your going to value a bgrade shooter like lets say, Haze of Halo right? :roll:

Eh?

Speaking in terms of "you get what you pay for" could pick up haze for £5 or Halo for £30 as an example, I guess people cant justify Halo's higher price tag? when the vast majority of Free MMO's get updates one/twice a year only, have microtransactions that splinter thier players apart, have very average content and "smoothness" in its design. or you could choose the monthly sub option, which gaurentees stable servers, good support, good anti-cheat progression and bannings, and on going high quality, or in games like WoWs case very well improved content every 1-2 months or less. and then giant expansions that offer graphical/artistic upgrades, brand new features ect? Anyone can "enjoy" an average or even crap game for alittle while, I can justify a monthly sub and would gladly pay 2-3 of them each month than play 99% of the single player games out there.

15 years ago

Mythomniac

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#53 Mythomniac

Member since 2009 • 1695 Posts

Some MMO's may be a rip off, but WoW isn't one of them, you clearly see where the money is going, Blizzard support is Ace.
Eddie-Vedder

This is quite true.

15 years ago

Dead-Memories

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#54 Dead-Memories

Member since 2008 • 6587 Posts

I can't believe that 70,000 spells part, even included talents it's impossible.

But other than that, yes MMO costs are justified, and I happily pay my fee for MMO's I believe deserve it.

15 years ago

Birdy09

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#55 Birdy09

Member since 2009 • 4775 Posts

I can't believe that 70,000 spells part, even included talents it's impossible.
But other than that, yes MMO costs are justified, and I happily pay my fee for MMO's I believe deserve it.
Dead-Memories

Spells include every single ability mobs do, which vary. For instance, Heroic Strike on a lvl 5 mob will be different values from a 13, and that will be a different value to the player's heroic strike, which means theres probably like 100+ heroic strike variations and an example.

15 years ago

MMOs... why they cost money, justifiably

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