Well we'll see if NCSoft/ANet have got it wrong by not charging when GW2 comes out, as that will not be instanced, and will be an MMO in the more traditional sense of the word. If you all really believe that any company 'needs' to charge up to $15 a month from every single player just to keep running, then you're being a tad naive. That is a LOT of cash.
They could probably run the servers and support on the sales alone. And subscription fees more than likely help towards other projects for the company as much as anything, so you're not necessarily paying for what you're playing. To be honest, I'd much prefer to NOT continually pay for a game I've already payed for just to do endless quests that are exactly the same (I did that with WoW for much more time than I should have). There are only so many different types of animals/people/things you can kill over and over and over again before you wonder just where your money is actually going. It's certainly not going in to creative development, that's for sure.
They're making a lot of money from sub fees, and one would hope that would trickle down and give the consumers better, more original games to play....yet all it seems to really achieve is yet more of the same old same old; games whose main intention is to hook people in so they can keep the money rolling their way. There is no going forward if people remain obliviously happy about paying fees. Nothing will change. Nothing will improve. You'll be given the same formula over again - the same standard MMOs that all look and play the same.
That big pot of money just begging to be spent on improving creativity and advancing the whole idea of MMOs is just being churned back around because if they're making money doing what they're doing...what's the point in striving for better things? I like to think there are some developers and games that think a little more outside the box than that. That wish to advance the format rather than stick with what people know, and what brings in the cash.
Guild Wars was a big step in the right direction for online gaming and not having sub fees paid a big part in that. Sure they didn't get everything right, but at least they tried to push the envelope. They could have just stuck to the tried and tested formula and made a bunch of money. But there should be more to this business than just money :)
There's room for creativity in there, and I for one applaud developers that dare to do it differently.
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