Why do MMORPG Subscription Fees Still Exist?

@Gaimgenie Pretty much what I was going to say, the fees need to come way down. I don't know if that's feasible, I don't know the margins in the MMO business, but I think a lot more people would be willing to pay if the fees were much lower, like $5 or less.

Of course, as time goes on, if more and more MMOs keep going free to play, then more and more of the market will expect that. Maybe subscription fees will die out, but if those fees could be reduced enough it could at least keep it alive a lot longer.

@BrunoBRS Yeah, I don't understand why GW2 is the only big one that has been able to do this successfully. I'm sure there is a reason others don't follow, aside from greed. Well, I hope so anyway.

@BrunoBRS I agree. That was the problem for me with ESO. I'm not in control. Of my game. The one that they want me to buy and then pay more to have access to. My game. Then I have to play in their schedule not mine. But, it's an extremely boring, buggy, unfinished game so I'm not missing out on anything.

@Shielder7 They basically have a model that punishes early adopters. Fans of the game will insist that Zenimax is improving the game & will continue adding content. As an early adopter, they are basically funding a bad game in the hope that it will be better in the future. As a consumer you are actually better off if you jump in a couple of years down the line once improvements have been made & more content is available.

It's pretty ridiculous how games like ESO can charge full price for entry & then continually charging you to play the game. For $15 a month on Steam, I could play so many different games with so many different experiences, play styles, stories, genres, mechanics etc. I don't care how much additional content anyone's favourite MMO is giving them, I bet they could get a lot more value putting that budget to Steam, GOG or any other PC storefront.