ID:1901104
 
As the title stated what is the best business model.

Linked is a bunch of choices to choose from.

Consider these resources as well before answering the question
"Oh, what an interesting thread."

"Why is this formatted like an exam question? Am I being examined here?"

"Ohhh, it's Sir Quiz, yeah I'm not gonna answer this." "What are these links to anyway?"

"Ohhhh my god, that voice. I f**kin hate that voice and hate those guys."

- Leaves thread
Design philosophy means discussing philosophy of design, hence the format. Now that the silliness was responded to let's get some discussion.
Microtransactions

Subscriptions are dying.

There really is only two options. Or you can have a life time buy that will include all microtransactions for a steeper initial cost
Microtransactions just for the environment MMOs create. MMOs by themselves aren't good games, and they get by because people have dumped so much time into them that they can't leave. Adding microtransactions multiplies this effect where you stay in the game because of how much money you've spent.
I think that DCUO does things quite nicely; offering layers of ways to pay for things. You can pay the subscription and get all the content unlocked, plus some in-game special currency you usually have to pay extra for(and some extra perks). Then you could buy each DLC 'expansion' pack separately, instead of paying for the repeating membership. There's also a extra membership level, as in after spending so much(I believe $5), you get partial access to some of the perks of the paid subscription service(kinda like xbox silver). Then you could, additionally, purchase the special in-game currency to buy extra 'vanity' type items.

Basically, options. Let players have a chunk of the experience; then let them choose how they want to pay for the rest.
In response to NNAAAAHH
eso is a lot better, dcuo is garbage. Eso you get 15$ back to use on the store every month for 15. When dcuo only give you 5 and has way too many microtransactions. Though still a great game.

Though there premium idea, was good. Though i'd advise you to step them up by a bit.
In response to Lugia319
ive played some fun mmos. eso, dcuo, and wow ive all enjoyed. Money has nothing to do with it. I play what i enjoy.
In response to DanteVFenris
DanteVFenris wrote:
ive played some fun mmos. eso, dcuo, and wow ive all enjoyed. Money has nothing to do with it. I play what i enjoy.

Ah yes, the good old "My experience is different so you're wrong" argument.

"White people aren't racist because I'm not racist"
"Asians aren't smart because I'm not smart"
"Black people don't have big... because I don't have a big... "
In response to Lugia319
Not saying your opinion is wrong, but the way you try to express it as fact is.

If mmos are enjoyable is an opinion. You just wanted to take it a bit too far by showing some extreme examples that have no correlation with my comment. The only reason you seem to have made this correlation is to start an argument over nothing. I was just displaying my opinion that contracted yours to show you there are diverse opinions. There is no wrong or right in this conversation.
In response to Lugia319
It's okay, Lugia. You can say the word "Wee Wee".
In response to Doohl
Doohl wrote:
It's okay, Lugia. You can say the word "Wee Wee".

What? I was thinking of smiles. What were you thinking of?


No, there is a "right" and "wrong" in the MMO department. There are several psychological and game development studies that support the view I have posted above. Might not be 100% correct, but 99.9999% is good enough for government work.
penis, whats wrong with people. Ashamed of an inside out vegina
In response to Sir Quizalot
Sir Quizalot wrote:
Design philosophy means discussing philosophy of design, hence the format. Now that the silliness was responded to let's get some discussion.

Perhaps then you should discuss something. Instead of asking questions which you obviously already know the answer to. After all this is your alt account. My bet is you're probably someone like Ter13.
In response to Lugia319
The whole basis of science is that nothing is 100% correct. But your trying to say because of scientific studies it's fact. According to my professors science equates to the discovery to disprove theories while attempting to solidify some. Though over time even what we thought was true becomes fault so proper scientistS will never claim anything is fact no matter how much it appears true. Also most studies are bullshit, some studies are advertisment, some are bias, some are done terribly. Also those studies have nothing to do with my enjoyment.

There is also no right or wrong. I enjoy some mmos. That isn't a wrong or right statement. Just something I said I enjoy.
Science is not fact, but when an awful lot of evidence supports it you can't just say, "Well it's not fact". Case in point, evolution. Just because evolution isn't "fact", there is a lot of evidence that supports it. Your experience is irrelevant from a game design, business model, and psychological point of view.

To put it into perspective, A LOT (and I mean a whole honking lot) of studies show that MMOs as a concept thrive on keeping the levelup ding so separated that hearing that ding makes you feel alive for the 2 seconds that you realize that you've leveled up. MMOs thrive on keeping customers out of sheer time/money invested. Why is it so hard to topple World of Warcraft? Because A. Many games try to out World of Warcraft World of Warcraft. And B. Community investment. Playerbases are very reluctant to "start over" in a new game, even if that new game might necessarily be better (See: Heroes of the Storm/Heroes of Neworth). Note that such an effect is a time/money investment.
Micro-transactions for entirely aesthetic aspects.

Pay to Win (even if you can unlock what is payed for in-game) is normally looked down upon.

If you want to look at a game that has massive success on nothing but donations and providing aesthetic only rewards for MTX, look at Path of Exile.

It's probably the most successful free to play game I've seen.
In response to Bravo1
Bravo1 wrote:

It's probably the most successful free to play game I've seen.

Obviously has not seen League of Legends.

In response to Lugia319
Oh, I know of it, I don't personally care for it though, so it slipped my mind.

I'll reiterate then

It's probably one of the most successful free to play games I've seen.
if evolution is true then why are there still monkeys

checkmate, evolution believers
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