That is such an obvious way to generate money that it boggles my mind that FDev aren't doing it - they're not even selling the paintjobs that are already in the game files! I've been waiting months now for the chrome paintjob for the Viper Mk.IV to be released, and still nothing. Not to mention all the national flags and the couple others with interesting names (shockwave, stripe1 and stripe 2) - and that's just the Mk.IV! That's at least $7 (and probably more) I would have happily given them.
Subscription vs Seasons: there are many reasons why Frontier should switch methods
- Thread starter Mengy
- Start date
That is such an obvious way to generate money that it boggles my mind that FDev aren't doing it - they're not even selling the paintjobs that are already in the game files! I've been waiting months now for the chrome paintjob for the Viper Mk.IV to be released, and still nothing. Not to mention all the national flags and the couple others with interesting names (shockwave, stripe1 and stripe 2) - and that's just the Mk.IV! That's at least $7 (and probably more) I would have happily given them.
Fallacy #1: Giving them more money will fix everything and we will have tons more content faster. Maybe. Maybe not. This is like saying giving more tax breaks to billionairs will make their employees richer and create more jobs. No, they just buy more planes and gold plated paperweights and endangered whale skin sofas.
Fallacy#2: The ED server is insanely expensive. I'm guessing it's not. All it has to do is dole out a matrix of numbers every time somebody jumps or loads something (make X here, make Y there). It's actually our own computers that do the generation and pvp networking. WoW style servers are much more bandwidth intensive, and even some of those big monthly sub games have failed in the past when playership falls off.
Fallacy#2: The ED server is insanely expensive. I'm guessing it's not. All it has to do is dole out a matrix of numbers every time somebody jumps or loads something (make X here, make Y there). It's actually our own computers that do the generation and pvp networking. WoW style servers are much more bandwidth intensive, and even some of those big monthly sub games have failed in the past when playership falls off.
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True, I was assuming that. The whole point of my suggestion was to think of a way to free up Frontier from needing to "sell" expansions with new marketable features, while hoping that a monthly subscription model would allow them to develop the less flashy but more crucial core elements, the barebones foundations that are already laid.
It's probably just time I accept ED for what Frontier wants it to be and stop dreaming of it's potential. I think I'm at the point of walking away from Elite while still looking for some hope, any hope, that the game will start developing into what I expected it to be during the alpha, into what Frontier told us it would be. I don't want a subscription any more than anyone else, I just want Frontier to develop the core of the game, and it's so terribly frustrating that they don't seem to want to.
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I think a lot of people assume that companies keep projects fiscally separate, so that any money spent on improving Elite must come out of Elite's profits. That's not the case at all, usually all profits go into a big pot (that may not be the correct technical term
) and the company's senior execs decide every year how it needs to be divided up. I'm pretty sure that Elite paid for some of Planet Coaster's early development, and it in turn was funded not only by us, but by profits from Kinectimals as well. Remember that the kickstarter for Elite was as much to gauge real interest - putting your money where your mouth is - as to generate cash.
Possibly, however, keep in mind, some of us are more or less ok with how FD are doing things. I would prefer a bit more quality and backfilling, but as long as they keep doing both, adding new content and backfilling, i'm ok with it.
Personally I am against subscription. Whilst I can afford to pay a subscription now, what happens when I fall on hard times and can't afford to keep up the subscription but still want to play?
Subscription is a worrying trend in the software industry where Adobe moved Photoshop to a subscription model (thank goodness I managed to buy the latest non-subscription version) and Microsoft are wanting to ultimately move Windows to a subscription model.
Although on the surface subscriptions appear cheap, if it becomes the norm, it starts to add up and then soon you will be spending more money on keeping software (games and applications) running than you do on your electricity bill.
Subscription is a worrying trend in the software industry where Adobe moved Photoshop to a subscription model (thank goodness I managed to buy the latest non-subscription version) and Microsoft are wanting to ultimately move Windows to a subscription model.
Although on the surface subscriptions appear cheap, if it becomes the norm, it starts to add up and then soon you will be spending more money on keeping software (games and applications) running than you do on your electricity bill.
Just no. i binge play Elite for about 2 months a year. Frontier would actually make less money form me this way.
We've given them lots of money so far and we still have an unfinished game. Money isnt their issue. I just dont think they comprehend what they want and how to accomplish that without veering of course leaving things half finished whilst they chase ideas. Personally i think theyve lost sight of their core idea.
I most certainly will not give them any more money.
I most certainly will not give them any more money.
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This.
+1 Rep (and I was laughing so hard I pressed the Report this post button instead of Rep first[noob])
Honestly?
I see Elite's current buy to play model, as significantly better then many other games out there, Cosmetics is quite a good way of funding the game, instead of subscriptions, cosmetics are entirely optional, yet somehow people can feel that this is squeezing them for money. Which I don't quite get.
1: yeah, that's just not true, look at expansions of online games, unless you are exclusively playing f2p games, but the vast majority have you pay for expansions, similar to elite, buy to play plus cosmetics is a very valid model, that many games have very successfully have adopted.
2: How are they possibly paying more then they originally were supposed to, and what does 'supposed to' mean? you pay for the main game and the expansions, you pay 50€ and that's all you need to pay, then yes, a year later or so, you may end up paying more for another expansion, but again, this is exactly the same as any and all other mmo like games with expansions, so this is absolutely nothing new or honestly, in need of outrage?
3: This is true, that subscriptions are more 'stable' in terms of income. But the buy to play + cosmetics is growing significantly because it is very viable, because for some, cosmetics mean nothing so they aren't bothered and rarely buy, so they only end up paying for the game and that's it, others may buy some and be happy to do so, then there are those that may buy a lot, and maybe those that want to buy but can't so complain, and honestly, a lot of times it feels like groups of the latter part are what causes threads like this.
4: This actually would probably do very little and would be limiting in other factors and ways that people would then complain about, so yeah....saying this is a perfect solution simply isn't true, servers have their own issues, personally I think if frontier provided a guide how to set up the game, properly, say port forwarding, and how to set up your router and firewalls and such properly, or at least where to find easy to use information, you'd be a lot better off, because frankly, the 'average' internet users setup is quite poor. It would solve this part yes, but it does not mean it would solve the general problem, that said P2P is easy to migrate to servers, but then you'd get similar issues as other server based games have, namely for example, limited instancing, limited who you can play with because servers, hitting people's performance due to lag, because in order to play with certain friends they need a certain server that might not be physically close. But yes it would solve many of the "crappy internet/internet setup" problems.
So yeah, subscription model doesn't simply 'fix' things.
Point 1is particularly apt. The reason for the current progress levels is more likely related to FDev's desire (or possibly need) to keep the team reasonably small rather than a lack of money.
As for my personal situation - whilst the LEP was on offer, I was in a lucky (or unlucky depending on viewpoint) to have a rather sizable redundancy settlement in my bank account and was able to afford one. That would not be the case normally, and current finances would make either.this, or a subscription a little beyond my reach right now.
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I'm sorry zor! Desperation mixed with Beige Sickness has corrupted me beyond the point of saving! Soon I'll be campaigning for how combat logging is actually good for the game and how Solo and PG's should be deleted so that Open mode can be forced onto everyone!!!
Because monthly subscription is the future of MMO(ish) games... oh wait, it's not.
Having just checked their 283.25 UK Pound stock price, I think they're doing OK with the Status Quo.
The only subscription I'd pay today is Netflix. When a games company does it, there's a whiff of desperation associated.
Subscription - The player shells out money for access to a game. A game that many players have already paid for.
Season Pass - The player shells out money for promised content, features, continued development.
I pay subscriptions for services like netflix, my net connection or to a phone provider to allow MY hardware to connect to their network. But I purchase hardware, I purchase software. I don't rent hardware or subscribe to software.
Looking over everything I have that has something vaguely resembling a CPU and storage attached, there is not a single piece of hardware I'm renting, not a single piece of software I have to pay to continue using. There used to be a couple but I got rid of them and neither they nor any other subscription-based software will be back. Ever. I'm fine with purchasing updates when I need them, but that's my choice whether to buy it or not, my decision whether I need the fixes contained in the latest version. If I don't the functionality of what I already have remains unchanged.
The software subscription model is a ripoff and one I will not be part of unless there's no alternative - For pretty much all software there are such alternatives, where the functionality I need is available to purchase rather than subscribe to. A game however? where's the "need" there? I love ED, I enjoy playing it, but it's still something I want rather than something I need. One of the reasons I bought into the LEP right from the start is because that promised me the entire game, all of ED that there was and was ever going to be. If it went subscription it would be gone from my machine. I won't say I would do it without regrets, but I would do it.
Looking over everything I have that has something vaguely resembling a CPU and storage attached, there is not a single piece of hardware I'm renting, not a single piece of software I have to pay to continue using. There used to be a couple but I got rid of them and neither they nor any other subscription-based software will be back. Ever. I'm fine with purchasing updates when I need them, but that's my choice whether to buy it or not, my decision whether I need the fixes contained in the latest version. If I don't the functionality of what I already have remains unchanged.
The software subscription model is a ripoff and one I will not be part of unless there's no alternative - For pretty much all software there are such alternatives, where the functionality I need is available to purchase rather than subscribe to. A game however? where's the "need" there? I love ED, I enjoy playing it, but it's still something I want rather than something I need. One of the reasons I bought into the LEP right from the start is because that promised me the entire game, all of ED that there was and was ever going to be. If it went subscription it would be gone from my machine. I won't say I would do it without regrets, but I would do it.
Quite. I'm not into MMO's, but from the outside it seems the clear path of subscription games is a short period of subscription, followed by F2P/P2W. I know there's a few notable exceptions like WoW and Eve, but isn't Eve now free limited access too?
I've never heard of a game going from a non-subscription model and then introducing one. Has this ever been done?
If not, and as to my knowledge FD has never suggested subscriptions, couldn't we stop raising it again and again?