Massively Multiplayer Online Games

[WarLocke]

I guess I have to ask... why? People put money upfront for cars and then pay "monthly fees" for them for a long time after that. Except that MMOGs are like cars that have little mechanics inside constantly running around fixing stuff and adding new features

Well... That's one of the reasons why I don't own a car. :P

The two most succesful MMOGs (DAoC and EQ) have a 15-25% profit margin each year. 15-25% is "good", but it's hardly breaking the bank here folks.

All I'm saying is, if some smaller MMORPGs are surviving by letting players download the client for free, couldn't the 'brand name' ones also? Yes, they'd lose out on some profits, but at the same time the monthly income isn't anything to sneeze at - using your numbers for DAoC, 250,000 accounts paying ~$13 a month (it is still $13, right?), comes to $3,250,000 monthly.

If MMORPGs actually had better launches (every single MMORPG I've played has had a horrendous launch - including EQ, except for perhaps Asheron's Call and DAoC; although they had little content at launch) it wouldn't be as big a deal, but as it is, the "free month" or however long given to a player is often wasted on getting bugs fixed, or stabilizing servers, or whatnot.