01-12-2004, 09:14 AM
Selby,Jan 11 2004, 06:08 AM Wrote:That being said, saying that you won't pay $9.95 a month for a game is ridiculous. Unless you have played it already and didn't like it, how can you say it isn't worth $9.95 a month?You wait for reviews/peer comment/ surf the tech support forums etc?
I am unlikely to buy the game. I am not against paying for using servers in principle (and actually agree with Ghostiger here), but I am against them in current practice.
I don't need to list the negative points of pay-to-play other than those that haven't yet been listed here, which are more of a concern to non-US/(Korea?) based players:
1) Servers will probably not be on the same continent. (There is no Australian/New Zealand server for any MMORPG games I know of, but that is few ;) ) This may/will affect:
1a) Ping (responsivity)
1b) Timezone (most players are not on during your waking hours)
1c) Language (players may speak different languages on the same server)
2) Added costs of purchasing playing time. If there is the need to pay in foreign currency then the cost is essentially doubled. If it is through instore cards (like mobile phone topups for example) then there is still likely to be exchange rate issues to deal with)
Furthermore, if Blizz is generous and has a staff of four or so ppl looking after it, and it gets about the same traddic as D2 that's about 240k ppl to 4 support staff. and they will likely not be on during non-U.S. hours. (No idea if the G.M. or Mod or Tech Support type concept is being used in WoW, but is used in other MMORPGS)