WoW Value Proposition?

[crayhorse]

I'm having trouble appreciating the WoW value proposition. For Diablo and Diablo II it was clear: you paid a fixed price ($50?) for the game and got to play it at your own pace by yourself or with others in battle.net until you got sick of it. Later you were offered the option to get some additional resolution, levels, items and character classes for another $50, which you got to play at your own pace until you got sick of them. For WoW you pay $50 for the first month and $13 to $15 for every additional month. Let's say you only have $50 to spend... is one month of casual WoW worth $50? If you like it enough to continue your subscription, the first year will be roughly $230, roughly four to five times as expensive as Diablo II and more than twice as expensive as Diablo II plus LoD. What gaming value do you get for that additional $180? How does one year of WoW gameplay compare to four or five highly-rated regular games (Doom III, Half-Life 2, Rome: Total War, Star Wars KoR, etc.)? I don't get it. What am I missing?

[Roane]

I may not be the best person to answer this, because I've been on the pay-for-play bandwagon much longer than most people, from before MMOs existed. (Simutronics games, specifically, are where I started the trend.)

To me, it's a matter of financial priorities. MMOs are my hobby. In fact, they are my primary hobby. I dedicate a large amount of time to them. To me, it's worth it. I'm spending less than I would to see a couple of movies in the theatre, and spending less than I would to eat out, or to go to a concert. Those are all things I like to do, but not as much as I enjoy playing MMOs. I also probably play twenty hours in a slow week. So, the coin to time ratio for me is pretty apparently a sound economical decision. On the other side of that, when I came to the point with CoH and with SWG where I was only playing two hours a week or less, I cancelled those accounts. I felt that I'd gotten my money's worth from them, but that continuing to subscribe for occasional play was not worth the financial drain.

Edit: So, I think the question you need to ask yourself is how much time you think you'll play. And looking at that, what else would you spend that time or that money on. Weigh the points yourself. See if it has value for you.

That's just my point of view. I'm sure there are plenty of others here to point out their con argument.

[FoxBat]

For most people from the LL crowd, D2 beats any MMO hands-down for value. The only reason folks here are looking at MMOGs is because there aren't that many D2s out there. Sure, WoW is a waste of money compared to D2, but if you're bored of D2 and want some multiplayer psuedo-RPG to play for a long time, there aren't that many options outside of MMOGs.

[Roland]

the first year will be roughly $230

Incorrect math.

$50 for game, plus one free month of play. $15 per month for 11 months (11 + 1 = 12) totals out to $165. That only totals out to $215, not $230. A small, but significant difference if you're going to be crunching numbers. And, keep in mind, that first month IS free. If you don't like the game, you didn't waste any more money on it than you would have had it been any other, non-MMO game. There's also that to consider.

What do you get for the added money per month? More stable servers, a MUCH greater population and playing experience, additional content for "free" throughout the life of the game, ongoing technical support that actually SOLVES something, etc.

I don't see why it's such a hard choice to make. A night out at the movies (a whopping 2 hours of entertainment), or a MONTH of gaming? Gee, which will I choose? :P If you can afford the money, pay it. It's NOT that big a deal. I've been doing it for over a YEAR now, and I'm not a financially fruitful individual. I have bills to pay and a job that doesn't pay me nearly enough to support myself on my own, yet I still find those extra few dollars to drop down every month. And the other great thing is I can always CANCEL MY SUBSCRIPTION for a period of time, if I find I'm not enjoying the game or I just can't afford it. My characters will still be right where I left them should I ever choose to come back. You don't HAVE to pay for a full year. You could very easily only pay for HALF the year, and even that not up-front.

I wish people would stop trying to put things into such a black-and-white view, especially when they don't factor in over half the other variables. :P

[Rinnhart]

I'm having trouble appreciating the WoW value proposition.  For Diablo and Diablo II it was clear: you paid a fixed price ($50?) for the game and got to play it at your own pace by yourself or with others in battle.net until you got sick of it.  Later you were offered the option to get some additional resolution, levels, items and character classes for another $50, which you got to play at your own pace until you got sick of them.  For WoW you pay $50 for the first month and $13 to $15 for every additional month.  Let's say you only have $50 to spend... is one month of casual WoW worth $50?  If you like it enough to continue your subscription, the first year will be roughly $230, roughly four to five times as expensive as Diablo II and more than twice as expensive as Diablo II plus LoD.  What gaming value do you get for that additional $180?  How does one year of WoW gameplay compare to four or five highly-rated regular games (Doom III, Half-Life 2, Rome: Total War, Star Wars KoR, etc.)?  I don't get it.  What am I missing?
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Content. Content. Content. (Graphics, community, sheer geographical size)

Free/cheap online games don't hold a candle to Massively Multiplayer Online Games. They just don't.

[MongoJerry]

This will be my first MMORPG and this will be Blizzard's first MMORPG, so I don't know what to expect. The promise of the pay-per-month system is that the company will be continually adding content along the way. New instances, new raids, new items, new challenges, new events, new quests, etc. If Blizzard doesn't follow through on that promise, then it'll be time to cancel the subscription.