Comments on: Adventures in Middle-Aged Gaming: I Would Support Monthly Fees For Shooters if…

By: Wesley Gaddis

Wesley Gaddis — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:45:39 +0000

@Brett Parsons: “I…don’t get much value out of my FPS games when there’s a strong online component.” I’m the same way. I haven’t played TF2 on PC since the… Soldier Update? It’s been a LONG time. I could see myself springing for this type of model if the monthly fee netted you ALL of the content released (which I’m sure it would, Activision would be insane not to), so you could come back and play it for a month straight and have all of the new content and not play it again for a year (like I do with Counter-Strike).

If I don’t have a group of people that I know closely/like playing with playing a game I flat-out won’t play it, especially if it’s of a competitive nature. So what’s the point of having the subscription for that style of player?

By: NoZart

NoZart — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:36:16 +0000

@Phil Doherty: What i meant is when you pay a monthly fee anyway, the devs are not so much inclined to deliver prime DLC. Sub par shit will do. I cannot speak for MW or MW2, because i never got a map pack (i am from the light age of free maps and mods and will never adapt to such heresy). I think (maybe naively) if DLC has its own price, quality counts more because bad DLC will be panned, whereas in a subscription model the publisher already has your money and doesn't care...

By: Naughton

Naughton — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:11:23 +0000

@Phil Doherty: I'm betting that there will be a third set of $15 maps this year, which begs the question, how profitable would making COD a subscription service be, unless it was at least $45/year? Especially when there's already a COD game released every year. Activision is dangerously close to Guitar Hero-ing another franchise if you ask me.@Brett Parsons: Buying every new game that grabs your attention is financially irresponsible, you should seek help. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some Transformers to play.

By: Phil Doherty

Phil Doherty — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 18:20:29 +0000

@Brett Parsons: you've got a point. It's hard to commit to 1 shooter with the way the release schedules are lining up for the rest of the year.@NoZart: the 2 $15 packs that Infutility Ward are offering right now are pretty steep for what you get. It almost feels like they're setting the community up to accept a fee for service plan. I guess my point is there's not a lot of meaningful dlc coming out now.Except for my beloved Red Dead Redemption that is...

By: NoZart

NoZart — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:33:08 +0000

The problem with the subscription model I think is that the devs will not bring out meaningful DLC anymore.

By: Brett Parsons

Brett Parsons — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 17:17:56 +0000

Lovely post, Phil. I see you finally found the right context for the term, “Dennisdyackian” into an Adventures post.

I have such a short attention span when it comes to online shooters I would side more with “Yo” Dad; shall we call him Dad-Y? In any case, I don’t pirate (anymore) and don’t get much value out of my FPS games when there’s a strong online component. Maybe if I had more time or the common sense to stop buying every new release that gets my attention.

By: vintagenuck

vintagenuck — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:29:40 +0000

I’m somewhat open to an online subscription if it covers all games under a specific publisher’s umbrella. Paying EA $20-$30 annually is almost acceptable if it covers important DLC and online features for the games I buy. It would be another barrier of entry which would be a selling point for me, but as already said it wouldn’t do much to keep the jerks away.

By: Wesley Gaddis

Wesley Gaddis — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:03:39 +0000

Yo, good post.

By: Phil Doherty

Phil Doherty — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:40:18 +0000

@Naughton: fair point, I'm just very comfortable with Elitism, when I can afford it that is ;)

By: Naughton

Naughton — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:19:08 +0000

I think the idea of not having to play shooters with annoying-ass little kids is enticing, but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that a subscription based service would do anything to remedy the situation. These little fuckers already have their parents credit cards hooked up to pay for Live every year, I don’t think that adding an additional charge will keep their poor excuses for parents from letting them play a game they shouldn’t be playing in the first place.

By: darkwhitehair

darkwhitehair — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:58:12 +0000

Like E3, bell bottom pants and casual racism, PHIL IS BACK BABY!