What were the devs thinking?

Challenging, fun, the bugs that are in GW are usually only a minor annoyance and most importantly the balance in the game is the best of any release MMOG I have played.

So what the hell were they thinking not charging us a monthly fee?!? I think this "bad boy" attitude, the "breaking from the pack" mentality is dangerous. Before you know it, everyone will be copying this model of delivering a finished product that customers don't pay to beta test. What have you done?

O no its the end of online gaming as we know it,

Is this a question or a statement????

Retorical I think. I just haven't posted a "really love your game post" and my pompous rear thought I was important enough to do so.

It's not free, it will cost more than any game ever made. They said the expansions will be 50 dollars most likely so if 3 come out a year then it will be 150 dollars a year. I know you don't have to buy them but who wouldn't buy an expansion? This way they stand to make more because even those who come later will be charged the full amount instead of just starting a monthly fee. It's not bad, good for them. But these guys definately aren't a charity

Sigh... Good for you.

Expansion frequency has been announced as "one every 6-9 months" previously, however during E3 we've set the expected window of release for the next chapter as first half 2006. That's a lot less than your hypothesised 3 per year, and we've never made any comments towards three per year being possible. At most 2 per year. Each expansion will provide more content than typical for an expansion, as well ... that's why we call them Chapters, because each chapter we release will include approximately the same amount of new content as the original release.

Even *if* (and I stress if, as no official announcements on pricing have been made) it's $50, that is still significantly cheaper than a pay-per-month game. Not to forget that many MMO's are pay-per-month *and* pay for expansions...

If you want to speculate, it's best to do so with official statements in mind rather than something from thin air.

Someone who isn't interested in the expanson's content?

Math isn't my strong suit, but let's do some all the same. Let's even operate under the assumption that they'll churn out three expansions in a year at the price of $50 each.

$50 for Guild Wars and three $50 expansions = $200.

Now, let's assume the average price for a MMO game is $15 per month.

50+(12*15) = $230

This ignores the potential for the pay-per-month game to release their own expansions. Some games do this, some don't.

Sales tax would narrow the margin between the two...unless you purchased them online via PlayNC. I don't think they charge tax on that.

Now, one could argue that you could get a discount on your monthly fee by signing up for six months or a year. You certainly can do this with some of the games out there. However, we can't go down that road. Why? Because the counter-argument is that if an expansion is non-essential then the consumer can simply choose not to purchase it.

Charity? Hardly. More freedom to control how much you spend? Yeah, I'd say so.

well since Guild Wars is not really a MMOG, they can't really charge a monthly fee for it

as for what they were thinking, this is just speculation but my guess is they were thinking: "hey you know, if we did a spiritual successor to Diablo II, it would probably sell like hotcakes...let's do it!"

?????????????????

How does that figure? I pay fees for museum memberships, for my bookstore card, for bulk grocery store membership and so on. How does not being an MMOG have anything to do with fees?

It's a business model choice, and probably a very good one.

Wait a second... how did a sarcasm post designed to compliment the game designers turn into a debate on the economic model of the game?



Back to the sarcasm! No logic!

Are you kidding? How can it be the most expensive game ever made?

There will be 2 per year, IF that. As for most expensive, look at EQ2 right now. $50 for the game, $15/month for fees, $10/month for Station Membership, $5/3 months for adventure packs, $50/6 months for expansions.

=$460 / year

How does Guild Wars top this?

What's the deal with this "as much usable content as the original game, for the same cost, every 6-9 months"? I expect an MMO to take my $15 a month and nerf the hell out of my class while giving me one or two new areas to explore that are far below my current level.

Coffee Despot

I disagree with your math. Typically expansions cost plus the monthly fee

GW initial = $50 2 expansions per year = $50 each = $150 total

EQ like initial = $50 monthly fee $15 per month 2 expansion $50 each

Total for EQ $50 + $180 + $50 + $50 = $330

more typically it is 1 expansion per year so it would be $280

so $280 as compared with $150 i think that is a more fair math comparison.

Just realize $15 a month for one year is $180 total just in monthly fees.

I think Alex already clarified what is going to happen and that nothing is decided on the prices yet. So, all speculation? yes.

Sorry I meant to add that there will only be 2 this year, so yes it's 150. Yay we know math let's pat ourselves on the back

Regardless, I stated this because I've seen a lot of posts saying that the game was free and they didn't even look into. Even if it's cheaper, who cares. It's just a way to get 100% of the profit. Also if you note I said good for them, it's a great idea. Just commenting on how it was a good amrketing gimmick

Back off I'm tired

That long? I was expecting one for autumn time .

Holy moly!

Oh. My. God.
You realize this will cause me to lose my job, then my car and house, right?!?
Hey, anybody need a freeloading roommate??

Eeee, too much sarcasm... I stupidly have a hard time 'seeing' the sarcasm online since people don't really have voices o.o, er so to speak...

Being non sarcastic here for a moment, I love the fact of no fee and I hope they keep it up, cause right now, GW is the only online game I play besides DII, which is now forever locked in my CD case never to be played again unless GW gets boring to me or goes down for extended periods of time...