Charge Less For UO!

[Joyous2K]

I don't think it will do much to increase subs, but it might. It might get back some quitters and maybe a few noobs.

Come on. This thing is old. Real old. Let's charge 9.99 as the base and then 7.99 for 6mos, and throw in a 1 year for 5.99.

This is spurred by the Siege for 2.99 and just the fact that this game is old and the prices are too high for the product.

10*12=$120/year
8*12=$96/year
6*12=$72/year

 

[Bardie]

agree completely...like paying full price to watch a 90's movie in theatre's

 

[Lord Kynd]

I don't think it will do much to increase subs, but it might. It might get back some quitters and maybe a few noobs.

Come on. This thing is old. Real old. Let's charge 9.99 as the base and then 7.99 for 6mos, and throw in a 1 year for 5.99.

This is spurred by the Siege for 2.99 and just the fact that this game is old and the prices are too high for the product.

i think 12.99$ / month is to much myself. almost quit when it went up

it would also stand to reason that a lesser cost per month game might also bring in more subscribers ... again

 

[MoonBeam[TBD]]

I have 3 accounts I pay for for $15.99 canadian and as much as a price reduction would be cool I dont think it hurts me as it is..

 

[Kaj]

Well, it's been pretty downhill since they forced people from the EU to pay in Euro's.
The game nowadays costs €14. Which wouldn't be a big problem, be it that the euro originally was $0.95. Nowadays it's ~$1.55. This is a price increase of ~60% simply due to currency fluctuations.
All other MMORPGs that I play allow me to pay in dollars. European people basically pay $21.7. While I can play any other game for $10-$13.

Aside from the fact that when I started playing back in '99, it was $9.99/mo. So basically still a 30% increase in price even for people that pay in USD (and 117% for Europeans) in less than 10 years.
And take into consideration that customer support was partially outsourced from the UK/US to India (this meant the implementation of the infamous pink robed 'Advisors' I think they were called) around 2001. Then the entire UK department was closed. They kept cutting the UO budget, while the players started paying more.
Rather unfair.

 

[Omnicron]

/signed.

I had four accounts going when it was $9.99. When it went to 12.99 i closed two and sold them off, now Im down to one.

 

[Spiritless]

In the UK, we are paying the equivalent of $19.43 per month, since they started charging us in pounds instead of US dollars. We should be paying £6.68 according to the conversion rate right now in order to pay the $12.99 that Americans are currently paying. Why not let us pay in US dollars through our banks and let them handle the conversion? Why charge us more? It's ridiculous.

Aside from that though, as that is a slight digression, yes $12.99 per month is a very high fee for a game which has been out for so long and is in no way competitive with what's on the market currently.

Most people are still paying purely because of their items and housing; if it weren't for those things I'd wager even more people would have moved on. Is EA simply happy with retaining these hangers-on because of their perception that these items have some kind of worth to them, despite truly at heart being deeply disgruntled with the game, or simply bored with it? Is that what EA's plan is now, to milk the cash-cow for as long as these people will pay for the service, no matter what?

They're relying on these "safe" subscriptions and taking advantage of people's attachment to their houses and items to keep fees high. People feel obliged to keep paying because of their attachment, and they know it.

I ask people in this situation who also feel they're paying over the odds for their subscription fees to seriously consider whether it is still necessary to continue paying. I say vote with your feet and force EA into bringing the subscription fee down to something more realistic in the current market for what their game has to offer.

 

[Fink]

Reposted from the "100k Marketing Challenge" thread:

I think UO should be marketed as a supported "retro" game instead of trying to compete in the same genre as contemporary mmogs, which completely outclass it in terms of production values. UO's reportedly a very good earner; I wonder if it's strong enough to take a small reduction in subscription fees, say as low as $8/month, to encourage numbers.

I once told a friend about UO, said he'd never heard of it, I said it was 10 years old, he assumed it was abandonware. Going by the administrative side (marketing & customer support especially), I'd say he was right more often than not.

For content you can't beat UO's decade-long legacy, but I can't see either client as being worth what they're charging now, not with what else you can buy for the same money.

 

[Warsong of LS]

I was around for the price increase. And stupidly I agreed with the reasons EA gave at the time. Which was to increase customer service (both in game and over phone). Never again, at least from this long time player. If EAMythic raises prices again on UO, that will be the end of my p(l)aying days. Now if they want to lower the price because of the abomination that KR has become for many players, I am all for that.

The only way I would even consider a price increase (of 3 to 5 dollars more) is if EAMythic went to a all inclusive pass system which would allow access to UO, DAoC, and WAR. And I doubt that will happen, ever.

 

[kennykilleduo]

Discounts for multi accounts , free to play basic shards , $10.99 amonth , ect.....All sound good to me , but wont happen.

 

[Fink]

I was around for the price increase. And stupidly I agreed with the reasons EA gave at the time. Which was to increase customer service (both in game and over phone).

And we're still waiting.. rolleyes:

 

[GAMBIT35]

i think 12.99$ / month is to much myself. almost quit when it went up

it would also stand to reason that a lesser cost per month game might also bring in more subscribers ... again

If 13 bucks a month is alot then maybe playing an online game should not be a priority for you.

 

[Omnicron]

Is $4.36 for a gallon of gasoline to much?

While I dont think $12.99 is to much, it does limit how much I would willingly spend to play an online game. Like I said, I used to spend $40 a month to play the game, but with the reduced customer support, no EM's, horrible GM's, script farmers, making the game item based, nerfing this and that, creating this and that, and having one sub-par exspansion after another, makes me feel as if $12.99 could be reduced back to $9.99 or lower.

Just my few cents worth.

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

2 x 60 = 120 a year
12 x 13 = 156 a year ...
So ... over a year ... basically ... I'm playing most of 3 months free ...

Just for having a little faith ... Bonus bonus who gets bonus ... me

Woooooo ! shaka shaka Wooooo!

 

[Elffin]

I Live in the UK and used to get hit for the conversion price hike, But now i get my codes thru UOGamecodes and pay only $38.xx which equates to about £19 so i am quite happy with the price i am paying. If i did not have this option i doubt if i would have 7 accounts between me and my partner.

Elf.

 

[Tek]

I’ve kind of thought that they should bundle UO subscriptions with Dark Age of Camelot- one account fee for both games.

 

[J0KING]

It would be nice to see a price reduction...

Actually like the idea of having a price reduction for multiple accounts... man would that save me ALOT of arguments at home...

 

[Wenchkin]

I think the price of UO, especially in the UK is completely out of whack with the game standard. It is a more retro game, so it shouldn't be priced up there with the top of the chart ones. Fair enough if we got the customer service and improvements as promised, but I don't think UO players feel they're getting good service going by the threads here.

I'd just appreciate it if we could pay the proper price in the UK, though given how long we've paid too much, I'm sure most Europeans are due a free year by now

Wenchy

 

[Vesta]

If 13 bucks a month is alot then maybe playing an online game should not be a priority for you.

I feel that the subject of this thread has gone above your head. :duck:

 

[Vesta]

2 x 60 = 120 a year
12 x 13 = 156 a year ...
So ... over a year ... basically ... I'm playing most of 3 months free ...

Just for having a little faith ... Bonus bonus who gets bonus ... me

Woooooo ! shaka shaka Wooooo!

Uhh!? Admins? Where is the ignore poster option?

 

[manufacturedsoul]

The monthly fee for UO should be about half what it is now considering online games with much better graphics & support cost the same if not less than UO. This is silly plain and simple. Sadly however if EA wasn't bleeding the few of us left who still pay for this outdated game it would probably end up like the sims online. So it's really kinda lose, lose for us the paying UO subscribers.

 

[Boss]

Agree, at least have some discount for those elder or multi accounts holder

 

[Kat]

I don't think it will do much to increase subs, but it might. It might get back some quitters and maybe a few noobs.

Come on. This thing is old. Real old. Let's charge 9.99 as the base and then 7.99 for 6mos, and throw in a 1 year for 5.99.

This is spurred by the Siege for 2.99 and just the fact that this game is old and the prices are too high for the product.

10*12=$120/year
8*12=$96/year
6*12=$72/year

/Signed

It's just not worth it anymore, especially for Siege players.

 

[AdamD]

Uhh!? Admins? Where is the ignore poster option?

Control panel, Ignore list - http://vboards.stratics.com/profile.php?do=ignorelist

 

[Vesta]

Thank you Adam! Hero!

 

[Vesta]

Actually $12.99 is not too bad. Of course it could be lower. $9.99 seems about right. Wait, wasn't that the original price?

 

[Tina Small]

2 x 60 = 120 a year
12 x 13 = 156 a year ...
So ... over a year ... basically ... I'm playing most of 3 months free ...

Just for having a little faith ... Bonus bonus who gets bonus ... me

Woooooo ! shaka shaka Wooooo!

I have multiple accounts and on most of them I pay six months at a time too. I feel less and less as if I'm getting "free months," Fayled. I always figure that if they shut down the game with 60 or 90 days notice even, I stand a pretty good chance of losing subscription amounts already paid. I doubt that in the event UO is cancelled, EA/Mythic will bother with figuring out how to return pre-paid amounts to such a small number of subscribers. They would be more likely to offer an alternative such as they've done with The Sims Online subscribers. (Oops...should call it EA-Land. Seems EA got smart and changed the name of the game before they used their customers for the last ten months to farm them dry of ideas/improvements to plunk into another game.) (See http://ea-land.ea.com/blog/?p=1151 and http://ea-land.ea.com/blog/?p=1156.)

 

[Kith Kanan]

Well atleast charge less until we get the same service as the japanese shards !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TBH I feel cheated ............

 

[Fayled Dhreams]

I have multiple accounts and on most of them I pay six months at a time too. I feel less and less as if I'm getting "free months," Fayled. I always figure that if they shut down the game with 60 or 90 days notice even, I stand a pretty good chance of losing subscription amounts already paid.

Well ... kinda a "side issue" isn't it? "I feel less and less as if I'm getting "free months" "

I mean ... would you enjoy the GAME more ... if it was free ? wouldn't the GAME PLAY feel the same ?

As far as any "shut down" time frame ... be it 3 months or 6 ... I've already NOT paid for them ...
And "the monthlies" ....well ... if they KNOW the 3-6 months have been announced ... and they CONTINUE paying ...
hehehheheh

math in the hall ... go figure

 

[Tina Small]

Well ... kinda a "side issue" isn't it? "I feel less and less as if I'm getting "free months" "

I mean ... would you enjoy the GAME more ... if it was free ? wouldn't the GAME PLAY feel the same ?

As far as any "shut down" time frame ... be it 3 months or 6 ... I've already NOT paid for them ...
And "the monthlies" ....well ... if they KNOW the 3-6 months have been announced ... and they CONTINUE paying ...
hehehheheh

math in the hall ... go figure

If everyone loved the game so much that we all paid the same lower rate, what would happen to your argument? And if you get no refund of unused subscription fees in the event of cancellation, I would imagine you would feel like you "lost" something.

It is only by comparing yourself to someone who is paying at a higher rate that you could ever come up with the idea that you are playing for free when you pay for six months of game time at once, rather than paying for one month at a time.

Also, I doubt I would enjoy the game more if I played for free. At least if I pay for it, I can sometimes fool myself into thinking that the creator of the game values my business and hasn't enticed me into playing for its own ulterior motives (e.g., to be an unpaid tester of ideas/systems for its other games, to be exposed to commercials and offers for other products, or to be drawn into the basic level only to find out that more content is available by paying for it).

 

[Mulch]

Why charge less for players that might come.

Lots of people pay the full amount and if there are not enough players to warrant developers they close it down like all their other games.

It would be clever of them to come up with different payment options, but then I think EA is not interested in a game with modest profit.

 

[christy1221]

I closed 5 accounts when the price changed. I wish they would have some kind of discount for multiple accounts since I have so many lol.