[Riou]

Quote:

Star Wars: The Old Republic currently has 1.3 million active subscribers, publisher EA has announced.

That's a sizable drop on the 1.7 million reported in February.

Source

 

[fastpcman12]

"mass effect 3" effect?

disgruntled bioware fans quitting?

 

[truestorybro545]

Played it. Bored me. Gave it away.

 

[JedixJarf]

Ouch, we need an expansion

 

[a pet rock]

Weren't people claiming subscriptions were rising? I wonder if they're even going to break even on ToR's development costs.

 

[SoulThief]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a pet rock

Weren't people claiming subscriptions were rising? I wonder if they're even going to break even on ToR's development costs.

Subscribers might be rising again, mainly due to the fact of the new update. I was one of the early adaptors but was quickly disgruntled by the amount of bugs.
Being unable to engage into combat because "the enemy couldn't be seen" even though he was standing 5 meters in front of me in an open corridor.
My character dying when my compagnion died. Immediately. With 80% health. etc. etc.

And even though update 1.2 fixed enough for me to play it, SWTOR has a long way to go before it becomes good. Operations and Flashpoints are really awesome, but there's
no way to queue for them or any other means of automated system. Space combat is lacking severly and needs more.

 

[-Apocalypse-]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a pet rock

Weren't people claiming subscriptions were rising? I wonder if they're even going to break even on ToR's development costs.

They already did...

EA told investors 500k for 12 months = profits. Tell me, what's 1.3M for 6 months?

 

[JedixJarf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SoulThief

Subscribers might be rising again, mainly due to the fact of the new update. I was one of the early adaptors but was quickly disgruntled by the amount of bugs.
Being unable to engage into combat because "the enemy couldn't be seen" even though he was standing 5 meters in front of me in an open corridor.
My character dying when my compagnion died. Immediately. With 80% health. etc. etc.
And even though update 1.2 fixed enough for me to play it, SWTOR has a long way to go before it becomes good. Operations and Flashpoints are really awesome, but there's
no way to queue for them or any other means of automated system. Space combat is lacking severly and needs more.

I agree that the ops are awesome but it's a good thing you cant Q for them. I would hate to do a 8 man pug on Denova or EV HM with a bunch of un geared players that have never done the raid before.

 

[Benladesh]

I think the issue is that SWOTR was nothing really new. i played it and felt like it was WOW rehashed with Starwars skins. In order for a new MMO to be successful, it needs to be new and innovative.

 

[a pet rock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Apocalypse-

They already did...
EA told investors 500k for 12 months = profits. Tell me, what's 1.3M for 6 months?

That's funny because word is it cost $150-200m to develop. And 500k subs for 12 months at $15/mo comes out to $90m + $30m for the $60 per game. That also doesn't take into account overhead costs for the 12 months of running the game. I don't think they've made a profit yet. Until they publicly announce development costs, we can't really know.

I also think it's way too early to guess ToR's life expectancy. Even vanilla WoW had a bad launch and look where it is now.

 

[Methos07]

It's one of those MMO's I don't regret playing and then quitting a few months later. I got an enjoyable storyline out of several different characters and then quit.

It was a good purchase.

 

[-Apocalypse-]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a pet rock

That's funny because word is it cost $150-200m to develop. And 500k subs for 12 months at $15/mo comes out to $90m + $30m for the $60 per game. That also doesn't take into account overhead costs for the 12 months of running the game. I don't think they've made a profit yet. Until they publicly announce development costs, we can't really know.
I also think it's way too early to guess ToR's life expectancy. Even vanilla WoW had a bad launch and look where it is now.

EA told their investors that would be profits. If they lied, it's a felony (Investment Fraud). I'm going to take the word of the people who would get jail time for lying. But go ahead, believe the word on the street, it's bound to be reliable

 

[staryoshi]

It was lots of fun for me and my girlfriend to progress with two characters simultaneously, but we haven't had the time to justify spending $30/mo between us to continue.

If the cost of subs dropped 67% I bet they'd see a membership boon

MMOs don't have to be $15/mo or F2P... find a happy medium!

Side-note: Bioware has crafted the most compelling storyline I've ever encountered in a MMO... and I've played most of them

 

[rctrucker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a pet rock

That's funny because word is it cost $150-200m to develop. And 500k subs for 12 months at $15/mo comes out to $90m + $30m for the $60 per game. That also doesn't take into account overhead costs for the 12 months of running the game. I don't think they've made a profit yet. Until they publicly announce development costs, we can't really know.
I also think it's way too early to guess ToR's life expectancy. Even vanilla WoW had a bad launch and look where it is now.

That is also assuming everyone bought the $60 version of the game.

 

[waylo88]

Quote:

Originally Posted by truestorybro545

Played it. Bored me. Gave it away.

This right here.

Typical MMO fare. They really didnt do much aside from try and clone WOW while using the Star Wars universe. That only gets you so far these days.

 

[a pet rock]

Quote:

Originally Posted by -Apocalypse-

EA told their investors that would be profits. If they lied, it's a felony (Investment Fraud). I'm going to take the word of the people who would get jail time for lying. But go ahead, believe the word on the street, it's bound to be reliable

Sure. I'd also say that as far as business is concerned, terminology can be very tricky. Of the multiple kinds of profits, which did they use? What did they include as costs? Just development, or also operational costs? Are they including other forms of income for their profits? I just don't think the subscription alone pulled enough to outweigh development costs, even if there's some absurd legalese that technically means they're making some form of profit.
Quote:

Originally Posted by staryoshi

Side-note: Bioware has crafted the most compelling storyline I've ever encountered in a MMO... and I've played most of them

Look into Guild Wars 2. I find the personal stories fascinating, and even though they are instanced allow for Co-oping each others stories. That and no sub fee.

 

[sdmodified]

Sounds like a fun game to check out but I don't have the time anymore to justify 15 per month.

I am very intrigued with blizzard's idea of generating revenue through a US dollar cash auction house. This could very well change how online games turn a profit if it is successful..

 

[-Apocalypse-]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a pet rock

Sure. I'd also say that as far as business is concerned, terminology can be very tricky. Of the multiple kinds of profits, which did they use? What did they include as costs? Just development, or also operational costs? Are they including other forms of income for their profits? I just don't think the subscription alone pulled enough to outweigh development costs, even if there's some absurd legalese that technically means they're making some form of profit.

I believe that that was said to be the "break even" point. I'd have to look back at transcripts to find the actual verbiage, but that was the gist of it. The game no where approached 200M costs.
Quote:

Look into Guild Wars 2. I find the personal stories fascinating, and even though they are instanced allow for Co-oping each others stories. That and no sub fee.

You're kidding... The worst part of the BWE was the voice acting being so bad that I couldn't bare to listen to the story. I suppose the writing could be good, but the delivery was nauseating...

 

[allikat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by waylo88

This right here.
Typical MMO fare. They really didnt do much aside from try and clone WOW while using the Star Wars universe. That only gets you so far these days.

And WoW is an Everquest clone.. next silly argument?

 

[Masked]

Quote:

Originally Posted by a pet rock

Look into Guild Wars 2. I find the personal stories fascinating, and even though they are instanced allow for Co-oping each others stories. That and no sub fee.

That's comparing apples to oranges, though...

One of the ultimate failures of F2P is that, they can't keep the upkeep on the hardware so they switch to a cheaper product that is noticeably slower...Examples of this are: Everquest, EQ2, Aion, original GW post expacs...

So, the F2P exists at a cost to the consumer in terms of game-play where the P2P model costs the consumer in terms of $$$$.

So basically, want slower game-play and nearly unresponsive controls (Aion) or would you rather have dynamic environments that rely on skill?

GW2 is going to be a cash cow so, that's not really a discussion and D3 will piggyback on the WoW racks so, again not really a discussion -- Outside of those, F2P does come at a price.