Poll: Subscriptions for single-player games

[StriderShinryu]

I don't like the idea, but I'm not totally against it. It would really depend on what the money was paying for. Something huge and sprawling like Fallout or Oblivion, maybe if the monthly content was good enough. Other games, however, episodic releases or DLC is fine as the base game itself generally doesn't last longer than a week or two as it is.

 

[Estocavio]

Not a chance in hell.
Singleplayer should always be a free service.

 

[Jaded Scribe]

I can think of no reason to pay for a single-player game. MMOs, sure. I get that they have overhead and all that.

One of my biggest problems with subscriptions is that living off student loans, money can get tight between semesters. I don't want to be unable to play my favorite game because of it.

 

[8-Bit Grin]

The idea of never ending content intrigues me...

But I would be skeptical until I saw comfirmation that it was *good* content.

As someone above me said, tweaks and fixes are a no-no.

In the end though, I probably wouldn't.

I don't like bills in any shape or form.

 

[gigastrike]

If the price was low, I would. That's my policy for multiplayer games too, by the way.

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

It's a terrible idea that further disadvantages the consumer...



... so I fully expect to see some version of it operating in the next few years because publishers are scum like that.

 

[Romblen]

That depends on what the new content is. It would have to be a lot of good content to get me to subscribe.

 

[Andantil]

NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO. NO.

 

[FinalHeart95]

...Why would I have to? The reason why MMOs are subscription-based are because they have servers to support. Servers are unnecessary in single-player games.

 

[LightOfDarkness]

People, let's stop the comparisons of this with games that get free updates or games that already have a subscription fee.

Anyway, I would most likely not, considering that eventually the developers will get lazy and add in lots of gimmicky stuff that will stab a fucking machete the size of Jupiter straight through the heart of the core game.

 

[Veret]

It's a terrible idea that further disadvantages the consumer...



... so I fully expect to see some version of it operating in the next few years because publishers are scum like that.

Sadly, I think you're right. But here's hoping...

Not a chance in hell.
Singleplayer should always be a free service.

But single-player isn't free; it costs $50-60 already. The subscription is supposed to replace the original price of the game, not add to it.

 

[Dienekes]

One thing that would work for me is episodic content; if they have a game that's easy to expand on each month, so they come out with new episodes, but you get charged for each one.

Another example might be Gametap, which no one can deny is a pretty good deal; as long as you pay the $10 monthly fee, you get access to some 1000 games, mostly singleplayer.

provided the gaps between episodes arent valve sized gaps

 

[Sewblon]

Probably not. I am bad at keeping track of monthly fees, that's part of why I have eschewed MMOs.

 

[Ze_Reaper_Of_Zeath]

No..I would get TF2 instead, free, constant (and funny) updates. Why would I want to pay money for a game that I may finish in about 1 week and get bored of it.

 

[Aurora219]

I'd pay a subscription for a constantly updating and expanding game. I'd pay $10 a month for, say, Oblivion that never stopped evolving and new content being added.

MMOs have subs because they need constant maintenance. If a singleplayer game doesn't constantly need maintenance then I wouldn't pay a sub, regardless of the original price.

 

[Katana314]

One thing that would work for me is episodic content; if they have a game that's easy to expand on each month, so they come out with new episodes, but you get charged for each one.

Another example might be Gametap, which no one can deny is a pretty good deal; as long as you pay the $10 monthly fee, you get access to some 1000 games, mostly singleplayer.

provided the gaps between episodes arent valve sized gaps

Well, the one company that's gotten it right is Telltale Games. So far, they've only made ONE episode that wasn't quite inside of their episode-a-month schedule. So I guess it works better for certain genres (point-and-click adventure) better than others (epic first-person-shooter)

 

[Sixties Spidey]

[HEADING=1]NO[/HEADING]

I paid for the damn game. That's like paying for the buffet and paying for the things you want to have from it.

 

[Veret]

I'd pay a subscription for a constantly updating and expanding game. I'd pay $10 a month for, say, Oblivion that never stopped evolving and new content being added.

If there is a game I would pay a subscription for, Oblivion is definitely it. This is the best-case scenario I was thinking of in my moments of indecision, but then I remembered all the immersion-breaking problems and thought...nah.

[HEADING=1]NO[/HEADING]

I paid for the damn game. That's like paying for the buffet and paying for the things you want to have from it.

Let me just refer you back to my OP [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/jump/9.193519.6135894]. I have bolded the important section for your convenience.

 

[Bob_F_It]

Such a pricing structure says that your licence to play a game is revoked once you stop paying up. So absolutely not.

I think the payment model desired for is episodic content, such that you pay for content as it's released, and it remains yours to play forever. Otherwise you could be paying for QA to be sitting on their arses.

 

[Audioave10]

This would be "taken advantage of" for profits, not for game quality. We are dealing with a
business here.