Originally by: Chuckles McLaughy

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Originally by: Le Skunk

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Originally by: Tippia

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Edited by: Tippia on 21/01/2011 20:58:40

Originally by: Le Skunk

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And when you say "thats not the comparison people make" I beg to stop you there.

My case is clear, and involves the hypothetical sitation whereby:

* one MMO charges less monthly and releases a paid expansion
* another MMO charges extra money monthly but give you a "free" expansion

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Yes, but why would you make such a comparison? That assumes that you'd pay less for game B if there were no expansions at all, which we cannot determine because that's not what happens. The best we can do in this case is to say that the cost of expansions is NULL. We cannot define it because we cannot determine the no-expansion cost that would give us a baseline that is comparable with game A.

The comparison people are making is "how much do similar games cost per month? oh, $15à how much do they pay for their expansions? oh, $30+" and thus they conclude that the cost of the expansions for this game is zero (iow, they compare subscription costs and marginal costs).

What you might be able to argue is that this would be an incorrect view of what counts as a "similar game", but that is something rather different from just inventing price tags that makes your claim work.

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Assume both MMO 1 and MMO 2 are exactly the same product, just marketed and charged for in different fashions.

Same Product
Same Total Cost
Same Expansion

Both models charge for the expansion. One takes 12 monthly instalements of Y from you then gives you the expansion. The other takes (Y * 12) currency units from you in one go then gives you the expansion.

IN NEITHER MODEL IS THE EXPANSION FREE. YOU HAVE PAID FOR BOTH EXPANSIONS.

The only difference is the company can get away with pumping out substandard expansions (as a lot of the EVE expansions are imho) under the cover of the "its free innit, so anything better then nutin aye?"

SKUNK

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WoW charges $15.00 a month to play the game.
EVE charges $15.00 a month to play the game.

WoW charges an additional fee of $30.00 - $60.00 to purchase EACH expansion to be able to access content in the game.
EVE does not charge an additional fee to purchase expansions to be able to access content in the game.

The games are comparable due to their subscription fees being nearly identical.

One charges you additional money to be able to play everywhere in the game. The other doesn't. Using this as an example means that we when compared to other common MMO practices, don't pay to access additional content above and beyond our regular subscription costs ergo, additional content comes to us when compared to say WoW, Free.

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