Quote:
Originally Posted by GGG
My one question will be at some point will they have to charge a subscription fee to keep the new content coming and the MMO servers running. The first 14 million will provide a fantastic base and I would bet 2 solid years of game play but without a continious source of money the MMO part of can not be sustained forever.
I suppose once the first game is complete you do another crowd source to fund the expansion packs.
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Most successful MMOs are now free to play or have switched to the free to play model without subscription rates because they have become much more successful at getting money out of the fanbase for in game items and services and that model brings in significantly larger amounts of players who are all the more eager to pay for things.
This game raised $14M already just by selling rank titles, ships, and lifetime insurance on those ships. The average price of ships for sale on July 6th was about $100 each with several in the $200+ range. This game will have zero problems making money without subscription rates. If you look at the EVE Online and ISK model and player generated content, you know people are going to spend just to keep up with other factions/guilds.
I was on their forums and there was constant talk of people spending hundreds to thousands of dollars on this game. That's because they want to join the big fleets or have a lucrative money maker in the game like a big fuel transporter. The average player can still play with just the price of the initial purchase though. People rushed to buy ships with Lifetime Insurance which means that if your ship gets destroyed, it will be replaced for free. Average players will have to earn money in the game (trading, combat, exploration, pirating, etc.) to buy ships and to buy in-game insurance but that will all probably be more costly in terms of in-game credits and time needed.