Q&A: Electronic Arts COO Fights to Lead the New Game Industry:

 

Wired: Tell me about what happened with Old Republic.

 

Moore: When development on the game started a number of years ago, at that time — and this was a massive undertaking, as you might imagine, working with Lucas, taking this huge universe of one of the greatest IPs the entertainment world’s ever seen, will ever see, called Star Wars, bringing it all to life and in fact doing this 10,000 years prior prequel story The Old Republic, building a game into… what we at that point could see in the future as a subscription based MMO.

 

As we get closer, you realize the world is changing around you…. We have to change accordingly. Now you’ve got a hybrid model, which is the way I like it, because I’d rather say “give me all you can eat for 15 bucks a month and I’ll play the game if you give me everything,” which is still available. But this fall there will be, we open up the funnel at the top, look, come on in, there’s no cost to play, if you want to progress it gets better quickly.

 

Price was always the issue…. You talk to people on their way out and say, can you tell me why you’re leaving? [They say] “I just didn’t want to pay $15 a month. I felt kind of locked in. I love the game, but I’m locked in,” and for a lot of people 15 bucks a month is a lot of money. So when we looked at the data that was streaming out of it…. It was very clear to us that if we could knock down that initial barrier to entry that is price, that we could blow out the funnel and instead of dealing with several hundred thousand people on a regular basis we could get into millions. That was the plan. The world moved very quickly around us, and we had to react.

 

Still pressing cost of SWTOR meme over lack of functionality at release for SWTOR's woes.

They continue to read too much into that one exit poll question...

They continue to read too much into that one exit poll question...

 

It's just spin. What else are they going to say?

I'd imagine that the majority of $15 is too much monthly reponses were actually intended as "I'm not paying $15 a month for an only partly funcitonal game".

 

I'm sure there are pure SW fans who joined this game with no prior MMORPG experience, but I think most of us have been around the block on a few games. We're quite accustomed to paying 10 to 15 a month.

I started playing MMOs with UO, EQ, AC, DAoC, etc, etc, etc. I'd buy the box and give anything a month or two to decide if I'd stick around longer, even scooping up each expansion and trying it again. Those games never had anywhere near the subscribers companies expect now, and I don't even know if the people who helped those pioneering games are willing to go through that cycle anymore, I know this is the last game I am ever paying a sub for. Doesn't mean that F2P will make everyone play and pay, but it removes a barrier that is definitely keeping a lot of people out. It is not just EA realizing this (in fact, they are just following the trend).

As we get closer, you realize the world is changing around you…. We have to change accordingly. Now you’ve got a hybrid model, which is the way I like it, because I’d rather say “give me all you can eat for 15 bucks a month and I’ll play the game if you give me everything,” which is still available. But this fall there will be, we open up the funnel at the top, look, come on in, there’s no cost to play, if you want to progress it gets better quickly.

 

There are things in the cash shop that even subscribers can't get unless they pay extra for. That's not exactly "all you can eat" for $15 per month, now is it, Mr. Moore?

 

-Macheath.

...but I think most of us have been around the block on a few games. We're quite accustomed to paying 10 to 15 a month.

See, this is generally how I look at it. I don't think opening up a F2P option is going to catapult the userbase into WoW numbers. But I could be wrong. I know the industry is moving to this model, so I'll just cross my fingers, keep paying my sub, and hope that this move infuses the game with much-needed revenue to keep it going for a while.

Q&A: Electronic Arts COO Fights to Lead the New Game Industry:

 

 

 

Still pressing cost of SWTOR meme over lack of functionality at release for SWTOR's woes.

 

This game is going to a longer free trial. You can play till end game and then its going to cost you money, which will not convert to revenue in the forms of paying customers en-masse.

 

The F2P model has to fully embraced. The hybrid subscriber/F2P I see won't work. Its not going to get most people to pay who didn't after they played it a few months. They left cause they don't see the value in the subscription.

 

For 3 months subscriptions you need to release essentially an expansion pack of content. You basically got paid for a whole new game. Most people expect for the price of a new game I get that sort of service and content.

 

14.99 to get bug fixes is not really helping you keep customers and a f2p model that is basically so restricted you have to be a subscriber to play at 50 is a joke.

Look at it this way. Everyone (or at elast most) who bought this game knew that it had a monthly subscribtion ahead of time. Does it make sense that this pre-known fact is the reason for an exodus of unsubscribers?

It's an imperfect answer to an imperfect question. When you ask to choose from a list of questions for something that has more than 1 cause it's not going to capture the whole of the reason.

 

The contributing factors I see that caused the subscription loss (this is 100% opinion) in random order. These are a mix of my own observations of people's complaints and things that I've observed about myself in other games. Keep in mind I'm not validating these reason either as some of them are stupid IMO.

 

 

 

• No game will ever compare to the one that you really loved (like SWG, WoW, etc) so you return to it or resent this one for destroying the other game itself or the population level of your favorite game.
   
   
  
• Server population decline leads to lemmings unsubs because chicken little syndrome is real. "If everyone else isn't having fun, should I be enjoying it?" complaint.
   
   
  
• Unhappy with single player focus for leveling. "This isn't an MMO it's a single player experience" complaint.
   
   
  
• Unhappy with multiplayer focus for endgame content, PVP, Ops, etc. "I should never be forced to group" complaint.
   
   
  
• Unhappy with end game content, not willing to give the game a chance to mature. "This game should have launched with 7 years of content" complaint.
   
   
  
• Unwilling to pay for this game when other forms of media are available for no cost. (Consoles, F2P, etc). "Why should I pay to be a beta tester for the next 5 years" complaint.
   
   
  
• Unhappy with overall game design. "This isn't the game I would have made" complaint.
   
   
  
• This game is too much like game X. "Why do companies always copy the most successful game models?" complaint.
   
   
  
• This game is not enough like game X. "Why don't companies copy the most successful game models?" complaint.
   
   
  
• Lack of groupfinder complaint. "I can't live without groupfinder and being proactive to put together groups is too hard" complaint.
   
   
  
• Your guild came over from game X. You are a close group and enjoy hanging with each other as much you enjoy gaming itself. After about a month a few members decided they'd rather go back to game X and decided to do so. This presents a problem, you play to be social as much as you play for the game itself. With your guild fractured more and more people choose sides and you eventually find yourself playing game X again because community is that important to you. "My whole guild quit the game" complaint.
   
  

 

 

 

Now the problem is that any combination of these are things that contribute to sub loss but as a company you can't fix everything. You have to pick the one that is most likely to solve the problem and go with it. Content isn't a consideration because that's already a given for continued development. Instead you focus on removing barriers to the game knowing that if you present the game to 5 people at least 1-2 will be hooked long term.

 

Just my 2cents.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Tim-ONeil

Look at it this way. Everyone (or at elast most) who bought this game knew that it had a monthly subscribtion ahead of time. Does it make sense that this pre-known fact is the reason for an exodus of unsubscribers?

 

It doesn't at all. As you was said above, those that mentioned price may have said:

 

"$15 a month for SWTOR is too much for the game in it's current state." (At the time of the mass exodus before all the "must have" AAA feature were added after demand from players.)

 

So Moore et al, just elected to take the first part and ignore the rest to spin their failure.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Urael

I'd imagine that the majority of $15 is too much monthly reponses were actually intended as "I'm not paying $15 a month for an only partly funcitonal game".

 

I'm sure there are pure SW fans who joined this game with no prior MMORPG experience, but I think most of us have been around the block on a few games. We're quite accustomed to paying 10 to 15 a month.

 

A million times this ^

 

I guarantee that the vast majority of those exit poll questionaire responses were more a case of this game in it's current state is not worth 15 a month when compared to what I can get elsewhere in the mmo world for 15 a month than I cannot afford 15 a month to play this game.

 

One can only hope that they get that and that their CONTINUAL rubbish about price being THE MAJOR barrier to large numbers of players in the game is just spin. But given these guys' track record you never know

Edited October 31, 2012 by LrdRahvin

It's an imperfect answer to an imperfect question. When you ask to choose from a list of questions for something that has more than 1 cause it's not going to capture the whole of the reason.

 

The contributing factors I see that caused the subscription loss (this is 100% opinion) in random order. These are a mix of my own observations of people's complaints and things that I've observed about myself in other games. Keep in mind I'm not validating these reason either as some of them are stupid IMO.

 

I will add one to your list that is a current reason for people leaving:

 

"Quality of life enhancements" not being a improvement.

 

Patch 1.4 killed this game for me. Having to play on crappy graphics settings to get any decent FPS because of their "improvement" when NO OTHER game I play is affected with the most current drivers.

 

Bottom line SWTOR was not ready for launch. EAware didn't listen to the Beta Testers. No AAA features at launch. Lack of end game content. Game is too simplistic and not challenging at all. Improvements continue to not be improvements and impact on performance.

 

It's not about the price of the subscription it's about the QUALITY OF THE GAME. Which is NOT "

". Edited October 31, 2012 by Urael

Still pressing cost of SWTOR meme over lack of functionality at release for SWTOR's woes.

 

I buy this to an extent. I don't buy the "I love the game but I don't have $15" part. But I do buy that for a lot of people that were underwhelmed by the game they would have probably kept playing from time to time had it not been for the fee. They wouldn't have been very active members of the game, but they probably would pop in for new content or big fixes and stuff like that.

 

I think what Free to Play does is it keeps people from uninstalling the game when they're not not playing it. Once the game is uninstalled its a much bigger psychological hurdle to get back into it. I think F2P keeps that icon on your desktop. And that increases the chance you'll log in and spend some money from time to time.

 

I think that's what's at the heart of that exit question response. Not hundreds of thousands of players that love the game so much they want to play it till they die, if not for the $15.

All I know is that WoW is happy with their subscription based model...AND their 10 millon players.

All I know is that WoW is happy with their subscription based model...AND their 10 millon players.

 

All I know is that In-n-Out makes damn good burgers. But that's equally irrelevant to the discussion.,

 

I'm pretty sure that when they created their pie chart of reasons for people leaving the game, they paid attention to the other 60%. That 60% is probably fractured into a large number of reasons. The 40% is obviously the one big number chunk that they can publicly declare that doesn't declare faults in the game. The rest of the reasons are more complicated to tackle, but I don't doubt they're picking a few at a time to try and tackle.

It doesn't matter because when it comes down to it neither BW or EA had any idea what to do next. It's been almost a year now and what new things has the game add? Legacy, group finder, and a hand full of OP and FP. Two out of three should have been in game at launch.

 

The only thing that happened this year is EA freaking out about a quarterly report and forced SWTOR to game F2P. They have never fully asked the community what they want nor have they acted on the suggest forums. Sorry but a guild town hall right at launch didn't really help. What ever happened to new space overhaul? Multiple path Ops? Swoop Racing? Dynamic Events? Guild improvement?

 

It's wasn't people could afford $15 a month, it was the fact that $15 wasn't worth the content that was being pushed out.

I've never seen this so called Poll they are going by. Probably because I'm still subscribed, however If I had to chose that answer is probably the least offensive choice people could make on the way out. I know when I left AOC and WoW I put in I don't have the funds for it.

 

Instead of being frank and saying I just don't like playing anymore, or I've gone as far as I can go. As others have mention I really don't think Free-2-Play is going to bring that many people in. It might bring some of the old subscribers that left. However if they still don't add any continuation of characters stories, I doubt any of them will come back.

 

Heck most of our Imperial sided Guild left right at the first server merge patch 1.1 to either go play WoW or D3 again. Yet none of them have come back.

Edited October 31, 2012 by Raideag

They continue to read too much into that one exit poll question...

 

IF it was just the exit poll, I agree with you. However there is a lot of readily available market analysis available on the internet that clearly demonstrates a change in player preference away from fixed subscriptions. Subscription only MMOs are a minority of MMO revenue now and contracting at ~ 10-15% per year when compared to various F2P models.

 

Sure, those of us who have played MMOs for years on a monthly subscription model sometimes get fixated on it as the only way to go. But that is narrow focused and if all you want is a niche audience it works fine. If you want to tap into a much wider, more casual (casual as in approach to a game, not play style) then you need to broaden your access model. Freemium is exactly that.

All I know is that WoW is happy with their subscription based model...AND their 10 millon players.

 

WoW is the last pure subscription product that Blizzard will release. So, enjoy it while it lasts.

 

And, just to be clear, only about 4M of those 10 million WoW accounts are subscriptions. The other 6 million are pay to access token accounts in Asia. Subscription models are illegal in some Asia countries it turns out (I have no idea why though.....)

Edited October 31, 2012 by Andryah

They continue to read too much into that one exit poll question...

 

Ya I agree... The real reason people left was lack of end game content and no world pvp, Ilum was a disaster... didn't help there was no sandbox elements either....

 

The design of SWTOR was modeled after their single player RPG games with some 10 year old MMO mechanics thrown in so they could call it a MMO... People finished their class stories got bored and then left...

 

Thats the real reason SWTOR nosed dived from 2 million plus subscribers to 500-700k we have now... These people didn't want to re-roll 8+ alts to entertain themselves...

They continue to read too much into that one exit poll question...

 

Yup! They'll soon learn that F2P games that lack end-game content are also not worthy of playing.

Yup! They'll soon learn that F2P games that lack end-game content are also not worthy of playing.

 

And currently, the part that is worth playing is the part they are giving away for Free!

14.99 to get bug fixes is not really helping you keep customers and a f2p model that is basically so restricted you have to be a subscriber to play at 50 is a joke.

You must not have seen other f2p models because ToR is the only one giving you sooo much for not paying a dime. CoH's f2p was horrible and you couldn't even really customize your character too look decent. That game was all about character customization.

 

LotR's has tons more restrictions and not only that, you have to pay for some quests while leveling.

 

ToR is letting you experience the full game except raiding. You are lucky to even get a full storyline which is their #1 selling point and what cost the most money.

 

Maybe you should just not play t his game at all and go on to something else. Let me know how GW2 and Tera are. Oh wait those both are horrible.

And currently, the part that is worth playing is the part they are giving away for Free!

 

/facepalm

 

That still blows me away. I hope the F2P model they have set-up works, but...I don't see how you keep casual players interested with so little additional for their $15 a mo.