Gold account costs

[Serion]

I understand that different ideas have been given in this area, but hadn't seen anything listed like what I had in mind, so I thought I'd try.

I like the current design of gold account holders, as it discourages players from leeching from those who are willing to contribute to the online community. Here are two suggestions of modification.

1. Change cost from $5 monthly to 5$ first month, then a slightly smaller amount after that. IE: $2-$3 monthly. It seems like a very small change, but it makes a fairly large difference psychologically I think.

2. Offer an option to pay upfront, allowing a discount. Many pay to play online games do this. IE: 6 months $24 [$4/month], 1 year $36 [$3/month], etc. That just being an example any number of other dicounting would be good.

I say this because I like supporting games, but I honestly cannot constitute $5 for this when it only costs me $10 to play WOW. A slightly smaller cost would push me over the edge, and possible push many others over the edge to pay for gold accounts.

[Thash500]

Well, $2-3 dollars seems like too little to support the game. Server costs and other updates.
I dont know about the discount thing. :cool:

[ironhorse123]

Yeah 5$ is rather heavy on the wallet, but the servers and everything cost a lot. So when you pay 2$ it can't support the server unless you get a ton more golds!

[bobdagangsta]

i agree with everything here but that would be awesome if it was kinda of like legends but the legends payment wouldnt work because theres only 1 type of gold acc.

[meat.eater]

wow. You gusy think 5$ a month is heavy on teh wallet?

You are going to show a shit fit when you get you're first mortage payment. And, changing the price from 5- to even 4 dollars a month will, literally, make them lose thousands of dollers.

Not smart. And, it wont happen. Keep dreaming kiddies.

[Megabyte]

agreed, $5 doesn't seem to heavy.

Also, you have to keep in mind the means through which we pay, i.e. paypal.
If you lower the charges much more than $5 I'd imagine TAO wouldn't be getting much money per transaction.

There used to be a means to pay for several months at a time through mail orders, but this system actually charged more than $5 a month due to the cost of processing those kind of setups.

[Jeffery]

2.9 (under $10,000 a month) or 2.7%(over 10,000 a month) + 30 cents = 45 cents per transaction Paypal takes. There is no charge on withdrawing it unless they take out less than $150.
General FYI

[choplocker-17]

This isnt a bad idea.

[Lonely Tylenol]

This isnt a bad idea.

Yes it is.

Other gaming companies charge fees of $15 and $20 a month, PLUS a $50 disc you can't play without paying these fees, and although they do get a lot for that price, it is a bit heavy on the wallet just for a game.

A year of TAO is $60; the average console player spends $40 for a game that won't keep them entertained for a month (unless they buy those cheap-ass second-rate discount games).

The average TAO player probably spends between $10 and $20 IF they gold; a dedicated player might spend up to $50 or more.

That is VERY light on the wallet, and only draws much profit on a ERY large scale.

If they were to cut down on payment prices by $2 to $3/month, the profit margin would be all the more slimmer, if there at all. Servers capable of running games like TAO are costly and require much maintenance; plus, TAO Gaming Inc. IS a business, and TAO IS there to make a profit.

You're lucky the price is only $5 a month; it's the perfect price really, since even low-income families could pay $5 a month for a game (assuming they could pitch in $500 for a computer). I wouldn't be surprised if they raised the price; if you really think $5 is too much for you, remember, TAO DOES offer free grey accounts.

[gryph89]

Supply and demand. Servers demand money to be kept , and we supply them with that money.
5$ a month aint alot , but then again no one ever took into account for people with multiple accounts IE me: I pay for both Cara_Grystorm and AL leader , I know people who have golds on all three servers , but then again it may not really be a matter of how much money they are spending , just how much they make.
Personally , so long as I get what I paid for , I have no problem with it

[Condition]

No offence, but if you have such a problem with the cost, then get a job. Even if you get a job at like McDonalds you might get like 4 dollars an hour or something, Im just telling you this because if u go gold it wont be a problem paying the monthly fee, if you have a job.

[Office_Shredder]

you could just dig around for nickels people drop by vending machines and get your five bucks in a week

[Moose]

If you work on day at mcdonalds for a 6 hour shift, you should be able to pay for TAO for around 3-4 months (This is after mcdonalds does pay check cuts :p).

[Vie]

I just turned 14 I work at my neibors house mowing, and taking out the garbage and i come up wiith more then enuf money to pay my parents for paying for Gold I have been playing for 5 months gold and I have a ton of money $5 is very light I could make up $5 d of change off the street as somebody already mentioned

Point: its cheap get over it if u really like the game and being gold make a lawnmowing business or do somechores at ur neibors house or sell all ur dam pokemon cards do something to get that money


P.S. if u pay for more then 1 game stick to the 1 u play or like most and quit the other 1

[Lonely Tylenol]

I can pay for the $5 monthly fee, plus a bite to eat on the way home, on tips alone. :huh: You don't even need a paycheck for $5 monthly.

[Jeffery]

Shoot, you can go out on a street corner and beg for $10 a month and get 2 accounts.

[Office_Shredder]

Or, let's be completely serious here. If your excuse is that your parents won't pay for one, just say "Mom, instead of buying me all those star wars action figures and Pokemon cards and gamecube games, I want ten gold accounts"

They'll definitely bite ;)

[Serion]

Well, I appreciate the level of response this thread has received. I can see that many people seem to disagree with me, which is fine. I figured at least a number of people equal to the number of gold accounts would, but did not neccessarily expect people to be so passionate in defending the $5 costs. Thank you to all who responded constructively.

Judging by the nature of the responses, I would suspect I was wrong in assuming that more than just myself seek a slightly more constitutable cost for the game, and no longer suggest it. Should my income become such that I can afford it on top of rent, school bills, and daily expenses, then I will join then. Otherwise it would appear that sufficient people exist in order to provide good business for the game.

I look forward to seeing some of you on the battlefield. :)