A monthly fee for GPGnet is probably a no-go
Judging by our recent poll results, it looks like Gas Powered Games would not be successful at charging a monthly fee for GPGnet. As of the time of writing this post, 51% of the poll’s respondents said that they wouldn’t pay for GPGnet, and another 24% said that they wouldn’t pay for basic access, but that they might pony up for premium features. What premium features GPG might offer that would entice gamers to pay up is left as an exercise to the reader (hint: think in-game porn).
Don’t forget, this blog suffers from a selection bias. Our readers tend to be more hardcore and into the game than the average gamer on GPGnet. It’s very likely that if the poll could be conducted on all players who use GPGnet, and not just the ones who read this blog, the percentage of people who wouldn’t be willing to pay would be significantly higher than 51. So it looks like GPG, and really, RTS makers in general, can’t yet get away with trying to charge a monthly fee for access to the multiplayer component of the game. Though don’t think they wouldn’t do it if they couldn’t get away with it — I know they’re all looking at Blizzard’s revenue stream thanks to World of WarCraft and drowning themselves in the tangy, slightly rancid drool of jealousy.
July 3rd, 2007 at 10:50 pm
“Though don’t think they wouldn’t do it if they couldn’t get away with it — I know they’re all looking at Blizzard’s revenue stream thanks to World of WarCraft and drowning themselves in the tangy, slightly rancid drool of jealousy.”
I applaud your writing style, that just flowed so smoothly at the end (pun intended). :)
Most likely there would be a widespread revolt among SupCom fans if any fees were introduced for basic services…the hardcore fans would probably be infuriated, but some would cave in and just pay to play in ranked/custom games.
July 3rd, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Look in the HTML source for bonus commentary on that final sentence. It’s like the director’s cut is staring you in the face constantly, just begging to be unearthed.
July 4th, 2007 at 12:38 am
WoW works on a totally different system — it’s perpetual worlds on dedicated servers. You can do nothing without joining a server. If SupCom was like this then GPG would charge for multiplayer, but SupCom is merely P2P and works when simply given an IP address, so they can’t charge for GPGnet. No one in their right mind would actually pay for a few ranking stats and chat, especially when any custom site could pop up and rank players and handle chat through IRC. :P
July 4th, 2007 at 12:46 am
From the HTML code:
rofl. Wise decision.
July 4th, 2007 at 12:47 am
Er, my bad….From the HTML code: “Sometimes I crack myself up by seeing how absurd I can make a sentence, and once I actually start laughing out loud, I know I have to leave it in.”
rofl. Wise decision.
July 4th, 2007 at 3:47 am
Who had the idea of a paid GPGnet?
And I’m very, VERY sure that the less-hardcore users will be even LESS willing to pay.
July 4th, 2007 at 6:55 am
OK if it was like $10 a year i would pay for weekly unit downloads or ranked games or something that was actualy worth it
so u could look @ the ranked games and KNOW that every player was serious @ being ranked not just oh i plaid ranked once and ill never play it again it wasnt ‘fun’
and $10 a year for DOWNLOADABLE units (that i could use (well not all units (thats unfair) but some of them) even if the other player didnt have them premium content) would also seem reasonable……… i think…… maby…………… im not shure……. hmm more thought needed
July 4th, 2007 at 7:39 am
Just to point out, that GPGNet is not comparable to World of Warcraft or any other subscription model for that matter simply because the mechanics of how it works, and the way in which it was designed to be used are fundamentally different, take for example the online lobby of Command and Conquer or Fifa 2007, there is no way that people would pay a subscription based fee to use it, if this was not available then clearly the online mode would not be a success, when i purchased supreme commander GPGNet was paid for also, and its not something that i should then have to pay Extra to have the pleasure of using.
The only subscription based scheme working for GPGNet in my opinion is this, creating what Xbox360 and PS3 are doing with their respective online stores, and that is to make “Downloadable Content” if this was created by GPG then they would have the issue of Balancing this out within the overall scope of the game and ensuring that people who did not have those units, were not at a disadvantage as a result.
Theres one main point here however, if we cant even allow automatic downloading of custom maps from the host of a game, how are they going to figure out how to allow downloadable units to be used online, it would turn into a farce, which is what the playing of Custom Maps is right now, the fact that we have to goto the vault and download them before we can actually play is just stupid.
July 4th, 2007 at 10:23 am
Being that it’s on the PC, people would quickly create a way to install the units for free. ;)
July 4th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I wouldn’t mind seeing some adds in GPGnet if they were unobtrusive.
July 4th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
“The only subscription based scheme working for GPGNet in my opinion is this, creating what Xbox360 and PS3 are doing with their respective online stores, and that is to make “Downloadable Content”
…
“if we cant even allow automatic downloading of custom maps from the host of a game, how are they going to figure out how to allow downloadable units to be used online?”
$