Alright, I have a little problem, and since I can’t seem to decide, I thought I might get some opinions.
This little screenshot probably gives you a clue of what my issue is…
Yes, all of those are _active_… But Wait, There’s More! I also have World of Warcraft and a few other smaller games (free-to-play, thank god) on a different box.
So, my MMO subscriptions at this moment in time… just the ones with a cost, mind you…
| Title | Term | Cost | Last Played | Time played (that month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City of Heroes | monthly | $16.04 | Nov 2007 | 2 hours |
| Tabula Rasa | monthly | $16.04? | Nov 2007 | 18 hours |
| EverQuest 2 Star Wars Galaxies Vanguard |
monthly (Station Pass+) | $30.98 | Nov 2007 Nov 2007 Nov 2007 |
6 hours 1 hour 2 hours |
| D&D Online: Stormreach | quarterly | $41.85 | Oct 2007 | 2 hours |
| Lord of the Rings Online | quarterly | $28.75 | Oct 2007 | 3 hours |
| World of Warcraft | monthly | $14.99 | Oct 2007 | 2 hours |
With the new TR subscription, that puts me over $100 per month. For a total of some 30 hours of activity between them (and _that_ was with a holiday in there.)
(Yes, I am a moron. Why do you ask?)
The issue? I can’t decide which ones to drop. I do enjoy them all at various times, in various moods. TR is getting the lion’s share of attention at the moment, but I can tell that’s already tapering off.
It seems silly to drop the Station Access. I usually end up playing CoH more than anything else, and with Issue 11 going live, there’s new content to explore (plus I actually have a character close to Level Cap! A first!) I lose the special pricing on LoTRO if I drop that. I’ve got some old friends that will be returning to DDO in the new year, and will be asking me to join them. How can I keep track of what’s going on in WoW if I don’t play it now and then? And so on, and so on…
Any suggestions? Beyond grow a spine?
Voyages in Eternity 
13 comments
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November 29, 2007 at 9:19 am
tipa
a) drop some games, or
b) enjoy your $1200/year habit.
Drop DDO and WoW. For WoW at least, you can just buy a game card to visit your characters occasionally without committing to a permanent subscription. CoX, same thing. Sounds like you aren’t planning on keeping TR long, so don’t worry about it — enjoy yourself. Drop the Station Pass and just subscribe on a monthly basis to the games you actually play, like EQ2. If you want to do SWG or Vanguard, drop EQ2 some month and subscribe for a month to one of the others.
By dropping games, you will free yourself from feeling like you HAVE to play them. The freedom I felt when I dropped my WoW and FFXI Online subscriptions to focus on EQ was liberating. I don’t want to *have* to play *any* game.
November 29, 2007 at 10:44 am
Lucifrank
I second Tipa’s suggestion. DDO would definitely be the first on my chopping block, unless you play it with RL friends or something. Frankly, if you’re not getting at least 4+ hours out of a game on your average week, I think you’d be better off canceling the sub. As far as I know, none of the games you subscribe to delete characters, so it’s not like you can’t come back further down the road.
November 29, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Aaron
The Station Pass is your value deal, so I wouldn’t drop the SOE games… especially with The Agency on the way. Beyond that, it depends completely on your personal style of MMO gaming.
…and grow a spine. 😉
November 29, 2007 at 7:33 pm
KevinC
I would keep the station pass – more economincal, especially if you plan to play multiple SOE games now or in the future.
Drop WoW and DDO. WoW seems to be the one you have the least reason to play right now. You can keep up with changes in the game via other means than $15/month. DDO – see if your friends really do get into it, and if so, then spend the money to re-sub.
CoH – probably keep since you seem to enjoy this one a lot and it seems like your standby.
TR – I guess you’ll have to see how you interest in that one holds.
LoTRO – I don’t know much about their special pricing, but for only playing 3 hours a month it doesn’t seem worth it to pay $30 per month.
So under my plan, you could shave off about $85 per month, and if you end up throwing TR in there, basically $100. Much more affordable.
I don’t envy you, and I also can’t empathize much to be honest. I tend to play one MMO at a time and play it heavily. Then when I quit, I’m done and I move on to the next MMO. What I see above reminds me a lot of what Darren does hehe. I just can’t multi-task when it comes to my time in MMOs.
November 29, 2007 at 8:10 pm
damianov
I get too attached to my characters, that’s the problem. And to the time invested in them, of course. I always have this fear that the day I look away will be the day the provider decides to be the first to delete all characters on inactive accounts…
Anyway, thank you, all… you’ve helped. DDO and WoW are the ones going down. With PotBS and the Agency on the horizon, I am going to hang on to the Station Pass, and probably drop TR and/or LoTRO when the time comes. BTW, good thought re: game cards, Tipa… I hadn’t thought of that option at all.
The amount of money isn’t really an issue (gaming is really the only thing I spend any money on outside of necessities, anyway), but it did/does seem silly to pay for so many accounts when I spend so little time using most of them.
(Plus, now I have people to shift the blame to if they do delete my characters. Bonus! j/k )
November 30, 2007 at 9:41 am
Cameron Sorden
One more LoTRO thought– It’s not worth it to keep it just for the special pricing. That’s an insidious trap that they probably love snaring people in, and it’s exactly why they do it that way. Axe it.
December 1, 2007 at 6:13 am
damianov
True enough, Cameron, true enough. I do want to give LoTRO one more solid run before I drop it, tho.
December 1, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Noah
I currently subscribe to:
World of Warcraft – $14 /m
EVE: Online – $30 /m (2 accounts)
LoTRO – $14 /m
I enjoy them all. But I doubt I could possibly find the time for another 3-5 MMO’s.
December 2, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Lars
@damianov I think the only major MMO that deletes characters is FFXI (and that did sucker me into subscribing a few months longer than I would have otherwise because of it, though they lost more money in the long room because of it [since I had wanted to go back to the game at one point.]) In CoX, you might lose the name if they are lower than level 6, but you keep the toon.
Station Pass is worthwhile. If you like LotRO enough they still offer a lifetime subscription, so buy that and get it over with. Then you can come back to it whenever it suits your fancy. Dump the rest.
December 2, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Ophelea
Was just checking to make sure someone mentioned PotBS since it’s only about 7 weeks away. That will make your station pass worth having – not The Agency. The Agency is much too far out.
I also suggest just biting it and buying the lifetime account for LotRO.
Then use cards for WoW and CoX.
Everyone else had the same suggestions I do.
Also, decide for yourself how much time you need to spend each month to make it worth while. If it’s $15/month…how many hours makes it worth it? I have 2 kids and a disability that keeps me rather homebound. So, 4 hours per MONTH (not per week) makes it worth the sub for me.
Come up with a value that works for you and stick with it.
December 3, 2007 at 10:34 am
Isanox
I would drop the station pass and just stick with EQ2. Vg is a mess right now, and its really not worth it. I would switch between them if/once VG shapes up.
From the NCSoft family I would go with CoX. TR is also a mess right now with the nerfs and the weapon changes soon. Agian, switch between them once TR gets its act together.
DDO & Lotro – 2 group base IP games. I would go with Lotro, its a much better game.
Wow – unsub until the next exp.
December 3, 2007 at 11:32 am
wilhelm2451
My personal rule is three subscriptions at a time, maximum. I can usually play one game, fiddle around in a second, and spend just enough time in a third to not feel totally guilty. But if I get to that fourth game… I just never play it enough.
I would say of your list, WoW should go, as it is the easiest of the bunch to get back up to speed with when you come back. You just have to pay the patcher penalty.
Let TR die when you’re done.
And suggest LOTRO too, but instead I am just going to smile about how the founder’s pricing is working out for Turbine. (This from somebody who went lifetime because he knew he could never cancel the $9.99 subscription and lose the pricing.)
And spines are overrated.
December 4, 2007 at 5:51 am
damianov
I have to admit, I really am working against my own interests here. I happen to be one of those people that would prefer and be best served by hourly pricing on most games, if it was a reasonable rate ($.25-.50/hour, even up to $1/hour, not the rates of the Genie/Compuserve era)… by being so willing to buy into and feed the monthly subscription model, I undermine my own case. Sigh.
Founder’s Pricing was a good idea, but they’ve also done a good job of not pushing it… it could have left a bad taste in people’s mouths.
Also, I am a little confused about the terms on LoTRO at the moment… I just went and double checked the Turbine account site, Payment Options, and Lifetime subscription is still available? It says on the very same page…
SPECIAL NOTE TO FOUNDERS: You may select one of the above Founder Pricing options at this time. This is a one-time offer. Once you have been charged for your subscription, you will lock in your special Founder’s rate. The above options are only available if both the Pre-order and Retail Product Keys are activated for a subscription on or prior to May 24, 2007, and will not apply to re-activations once your subscription is cancelled or terminated for any reason.
That would seem to indicate to me that changing to Lifetime wouldn’t be possible at this point, but the option is still enabled… haven’t actually tried it to see if it would go thru. Just a validation check that was never implemented, or a change in policy?
The sad part is, there are aspects of each and every one of these titles that I enjoy. Can’t someone just take all the “good stuff” out of each of these games and pack into one!?!?! (lol)