[Part of my MMO Design Folder]
How much do you pay to win?
Heh, while everyone can talk about P2W till they are blue in the face, I'm more interested in the pricing comparisons across the MMOs that you play. As a usual Free to Play shrub, I rarely notice these things until I eventually get tempted enough to get a mount or something. For those that follow this blog or know me personally, you know that parting me from my money is extremely rare and so far has only happened in one MMO: Mabinogi.
Well I recently also got tempted to get a faster mount in Neverwinter Online, especially after the trailer for the next module: Rage of Demons came out but that came to a screeching halt when I looked at the price and compared it to that of Mabinogi. Here are the exchange rates:
10 USD = 1000 Zen (NWO)
1 USD = 1000 NX (Mabinogi)
So for a mount, here are some actual figures:
Neverwinter - Stormrider Clydesdale (2500 Zen / $25 USD)
+110% Speed. Cannot be used for anything else or in combat.
Mabinogi - Thunder Dragon (16,900 NX / $ 17 USD)
Doesn't run super fast, maybe a boost of 50% speed.
Can Fly. Can breathe lightning. Can fight. Levels up. Has a large inventory.
Stuns nearby enemies on summon.
Hrmmmm... maybe that's not a fair comparison right? Lets look at a more Horse like thing for Mabi as well...
Mabinogi - Thoroughbred (10,900 NX) $11.
Runs bloody fast. Probably the equivalent of the NWO Stormrider.
Can be used in combat, not a good fighter though. Small Inventory.
The Kicker: That's the old price. As of G16, anyone who completes the newbie quests gets one for FREE.
This got me thinking, I wonder how everyone else's games compare in the Value for Money department. I'm very curious to hear how much it costs in your game for a "standard steed", whatever that may be. :)
I know STO has ships for 3000 zens, for the best ships in the games, or equal to the best anyway, since you spend most of the game in a ship, they are quite useful, which mean if you don't pay, you're at a disadvantage.
ReplyDeleteFleet ships are also about the same, but you need to be in a fleet and it takes a long time getting there, unless you're in a pretty big fleet (equivalent of guilds).
Mabinogi probably has one of the cheapest mounts around, and considering they do a lot more than making you travel faster, that makes them a much better deal than on other games I've played.
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