Pay To Play Online - Is It Worth It?

Not too long ago, I started to play World of Warcraft.  From my experience with the game, I thought it was really good.  It has lots of depth, good graphics, and an amazing online community.  One thing though, in order to enjoy the game, it has to be played over a long period of time.  But in order to play for long periods of time, we have to pay.  Roughly $23 dollars a month.

Now, it's not the only game that requires a monthly subscription fee.  Phantasy Star Universe and Final Fantasy 11 also require one, roughly $20 a month.  There are other games too, but I'll keep it at that for now.

This monthly subscription to me can be summed up in one word, ridiculous.  It's expensive and unnecessary.  I can understand the costs of maintaining servers, but this is something that should have been dealt with in the beginning.  When the game first came out, it was about $40 and came with a one month free trial.

From there, add $20 a month over the course of two years, plus the expansion pack that was released about two years ago and sold for around $40.  Together, we're talking about $600 or so dollars. $600 dollars, spread over the course of about two years, is about one third the cost of a typical person's gaming budget.  Now, I understand that Blizzard has to pay to keep the servers up, staff to maintain the servers and various other expenses.

That being said, why is this coming out of the pockets of gamers?  This is something that should have been taken care of when the game was created.  If they offered something like $99.99 a year, then that would probably make things a little more reasonable.  Instead, we are paying $80 dollars for six months. That's a lot considering it's just for the online costs.

To be honest, I believe the monster that Blizzard created, WoW, symbolizes everything that is wrong with the videogame industry.  All the negative stereotypes about gamers are represented by WoW players.  I have known people to quit their jobs, leave social events, and even get seriously sick due to this game.

It's games like this that keep the industry from growing.  Why you may ask?  Because people become so involved with games like these that newly released games are then ignored.  So, is World of Warcraft worth my $20 a month?  My answer is no.  I recommend keeping your money for something else.  If you can, even put it towards a newly released game that you may be interested in.