The Daily Grind: Have you had to cancel an MMO subscription?

I have/had 3 accounts for every MMO I play (Mine, the Wifie's and the kids -they share). Right now, we only pay for WoW, but in the past year we've had LOTRO and Warhammer going. I wish I had the $200 for LOTRO's Lifetime Sub when that was an option... but, x 3 that's a lot of dough for a game... I'd rather spread it out over time. Warhammer got grindy and boring for us real quick.

I think companies will have to explore new methods of subscription fees for their games. Game companies need to think about how they can all share the pool instead of trying to own it. One thing that I think is consistent among gamers is the love for new games. We want to play them all... Mythic might do well to think about how they can offer their game to the most people, or... not force us into the decision of which game do I cancel... typically the new game will lose that decision.

Do I stick with the old game that I know and love, where I have friends, equipment, etc etc for the new one with all the new bugs and other unknowns?

Charging based on time like $15/month for unlimited, $10 for Nights and Weekends, or $5 for just weekends... etc. Heck, $5/month for a player is better than $0 right? How about a family plan? $20/month for 2 accounts... or $15 for 1 account, $25 for 2, $30 for 3 etc. That could even lead to increased box sales on old games.

My 2 cents

I, too, find LotRO's $10/month a good deal -- and, in my opinion, LotRO offers a far better and richer game experience than WoW.

I do wish there was some way MMOs could offer "family plans" of some kind, allowing multiple accounts from the same IPO at a discount. Anyone with kids will understand my dilemma. One ends up settling for a lot of within-family account sharing, when what my kids and I really want is the option *play together* -- only it's hugely expensive to sustain multiple accounts/subscriptions, so playing together is effectively cost-prohibitive.

I am really hopeful that SWTOR and other promising online games latch onto the MT model. Done in the *right* way (i.e., by offering enhancements, accessories, and so forth -- not necessities -- as MTs), a well-made MT-based game would be a real plus for gaming families.

I'd like to see more games (maybe STOR will do it.) adopt the Guild Wars model wher once you buy the box you own and can play that content so long as the servers continue to operate. GW itself (particularly the Factions and Nightfall campaigns) is so high-quality and beautiful. It's a great value and worth looking at in this economy.

Since WOTLK was a huge disappointment for me, after I got past the gorgeous landscapes (which indeed deserve much much praise), I have cancelled my WoW account and am fully sticking with my LOTRO lifetime sub.

Having so much fun ^^

i canceled all mine, WoW, WaR, CoV, CoH. i go through periods where i cant stop playing MMOs or FPS. for the past 3 months its been pure FPS games.

saving money as well.

I play Guild Wars, which is free to play, after you buy the game. I also have a lifetime subscription to LOTRO. I'm not sure how good a deal it was, but I'm glad that I don't have to pay subscription fees!

I decided to try WoW, but I paid for one month, then I canceled my subscription. If I want to keep going I'll start it up again, pay for a month, and then cancel my subscription again. Otherwise, I'd l probably forget about it, and even if I wasn't playing, I'd get charged.

MMOs are a great deal, even ones with a subscription fee - but these are troubled time.. Things are OK for me right now, but you never know what will happen.

I'm another 'one account at a time' person. Ran EQ2 for 3+ years. Finally started getting frustrated with it and somehow stumbled into an EVE trial. Let the EQ2 expire and started EVE and can...not...stop. Must...train...next...skill. The thing about EVE is that it can be like playing 8 different games. There are so many elements to it, and you almost have to focus on one at a time to get good. Get bored? Switch to different element.

Have been going back to the solo games a little: DS2, some RTSs, even Doom3. Tried Fallout3 for about 2 hours. Then realized, hey...I've played this before. Uninstalled it, packed it up and shipped it off to a friend (for Christmas) who HADN'T played Oblivion. He loves it.

SC

I dropped my WAR and WoW accounts shortly before the economy decided to die on us and have been playing Guild Wars. I already owned all the campaigns and picked up the expansion on Amazon for $5 + shipping so now I'm set for gaming goodness until the money starts flowing again.

I had four accounts active last year: LOTRO, CoH, WoW and AoC. I cancelled the latter two because AoC was so broken it wasn't worth playing and I was bored with WoW. I realised when I cancelled my WoW account that I hadn't even logged in for 6 months...

Were they still something I wanted to play, I'd have no qualms about running multiple subs. A good MMO is great value for money.