Home Gaming WildStar will be a subscription-based MMO…kind of

WildStar will be a subscription-based MMO…kind of

3 min read
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WildStar is going to require its players to pay a subscription.  However, players can also purchase game time using in-game currency.  Prepare for hacking, scams and general economic collapse.

The game is going to retail for $59.99 and comes with one month of access as well as three “guest passes” for friends and family to get a week’s worth of free play.  After that, players can sign up for a subscription at $14.99 a month, or a reduced rate if they buy months in bulk (3, 6 or 12 month subscriptions).

Alternatively, players can spend their in-game gold on “CREDD”, which stands for Certificate of Research, Exploration, Destruction and Development (references to the four player paths) and adds 30 days to your time.  CREDD can be purchased on Carbine’s website for $19.99, after which players can sell it on the in-game exchange for gold – they can set their own price, which is intended to make the economy fluctuate from server to server based on supply and demand.

Executive Producer, Jeremy Gaffney, explained that there were two types of players that they were seeking to satisfy:

“Player number one is, they don’t want to pay a sub. They just want to play the game. Well, okay, they can buy CREDD using in-game gold from other players in the Commodities Exchange, like a stock market.

“How does CREDD enter the economy? Well, there’s another class of player. They are happy enough playing the game, but they want to make a little extra in-game gold. What they can do is buy a little CREDD, they get an item they can now trade on the Commodities Exchange for someone else’s gold. What this does is let the free market … basically be the way people can trade their time for money with other players, because some people are time-rich, and some people are cash-rich.”

It’s an interesting model, but I’m not sure how well it will work.  Essentially, if you’re willing, you could sign up for a year’s subscription, and then spend a fortune on CREDD which you’d sell off in the commodity exchange for a ton of gold, and then run around with all the money because you have real-world money.  What about people who just want to play the game, but maybe can’t afford a monthly subscription?  They, like peasants, will be forced to grind for hours on end in the hopes of earning enough gold to buy some CREDD so that they can be allowed to grind some more.  Yay?

Also, as we’ve learned from past experience, none of these servers are really and truly secure.  Blizzard’s Diablo III auction house was scammed, and just about every development house or distributor has been hacked in the last year.  If Carbine’s gets attacked, people could end up losing real money as their CREDD is stolen – what a way to lose your street cred.

I suppose we’ll have to see how it all pans out.  WildStar looks like a cool game, I’m just not sure I’d pay $15 a month for any game anymore, especially after paying for the original game itself.  After paying approximately R600 for a game, I don’t want to pay an additional R150-R200 for the privilege of continuing to play.  And I certainly won’t give some rich guys (other than the game distributors) my hard-earned in-game cash just so I can continue to play!

Last Updated: August 21, 2013

27 Comments

  1. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    August 21, 2013 at 12:04

    Those freakishly large hands… holy crap! As the image was loading and I was scrolling down, I was like “Damn… hot bunny ears… mmm… boobies… nice.. HOLY CRAP MONSTROUS HANDS”

    Reply

    • RitterBruder

      August 21, 2013 at 12:13

      nothing like a hot chick with monstrous hands !!

      Reply

      • John drinks Nuka Cola

        August 21, 2013 at 12:16

        Must not make filthy comment…

        Reply

        • Unavengedavo

          August 21, 2013 at 12:19

          She needs large hand to better grip the.. uh… sword…

          Reply

          • John drinks Nuka Cola

            August 21, 2013 at 12:23

            Thank you for the censored version Unavengedavo

          • Her Highness the Hipster

            August 21, 2013 at 12:29

            i thought men liked midgets for the opposite reason – tiny hands make it look big 😉

          • John drinks Nuka Cola

            August 21, 2013 at 12:31

            Your highness, you have just earned yourself a like.

          • Unavengedavo

            August 21, 2013 at 12:31

            I see this spiraling into some weird midget porn thread…

          • Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

            August 21, 2013 at 12:31

            hahaha and escalation to weird midget porn in.. 3…2…1…

          • Unavengedavo

            August 21, 2013 at 12:32

            Allow me to strike the 1st blow 😛

          • Lardus-Respect the beard

            August 21, 2013 at 15:56

            Epic win – Comment of the week right there!

          • Admiral Chief Raider of Tombs

            August 21, 2013 at 13:05

            You need to hang out with Afrikaans men then, cuz your friends have a small problem it seems

          • Her Highness the Hipster

            August 21, 2013 at 13:12

            concept is still sound

          • Unavengedavo

            August 21, 2013 at 16:01

            This reminds me of a joke…

            A man boarded an aircraft in New York and took his seat. As he settled in, he noticed a very beautiful woman boarding the plane. He realized she was heading straight towards his seat And Bingo! She took the seat right beside him.

            Eager to strike up a conversation, he blurted out, “Business trip or vacation?”

            She turned, smiled enchantingly and said, “Business. I’m going to the Annual Nymphomaniac Convention in France.”

            He swallowed hard. Struggling to maintain his composure, he calmly asked, “What’s your business role at this convention?”

            “Lecturer,” she responded. “I use my experience to debunk some of the popular myths about sexuality.”

            “Really,” he smiled, “What myths are those?”

            “Well,” she explained, “one popular myth is that African American men are the most well endowed when, in fact, it’s the Native American Indian who is most likely to possess that trait. Another popular myth is that French men are the best lovers, when actually it is the men of Indian descent. We have found that the best potential lovers in all categories are the Afrikaners.”

            Suddenly the woman became uncomfortable and blushed. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I really shouldn’t be discussing this with you; I don’t even know your name.”

            “Running Bear,” the man said….”Running Bear Moodley, but my friends call me Frik.”

          • Her Highness the Hipster

            August 21, 2013 at 16:44

            LOL! and love the name change!

          • Lardus-Respect the beard

            August 21, 2013 at 15:50

            Make it look big, or…

          • Unavengedavo (aka. Frik)

            August 21, 2013 at 16:14

            Need I say more?

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      August 21, 2013 at 13:03

      After seeing those hands I immediately checked for an adams apple :/

      Reply

  2. Argentil

    August 21, 2013 at 12:21

    It’s worked for years in EVE online. It’s the same as PLEX. It’s a great RMT deterrent actually.

    Reply

    • Kromas

      August 21, 2013 at 13:04

      Yep … I have not payed for eve in years with my credit card … all is done via the Pilots Licence Extension.

      Reply

  3. John drinks Nuka Cola

    August 21, 2013 at 12:27

    I don’t know how many metal fans are on LG, but I just found a band called The Ledjent of Zelda.
    “A more unique way to hear the original soundtrack to The Legend of Zelda”
    Not bad….

    Reply

  4. Lardus-Respect the beard

    August 21, 2013 at 12:52

    “I’m just not sure I’d pay $15 a month for any game anymore” – I’m also not going to pay a subscription for another game after all the years of WoW. All that monies could have bought a next-gen console plus a game plus an extra control!!

    Reply

    • ElNicko

      August 21, 2013 at 15:42

      Very true man , though think about how much money you did save by playing WOW instead of going out drinking ?? R150 bucks a month isnt That bad

      Reply

      • Lardus-Respect the beard

        August 21, 2013 at 15:47

        Not big on drinking…but I drop a half-a-console at least each time I go to the “dance academy”

        Reply

  5. Seraphim

    August 21, 2013 at 13:13

    “…because some people are time-rich, and some people are cash-rich.”
    I’m not time- or cash-rich so good bye interesting game.

    Although it will hopefully become f2p with a cash market or something similar in a year or 2.
    EDIT: or the subscription price will drop.

    Reply

  6. Pieter Kruger

    August 21, 2013 at 14:24

    In other breaking news: “Wildstar Tanked!”

    Reply

  7. CrasH

    August 22, 2013 at 10:01

    Seriously, R600 bucks and $15 per month… with a pay to win model on top of that…

    I could consider buying the game, but i always have to buy 2 games when i buy a mmo (wife and myself) and i could even consider running a subscription (x2), but the fact that you can spend real money to buy gold so to speak, is pay to win.
    Some Asian farmer/bot going to love this game and i was looking forward to this game but now i will wait the 1 year for it to go F2P, hell might even tank faster that STOR and go F2P in 6 months.
    STOR also cost a lot had subs… and GW2 also cost alot… fool me once… fool me twice… and I aint going for strike 3 and many other wont either.

    Reply

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