House of ZAN Forum

[Dana]

I've cancelled my WoW subscription as of today, but it's still open until May 21... so if anybody needs any engineering items from Squidge, you have until then to get them.
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[Plague]

I did, but someone put it on the AH for 6g, so I bought it.
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"Never fear, I is here!"
Jared Sellars (a.k.a. Plague)

[Deathscythe343]

wtb master squidge's sexiness, paying 49.99 pst
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Why run? You'll only die tired.

[Erik Dodd]

I hear ya Dana. I've been pretty bored playing lately too but I think I'm paid up until like July or something.
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Είναι όλα τα ελληνικά σε με

[Grand Master Sef]

I too am cancelling. I handed over IC guild leadership to Wang & gave J some $$$. I may or may not be back but for now I'm just not playing it so I'd rather not pay for it too!

Since I now have a Wii I plan on playing that & any computer game I can get my hands on.
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[Ravage]

Hence the devilish evil of payed-ahead subscriptions. Just for the sake of argument, let's say that you save $2.00 per month by subscribing for 6 months (I just looked up the actual figure and this IS the breakdown for 6 month plans).
If I play for 3 of those 6 months and then don't feel like playing anymore, I've gotten 3 months cheaper, but payed for 6. Essentially:

$15(per month)-$2(per month) = 6 month monthly price ($13.00)
$13.00 x 6 months = $78.00
3 months unplayed time x $13.00 = $39.00
Leaving Net expenditure at $78.00
Wasted money = $39.00

$15.00 (per month) standard subscription
$15.00 x 6 months = $90.00
3 Months unplayed time x 0 = 0
$15.00 x 3 months played = $45.00 (Net expenditure)
Wasted money = 3 months x $2 per month = $6.00

Now of course, the idea is that you know you will be most likely playing still througout the period of time you have the subscription. Otherwise the package plan would be stupid. It got me thinking, however, given a bad scenario, in which case you either choose to stop playing early in a subscription, or "end up" with one due to having to leave, computer problems, deployment (in my case), or any other reason you might stop playing - how many months will you have ALREADY had to have played saving $2 per month to make all the lost money worthwhile? (i.e. break even)

Let's assume the worst...you sign up for 6, and only get to play 1.

6 months of WoW = $78 (subscription rate)
1 month fee = $13
5 month fee = $65
$65 spread into $2 increments = 32.5
32.5 months = 1 Year, 8 months, 2.5 weeks (appx.)
1yr, 9 mo. at regular rate = $495
1yr, 9 mo. at subscription rate = $429
1yr, 9 mo. at reg. rate minus 5 mo. of non-play = $425
The subscriber has paid $4.00 more for the same amount of playtime.

You would have had to have played at least 33 months on the subscription plan before 'cutting and running' just to keep in the black. Now certainly, this works for some people, who have definitely put that in, and then some. However, it's also a great ploy on Blizzard's part, because their losses at giving you $2 off are small on their side, while the potential loss for you paying for months you're not going to use is substantially higher.

So my conclusion? I still don't like subscription plans. For perhaps Jared and the Dodd's, it seems like it would be the way to go - however they could take quite a hit on their overall savings if they end up in such a "worst case scenario". For someone like me, who's schedule changes practically with my underwear, the subscription plans would be a very bad idea.

[Dana]

lol, math
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[Plague]

So for those of us that are more ADD then others would not want to pay ahead then... hehe
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"Never fear, I is here!"
Jared Sellars (a.k.a. Plague)

[Ravage]