Poll: How much would you pay for subscriptions or additions?

[Mark Waybill 242]

As we don't know yet how EA/Maxis plan to manage financial aspects of the game in regards to online/Multiplayer etc. Also if at first it is free but server costs get too high we should make our views clear to them as regards costs of all kinds.

[§haÅ--Ñ€ §hÅŽo 370]

I don't think it's right to make us buy a game at an expensive price, then force us to pay monthly. We aren't made of money, and EA has enough money that it can be using for the servers.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I actually think that if they are successful in putting live advertising in the game and actually can sell it to a wide enough universe of discourse, the servers should be paid by advertising revenue.

[meowza 230]

I only want to make a one-time payment for a full game, and completely optional flavor DLCs.

They better not add any forced subscription payments, or they will regret this!

  Edited April 18, 2012 by meowza  

[The_City_Builder 299]

I won't even buy it if it has a subscription fee.

That's why I haven't pre ordered yet...

Also, the "extra region space" option in the poll scares me. I don't want this to become some horrid 3D CityVille.

  Edited April 18, 2012 by 1701adguru  

[ZirconiaWolf 7]

I buy the games I choose to own, I don't rent them- which is exactly what a *subscription* boils down to being.

I much prefer the pay-per-optional-EP route (as I am free to pick & choose what I might want to add) instead of the pay-for-the-game-and-any-EPs-and-the-ability-to-keep-playing-it plan, which sadly appears to be where things are heading in the world of PC gaming.

[Dewm 177]

I buy the games I choose to own, I don't rent them- which is exactly what a *subscription* boils down to being.

I much prefer the pay-per-optional-EP route (as I am free to pick & choose what I might want to add) instead of the pay-for-the-game-and-any-EPs-and-the-ability-to-keep-playing-it plan, which sadly appears to be where things are heading in the world of PC gaming.

EXACTLY!

I own the game (copy) if I wish to load it onto 3 of my PC's I better be able to, if I want to play offline I better be able to.. etc..

(which like many others is why I haven't preordered this game.)

And I expect a 100% completed game when I buy it.

none of this

"buy heavy rail for another $5.00

"Expand region size by 10 blocks for $10.00"

  Edited April 18, 2012 by Dewm  

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I might pay up to $100 after tax on this game, up to another $100 over a decade on expansion packs, and up to $50 on REALLY high quality DLC but there is no way on Earth I would pay either a subscription fee or pay for shoddy products. I have not preordered yet and I am willing to order after release and pay extra just to make sure the game works.

[Xyloxadoria 1,099]

I saw a game (froget what it was) that had a scheme that worked well. Basically it is a pay-per-optional-EP system, but you could earn the EP.

The game had both custom user made addons, and official addons. Some were free, and some required the virtural game currency.

What made the system work well is that you could either by the virtual game currency, or you could earn it by making addons of your own. Bascially if you made addons and they got enoguh downloads, you would earn enough credits from that to be able to buy the offical EP.

That encoruged the commutiny to sepnd time on and make good addons, so they could earn currency from doing it. There was a much higher content creating user/only downloading user ratio in that game than SC4 has.

[NCGAIO 562]

Well ... by a complement like that ...I would maybe five cents.

Now this I would pay maybe about ten.

Was it expensive? So it's only order the Limited Edition version -SimCity Heroes & Villains at amazon and they come for free by EA!

Magnifico concept of art is not it?

Worthy of the best building of SimCity 3000!

  Edited April 18, 2012 by NCGAIO  

[jacksunny 741]

^$10 for superheroes and villains? No thanks.

And if we have to pay extra money to expand regions, that is a deal breaker for me. The city tile sizes are bad enough, I don't want the size of my region to be limited.

[stuifje 5]

I'm uncertain if i will be willing to pay for anything but the purchase of the game itself.

Not much i know about the final content to make up my mind.

[Darcon 6]

I find the poll lacking a proper answer for " I will not buy the game if subscriptions are required, nor will I pay for mods, regions or additions. Expansions I am fine with purchasing" Remember when developers shipped full games at launch then a few months down the road they shipped expansions. In between expansions you got patches to resolve bugs and tweek features as well as many content additions for free. Sure do miss that.

It is almost like they are totally oblivious to the debacle CitiesXL caused with the PO service and how the majority did not want to pay subscriptions for access to content that should have honestly been included in the base game. I was very excited initially at the news of SC5 finally being developed and by a proper studio. As we progress though I am finding that I will likely not purchase SC5 if it continues to be nothing more than a quick money grab meant to extort a loyal fan base.

It is really sad, they have the perfect chance to embrace what the community has been waiting for and show that PC gamers will throw piles of money at their feet if they deliver what the community wants. Instead they seem to think they know what is best for us and are going to try and cram it down our throats with the attitude of "you want a new sim city, well here it is, now play it and shut up. No it doesn't have a true offline single player mode, even though you asked for it. Just use origin, its a great service. If we just force enough people to use it we can make it cool like steam." I will not pay for a subscription, mods, special content, or anything additional short of a true expansion.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

I certainly will not pay for a subscription but the global market online feature should be completely free. Anno 2070 has a free multiplayer option even. Have you heard of BattleNet? Spore was always online and that was free. Therefore, it should be IMPOSSIBLE for EA to get away with charging a subscription fee.

[Mark Waybill 242]

I find the poll lacking a proper answer for " I will not buy the game if subscriptions are required, nor will I pay for mods, regions or additions. Expansions I am fine with purchasing"

I will pay 99 dollars for the game and possibly expansions. Mods should be free.

This was intended to be for that answer.

[BurroDiablo 222]

I could potentially pay full price for the game if it turns out to be what I've been waiting for, and with that I'd also contemplate purchasing any worthy expansions that they release (none of this Heroes and Villains bull). I will not pay for subscriptions and mods... if they even put these costs in I will be side stepping SC13 all together.

[commanderkai 38]

I'm not going to spend money for mods or "region space". I'm buying the game, and I'll be willing to buy expansions or DLC, but if there is a subscription model I'm not giving EA a dime.

[Durfsurn 539]

I am happy to pay $100 plus for the actual game itself if it's good. BUT I don't want to have things saying-

To use this tool please buy expansion pack 1 for $5.99

Or

You have reached your maximum region size. To expand please purchase an expansion pack 'here'.

Nor do I want sever costs. I don't ant to even PLAY online so why would I have to pay for it?

:: sigh :: If it could only be like SC4 but with the features of SC2013.

[jigsaw 227]

i will pay for anything if it's worth it. i have all the STEX/LEX discs, and i have even bought an entire new computer years ago JUST to play SC4.

if it's worth it, i will get it.

but i will cringe if advertising is used in the game... if i pay, it should be add free.

[Ocram's Razr 963]

You can buy LEX CD's? Is there a bundle for CAMpatible/CAMeLots?

I will not pay for subscriptions but I will seriously consider buying Deluxe Editions, Expansion Packs, and DLC.

[~Dee~ 215]

I'll wait for the game release and then wait some more for the gamers to play it and see if it has a proper single player option, if it has I'll buy it and any EP's.

No way will I pay for a subscription ,since I don't play on-line I shouldn't have to.

[LivingInThePast 364]

I would purchase the full game upwards to $80, but only if it includes a permanent single-player mode.

The servers will be free, as they'll likely shut down in two years anyway.

DLC should be bundled with gameplay improvements/additions. I'll pay around $25 for a good expansion pack, better than RH.

Mods are free, and should always be, unless its a third party selling them (STEX discs)

[Spinmaster 75]

The game, I'll pay for. $80 is high, but personally... not a big hit, and worth every penny if I like the game.

I won't like the game if what I do in it is in any way influenced by factors outside the "bubble" I prefer to play games in, far far away from anything to do with reality. This is my biggest fear now. I suppose a "global economy" might not matter much from one day to the next, but I don't play games daily.

I won't like the game if I'm not 100% certain that 12 years from now I'll still be able to play it (never mind the technical challenges involved... I can handle those). Doesn't matter that it's now old and obsolete, and that there's probably a much, much better version available. Every once in a while, I still enjoy firing up Myst, Wolfenstein 3D, Civilization - the original one, and even SimCity. Not 2000, not 3000... not 5 or 2013... the original SimCity. Yes, I quickly appreciate how far the game has come, but ... I guess I'm gettin' old - nostalgia is sometimes more fun than state-of-the-art, to me.

I would pay a reasonable price for official expansion packs. Honestly, if the NAM team could have charged for NAM, I would've paid up and been happy to do so. Almost wish they could have - I feel like I've somehow "pirated" software by using it, even though it's necessarily free anyway.

I would not pay for user-generated content i.e. individual lots, buildings, and small mods. If that user-generated content could be submitted for consideration in expansion packs and add-ons, I think that would give some serious inspiration for large projects - like NAM, or a large collection of rail lots that only rail enthusiasts would appreciate (i.e. optional). And those, I would buy for a reasonable price - the packs that I like, anyway (I probably would buy that rail one, even though I'm not really an "enthusiast"). Provided I know the creators get at least a piece of the profits from it, much like a smart phone app (though I rarely pay for one of those). Maybe I pay $2.99 for a pack of properly tested (by Maxis/EA) rural schoolhouses, EA hogs most of it of course, but to know the creator gets at least 50 cents of it... ok.

I will never, ever, under any circumstances, pay a subscription fee. I don't care if it's $1 per year, I'm not paying it.

[Odainsaker 2,133]

I do not want to subscribe to any sort of game account, even a free one. They do not need to know my name, my location, my credit card numbers, my IP address, or my online habits. They do not require any profile information from me, do not require dial-home permissions, and they will never have permission to share or sell my information with third-party vendors and marketeers.

I would prefer to purchase limited numbers of full expansion packs as disks, and I never purchase DLC or engage in micro-transactions.

[Jazzmaster 716]

I'm not worried about a monthly or even annual subscription fee. Most, if not all of EA's games that have ever had online functionality have always been free to play online.

What I'm more concerned about is the servers abruptly shutting down.

[croxis 150]

From what I have heard so far it sounds like the multiplayer system wont be much worse than hosting a large website. I doubt it will be such a great expense that they have to resort to subscription.

[Dijego 66]

Can someone put that concept art in a spoiler box or something, it is making me lag a lot if I want to scroll down past it.

Anyways, I will buy the game only if it is complete. It should not require mods to be completed like SC4 did in my opinion.

Right now I am worried, also due to the fact that I read somewhere that it will be released in Q1. If they release it that early I have a feeling there will be an expansion, aka completion of the game... Which would then mean I'd have to wait till the prices of those combined have dropped so much... it's going to take centuries.

monthly fee = never looking at the game and complete loss of trust in EA, Origin and Maxis.

$70 for a complete game.

$5 for a game that obviously requires expansions/mods to be completed.

I love the fact that they are actually competing with their own games. If SimCity is worse than SC4 then people might as well stay with a game that has proven its worth over the past decades.

[GMT 389]

I'm willing to pay a full price for the complete(!!!; not a halfbutted release being patched to 100% via buyable dlc like we see it oh so many times right now) game

and I am willing to pay a fair price for real expansion packs, like RH was for SC4 or the expansions for the sims, ... or like it was back in the days when internets were slow and expansions released only physically.

NO subscription, NO microaddons, not even for one cent.

  Edited May 18, 2012 by GMT  

[nashville nelson 51]

I´m undecided. I will buy the game, play it and see if it is worth to spend more money and time on it.

[Pepper 15]

I find the poll lacking a proper answer for " I will not buy the game if subscriptions are required, nor will I pay for mods, regions or additions. Expansions I am fine with purchasing" Remember when developers shipped full games at launch then a few months down the road they shipped expansions. In between expansions you got patches to resolve bugs and tweek features as well as many content additions for free. Sure do miss that.

I agree with this 100%. I don't think there will be any sort of subscription fee, but if there is, I definitely won't be buying. For a game like SimCity, I like to pay one flat amount to buy it, then pay another amount for a full expansion pack later on. I don't care for microtransactions and won't pay for them, and if they offer new features that you can only get with DLC, I get annoyed (eg, Sims 3 has unique objects that you can only get in the Sims 3 Store for $10+).