Paying for online gaming?

[alan]

I just read an article about all the cheating going on in games such as Counter Strike and Quake. The bulk of the article stated that cheating ruins the whole experience for others and that game companies are well aware of the need to better secure games. However the one line that caught my attention was (to paraphrase) "gaming companies expect cheating to impact future revenue by turning off new players. No one is going to pay $9.95US if their first experience is getting demolished by a cheater." They also quote how many $millions they predict online gaming will generate.

Since they happen to mention Quake, and Halflife variants, do you think that eventally all online gaming will be through monthly service? Will we no longer be able to dial direct into your best buddy's PC and be forced to go through some central server? Are they only talking consoles types? Anyone know?

[HAL9000]

It's quite possible and makes total sense to me. You provide the service, get a bunch of people hooked, introduce a monthly service charge for your now captive audience, rake in the dough. Say there are a million online gamers, even if you lost 3/4ths of your client base after initiating a service fee, at $9.95 per month, thats still $2,487,500 per month income. That's a lot of kablinky

[Blakhart]

Hell no.
I game for free and own a game server online 24/7. I do not charge.
I think the folks who pay to play (everhack?) are making it worse for us and themselves. Oh well, to each their own. I will not be paying to play any time soon. When it becomes a money thing it is no longer a game thing. Kinda like pro sports.

[DrZaius]

There are already some games like that. My friend used to be hooked on an RPG called UO (Ultima Online, I believe), and you had to pay $10 a month or so to be able to play on the huge servers. I think the pay-model works for those role playing type games, but not for fast action FPS, those will always be free and run by gamers on their own servers.

[a|acr|ty]

I think it's a great idea for game companies to provide such services, not the least of which to reduce/eliminate piracy and its effects.

But then again, I'd prefer a game I can buy and just play forever online without having to pay some more (like StarCraft, though I've stopped playing).

[Nuclear Krusader]

A while back I read in PCWORLD that retail software will be replaced by monthly fee software. The companies will upload the applications to their servers and you will pay for using them via the Internet. Sounded scary to me...

[Blakhart]

They want everything to be web based as opposed to hard drive based. It's about control with a view towards profit.
Courtesy of folks like the head of Oracle.
This is why I like Linux soooooooo much.
Did you know they are trying to outlaw homebuilt computers?
How about free code as well?
No more copying anything ever.

[Nuclear Krusader]

So liberty is gonna die one of these days, eh?

[Blakhart]

Not if we win. They are trying like mad to get bills thru congress but more and more people are waking up. Even MS and Intel say they are against this. I do not feel they are really against it, just some sort of controlled opposition. We will use the internet while we can, and with our own software, thank you. Till they try forcing their way.
I do not have an idea as to what happens then. The idea they are getting at is the os and apps/data being on the net. Not on your drive. May not even have a drive at that point. Back to the days of dumb terminals if you will. Talk about a haxor's dream! All about money and control.
We shall see.
Look here:
http://www.stoppoliceware.org/