Question - Lifetime All Access Membership (1 Viewer)

[mhwicks]

Who remembers when EQ let you buy your account a life time All Access membership for 299.99$?

I sure do, who out there would spend that 300 bucks on accounts you have now?

I sure would.

 

[juice999]

Who remembers when EQ let you buy your account a life time All Access membership for 299.99$?

I sure do, who out there would spend that 300 bucks on accounts you have now?

I sure would.

Yeah, really wish I would have nabbed one back then for sure. But I pay for all my accounts aside from my main w/KR. Shit, I would use KR for all of them but I like the no de-lvl perky and they're a pain in the ass to get without a $ sub.

 

[ChatWithThisName]

I have 6 lifetime accounts. I always felt like I was wasting money before, if I paid for a month/s/year and didn't play much. It's nice not worrying about what length subscription to buy, trying to keep a couple accounts silver etc.. Now, when I feel like playing EQ, I have all my accounts ready to go. Just need to buy 6 expansions each year. Best investment ever, for sure, especially if EQ goes on for years. I'm assuming they thought that EQ wouldn't last much longer at the time or were just needing some quick capital for a project? Whatever the reason, it's kept me playing EQ. Not sure I would still be tempted to play, if I had to pay for subs, but it's there for free now. so I can jump back in any time.

iirc they were offered prior to eg7 acquisition. So they were cashing out while cashing out, leaving eg7 with the negative impact of having subbed characters that no longer have to pay. That's my thoughts anyway.

 

[Bolbod]

of all the games I have bought lifetime subs on... I play exactly none of them... but IF I had had the funds to buy back then, I prolly would have just so I'd not have to buy again, though I've added two accounts since that time

 

[Micker99]

iirc they were offered prior to eg7 acquisition. So they were cashing out while cashing out, leaving eg7 with the negative impact of having subbed characters that no longer have to pay. That's my thoughts anyway.

That makes a lot of sense. Get as much cash now as you can and let the new owner deal with the lack of subscription money. Lifetime subs aren't a bad idea, just not a great idea on a game that has lasted 24 yrs and still going lol.

 

[Jetanroth]

Who remembers when EQ let you buy your account a life time All Access membership for 299.99$?

I sure do, who out there would spend that 300 bucks on accounts you have now?

I sure would.

I only did one account. I am kicking myself now! lol

 

[blueadept]

we don't do RMT stuff here, you'd want to go to ectunnel for that

Wasn't selling. Just was curious for what they typically go for. You would have to pry my accounts from my cold dead hands. Too many hours spent with the toons.

 

[Knightly]

iirc they were offered prior to eg7 acquisition. So they were cashing out while cashing out, leaving eg7 with the negative impact of having subbed characters that no longer have to pay. That's my thoughts anyway.

EG7 acquisition was 2 years after the last time it was offered, so it's unlikely to be directly related to that. As far as "cashing out" goes -- more likely it was just boosting working capital, it's unlikely anyone directly profited.

From an accounting standpoint, any acquiring company would have been looking at monthly recurring revenue and would likely have discounted those spikes regardless of how they were allocated -- since they wouldn't be attributed to the expansion spike and would have been a "one time" offering (even though it was offered twice). It might have slightly boosted EBITDA in that year, but I doubt it's even that much. EverQuest's model is a hybrid model, but the free to play side of it relies on the cash store which isn't heavily impacted by subscription -- so lifetime accounts are not really that much different than free to play accounts in that regard.

 

[Multichar]

Who remembers when EQ let you buy your account a life time All Access membership for 299.99$?

I sure do, who out there would spend that 300 bucks on accounts you have now?

I sure would.

I wouldn't (and didn't) because I pretty much assume my accounts are about to get whacked at all times. (Makes it easier than thinking you're safe and then getting surprised.)

 

[ChatWithThisName]

EG7 acquisition was 2 years after the last time it was offered, so it's unlikely to be directly related to that. As far as "cashing out" goes -- more likely it was just boosting working capital, it's unlikely anyone directly profited.

From an accounting standpoint, any acquiring company would have been looking at monthly recurring revenue and would likely have discounted those spikes regardless of how they were allocated -- since they wouldn't be attributed to the expansion spike and would have been a "one time" offering (even though it was offered twice). It might have slightly boosted EBITDA in that year, but I doubt it's even that much. EverQuest's model is a hybrid model, but the free to play side of it relies on the cash store which isn't heavily impacted by subscription -- so lifetime accounts are not really that much different than free to play accounts in that regard.

Well I didn't think that the acquisition happened over a short period of time. I figured it just wasn't announced until further along.
Re: lifetime accounts are not really that much different than free to play accts.
Perhaps the sub fees doesn't generate much compared to the microtransaction store, but there are discounts applied for being subbed, be it from krono, cc, or lifetime. So it's essentially a permanent discount. Without the sub fees associated with the transaction I figure that it's a net loss over time and it would last the duration of the game or accounts existence. Discounts include the reduction in cost associated with the microtransaction store as well as the purchase of annual expansions. I mean at the end of the day it's all dev time regarding production cost for the sells, and all the sales do generate money, so long as they make a profit I guess it's not that big a deal. Also the limited nature of it does lend to it's "not that big a deal" impact, but I still think it was a way to get some extra cash before selling. Just my 2c and I have zero inside knowledge. Just the way I saw it at the time.