Wildstar will have a sub

The payment model for Wildstar has been announced, the game will have a subscription. In addition there will be an intermediary currency (like Gems in GW2) to allow players to buy a month of gaming time through an item called a CREDD. Fans of Eve Online will recognise this model via the PLEX system. Gazimoff of Mana Obscura has a neat analysis of the model up.

Hmm, I’m vaguely interested in Wildstar but not crazy about it. On paper we have another WoW-esque questing/raiding/pvp game with double-jump and active dodging in combat. The path system (explorer, soldier etc) will offer an extra layer of content but I suspect it’ll be like the class stories in SWTOR – you might want to level one character of all four paths but will you want to repeat the normal zone quests that many times?

The issue I see with this model is that of cost of entry. I’ve never found MMO trials to be effective. They are too short, one or two weeks is the norm, and too restrictive. The one big advantage of free to play is the ability to play with friends without expecting them to splash the cash on a box or a subscription.

We were expecting this to have a free to play model, so trying it would have been a no-brainer. Now I’m really not so sure. A lot will depend on what happens in the year or so before it launches. Will I still be enthusing about EQ2? Will we still be leveling characters together in SWTOR? Time will tell.