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Life Sub

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Apr 28, 2018 joylessjoker link
*rubs my eyes* Am I really reading what I just read?

aaround you better not be insinuating something with that.
Apr 29, 2018 NarWalrusWarrior link
May I suggest 5,000$, plus tons of premium content. Were long due for a livery update that loads every single ship with (more than 1) skin. Title this lifetime sub "Lifetime Subscriber," who have access to all liveries for free, get a 10% discount on all ships-and perhaps access to a sandbox server.
Apr 29, 2018 Nico Okarr link
Why deliver a product which is not even in demand?

And did you not read Rins post explaining how you will eventually end up with more dollars worth of subs in the future?
Apr 29, 2018 starblazzz link
How about a dlc pass that gives all livery for discount
Apr 29, 2018 joylessjoker link
Wait, I think the cost should be bumped up to $10,000 to be fair. Some people take far too long to drop dead.
Apr 29, 2018 Pizzasgood link
It doesn't actually matter how long somebody lives once the price is beyond a couple thousand dollars. The most money the devs can make off a single subscription with the current prices is $120 per year. If you pay the devs $5000 for a lifetime sub, however, they could invest that money and generate more revenue than what you'd pay with a monthly sub. For example, let's say they put the money into a low-risk fund that only grows an average of 5% each year. Well, 5% of $5000 is $250. So, by paying them $5000, you've given them a money machine that generates more than twice as much yearly income as your subscription would have. And this is independent of how long you live. Even if you're immortal, an eternity of $120 per year is still inferior to an eternity of $250 per year.

Of course, they would probably put that money into the company itself rather than buying stocks or bonds, but that's because they'd figure they could get an even better return that way. For example, maybe that $5000 lets them pay for a couple advertisements or new assets that result in five new subs. Now instead of $120 or $250 per year, they've turned that money into $600 per year.

So yeah, a $5000 lifetime sub is a great deal... for the devs. Not so much for the player, who could have invested that money himself, used part of the proceeds to pay for his subscription, and used the rest for caramel and cheese cubes. And the vast majority of people who have that kind of money just laying around to burn on things like games will have enough financial savvy to understand this.

The trick to making a lifetime sub work is to make it a good deal for both the player and the devs. That's how the current bulk subs work, for example. The player saves money compared to paying monthly and investing the rest into passive income streams, and the devs get all the money upfront instead of having to wait for it, so they can use that money immediately to bolster their active income stream. Both the player and the devs end up with more money at the end of two years than if the player had paid monthly. Plus you lose less money to fees when you make a few big transactions rather than many small transactions, and the devs get more peace of mind with a bulk purchase since there's no guarantee that a monthly subber will actually stick around for those 24 months.

I'd say that the appropriate price range for a lifetime sub is around $750-$1000, though it depends on how much the devs can capitalize on big immediate payments versus long-term trickles, and on how much they value birds in the hand over birds in the bush.

---

"get a 10% discount on all ships"

Absolutely not.
May 03, 2018 Roda Slane link
Investing in an S&P500 index will average around 15% return on investment, and annual cost of living increases are about half that, leaving around %7 return on investment, after inflation.

Taking half of the two year rate of $160 is $80 per year. The principle investment to generate $80 per year is 100/7 * 80 = ~ $1143

So round it up to $1200 for a life time sub. For the devs, this would represent an automatic yearly increase in subscription price, to reflect market inflation.

How the devs spend/invest it is up to the devs, but investing enough to cover all ongoing operating cost would allow them to insure that the game does indeed operate for a lifetime.

It should come with all the same benefits as a long term subscription.

The devs should specify if it is refundable, and if so, with or without any accumulated interest, and with or without a transaction fee. The accumulated interest would generally be less than inflation. A refund would terminate the life time subscription.

edit: You could also just set up an investment account, that automatically rakes of the $160 every two years and pays your vo sub.
May 04, 2018 NarWalrusWarrior link
Incarnate. Your thoughts?