Barunson E&A announced an alternative $9.99 per month subscription service for accessing Astellia Online (which is buy to play in the west). The cheapest pre-order package is $39.99. According to their announcement, this option was based on “player feedback”. All content will be available.
IMHO, I believe this was “player feedback” of the sort where there haven’t been enough people purchasing these pre-order packs (i.e. not meeting metrics just a couple of weeks before launch). By hitting a more appealing entry point (even if it’s just a month), they can still get some revenues (as opposed to having to expend additional development money on creating a time (or level) locked demo.
As I’ve mentioned in the second link, I believe the game is overpriced (for what it offers). This is especially true when compared with the pre-order pricing for ArcheAge Unchained which is just far more feature and game systems rich by comparison (ignoring Gamigo as a publisher for a moment).
I feel that the announcement should’ve also including something more to the effect that if you end up having 4 months of credited service subscribed, that you would be eligible to the full game (albeit you aren’t going to get the extras from the pre-order packs). My gut feeling is this particular game is going to struggle with both of these models without a major revision in pricing.
As always, time will tell whether or not this will end up going free to play like Bless Online did (where even then, it could not gain any traction due to months of negativity; it will be shuttered in a day).
