Questions about this Game

[infoleather]

If someone can play Dragon is free, why should subscribe to it? Dragon few things Istaria, it can be used as a lever, which is why they charge.

[Snowrift]

Mabinogi has playable dragons. Pets are just like characters. You can play them and do dungeons and stuff. You can do basically anything your own character can do, except you can carry your friends on your back also.
There are also other games that allow you to play dragons.

Pets in Mabinogi really aren't all that similar to regular character cards. For one, they have a time limit on them. Most pets can only be played for little over an hour a day. Not to mention dragon pets cost around 15$ each, and are limited. Put that into perspective with Istaria, where you can pay a minimum of 10$ a month to play multiple characters indefinitely.

If this game has few supporters then why don't they make it free to play like it advertises? Give free a free character of your choice or of each race and then make it where you have to pay for additional characters and other things. Or even a single fee for a character would be nice.. not a monthly charge.

Mabinogi advertises that it is free, but seeing as Nexon is a money-sucking company, rather than like Istaria where you can pay just 15$ for a package of sorts, they only have the option of buying things individually that add up to an infinitely larger sum of money. You want a pet? You have to pay at least 5$ for the cheapest and up to 15$ for the most expensive. Want another character, or want to rebirth your character? That's another 10$. Want to be a guild leader? That's another 15$ a month. Heck, even some of the events in Mabinogi force you to buy items just to participate. In Istaria, you pay a solid 10-15$ a month and don't have to worry about any of those vanities.

Yes, mabi is free. I played for free for a while before I decided I wanted to be a guild leader. Everything that you pay for is optional since you get a free human, elf and giant with every account. You have to pay for pets but you only pay for them once.

This goes along with the concept that players who pay will have more of an advantage over others. They get access to pets, character customization, better items, etc. In Istaria everyone is equal because players don't have to worry about all of that extra stuff. Also concerning pets, in Mabinogi after five "years" (weeks) the looks of pets start to deteriorate. This makes it so that if players want their pets to look half decent, they have to pay for an aging potion. When I played I never really saw anyone using them, but considering that Nexon has kept the item available for purchase, people are buying them.

So really it all comes down to the money in your wallet. Is there a free game out there that allows you to play as a dragon? Maybe. Will it have the same in-depth features about dragons, such as the models, items, back story, etcetera? I highly doubt it. Istaria is the only game that offers dragons that are so very well-developed, which is also likely why many RPers find it so appealing.

Just thought I'd point these things out. :P

[Kida]

I think you've all very much missed the point of this thread.

The point is, a potential customer was driven away by the INSANE subscription costs for a game that is downright ancient and neglected, and whose only driving point is really playing as a dragon.

I personally HATE how much I have to dish out monthly for this game, because in the state it's in now, it's honestly not worth it.

All of you keep saying "there's not enough consumers to go F2P". There will NEVER be enough because of the insane price it's at now, ESPECIALLY when there are better MMO's out there that, yes they don't have dragons, but they offer everything else Istaria has to offer (property, PvE, etc) without the insane monthly fee. People are being driven away by these costs because it's honestly NOT worth it. The game is old, the entire player interface it uses is crap compared to every other game out there, and pretty much EVERYTHING needs a modern update to keep up with the leading MMOs of today (read: Guild Wars 2).

Also, think about the state of the economy. Not a lot of people can afford to throw away 10-15 dollars a month to flap their virtual dragon wings.

As much as I love this game and the people who play, it is honestly digging itself a very deep grave.

Mabinogi advertises that it is free, but seeing as Nexon is a money-sucking company, rather than like Istaria where you can pay just 15$ for a package of sorts, they only have the option of buying things individually that add up to an infinitely larger sum of money. You want a pet? You have to pay at least 5$ for the cheapest and up to 15$ for the most expensive. Want another character, or want to rebirth your character? That's another 10$. Want to be a guild leader? That's another 15$ a month. Heck, even some of the events in Mabinogi force you to buy items just to participate. In Istaria, you pay a solid 10-15$ a month and don't have to worry about any of those vanities.

Cash shops are how the companies of this age make their money. They let people play their game for free, but if you want fancy things, yes, you have to pay. How else do you expect them to keep the game up and running? At least they give you the OPTION to pay. Here, it's "pay an insane fee for our game, otherwise, you get saddled with a derpy human. Sorry!" How is that not what you just described? I think a cash shop for Istaria could be easily done, and it would pay for itself in time, since that is typically what people like to see in a game.

As for the bolded: Istaria ALREADY CHARGES FOR SIMILAR "VANITIES". Restoring a character is 25 FLIPPING DOLLARS. RENAMING a character costs 5. To get more than 7 characters? Gotta pay another 5 dollars a month per character.

You call Nexon a money-sucking company, but at least they give you the option to PAY for certain things. The only good things about this game, and you're forced to pay a monthly fee to enjoy them. I can definitely see why the consumer-base for this game is miniscule.

Just as a note, it is not an additional $5 per month per character. Your $5 per month is for 5 character slots. For full pricing structure, please see here: http://community.istaria.com/pg.php/subscriptions

[Velea]

Closing this thread because it's gone totally off topic at this point.

The original question was asked and answered quite a few posts ago...