Value is a weird concept. It makes sense at face value; for example, it’s pretty easy to sit down, list exactly the features I get for $15 a month in Final Fantasy XIV compared to what I’d get for the same monthly investment in Guild Wars 2, and determine the relative value. But that also treats every moment of a creative experience as somehow equivalent and lists bigger values as inherently better, leading to cases wherein more content regardless of quality is better value than less.
And that’s not even getting into the fact that no amount of investment in GW2 makes it FFXIV. For me, the value of that subscription is substantially higher based on that fact alone. Cost becomes entirely secondary.
I think that “value” tends to be one of those things we’re happy about for games we are personally playing rather than an actual objective measurement; if you’re heavily invested in Star Wars: The Old Republic, you’re going to feel like spending money there has a better chance of being high-value than spending money in a game you don’t play. But maybe that’s just me. How much does value matter to you in MMOs? Do you consider yourself very value-conscious when finding a game to play? Or do you just play what you find fun and weight the value of playing the games you like notably higher?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
