One of my biggest frustrations with certain top-tier MMOs is that most of them don’t even pretend they particularly want veteran players back. They will certainly take our money, but if we leave, many of them don’t ask why and don’t seem super interested in doing anything to get us back. I’ve never quite understood it – and it hasn’t always been that way.
Years ago, it was common to see sub MMOs offer free-play periods to entice former subbers to return and see what they’d been missing. Those were players you already won over once, after all. They’re lucrative.
But since F2P took over our genre, that carrot is no longer viable for most MMOs, and even those few with rigid subs seldom use it, with the exception of Elder Scrolls Online and occasionally World of Warcraft. Still, I don’t see a strong push from most MMOs to get past players, who have few barriers to return and lots of nostalgia to tap into, back in the door.
Which MMOs would you say try the hardest to win back lapsed players?
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!
