REVISED. Updated my score to reflect the monthly fee waiver (as I predicted). Now a subscriber and enjoying it.
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Like I said when this title came out, this game was not properly marketed with a high monthly fee. They should take some queues from GW2. I will wait until they offer no monthly fee but all you who gave this title 9.0 or more and were willing to pay, shame on you.
I was looking forward to this title, but...
I am writing this review strictly because of the inflated reviews of 9.5 and 10's which overwhelmingly do not mention the hefty price tag that comes with this game and its outdated pricing model. Is it really worth $50 for 30 days and then $15 per month thereafter? If money is no object to you, then good for you, but it should at least be mentioned in the reviews and rated accordingly.
Not only that, when you register the game, Funcom offers incentive packs of additional weapons and other stuff which you can buy for a bundled price of $120 or more. What a total ripoff. Probably there are dopes who actually are willing to spend their money on that or use their parents' credit card I imagine.
Funcom could have used a better and more gamer friendly marketing model. There is no reason this game needs to charge a monthly fee of $15. Pure greed is all that is without conception of establishing a player-minded and dedicated fan base which they could easily do by adding other incentives over time without the need for monthly fees. If I were to pay a monthly fee I probably would settle for $5 per month, if even, but still think that the better way is to offer a pricing model such as in Guild Wars and then charge for expansions.
Hence, out of sheer principle, I am deducting two points for over pricing. We need to move gaming companies away from this poor marketing model and your purchase decisions can help in that regard.
Hopefully, this game will reduce the hefty monthly fee or go to a free play system such as Guild Wars. Until then, I am perfectly happy passing on this one, but to those who don't feel constrained by budgets or do not care about principles, enjoy! (it's your or your parents' monies after all).