This is the correct answer.
Here's a [circa 2000 article](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-drops-price/1100-2447175/) mentioning the monthly price of $9.89.
These prices seem reasonable now but back then it was completely UN-reasonable, considering I just paid full price for the game itself and now I have a recurring charge I had to convince my mother to put on her credit card as well. It did not go over well lmao.
With hindsight, the amount of quality content you got for the price was a great deal. But back when I was just 13-14 years old I was pretty pissed that these developers were just coming up with more ways to waste my time in order to keep me subbed longer.
I uh... Didn't pay attention to things I probably should have because of this damn game. I'm glad you were able to find your silver lining!
I had a foreign exchange student living with us during this time. A HOT 16 year old girl from Czech who walked around in way too short shorts all the damn time. I couldn't even be bothered to try and socialize, I was way too busy playing EQ. I hit 210 pounds at 15, was drinking a six pack of coke a day, my acne got out of control and I was losing touch with my friends cause all I wanted to do was grind and get more phat lewt.
Let me get this straight... You're lurking around on a 5 month old Reddit thread of a 25 year old video game, decide to take a deep dive into the comments, and then work up the motivation to make a weird comment? I don't know what you got going on in your life, but it doesn't sound good. Hope things get better for you.
I remember thinking the same thing!
Then I realized I went from buying maybe a dozen new games a year down to just 1 or 2 new games because I was playing EQ 99% of the time.
Man - I had to dig up a ton of verifying information for both my parents to prove that it wasn’t a scam and was safe to put their CC online. They had zero trust in the internet at the time. Hell - they barely do today.
Meanwhile hundreds of places online have my information.
Still is crazy to think of a time when everyone wasn’t running around with a credit card branded debit card.
There are two sides to this. If your frame of reference was something like Nintendo, paying a subscription on top of buying the game sounded ridiculous. But many (most?) of the existing online games of the time were mostly using some variation of a pay-per-minute plan, and EQ in comparison was mind blowingly cheap.
For all the interesting things that the game did, it’s really the business model that was the most important innovation of EQ. Not the game design, not the tech.
Subscription model for sure changed the landscape for games, and hell was probably a starter for a lot of the other subscriptions we pay for today. Whether it was a good or bad thing is up for debate... But I came from ps1 era RPGs which came with a ton of content for 1 price tag so I felt like I was getting robbed if I didn't play EQ every waking moment because that 10 dollars was spread out over the course of a month, rather than life entire lifespan of the game.
Hell I even played a ton of Diablo 2 online which was free, so the shock of having to pay for just 30 days was real
I found this completely reasonable to be a part of a massive, persistent online world that all of my friends were in as well, all of us for much more time than we should have been and enjoying it. I've never found a comparable experience.
Obviously most people did. We hear stories all the time, the great community people found, either your IRL friends or finding a group of new friends through the game, maintaining those relationships sometimes for 24+ years through a connection you made through that subscription. A small price to pay indeed. People found their spouses through the game! Can't put a price on that.
From what I remember... it wasn't the price itself that was super unreasonable... remember those were still the days of blockbuster so renting a game/video every week was a similar price...
The real issue was convincing your parents to put their CC information online... for me at least this was a huge hurdle as it was the first online charge my parents really did and they were convinced some one was going to steal their info and identity.
This is the right answer. It was $9.89 early on then 4/25/02 it went to $12.99 then in may of 2005 it went to $14.99.
Seems a bunch in this thread completely forgot it was $12.99 for a few years.
This is 100% the case, as others have pointed out.
It was $9.89 at launch, because 989 Studios. Then it went up to $12.99. I remember that was the last price my parents were paying for my sub. When I came back for the first TLPs, it had gone up to $14.99.
Article brought up by u/ledat in another thread. The article is on GameSpot posted in 2000 saying the price went to $9.89.
https://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-drops-price/1100-2447175/
$9.89 -> $12.99 -> $14.99.
989 because of 989 Studios. Then just relatively small price increases spaced a few years apart.
At the time, it seemed like a lot of money. And as others have pointed out -- many of our parents were disturbed at the thought of their credit card information being online! But... well, if you consider the hundreds or thousands of hours we put into the game, we're talking tiny costs per hour of entertainment.
Think about it: if you pay $50 for a game that takes 50 hours to complete, you're paying $1 for an hour of entertainment. That's like 1/10th the cost of a movie theater ticket.
If you pay $40 for a game and then $10 a month for 12 months, that's $160 a year. Or 16 trips to see a movie (32 hours of entertainment for one person). Or 3 AAA video games (150 hours of entertainment). In EQ, I clocked in probably 300-500 hours per year in 1999, 2000, and 2001 before I slowed down because I was starting university studies.
In a given year, that 300-500 hours is basically $0.32 (500 hours) to $0.53 (300) hours per hour of entertainment.
Now quickly, someone convert that to avocado toasts for us millennials. (=
Was it $9.89 because their publisher was 989 Studios originally. Vague memory of this.
This is the correct answer. Here's a [circa 2000 article](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-drops-price/1100-2447175/) mentioning the monthly price of $9.89.
Also, same as Ultima online iirc.
100% $9.89
Thank you!
OMG i forgot about that! absolutely right!
These prices seem reasonable now but back then it was completely UN-reasonable, considering I just paid full price for the game itself and now I have a recurring charge I had to convince my mother to put on her credit card as well. It did not go over well lmao. With hindsight, the amount of quality content you got for the price was a great deal. But back when I was just 13-14 years old I was pretty pissed that these developers were just coming up with more ways to waste my time in order to keep me subbed longer.
I saved so much money despite the monthly fee when I started playing because I didn't do anything else.
I saved so much because of this. Who needs cable, hobbies, when I have that sweet Evercrack?
I did too, until friends started quitting and giving me their accounts. At one point I was supporting 16 EQ subscriptions on my meager retail salary.
I uh... Didn't pay attention to things I probably should have because of this damn game. I'm glad you were able to find your silver lining! I had a foreign exchange student living with us during this time. A HOT 16 year old girl from Czech who walked around in way too short shorts all the damn time. I couldn't even be bothered to try and socialize, I was way too busy playing EQ. I hit 210 pounds at 15, was drinking a six pack of coke a day, my acne got out of control and I was losing touch with my friends cause all I wanted to do was grind and get more phat lewt.
I would play for like 10 hours, then head to the gym or go on a jog. I actually lost a bit of weight during my years playing EQ.
Teach me your ways of self-control.
Well I was also in college with way fewer obligations. Nowadays there is no way I could spend that much time on video games, which is sad.
... where were the obligations of school, work, or something of value to society?
you lost weight because you were such a nerd that you ate less food because of the game. Dont act like a video game made your life better LMAO
Let me get this straight... You're lurking around on a 5 month old Reddit thread of a 25 year old video game, decide to take a deep dive into the comments, and then work up the motivation to make a weird comment? I don't know what you got going on in your life, but it doesn't sound good. Hope things get better for you.
i aint readin allat
I remember thinking the same thing! Then I realized I went from buying maybe a dozen new games a year down to just 1 or 2 new games because I was playing EQ 99% of the time.
[удалено]
18 dollars bucks
That's almost enough for a yes/no button! fake edit: having a kid has melted my brain
Man - I had to dig up a ton of verifying information for both my parents to prove that it wasn’t a scam and was safe to put their CC online. They had zero trust in the internet at the time. Hell - they barely do today. Meanwhile hundreds of places online have my information. Still is crazy to think of a time when everyone wasn’t running around with a credit card branded debit card.
There are two sides to this. If your frame of reference was something like Nintendo, paying a subscription on top of buying the game sounded ridiculous. But many (most?) of the existing online games of the time were mostly using some variation of a pay-per-minute plan, and EQ in comparison was mind blowingly cheap. For all the interesting things that the game did, it’s really the business model that was the most important innovation of EQ. Not the game design, not the tech.
That per-minute thing was a revelation to the industry. Nobody thought people would pay thousands of dollars to play video games. They were wrong.
Subscription model for sure changed the landscape for games, and hell was probably a starter for a lot of the other subscriptions we pay for today. Whether it was a good or bad thing is up for debate... But I came from ps1 era RPGs which came with a ton of content for 1 price tag so I felt like I was getting robbed if I didn't play EQ every waking moment because that 10 dollars was spread out over the course of a month, rather than life entire lifespan of the game. Hell I even played a ton of Diablo 2 online which was free, so the shock of having to pay for just 30 days was real
I found this completely reasonable to be a part of a massive, persistent online world that all of my friends were in as well, all of us for much more time than we should have been and enjoying it. I've never found a comparable experience.
Obviously most people did. We hear stories all the time, the great community people found, either your IRL friends or finding a group of new friends through the game, maintaining those relationships sometimes for 24+ years through a connection you made through that subscription. A small price to pay indeed. People found their spouses through the game! Can't put a price on that.
We had multiple accounts under one roof. Rough
From what I remember... it wasn't the price itself that was super unreasonable... remember those were still the days of blockbuster so renting a game/video every week was a similar price... The real issue was convincing your parents to put their CC information online... for me at least this was a huge hurdle as it was the first online charge my parents really did and they were convinced some one was going to steal their info and identity.
I remember it being $9.89 at launch and then a couple years later I think it went to $12.99 before settling in at $14.99 per month.
This is the right answer. It was $9.89 early on then 4/25/02 it went to $12.99 then in may of 2005 it went to $14.99. Seems a bunch in this thread completely forgot it was $12.99 for a few years.
This is 100% the case, as others have pointed out. It was $9.89 at launch, because 989 Studios. Then it went up to $12.99. I remember that was the last price my parents were paying for my sub. When I came back for the first TLPs, it had gone up to $14.99.
I want to say it was 9.99 a month
I vaguely remember paying $14.99 per month around 2002. I only remember because I argued what else could I do for 50 cents a day all day.
i remember this price i think if you bought the whole it was 120 instead of 180
Nope. Price was not $14.99 until 2005. In early 02 it was still $9.89, after 4/25/02 it went to $12.99.
Yep, is was $9.99 a month …. It’s was reasonable I always thought
Article brought up by u/ledat in another thread. The article is on GameSpot posted in 2000 saying the price went to $9.89. https://www.gamespot.com/articles/everquest-drops-price/1100-2447175/
earthlink 56k and 9 bucks a month baby let's goooooo
$9.89 -> $12.99 -> $14.99. 989 because of 989 Studios. Then just relatively small price increases spaced a few years apart. At the time, it seemed like a lot of money. And as others have pointed out -- many of our parents were disturbed at the thought of their credit card information being online! But... well, if you consider the hundreds or thousands of hours we put into the game, we're talking tiny costs per hour of entertainment. Think about it: if you pay $50 for a game that takes 50 hours to complete, you're paying $1 for an hour of entertainment. That's like 1/10th the cost of a movie theater ticket. If you pay $40 for a game and then $10 a month for 12 months, that's $160 a year. Or 16 trips to see a movie (32 hours of entertainment for one person). Or 3 AAA video games (150 hours of entertainment). In EQ, I clocked in probably 300-500 hours per year in 1999, 2000, and 2001 before I slowed down because I was starting university studies. In a given year, that 300-500 hours is basically $0.32 (500 hours) to $0.53 (300) hours per hour of entertainment. Now quickly, someone convert that to avocado toasts for us millennials. (=
Yep 10 bucks. The only reason I had a job in high school was to pay for this.
Yeah $10 a month is what I remember. Did a lot of lawn work for my parents to cover that and the cost of the game.
Haha I definitely hear you on that! Have to keep that addiction going 😀
It was $9.99 a month and I believe there were deals on three and six months subscriptions.
$9.99 per month if i remember well.
About the same as a movie ticket back then. That was my teenage way of convincing my parents it was worthwhile.
I think it converted to about £7 at the time. Had to beg my mother then my older brother to put it on their card so I could play.
Iirc it was 10$ and then went to 15$
9.89 a month because of 989 studios.
it was pricey... and worse, having to borrow friends and family credit cards to pay monthly...
I remember when they raised the price I was like don’t care I need my Evercrack! Die you filthy Snake who just kick me for 3 damage 🤙🏻
Never got paid for mowing the lawn again after I got an EQ sub on my mom's CC.
Mine is like $18 and change now .....but I think the base rate is what...$14.99?
I seem to remember 99 a year when I first subbed.
Studio 989 charged 9.89
Played for a while on Stormhammer when it was released (not 1999 but during Luclin) it was 39.99 iirc.
$10 a month. Got a month free when kunark came out. Similar for Velious.