Forum post of the day: How do you justify your $15?
by Eliah Hecht 
Apr 3rd 2007 at 6:45PM
Today's post of the day asks a pretty simple question. A WoW subscription is $15 a month (less if you get multi-month subscriptions). How do you justify that cost to yourself, or your parents, or spouse, or whoever you're in a position to justify expenses to? Most of the responses talked about other entertainment options, breaking them down to dollars per hour. Here's how they go:- Going to a movie: $10 for two hours = $5/hour, and that's not counting refreshments
- Console game: $50 for 20 hours = $2.50/hour (not counting replay value)
- WoW: $15 a month; assuming a casual 40 hours a month, that's $0.375 per hour.
So how do you rationalize paying for your WoW habit?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Freehugz Apr 3rd 2007 6:57PM
I go with the console game response. In the long run playing WoW has actually saved me money. I haven't bought another game since I bought WoW
Mithral on Kael'thas Apr 4th 2007 9:02AM
The dollar cost is NOTHING compared to the time-invested.
I'm only level 48 or so, but I've played for upwards of 9 days. 9 24-hour periods, 216 hours of play. My mind boggles over what I could have done instead of getting just ONE more point in blacksmithing, or that extra 1000xp that I really seemed to need.
Chris Apr 3rd 2007 7:15PM
The game is fun. That's all the rationalization I need.
Burata Apr 3rd 2007 7:17PM
I also don't need to justify the monthly fee, it could be doubled and I'd still play. WoW, as a whole, is by far the best video game of any sort in the world.
Arispere Apr 3rd 2007 7:18PM
Since picking up WoW in January, I've stopped watching TV. I even went so far as to cancel my cable subscription which was $45 a month. So by now, my copy of WoW has more than paid for itself and is actually saving me money.
Chadwick Apr 3rd 2007 7:26PM
I play it because its fun. I takes up more of my time in instead of more expensive, less appealing things. I still go out to a few movies, and still go out to dinner as well. I'm just not doing it as much simply because I have more fun playing WoW. Plus there isn't that much I like in the way of movies or TV. I listen to my fav music while I play as well. I can always have a good ball game going on in the background too.
"a week's worth of gas"
Chadwick Apr 3rd 2007 7:27PM
"a week's worth of gas" This made me laugh. I live in California.
(Apperently the comment machine here doesn't like a few characters)
Chris Anthony Apr 3rd 2007 7:30PM
#2: Agreed. I don't feel guilty about it, so why rationalize it?
John Apr 3rd 2007 7:33PM
hey...
Its this or crack cocaine.
Tainted_Mage Apr 28th 2007 9:18AM
People ask me why do i pay 40 bucks every 2 months for a game i say because its fun but one if i remember one of my friends were saying it takes less money total for Xbox live for a year then WoW but then again which one do u have to buy more games for to keep it interesting? Plus if i had my own house all I'd really need is my comp bed and other things ie food....wouldn't need a T.v so blarg all depends on how u put your expenses all toegether
drunkenfud Apr 3rd 2007 7:30PM
$15 dollars for a meal out or 2? Does that include "fries with that"?
rogue Apr 3rd 2007 7:31PM
The equivalent cash amounts seem off to me; though I'm sure it depends on where you're from and what your local prices are.
I am in the fortunate position of having an account paid for the next (roughly) 30 years, so I don't have to justify anything! There was a point after I got bored raiding on Alliance, and after I had leveled a shaman up to 60, where I would have closed the account if I was paying for it. I took about 2 months off and then as it got closer to expansion time I got more excited; I didn't really play from October or November of last year until BC came out as I was waiting to roll up a new guild with a bunch of RL friends.
But, to the main issue of the recurring fee, I don't think it has to be justified anymore than paying for cable television (premium channels anyone?) or internet access, or going out to eat, or basically any more than any other "non-essential to survive" activity. Games just have this special social stigma in the US of A that, unfortunately, means gamers have to defend things that really don't need to be questioned. How many people go home and zone out to television for 4 or 5 hours at night? Do you suppose anyone asks them to justify their cable bill?
Oraculum Apr 3rd 2007 7:49PM
Its more fun than most other options.
I get to play with my friends and girl friend. And it is something interactive with them.
I play with my Girlfriend who is away at school, and wow is one of the best ways to stay in touch long distance as it allows me to do things with my long distance friend.
TV is boring...
Movies are fun once and a while, but if I watch them too often I feel lazy...
Books put me to sleep after an hour or two...
oh ya... and its fun (until you get to end game, then it is work)
pyro Apr 3rd 2007 7:53PM
The fee of wow is equivalent to buying a new game every 4 months. That's generally how often I buy a new game. The thing is, WoW is addicting enough to stop me from buying other games so it's costing me the same amount as playing other games regularly.
Jchc Apr 3rd 2007 7:52PM
I've been back on wow for about 5 months now after a 6 month hiatus, saving money has been great ever since i started playing again. I saved up enough to even build a new machine to further fuel my addiction.
But recently this has changed as I'm dating again now that I have mage and priest to 70, btw the timing on the 70 thing is coincidental, and geez, I mean i'm not broke, but I do have watch my spending more closly now. Going out I spend easily anywhere from $60-$120 depending on the activity.
Sometimes I'm tempted to just call my date an tell her something came up, just so I can play wow 0.o but I fight off temptation and im usually glad I didn't just stay home and play WoW.
Still, I think WoW gives you the most bang for your buck of any form of entertainment, even TV, cause cable ain't cheap! but then again Girls are nice to play with too ;)
The more you play, the more you save! ^_^
Pingmeister Apr 3rd 2007 7:56PM
I don't know if I could rationalize it. It's a waste of time like any other mindless activity.
Although I have a great deal of spare time and my wife has no issues with the few hours a week I spend in WoW the bottom line is I SHOULD really be doing something else.
We all should.
Making an excuse for it by comparing it to other more expensive activities doesn't rationalize it.
How much great stuff could we accomplish by spending this time doing something better?
That being said, I can't wait to get home and see if my Mage sold that Plate Armor that we got last night!
Rebekka Apr 4th 2007 12:28PM
To # 10 : You stole my line. Yeah, prior to my playing of WoW, I was a heavy abuser of crack cocaine and other banned substances. Since I suffer from OCD, WoW has allowed me to straighten out my life and stop using drugs. However, for some odd reason, I have a feeling that once I get to "end game", I will have to restart my drug habit just to be able to put the time in to play. LOL! Just joking, folks!
Tamelis Apr 3rd 2007 8:24PM
I agree with #1. My Xbox 360 died about 3 months ago and I've actually saved by playing WOW and am thinking about not even getting another 360 and just selling all of my old games. I used to buy about 2 or 3 games a month so that'd add up to $180 roughly before tax. I pay $15 a month for this and come out with an extra $165 to spend or save for whatever. It has actually helped me out immensely.
Blackbrute Apr 3rd 2007 8:44PM
@14
Truth!
Seriously, my thoughts exactly. In the same way of thinking though, I find it a whole lot cheaper than going out in Bars or spending free time going shopping.
Dan Apr 3rd 2007 8:52PM
I will say that I used to come up with some fairly entertaining ideas and ways to occupy my time before WOW. I would do more side jobs, work on web sites, things of that nature. I think more than the 15 dollars a month is the loss of productivity for some of the things that weren't necessarily tangible, but were still productive.
Boredom used to be a great motivator for me to come up with new ideas, now I can just log into WOW and many times it doesn't get old, if I get bored I play an alt, if that gets boring, I go back to my main. I one could ever quantify a dip in innovation because of a game or time sink. I can't watch TV for hours, I can't watch Movies for hours, in fact I would say WOW is about the only thing I can do for hours at a time without getting bored quickly or falling asleep, and it requires enough mental capacity that I'm not usually thinking about other things, unless I'm farming of course.