Another Approach.

15 bucks per month can get you a lot more these days than it used to, which seems counterintuitive compared to the economic theory of inflation. WoW was and still is a hell of a deal based on a $/hour basis in terms of the cost of entertainment.

Doing anything analog such as going to a movie, getting a beer, or seeing a show is going to run you some bucks. That 15 bucks could go towards a Netflix sub, an MMO sub, music subscription, or really anything connected to the internet. That seems to be the standard rate.

What am I going to do with my 15 bucks, now that WoW is out of the picture? WoW did a spectacular job of bringing a lot of different mechanics all under one engine, and since you never lost your progress, there were always other things to try and do. This is what initially drew me to it; life before WoW I could plow through an RPG, but would feel a little twinge starting a new one. Couldn't I pull some of my previous experience in and save a little time on the front end? WoW did this, as your character was a hub for various RPG experiences.

It only makes sense that I take a polar opposite approach to huge infrastructure persistent worlds, and get back to a little of my gaming roots: small independent games.

Computer games, NES games, and video games in general have their roots in very short, very simple mechanisms, and typically can be chewed through in roughly 5-10 hours. I got by for a long time on game demos, freeware, shareware, and even some pirated stuff way back in the day. I think (a little romantically) that the new game mechanics will be tried and tested on the short form battlefield, ready for the next huge amalgamation to gobble them all up and polish them.

Will $15/mo be enough to fuel my indie game habit?