I got a membership for all the morally correct reasons. ;)
However i did laugh at ChrisCMU reasons for not buying one:
"1) My wife puts up with me gaming, but doesn't really support it. We have a shared account and she pays the bills, so any paypal item will be spotter."
I can totally relate to that! my wife is the same.
However I finally put my foot down and told her who's boss!
(please god never let my wife see this post!)
What about a monthly membership that costs $3/month? You could even pair that with an offer where if you have that monthly membership for a year (or more), you automatically get a lifetime membership for free from there on out. I think some people might balk at paying $30 up front for something they might not play in a couple of months, but may be more willing to pay $3/mo for membership benefits. Of course you would leave the option to purchase a lifetime membership outright, but having the option to pay monthly might win over people who would otherwise be unable or unwilling to pay the one time membership fee.
Of course this model flies in the face of the F2P movement that is currently all the rage in games, so it could also be just as inconsistent as the current payment option. Or Fizzer could add microtransactions ::shudder::
This is $30 we're talking about - that's like half a meal lol. If you can't even spend 30 bucks on this then fast for an evening and there you go. Got your lifetime membership.
$30 is a small bar tab for me. So it wasn't an issue.
This is a good game, that I hope continue to exist.
I think money order/check should be a possible way to pay. It would help at least the US population of WL.
Most of the people who complain about this amount are from areas of the world that are blessed with stronger economies.
I am sure there are plenty of WL players that $30 is a real sum of money that may mean food for the week/some other comparable. I feel badly for that subset. The people that I know at least, complaining here are not among those people.
Your wife/significant other (as is Doggy's case :) ) may not want you to spend money on a game, but why don't you say. "Sweetheart, I'm not going to drink for a week and just put that money to buying a membership."
I think we should be able to buy membership by sending Fizzer a crate of Ramen. That way it automatically corrects for your cost of living. Fizzer, what update will make this an option?
If you go to a restaurant, order an appetizer, a main meal and a dessert along with some Perrier or S. Pellegrino, then that's about 70$ + something like 10 bucks tip making it 80$. That's like 2 2/3 memberships haha
Its not only the cost of living, which is relatively high here in New Zealand. But also the exchange rate, The USD is slowly gaining back its strength Vs our NZD.
So I reasoned the sooner I got a membership the better for me.