a lot of games on the net offer the free play versions...or if you want the better gear, or to advance further etc, regardless of which game it is, it usually costs extra just like wgt, so on that point.....
i think the real question is how cheap is this game as compared to other online games?......."games" being the operative word.
online game V online game......it doesn't have to be golf......because it's all pixels right? and all pixels cost the same (zilch / zero / nada).....the last time I looked.
many game sites will charge a monthly / yearly membership fee and other add ons....so factor those into the equation too.
but keep it virtual versus virtual = a far more realistic and fair comparison.
no need to live in cloud cuckooland comparing a pc game to a real life entity because to people living in the real world you'll come across as being 2 cans short of a 6 pack.
WGT is the only online game I play. I like it a lot. There's a few things I'd change and many folks would no doubt like these changes, but on the other hand there'd be changes I made that many might hate.
With such a large database of active players, whether it's 40k or 6 million is immaterial because the result will be the same... fact is....you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time.
WGT must put a price on things to cover all manners of costs from game development to hosting and staff wages plus enough to cover Icon's food expenses. If they were to lower the price of expensive balls you'd only find the prices of other consumables would have to increase....so what you'd gain on the swings, you'd lose on the roundabouts.
Introducing a monthly tiered membership fee & giving monthly paying members some sort of added benefits including discounts on expensive balls & clubs could be one way to go. Who knows? Maybe this is something that will happen in future.
Right now I think WGT offers a lot. No monthly membership fees. A priceless online community which is 2nd to none. A great game with a decent choice of courses in HD graphics. Decent competitions with decent prizes, where you can compete against the best...even with starter gear (remembering it's not winning that matters most...it's the ability to participate & the enjoyment that counts)....So if you choose not to hammer away at it every hour of the day eating up balls, then $6 for a sleeve of balls once every 7-10 days isn't really too bad at all.
Get 1 decent set up clubs and stick with them. There's no need to fork out each time a new driver that hits 3 yrds further or a new set of irons arrive in the pro shop unless you have the money to buy them. Having said that.... when you get good enough at the game, you can win your money back+ via skins or mpc games and have everything standing you nothing.
The one major change I'd try to incorporate here on WGT would be to either buy out the Perfect Parallel mob lock stock and barrel OR get them on board in some way or form to design extra courses for WGT using their game's superior technology as opposed to TruGolf''s cartoonmania and in effect, remove potential competition and throw them a lifeline to earn some money at the same time.
On it's own and left to their own devices...that game is never getting off the ground. It's now going backwards from being what was a great idea to designing fly overs for real golf courses in a desperate attempt to survive the inevitable.
Just trying to give a fair account from both sides of the fence.
Long live WGT & The Hotties of Aphrodite CC :)
tbe