At 50 bucks a month, I think AH would stagnate very quickly. A lot of people would leave over it, but VERY few people would be inclined to begin subscribing to the game at that price--especially with AH's main competitor (WB's) costing exactly HALF that amount.
Nor do I think a small price reduction would change much, except it would reduce HTC's revenue. There is so little difference between $25 and $30 that price becomes a non-issue. For a price reduction to make a signifigant impact on the player base, it would have to be a massive reduction--to $15 or $10. Since HTC has NOT dropped the price to that level, I must assume that it would not be profitable for them to do so. (And I wish that weren't the case!)
One thing that most current AH players seem to forget is, to an outsider, there is very little difference between AH and WB's. Gameplay is identical (with WB's offering more arenas). Scenarios are typically set up the same. Heck, even the games "feel" similar to me. AH has better graphics and a more modern flight model, but that's about it. A lot of people were turned off by the WB's community--but that doesn't change the underlying similarity of the two games. AH took quite a bit of market share from WB's, but at double the price of WB's they would probably give a lot of market share back.
The bottom line is 50 bucks a month, even for a MAC version, would hurt HTC more then help them. That is why AH costs $30 and not $50.
J_A_B
The very bottom line is--anyone who is willing to pay HUNDREDS of $$$ per month for an online game when much cheaper alternatives are available, is either very rich or addicted. Not a bad thing, but don't forget most people aren't that "involved".
