Why do MMORPG Subscription Fees Still Exist?

Amex Platinum cards have an annual fee of $450, a ridiculous surcharge to the majority of the world's credit card users, but an indispensable companion to many others, and not all of them super rich. I don't find it strange that game companies try to perpetuate subscription fees, I find it strange that they try to do so in mass market with so many free alternatives.

$15 per player per month in operating cost is no longer reasonable. The current fad of arguing for regular content updates will die out soon since there is no argument to be had in the value of paying ahead for goods that a customer didn't ask for and may or may not even receive; if a MMORPG gives out a DLC worth of new content each month for a year, content that the majority of players actually enjoy, then that game can make such an argument, but I have never seen such a game. Instead, what subscription fees really pay for is membership. For each MMORPG that has subscribers, there are people who pay for the "privilege" of playing because to them not playing is worse.

We are talking about people who pay four times as much in one year on one game what others or they pay on another game in a lifetime. Do they really get matching returns? They probably say yes. Do companies really expect a mass market for such a service? They really shouldn't. We really shouldn't. To expect it is like asking why Amex isn't issuing as many Platinum cards as 5% cash back Visa.

There is no problem with the system. There are problems with expectations. Some gamers complain: why can't they make the game P2P or F2P so it's more accessible? Some devs complain: why can't more gamers see the value in our subscription? Video gaming is still an emerging market when it comes to business. We still see ourselves as one big group: gamers. We are not, no more than we are all credit card users. One dev already said it; they are not making a game for everybody. Now we just all have to accept that.