Currently I live in the US, but I have played (and paid) from Europe as well.
I never agreed with the discrepancy, it's just arbitrary and another example of poor customer relations.
Then again, I also don't agree that $14.95 per month is a fair price for:
- a 13 year old game,
- with about 500 players left,
- and its last booster being 5 years old.
To me, it appears that FunCom believes it is Electronic Arts.
Year after year, EA is voted top or near-top as "most hated company" by Forbes.
But EA also has a ~20% market share and ~$4B in annual revenue.
Treating customers poorly is a business strategy that works for EA.
Every fed-up customer can be replaced by another child growing into the video-gaming age.
For EA, marketing is cheaper than good customer relations.
But FunCom isn't even in the top 10 of its sector, with about $20M in annual revenue and a market share of less than 2%.
Among other poor decisions, FunCom keeps making patches for AO that upset more people than they please.
When players voice their discontent, FC says that "they don't care if we quit".
Well, all delusions of grandeur aside, FunCom is not EA, not even close.
What works for EA will spell certain death for FunCom (and not just AO).