World of Warcraft...It begins again...

[Mike]

So like I predicted when they opened up that stupid pet store, Blizzard has now migrated into selling stuff that's actually quasi-useful in-game. You can buy a mount there now, It's $25.00 US (!!) and is only as fast as your fastest flying mount (so if you do not own a mount with greater than 280% speed, this mount you buy only goes at 280% speed - it scales if you get faster mounts later apparently).

When they were selling the pets before, they were at least giving money to charity. This time around, pure profit. I hate that a subscription-based game is charging money for add-on content like this. The scary part? Already they've sold close to 100K of this mount. $2.5 million bucks in less than a few days...


Total Biscuit from the Blue Plz podcast (an excellent podcast about WoW from a cynical non-fanboy) did a video mocking this mount:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCjuFpQ3EeA

On of the best parts of the video was this comment:

"I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favourite video on the internet."

[BillyG]

It doesn't bother me. Plenty of other MMOs, and other games, offer micro-transactions. I actually applaud Blizz for only offering pets/mounts, and not more critical/beneficial items. Plenty of games keep gear/items/weapons/entire levels away from you unless you pay for them. It's obvious that Blizzard has seen that the 11mil subscribers is their peak, and they need to find another avenue for revenue.

And as you said, Mike, it's a mount that only scales to your current skill. So you still have to put the time in game to "earn" the mount aka the movement benefit. It's purely a cosmetic bonus. It doesn't hurt the economy because you're still out the thousands of gold you would have been anyways.

[Mike]

It doesn't bother me. Plenty of other MMOs, and other games, offer micro-transactions. I actually applaud Blizz for only offering pets/mounts, and not more critical/beneficial items. Plenty of games keep gear/items/weapons/entire levels away from you unless you pay for them. It's obvious that Blizzard has seen that the 11mil subscribers is their peak, and they need to find another avenue for revenue.

And as you said, Mike, it's a mount that only scales to your current skill. So you still have to put the time in game to "earn" the mount aka the movement benefit. It's purely a cosmetic bonus. It doesn't hurt the economy because you're still out the thousands of gold you would have been anyways.

I have a huge problem with a game using micro-transactions AND subscription fees. There are virtually no other MMOs that do both. Sure, a ton of them use micro-transactions, but it's in lieu of using a subscription fee. Look at Dungeons & Dragons online. If you spend money, you get new content and items in-game. But you can in fact play the game for free month-to-month. What's even better is that, if you do pay their completely optional subscription fee, you get all content for free, as well as a ton of points to spend on stuff in their store. They make it completely worth the consumer's time to go that route, but it is NOT mandatory.

This just smacks of being greedy to me, as now that they have done this, is gear that much farther behind?

[nerdious dorkus]

I concur with William. As long as Blizzard is not busting out the bullshit that EA was doing on Battlefield Heroes by making people have to actually pay to be effective in the game.

[BillyG]

They've stated many times that they would only sell cosmetic items. They know that selling of gear on any level imbalances the game, and ruins it. As you said, they are greedy. They're arguably the best developer in the industry, and part of a huge corporate structure. They want to make as much money as possible, while also providing incredible gameplay. Buy offering gear they damage the gameplay, which lowers subscriptions, which lowers their revenues. It will never happen.

Plus, they've made it incredibly easy for anyone to upgrade gear. They did this for a reason. More people seeing more content, more purples, more dungeons, and doing it easily for multiple characters means that they will play longer and they make more money.

In summary, gear will never be sold. You can get T9 in a weekend as it is.

[nerdious dorkus]

Fuck. Now I'm considering going back. It also does not help that my brother went back to WoW as well.

[BillyG]

I've been itching bad to play. I am so pissed that I got my PC all upgraded and hot shit, and don't get to play WoW for 3 weeks. I was signed up for 4 raids!

[B_Metal]

I'm on a couple nights a week and I'm having fun with it. I don't play like full days like some do though. That would be tiring.

[BillyG]

I'm on a couple nights a week and I'm having fun with it. I don't play like full days like some do though. That would be EPICCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC.

Yessir.

[B_Metal]

Lol, I'd play more if you guys were on. Soloing is ok but group play is way more fun.

[BillyG]

Whenever I get home I'll be playing. Hit 80 and we can group.

[B_Metal]

Whenever I get home I'll be playing. Hit 80 and we can group.

Working on it. I truly am.

[Mike]

What server is everyone on? I am on Fizzcrank (same server timezone as where I live), My main (Presto):

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...n=Prestophiles

I am in a guild of 1 at the moment. All of my guildmates have quit, and I am only casually playing right now. Having a guild bank all to myself is ridiculous, and I highly recommend starting a b.s. guild just to have that experience.

[BillyG]

Rexxar

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-s...ar&cn=Tosshidk

I got lucky in this guild I found. I've been over there since a bit before ICC patched in. I was on Terenas since launch day, but that server has always had an issue with talent and organization. The talented guilds never last long at all.

[B_Metal]

I'm on rexxar too but Billy has not deemed me worthy of his guild. :-(. Lulz. Server never seems packed.