I really disagree with Blizz selling in game items. I can live with Blizz selling vanity pets. However, I will stop playing the moment that Blizz sells gear / gold.
What if they start selling keys to new dungeons?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I say let it happen as long as the RMT doesn't give players an advantage over other gamers for spending more money. If some dumbass wants to buy a gay ass penguin for 10 bones then let them. They won't be getting my money but let them rake in the money from all the dumbasses in the world willing to spend it.
And if the devs devote more and more time and money to making new vanity items, rather than new dungeons and armour sets?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
I really disagree with Blizz selling in game items. I can live with Blizz selling vanity pets. However, I will stop playing the moment that Blizz sells gear / gold.
As much as I agree with the OP about this bad trend happening in MMO's, it'll never happen that people stop playing the games they love. Heck, I'd be happy if nobody used the item shops but did continue to just pay their monthly sub fee and play. But we can't even expect that to happen. Why do you think gold sellers is such a big business? Some people have more money than energy to level and gear up a character. It's just like when gas prices were really high and people started saying stuff like "everyone in the country don't drive your car for one day"...yeah, it's never gonna happen, and your asking people to do pretty much the same thing. I even remember when cable television came out and people said "I'm not going to pay for t.v.!!" Guess what? Most of us are doing just that. Hate to say it but games are heading this same direction and we either have to suck it up and pay or don't play them at all anymore.
Over seas developers have shown to make much more money on their virtual sales than any game using the P2P scale.It is actually not even close,so it is only a matter of time before it becomes the norm over here,you can bet on it.
New goofy ideas like Facebooks Happy Farm and the older ZT online make millions from a F2P setup.By using F2p it allows millions that would normally be left out to join in the fun.This allows the RICH a huge playground to use their cash resources to rule ,to be on top.The rich are not so interested in being the king of the hill if the game only has 100k users,nope,they want to be the best of the MOST popular games and F2P is what does it.
Back in 2006 ZT online had more concurrent users than AION has total subs lol,and more concurrent players than WOW,just operating in China alone.It took WOW until 2008 to hit 1 million concurrent users.There is some incredible numbers floating around for profits from these F2P games.Tencet who runs a similar game called QQ farm makes 50 million a month from virtual sales.They say they have over 100 million users of the game.To show how staggering the numbers are they hired 8000 people to handle the online sales of fertilizer for the farm game.
So you know what,you can try to stand up against the cash shops,but in the end it is the rich that drives them and developers would rather cater to the rich than care about Johnny's 15 bucks.
So it is only a matter of time before all the developers choose to cash in on the rich,rather than worrying about a P2P schedule.The sad part of it all,is that it is actually already here,just because the developers are not item mall ,the players are treating the games as they were one,by utilizing RMT in staggering amounts.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I say let it happen as long as the RMT doesn't give players an advantage over other gamers for spending more money. If some dumbass wants to buy a gay ass penguin for 10 bones then let them. They won't be getting my money but let them rake in the money from all the dumbasses in the world willing to spend it.
And if the devs devote more and more time and money to making new vanity items, rather than new dungeons and armour sets?
I think it would be quite dumb but thankfully the game I play isn't WoW so I don't really have to worry about it. But seriously how could they possibly do that? 10 dollar pets don't keep players playing, new content does. lol at least I hope $10 pets don't keep people subbing to a game, If so it would be a sad day in the MMO world.
Why are people screaming bloody murder now? What's the difference between a vanity cash shop over paid character transfers and paid name change. Those things have been there for a loooong while now but everyone was fine with that. Seems a bit hypocritical to accept one form and forgo another. There really isn't that much difference between a pet that has no impact on your game over a name change or character move.
$10 for this, $15 for that, $25 for server anc character name change, $35 for faction changes, $10 for in-game pets... trust me, it's just a patter of time before Blizzard, SoE, Mythic, Funcom, Turbine, etc all realize "WHY NOT". Gamers can and will pay big money to be the best as fast as they can. The key to it is all is to let those that like to earn get their first! Blizzard is KING at this. Notice how they let the "elite gamers" have their way with raid content for about six months, then they dumb it down for everyone else. Blizzard realizes how to make it work for everyone and I'm positive they will do the same with item mall over the next year.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
Cancelled WoW subscription and not buying Diablo 3. I stayed with Blizzard because they promised to fight of RMT time and time again. And now this? WOW (pun intended)...just wow...never again, not buying any Blizzard product again.
Cancelled WoW subscription and not buying Diablo 3. I stayed with Blizzard because they promised to fight of RMT time and time again. And now this? WOW (pun intended)...just wow...never again, not buying any Blizzard product again.
While I agree with not liking where Blizzard is going with monetizing various services (Really, enough is enough), canceling your WoW subscription over two purchasable-by-cash items is insane.
Blizzard's WoW Trading Card Game (Created October 2006) introduces the ability to buy card packs that can contain cards with codes to alter your in-game appearance (i.e. little pets). You still play. Blizzard opens pay-for character transfers. You still play. Blizzard offers Name Changes. You still play. They offer faction changes for cash. You still play.
Blizzard offers two pets for $10 each. You quit.
What the hell is wrong with you?
Oh, and by the way, the only difference between the WoW TCG and the two new $10 pets is that you don't have to buy 50 packs of cards to get one of those pets. It makes it accessible to everyone instead of a lucky few. It's been like this since 2006.
It's officially called the "Pet Store" on blizzards site... what makes you think they are going to sell anything other than pets in there? You can speculate all you want about this being "the first step" to real a cash shop, but it won't do any good cos right now this is all it is.. a vanity pet shop.
It's officially called the "Pet Store" on blizzards site... what makes you think they are going to sell anything other than pets in there? You can speculate all you want about this being "the first step" to real a cash shop, but it won't do any good cos right now this is all it is.. a vanity pet shop.
To be followed by 'the mount store', 'the clothing store', 'the armour store',...?
The name means nothing.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
If some of you feel so strongly about the pet shop bliz has opened, then go to the bliz forums and spew your QQ there. Why do it here? Do you really think 50 people here whining about it is going to change anything? If you don't like it, don't buy it.
I don't support games that have cash shops that I can access in-game and get some kind of advantage. The last I checked I didn't see a button within the game to access the pet store. Did I miss that some place? I also find pets in-game that serve no purpose other than to just follow you around, a waste. Something they put in there for the younger generation. My 10 year old likes them.
Bottom line, if you don't like it, complain where bliz might hear you. I assure you it isn't here.
I'm sure your all boycotting all the other games with any type of Digital shop in it right? If so, you might as well give up this genre. You will be hard pressed to find any that don't charge for something.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
It's officially called the "Pet Store" on blizzards site... what makes you think they are going to sell anything other than pets in there? You can speculate all you want about this being "the first step" to real a cash shop, but it won't do any good cos right now this is all it is.. a vanity pet shop.
To be followed by 'the mount store', 'the clothing store', 'the armour store',...?
The name means nothing.
There has been no official word about any other store. Assuming they will add more stores is just pure speculation at this point. Why wouldn't they call it "item store" if they plan on opening more stores?
When I think about the opinions of the whole mini-shop things in games it kinda reminds me of vegetarians. Blizzard is throwing meat out there for ya to nom on, or you can preach your hoo hah and say how it's bad for the world and the universe will implode if you spend MORE money into a game....If you don't like it don't to it and ragequit imo.
A post I made on the WoW forums to clear some things up:
Only the Pandaren Monk goes towards donations. All of you people that keep saying that half of the income is going towards donations, you are wrong, it is only a fourth. Furthermore, they are only donating until the end of the year, which is not really a long time. They used the MAW excuse to bring this system about, donating about as little as they possibly can, and from the pet that will obviously sell less. They won't even be stuck in this deal for any longer than 2 months.
For every Pandaren Monk that finds its way to a player’s side between now and the end of the year (December 31, 2009 at 11:59 PDT), we’ll donate 50 percent of the $10 purchasing price to the Make-a-Wish Foundation in an effort to brew up a little hope, strength, and joy in a child’s life.
There has been no official word about any other store. Assuming they will add more stores is just pure speculation at this point. Why wouldn't they call it "item store" if they plan on opening more stores?
Why? To defuse criticism and encourage people like you make just this argument.
Just like the trick with the charity donation.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
"Does this mean you'll be introducing more services like this in the future? Will you be introducing the ability to buy epic weapons/etc. in the future, for example?
As with the pets, mounts, and other items players can obtain through Loot cards from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, Pet Store pets are purely cosmetic and just for fun. Like other paid services we offer, such as Paid Name Changes, Race Changes, and Character Re-Customizations, the Pet Store service is entirely optional and intended to provide players another means to enjoy World of Warcraft in a way that isn't detrimental to the game and that doesn't detract from the gameplay experience for players who choose not to use the service."
No denial there that they will be selling game-effect items later on.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
The "trick with the charity donation"? Disgusting. I can't believe people think like this nowadays and miss the fact that the same company who is selling vanity pets made an effort and used it's name brand to HELPOTHERS. I mean they can just take your money like the Race Change... but they did not. Think about it. It's a win-win situation for everybody. You get a pet. Blizz gets more humanity points and because you use your money to pay for it, you are partially responsible for the SMILES of lucky MaWF recipients.
Still, DISFCKINGGUSTING. When was the last time you actually helped someone?
Comments
What if they start selling keys to new dungeons?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
And if the devs devote more and more time and money to making new vanity items, rather than new dungeons and armour sets?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
What if they start selling keys to new dungeons?
That would make lfg more cumbersome.
--
Delanor
Which explains their new and improved LFG system?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Which explains their new and improved LFG system?
Quite frankly: lol
As much as I agree with the OP about this bad trend happening in MMO's, it'll never happen that people stop playing the games they love. Heck, I'd be happy if nobody used the item shops but did continue to just pay their monthly sub fee and play. But we can't even expect that to happen. Why do you think gold sellers is such a big business? Some people have more money than energy to level and gear up a character. It's just like when gas prices were really high and people started saying stuff like "everyone in the country don't drive your car for one day"...yeah, it's never gonna happen, and your asking people to do pretty much the same thing. I even remember when cable television came out and people said "I'm not going to pay for t.v.!!" Guess what? Most of us are doing just that. Hate to say it but games are heading this same direction and we either have to suck it up and pay or don't play them at all anymore.
Over seas developers have shown to make much more money on their virtual sales than any game using the P2P scale.It is actually not even close,so it is only a matter of time before it becomes the norm over here,you can bet on it.
New goofy ideas like Facebooks Happy Farm and the older ZT online make millions from a F2P setup.By using F2p it allows millions that would normally be left out to join in the fun.This allows the RICH a huge playground to use their cash resources to rule ,to be on top.The rich are not so interested in being the king of the hill if the game only has 100k users,nope,they want to be the best of the MOST popular games and F2P is what does it.
Back in 2006 ZT online had more concurrent users than AION has total subs lol,and more concurrent players than WOW,just operating in China alone.It took WOW until 2008 to hit 1 million concurrent users.There is some incredible numbers floating around for profits from these F2P games.Tencet who runs a similar game called QQ farm makes 50 million a month from virtual sales.They say they have over 100 million users of the game.To show how staggering the numbers are they hired 8000 people to handle the online sales of fertilizer for the farm game.
So you know what,you can try to stand up against the cash shops,but in the end it is the rich that drives them and developers would rather cater to the rich than care about Johnny's 15 bucks.
So it is only a matter of time before all the developers choose to cash in on the rich,rather than worrying about a P2P schedule.The sad part of it all,is that it is actually already here,just because the developers are not item mall ,the players are treating the games as they were one,by utilizing RMT in staggering amounts.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Yeah, I know - I'm reaching on that one, but Blizzard knows how to plan ahead.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
RMT in any form is bad imo. Sure vanity pets isn't as bad as selling keys to dungeons or armor but still.
WoW is a great game, i 'd prefer to pay 20$ or even 25$ a month and have no RMT at all but that's just me.
A lot of mmorpg players are adults with jobs and 10$ more a month isn't a problem at all but an ingame shop is a deal breaker.
And if the devs devote more and more time and money to making new vanity items, rather than new dungeons and armour sets?
I think it would be quite dumb but thankfully the game I play isn't WoW so I don't really have to worry about it. But seriously how could they possibly do that? 10 dollar pets don't keep players playing, new content does. lol at least I hope $10 pets don't keep people subbing to a game, If so it would be a sad day in the MMO world.
I'm curious..
Why are people screaming bloody murder now? What's the difference between a vanity cash shop over paid character transfers and paid name change. Those things have been there for a loooong while now but everyone was fine with that. Seems a bit hypocritical to accept one form and forgo another. There really isn't that much difference between a pet that has no impact on your game over a name change or character move.
That would be Everquest 2.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
It's just a matter of time...
$10 for this, $15 for that, $25 for server anc character name change, $35 for faction changes, $10 for in-game pets... trust me, it's just a patter of time before Blizzard, SoE, Mythic, Funcom, Turbine, etc all realize "WHY NOT". Gamers can and will pay big money to be the best as fast as they can. The key to it is all is to let those that like to earn get their first! Blizzard is KING at this. Notice how they let the "elite gamers" have their way with raid content for about six months, then they dumb it down for everyone else. Blizzard realizes how to make it work for everyone and I'm positive they will do the same with item mall over the next year.
Fear not fanbois, we are not trolls, let's take off your tin foil hat and learn what VAPORWARE is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporware
"Vaporware is a term used to describe a software or hardware product that is announced by a developer well in advance of release, but which then fails to emerge after having well exceeded the period of development time that was initially claimed or would normally be expected for the development cycle of a similar product."
Cancelled WoW subscription and not buying Diablo 3. I stayed with Blizzard because they promised to fight of RMT time and time again. And now this? WOW (pun intended)...just wow...never again, not buying any Blizzard product again.
While I agree with not liking where Blizzard is going with monetizing various services (Really, enough is enough), canceling your WoW subscription over two purchasable-by-cash items is insane.
Blizzard's WoW Trading Card Game (Created October 2006) introduces the ability to buy card packs that can contain cards with codes to alter your in-game appearance (i.e. little pets). You still play. Blizzard opens pay-for character transfers. You still play. Blizzard offers Name Changes. You still play. They offer faction changes for cash. You still play.
Blizzard offers two pets for $10 each. You quit.
What the hell is wrong with you?
Oh, and by the way, the only difference between the WoW TCG and the two new $10 pets is that you don't have to buy 50 packs of cards to get one of those pets. It makes it accessible to everyone instead of a lucky few. It's been like this since 2006.
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/3200126 i think this fits this discussion.
It's officially called the "Pet Store" on blizzards site... what makes you think they are going to sell anything other than pets in there? You can speculate all you want about this being "the first step" to real a cash shop, but it won't do any good cos right now this is all it is.. a vanity pet shop.
To be followed by 'the mount store', 'the clothing store', 'the armour store',...?
The name means nothing.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
If some of you feel so strongly about the pet shop bliz has opened, then go to the bliz forums and spew your QQ there. Why do it here? Do you really think 50 people here whining about it is going to change anything? If you don't like it, don't buy it.
I don't support games that have cash shops that I can access in-game and get some kind of advantage. The last I checked I didn't see a button within the game to access the pet store. Did I miss that some place? I also find pets in-game that serve no purpose other than to just follow you around, a waste. Something they put in there for the younger generation. My 10 year old likes them.
Bottom line, if you don't like it, complain where bliz might hear you. I assure you it isn't here.
I'm sure your all boycotting all the other games with any type of Digital shop in it right? If so, you might as well give up this genre. You will be hard pressed to find any that don't charge for something.
I'm not an IT Specialist, Game Developer, or Clairvoyant in real life, but like others on here, I play one on the internet.
To be followed by 'the mount store', 'the clothing store', 'the armour store',...?
The name means nothing.
There has been no official word about any other store. Assuming they will add more stores is just pure speculation at this point. Why wouldn't they call it "item store" if they plan on opening more stores?
When I think about the opinions of the whole mini-shop things in games it kinda reminds me of vegetarians. Blizzard is throwing meat out there for ya to nom on, or you can preach your hoo hah and say how it's bad for the world and the universe will implode if you spend MORE money into a game....If you don't like it don't to it and ragequit imo.
A post I made on the WoW forums to clear some things up:
Only the Pandaren Monk goes towards donations. All of you people that keep saying that half of the income is going towards donations, you are wrong, it is only a fourth. Furthermore, they are only donating until the end of the year, which is not really a long time. They used the MAW excuse to bring this system about, donating about as little as they possibly can, and from the pet that will obviously sell less. They won't even be stuck in this deal for any longer than 2 months.
For every Pandaren Monk that finds its way to a player’s side between now and the end of the year (December 31, 2009 at 11:59 PDT), we’ll donate 50 percent of the $10 purchasing price to the Make-a-Wish Foundation in an effort to brew up a little hope, strength, and joy in a child’s life.
There has been no official word about any other store. Assuming they will add more stores is just pure speculation at this point. Why wouldn't they call it "item store" if they plan on opening more stores?
Why? To defuse criticism and encourage people like you make just this argument.
Just like the trick with the charity donation.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Hmm.
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=29845
"Does this mean you'll be introducing more services like this in the future? Will you be introducing the ability to buy epic weapons/etc. in the future, for example?
As with the pets, mounts, and other items players can obtain through Loot cards from the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, Pet Store pets are purely cosmetic and just for fun. Like other paid services we offer, such as Paid Name Changes, Race Changes, and Character Re-Customizations, the Pet Store service is entirely optional and intended to provide players another means to enjoy World of Warcraft in a way that isn't detrimental to the game and that doesn't detract from the gameplay experience for players who choose not to use the service."
No denial there that they will be selling game-effect items later on.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
The "trick with the charity donation"? Disgusting. I can't believe people think like this nowadays and miss the fact that the same company who is selling vanity pets made an effort and used it's name brand to HELP OTHERS. I mean they can just take your money like the Race Change... but they did not. Think about it. It's a win-win situation for everybody. You get a pet. Blizz gets more humanity points and because you use your money to pay for it, you are partially responsible for the SMILES of lucky MaWF recipients.
Still, DISFCKINGGUSTING. When was the last time you actually helped someone?