If she bought a WOW T-shirt, she should feel guilty wearing it because you couldn't buy one?
you are missing the point
It's merchandise, you aren't forced to buy it.
you are missing the point
If someone has the funds to get what most players have the time to get, then so be it.
you are missing the point
My wife is a mom, an employee and a volunteer. She can pull off getting this mount with out being a child living in their parent's basement playing 12 hours a day to get all the cool things.
ok so here is my point..... i hate this game more and more because of this crap because:
it used to be a great game, and EARNING things like mounts gave you a sense of accomplishment. I grinded my ASS off earning money to get my mount, and now they basically just give them away 20 levels lower, or in this case you can just pay real money for it and they give it to you. Where is the challenge in that? How much longer till you can just buy gear off the website and have the upper hand just because you make more money then some of the players?
the game used to be fun untill tons of noobs started whining that everything was too hard... now they just hand you everything on a platter. Including levels.
That is my point, and i do not care if you don't agree with it. I'm sure the fanboi's will just flame away anyways cause they are in denial.
I saw the mounts in-game, and they certainly were pretty cool-looking and wanted one. Then I found out you had spend real life currency to get it.
Not that $25 is a big deal to spend,considering I could spend less time at work earning that $25 than I would grinding rep somewhere in-game for an equivalently fancy ride.
But it's just a game. The idea of spending money for an aesthetic enhancement in a game is somethign I still can't get through my brain's filters. I can't bring myself to do it.
The cheezy part is that you can't earn it in-game by some effort, only by spending real-world cash. And it really is the coolest looking mount so far that I've seen. That's just a bit off, in my opinion.
Moved to a large city where I can go to sports games and events
What I did not accomplish:
Didn't kill illidan (apparently I was not prepared)
Did not clear BWL or AQ40
Did not clear original Naxx
Did not kill LK yet or Yogg.
I am a casual gamer on an RP server, and when I log in, it's for fun, not work. End game achievements are work. I refuse to work in a game, my RL accomplishments are far more important and I don't need a game to make me feel good about accomplishing things.
You do realize Bilizzard just made two million dollars for making a database entry in a few files. That's truly obscene when you think about it. Nothing real was actually made or sold. No lives were substantially improved. No real work of any sort was done. Think how much work goes into a simple loaf of bread and what it costs. Think of how much difference that loaf of bread could make in the life of a child doomed to starvation by an accident of birth. And Blizzard reaped two million for moving a few electrons. It's insane.
Yeah and with the round number estimates of ~10mil players and 80k sales in 4 hours you are talking .8% of the total accounts buying something which is more than the monthly fee. By this point I am sure they are past 1% of the total accounts voluntarily paying over 2.5 times a normal month for a graphic. I am not sure if all of the accounts even have access to the mount and if it is region limited in some way then the percentage of accounts able to purchase compared to number of accounts sold to would be even greater.
I hate to think what this means in the future, but that many people voluntarily paying 2.5 times the sub cost in one month is pretty dang significant. Even if they can only get those same customers to pony up $1 or $2 a month regularly then the cash shop would easily be a financial success.
it's beacause of things like this that make me hate this game even more... now you don't even have to earn anything, you can just buy your mount off the internet....
With your own money... The last time I looked, that doesn't grow on trees for most people... ^^ Its all a matter of perceived value. Lots of people have obviously decided that they'd rather have the mount and/or pet than the money they exchanged for them. Thats a win/win in my book.
Moved to a large city where I can go to sports games and events
What I did not accomplish:
Didn't kill illidan (apparently I was not prepared)
Did not clear BWL or AQ40
Did not clear original Naxx
Did not kill LK yet or Yogg.
I am a casual gamer on an RP server, and when I log in, it's for fun, not work. End game achievements are work. I refuse to work in a game, my RL accomplishments are far more important and I don't need a game to make me feel good about accomplishing things.
I bought that mount.
Think you nailed it Zero. I never felt any sense of accomplishment from a video game they have always just been for recreational puposes. I also get my sense of accomplishment from real life endeavors.
Just what the industry needed to see. God I hate Blizzard. It wasn't like they hadn't already chummed the water with fresh bait and caused the 'WoWification' of the MMO genre, but now they've gone to show that having a paid sub + cash shop can really be profitable.
If Blizzard made it so that somehow a player could get this mount in game w/o paying for it in the cash shop I'd say no big deal. (even if it was a stupidly tough quest).
But this once again sets a bad precedence and you'll see other developers emulate this hoping to score big. Worse, while Blizz might keep it benign, (imparts no real benefit) other shops won't be able to resist making such an item 5% better than anything in game. And you're on the road to hell after that.
[Mod Edit]
Why hate someone who has simply made a different decision than you would? They all obviously believe that they are getting more enjoyment from the mount and/or pet, than they would from the money they exchanged for them. But keep in mind that the "road to hell" is more often than not paved with good intentions... In the quest to "protect" people from their own decisions, much more evil has resulted, than would have been the case other wise.
If she bought a WOW T-shirt, she should feel guilty wearing it because you couldn't buy one?
you are missing the point
It's merchandise, you aren't forced to buy it.
you are missing the point
If someone has the funds to get what most players have the time to get, then so be it.
you are missing the point
My wife is a mom, an employee and a volunteer. She can pull off getting this mount with out being a child living in their parent's basement playing 12 hours a day to get all the cool things.
ok so here is my point..... i hate this game more and more because of this crap because:
it used to be a great game, and EARNING things like mounts gave you a sense of accomplishment. I grinded my ASS off earning money to get my mount, and now they basically just give them away 20 levels lower, or in this case you can just pay real money for it and they give it to you. Where is the challenge in that? How much longer till you can just buy gear off the website and have the upper hand just because you make more money then some of the players?
the game used to be fun untill tons of noobs started whining that everything was too hard... now they just hand you everything on a platter. Including levels.
That is my point, and i do not care if you don't agree with it. I'm sure the fanboi's will just flame away anyways cause they are in denial.
My 4.0 college GPA gives me a sense of accomplishment not some grouping of pixels on a computer monitor.
All of you who say that it's just a game - why are you spending money on it? If it's so low on your totem pole in life, why do you shell out $25 for a pixel pony? I think you've got more of an attachment to this game than you'd actually admit.
Remember, your actions may not directly affect anything to begin with, but you're adversely affecting Blizzard's future choices of RMT by eating this up. Instead of Blizzard adding neat things to be obtainable in game, they'll likely just throw it in their item shop because it's been proven that you'll all buy.
Thanks for your blind willingness to tarnish the integrity of a game already weathered.
If she bought a WOW T-shirt, she should feel guilty wearing it because you couldn't buy one?
you are missing the point
It's merchandise, you aren't forced to buy it.
you are missing the point
If someone has the funds to get what most players have the time to get, then so be it.
you are missing the point
My wife is a mom, an employee and a volunteer. She can pull off getting this mount with out being a child living in their parent's basement playing 12 hours a day to get all the cool things.
ok so here is my point..... i hate this game more and more because of this crap because:
it used to be a great game, and EARNING things like mounts gave you a sense of accomplishment. I grinded my ASS off earning money to get my mount, and now they basically just give them away 20 levels lower, or in this case you can just pay real money for it and they give it to you. Where is the challenge in that? How much longer till you can just buy gear off the website and have the upper hand just because you make more money then some of the players?
the game used to be fun untill tons of noobs started whining that everything was too hard... now they just hand you everything on a platter. Including levels.
That is my point, and i do not care if you don't agree with it. I'm sure the fanboi's will just flame away anyways cause they are in denial.
My 4.0 college GPA gives me a sense of accomplishment not some grouping of pixels on a computer monitor.
Congratulations. But what about when you look at the pixels that make up the 4.0 GPA on your screen? They're just pixels too. Oh, it's not the pixels after all is it? It's what you did on the way to the goal. Same for special mounts or items in the game that took effort.
Just what the industry needed to see. God I hate Blizzard. It wasn't like they hadn't already chummed the water with fresh bait and caused the 'WoWification' of the MMO genre, but now they've gone to show that having a paid sub + cash shop can really be profitable.
[Mod Edit]
Will they? If the proper market research and application isn't applied, I doubt the results would be anything like as successful as World of Warcraft has been. As for "WoWification" thats simply human nature. Investors look for the best Return On Investment thay can get their hands on(its in their self interest). Thus, someone who intones the mystical phrase; "Its just like World of Warcraft", gets truck loads of money thrown at them. ^^
Of course, so far no one has managed to get all of the complex variables aligned that made WoW such a sucess in the first place. But they keep trying. At this point in time, the only real threat to World of Warcraft is Blizzard itself. But if they keep demonstrating such a keen eye for their player bases demand, they aren't going away anytime soon.
Just what the industry needed to see. God I hate Blizzard. It wasn't like they hadn't already chummed the water with fresh bait and caused the 'WoWification' of the MMO genre, but now they've gone to show that having a paid sub + cash shop can really be profitable.
[Mod Edit]
It's a VERY bad sign for the MMO genre. Devs will be looking at those sales and realizing making dungeons and writing lore and fixing bugs doesn't pay as well.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
They have plenty of in game items, the reason this one sold so well and so quickly is that it is special and awesome and fun. It wouldn't be fluff if it was an achievement in game, it would be something to fawn over and waste hundreds of hours to get.
Regardless of how you get it, it is an awesome looking mount and fun to have. It's like buying truck balls for your truck, it's just a fun thing to enhance something you love.
Wow. Activision is really going to ramp up the store now. These sales only reinforce their strategy to get subscribers to spend more cash on the game, when subscription numbers have leveled out.
Expect much, much more pay-for items and services soon!
If she bought a WOW T-shirt, she should feel guilty wearing it because you couldn't buy one?
you are missing the point
It's merchandise, you aren't forced to buy it.
you are missing the point
If someone has the funds to get what most players have the time to get, then so be it.
you are missing the point
My wife is a mom, an employee and a volunteer. She can pull off getting this mount with out being a child living in their parent's basement playing 12 hours a day to get all the cool things.
ok so here is my point..... i hate this game more and more because of this crap because:
it used to be a great game, and EARNING things like mounts gave you a sense of accomplishment. I grinded my ASS off earning money to get my mount, and now they basically just give them away 20 levels lower, or in this case you can just pay real money for it and they give it to you. Where is the challenge in that? How much longer till you can just buy gear off the website and have the upper hand just because you make more money then some of the players?
the game used to be fun untill tons of noobs started whining that everything was too hard... now they just hand you everything on a platter. Including levels.
That is my point, and i do not care if you don't agree with it. I'm sure the fanboi's will just flame away anyways cause they are in denial.
My 4.0 college GPA gives me a sense of accomplishment not some grouping of pixels on a computer monitor.
Congratulations. But what about when you look at the pixels that make up the 4.0 GPA on your screen? They're just pixels too. Oh, it's not the pixels after all is it? It's what you did on the way to the goal. Same for special mounts or items in the game that took effort.
You need to read the cracked article about skinner boxes and mmo's. That effort and quick reward system was first developed with rats by BF skinner in cambridge. Don't fall for "in game achievements"
The airlines have been ramping up their cash shops too. You buy a ticket, but that just gets you on board the plane. Sure - you're not forced to buy any of these things but if you want:
window seat - extra
aisle seat - extra
bulkhead seat - extra
emergency exit seat - extra
check a bag - extra
carry on a bag - extra
use the bathroom - extra
Coming soon: emergency water landing evacuation fee, breathable air at altitude fee, lay your seat back fee, tray table release fee, and more I'm sure.
The airlines are making money, so the cash shop must be good, right? Look how popular airlines are with the public - barely above congress. I don't know about you, but having to deal with the TSA perverts on top of the airlines raping of the public I won't williingly buy a plane ticket anytime soon.
Nickel and dime-ing your customers might make you some cash in the short run, but you alienate a good portion of your base when you do.
All of you who say that it's just a game - why are you spending money on it? If it's so low on your totem pole in life, why do you shell out $25 for a pixel pony? I think you've got more of an attachment to this game than you'd actually admit.
Remember, your actions may not directly affect anything to begin with, but you're adversely affecting Blizzard's future choices of RMT by eating this up. Instead of Blizzard adding neat things to be obtainable in game, they'll likely just throw it in their item shop because it's been proven that you'll all buy.
Thanks for your blind willingness to tarnish the integrity of a game already weathered.
Originally posted by SuperXero89
My 4.0 college GPA gives me a sense of accomplishment not some grouping of pixels on a computer monitor.
Pft. Get over yourself.
I might recommend the same to you... Blizzard is provding a quality *service* that a LARGE number of people have found value in for more than 5 years. They have demonstrated themselves to be past masters at providing for the demands of various aspects of their player base. This has nothing what so ever to do with "integrity"(beyond your own personal value judgement) and much to do with effective market research and application.
the reason this sets a bad precedant is that other MMO makers will look at this then go
'Hmm ownder what we can add to our game and charge people silly money for?'
look at cryptic and STO, the amount of stuff they are cramming into the Store at the moment and the game is barely near WoW sub levels.
Bioware also did something similar by offering DLC for 15-20 that gave a few hours of extra gameplay.
You basically end up with studios launching games with minimal content, then charging people to diversify themselves to stand out from other players, or to experience new content. I recall my older MMO games where diversity was one of the foundation of a good MMO, now its is too look sthe same as everyone else and pay hard cold cash to look different.
If she bought a WOW T-shirt, she should feel guilty wearing it because you couldn't buy one?
you are missing the point
It's merchandise, you aren't forced to buy it.
you are missing the point
If someone has the funds to get what most players have the time to get, then so be it.
you are missing the point
My wife is a mom, an employee and a volunteer. She can pull off getting this mount with out being a child living in their parent's basement playing 12 hours a day to get all the cool things.
ok so here is my point..... i hate this game more and more because of this crap because:
it used to be a great game, and EARNING things like mounts gave you a sense of accomplishment. I grinded my ASS off earning money to get my mount, and now they basically just give them away 20 levels lower, or in this case you can just pay real money for it and they give it to you. Where is the challenge in that? How much longer till you can just buy gear off the website and have the upper hand just because you make more money then some of the players?
the game used to be fun untill tons of noobs started whining that everything was too hard... now they just hand you everything on a platter. Including levels.
That is my point, and i do not care if you don't agree with it. I'm sure the fanboi's will just flame away anyways cause they are in denial.
My 4.0 college GPA gives me a sense of accomplishment not some grouping of pixels on a computer monitor.
Congratulations. But what about when you look at the pixels that make up the 4.0 GPA on your screen? They're just pixels too. Oh, it's not the pixels after all is it? It's what you did on the way to the goal. Same for special mounts or items in the game that took effort.
You need to read the cracked article about skinner boxes and mmo's. That effort and quick reward system was first developed with rats by BF skinner in cambridge. Don't fall for "in game achievements"
I'm rather familiar with those experiments. It was the intermittant nature of the reward that hooks into that aspect of psychology. But do you really believe that such a limited approach would still be effective after more than 5 years? There is MUCH more involved in Blizzards World of Warcraft than such a simple explaination would provide.
MMO's reflect every day real life in so many ways... conflict between races, competition to be on top and now the lovely status symbol of rich vs. poor. I will never pay extra for something just to look cool, cause I think it shows an extreme sense of insecurity. It's like saying, I bought this steed so people will want to group with me cause I'm different. Seriously folks, why did you pay $25 for a flying mount when there's already so many to own without paying extra? I can't wait to hear some of the reasoning behind their purchases.
1) Because $25 to me is about what I pay for lunch and not a big deal
2) Because it looks awesome
3) Because I wanted to annoy those who "work" for things?
I see what people are getting at with this cash shop thing in WoW but I figured if you didnt like something the company is doing you would stop subbing and move on. If you dont like it, stop your sub, me I will continue playing the game because the fluff is exactly like its definition - "of little or no consequence".
Comments
ok so here is my point..... i hate this game more and more because of this crap because:
it used to be a great game, and EARNING things like mounts gave you a sense of accomplishment. I grinded my ASS off earning money to get my mount, and now they basically just give them away 20 levels lower, or in this case you can just pay real money for it and they give it to you. Where is the challenge in that? How much longer till you can just buy gear off the website and have the upper hand just because you make more money then some of the players?
the game used to be fun untill tons of noobs started whining that everything was too hard... now they just hand you everything on a platter. Including levels.
That is my point, and i do not care if you don't agree with it. I'm sure the fanboi's will just flame away anyways cause they are in denial.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
I saw the mounts in-game, and they certainly were pretty cool-looking and wanted one. Then I found out you had spend real life currency to get it.
Not that $25 is a big deal to spend,considering I could spend less time at work earning that $25 than I would grinding rep somewhere in-game for an equivalently fancy ride.
But it's just a game. The idea of spending money for an aesthetic enhancement in a game is somethign I still can't get through my brain's filters. I can't bring myself to do it.
The cheezy part is that you can't earn it in-game by some effort, only by spending real-world cash. And it really is the coolest looking mount so far that I've seen. That's just a bit off, in my opinion.
Sense of accomplishment?
I am a casual. I have played since 2006.
In that time:
I found my wife and got married
Had a child
Got a college degree
take care of a house she bought
Grow my own vegetables for the family
Work 40+ hours in a job I love
Moved to a large city where I can go to sports games and events
What I did not accomplish:
Didn't kill illidan (apparently I was not prepared)
Did not clear BWL or AQ40
Did not clear original Naxx
Did not kill LK yet or Yogg.
I am a casual gamer on an RP server, and when I log in, it's for fun, not work. End game achievements are work. I refuse to work in a game, my RL accomplishments are far more important and I don't need a game to make me feel good about accomplishing things.
I bought that mount.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Yeah and with the round number estimates of ~10mil players and 80k sales in 4 hours you are talking .8% of the total accounts buying something which is more than the monthly fee. By this point I am sure they are past 1% of the total accounts voluntarily paying over 2.5 times a normal month for a graphic. I am not sure if all of the accounts even have access to the mount and if it is region limited in some way then the percentage of accounts able to purchase compared to number of accounts sold to would be even greater.
I hate to think what this means in the future, but that many people voluntarily paying 2.5 times the sub cost in one month is pretty dang significant. Even if they can only get those same customers to pony up $1 or $2 a month regularly then the cash shop would easily be a financial success.
With your own money... The last time I looked, that doesn't grow on trees for most people... ^^ Its all a matter of perceived value. Lots of people have obviously decided that they'd rather have the mount and/or pet than the money they exchanged for them. Thats a win/win in my book.
Just what the industry needed to see. God I hate Blizzard. It wasn't like they hadn't already chummed the water with fresh bait and caused the 'WoWification' of the MMO genre, but now they've gone to show that having a paid sub + cash shop can really be profitable.
[Mod Edit]
Why hate someone who has simply made a different decision than you would? They all obviously believe that they are getting more enjoyment from the mount and/or pet, than they would from the money they exchanged for them. But keep in mind that the "road to hell" is more often than not paved with good intentions... In the quest to "protect" people from their own decisions, much more evil has resulted, than would have been the case other wise.
My 4.0 college GPA gives me a sense of accomplishment not some grouping of pixels on a computer monitor.
It's obviously not all that "steep" or so many people wouldn't have paid for it.
All of you who say that it's just a game - why are you spending money on it? If it's so low on your totem pole in life, why do you shell out $25 for a pixel pony? I think you've got more of an attachment to this game than you'd actually admit.
Remember, your actions may not directly affect anything to begin with, but you're adversely affecting Blizzard's future choices of RMT by eating this up. Instead of Blizzard adding neat things to be obtainable in game, they'll likely just throw it in their item shop because it's been proven that you'll all buy.
Thanks for your blind willingness to tarnish the integrity of a game already weathered.
[Mod Edit]
Congratulations. But what about when you look at the pixels that make up the 4.0 GPA on your screen? They're just pixels too. Oh, it's not the pixels after all is it? It's what you did on the way to the goal. Same for special mounts or items in the game that took effort.
Will they? If the proper market research and application isn't applied, I doubt the results would be anything like as successful as World of Warcraft has been. As for "WoWification" thats simply human nature. Investors look for the best Return On Investment thay can get their hands on(its in their self interest). Thus, someone who intones the mystical phrase; "Its just like World of Warcraft", gets truck loads of money thrown at them. ^^
Of course, so far no one has managed to get all of the complex variables aligned that made WoW such a sucess in the first place. But they keep trying. At this point in time, the only real threat to World of Warcraft is Blizzard itself. But if they keep demonstrating such a keen eye for their player bases demand, they aren't going away anytime soon.
It's a VERY bad sign for the MMO genre. Devs will be looking at those sales and realizing making dungeons and writing lore and fixing bugs doesn't pay as well.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
They have plenty of in game items, the reason this one sold so well and so quickly is that it is special and awesome and fun. It wouldn't be fluff if it was an achievement in game, it would be something to fawn over and waste hundreds of hours to get.
Regardless of how you get it, it is an awesome looking mount and fun to have. It's like buying truck balls for your truck, it's just a fun thing to enhance something you love.
Wow. Activision is really going to ramp up the store now. These sales only reinforce their strategy to get subscribers to spend more cash on the game, when subscription numbers have leveled out.
Expect much, much more pay-for items and services soon!
You need to read the cracked article about skinner boxes and mmo's. That effort and quick reward system was first developed with rats by BF skinner in cambridge. Don't fall for "in game achievements"
The airlines have been ramping up their cash shops too. You buy a ticket, but that just gets you on board the plane. Sure - you're not forced to buy any of these things but if you want:
window seat - extra
aisle seat - extra
bulkhead seat - extra
emergency exit seat - extra
check a bag - extra
carry on a bag - extra
use the bathroom - extra
Coming soon: emergency water landing evacuation fee, breathable air at altitude fee, lay your seat back fee, tray table release fee, and more I'm sure.
The airlines are making money, so the cash shop must be good, right? Look how popular airlines are with the public - barely above congress. I don't know about you, but having to deal with the TSA perverts on top of the airlines raping of the public I won't williingly buy a plane ticket anytime soon.
Nickel and dime-ing your customers might make you some cash in the short run, but you alienate a good portion of your base when you do.
I might recommend the same to you... Blizzard is provding a quality *service* that a LARGE number of people have found value in for more than 5 years. They have demonstrated themselves to be past masters at providing for the demands of various aspects of their player base. This has nothing what so ever to do with "integrity"(beyond your own personal value judgement) and much to do with effective market research and application.
the reason this sets a bad precedant is that other MMO makers will look at this then go
'Hmm ownder what we can add to our game and charge people silly money for?'
look at cryptic and STO, the amount of stuff they are cramming into the Store at the moment and the game is barely near WoW sub levels.
Bioware also did something similar by offering DLC for 15-20 that gave a few hours of extra gameplay.
You basically end up with studios launching games with minimal content, then charging people to diversify themselves to stand out from other players, or to experience new content. I recall my older MMO games where diversity was one of the foundation of a good MMO, now its is too look sthe same as everyone else and pay hard cold cash to look different.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Norsefire-logo.png
I'm rather familiar with those experiments. It was the intermittant nature of the reward that hooks into that aspect of psychology. But do you really believe that such a limited approach would still be effective after more than 5 years? There is MUCH more involved in Blizzards World of Warcraft than such a simple explaination would provide.
1) Because $25 to me is about what I pay for lunch and not a big deal
2) Because it looks awesome
3) Because I wanted to annoy those who "work" for things?
I see what people are getting at with this cash shop thing in WoW but I figured if you didnt like something the company is doing you would stop subbing and move on. If you dont like it, stop your sub, me I will continue playing the game because the fluff is exactly like its definition - "of little or no consequence".