Little bit of misinformation here, the lvl 90 boost with buying WoD is not a "Preorder Bonus" its available whenever you decide to buy the expansion.
Also it would be a lot more expensive to buy the expansion and get a 90 then transfer it over, its not just buying the expansion and your set. If you wanted to get an additional boosted lvl 90 you would have to buy the base game and all the expansions including WoD, Boost the character and then pay an addition $25 to transfer that character too your account. So in reality Blizzard have made it much cheaper to get additional boosted characters then it would be otherwise.
To be honest, people have been RaFing toons up for years and its essentially the same thing, costs around the same to do but you have to play your toons for some hours just blasting through content for quick easy levels.
Your comment on it devaluing the content is purely opinion based, you may enjoy leveling and doing the quests so the leveling content has value to you, hence paying to skip it does indeed devalue it. BUT others either don't care for the leveling content or have done it so many times before that it has no value to them and so paying to skip what for them may be utterly boring hours is a valuable proposition to them.
I personally don't play the game anymore, but i have about 7 max level toons, I don't care much for the leveling content anymore because I have spent hundreds of hours doing it, With that said I wouldn't pay 60 dollars to skip it because I still get some minor enjoyment out of doing it so its still not worth paying 60 dollars to do.
If people brand new to the game decide to use this, then they are going to suck and will have to deal with that, though I don't imagine many fresh people are going to use this and they will have a free 90 from WoD anyway. If old players of the game use this its just going to be one extra 90 added to their list of many.
So how does this negatively effect you? The time you spent leveling your characters still means something to you so why do you care what others do?
I do however agree that the fact it is setting a kind of precedent for this kind of cash shop option is slightly scary.
Played: Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, WoW, Vanguard, EQ2, STO, SWTOR, WAR, Lotro, Planetside 2, Rift, Vindictus, DCUO, Global Agenda and others .
I guess if you are a player who is already there this is fine .... as a possibly returning player I do feel this diminishes the value of any effort that I put to leveling my characters again. Thus I won't be returning to this game. Pay for a level 90? I expect this from a P2W cash shop only game not a completely subscription based mmo. I don't care if "it doesn't affect me in any way" it's the principle behind the decision that irks me.
Last week, word got out that Blizzard had set its price for boosting a character to level 90 after the World of Warcraft Warlords of Draenor expansion is released. There was already speculation going on, given previous leaks that included surveys with Blizzard asking players how much boosting a character up to cap was worth to them. It was thus pretty inevitable that we were going to see this sort of thing come to the shop. The settled upon price, as we know now, is $60. For those buying the expansion, they will get one character boosted up included, but for others, they’ll have the option to pay in order to save a lot of time. Blizzard eventually responded to the leak, confirming the pricing and explaining the cost. Yet, from a community perspective, there are a few serious questions that have come
I appreciate Christina Gonzalez presentation of multiple perspectives elements and considerations.
I am truly disappointed by so many of rhe bitter spiteful replies that many readers have left ..and lack of constructive input..shame shame..
warning poor grammar ,complete disregard for compositional structure , a great dependance on your basic comprehention skills... and a sincere desire to enlighten and assist Blizzard , WOW , and my fellow players any way i can..
dead ahead.
it is bad enough that our odds of finding an active guild with multiple consistently scheduled team and group activities,non elitist helpful members (sorry dudes and dudettes , but our xp in wow prior to pandaland is only relative to consistent class skills ,lore ,paying thru the nose for things that were cheaper or free 3 months later ,and giving directions to npcs,farming zones,and telling everyone bitterly to "google it"...) have dropped so low it makes roulette seem like a smarter gamble...When the level 90 boosted characters started to show up in pvp and pve gameplay en mass , be it a new class for an experienced player or a completely new wow customer .. LFR and Battlegrounds turned into depressing, frustrating ,seemingly hopeless undertakings. I personally do everything i can to be constructive and helpful to novice players.
I suggest in every Raid that all fights be explained (trash and boss strats) prior to engagement..
I suggest in every Battleground that strategy and roles be discussed and assigned...
The reality being that PVE and PVP require completely different play style, class talent/glyph/gemming and research ...
At the very least BG's need to have pvp gear item level requirements to obtain entry (just like raids)..Avid PVP'ers without a good spot in guild or realm arena/rbg/premade random have been in my opinion brutally disrespected and abandoned by the people that they have helped make very wealthy.
An overall improvement to players adaptability to
Armor crafters should offer their pvp items at reasonable , respectfull prices.
I suggest possibly offering a version of the BG's with enhanced Honor rewards for those with little or no pvp gear , lack of gold to buy crafted pvp gear , just trying it to see if pvp fits them or not before wasting everyones time ,moral ,and gold .and of course the players that are forced needlessly into BG's for quests(one of the more epic bad moves by Blizz...)
And seasoned players need to remember the FACT that they can destroy team moral , and new players desire to cultivate an honorable sense of duty and accountability to their random teammates with just one hurtful statement in team chat... if you are silent before the bg / raid starts ,then flip into a childish tissy fit 2 minutes into the match, you should " BE VERY EMBARRASSED " contemplate the fact that you are not a team asset at all but just perpetuating a cycle of mental abuse that spreads like poison thru them . When you are motivated to be abusive or condescending in a community/team member in a whisper or chat pane you are quite possibly the reason a child gets yelled at or hurt , and you make at least 1 more person less likely to be kind and helpful to others and ultimately responsible for the decline of community sevice compassion and positve human nature
I suggest maintaining a BG node specific "INCOMING" macro button (or die typing), react quickly to Incoming warnings , and defend your teams assets... if you travel by a flag/objective with 2 or less teamates guarding it , you essentially are the reason it is lost ...And dont get kited away from your node while another enemy turns the flag.
Post Script : I am so thankful for the positive distraction (thru the most traumatic horrifying time and events i have experienced. ) the visual beauty , artistic inspiration , mental exercize , multi tasking , memory retention maintenance / strengthening and the few kind and compassionate souls that play WOW because they enjoy helping others that share their excitement for lore and magical wonder of the world the game allows us to experience . the ability to be a kind , positive , helpful influence to people that otherwise would have given up caring / facing the real world ,aimlessly medicating , or trying to proccess thru hard times...Not because they cant do anything else , not because they are running from their dysfunction , not because they are afraid of people without the armor anonymity of the web
Without WOW , I would be dead ,in jail , drugged out , angry at the world ,delusionally selfseeking , or your standard fearful- insecure -media controlled -narcissistic -me-me-me waste of skin robot- that we all know to well .
Comments
Little bit of misinformation here, the lvl 90 boost with buying WoD is not a "Preorder Bonus" its available whenever you decide to buy the expansion.
Also it would be a lot more expensive to buy the expansion and get a 90 then transfer it over, its not just buying the expansion and your set. If you wanted to get an additional boosted lvl 90 you would have to buy the base game and all the expansions including WoD, Boost the character and then pay an addition $25 to transfer that character too your account. So in reality Blizzard have made it much cheaper to get additional boosted characters then it would be otherwise.
To be honest, people have been RaFing toons up for years and its essentially the same thing, costs around the same to do but you have to play your toons for some hours just blasting through content for quick easy levels.
Your comment on it devaluing the content is purely opinion based, you may enjoy leveling and doing the quests so the leveling content has value to you, hence paying to skip it does indeed devalue it. BUT others either don't care for the leveling content or have done it so many times before that it has no value to them and so paying to skip what for them may be utterly boring hours is a valuable proposition to them.
I personally don't play the game anymore, but i have about 7 max level toons, I don't care much for the leveling content anymore because I have spent hundreds of hours doing it, With that said I wouldn't pay 60 dollars to skip it because I still get some minor enjoyment out of doing it so its still not worth paying 60 dollars to do.
If people brand new to the game decide to use this, then they are going to suck and will have to deal with that, though I don't imagine many fresh people are going to use this and they will have a free 90 from WoD anyway. If old players of the game use this its just going to be one extra 90 added to their list of many.
So how does this negatively effect you? The time you spent leveling your characters still means something to you so why do you care what others do?
I do however agree that the fact it is setting a kind of precedent for this kind of cash shop option is slightly scary.
Played: Guild Wars, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, WoW, Vanguard, EQ2, STO, SWTOR, WAR, Lotro, Planetside 2, Rift, Vindictus, DCUO, Global Agenda and others .
It will not have any dramatic impact. You folks are hyping it up more than needs be.
I appreciate Christina Gonzalez presentation of multiple perspectives elements and considerations.
I am truly disappointed by so many of rhe bitter spiteful replies that many readers have left ..and lack of constructive input..shame shame..
warning poor grammar ,complete disregard for compositional structure , a great dependance on your basic comprehention skills... and a sincere desire to enlighten and assist Blizzard , WOW , and my fellow players any way i can..
dead ahead.
it is bad enough that our odds of finding an active guild with multiple consistently scheduled team and group activities,non elitist helpful members (sorry dudes and dudettes , but our xp in wow prior to pandaland is only relative to consistent class skills ,lore ,paying thru the nose for things that were cheaper or free 3 months later ,and giving directions to npcs,farming zones,and telling everyone bitterly to "google it"...) have dropped so low it makes roulette seem like a smarter gamble...When the level 90 boosted characters started to show up in pvp and pve gameplay en mass , be it a new class for an experienced player or a completely new wow customer .. LFR and Battlegrounds turned into depressing, frustrating ,seemingly hopeless undertakings. I personally do everything i can to be constructive and helpful to novice players.
I suggest in every Raid that all fights be explained (trash and boss strats) prior to engagement..
I suggest in every Battleground that strategy and roles be discussed and assigned...
The reality being that PVE and PVP require completely different play style, class talent/glyph/gemming and research ...
At the very least BG's need to have pvp gear item level requirements to obtain entry (just like raids)..Avid PVP'ers without a good spot in guild or realm arena/rbg/premade random have been in my opinion brutally disrespected and abandoned by the people that they have helped make very wealthy.
An overall improvement to players adaptability to
Armor crafters should offer their pvp items at reasonable , respectfull prices.
I suggest possibly offering a version of the BG's with enhanced Honor rewards for those with little or no pvp gear , lack of gold to buy crafted pvp gear , just trying it to see if pvp fits them or not before wasting everyones time ,moral ,and gold .and of course the players that are forced needlessly into BG's for quests(one of the more epic bad moves by Blizz...)
And seasoned players need to remember the FACT that they can destroy team moral , and new players desire to cultivate an honorable sense of duty and accountability to their random teammates with just one hurtful statement in team chat... if you are silent before the bg / raid starts ,then flip into a childish tissy fit 2 minutes into the match, you should " BE VERY EMBARRASSED " contemplate the fact that you are not a team asset at all but just perpetuating a cycle of mental abuse that spreads like poison thru them . When you are motivated to be abusive or condescending in a community/team member in a whisper or chat pane you are quite possibly the reason a child gets yelled at or hurt , and you make at least 1 more person less likely to be kind and helpful to others and ultimately responsible for the decline of community sevice compassion and positve human nature
I suggest maintaining a BG node specific "INCOMING" macro button (or die typing), react quickly to Incoming warnings , and defend your teams assets... if you travel by a flag/objective with 2 or less teamates guarding it , you essentially are the reason it is lost ...And dont get kited away from your node while another enemy turns the flag.
Post Script : I am so thankful for the positive distraction (thru the most traumatic horrifying time and events i have experienced. ) the visual beauty , artistic inspiration , mental exercize , multi tasking , memory retention maintenance / strengthening and the few kind and compassionate souls that play WOW because they enjoy helping others that share their excitement for lore and magical wonder of the world the game allows us to experience . the ability to be a kind , positive , helpful influence to people that otherwise would have given up caring / facing the real world ,aimlessly medicating , or trying to proccess thru hard times...Not because they cant do anything else , not because they are running from their dysfunction , not because they are afraid of people without the armor anonymity of the web
Without WOW , I would be dead ,in jail , drugged out , angry at the world ,delusionally selfseeking , or your standard fearful- insecure -media controlled -narcissistic -me-me-me waste of skin robot- that we all know to well .
Most video games are.