Sub fees haven't really budged in a long time. Compare this to other services where fees constantly rise with inflation. I think companies are trying to use micro transactions as an alternative to sub increases which would likely see a lot more back lash.
Being I am a old man who has played WOW off and on for years including Eveonline and many others. You just don't drop subscription based income and have no means of immediately replacing loss revenue. Bills must get paid including payroll. I think many here like a lot of people do not understand how economics work.
Example: gas station primary income is selling gas (volume) but gas is its lowest profit margin. Soda fountain are their highest profitable margin.
Example: movies theaters give up 90% of its ticket income to box office. It's profit is at refreshment concessions, 100%.
Stores have all those little trinkets and magazines around checkout . (Change makers) and high margins.
Originally posted by expresso I hope WoW stays subscription based, that $15 barrier has kept most the scum that dirty up F2P/B2P games out and with the explosion of F2P a lot of the time wasters have left WoW and that is nothing but good news. WoW subscriptions ensures players stay invested in the game and I likes that. So bring on F2P and B2P games they're doing nothing but cleaning up WoW.
ironically the worst community I've ever played with was in WoW
What a huge disappointment, particularly to those of us who were with WoW from the beginning. Wow is pretty much my latter childhood in a nutshell (teen years). I don't find it acceptable to those who still play and pay a monthly fee. How desperate and greedy and rude does that look? Blizzard, they are giving you a MONTHLY fee, and you are asking more of them. Your "level field" that seems to still struggle, will absolutely turn in on itself when you introduce the 'omg i'm l33t strong ub3r fast' consumable.
Do NOT do what other games have done, do not go down that route. You're not only hurting your games potential future, but you're going to see a massive reputation loss. Because in the end, if you still need to go F2P, you failed to make and keep a game. You have a lot of subscribers from what I've been reading, and I think with the current amount (near what it was in BC), you can tide yourself over for quite some time.
UO, the great grandfather of MMOs, is still subscription, not that many play it. Get my point though? Legacy. You lose your legacy card if you given in.
I can't bash WoW for adding a revenue stream that just about every mmo has, I don't like it, but I don't blame them.
Also, WoW is almost 10 years old, it is still the big dog on the block, but its time is ticking. Blizzard is working on a new mmo. Combine these facts with the popularity of "free to play" and you encounter the very real possibility that WoW goes to a hybrid sub/FTP model or just flat out FTP.
does not matter a P2P game does not add Micro... so simply is that. either it goes Free to play or stay P2p and Blizzard has enough money to go on for 50 year's..
Maybe you can send Blizzard the memo where this thing simply CANNOT be done. Make sure you send a copy of these laws in case it needs to go to court...
Of course they can and will do it. The question is why people keep buying the pretense.
There are a lot of F2P (and some B2P) MMOs, and some B2P multiplayer games like CoD or especially Diablo III, where the amount of people playing is way higher then in many MMO, and still they do not require a subscription fee.
How can it be required for an MMO like WoW? It never had awesome visuals, neither had it full voice over or anything else, and even those MMOs that have those things run fine on F2P. There are also a lot of MMOs that have a subscription, but thats it, no additional fees.
How can people still accept that at every turn they are required to shell out money (buy the game, buy the expansions, buy character transfers and so on) AND a subscription, and (if you think of the stuff currently available as "service") now even microtransactions?
It's perfectly understandable for a company to want that, it's the best of both worlds. But why do people keep buying that argument?
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
Could not care less to be honest. Mostly because i have played a good chunk of games that are now so top heavy that leveling up is a honest hell. If Blizzard want to sell XP pots all i can say is good for you, now i might actually bother to level up all the chars that got stuck in bloody awful Outlands.
And honestly it is a win/win situation. Blizzard get more money and people get to level more quickly... As for the people that are angry in this thread... You are always angry so nothing changed there.
Actually, by this age of the game i do not really care if they sell gear either. It would ofc not be top teir (that would be counter-productive) but anything else is fair game.
But who knows, maybe they make the XP pots tradeable ingame. That would solve the issue completley.
Just bend over and take it, it seems you enjoy it. I personally if I played WoW I would want everything included in the game for the monthly sub price. It is nothing to get excited about, if you feel the leveling is too slow which is laughable, then maybe you should hope for in game xp potions that can be bought with plat or quested for .. NOT purchased with real life money after you are already paying monthly.
If people would say no, and vote with their wallets then they may start getting their whole games again for the price they already paid.
Being I am a old man who has played WOW off and on for years including Eveonline and many others. You just don't drop subscription based income and have no means of immediately replacing loss revenue. Bills must get paid including payroll. I think many here like a lot of people do not understand how economics work.
Example: gas station primary income is selling gas (volume) but gas is its lowest profit margin. Soda fountain are their highest profitable margin.
Example: movies theaters give up 90% of its ticket income to box office. It's profit is at refreshment concessions, 100%.
Stores have all those little trinkets and magazines around checkout . (Change makers) and high margins.
This use to be the case but now everything you just said is wrong. Now it is pure greed. Movie ticket prices have went up dramatically and the food/drinks are still high .. why? Greed. WoW still is producing a huge net profit, they want more because of ... greed. That is what is wrong with our country now days, greed.
The gap between the rich and poor is increasing a dramatic pace because of greed.
This only exist,when dumb people bought the mounts,pets etc. Wouldn't you think that,all the developed content,which isn't part of the expansion pack.Should be included in the monthly fee?
I don't understand people complaining about this. The "gouging" began with the sparkling pony. At the time you either had a land mount or a sky mount - the pony was both.
As many posters have mentioned the mmo scene is riddled with microtransactions. I too used to be against them but, as I get older and with less playing time, I have turned the other way. I sub to SWTOR and use the cartel shop. Have only paid for cartel coins once, but, should there be something that really helps me, I would do so again.
As long as the shop is not in your face (like Runes of Magic) I do not mind it.
I figure it this way. Developers are listening more and more to the hard core. "Make it harder" the hard core are saying in every game. That is ok for them but for the casual it is a pain in the rectum. I see microtransactions as the counterpoint to the hard core. Let them grind, I will buy. Everyone is happy. Well, maybe not the hard core. I shed copius crocodile tears for them.
We are currently exploring the possibility of adding a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly within the game. As part of this process, elements related to this will be appearing on the PTR. We’ll provide additional updates on our plans as development progresses.
That the business suits who run Blizzard would go in-game cash shop was a no brainer for them and not a real surprise to any gamers. However, the scale of what they are contemplating, namely buy-2-win perks, is going to have a seismic impact on WoW. I think, though, that it has to go hand-in-hand with a change in the sub. To charge the full whack sub and get cash shop Blizzard Bucks out of players is not realistic, if they open up an in-game buy-2-win cash shop then the players need the sub reduced in size or simply made free from sub.
I don't understand people complaining about this. The "gouging" began with the sparkling pony. At the time you either had a land mount or a sky mount - the pony was both.
You sir, have no idea what you are talking about. Not only were most "flying mounts" usable in the old world as land only, but the headless horseman mount (1 example) was both a land and flying mount.
This is datamined info form the PTR...the sky isnt falling folks...
We are currently exploring the possibility of adding a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly within the game. As part of this process, elements related to this will be appearing on the PTR. We’ll provide additional updates on our plans as development progresses.
That the business suits who run Blizzard would go in-game cash shop was a no brainer for them and not a real surprise to any gamers. However, the scale of what they are contemplating, namely buy-2-win perks, is going to have a seismic impact on WoW. I think, though, that it has to go hand-in-hand with a change in the sub. To charge the full whack sub and get cash shop Blizzard Bucks out of players is not realistic, if they open up an in-game buy-2-win cash shop then the players need the sub reduced in size or simply made free from sub.
Not only is this datamined info, but even if it does go live in the distant future, it won't affect players in the west in the least. The xp catch up is only being even considered for testing in the region most forms champs dismiss in almost every post they make in the WoW forums....Asaia....
You cant go from subtly (and sometimes not so much) dismissing Asian players every chance you get, to championing their cause...lol.
NO! Do NOT go free to play! Every F2P game I've played was ruined by the cash shops. Keep the paying players favored! The types of things and services offered in the cash shop is already sufficient. Free to play up to level 20 is enough to get people introduced to the game. By that point, they have dailies, and dungeons and riding, and such. $15/month is not too much to pay and the in-game transaction limitations on F2P players seems to help keep out some of the riff-raff and possible more than a few hackers and farmers. If people can afford to pay $3-$5 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks, or $1 for a bottled water, they can certainly afford 50¢ or less a day for WoW without whining about it. The cheapest burger, fries and drink at McDonald's costs more than a week of playing WoW. Keep the subscriptions and the F2p up to 20 with restrictions just as it is, PLEASE!
The very most important factor is that NOTHING in the cash shops should ever give any player in-game competetive advantages over subscription paying players - EVER! Otherwise, you end up with a situation like Perfect World where some people spend insane amounts of cash on dragon orbs to buff their gear and end up with gear that the less wealthy free to play players can never ever hope to compete against. PW ruined peoples lives when addictable personalties spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month in their cash shops. We QUIT Perfect World when I realized we were starting to simply drop $50 to $100 pops through PayPal to Perfect World every other DAY and we STILL couldn't keep up with wealthier players, while we were going broke in REAL life! The in-game community became sadly divided into very widely separated "haves" and "have-nots". Blizzard, please do not EVER let this happen to WoW!! Not ever!! The $15/month (or less) is a comfortably affordable and safely manageable budget amount for even the most addicted contunously playing WoW player and will not ruin lives for the money, at least. Players should also heed your loading screen tip that says "Moderation in all things, including World of Warcraft." It shows Blizzard really DOES care about us.
Also, never allow players to create in-game private shops like the "cat shops" in Perfect World. PW's city of Archosaur has been completely ruined by the lag caused by AFK players leaving their avatars parked all over the main city roads in merchant mode. The situation is as ugnly as tripping over homeless people in an otherwise pretty city. Plus shoppers have to click and search in each and every seller in hopes of finding what they wanted. Keep sales in the auction house or between actively playing logged in users who are both present at their keyboards to click the Trade button. Also keep the one hour mail delay between separate accounts.
Comments
Being I am a old man who has played WOW off and on for years including Eveonline and many others. You just don't drop subscription based income and have no means of immediately replacing loss revenue. Bills must get paid including payroll. I think many here like a lot of people do not understand how economics work.
Example: gas station primary income is selling gas (volume) but gas is its lowest profit margin. Soda fountain are their highest profitable margin.
Example: movies theaters give up 90% of its ticket income to box office. It's profit is at refreshment concessions, 100%.
Stores have all those little trinkets and magazines around checkout . (Change makers) and high margins.
was is exactly right.
What a huge disappointment, particularly to those of us who were with WoW from the beginning. Wow is pretty much my latter childhood in a nutshell (teen years). I don't find it acceptable to those who still play and pay a monthly fee. How desperate and greedy and rude does that look? Blizzard, they are giving you a MONTHLY fee, and you are asking more of them. Your "level field" that seems to still struggle, will absolutely turn in on itself when you introduce the 'omg i'm l33t strong ub3r fast' consumable.
Do NOT do what other games have done, do not go down that route. You're not only hurting your games potential future, but you're going to see a massive reputation loss. Because in the end, if you still need to go F2P, you failed to make and keep a game. You have a lot of subscribers from what I've been reading, and I think with the current amount (near what it was in BC), you can tide yourself over for quite some time.
UO, the great grandfather of MMOs, is still subscription, not that many play it. Get my point though? Legacy. You lose your legacy card if you given in.
It amazes me that Blizzard dint implement max level characters for cha-ching yet ?
In Vanila devs said it would never be posible to transfer from ally to horde, and look how that turned out.
Servers today are either full horde or full alliance.
No1 knows how many EU or USA players are left or how many Asian players in total from Asian country's.
I stopped believing in Blizzard after faction change and payed server tranfers, woulnt suprise me at all if they went Sub + cash shop + etc etc etc.
They do anything to milk their playerbase dry these days, they need to make up that lost money they pumped in Titan that got dumpstered.
Basicly WoW is already free to play in Asia -_-
if someone with a sub invites one of their old friends back, those old friends get free level 80's now. ehh close enough
I have every class level 90 so the exp thing doesn't even effect me any XD
Maybe you can send Blizzard the memo where this thing simply CANNOT be done. Make sure you send a copy of these laws in case it needs to go to court...
Seriously..
Of course they can and will do it. The question is why people keep buying the pretense.
There are a lot of F2P (and some B2P) MMOs, and some B2P multiplayer games like CoD or especially Diablo III, where the amount of people playing is way higher then in many MMO, and still they do not require a subscription fee.
How can it be required for an MMO like WoW? It never had awesome visuals, neither had it full voice over or anything else, and even those MMOs that have those things run fine on F2P. There are also a lot of MMOs that have a subscription, but thats it, no additional fees.
How can people still accept that at every turn they are required to shell out money (buy the game, buy the expansions, buy character transfers and so on) AND a subscription, and (if you think of the stuff currently available as "service") now even microtransactions?
It's perfectly understandable for a company to want that, it's the best of both worlds. But why do people keep buying that argument?
I'll wait to the day's end when the moon is high
And then I'll rise with the tide with a lust for life, I'll
Amass an army, and we'll harness a horde
And then we'll limp across the land until we stand at the shore
Just bend over and take it, it seems you enjoy it. I personally if I played WoW I would want everything included in the game for the monthly sub price. It is nothing to get excited about, if you feel the leveling is too slow which is laughable, then maybe you should hope for in game xp potions that can be bought with plat or quested for .. NOT purchased with real life money after you are already paying monthly.
If people would say no, and vote with their wallets then they may start getting their whole games again for the price they already paid.
This use to be the case but now everything you just said is wrong. Now it is pure greed. Movie ticket prices have went up dramatically and the food/drinks are still high .. why? Greed. WoW still is producing a huge net profit, they want more because of ... greed. That is what is wrong with our country now days, greed.
The gap between the rich and poor is increasing a dramatic pace because of greed.
This only exist,when dumb people bought the mounts,pets etc. Wouldn't you think that,all the developed content,which isn't part of the expansion pack.Should be included in the monthly fee?
I don't understand people complaining about this. The "gouging" began with the sparkling pony. At the time you either had a land mount or a sky mount - the pony was both.
As many posters have mentioned the mmo scene is riddled with microtransactions. I too used to be against them but, as I get older and with less playing time, I have turned the other way. I sub to SWTOR and use the cartel shop. Have only paid for cartel coins once, but, should there be something that really helps me, I would do so again.
As long as the shop is not in your face (like Runes of Magic) I do not mind it.
I figure it this way. Developers are listening more and more to the hard core. "Make it harder" the hard core are saying in every game. That is ok for them but for the casual it is a pain in the rectum. I see microtransactions as the counterpoint to the hard core. Let them grind, I will buy. Everyone is happy. Well, maybe not the hard core. I shed copius crocodile tears for them.
after D3's RMAH
it doesnt surprise me what Blizzard wants to monetize anymore
EQ2 fan sites
That the business suits who run Blizzard would go in-game cash shop was a no brainer for them and not a real surprise to any gamers. However, the scale of what they are contemplating, namely buy-2-win perks, is going to have a seismic impact on WoW. I think, though, that it has to go hand-in-hand with a change in the sub. To charge the full whack sub and get cash shop Blizzard Bucks out of players is not realistic, if they open up an in-game buy-2-win cash shop then the players need the sub reduced in size or simply made free from sub.
You sir, have no idea what you are talking about. Not only were most "flying mounts" usable in the old world as land only, but the headless horseman mount (1 example) was both a land and flying mount.
This is datamined info form the PTR...the sky isnt falling folks...
Not only is this datamined info, but even if it does go live in the distant future, it won't affect players in the west in the least.
The xp catch up is only being even considered for testing in the region most forms champs dismiss in almost every post they make in the WoW forums....Asaia....
You cant go from subtly (and sometimes not so much) dismissing Asian players every chance you get, to championing their cause...lol.
It doesnt even matter what is announced, posters here will twist it into the sky is falling.