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WoW has become such a CASH COW!
Rogue420
Member Posts: 296
Paid name changes?! They already charge for transfers. I know they're gonna charge for hair changes too. What's next? Gold, Items and Lvls? Not to mention WotLK will prob. cost a billion dollars. IMO, Vivendi is realizing they wont be able to offer what the next gen. of MMOs will be able to offer, so they're milking this bad boy.
Pats are gonna go 19-0 2008-2009 season
Comments
Wasn't it always?
Compare it to EVE. EVE has had numerous HUGE and FREE content updates.
Hell, look at Runescape; it gets new updates every 2 weeks or so.
How many content updates has WoW had? Burning Crusade? And that too was a paid expansion? pfft.
Aye I agree with your statement, they're making as much money as they can. My guess is they leave WoW to die after WotLK. People will still continue to play, population might fall a bit, but maybe the game will stay running for another year or two. Or maybe they might never close it, like Everquest and such.
I seriously think instead of WotLK they should have made a new game, Hell; even if its WoW2.
Did you really just compare WoW to a Java script browser game, or even say it was better for its updates?
Wow, I am not a fan of WoW but that just seems like a hit below the belt heh.
but maybe the game will stay running for another year or two. Or maybe they might never close it, like Everquest and such.
It'll last longer than that, with a shitload of subs like it has now. I really don't understand why everyone thinks WoW is going to all of a sudden not be the number 1 when it comes to subs; all that is is wishful thinking. It's already proven it's going to be succesful for quite a while. I don't like WoW, but hey, it's time to stop living in denial.
Its not number one in subs.....
/gulible
Tell me, just how naive can you be?
OF COURSE IT"S ABOUT THE MONEY!
Eventually they'll go over an invisible line and people will tell them NO.
And they'll stop.
They're testing the edges of the envelope.
CH, Jedi, Commando, Smuggler, BH, Scout, Doctor, Chef, BE...yeah, lots of SWG time invested.
Once a denizen of Ahazi
How many dungeons, raid zones, battleground, factions, recipes and such has blizzard added for free over the years? It might not be as much as some game, but it certainly is loads more than most of the game out there. Plus they all work smoothly when released (as far as I recall). There is a new 10 man raid zone coming in a few weeks and then another 25 man raid zone coming after that. Not to mention other things.
On the flip side, I hate the concept of a name change service. I dislike that it is a paid service to boot, but that is pretty standard fair in the MMO world. If it were free people would abuse it, but I just don't like any aspect of it. Unless you name violates naming policy, deal with it. Come to think of it, if it is in violation then they should charge you ten bucks to change it. I could shower in the tears of all the dzizizts and rasitlians of the world.
i would insult you and pick on you for having the lamest troll on wow yet, but people might take it the wrong way and think im just being homophobic so i wont
Games i'm playing right now...
"In short, I thought NGE was a very bad idea" - Raph Koster talking about NGE on his blog at raphkoster.com
As soon as you can name an MMORPG with higher subs and CAN prove it with facts, yes, yes it is.
First off character transfer and name changes are not new in MMO's and Wow's prices are amoung the lowest.. also fee's need to be in place stop players abusing the system ofc this does bring in an income too.
Blizzard are NOT charging for hair chnages in WotLK.. ROFL.. blizzad said there will be in-game hairdresser shops in WotLK where you can spend some in-game gold to get a new haircut.
Character transfer fees:
WoW $25
DAoC $40
EQ2 $50
CoX $10
Character name changes
WoW $10
DAoC N/A
EQ2 N/A
CoX $10
Good, Bad, Whatever.. In terms of subs it's a smash hit, of cource it's going to be milked dry before it starts to hemeraging subs, expect more 'paid services' in game and a LOT more merchendising of sure..
It's not like it's the first game to do this... Look at Pokemon and very resently Halo 3.. it's just good business and marketing, if people are throwing themselfs at a game take them for all they've got..
We may not like it but it damn sure works...
Bring on the WARRRRGGHH!
Ok tool. Playing the internet tough guy card... LOL!
Pats are gonna go 19-0 2008-2009 season
Wasn't it always?
Compare it to EVE. EVE has had numerous HUGE and FREE content updates.
Hell, look at Runescape; it gets new updates every 2 weeks or so.
How many content updates has WoW had? Burning Crusade? And that too was a paid expansion? pfft.
You people amaze me. You take a game that has maybe 200 thousand active subs and compare it to a game that has 2 million active subs and you think they ought to work the same way? EVE has numerous and HUGE udpates (using your wording, I really kinda doubt it, but I digress) because it HAS TOO!!! No one is gonna pay them a dime to get the updates. They barely have enough subscribers to keep the game afloat as it is, you really think they can start charging them for updates? LOL Get serious.
I guarantee you if EVE THOUGHT they could charge their users for name changes, THEY SURE AS HELL WOULD!!!
Please, people, wake up. Development companies aren't in the business to make it's customer's happy. They are in the business of MAKING MONEY!!! And they all want to make as much as they possibly can. Please stop blaming Blizzard for taking advantage of what they have. Everyone in the business WISHES they could do what Blizzard does.
I must say, Played WoW to lvl 70, raided my bawls off, I didn't have a problem with character transfers, but paying for a name change? That's a joke.
Eve is as a milking cow as WoW. I played Eve for almost 3 years and now about to drop it because of so many damn real life faction fanatics that control the game such as the Russians who only pick their own kind to join their corp and Chinese who farm all day for green bucks. How about the 4 hours of gate camping? Believe me not much enjoyment there now. Eve is dying as we speak!
__________________
Playing: EVE & Runescape @ work : P
I wouldnt put it past blizzard to start selling gold in their game. Gold is much easier to get now it is basically a trivial matter. So it sounds like a good business decision to undermine all the gold sellers now whislt it will least effect the game and just sell gold. It goes on anyway, so why dont they just sell it them self, they will have control of the market then, and maintain control of the server economy.
All though i dont really support the idea, it just doesnt sound that farfetched anymore that they wouldn't just start selling it them self, especially as i said they have made gold so stupidly easy to get now how much worse could it get, it will be the same people buying gold.
... People really hate who ever is on top it seems, why dont you check out what other MMO companies offer before bashing. Hell look at SoE and how they over charge EVERY thing. Why would you ever compare WoW to something as runescape, I guess you havent played WoW as you said that BC was there only update? Umm yea what about all the content they added before BC like like adding WSG/AV/AB also adding AQ20 40.. Just look on the site for all the major updates they done. Not to mention all the hot fixes and balancing every class.
How many dungeons, raid zones, battleground, factions, recipes and such has blizzard added for free over the years? It might not be as much as some game, but it certainly is loads more than most of the game out there. Plus they all work smoothly when released (as far as I recall). There is a new 10 man raid zone coming in a few weeks and then another 25 man raid zone coming after that. Not to mention other things.
It’s added a handful of raid zones but not enough to really write home about. WoW’s additions in every other area have been lacking to say the least.
At least they have something resembling an excuse, WoW did lose almost all it’s developers around the time it was released. With the Diablo guys leaving on mass a year earlier Blizzard basically had no skilled developers left in the company within a few months of WoW’s release.
Name changing... why? What's the purpose of it? Scam someone over and everyone now knows and wont group or trade with you? Hey, now I'm not saying you had. I'm just puzzled, why even allow it? Now if your name keeps you from transfering to another server. Then yes I'd be up in arms at the double charge, if that is infact the circumstance.
Anyway, if ever there be a fee for article or activity, that you find unjust or simple outragoues. Then by all means refuse. Boycott, taunt and shame those that are willing. The MMO industry is new and they, like some others have said, are pushing their product as far as they can. Or should I say, reaching in as far as you allow.
How many dungeons, raid zones, battleground, factions, recipes and such has blizzard added for free over the years? It might not be as much as some game, but it certainly is loads more than most of the game out there. Plus they all work smoothly when released (as far as I recall). There is a new 10 man raid zone coming in a few weeks and then another 25 man raid zone coming after that. Not to mention other things.
It’s added a handful of raid zones but not enough to really write home about. WoW’s additions in every other area have been lacking to say the least.
At least they have something resembling an excuse, WoW did lose almost all it’s developers around the time it was released. With the Diablo guys leaving on mass a year earlier Blizzard basically had no skilled developers left in the company within a few months of WoW’s release.
I like, but I really wish the expansions added more than 10 levels. 60 levels would be nice.
After WAR and AoC is released, WoW will not be number one in subscriptions in the USA and Europe. Most likely they will retain their stranglehold on the Asian market, but I'm pretty sure that the Chinese will be playing WAR and AoC as well, if those games have valid reasons to buy gold in them that is.
Most of the free content released by Blizzard over the last few years all seemed to be content they didn't quite have enough time to finish by release. $10 for a name change is a bit much. They should offer a Blizzard special... $29.95 for a name change and server switch. That would really appeal to alot of the people playing WoW.
But, WoW was outdated the moment it was released. The tech is old and cumbersome, and the gameplay was modeled after archaic mechanics. Even the designers admit to not being innovative. I'd be milking it for as much as possible right now, too. They don't have the talent to compete, and the game will be going into decline shortly.
Actually I can think of several quite legitimate reasons why someone may wish to change their name e.g.
- it's similar to another characters name and the two get confused.
- the initial name was mispelt
- the initial name has negative associations what weren't initially known to the player when he chose it
- the initial name doesn't reflect the personality of the character that has developed through RP
- to reflect an important RP occasion - e.g. a marriage
- the character has migrated to an RP server and wishes to adopt an RP name
D&D Home Page - What Class Are You? - Build A Character - D&D Compendium
This isn't like an SOE game that you and I are familiar with. They didn't need to keep spitting out patches that gutted and retooled the game from the ground up to show that they need "programming talent", because the game was fun from the start. Night and day.... night and day.