Whether WoW will turn f2p is yet to be determined but it is undeniable Blizzard has been making much noise in RMT and f2p in their recent and newer games.
How can people miss the news on the online game industry's first ever Real Money Auction House in Diablo 3 and Blizzard's own first ever f2p online game, supported solely by micro-transactions, based on their very own beloved Warcraft Universe, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft?
So many people getting worked up over a video game and shiny digital objects.
The world will go on people and ultimately we will all realize that these stupid objects really mean absolutely nothing.
Even if you did spend hours on your ass exercising your fingers on a keyboard.
No, it was not "work." It was wasting time.
You spend hours watching a sport game or a movie too but I don't think everybody will consider it a waste of time.
It is not unethical to sell popcorn, sodas and other snacks in a sport game or a movie. By the same token, it is ok to sell entertainment enhancing items in an online game.
Originally posted by xaus Can't blame Blizz for doing this, subs where getting smaller over time. This will make them a shit load more money, and at the end of day for them thats the only thing that matters.
Doing what.....testing 1 item on the PTR for Asia? Gotta love mmorpg.com.
Originally posted by xaus Can't blame Blizz for doing this, subs where getting smaller over time. This will make them a shit load more money, and at the end of day for them thats the only thing that matters.
Doing what.....testing 1 item on the PTR for Asia? Gotta love mmorpg.com.
Well, apparently, according to people here, Blizz needs to get more than 3 cents a month from the 6 million Asian players there...because they only play for 1 hour ...for 3 cents...all of them.
Originally posted by xaus Can't blame Blizz for doing this, subs where getting smaller over time. This will make them a shit load more money, and at the end of day for them thats the only thing that matters.
Doing what.....testing 1 item on the PTR for Asia? Gotta love mmorpg.com.
Well, apparently, according to people here, Blizz needs to get more than 3 cents a month from the 6 million Asian players there...because they only play for 1 hour ...for 3 cents...all of them.
Blizzard is raking in too much money in P2P to even consider F2P.
SW TOR went free to play when they tumbled under 500K.
I think that's the point of changing your revenue model.
500.000 @ 15 dollars per month = 7.5 million dollars in such a huge infrastructure.
---
I doubt WOW will reach the 1M point in the next 5 years. The hardcore fan base is simply bigger than that number.
As F2P is really a shake out of mediocre MMORPG's, my guess is that WOW will level out much higher.
Add the WOW movie, other franchised sister products (Hearthstone, BAS) and I very much doubt it will go F2P in the next years.
It is enough that you'll get access to a new Blizzard beta game having a subscription to WOW to ensure subs. Other forms will be introduced like getting free card packs from HS and probably boosts to BAS play (all linked to a WOW sub).
The only thing that could happen is a general BattleNet service fee instead of a single WOW sub. But since Titan was postponed Blizzard decided to go full support for WOW in the coming years.
There simply is no replacement in the MMORPG world. Other kind of games make more money than F2P MMORPG's these days. (watch Hearthstone as an example).
The asian market is already free to play..... This is for EU / USA markets to get more people in to fill the dozens and dozens of dead servers.
I can be wrong, but why would this be for the asian market who already pay absurd low prices like 3 or 4 cent per hour ? Why would they change that to micro transitions now ? It would be stupid as they will lose even more players in asia as they have so much mmo's to choose from compared to us in the west.
This will happen on EU / USA market.
To the above poster ^^
Ye i played wow on private servers, specialy the vanila and tbc one's and there are hundred of thousands of players on those servers alone. Blizzard aint blind, they know what a huge amount of cash they are missing out on by all those players who refuse to pay a sub. Not to mention some of those pvriate servers have realy good qaulity people behind them.
Originally posted by DamonVile The shining example of p2p is becoming the example of why people stopped paying for them. If your sub isn't giving you all the game has to offer....why are you paying a sub ?
This.
+ paying subsciption for lobby mulitplayer games WoW and other themeparks have become is silly anyway.
Players were left concerned at the nature of the items Blizzard was testing, including "convenience-based items" such as buffs to aid levelling. The developer has now confirmed that such items will initially only be available in Asian regions.
For Western gamers, the shop will simply be a more streamlined way to buy extras such as pets, Blizzard argued.
"For players who are already interested in the in-game items we offer, such as Pet Store pets and mounts, the benefits of an in-game store are pretty clear. We think everyone would appreciate the convenience of being able to make such purchases without having to leave the game, and ultimately that's our long-term goal for the system, though there's quite a bit of work involved in retrofitting those existing items into the new system.
"First, we'll be testing the in-game store with some new kinds of items we're looking into introducing (in Asian regions, at the outset) based on player feedback: specifically, an experience buff to assist with the leveling process, as well as an alternate way to acquire Lesser Charms of Good Fortune.
Just blame Asia for everything. Their gaming culture is so hell bent on paying to win that they demand games change to allow them to pay to win. So Blizzard is adding items that will allow Asian gamers the ability to pay 2 win and eventually they'll move those items over to the western market as well.
Originally posted by DamonVile The shining example of p2p is becoming the example of why people stopped paying for them. If your sub isn't giving you all the game has to offer....why are you paying a sub ?
This.
+ paying subsciption for lobby mulitplayer games WoW and other themeparks have become is silly anyway.
You do realize not everyone plays that way and are actually out in the world playing the game. Only the lazy people stand around waiting for their Q to pop.
Poor WoW fanbois... So much for the no cash shop elitism...
Now my question is: if they put pay-to-win items in the cash shop and still charge a subscription will that still make them holier than the truly free f2p games?
Originally posted by SnarlingWolf Just blame Asia for everything. Their gaming culture is so hell bent on paying to win that they demand games change to allow them to pay to win. So Blizzard is adding items that will allow Asian gamers the ability to pay 2 win and eventually they'll move those items over to the western market as well.
If you don't adapt and go with the flow you soon dry up. People want EXP potions and so blizzard are giving them at the end of the day blizzard need to keep people playing their games and if selling exp pots will do that then blizzard will do that just as ANY OTHER company would do.
This same kind of conversion came up some 3 or 4 years ago with the petmount store people saying that within a few months blizzard will be selling gear and weapons but that never happened. I see no reason to speculate yet again, cash shops are what are expected in the Asia region blizzard have said this wont be coming to the west for a while if at all.
Originally posted by SnarlingWolf Just blame Asia for everything. Their gaming culture is so hell bent on paying to win that they demand games change to allow them to pay to win. So Blizzard is adding items that will allow Asian gamers the ability to pay 2 win and eventually they'll move those items over to the western market as well.
If you don't adapt and go with the flow you soon dry up. People want EXP potions and so blizzard are giving them at the end of the day blizzard need to keep people playing their games and if selling exp pots will do that then blizzard will do that just as ANY OTHER company would do.
This same kind of conversion came up some 3 or 4 years ago with the petmount store people saying that within a few months blizzard will be selling gear and weapons but that never happened. I see no reason to speculate yet again, cash shops are what are expected in the Asia region blizzard have said this wont be coming to the west for a while if at all.
Based on the comments left on the WoW Forums, the source (Eurogamer) and many other online gaming sites the reactions are overwhelming skewed toward either p2p with no xp and charm boosts or f2p with no subscriptions.
Should Blizzard goes with the flow and change their model to truly free with no subscription too?
Originally posted by SnarlingWolf Just blame Asia for everything. Their gaming culture is so hell bent on paying to win that they demand games change to allow them to pay to win. So Blizzard is adding items that will allow Asian gamers the ability to pay 2 win and eventually they'll move those items over to the western market as well.
If you don't adapt and go with the flow you soon dry up. People want EXP potions and so blizzard are giving them at the end of the day blizzard need to keep people playing their games and if selling exp pots will do that then blizzard will do that just as ANY OTHER company would do.
This same kind of conversion came up some 3 or 4 years ago with the petmount store people saying that within a few months blizzard will be selling gear and weapons but that never happened. I see no reason to speculate yet again, cash shops are what are expected in the Asia region blizzard have said this wont be coming to the west for a while if at all.
Based on the comments left on the WoW Forums, the source (Eurogamer) and many other online gaming sites the reactions are overwhelming skewed toward either p2p with no xp and charm boosts or f2p with no subscriptions.
Should Blizzard goes with the flow and change their model to truly free with no subscription too?
overwhelming ... on a forum ?
0.001% is not overwhelming, it is a vocal minority mixed up with some trolls of various directions, mostly hate guys.
remember the reactions on the cross server dungeon finder, the lfg raid tool, the crz, the phasing ...?
/ignore.
i think lots of people will like an in game shop to buy that cute pet (instead of going to website) and my inner voice tells me an experience potion would sell very well too.
Blizzard should never go with forum responses, they never do.
btw: a boost for professions would also be nice these days.
But gear or other end game goals will never be for sale in their chicken with the golden eggs.
Originally posted by xaus Can't blame Blizz for doing this, subs where getting smaller over time. This will make them a shit load more money, and at the end of day for them thats the only thing that matters.
Doing what.....testing 1 item on the PTR for Asia? Gotta love mmorpg.com.
Actually the first step will be transmog helmets and other small in-game items like toys and a item that let everybody in your group spawn a special mount as per a blue post.
Originally posted by DamonVile The shining example of p2p is becoming the example of why people stopped paying for them. If your sub isn't giving you all the game has to offer....why are you paying a sub ?
This.
+ paying subsciption for lobby mulitplayer games WoW and other themeparks have become is silly anyway.
You do realize not everyone plays that way and are actually out in the world playing the game. Only the lazy people stand around waiting for their Q to pop.
Everyone or "only" majority - it does not matter. That is default game design and default way of playing it. Game systems are designed around playing it that way. It is same as with quest-arrow-gps systems. Some small miniority still play with those turned off, but it does not change a fact that game is made, balanced and designed with playing with those in mind and because majority plays with those it also set how game server-world community enviroments look like and that is also product feature.
Of course that may not matter if you play it as solo or amonst friends/ guild only, but then we come back to "lobby multiplayer" argument.
I think adding transmogri-whatever items isn't a bad idea. Anyone with a brain can see that it will lead to full armor sets, and people will buy them up like crazy. It's a good way to make money in a declining game.
What I find funny, are the WoW addicts.
"If they ever do a cash shop, I'm out of here!"
Well, they do sell pets, mounts.
"Oh.... well if they ever add Xmog items, I'm out of here!"
They're going to be doing that.
"Oh.... ok.... well If they ever add stat gear on the shop, I am out of here!"
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is not enough free-to-play?
How about "Activision has also partnered with Tencent for the release of Call of Duty: Online in China, a free-to-play online shooter built specifically for the Chinese market."
How about "Blizzard is currently developing the free-to-play competitive online game Blizzard All-Stars based on the successful Warcraft III mod, DotA, the game that inspired both Riot’s League of Legends and Valve’s DOTA 2"?
"Whether that means a free-to-play future for the world’s most popular MMO remains to be seen. - Forbes editor"
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is not enough free-to-play?
How about "Activision has also partnered with Tencent for the release of Call of Duty: Online in China, a free-to-play online shooter built specifically for the Chinese market."
How about "Blizzard is currently developing the free-to-play competitive online game Blizzard All-Stars based on the successful Warcraft III mod, DotA, the game that inspired both Riot’s League of Legends and Valve’s DOTA 2"?
"Whether that means a free-to-play future for the world’s most popular MMO remains to be seen. - Forbes editor"
The ATVI globlin says to Mr. Panda: Free is good!
So ? what has this to do with WoW ?
The only valid f2p games are small games with small teams and limited content. Facebook games, iPad games etc.
Blizzard did a marketing survey and saw that iPad sell more than PC's, that MMORPG's are too costly to produce these days and that WoW subscriptions go down in a free to play market ...
So ? what's wrong with following the market and produce f2p games BESIDES WoW within the same Lore ?
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is not enough free-to-play?
How about "Activision has also partnered with Tencent for the release of Call of Duty: Online in China, a free-to-play online shooter built specifically for the Chinese market."
How about "Blizzard is currently developing the free-to-play competitive online game Blizzard All-Stars based on the successful Warcraft III mod, DotA, the game that inspired both Riot’s League of Legends and Valve’s DOTA 2"?
"Whether that means a free-to-play future for the world’s most popular MMO remains to be seen. - Forbes editor"
The ATVI globlin says to Mr. Panda: Free is good!
So ? what has this to do with WoW ?
The only valid f2p games are small games with small teams and limited content. Facebook games, iPad games etc.
Blizzard did a marketing survey and saw that iPad sell more than PC's, that MMORPG's are too costly to produce these days and that WoW subscriptions go down in a free to play market ...
So ? what's wrong with following the market and produce f2p games BESIDES WoW within the same Lore ?
It is really funny to see WoW fanbois still think ATVI is the biggest and baddest online game developers.
Ever heard of Tencent, Perfect World, Wargaming, Nexon and many other? Many f2p online game companies have bigger teams and global communities than WoW. If you don't know Tencent has 5 times the employees as Blizzard, go QQ Moar with the employees fired by Blizzard. Even the lesser known PWRD (to the western gaming world) employ more people than ATVI. Even the Russians are coming, Wargaming and Mail.ru have well over 1k employees and growing bigger by the day.
Going f2p is not wrong. In fact, it is absolutely the right thing to do in business sense under the current market environment. If all the other ATVI games are going without subscription then why can't WoW also go f2p?
For those WoW fanbois still in the dark, you better wake up from the dreams WoW is still the biggest and baddest beast. Not anymore, said the Wall Street analysts:
Comments
speaking of Hearthstone
http://venturebeat.com/2013/07/08/blizzard-taps-netease-to-release-freemium-card-game-hearthstone-in-china/
EQ2 fan sites
So many people getting worked up over a video game and shiny digital objects.
The world will go on people and ultimately we will all realize that these stupid objects really mean absolutely nothing.
Even if you did spend hours on your ass exercising your fingers on a keyboard.
No, it was not "work." It was wasting time.
You spend hours watching a sport game or a movie too but I don't think everybody will consider it a waste of time.
It is not unethical to sell popcorn, sodas and other snacks in a sport game or a movie. By the same token, it is ok to sell entertainment enhancing items in an online game.
Doing what.....testing 1 item on the PTR for Asia? Gotta love mmorpg.com.
Feel free to dream on about WoW changing to Cash Shop and no sub
I sometimes make spelling and grammar errors but I don't pretend it's because I'm using a phone
Well, apparently, according to people here, Blizz needs to get more than 3 cents a month from the 6 million Asian players there...because they only play for 1 hour ...for 3 cents...all of them.
lol...that pretty much sums it up.
Blizzard is raking in too much money in P2P to even consider F2P.
SW TOR went free to play when they tumbled under 500K.
I think that's the point of changing your revenue model.
500.000 @ 15 dollars per month = 7.5 million dollars in such a huge infrastructure.
---
I doubt WOW will reach the 1M point in the next 5 years. The hardcore fan base is simply bigger than that number.
As F2P is really a shake out of mediocre MMORPG's, my guess is that WOW will level out much higher.
Add the WOW movie, other franchised sister products (Hearthstone, BAS) and I very much doubt it will go F2P in the next years.
It is enough that you'll get access to a new Blizzard beta game having a subscription to WOW to ensure subs. Other forms will be introduced like getting free card packs from HS and probably boosts to BAS play (all linked to a WOW sub).
The only thing that could happen is a general BattleNet service fee instead of a single WOW sub. But since Titan was postponed Blizzard decided to go full support for WOW in the coming years.
There simply is no replacement in the MMORPG world. Other kind of games make more money than F2P MMORPG's these days. (watch Hearthstone as an example).
The asian market is already free to play.....
This is for EU / USA markets to get more people in to fill the dozens and dozens of dead servers.
I can be wrong, but why would this be for the asian market who already pay absurd low prices like 3 or 4 cent per hour ?
Why would they change that to micro transitions now ?
It would be stupid as they will lose even more players in asia as they have so much mmo's to choose from compared to us in the west.
This will happen on EU / USA market.
To the above poster ^^
Ye i played wow on private servers, specialy the vanila and tbc one's and there are hundred of thousands of players on those servers alone.
Blizzard aint blind, they know what a huge amount of cash they are missing out on by all those players who refuse to pay a sub.
Not to mention some of those pvriate servers have realy good qaulity people behind them.
This.
+ paying subsciption for lobby mulitplayer games WoW and other themeparks have become is silly anyway.
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-07-09-blizzard-confirms-in-game-micro-transactions-for-world-of-warcraft
Community manager Bashiok confirmed the news on Battle.net last night following reports last week that the introduction of an in-game store was imminent.
Players were left concerned at the nature of the items Blizzard was testing, including "convenience-based items" such as buffs to aid levelling. The developer has now confirmed that such items will initially only be available in Asian regions.
For Western gamers, the shop will simply be a more streamlined way to buy extras such as pets, Blizzard argued.
"For players who are already interested in the in-game items we offer, such as Pet Store pets and mounts, the benefits of an in-game store are pretty clear. We think everyone would appreciate the convenience of being able to make such purchases without having to leave the game, and ultimately that's our long-term goal for the system, though there's quite a bit of work involved in retrofitting those existing items into the new system.
"First, we'll be testing the in-game store with some new kinds of items we're looking into introducing (in Asian regions, at the outset) based on player feedback: specifically, an experience buff to assist with the leveling process, as well as an alternate way to acquire Lesser Charms of Good Fortune.
EQ2 fan sites
You do realize not everyone plays that way and are actually out in the world playing the game. Only the lazy people stand around waiting for their Q to pop.
"Four legs good, two legs bad..."
"Four legs good, two legs bad..."
Err...
"Two legs good, four legs bad..."
"No cash shop good, cash shop bad..."
"No cash shop good, cash shop bad..."
Err...
"Cash shop good, no cash shop bad..."
Poor WoW fanbois... So much for the no cash shop elitism...
Now my question is: if they put pay-to-win items in the cash shop and still charge a subscription will that still make them holier than the truly free f2p games?
If you don't adapt and go with the flow you soon dry up. People want EXP potions and so blizzard are giving them at the end of the day blizzard need to keep people playing their games and if selling exp pots will do that then blizzard will do that just as ANY OTHER company would do.
This same kind of conversion came up some 3 or 4 years ago with the petmount store people saying that within a few months blizzard will be selling gear and weapons but that never happened. I see no reason to speculate yet again, cash shops are what are expected in the Asia region blizzard have said this wont be coming to the west for a while if at all.
Based on the comments left on the WoW Forums, the source (Eurogamer) and many other online gaming sites the reactions are overwhelming skewed toward either p2p with no xp and charm boosts or f2p with no subscriptions.
Should Blizzard goes with the flow and change their model to truly free with no subscription too?
overwhelming ... on a forum ?
0.001% is not overwhelming, it is a vocal minority mixed up with some trolls of various directions, mostly hate guys.
remember the reactions on the cross server dungeon finder, the lfg raid tool, the crz, the phasing ...?
/ignore.
i think lots of people will like an in game shop to buy that cute pet (instead of going to website) and my inner voice tells me an experience potion would sell very well too.
Blizzard should never go with forum responses, they never do.
btw: a boost for professions would also be nice these days.
But gear or other end game goals will never be for sale in their chicken with the golden eggs.
Actually the first step will be transmog helmets and other small in-game items like toys and a item that let everybody in your group spawn a special mount as per a blue post.
This have been a good conversation
Everyone or "only" majority - it does not matter. That is default game design and default way of playing it. Game systems are designed around playing it that way. It is same as with quest-arrow-gps systems. Some small miniority still play with those turned off, but it does not change a fact that game is made, balanced and designed with playing with those in mind and because majority plays with those it also set how game server-world community enviroments look like and that is also product feature.
Of course that may not matter if you play it as solo or amonst friends/ guild only, but then we come back to "lobby multiplayer" argument.
I think adding transmogri-whatever items isn't a bad idea. Anyone with a brain can see that it will lead to full armor sets, and people will buy them up like crazy. It's a good way to make money in a declining game.
What I find funny, are the WoW addicts.
"If they ever do a cash shop, I'm out of here!"
Well, they do sell pets, mounts.
"Oh.... well if they ever add Xmog items, I'm out of here!"
They're going to be doing that.
"Oh.... ok.... well If they ever add stat gear on the shop, I am out of here!"
More Blizzard free-to-play Big-Leap-Forward in China:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2013/07/13/world-of-warcraft-loses-ground-to-league-of-legends-in-china/?partner=yahootix
Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is not enough free-to-play?
How about "Activision has also partnered with Tencent for the release of Call of Duty: Online in China, a free-to-play online shooter built specifically for the Chinese market."
How about "Blizzard is currently developing the free-to-play competitive online game Blizzard All-Stars based on the successful Warcraft III mod, DotA, the game that inspired both Riot’s League of Legends and Valve’s DOTA 2"?
"Whether that means a free-to-play future for the world’s most popular MMO remains to be seen. - Forbes editor"
The ATVI globlin says to Mr. Panda: Free is good!
So ? what has this to do with WoW ?
The only valid f2p games are small games with small teams and limited content. Facebook games, iPad games etc.
Blizzard did a marketing survey and saw that iPad sell more than PC's, that MMORPG's are too costly to produce these days and that WoW subscriptions go down in a free to play market ...
So ? what's wrong with following the market and produce f2p games BESIDES WoW within the same Lore ?
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
It is really funny to see WoW fanbois still think ATVI is the biggest and baddest online game developers.
Ever heard of Tencent, Perfect World, Wargaming, Nexon and many other? Many f2p online game companies have bigger teams and global communities than WoW. If you don't know Tencent has 5 times the employees as Blizzard, go QQ Moar with the employees fired by Blizzard. Even the lesser known PWRD (to the western gaming world) employ more people than ATVI. Even the Russians are coming, Wargaming and Mail.ru have well over 1k employees and growing bigger by the day.
Going f2p is not wrong. In fact, it is absolutely the right thing to do in business sense under the current market environment. If all the other ATVI games are going without subscription then why can't WoW also go f2p?
For those WoW fanbois still in the dark, you better wake up from the dreams WoW is still the biggest and baddest beast. Not anymore, said the Wall Street analysts:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-11/world-of-warcraft-no-longer-rules-in-china?campaign_id=yhoo
The bottom line is: World of Warcraft no longer rules in China.