Not having to reduce prices of expansions is a luxury afforded to the market leader.
Other MMOs like EQ2, LotRO, Aion and others give away expansions for free or bundle all expansions together is because they have to to get people to buy their game.
There's not enough interest in games like EQ2 from brand new players to warrant expansions being sold separately. If EQ2 was the MMO with 11 million subs do you think they would give expansions away for free? No, not a chance.
Now assuming that you are the hardest of hardcore,
it would cost you about $110.00 just to play this game for a month
Assuming you are a casual player and maybe it takes you 2-3 months to reach level 85 it would cost you $125.00 - 140.00
Curious why there is a descending trend in WoW subscriptions? Because for new blood to play this game the cost of playing is simply to high. Sure you can choose not to buy the expansions but what are you going to do? Sit around at level 60 playing with yourself while everyone has flying dragon mounts in Azeroth?
Thats why I could not get into WoW, I got to level 60 within the first 2-3weeks and I looked around and basically I was forced to pay another 10$ for BC, + buy another month of game time, + Wotlk after that + Catacylsm.
Yea right.. -_-
and every now and then they make a box or a special edition that sells all the WoW versions together for a cheap price. i remember i got wow classic, burning crusades and lich king in one box for about 30 euros with 1 month game time at my local store wich was wasted money becouse i do not like WoW but please get ur facts right there are enough complain posts on mmorpg.com that go about nothing or a player that just wants to say another bad thing about a game wich only leads them to having other mmorpg.com members wasting their time reading it...........
I think Blizz have been at the forefront of MMO's for a while now. With that being said, they think they're "god" so to speak. They want their cake, and they want to be able to frost it, sprinkle it, and eat it too! However, newer companies (or older companies) are starting to catch up. With that in mind, WoW better start thinking more about strategic selling, rather then mass selling of everything and anything.
Stop being money hungry, and start being player hungry. (The more people you get, the more money you will make ANYWAYS.. Look at other MMO's, a lot are transfering from monthly gaming fees to simple premium content/items/etc sales.. Makes sense.
Blizzard has gotten so big they can't afford not to be greedy. It's a far drop from the top that's why you see more shit in their store these days. Wait till they start to see big drops in sub numbers, I bet there will be all sorts of stuff cropping up in their store. Easier to fleece your dying subscriber base than to try to make your product better.
See, that's the thing. They HAVE gotten so big now, you would think they wouldn't be able to come back from that with their heads still in-tact, but they can. I'm very sure they're not in debt, and make mounds of profit already. With that being said, if they looked at their structure carefully enough, they could easily turn WoW from a monthly to a premium-only.
I think it's dumb you need to pay, not only for the game, but to play the game. (Who the hell buys a game and doesn't play? If you're looking for monthly payments, don't make us pay for the game.. If you want us to pay for the game, then don't do monthly.
Yes you can still put shit in your shop blah blah blah, but it's getting to be way too much.. To me it seems they don't care about their community as much.. They try to bleed them dry for green. They must know that we're not all rich, there are some middle to lower class people who would enjoy their games, but can't even think about playing it due to the ridiculous amounts of money they want people to throw away. (Don't flame me, I realize gamers don't see the money spent on games as thrown away, I too don't.. I see it as supporting a game which I would love to see continue, and entertaining myself in the process.. The same as one paying to go to Disneyland.. HOWEVER, games are intangible, and well.. don't even belong to you.. You're paying for the opportunity to use their services, etc.. So in all technicalities, it is throwing away your money.)
and every now and then they make a box or a special edition that sells all the WoW versions together for a cheap price. i remember i got wow classic, burning crusades and lich king in one box for about 30 euros with 1 month game time at my local store wich was wasted money becouse i do not like WoW but please get ur facts right there are enough complain posts on mmorpg.com that go about nothing or a player that just wants to say another bad thing about a game wich only leads them to having other mmorpg.com members wasting their time reading it...........
Blizzard themselves made a "nice" deal when Cataclaysm launched.
The original game and all expansions were on "sale" for $100. How that can't be considered robbing, on top of the sub fee, is beyond me (sarcasm for all those ready to attack).
The only time I would pay that much for an MMO is if I plan to play long term, and WoW doesn't cut it. In a few months time someone with free time is going to have a max level character, only finding himself grinding raids for gear.
Comments
Not having to reduce prices of expansions is a luxury afforded to the market leader.
Other MMOs like EQ2, LotRO, Aion and others give away expansions for free or bundle all expansions together is because they have to to get people to buy their game.
There's not enough interest in games like EQ2 from brand new players to warrant expansions being sold separately. If EQ2 was the MMO with 11 million subs do you think they would give expansions away for free? No, not a chance.
and every now and then they make a box or a special edition that sells all the WoW versions together for a cheap price. i remember i got wow classic, burning crusades and lich king in one box for about 30 euros with 1 month game time at my local store wich was wasted money becouse i do not like WoW but please get ur facts right there are enough complain posts on mmorpg.com that go about nothing or a player that just wants to say another bad thing about a game wich only leads them to having other mmorpg.com members wasting their time reading it...........
I think Blizz have been at the forefront of MMO's for a while now. With that being said, they think they're "god" so to speak. They want their cake, and they want to be able to frost it, sprinkle it, and eat it too! However, newer companies (or older companies) are starting to catch up. With that in mind, WoW better start thinking more about strategic selling, rather then mass selling of everything and anything.
Stop being money hungry, and start being player hungry. (The more people you get, the more money you will make ANYWAYS.. Look at other MMO's, a lot are transfering from monthly gaming fees to simple premium content/items/etc sales.. Makes sense.
Kevin
Fazart Organization Founder/CEO
Blizzard has gotten so big they can't afford not to be greedy. It's a far drop from the top that's why you see more shit in their store these days. Wait till they start to see big drops in sub numbers, I bet there will be all sorts of stuff cropping up in their store. Easier to fleece your dying subscriber base than to try to make your product better.
See, that's the thing. They HAVE gotten so big now, you would think they wouldn't be able to come back from that with their heads still in-tact, but they can. I'm very sure they're not in debt, and make mounds of profit already. With that being said, if they looked at their structure carefully enough, they could easily turn WoW from a monthly to a premium-only.
I think it's dumb you need to pay, not only for the game, but to play the game. (Who the hell buys a game and doesn't play? If you're looking for monthly payments, don't make us pay for the game.. If you want us to pay for the game, then don't do monthly.
Yes you can still put shit in your shop blah blah blah, but it's getting to be way too much.. To me it seems they don't care about their community as much.. They try to bleed them dry for green. They must know that we're not all rich, there are some middle to lower class people who would enjoy their games, but can't even think about playing it due to the ridiculous amounts of money they want people to throw away. (Don't flame me, I realize gamers don't see the money spent on games as thrown away, I too don't.. I see it as supporting a game which I would love to see continue, and entertaining myself in the process.. The same as one paying to go to Disneyland.. HOWEVER, games are intangible, and well.. don't even belong to you.. You're paying for the opportunity to use their services, etc.. So in all technicalities, it is throwing away your money.)
Kevin
Fazart Organization Founder/CEO
Blizzard themselves made a "nice" deal when Cataclaysm launched.
The original game and all expansions were on "sale" for $100. How that can't be considered robbing, on top of the sub fee, is beyond me (sarcasm for all those ready to attack).
The only time I would pay that much for an MMO is if I plan to play long term, and WoW doesn't cut it. In a few months time someone with free time is going to have a max level character, only finding himself grinding raids for gear.