Is milking money from server transfers bad business by blizzard?

[Seranthor]

Blizzard charges ridiculous fees for server transfers.

Players face a huge price if they have to transfer their main and alts if their server is dead for example, horrible population imbalance etc.

Question is....especially that games like GW2 have free server transfers..... is the fact that blizzard still charges money for this just a greedy tactic on their part to suck every last bit of money they can before WOW dies?

I vote yes because other games have free transfers making blizzard look greedy. Discuss.

I have a perfect solution... and I'll spell out the steps for you.

1. raise the millions of dollars you are going to need.
2. hire the staff of developers and programmers you are going to need.
3. create your own game.

What makes YOU think YOUR vision for Blizzards business policies are better than the ones they have... If you want to run the game make one of your own or buy Blizzard from Activision...

I vote No, not no, hell no.

Something else you need to realize... they dont HAVE to allow server transfers., Also, if you think Blizzard is an evil company then vote and cancel your subscription and zip your lip because every time you speak their name you give them more power.

[Deleted]

I voted No but I think they should offer a "Complete Server Switch" option which transfers all your characters to a new realm instead of one at a time. Could price that one at 50-75€ and put a 3 month downtime on it.

[OneSent]

I think the price of all of Blizzard's services such as transfers, name change, faction change, etc. should all be cut in half at least.

BUT, to prevent people from taking advantage of such a change, they should slap a cooldown on it. 15 days? A month? Something.

Thing is, Blizzard knows that their services are really, really good and that people will pay whatever they have to to use them. Bad business for them? Uh, no. Does it suck for us? Yes.

[Kivimetsan]

Greedy? No.
Douchebags? YES!

We pay a subscription to enjoy the game, if we don't like a part of the game, we're basically forced to start over again or pay more money to continue enjoying it.

[caninepawprints]

I do think the server transfer cost is a bit high. I could see them bringing the cost down to about $10. I do not think they should give it away for free. Many players would abuse the system, and it would bog down the queue. Too many players would be asking for transfers all at once. It's not a good idea.

[Scottyjscizzle]

You have no reason to server transfer thanks to the new systems with achievements/mounts etc. and if your server is so dead that you need to transfer then that sucks but its a 1 time thing. suck it up.

[bloodwulf]

Voted no.

No its not greedy nor morally corrupt.

You are perfectly able to level a toon on another server. With the systems in place that does not take that long. You still have access to your mounts and pets. If you feel you need to keep a toon, you can pay for an optional service to move.

If they made it cheaper or free? It will cause chaos to economies. I would love to be able to go onto Illidan-US and buy mats and bring them to lower population server and mark up prices and profit. That is exactly what the gold makers will do. Not to mention the illegal gold sellers exploiting that feature.

Morally corrupt would involve Blizzard forcing people to, which they flat out don't. Do not say "my server is dead, horde side/alliance side sucks on my server", your free option? Reroll, your lazy option? Pay $25. You must remember, you chose where you were going to play, even if Blizzard suggested a server for you, you could at any time chose differently. I have played since vanilla, from Bloodhoof to Area 52 (free transfer) to Windrunner (paid) to Winterhoof (paid) to Illidan (paid) back to Windrunner (paid). In the time, and never once felt Blizzard was screwing me, the only person that was hurting my wallet was myself.

[Sealbinder]

Not at all. They are doing a smart business move. Honestly to do anything less would anger the stockholders and could result in law suits against the company if they did not make decisions with the stockholder's best interests at heart.

The services are not needed. They do not effect your ability to play the game. They are convenient things Blizzard provided us with at a cost. If you don't like the cost don't do the services. It is not big deal.

Honestly there is little need to complain about this. If these services were essential to the game and they charged you for them on top of the monthly fee, I could understand being upset, but as it is now, this is just something for those with a bit more disposable income to take advantage of.

What I am also finding interested is that almost all of the posts say that Blizzard is justified in charging this, but the voting holds the other way. Do those who are voting yes not feel comfortable giving an argument? I have only seen a couple of them and most of them lack a good reason for Blizzard to do away with the fees. I particularly like the "evil greedy" corporation comments. Corporations, unless they are non-profits, are there to make money for the corporation and the stockholders. You are saying that an entity, whose sole purpose in existing is to generate money is greedy? That is like saying water is wet or fire is hot. It is obvious by their very nature. Some corporations may seem less "greedy" to you, but that maybe because you don't know what is going on with the corporation. The second you think a corporation is truly involved for your benefit, you are deluding yourself (unless you are a stockholder or board member).

[Deleted]

Are they greedy? I think so, most definitely.
Bad Business? No absolutely not, they get 20(?) bucks per character for doing absolutely nothing.

[bloodwulf]

Are they greedy? I think so, most definitely.
Bad Business? No absolutely not, they get 20(?) bucks per character for doing absolutely nothing.

How is a Publicly Traded company doing something that makes money for themselves and shareholders considered greedy? Do you expect them to say "na, if it makes money, we shouldn't do it." There are far worst companies when it comes to greedy (outsourcing to third world countries to cut costs).

[Debased]

I think $25 is a fair price if it included say three total transfers to one target server. With alts it's absurdly expensive, thankfully I'm settled on an active high-pop realm at least.

[Tornainbow]

WoW offers free transfers to low pop servers pretty regularly.

Repeat server transfers are often used to ninja loot/exploit/transfer bought gold etc. WoW already has big issues with this.

I wouldn't mind seeing them give a one time freebie, or maybe a one time free faction change/customization.

[Deleted]

This is kinda same like some companies have overpriced products. Is it bad business? Hell no, if the product will sell at high price obviously it's a success then. Most companies strive for this kind of things, having a very simple product that sells for relatively high price. The transaction costs blizzard nothing and they get 25 $ in return. By now it's kinda sure the transactions are automated processes and it cost nothing to blizzard (atleast "nothing" in terms of money spent / transaction).

[blackblade]

Blizzard charges ridiculous fees for server transfers.

Players face a huge price if they have to transfer their main and alts if their server is dead for example, horrible population imbalance etc.

Question is....especially that games like GW2 have free server transfers..... is the fact that blizzard still charges money for this just a greedy tactic on their part to suck every last bit of money they can before WOW dies?

I vote yes because other games have free transfers making blizzard look greedy. Discuss.

Define "Bad business practice"

"Looking greedy" does not count.

[Aurust]

I have a perfect solution... and I'll spell out the steps for you.

1. raise the millions of dollars you are going to need.
2. hire the staff of developers and programmers you are going to need.
3. create your own game.

What makes YOU think YOUR vision for Blizzards business policies are better than the ones they have... If you want to run the game make one of your own or buy Blizzard from Activision...

I vote No, not no, hell no.

Something else you need to realize... they dont HAVE to allow server transfers., Also, if you think Blizzard is an evil company then vote and cancel your subscription and zip your lip because every time you speak their name you give them more power.

Havent had a subscription since around middle of Firelands....

[Mormolyce]

It's supposed to be a disincentive because really they don't want people doing it. They originally intended that the game would have no server transfers and were concerned about what opening that up would do to server communities.

I think they could make it a bit better though, eg a bulk rate for migrating multiple characters. $25 for single or $50 for up to 10? Would make more sense.

RE: Moral arguments, evil corporations etc: get a job hippy!

[PetersenIII]

Well it's a Blizzard game where Blizzard holds the monopoly status. It's a service with
high demand. High demand + monopoly status = High prices.

It's basically good business. Taking as much money for as low costs as possible.

But look at the poll question itself. It's not asking "is it good business" it's asking "is blizzard being greedy". Businesses by their nature are greedy (as you illustrate in this post), so the only reasonable answer to the question as asked is "Yes, Blizzard is being greedy." Because being greedy is 'good business'.

I have to say I'd have long since left my current server (as would several of my friends) if we didn't have to pay $250 each (person) to transfer all our alts of significant level.

[ablib]

This is the video game industry. The clientele it caters to aren't the brightest ones (hence the 59 votes so far that say making money is bad for business, and the fact that the OP asked a different question in their original post, than what the poll is asking).

It would be bad business to not charge the prices they charge.

[rayden54]

But look at the poll question itself. It's not asking "is it good business" it's asking "is blizzard being greedy". Businesses by their nature are greedy (as you illustrate in this post), so the only reasonable answer to the question as asked is "Yes, Blizzard is being greedy." Because being greedy is 'good business'.

I have to say I'd have long since left my current server (as would several of my friends) if we didn't have to pay $250 each (person) to transfer all our alts of significant level.

Exactly. Although, I question whether it's really "good business." Charging is, but the price is so high that people like me simply can't afford it. Even with that recent 50% (temporary) reduction, it would cost be well over $100 to get all my characters off my server. If they'd significantly lower the price or introduce a multiple character bundle more people would be willing (and able) to pay for the service. They could actually end up with a net gain in profits and it would foster good public relations (which they really need).

[Mormolyce]

Well it's a Blizzard game where Blizzard holds the monopoly status. It's a service with
high demand. High demand + monopoly status = High prices.

It's basically good business. Taking as much money for as low costs as possible.

That's a terrible abuse of the term "monopoly". By this logic Coca Cola has a monopoly on Coke? Apple has a monopoly on iMacs? McDonald's has a monopoly on Big Macs? In fact if you look at it this way every single product in existence is its own monopoly...