exactly, while I may not like several directions they are headed in specific areas; the raiding is top notch, and content cycles fastest they've ever consistently performed (even if you find the mid tier patches lackluster).
It is also a fallacy that if they make more money, that money goes back into WoW. WoW funds stuff like Titan, Hearthstone, D3, and all of the other various projects, and the company as a whole. Just because they make a few extra bucks on the store, doesn't mean that money is funneled into in-game content for you to enjoy.
While I may not like the helms, it is the prospect that every other company that does this, is a free to play game. It reeks of the levels of greed EA has shown in the past.
If you think they 'need' this to make up for lost subs, then you don't realize the income subs bring. Let's say it is around 3 million EU/US subs, that is more than a billion a year. If you can't budget for fast quality production on a billion a year, including xpacs, patches, bug fixes, customer service, maintenance, etc ... then you have a problem. SWtOR cost what? around 200 million to produce from scratch including a ton of out-of-house voice acting? In sub fees alone they make enough to make 5 SWtORs a YEAR ... and that is with an underestimated real sub number. Now add in charging a premium for xpacs, all the character and guild services, pets and mounts. I think the sparkle pony made 50 million the first 24 hours.
They make enough off of pets and mounts, to create entire new IPs. Think about it. Now think about how that money -is not- funneled back into WoW.
Now think of every time they give you an excuse for something and say limitations, x OR y. Now, different teams, different projects ... but at some point that breaks down, when you involve coders, artists, etc in various projects everywhere. The in game store adds nothing to gameplay, it is purely an easier way to make money ... it is a reason for a company to exist on the public market (you could be private and not be all about greed and max profits, while still making a profit; or be a non-profit organization where all the profit is funneled back into the company in improvements). But once you ignore good will towards the hands that feed you, they will eventually stop nurturing you.
Every turn they make ... is to make profit. When smaller companies offer more, for less ... it becomes an issue. Rift, always had free transfers. They had an amazing content cycle. They did it all with fewer subs, lower income. The went F2P, offer you everything but the new 'souls' (4, 1 each class), and still offer free transfers.
If you begin to just accept it, it becomes the norm. Just like microtransactions, day 1 dlc, intrusive drm, etc. If you don't speak up, you encourage ... when it comes to bad or consumer-insulting business practices. When all you care about is how big in the black you are ... you lose sight of what is truly important, and what makes a company great ... providing excellent product, service, and respect for your customer ... and word of mouth is free, and more valuable than any advert.
Blizzard has every right to do what they are doing; but if you can't understand why some people don't thing it is the 'right' thing to do ... you lack empathy, understanding, and possibly the intelligence to see things outside your tunnel vision. Putting on your blinders doesn't really eliminate the stuff you don't allow yourself to see.
What is essentially happening, imo, is Blizzard is testing the waters of how far they can go on the saying 'have your cake and eat it too'; but that rarely works out positive for the one attempting it (charging real money AH cuts on the RMAH, lol).
No, I'm simply stating my opinion just like you are.
And..cornered into what? 0_o
Most players, according to Blizzard, do LFR. Honestly if they took it out of the game, they'd hemorrage subscribers I think. The casual type of player has become a MASSIVE sect of those who play the game.
I'm sorry but I just fail to see the huge issue with the item shop. It's for cosmetic stuff that, in my opinion, doesn't truly progress your character's strength/power in the slightest.
And they will never, ever sell gear with stats on it. Mark my words.
Because of that, I just can't see the problem with it. I'm sorry but I can't.
I bet if I tried, I could go back and find similar quotes from people saying 'Blizzard will never put xmog gear in the store, you'd have to be quite dense to think so' when the sparkle pony was first added. They'll also never add dual spec, the same race to both factions, allow transfers from PvE to PvP, etc. Times change.
While I'm "fine" with it, (in so much as I care very so little one way or the other) I do think they should still make really cool looking mounts and armor for the actual content, too, and not just the REALLY cool models and such for people who pay a little extra.
I'm not saying they're OBLIGATED to, don't twist my words folks! I'm just saying I feel that they should.
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They'll probably buy them. Gamers are the most easily fleeced people on earth. Consider: Millions upon millions of people pay for XBOX Live. And defend it. I've seen people defend that it should cost extra, even.
I doubt they're planning to transition to F2P honestly... maybe it's put in so that there's the OPTION in the far future, but I don't see them doing it lets say... within the next 2-3 years. Hell, if they lose 1 million players a year, they can sustain P2P for... probably 6+ years. An MMO with 1 million+ player is very sustainable on P2P
Every single item in the store is and will always be 100% optional. It's not mandatory, it won't make your dps, tanking or heals any better at end game content. If people want to get upset because they think it's "horrible" Blizzard is selling transmog gear, so be it, but it's no different than any of the stuff in their store.
Here's the thing about people though. They get upset over the the "next hot topic" in this game, but as we all know, give it a little bit of time, it will cool down and everyone will move on to the next thing they don't think is "fair". I don't mean to be rude in any way, but that is what happens.
Yeah, maybe. But a vanity item store is something I've been ok with forever. Quite a few games do it F2P or P2P. I think people should be overjoyed because it caters to the "special snowflakes" who have been complaining nonstop that they can't look different from others since all the gear is "easy to acquire"... Guess you can't satisfy them...
Hmm... you misread what I posted, or I didn't explain clearly. I absolutely see players models as cosmetic. I also see them as highly desired by a large segment of the playerbase. I also foresee a HUGE outcry if they were to end up putting the new models in the store rather than a part of a patch/expansion, and those that defend the store today as "well, it is only cosmetic" having a harder time defending the decision.
As for Durando - yes, the timeline doesn't match up. That wasn't the point of the comment - the point was that it is silly to call someone 'dense' saying Blizzard won't do something when we've seen many times that they will go back on _their own_ words.
Last edited by Daagar; 2013-07-13 at 07:11 PM.