Gating at it's best in 7.2

[Onikaroshi]

I love that I live in a world where 11 weeks of quests that can be done in 11 days if you just unsub for that time is seen as worse gating that say... ICC

Let's go back to ICC shall we?

Wing 1 (Marrow, Deathwhisper, Ship, and Saurfang) opened Dec 8, 2009

28 days later

Wing 2 (Fester, Rot, Putricide) Opened Jan 5, 2010

14 days later

Wing 3 (Council, Blood Queen) Opened Jan 19, 2010

14 days later

The last 3 bosses (Val, Sindy, LK) Opened Feb 2, 2010.

That's 56 days to fully release one raid, on normal. Now if you remember back in wrath you had to kill the last boss on normal on 10.25 to start 10/25 heroic...

56 days before people could even start progressing to H LK. If you unsubbed and waited for it to be released? Goodbye raid spot!

That's gating, and 11 week questline... that's just pacing (they've done that A LOT as well).

[munkeyinorbit]

What gating are you whining about? The announced 'gating' that the raid won't be there from the start, which EVERYONE was told (at least if they cared to listen).

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Even when content is added, whining is there.. Legion Vs. WoD was proof of that..

My issue is that the patch should be called 7.1.6 not 7.2. This is not a major content update. Blizzard are just slapping band aids on low content patch releases by calling it 7.2. Reminds me of 6.1 and 2.2. Pathetic.

[grexly75]

I love that I live in a world where 11 weeks of quests that can be done in 11 days if you just unsub for that time is seen as worse gating that say... ICC

Let's go back to ICC shall we?

Wing 1 (Marrow, Deathwhisper, Ship, and Saurfang) opened Dec 8, 2009

28 days later

Wing 2 (Fester, Rot, Putricide) Opened Jan 5, 2010

14 days later

Wing 3 (Council, Blood Queen) Opened Jan 19, 2010

14 days later

The last 3 bosses (Val, Sindy, LK) Opened Feb 2, 2010.

That's 56 days to fully release one raid, on normal. Now if you remember back in wrath you had to kill the last boss on normal on 10.25 to start 10/25 heroic...

56 days before people could even start progressing to H LK. If you unsubbed and waited for it to be released? Goodbye raid spot!

That's gating, and 11 week questline... that's just pacing (they've done that A LOT as well).

Exactly, my belief is that those who decide to unsub for 11 weeks are only going to gimp themselves and if they are in a raiding guild probably lose their spot on the raid roster.. Not to mention the amount of time they would have to catchup with others who would be 11 weeks infront what with artifact research going to level 40..

So for example if you get one artifact knowledge book a week over that 11 week period the person still playing would be likely at Artifact Knowledge level 36 and as such would be miles infront of the person who unsubbed for 11 weeks..

Really in the end it does not pay especially if you are heavily into raiding..

[IIamaKing]

Yeh, I unsubbed a long way back, I dont see that sub being reactivated anytime soon.

[AlmightyGerkin]

No, i just want to play at my own pace and not how developers want to keep me subbed for months to do a 20 mins quest per week.

Aww you have to work for something how saddening. Dude its wow you gotta do something to get somewhere. Stop being a little b*tch and either unsub and do something else or continue playing the game like everyone else.

[Deleted]

Not quite sure where you're seeing that in the context of time gating.
If anything, not being subbed and waiting 11 weeks is like, don't pay to win?

WoW Tokens. Buy raids, dungeons, items and pretty much anything else with the gold.

[Onikaroshi]

WoW Tokens. Buy raids, dungeons, items and pretty much anything else with the gold.

How is that different then its ever been? You've always been able to buy wow gold online, from day one. And there's always been "pay gold for this" carries...

WoW isn't p2w, if you want p2w look at rift, 500 bucks may get you a full set of current raid gear!

[druenos]

Gold is still amazing or even better (around 2200 gold per character just for one gold mission), but people don't really know about it, because majority is focused on mains this expansion. I usually choose one character with lowest OH resources and do all 3 emissary + turn all Blood of Sargeras into resources. It take less than hour, with flying it will literally be doable with 10-20 minutes.

Yep, i have 11 out of 12 characters levelled and i do emissary quest on all of them nearly every day. I make over 500k a month just from the class hall missions and emissary quests. With WQGF its very fast, and you learn a few short cuts along the way, like saving Wardens and Kin Tor emissary quests untill the next day so you can double them up

[Lochton]

My issue is that the patch should be called 7.1.6 not 7.2. This is not a major content update. Blizzard are just slapping band aids on low content patch releases by calling it 7.2. Reminds me of 6.1 and 2.2. Pathetic.

7.2 is a major patch, though, as you have raid unlocking in 7.2.5(?) As well as Broken Shore coming back, and multiple storylines +

[Skutch]

Most likely the the last patch of the last expansion, I really doubt there are plans to continue development.
They have lots of revenue from other sources and micro-transactions.

[Dracullus]

Most likely the the last patch of the last expansion, I really doubt there are plans to continue development.
They have lots of revenue from other sources and micro-transactions.

Well, most likely last major patch if you literally lived under a rock last 6 months.

[Deleted]

How is that different then its ever been? You've always been able to buy wow gold online, from day one. And there's always been "pay gold for this" carries...

WoW isn't p2w, if you want p2w look at rift, 500 bucks may get you a full set of current raid gear!

It is different when you are buying the gold from the company making the game. It demonstrates developer endorsement.

And it is pay to win, I think perhaps you are taking the term a little too literally. Pay2win is when you can pay for an advantage. Buying tokens worth ~200k gold that would take most players anywhere from 10-20 hours to obtain is pretty substantial. Gold can be used to buy gear, buy enchants, buy mats or consumables as well as paying other players to run you through dungeons or raids that you couldn't complete otherwise.

Digressing a bit but, do you remember the days when Blizzard said they would never do it - never sell gold, never allow you to "buy levels"?

Do you remember the back and forth arguments on these forums and on the official forums with people declaring that "it would never happen, Blizz said so!" while others said that it was inevitable?

I wonder if anyone ever want back and resurrected one of those posts to say "I told you so".

[Super Kami Dende]

Feel free to leave. No one forces you to play.

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It is different when you are buying the gold from the company making the game. It demonstrates developer endorsement.

And it is pay to win, I think perhaps you are taking the term a little too literally. Pay2win is when you can pay for an advantage. Buying tokens worth ~200k gold that would take most players anywhere from 10-20 hours to obtain is pretty substantial. Gold can be used to buy gear, buy enchants, buy mats or consumables as well as paying other players to run you through dungeons or raids that you couldn't complete otherwise.

Digressing a bit but, do you remember the days when Blizzard said they would never do it - never sell gold, never allow you to "buy levels"?

Do you remember the back and forth arguments on these forums and on the official forums with people declaring that "it would never happen, Blizz said so!" while others said that it was inevitable?

I wonder if anyone ever want back and resurrected one of those posts to say "I told you so".

WoW isn't Pay2Win, it doesn't matter what your own personal (and wrong) definition of it is.

[Deleted]

Feel free to leave. No one forces you to play.

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WoW isn't Pay2Win, it doesn't matter what your own personal (and wrong) definition of it is.

My goodness, there is a universally agreed upon definition of what pay to win is? Please enlighten me on the answer to a question that critics and players have been discussing for over a decade. If a developer can discover this agreed upon definition they might be able to avoid the stigma associated with the term.

There is no definition, it is broadly used to communicate that by paying money you can receive an advantage in the game. In some games that means that without paying you do not have access to the full game, that by not paying you are limited in the amount of times you can play a game, that by not paying you are excluded from certain items in a game or that by not paying you progress slower in the game. By extension, the opposite is true: that paying provides you access to more of a game, that paying gives you more attempts at a game, that paying provides you exclusive items in a game and paying allows you to progress faster in a game.

The game has been paytowin since they introduced TBC and required you to pay further to increase your level by 10, to get access to more gear, to get access to more of the game. That they're called expansions does not exclude them from being paytowin, nor does your considering expansions as good, or value for money or as not "necessary".

I'd love to have a one sided discussion with you further but I already know that it would be a dramatic waste of my time.

[Dormie]

The closest WoW is to P2W is buying tokens to sell for gold to buy high ilvl BoEs and raid carries. But that would be highly expensive and only get you so far.

[Toppy]

I think a big problem is that people have known about NH since beta. Its been getting tested since beta. We've simply known about it for so long and our normal questing experience has led to it. So even though it is still new, it doesnt really have that new feel. Doesnt help that there are no new weapons due to artifacts and the armor is the same looking.

Blizzard should have just hid nighthold and no give any information out regarding it till after release. They should have done a little more to make the raid feel special rather than it shelling out appearances we already have. They shouldn't have tied the pillars of creation questline to it. NH was way to familiar before we even got it, and thats its most major flaw.

[Deleted]

The closest WoW is to P2W is buying tokens to sell for gold to buy high ilvl BoEs and raid carries. But that would be highly expensive and only get you so far.

I'd say being able to be level 110 and kill any level 100 player with incredible ease is very much more "closest" than getting high level BoE's and carries.

In Cataclysm the level gap could have been 25 and the gear gap monumental. The difference between a subscription paying level 60 capped player and an 85 level cataclysm player is significant and the cost hurdle not insignificant. That's just one clear example of a huge advantage available through paying. Perhaps it's difficult to notice as the paying player what advantages are available through paying and how those advantages encourage others to pay too so that they are not "left behind" or left at a disadvantage.

It may be not be transparent but all of the hallmarks are there.

Pay2win is just a pejorative levied against game developers, a word that describes their dissatisfaction that something is limited behind a paywall. If you're happily paying I can see why you'd be unlikely to use it. I'm happily paying but am also a massive pessimist and over eagerly vilify consumerist culture.

[Coffeexbean]

Gating is good for the game.

[Super Kami Dende]

My goodness, there is a universally agreed upon definition of what pay to win is? Please enlighten me on the answer to a question that critics and players have been discussing for over a decade.

Player Advantage/Items that can only be gained by the use of Real-life Currency. It's what pay2Win has always meant. WoW is not pay2win as everything can be earned in-game.

[lazzy]

If it ended in 2-3 hours. He wouldn't have much to play now would he? Yeah...good job proving why gating needs to exist in some form.

I think it's quite the opposite. I think it shows that Blizzard puts pretty low effort into content. They gate content to extend the life of something because they didn't make enough content for people to stay busy with.

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They can't add content at a rate to please everyone, and it should not be at a rate to satisfy the 1%.
Better being too slow for some than too quick for nearly everyone.

Blizzard ARE adding content, just not at the rate that you want.
Well guess what, you are not as representative as you like to believe.
That is adding content, whether you like to call it that or not.

I don't know that argument is hard to make when WoWs sub numbers have plummeted for the last 4 xpacs. They seem to be catering to the wrong audience time and time again.