Why are we charged for expansions?

[xanzul]

Actually it is.

Blizzard cares about money, that's all. They are a business, not a gaming company.

Lol @ renobs comparing RL to a game.. a game should not have a monthly fee, sorry. I have no problem paying for insurance on my car in real life though.

Seriously? There is a difference between gaming companies and businesses? You do realize gaming companies need to make a profit at some point to continue operating right? If Blizzard hadn't been doing what they have been doing for over 20 years none of us would be playing any of their games still. You know what...I'm done with this thread. Obviously the Occupy Azeroth crowd has no interest in discussion and just want to rail at "the man". Have at it.

[rigoremortis]

for the exact same reason people pay for DLC's, OP.


If a company finds a way to make more money, they will.

in the sense of expansions, they usually take a LOT longer to develop and polish then a simple content patch (also, lookup guild wars 1, ran ENTIRELY on box sales, didnt need a sub fee, as an example).

at 40-60 bucks a pop, you try going to an investor's or shareholders meeting and tell them "hey, i need a hundred million bucks to make another expansion, but i dont wanna charge people for it!" and see how many investor's you have left, lol

edit: also OP, sub fee's going to content development, as u put it, is VASTLY different than an entire expansion, which is basically years worth of content patches (literally).

[Spellsword]

Seriously? There is a difference between gaming companies and businesses? You do realize gaming companies need to make a profit at some point to continue operating right? If Blizzard hadn't been doing what they have been doing for over 20 years none of us would be playing any of their games still. You know what...I'm done with this thread. Obviously the Occupy Azeroth crowd has no interest in discussion and just want to rail at "the man". Have at it.

Hey I was only stating facts, no need to get mad. Blizz has proved time and time again that all they care about is money, they charge for every single little thing.. and that is proof enough that they would still have plenty of revenue if the monthly fee didn't exist. The same millions of people would still be buying retarded dragon mounts and pets in the store.

I am just glad I will be able to pay the monthly fee with Diablo 3 currency, that's actually cool. That way, I don't really give a fuck, and Blizz still gets their greedy hands on their cash.

[Deleted]

I think I've read somewhere it costs a few thousand dollars to keep all servers up and running a day.

Besides the development, servers and stuff, they still want money.

[Spellsword]

I think I've read somewhere it costs a few thousand dollars to keep all servers up and running a day.

Besides the development, servers and stuff, they still want money.

Less than a few, I believe it's around 1200 I used to have the page bookmarked where it would tell you their server costs I believe they have to show for their investors or some legal crap, anyway yea... extremely cheap. Virtually nothing goes into server costs.

[Ailoze]

We are charged for expansions because we find them valuable enough to pay for them.

[Vargur]

Short answer: Greed. Plain and simple.

Long answer: We're stupids. Think with your wallet and stop paying for something that should be included with your monthly $15.

Best post in the thread. And the only correct one, because everyone else is wrong, obviously.
Plenty of p2p MMOs that offer high quality expansions (i.e. EVE Online) for FREE.

[LordDios]

shush, you will bring the Blizzard PR department out, telling you that "Blizzard is a company, they need to make money". "servers are expensive". "if you dont like it GTFO". but yes, you are absolutely right. the $15 a month should be what you are paying to continue to play the game. expansions should be things that Blizzard bring out to keep you playing the game (and keep you paying the $15 a month). but they realised they could charge people twice for the same thing, and get away with it.

then they got even more greedy, and realised they could charge people three times. so they created the Blizzard store and started charging for mounts, pets and so on.

putting all that to one side, the reason they do it is because they get away with it. because there are still people who are not only happy to be ripped off, they are positively encouraging it (at least they are if you believe some of the posters on here). until their customers start expecting more for their subs, they will carry on being treated poorly by Blizzard.

You seem like the kind of person who would yell at the guy at the gas station for the high price of fuel. Honestly if you don't value the amount of entertainment you get out of WoW then don't pay. That 15 dollars a month buys you a theoretical 648 HOURS of entertainment every month (this is accounting for service down time). Very little gives you so much for so little. The charges for expansions cover additional costs created by the amount of development involved in the expac . . . all the advertising, press tours and so forth. It's not just about keeping you playing, it's also about attracting new players. A lot of the new systems they are implementing cost huge amounts of resources as they are developing entirely new technology just to give you something new (see LFD/LFR/account wide achvmnts/transmog). As for the pet store, you don't have to buy them. Being 'ripped off' is subjective, you are only being ripped off if you dont think what you get is worth the price

[LordDios]

Best post in the thread. And the only correct one, because everyone else is wrong, obviously.
Plenty of p2p MMOs that offer high quality expansions (i.e. EVE Online) for FREE.

yepo but they'll charge you 1200$ for a monocle :P

[Eisaderfrau]

We are charged for expansions because ... we can be. Simple as that. Could they give it away as just another patch? Sure, but why would they? As has been said numerous times so far in this thread, Blizzard is a company that exists at its most basic level to make money. I am sure there are some people who work for Blizzard who would have no problem giving out xpacs for free to subscribers, "sticking it to the man"... but the Blizzard employees make their money off of us buying their crap.

As for them bringing in more than they spend on upkeep / salaries / design etc.... they should be. Blizzard/Activision is a FOR-PROFIT company, meaning at the end of the day they want more coming in than going out. Their goal isn't to have a net zero gain / zero loss... they want money. That money makes the shareholders happy (it is a publicly traded company). It also allows them to bankroll future items OTHER THAN WOW. WoW does not exist in a vacuum. Profits from WoW allow the development of long-term projects (Titan, D3, etc). The more money Blizzard has, the more resources they can put on other things.

TL-DR: We are charged because we can be charged and should be charged to ensure Blizzard as a company fulfills their obligations to the shareholders of the company and to allow for bigger and better things paid for by profits from what is working NOW. If you don't like it, you can always just not buy MoP.

[Deleted]

Running servers and paying for customer service isn't cheap.

Yes customer serivce isn't cheap especially if you don't outsource to 3rd world countries, but the cost of running a server is chicken feed.

---------- Post added 2012-04-29 at 10:53 AM ----------

You honestly think any Blizzard representatives is reading this cesspool of human stupidity?

Without this post coming across as a trolling but I'm sure it will anyway, I know for a FACT that blizzard employees are regular posters on this board.

[Frozen Death Knight]

Actually it is.

Blizzard cares about money, that's all. They are a business, not a gaming company.

Lol @ renobs comparing RL to a game.. a game should not have a monthly fee, sorry. I have no problem paying for insurance on my car in real life though.

Gaming company = business..................................................................... <.<

Economics, whether it's a game or "real life" as you put it, can be applied in the exact same fashion. Also, your opinion on the matter does not matter, at all, since the market considers what Blizzard do to WoW to be perfectly okay. That means that the price is completely fine as it is. You really are valuing your own personal thoughts on the matter a bit too high, to say the least.

---------- Post added 2012-04-29 at 11:11 AM ----------

Hey I was only stating facts, no need to get mad. Blizz has proved time and time again that all they care about is money, they charge for every single little thing.. and that is proof enough that they would still have plenty of revenue if the monthly fee didn't exist. The same millions of people would still be buying retarded dragon mounts and pets in the store.

I am just glad I will be able to pay the monthly fee with Diablo 3 currency, that's actually cool. That way, I don't really give a fuck, and Blizz still gets their greedy hands on their cash.

I could say that about every single gaming company out there, then. Really, are you even trying to make a compelling argument?

You think of them as greedy and people are so mindless since they buy they buy their products, yet you are going to buy Diablo 3 when it gets out. The irony in this comment is priceless.

---------- Post added 2012-04-29 at 11:15 AM ----------

Without this post coming across as a trolling but I'm sure it will anyway, I know for a FACT that blizzard employees are regular posters on this board.

Please, point these Blizzard employees out, since I have never seen a single one since I visited this site.

---------- Post added 2012-04-29 at 11:18 AM ----------

Best post in the thread. And the only correct one, because everyone else is wrong, obviously.
Plenty of p2p MMOs that offer high quality expansions (i.e. EVE Online) for FREE.

Yes, you just won the internet by just dropping into the conversation claiming victory without even presenting your case. /golfclap

[Albert the fish]

Running servers and paying for customer service isn't cheap.

in short, THIS is why we pay 15 a month. it's not about development really, cept in a "well they have that money and will use what money they have to develop with."
the concept is that the sub cash is to keep WoW running smoothly, servers are not cheap and customer service, which Blizzard is extremely respected for, isn't either.

cash for the expansions is what's theoretically supposed to be fueling development.

now this raises a valid point, are they ripping us off for subs? while servers and customer service are not cheap, they could probably lower the pirce to 10 or even 5 a month and still maintain their servers and jobs. they'd just have to cut profit margins somewhat. of course then we'd probably see fewer content patches and expansions because of more limited resources. less of everything we ask for frankly. so those new models, well the back burner just got further away. 1 year in the final tier? we should be so lucky.

[Deleted]

I could never understand why people think that there are some limitations how much a company or person can ask for any kind of service. Unless it's a monopoly business (like electricity or gas) or some kind of government owned company, who works on tax money, there is really no limits, how much a businessman can want and ask for his items/services. If I want to draw a picture of kitty playing with ball and charge you 1'000'000 USD for it, it is my right to do so. As well I could be giving it away for free or renting it out to you - I can do whatever I like.

Real question is - are your ready to buy/rent/take it ? If you are paying 15 USD / month + 60 USD for expansion, it means that their system is working. If noone would be paying, then I could see something being wrong. And unless 5 million people stops playing and states that it's because of they are not ok with paying for expansion, I don't think Blizzard will and should change their system.

[Jersovic]

You don't pay each month for new content, you pay to play. New content is added to keep you coming back and to keep the game from getting stale.

They are definitely slacking in this department. I haven't played WoW in two months, and while I miss WoW, I have no desire to return to a game whose content I grew bored of months ago. If they had released new raid content, I definitely would come back. It does seem a little messed up to charge some of these people a subscription fee for so many months while providing them with no new content, and then charging them for the new content once it shows up 10 months later.

[Deleted]

That's a really good question I guess.

Running servers and paying for customer service isn't cheap.

Well, Customer service is not really impressive... since we can change our item if we do a mistake without telling it to a gm.

Real question is - are your ready to buy/rent/take it ? If you are paying 15 USD / month + 60 USD for expansion, it means that their system is working. If noone would be paying, then I could see something being wrong. And unless 5 million people stops playing and states that it's because of they are not ok with paying for expansion, I don't think Blizzard will and should change their system.

Again, you're right. That's sad, really sad, but hey, blizzard is not our friend ;s

MOP will came in something like 100 days.. and we don't have fresh content now ;/

[Malic]

Actually most WoW developers are working on Titan.

[CptAwesome]

Oh look, another topic full of people that think WoW is a bubble and all the money that goes in should stay there. It's not, WoW is a product like any other and the money it generates goes into Blizzard's "to do whatever the hell we want with" fund.

WoW paid for Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 to be developed and for Titan to be started. This is not a pension scheme where you pay in money and expect that money to be used for your gameplay experience, you pay that money and then it's fucking gone, Blizzard will invest it wherever they want.

Do you think all the people on the Diablo 3 team worked for free until it gets released then Blizzard counts the revenue and gives them all a few years worth of salaries in one go? No, WoW subscriptions paid for that and because you gave them your money, they do not owe you anything, you got your month of gametime and that's the end of it, you have no claim to the money or how it is spent. Please shut up about it.

[vesseblah]

Without this post coming across as a trolling but I'm sure it will anyway, I know for a FACT that blizzard employees are regular posters on this board.

Few blizzard posters were here long ago in tbc times, but I seriously doubt they come here anymore since the quality isn't too good.

[Chireru93]

Our $15 subscription fee is paid so that the WoW devs develop new content for us. However currently, all the WoW devs are working on MoP, which we are expected to pay for. If you are subscribing to WoW right now, all of that money is being used to develop content that we are going to have to pay for. Why should a game with a subscription fee charge for expansions when subscription fees should pay for content development?

well you're actually absolutely incorrect about what we're paying for. you pay the $15 sub fee for access to the servers, NOT for them to develope content. If they wanted they could take every single person off of developing wow and just run 4.3 until it dies. And you know what? People would still play it for a few months then leave. That's why blizzard makes more content, because it keeps people subscribed, but if they didn't you'd still have to pay $15 to play unless they themselves decided to change that.

now as for expansions, their entire team isn't working on MoP. there is a team for bug fixes and such, a team for MoP, and a team for MoP pre-events (idk how it works but this is what I'd guess). there will be another major patch before MoP that adds really cool stuff to the game for us to enjoy. if BC and WotLK is any indication, we'll have a pre-raid (like sunwell or halion) to play around in before MoP hits and then patches where tons of events happen to lead us into MoP.

the thing is that they are still working on that raid (if they are) and the pre-expansion events patch, you just wont hear anything about them for a little while longer because MoP isn't really -that- close to coming out (I'd say end of summer or so if not a bit later). I mean, in the beta from what I hear, you can only get to level 87. that is a LOT of content that has yet to be tested by a large number of beta players.



tl;dr - you pay for access to official servers, not to expansions and patches. there will be probably 1 or 2 more patches in Cataclysm before MoP hits, one without a doubt with pre-expansion events.