The Blizzard Store and the Monthly Fee. What you need to realize.

[PenguinChan]

And you, are what is wrong with the video game market. DLC is a result of fanboys who eat whatever crap a company feeds them... you know what DLC used to be called "Unlockable secrets" and they were free.

It's also the result of astronomical costs of "triple A" titles, and the video game industry as a whole. It's not just because of "Fanboys".

[Deleted]

okay, you're wrong.

What part of 'the artists can't make content faster then the programmers or writers' don't you understand?

Jeeze. Stop crying.

what? Time constraints aren't an issue here, priorities are the issue

yes, you are aren't you?

how am i irrelevant? You are nothing but ad hominem.

[roahn the warlock]

It's also the result of astronomical costs of "triple A" titles, and the video game industry as a whole. It's not just because of "Fanboys".

You're telling me they don't make enough money off of the 60 dollar game? please

[Deleted]

Oddly, I didn't need to insult you to make a point. Are you capable of making a point without insults ?

Blizzard has often pointed out that there are separate teams that have separate jobs. People who work on models, may have little or nothing do to with the team that works on raid designs.

So I'm suppose to be upset because millions of people can't say no ? If they didn't say NO, maybe they are actually happy with the services. Maybe they agree with me, that this isn't double dipping. But hell, we can call it double dipping if you want. I'm fine with it, because it doesn't affect me at all.

You remind me of the guys who guaranteed us all that the Guardian cub was going to detroy the WoW economy, because then all the 12 year olds will run up the parents credit cards buying all the mounts, they'll have all the gold on the servers and thus destroy WoW. So you'll have to excuse me for not really accepting your Gloom and Doom prophecies

You're a lost cause, done talking to you.

[owbu]

What part of 'the artists can't make content faster then the programmers or writers' don't you understand?

They have stated multiple times, that content takes as long as is does due to artists needing longer than the rest of them.
Reason why we cant have more art per tier.

Not sure why people argue that this is a good thing. It just means less rewards to gain from ingame stuff.

[zephid]

As long as it doesnt give anyone an advantage in either PvE or PvP and is just for vanity stuff, i'm fine with blizzard store.

I totally agree with this^

I couldn't care less about them adding more vanity items to the blizz store.

[Kryos]

When Blizzard does not change their ways they will be surprised how fast subs can drop in a MMORPG. Check the history of Everquest and you know how fast you can drop from #1 to meaningless.

[PenguinChan]

You're telling me they don't make enough money off of the 60 dollar game? please

Your money given to a company isn't just going to the game itself. It also helps keep the company thriving, costs don't lower over the years -- they increase. And when it takes millions upon millions to produce games such as World of Warcraft and other major titles, it's not just "Enough". I'm in severe disagreement with the rampage of excessive DLC though, and I know where the hate comes from.

[Flaks]

By selling RAIDING GEAR and PVP GEAR they would lose money. It would drive away PVPers and PVEers, causing sub losses and thus a gigantic loss of money.

So your main point is such practices would drive away a large part of their playerbase.

What you're failing to realize is that's EXACTLY what Blizzard is doing in the long term while ensuring they can make a quick buck off the one-time players. A perfect example like people have been saying is LFR which has been drawing players away from organized raiding thus making sure people don't stay subbed to tackle content and instead just getting it over with and not resubbing til the next major content patch.

Blizzard has managed, in the past 3 years, to make MORE money through WoW than they did when they had 12 million players. All because their business practices continue to drive away the longer term players while making sure they make the MOST money from the short term ones via the Blizzard store and ridiculous "features" such as faction and server transfers that Blizzard, when it had any integrity, was unwilling to put into the game.

[roahn the warlock]

If you think that 15 bucks is just to play on the server... how come it only costs me 6 bucks on an x box or free on a PS3. To think that the sub fee is 100% or even 50% server upkeep you need to rethink yourself.

I will continue to post this here "Would you like this? or a new raid" it's blizzards favorite new excuse. I would have liked anything in game over this crap

[Deleted]

I totally agree with this^

I couldn't care less about them adding more vanity items to the blizz store.

'Oh i don't care about those camps the Nazi's are making, i'm not Jewish.'

[roahn the warlock]

Your money given to a company isn't just going to the game itself. It also helps keep the company thriving, costs don't lower over the years -- they increase. And when it takes millions upon millions to produce games such as World of Warcraft and other major titles, it's not just "Enough". I'm in severe disagreement with the rampage of excessive DLC though, and I know where the hate comes from.

Please, again. I will cite movies. a single movie costs a fuck ton to make, and umm lets say 10 dollars for the initial ticket and 15 bucks for the DVD... last time I checked. Movies don't require a second ticket to see the lil thing they put at the end of superhero movies

Though I guess 3-D counts as DLC... but I mean if you don't save your glasses and sneak in there's something wrong with you

[Lochton]

What part of 'the artists couldve spent time working on content for the actual game, not a cash shop' don't you understand?

What part of, "Artists are not machines" don't you understand? It's common knowledge that Blizzard switches artists around to make sure they don't burn out. That is also how Hearthstone was made - artists that wanted to be relieved from their current project and be put to something else till they were ready.

It is not bad to spread them out, you know. Blizzard doesn't use all of them at the same time, they get assigned to different parts of a project. Giving people a fresh mind of new ideas and content.

The store items doesn't take long for them to make, they have said before that the longest process is making sure it's something people would like. Do you really think Blizzard stacks hundreds on single projects alone?

Did you know, that when Cataclysm was released, they were already working on Mists of Pandaria, as well as some large content patches to be ahead of schedule. It's not some freshly graduated people they have behind the screen only, these men and woman knows what to do and they do it so it wont affect deadlines. In the end, doesn't matter if they take a day or a half a day to make a store item, they still make the deadline (In some cases, lets agree to call it "reasonable deadline").

But in the end, you don't lose anything still. You don't manage the artists hours nor direct them to what to do, the people who does that sits within Blizzard. I am pretty sure to say, that they would be able to know if people needed a breather or something refreshing. It's common knowledge to switch on larger workplaces, changing tasks so you don't go all dead in it and develop a dislike to your job. So again, these items can all have been WIP's over a long time. A little side project people could return to now and then.

We don't know the final answer, as we don't work there.

[Deleted]

What part of, "Artists are not machines" don't you understand? It's common knowledge that Blizzard switches artists around to make sure they don't burn out. That is also how Hearthstone was made - artists that wanted to be relieved from their current project and be put to something else till they were ready.

It is not bad to spread them out, you know. Blizzard doesn't use all of them at the same time, they get assigned to different parts of a project. Giving people a fresh mind of new ideas and content.

The store items doesn't take long for them to make, they have said before that the longest process is making sure it's something people would like. Do you really think Blizzard stacks hundreds on single projects alone?

Did you know, that when Cataclysm was released, they were already working on Mists of Pandaria, as well as some large content patches to be ahead of schedule. It's not some freshly graduated people they have behind the screen only, these men and woman knows what to do and they do it so it wont affect deadlines. In the end, doesn't matter if they take a day or a half a day to make a store item, they still make the deadline (In some cases, lets agree to call it "reasonable deadline").

But in the end, you don't lose anything still. You don't manage the artists hours nor direct them to what to do, the people who does that sits within Blizzard. I am pretty sure to say, that they would be able to know if people needed a breather or something refreshing. It's common knowledge to switch on larger workplaces, changing tasks so you don't go all dead in it and develop a dislike to your job. So again, these items can all have been WIP's over a long time. A little side project people could return to now and then.

We don't know the final answer, as we don't work there.

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD I CANNOT TAKE THIS MUCH LONGER

EFFORT WAS EXPENDED ON THE PRIORITY OF MAKING MODELS FOR CASH SHOPp.
EFFORT SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXPENDED ON MAKING MODELS FOR ACTUAL GAME.

[SodiumChloride]

The most important thing to realize is that Blizzard will NEVER make Tier Sets or any current content gear available for cash; they are not stupid enough to do that and you can mark my words that it'll never happen.

No, they won't. Tier sets will just look like utter crap to give you an incentive to buy from the Blizzard Store.

The Blizzard store is not a slippery slope, it is a smart business move to bring in more money for the company. The more resources Blizzard has, the more content they can develop and the better off we are as players.

Or buy more yachts for their executives ...

It used to be, I pay a flat fee (and the occasional expansion fee) and I have access to all content in the game. I pay "once" + "maintenance fee" and that's it, money has nothing to do with it from that point onwards. Everyone is on even footing. It won't make the slightest difference in-game, if you are as rich as Bill Gates or if you are just a guy flipping burgers. The Blizzard Store changed all that.

[PenguinChan]

Please, again. I will cite movies. a single movie costs a fuck ton to make, and umm lets say 10 dollars for the initial ticket and 15 bucks for the DVD... last time I checked. Movies don't require a second ticket to see the lil thing they put at the end of superhero movies

Though I guess 3-D counts as DLC... but I mean if you don't save your glasses and sneak in there's something wrong with you

Different industries are different. You don't see people buying Half-Life 2 4 times over to play the same game, but you see people buying 4 tickets while it's still being shown in theaters because they enjoy it so much. And than you have the people who buy the DVD after seeing it in theaters, the special editions, the blu-ray, the special extended editions. Don't ignore what the movie industry does to people when you cite it, and mind you everything is optional.

[Lochton]

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD I CANNOT TAKE THIS MUCH LONGER

EFFORT WAS EXPENDED ON THE PRIORITY OF MAKING MODELS FOR CASH SHOPp.
EFFORT SHOULD HAVE BEEN EXPENDED ON MAKING MODELS FOR ACTUAL GAME.

You do know... they've been working on the models for very long, right? You do know that YOU ask for more content, may also slow down new model too right? But you don't complain about that. YOU DO KNOW that they have already tweeted a ton that the models are going quite well.

And that was before they even started this store overview and still is.

[roahn the warlock]

It used to be. The incentive for companies to make money was to make a quality game.

Now, they do pre-order DLC and same day dlc to supplement any sucker who buys the game.

WoW should not be focusing on a cash shop to make money, they should work on making more and new quality games to make money. WoW is old as fuck, how about a new MMO?

[Deleted]

You pay a monthly fee to be able to log in to your account and play; nothing more, nothing less.

I was always under the impression that the monthly fee I part with is to pay for access to their servers and a regular release of new content. I guess I was wrong then because a) you say I only pay for access to their servers and b) they're releasing content I can't get hold of unless I pay more money on top of the money I already thought I paid to get regularly released content.

So now you've cleared up my confusion that I am only paying for access to their servers, I struggle to put as much value into the game now and I'll probably discontinue my subscription.

Question: How are the employees on the WoW development team (the ones making content) funded? How are they paid? Where does this money come from?

[roahn the warlock]

Different industries are different. You don't see people buying Half-Life 2 4 times over to play the same game, but you see people buying 4 tickets while it's still being shown in theaters because they enjoy it so much. And than you have the people who buy the DVD after seeing it in theaters, the special editions, the blu-ray, the special extended editions. Don't ignore what the movie industry does to people when you cite it, and mind you everything is optional.

special editions don't count. Game industries re-release games all the time.. most sold game on steam before the sale? FF7 for 12 bucks.