Friends are the reason for cash shop...

[But I Hate You All]

You are aware that's what the cash shop is, right? Do you see now why you're little tirade is unjustified and makes you look petty?

We pay a monthly subscription fee. We pay for each new XPAC. Making more money for the shareholders is good. Squeezing your customers...not so good. Successful companies don't alienate their long-term loyal customers. In this case, they're taking our money, using it to develop additional content...and selling it back to us for additional monies. Instead of making it available in-game by earning it.

Everything they're selling, is one less in-game reward, one less quest chain, one less mini-boss...and that much more mindless grinding and unimaginative, "phoned in" game design instead of something cool to do, with a cool reward for accomplishing it in-game. Whether you buy anything from the store or not, that impacts each of us.

Blizz turned $1+ Billion USD in profit for FY2012. That's on roughly $4.5 Billion in revenue. That's a phenomenal profit ratio. Just how happy do we want to make the shareholders at our expense? You might note, that successful companies make their customers happy. Generally (and loosely) speaking, if the customers are happy, the shareholders are going to be happy. You might also note, that shareholders are an insatiable breed. Ditto for corporate bean-counters. With Vivendi putting the screws to Blizz, no amount of conceivable profit is ever going to be enough to fill their gaping (and bottomless) maw. They're going to want more, more, more...

[Mormolyce]

What's "broke" about 85-90 ? The already nerfed the XP required by 33%. Do you know I leveled 2 alts from 85-90 by just riding them around killing rares ? Sure that was a bit slow versus questing and dungeon running, but there's nothing broke about leveling 85-90, especially if I can do it by killing rares.

My Paladin is almost 89 and I've done nothing but my JC dailies every day since MoP launched! The Cataclysm ones!

[But I Hate You All]

Not nearly as tired as I am of hearing players bitch and moan over every tiny little insignificant thing Blizzard does as if it's the end of the world.

Who is the guy holding a gun to your head forcing you to click on those threads?

[Xeraxis]

how are they being punished?

How do you so quickly forget that the only leg you had to stand on was business ethics? So once again if this is an ethics issue how are they punished for paying for what they believe to be prettier or how are you punished for not spending your money on what you believe to not be worth it?

[Mormolyce]

We pay a monthly subscription fee. We pay for each new XPAC. Making more money for the shareholders is good. Squeezing your customers...not so good. Successful companies don't alienate their long-term loyal customers. In this case, they're taking our money, using it to develop additional content...and selling it back to us for additional monies. Instead of making it available in-game by earning it.

Everything they're selling, is one less in-game reward, one less quest chain, one less mini-boss...and that much more mindless grinding and unimaginative, "phoned in" game design instead of something cool to do, with a cool reward for accomplishing it in-game. Whether you buy anything from the store or not, that impacts each of us.

Blizz turned $1+ Billion USD in profit for FY2012. That's on roughly $4.5 Billion in revenue. That's a phenomenal profit ratio. Just how happy do we want to make the shareholders at our expense? You might note, that successful companies make their customers happy. Generally (and loosely) speaking, if the customers are happy, the shareholders are going to be happy. You might also note, that shareholders are an insatiable breed. Ditto for corporate bean-counters. With Vivendi putting the screws to Blizz, no amount of conceivable profit is ever going to be enough to fill their gaping (and bottomless) maw. They're going to want more, more, more...

Blah blah blah, TLDR: Blizzard literally cannot sell anything no matter how optional or trivial on the cash shop or you'll complain.

CUZ THEYRE GREEDY CAPITALIST SWINE!!! FIGHT THE POWA!!! WE ARE THE 99%!!!!!

[leaks]

They are some of the most detailed things we have seen. The analogy was aimed at "do you believe someone who is able to buy a Ferrari should be punished because all you can afford is a Kia?"

So it was contradictory and irrelevant. Gotcha.

[Mormolyce]

Who is the guy holding a gun to your head forcing you to click on those threads?

He's standing right next to the guy holding the gun to your head forcing you to buy things on the cash shop

[Xeraxis]

Blizz turned $1+ Billion USD in profit for FY2012. That's on roughly $4.5 Billion in revenue. That's a phenomenal profit ratio. Just how happy do we want to make the shareholders at our expense? You might note, that successful companies make their customers happy. Generally (and loosely) speaking, if the customers are happy, the shareholders are going to be happy. You might also note, that shareholders are an insatiable breed. Ditto for corporate bean-counters. With Vivendi putting the screws to Blizz, no amount of conceivable profit is ever going to be enough to fill their gaping (and bottomless) maw. They're going to want more, more, more...

You want to know one reason why people don't take you seriously in your arguments? It's partly because all your information is now out of date.

[Mad_Murdock]

They want people to catch up. Why not add heirlooms? why does it have to be with the cash shop?

I don't understand. My Friend Bob is level 80, I\we want to get him to 90 ASAP and we have a few bucks to waste on potions to do so. Bob doesn't play on your server and will not interfere with you and your guild getting World first Heroic Garrosh. Bob has no JP or Valor. What does Heirloom gear do for him ?

Are you mad that I got the Elixir of Ancient Knowledge off Krol the Blade (which is a 300% XP gain) and leveled from 75-84 in 2 hours time ? Or is that somehow different because I didn't pay for it ? You know you can get the Elixir too, it's not just limited to me. Sadly it's BOA, so it won't help any friends out.

[Ebildays]

The main issue I have with something like this is that they are slowly turning the Blizzard store in a cash shop. I am more then willing to support a f2p game buy using the cash shop but it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth when I see it on a p2p model. We already have an exp boost item in game with http://www.wowhead.com/item=86574 and if they really were doing it for people with friends playing they would make a more reliable way for players to get it. Give it something like 5 charges have it account bound for people with RAF accounts that they would find in the mail. Or let players give heirloom items to people they have RAF with. There are a lot of options that will not cost players a dime they could try out instead of milking people.

While the Blizzard store items don't have an impact on my personal game play the question becomes how far is Blizzard going to with store? How are are the players going to let Blizzard go in the name of convenience? Would people be okay with an item that lets you double the time on flasks and food buffs being put in the Blizzard store? That does not impact personal game play and it does not give characters a power boost so it is not pay to win.

Even now we see Blizzard back peddling on statements made. When the exp buff flask was first data mined we were told that it was going only be for Asian markets. With the statement made now we see that that they do have intentions of making it available for all cash shops.

[roahn the warlock]

Wanna know how this will effect the game?

In the past, blizzard has peridocally reduced the amount of exp needed to get from 1-X . Why would they do that now?

[Deleted]

I just think its hilarious that 3 weeks ago all the guys defending the Cash-shop were very vocal when they said "Blizzard will only release vanity items, they would NEVER add anything which effects gameplay!"...

Well how stupid do u all feel right now... it only took 3 weeks to add items which effect gameplay.

How long before they introduce stuff which effect gameplay even more significantly?

[Killadrix]

You know morally means "The quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct."


A successful company generally increases profits by offering additional services, new products or expanding the market for existing products. In my experience, simply charging their current clients more money for the same level of service without any sort of added incentive tends not to be a winning strategy.

When they released sparkle ponies, I simply laughed at the idiots that paid $25 for pixel mount in an online game. They released some pets for charity and I actually bought one when the proceeds were going to charity. That was a cool idea in my opinion. However, it is quite obvious that Blizzard intends to continue to expand the cash shop and even integrate it within the game client.

As you are entirely correct that companies want more profit to keep shareholders happy, it is VERY likely that far more effort will go into cash shop items that provide a direct cash gain (and a HUGE one -- how much do you think it costs to crank out a sparkle pony and make infinite copies of it?) than added features that have been asked for but provide no direct cash gain. This latest round of cash shop items is highlighting a fundamental shift in the method of profit generation for WoW, at least from what I'm seeing. I completely expect the cash shop to grow exponentially faster going forward than it has in the past, particularly once the development time has been spent to integrate it into the game client.

You are certainly welcome to continue to apologize for capitalistic greed all you want. I can't (and wouldn't try to) stop you. However, I believe there is a point where the pursuit of profit shifts from providing a quality product that benefits consumers, which is why they purchase it, to trying to separate consumers from as much of their money as possible, regardless of the benefit to them. To those that still believe people are responsible for their actions, even the ones that run corporations, there is a difference between morally sound pursuit of profit and flat out greed.

I'm not apologizing for capitalistic greed, I'm just not asking Blizzard to be a humanitarian aid operation.

I'm not an anarcho-capitalist, but I do believe that companies should be able to freely offer goods and services and allow the consumer to decide whether or not they want to spend money on it, which is exactly what is happening here.

[roahn the warlock]

I don't understand. My Friend Bob is level 80, I\we want to get him to 90 ASAP and we have a few bucks to waste on potions to do so. Bob doesn't play on your server and will not interfere with you and your guild getting World first Heroic Garrosh. Bob has no JP or Valor. What does Heirloom gear do for him ?

Are you mad that I got the Elixir of Ancient Knowledge off Krol the Blade (which is a 300% XP gain) and leveled from 75-84 in 2 hours time ? Or is that somehow different because I didn't pay for it ? You know you can get the Elixir too, it's not just limited to me. Sadly it's BOA, so it won't help any friends out.

It is entirely different

[Killadrix]

I just think its hilarious that 3 weeks ago all the guys defending the Cash-shop were very vocal when they said "Blizzard will only release vanity items, they would NEVER add anything which effects gameplay!"...

Well how stupid do u all feel right now... it only took 3 weeks to add items which effect gameplay.

How long before they introduce stuff which effect gameplay even more significantly?

It doesn't effect my gameplay, so I'm fine with it.

When they release something that does, then I will object.

[Xeraxis]

I just think its hilarious that 3 weeks ago all the guys defending the Cash-shop were very vocal when they said "Blizzard will only release vanity items, they would NEVER add anything which effects gameplay!"...

Well how stupid do u all feel right now... it only took 3 weeks to add items which effect gameplay.

How long before they introduce stuff which effect gameplay even more significantly?

Remind me again how this effects gameplay? I wasn't aware your exp gain made it so you could do more DPS per level or granted you more KBs per level.

[Mad_Murdock]

I just think its hilarious that 3 weeks ago all the guys defending the Cash-shop were very vocal when they said "Blizzard will only release vanity items, they would NEVER add anything which effects gameplay!"...

Well how stupid do u all feel right now... it only took 3 weeks to add items which effect gameplay.

If you're really counting a 100% XP buff as "effecting gameplay" Then I'm going to say the Sparkle pony mount effected gameplay. In that case, they have always sold things that effect game play

[But I Hate You All]

I just think its hilarious that 3 weeks ago all the guys defending the Cash-shop were very vocal when they said "Blizzard will only release vanity items, they would NEVER add anything which effects gameplay!"...

Well how stupid do u all feel right now... it only took 3 weeks to add items which effect gameplay.

How long before they introduce stuff which effect gameplay even more significantly?

They well keep defending it no matter what.

[roahn the warlock]

I'm not apologizing for capitalistic greed, I'm just not asking Blizzard to be a humanitarian aid operation.

I'm not an anarcho-capitalist, but I do believe that companies should be able to freely offer goods and services and allow the consumer to decide whether or not they want to spend money on it, which is exactly what is happening here.

That's all fine and good, but what about the people who don't want that stuff, it is a sliding scale. For every item put into the cash store, the normal game experience is diminished. Org, to my knowledge, has no new models for mounts... however, stormcrow has a 99% chance of being in store. That is time taken away from say. a stormcrow in the game.

Seeing as I spent months before I got raven lord... which is now a sub version of a bought mount.. Raven lord with wings

[Xeraxis]

Wanna know how this will effect the game?

In the past, blizzard has peridocally reduced the amount of exp needed to get from 1-X . Why would they do that now?

That's odd because they didn't stop adding noncombat pets or mounts available in game once those were in the Blizz store.