Is blizzard becoming like capcom?

[Deleted]

You are correct, I was talking about your definition to the word and not about you, glad we could come to an agreement.

I'm sure you're well aware you were trolling. You thought it would be subtle enough though that you can avoid any sort of infraction from it.

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That sucks. Welcome to life.

At least you're now reaching the same logical conclusion that the transmogrifiable helms are the same content as anything else cosmetic in the game of which is created by people earning a salary from the sib fees we already pay.

[Boogums]

I'm sure you're well aware you were trolling. You thought it would be subtle enough though that you can avoid any sort of infraction from it.

Not trolling, just saying that your definition of that word is fucking dumb, and expressing the only situations I could see it being used in.

At least you're now reaching the same logical conclusion that the transmogrifiable helms are the same content as anything else cosmetic in the game of which is created by people earning a salary from the sib fees we already pay.

I don't consider cosmetic items "content" so I don't know how you came to this conclusion.

You ALSO don't know where the funds for developing and creating those helms came from. It could've all come from the Blizzard store and 0% from your sub fee, which makes your point 100% invalid.

As long as you understand what you're entitled to under your sub fee, I'm glad that I was able to make a difference.

[Deckon]

What do blizzard charge for from world of warcraft right now? Well

- Cost of the physical/downloaded game
- Cost of every single expansion
- Cost of subscription fees
- Cost of every kind of additional service like race/appearance/realm transfer
- Cost of mini pets and mounts
- Cost of transmogrifiable armor.

To your first 3 points: This isn't a F2P game, of course you have to buy a LICENSE to play WOW. Hell I can name at least one F2P game that charged for an expansion (while being F2P and that's SWTOR). And since WOW isn't F2P, a subscription is expected. I'm sure people will advocate WOW going F2P, but that's not happening any time soon (sorry cheapskates).

Other Subscription games charge for services that are above and beyond what your subscription entails. They have been doing it for quite sometime, it's not something that will change, and a believe (Opinion here) that most of the community is OK with. Can't afford (or don't want to pay for) a transfer/faction change? You can re-roll, so it's not a complete hindrance. A common argument is that you don't want to re-level/re-gear/re-farm achievements...etc. A valid argument to be sure, but there are viable solutions, whether or not you want to admit it, or accept it. You may not want to create another toon, but it IS a viable solution to paying for a service that's available for convenience. That's ALL those are, CONVENIENCE FEES.

Mini pets, mounts and transmog gear. Nothing game breaking, nothing that gives an advantage, and nothing you HAVE to buy. If you see a value in it, then pay for it, if you don't see a value in it, then don't. I fail to see why this is even an issue to most people. It's NOT pay to win, there is absolutely nothing about those features that gives you any sort of advantage.

I watched enough of the video to get the gist (it was a rather poorly done video, and found it annoying). I took your suggestion and put Blizzard where ever Capcom was mentioned and I did not see the correlation between the 2. I believe you are grasping at straws, jumping to conclusions, and over exaggerating the comparison beyond anything that is within reason.

This seems to be an "I hate Blizzard" thread at best. And before you call me a fanboy, which is inevitable, I'm a realist. I've both re-rolled on new servers/factions, and paid for transfers/faction changes. I have also ended my subscription on multiple occasions as I wasn't having fun in the game at that time. If the game is something I find fun, I'll pay the sub with out complaint, if I see a value in the services they charge for, then I'll pay those happily as well. I do not expect to get services for free. I pay for my oil changes, and I tip waiters/waitresses for their service as well. I do that because I do not feel entitled to these services as they are extra. i have not every purchased a pet, mount or transmog piece of gear, as I DON'T see a value in those, that's my choice, and I don't judge people who have made those purchases, as I understand they saw a value in that purchase. Why is that a difficult concept to understand.

"Well they should include all those things with the subscription." Read what a subscription entitles you to...access to their servers...that's IT.

Sorry for the rant, and I am not above saying that IF Blizzard ever goes Pay to win, I won't be playing it any more. But that day is not today, and I seriously don't see that day coming...but I could be wrong.

[MoanaLisa]

I'm sure you're well aware you were trolling. You thought it would be subtle enough though that you can avoid any sort of infraction from it.

Knock it off both of you.

[Veyne]

Weird. I only pay 15 bucks a month and 40 when a new expansion comes out. The cost of playing the game has not gone up a single penny for me since I started playing at the ass end of vanilla.

[Punks]

Fucking you again? Dude....just give up/

I did post constructively. I'm sorry YOU dont agree. The mods here are so fan boi for him.

[lostdrewid]

I'm not so sure.

Well gee, consider me convinced by your persuasive arguments!

[Rankin]

Where's the part that says it only pays for access to their servers? Where's the part that defies logical conclusion that sub fees from players go towards Blizzard's expenses, some of which are employees salaries, of which includes 3D artists as well as (what you seem to think exclusively) network department employees.

What makes you think everyone at Blizzard are always busy? If the artists have some spare time, then what does it hurt for them to throw together some transmog stuff?

[Boogums]

Knock it off both of you.

You got it.

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What makes you think everyone at Blizzard are always busy? If the artists have some spare time, then what does it hurt for them to throw together some transmog stuff?

I'm at work and on the clock at McDonald's right now. Does that entitle Mr. unrealeck to a free McDouble?

[nyctre10]

oh grow up, try and post something related to a debate.

But what debate? This isn't something you can debate because you can't prove anything..you say they are bleeding us, others say they are adapting to trends...

Myself, i agree with the others. Microtransanctions weren't as popular before and that's why they didn't use them...the fact that they lost some subs is just a coincidence...it might have reinforced their decision, but it wasn't the reason why they added them

And yeah, it's not pay to win so it's all good with me 15$/month keeps me as busy as i want while most other games cost 20-60$ and keep me busy for a week or two at best. All in all, i can't complain.

[iggie]

I pay around $5 a month for my play time and nothing for expansions. I do agree though, blizzard is getting more greedy. Look how they mangled Diablo 3 with the AH/RMAH pay 2 win they had set up. It's only a matter of time before their greed spreads to WoW. Hopefully I'm playing something else sooner than later.

[Holtzmann]

Weird. I only pay 15 bucks a month and 40 when a new expansion comes out. The cost of playing the game has not gone up a single penny for me since I started playing at the ass end of vanilla.

Yep, same for me. Hell, it's gotten cheaper because my ISP gives me a nice discount for monthly WoW payments.

I've paid for a couple race changes or server transfers (and one pet from the store for my girlfriend at the time), but those were simply because I didn't have the patience to reroll the characters in question. Being a freelancer illustrator who usually works with individual commissions, I understand very well the concept of people having disposable income. No one needs to have their character drawn on top of a mountain of slain foes, just like no one needs anything the microtransactions can offer.

[Barnabas]

And that's fine
Wrath was rolled into the battle chest and no longer an individual purchase, arguably Cata will end up there in the next expansion. So no you don't pay for every single expansion only the most recent ones. And they have sales regularly.
reasonable and fine
almost every. Still have barbers to visit. I'd prefer appearance changes to be an in-game thing as well with a "plastic surgeon" npc u visit. I'd also like realm xfers to be free but a limit of once every 6 months per toon.
What cost? Almost all mounts and pets come from in-game. Only a few fad mounts and pets come from the store and are typically linked to a charity. All the best looking and popular mounts/pets are still obtainable through gameplay.
3 blizz store helms outweighs all transmogrifiable gear from classic through MoP? I don't think so.

Sure Blizzard needs a cash shop because they aren't attracting new players. Yet you never see Blizzard advertising the chest in the marketing of MOP. If they advertised the chest, put cata in there (worst expansion really worth an extra $10), and maybe gave new players some incentive to level to 90 (heirloom type gear?) then subs would climb again. Then someone chimes in with well it's only an extra 10 dollars versus buying a new game. We are talking about attracting new players and giving incentive to level to 90 then do an entire new grind.

[Rankin]

I pay around $5 a month for my play time and nothing for expansions. I do agree though, blizzard is getting more greedy. Look how they mangled Diablo 3 with the AH/RMAH pay 2 win they had set up. It's only a matter of time before their greed spreads to WoW. Hopefully I'm playing something else sooner than later.

You mean the AH/RMAH that they agreed was a disaster and are shutting down in a few months? Yes they messed up, they admitted to it, and they're moving away from that. So the odds of that "greed spreading to WoW" is quickly approaching "never" if it hasn't surpassed it already.

[Barnabas]

Some new players being fickle and having a short attention span isn't worth trashing the entirety of your content to appease.

You are a bit late to that party (realization) if that is your retort. Because that erosion happened expansions ago. You think all these changes they've made to make everything easy are for the hardcore players that have no life?

[Castochi]

A cheat code is used to facilitate your progress in the game. In a game such as World of Warcraft, if you could buy cheat codes to facilitate your character's progress and thus signifying a pay-to-win system, I would unsub on the spot along with probably millions of other players, and I'm confident when I say the day WoW becomes pay-to-win will be the day the game completely dies.

The difference with WoW is that anything you can buy from the Blizzard store such as pets, mounts, appearance changes, race changes, char transfers and the horrible-ass xmog helms that look like crap all are cosmetic or quality of life purchases that do not affect your character's progress in any way shape or form.

About Blizzard's business model, yeah, I don't love it too much either. Having to buy the game, expansions and a subscription fee on top of that plain sucks... But Blizzard has earned the right to maintain that business model. Ten years ago this business model was the most profitable for any MMO out there, and WoW wasn't the only game to use this. Take a quick look at a more recent game: RIFT. I bought RIFT and played it for several months until the game bored me and I quit. Months later, I learned that RIFT was starting to merge servers and go to a free-to-play model with cosmetic micro transactions. This is where I say Blizzard has earned the right to maintain this business model. How many other MMOs have been forced to go free-to-play simply because WoW is an overall better game and is the King of MMOs in the market?

This thread is simply another one of those "Let's whine about unnecessarily about stuff that hasn't changed for a decade and probably never will". Blizzard has said that it may make sense that WoW goes to a free-to-play scheme in the future, but not unless that means a more profitable business model. If I were Blizzard, I would maintain the current business model that they've earned the right to maintain, until a.) Free-to-play becomes more profitable or b.) Blizzard makes another, better MMO that provides more revenue than WoW, and in this case I would transfer the current WoW business model to THAT game.

[slime]

In the end, whether you wanna argue someone is a blizzfanboy or not, the arguement that you dont have to buy or play any of this shit is a clear cut winner. You don't have to play time/money wasting mmos unless you want to. You don't have to buy cosmetic things in that said mmo if you don't want to. Even things you do want to do - like transfer realms, or race change you don't HAVE to do - trust me there are a few 90s i'd like to move, but it will be a cold day in hell that i give blizz anymore than my monthly sub cost.

When they cross-over to paying for things that matter, then I might *sigh* or something.

DLC is a much more dangerous animal. With DLC there is a grey line that can constantly be moved by the maker of the product as to where the paid for game ends and the DLC begins.

[Deleted]

Oh come on, that is such a ridiculous slippery slope and you know it.

Yes, Blizzard, like any company, is concerned with their bottom line. Yes, Blizzard, like any company, thinks of ways to make more money, but we also all know there is a limit to what they'd do. One, because the playerbase would never accept it, and two, because there are plenty of people at Blizzard who are there to do what Blizzard does: make great games.

Everything you've just posted is hyped-up and sensationalist nonsense. Why shouldn't they charge for convenience items like race changes or transfers? Why shouldn't they charge for new pets or mounts not found in game? Why can't they have premium items just like all of the free MMO's you listed?

On that topic, it's easy to make a free game but it's hard to make a lasting game with a truly dedicated playerbase like World of Warcraft has. You can list all of the free MMO's you want but none of them have the cachet of World of Warcraft. None of them have entered popular culture like WoW has.

Because free to play MMOs are free to play. For WoW you pay a subscription. I think that's reason enough.

No kidding. I recently played a free-to-play phone came and calculated everything I spent in it in two months.

3 $49.99 reloads of "donuts" (Simpsons!) + 5 $.99 Golden Tickets + 1 $9.99 reload of donuts. About $165 in two months. How much did I spend on World of Warcraft? 1 race change for $25, and two months sub: $57 total.

$165 vs $57. Micro transactions creep up on you. You can frequently spend a lot more in a micro-transaction game than you ever would in World of Warcraft. Granted, not everyone will. My partner never spends money on games like that.



There is a limit. I can guarantee we'd speak very vocally with our wallets if Blizzard charged for raids

Let's calculate how much I spent in GW2 then since you're giving an example. I bought it when it launched, but because it was cheaper in my country, 40 euros. And I didn't pay a single cent since then, yet got all the content and I never felt I needed to buy something. In fact, I can get most stuff I want by farming gold! Well how about that! So 1 year for 40 euros.
Now let's look at WoW. Again, expansion would have been cheaper, 40 euros... plus 15 per month. That would mean 220 euros per year. And for that money I still don't get free character transfers at least once in a blue moon or... a free name change at least 1 per year or something similar. Heck, if my server died, I would not get a transfer more likely unless I pay!

The idea is that unless you're absolutely forced to buy something, buying it is just out of your own choice.
In WoW you're forced to buy the expansion and pay the fee if you want to play.
In GW2 I was only forced to buy the game.


Do you see the difference?

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They're still not selling gear...

No, they're not selling gear with stats. Yet. They are selling gear, for now the gear is just cosmetic helms though. For now.

[Rankin]

No, they're not selling gear with stats. Yet. They are selling gear, for now the gear is just cosmetic helms though. For now.

I think you got a nice jump off that slippery slope, now pack it up and get back to what Blizzard has sold from the store instead of hinting at stuff they might sell, maybe, possibly, probably never.

[Ausr]

Because free to play MMOs are free to play. For WoW you pay a subscription. I think that's reason enough.


Let's calculate how much I spent in GW2 then since you're giving an example. I bought it when it launched, but because it was cheaper in my country, 40 euros. And I didn't pay a single cent since then, yet got all the content and I never felt I needed to buy something. In fact, I can get most stuff I want by farming gold! Well how about that! So 1 year for 40 euros.
Now let's look at WoW. Again, expansion would have been cheaper, 40 euros... plus 15 per month. That would mean 220 euros per year. And for that money I still don't get free character transfers at least once in a blue moon or... a free name change at least 1 per year or something similar. Heck, if my server died, I would not get a transfer more likely unless I pay!

The idea is that unless you're absolutely forced to buy something, buying it is just out of your own choice.
In WoW you're forced to buy the expansion and pay the fee if you want to play.
In GW2 I was only forced to buy the game.


Do you see the difference?

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No, they're not selling gear with stats. Yet. They are selling gear, for now the gear is just cosmetic helms though. For now.

Yeah, the raging success of the transmog gear Blizzard says themselves failed spectacularly will totally make them put more out.

Christ almighty, I know some of you have hard ons for hating everything Blizzard does anymore because they must've touched you in the middle of the night. Please, try not to let it cloud any further posts from you.