This is what happens when greed consumes a person/company. Blizzard doesn't care about the integrity of WoW anymore. It's all about the money now.
This is what happens when greed consumes a person/company. Blizzard doesn't care about the integrity of WoW anymore. It's all about the money now.
Last edited by MerinPally; 2014-03-15 at 11:10 PM.
Just because WoD isn't released doesn't mean that my point isn't valid. I don't care if you can boost as soon as you pre-purchase the expansion, you still bought the expansion and will immediately have access to it as soon as it is released, just like all past expansions with digital pre-purchases.
My point is that WoD WILL be released and the level cap WILL rise by ten levels. And the expansion after that? Probably ten more levels. Anyone joining or resubscribing now can boost if they want and play MoP as their heart desires until WoD is released (or just unsub and wait, it doesn't matter). If they choose to join or boost after WoD is released, nothing changes aside from getting a starting experience.
...but I digress, the point I was trying to make is that the game would definitely struggle to gain new subscribers if they hadn't decided to add the boost in the first place. I mentioned absolutely nothing of the release date or pre-purchase.
Hmm, if so much could change in just a year - I wonder if they'll start selling raid gear. Wait, not really wondering, I am just waiting for them to come up with a reason to spin on why selling gear would be good for the playerbase.
They gave out a "free" 90 for the expansion, and were worried that some players would exploit it and spend too much money(lol) on it, so they wanted to help the minorities out by offering 90s for everyone. Pretty convenient on how that worked out for them.
Except they could have just made it so you can't transfer the boosted toons. The only thing wrong with that suggestion is it doesn't make them boatloads of money.
Also, "free" =/= $10.
Uh, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who posted solid evidence in this topic. If you'd like, you can go back and find a statement from Blizzard from over a year ago that says power-leveling is no big deal and doesn't hurt the game. Meanwhile, I've posted lots of evidence to the contrary.
We all know that was their official stance before they abandoned their integrity in favor of a cash grab. If you've played the game for long enough, read enough of the official press releases and interviews, you know prior to a year ago or so they were vehemently against power leveling and account purchases, and that they felt it negatively affected game-play. Whether you want to admit it or not is another matter entirely.
Wrath saw the sub peak; it fell in Cata due to the 10/25 difficulty merge making the casual 10 guilds hit brick walls early and hard; while also having dungeons tuned for organized groups ... required cc and interrupts, the problem came with random matchmaking and the fact you could very well not have the cc required for that dungeon, nor reliable short term interrupts; add in healer revamps where fresh 85s had no mana to do much else but spam their weak heal ... it was a clusterfuck that chased quite a few people away.
(btw, why not may 'mythic' dungeons for those wanting a challenging run, can give bonus valor/justice/whatever currency is left, and doesn't end up being a timed run)
I don't want the 90 boost, but IF I buy WoD, I'll use it on a class I can't stand to level. I find it silly for the most part, as well as their 180 on the idea of it. I don't care if people do it, except for those who can't be arsed to at least learn and practice the spec a bit if they are going to tank/heal in grouped content.
This should be posted on the official forums, lets see what blizz has to say for themselves.
The game changes and evolves, and if Blizzard makes insta level 90 an option because leveling to 100 is extremely daunting and intimidating for a new player, why not? It makes perfect sense.
2014 Gamergate: "If you want games without hyper sexualized female characters and representation, then learn to code!"
2023: "What's with all these massively successful games with ugly (realistic) women? How could this have happened?!"
Meh, they're entitled to change the way they run the game. They have solid reasoning for the 90 boost, trying to draw in returning players who just want to play endgame without slogging through the leveling content alone. I can't bring myself to care one way or another tbh.
I have to admit I am enjoying destroying the boosted 90s in BGs though, it's a lot of fun.
Q: Where the fuck is Xia Xia, SIU?!?!
A1: She needs to start making eggs for Easter...
A2: Drunk and sleeping somewhere.
Ooh interesting read. Well they said buying a power leveling service through gold but not buying a 90 through money...
Have no idea what to say against this.
There's a big difference between selling max level characters during vanilla and selling them in preparation for wod. The player base has shifted towards max level and getting players there so they can play with others is far more palatable than it has been. MMOs at their heart are about playing with other people and if that's the end goal then it's understandable for Blizzard to offer such a service.
Last edited by carlos5577; 2014-03-16 at 03:25 AM.
"Remember, There's no such thing as a stupid question until you ask it"
I just tried to actually click the link, and he opens it by saying "I've never liked the "because we say so" answer, so I will try to provide what insight I can. Though please note that I cannot speak for our management, legal or marketing or really any of our departments on a whole."
Is it not a bit misleading to call this Blizzard's stance on power leveling?
Oh man, I've linked their legal documentation here too. Where they say bots are harmful to the game because, among other things, they allow a player to gain experience without playing the game. That can speak for the legal department, no?
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...8#post25922108
Plus, who cares what the legal department or the marketing department think? Those type of stiff suits ruin games. They clearly think it's a good idea because we're having this conversation right now. They don't care about game-play, they want money. He says "we" throughout his post. He's not talking about him and his friend Mark in the cubicle next to him. He's talking about a general attitude in the company.
It's also representative of the entire company's previous stance and we all know it. I challenge you to find any statements, official or unofficial, prefaced by a disclaimer or not, coming from Blizzard in any capacity, saying that jumping straight to max level by any means doesn't hurt the integrity of the game and the game's environment. This man represents that company when he posts, and he was clearly talking about a general attitude in the company among it's employees. However, I've linked other, more official documentation that I've found, I encourage you to read more of this discussion. And I'm still looking.
Also, from their official exploitation policy...
https://eu.battle.net/support/en/art...itation-policyUse of these "bots" negatively affects the World of Warcraft game environment, since they allow characters to progress without player control.
TLDR Find me one word from Blizzard in any capacity that says power leveling is nbd. Or selling accounts. Or any means of getting to cap without deserving it.
"Blizzard is only doing this to boost sub numbers!"
I guess you guys want a dead game then?
2014 Gamergate: "If you want games without hyper sexualized female characters and representation, then learn to code!"
2023: "What's with all these massively successful games with ugly (realistic) women? How could this have happened?!"
Nothing new here.
Blizzard's stance on buying in-game items with real money was that they were against it, until they were for it because they could make money off of it by the RMAH.
Blizzard's stance on power-leveling was that they were against it, until they were for it because they could make money off if it by a $60 microtransaction.
Blizzard's appeal to core values and philosophies (which the OP and others quoted) are all lies and bullshit.
They would sell heroic raid loot if they think they can make money
Boosting one toon to what very soon isn't the level cap is not the same as having a 3rd party power level as many toons as you want them to. Both are bad imo, but neither are a service I would use, in that light I don't care much what people do with their money/time.
"Privilege is invisible to those who have it."