Long as it gives no advanage to useful loot for pvp or pve its all k.
Long as it gives no advanage to useful loot for pvp or pve its all k.
I honestly don't care. It's something I'll never use myself, but as long as it doesn't give other players an unfair advantage in things like endgame/PvP, I have no problems with it. It doesn't bother me if other players can use it to get minor things like XP boosts or cosmetic items.
If it got to the point where items from the in-game store were required to progress (or gave players who used it a serious edge over players who didn't, ie, you can buy the most powerful gear in the game there), I'd probably be done with WoW. But I doubt Blizzard would let it get to that point.
Last edited by Ciddy; 2013-07-10 at 02:39 PM.
I'm not talking about hardcore raiders. I am talking about serious players that like to raid and chat with friends. These people tend to play for years without canceling subs. Casuals only sub when a new raid comes out, do it on LFR and cancel their sub again. These people are not a the kind of people you want to rely on.
There was enough for them to do in Classic and TBC. Now leveling is so easy and boring that they just reach max level, do LFR and get bored.
ToR's Cartel Market has actually helped the game. They offer nothing that gives you an advantage over other players.* It is primarily filled with unique gear sets, mounts, pets, and other vanity items, as well as things for Free to Play or Preferred players to unlock if they so choose.
We all know ToR crashed and burned at launch, and most people realize it was EA pushing an early launch. It was also Bioware's first venture in an MMORPG, and as Illidan says "They were not prepared."
But live and learn, ToR is currently on the rise at 1.4 million active subscribers, and the subscribers are the biggest users of the Cartel Market.** It's reception has been primarily positive, and it has definitely had a successful impact on the game as a whole by increasing the subscriber count, as well as bringing in the extra warm bodies of F2P and Preferred players.
*They did release a set of starship upgrades that were originally exclusive to the cartel market, but after player complaints they made the upgrades available in-game as well and said they would never do something like that again.
**Tried to find a link for the website I was reading the other day that was talking about subscriber counts in many different mmo's with nice little graphs of them, but I can't find it now.
Alas, the point of this post is not WoW vs. ToR, there's absolutely no point in that topic, but to show that a cash shop is completely viable and able to be successful without offering items or gear that give you a huge advantage over other players. Not to mention the fact that the XP boosters aren't even Cartel Market exclusive, you get complimentary ones quite often for reaching certain milestones in your class story and whatnot. That might be a subscriber only perk though, as I've never had the will to endure playing the game as a Preferred status player.
They also have certain achievements that will grant you Cartel Coins to use in the market, and subscribing provides you with a monthly grant of Cartel Coins, as well as 100 extra coins per month just for having a security key.
I don't know if GW2's cash shop has changed at all since I haven't played it in a while, but theirs seemed pretty decent too, maybe even modest for a B2P game.
I haven't seen Rift's cash shop at all, so I don't know who well that is implemented or if it has been a success for them.
I could see a cash shop similar to what ToR has being implemented in WoW with great success. WoW players tend to strive for ways to stand out from the crowd so-to-speak, as most MMO players do, and cash shops provide a way for the game to offer vanity gear and items that let players do that, but, implementation is everything, especially if you look at the disparity between ToR and WoW. ToR implemented a cash shop when their subs were rapidly declining and interest in the game was pretty lacking, while WoW is trying to implement it while the game is still going strong, strong in this case meaning that it's still the most successful MMO on the market.
Ultimately, I have no problem with an in-game shop; in fact, I think it's infinitely better than having to alt-tab, go to Battle.net, log in and authenticate again, then browse to what I want. In fact, from a longer-term view, consider that the extra money generated from a convenient in-game shop is reinvested in development for the game. That's a win for everyone, really, assuming that's how said revenue is used (rather than just greedily pocketed).
I'd like to be incandescent with rage over this subject, as I always said that an in-game store would be a slippery slope - but then again, I have to be honest about my behaviour. I've bought more races changes than I can possibly count, I've changed server umpteen times, I've bought multiple mounts and pets over my time and, quite frankly, I've no doubt I'll use this service, too. The subscription/in-game store hybrid works very well for Star Wars and, while I don't think Blizzard will go quite that far down the road, they've clearly recognised that an in-game store can work wonderfully if they nail it.
I also find it interesting that they're looking at making virtual servers at a time when most of us think they should be closing some. Has this been in the pipes for a while? Have Blizzard noticed the way Star Wars has gotten many more people involved by offering the hybrid system they've got and are maybe preparing for a rush if they do something similar? This is purely speculation, of course, but it could well be pointing to this idea having been on the table for some time.
As for the items, well, the Battle.net store options, mixed with subscription pane and some new cosmetic items would be fine and I doubt anyone would really have a legitimate complaint if that's all they did. I do, however, think that things like experience, charms and reputation would be cited as "quality of life" purchases, but it's a very slippery slope. I'm intrigued by what else gets mentioned in the upcoming weeks, but I'm not sure it's time to scream "NO".
Yet.
Money is money. Keep them entertained, you get their $15 every month. Every customer is of equal value to them since everyone pays $15.
Times have changed. Levelling isn't enough anymore. It's been 8 years of levelling.There was enough for them to do in Classic and TBC. Now leveling is so easy and boring that they just reach max level, do LFR and get bored.
If they make levelling too hard, "serious players" who leave the game due to Real Life™ circumstances can't rejoin their friends to raid and don't bother playing anymore until next expansion
I would be tempted to buy a reputation boosting item sure as long as it's account wide. If it was for single characters anything more than a dollar and they can go fly a kite. Problem for them is it will make purchasing these kinda things mando if you're in a guild that isn't just family and friends and that is where it will get bad.
...Made it through 9 years of wow...
The issue I see here is that we already pay them to create content. Adding in items for real money instead of making the content to achieve in what ever manner say a shirt (as there is no heirloom one) feels, to me at least, that are are just ripping me off. I would welcome the 100% so long as there is content to attain it, through some form of unlock feature.
In this respect we are paying them twice for what they should done for a single fee (ie your monthly subscription). Its bad bad business and they walk a think line between success and calamity. Really not liking this direction they are thinking of going. Adding in REAL advantage for REAL money outside the normal business model isn't a wise move to say the least.
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I see the problem here is that they should be focusing on creating the content to attain such a heirloom item instead of charging for it. Where are are 15 dollars going exactly?
Hell yes give me a way to buy an XP buff and Lesser Charms. I am all in on that!
@Ghostcrawler:Some advice: [My pet issue] is why there were sub losses is one of the weaker arguments players use. Players don't have that data.
I bet they are laughing and going "Suckers! We charge again from what they already paid us monthly to make new content and stuff, and on top of that...they still don't own it, we do!"
Cash shop:
Subscription optional = OK
Subscription required = NOT OK
Maybe it's time to check out the new Final Fantasy game coming out. I hope EVERYTHING is obtainable from playing that game, including all cosmetic stuff since it requires a subscription.
It'd be awesome if they back down and the game store had the mounts and pets from Blizzard's store purchasable with game currency you cannot buy with real money.
Last edited by bigmac; 2013-07-11 at 08:35 AM.
...Made it through 9 years of wow...
Probably because a lot of people don't trust blizzard that much right now... They bring out a special reduced price to allow players to move characters around on servers and then after that week has concluded they announce a new feature of "virtual servers" where you can play with people from practically any server so there is no reason to server jump anymore....
...Made it through 9 years of wow...
I can't either. It's just stupid to want to shell out more than $14.99 a month for this. Leveling is already fast. We have rested XP. Plus buffs from events such as the summer festival we just had and the monthly fair. Why not just increase rested XP instead of charging more? Why not increase the buffs from the events from 10%? Why not add for the rest of the classes daily quests to get 50% buffs like they did for the monk?
Serious players pay constantly to keep their characters geared and ready for the new content. The casuals sub once or twice a year when a new raid/dungeon comes out and move on to other games in between patches.
The raider pays around 3-4 more in sub fees than the casual yearly. Gearing the game towards the casuals is a huge mistake.
Spending time and resources on mini games, because of the notion that "leveling isn't enough" left the game with a bugged UI and tedious grind fest quest.
In my time playing wow we have helped dozens of returning players to gear up and be part of our team. When someone is actually serious and has friends in the game getting back on top of his game is not a problem. One of our tanks for example had 495-ish ilvl when he returned and now he clears tot heroic with us.
Returning to Warcraft when you have friends and a name for yourself is not an issue.
Last edited by Cybran; 2013-07-11 at 08:44 AM.