Any sensible reason why blizzard skipped the annual pass this time?

[cszsolt3]

Seeing how the last one was a success, generally well received, and earned them a ton of cash. I don't really see why they wouldn't do something similar with the upcoming diablo 3 expansion, wod beta or whatever.

[Krazzorx]

Its likely being replaced with early pre order + free 90.

[Tziva]

The reason they gave when asked was that they didn't think it would be that appealing for an expansion rather than an entire brand new game.

While I do think the Annual Pass was mutually beneficial, a lot of that was introducing people to Diablo who were perhaps too young to be familiar with the IP. An expansion doesn't offer that advantage to Blizzard and, yeah, it is less exciting for players.

It's worth nothing that the backlash from the last annual pass seemed like a pretty huge headache for them. There were a ton of people who impulsively signed up without apparently considering the contract it entailed, and spend the next eleven months bitching about their decision. Maybe the effort they put into getting people to chill out made it not worth it.

[owbu]

They made a survey about "do you want one" a couple of month back. Havent heard about anything since then. Maybe your theory about it being well received is wrong

I also remember them ruling out the diablo xp, because you would need to have diablo 3 for that, so its not attractive for all players.

Since annual passes make the most sense over the waiting period between the last patch of an expansion and the next one (who unsubscribes during the release of one ), I would not get my hopes up too much.

[Kelimbror]

I can only imagine it was the time and money spent on Customer Service handling people requesting early termination/refunds and then the GM assistance in removing the associated rewards from the account. There may have been legal issues we also heard nothing about which were frivolous, but still cost them money to settle out of court otherwise it becomes more expensive. Essentially I expect the downsides were much greater than getting 'guaranteed subscriptions'. I also think they expect many of those people to purchase the RoS expansion while still playing WoW and buying WoD as well. They likely have far more accurate metrics of their players than we do. As much as I would welcome an AP this time around, it's highly unlikely.

[Iseeyou]

Here the reason : Legal issue in EU.

[Frozenbeef]

I couldn't even get annual pass last time due to it not accepting paypal

[Saffa]

They did the pass once out of all their expansions, hardly a standard offering

[Deleted]

Here the reason : Legal issue in EU.

What issue's that?

Also they said they scrapped 5.5 as it would mean they could get WoD out quicker, maybe at the time(since these things get planned well in advance) they thought this time round there wouldn't be as big a downtime inbetween expansions to need to keep people subbed with a pass.

[Alandalus]

It's worth nothing that the backlash from the last annual pass seemed like a pretty huge headache for them. There were a ton of people who impulsively signed up without apparently considering the contract it entailed, and spend the next eleven months bitching about their decision. Maybe the effort they put into getting people to chill out made it not worth it.

Did people actually do this? I filed a support ticket and was allowed to cancel my annual pass with no issues at all. They just took away D3 and the mount.

[Tehterokkar]

Too many people got it the first time around and no big "present" to give this time(Diablo 3 last time).

[Tziva]

Did people actually do this? I filed a support ticket and was allowed to cancel my annual pass with no issues at all. They just took away D3 and the mount.

Yes, it was over a year of ranting angry people who went beyond mere buyer's remorse and into some kind of "Blizzard tricked me somehow, I need to complain vocally about how they're Hitler" people.

Of all the things Blizzard has done over the years that garnered upset reactions from people, the Annual Pass is miraculously in the top 5 in my experience.

[Pann]

Its likely being replaced with early pre order + free 90.

Exactly, why bother with a contract when people will commit to buying the next expansion and most likely subscribe without interruption on the promise of a mount and an early boost to 90.

[tru]

one of the worst "years" in wow was when i was forced to pay for that timeframe
they dont have anything to sell it with anyway didnt they already say the d3 "expansion" was going to be about as big as act 2 ? so big whoop there and getting into a beta?... that usually comes if you preorder

oh and i have to do it.... lold3

[Pann]

Yes, it was over a year of ranting angry people who went beyond mere buyer's remorse and into some kind of "Blizzard tricked me somehow, I need to complain vocally about how they're Hitler" people.

Of all the things Blizzard has done over the years that garnered upset reactions from people, the Annual Pass is miraculously in the top 5 in my experience.

Why is it miraculous that people complained? Blizzard offered the annual pass then launched probably the worst raid they have ever produced and then left us for almost a year without content.

[lunchbox2042]

They could have had it give a free pack or arena entry in Hearthstone every week since that's their big new game.

[Vargur]

Seeing how the last one was a success, generally well received, and earned them a ton of cash. I don't really see why they wouldn't do something similar with the upcoming diablo 3 expansion, wod beta or whatever.

This time? It's not a habit, it only happened once afaik.

[Tziva]

Why is it miraculous that people complained? Blizzard offered the annual pass then launched probably the worst raid they have ever produced and then left us for almost a year without content.

That people complained, given the issues with D3 at launch, is reasonable. The degree to which people complained, and the perspective most of them complained from, is a little astounding to me.

I can understand people having buyer's remorse, and I can even understand people who canceled their annual pass after the issues with Diablo, but I don't have any sympathy for people who want to make it out like they were tricked or cheated because they signed a contract impulsively without considering that it didn't come with any promises about the content of either game. It was a gamble, there was always a risk there that one could grow bored with WoW and/or not enjoy Diablo after signing up. If one took that risk and was unhappy, it's one thing to be disappointed or regretful, but the responsibility for that decision is 100% on the buyer, not Blizzard.

Generally when I make bad decisions, I don't make a huge spectacle of blaming everyone but myself and I find those people unpleasant to be around.

[Restors]

Any sensible reason why you want Annual pass again?

[Gliff]

Any sensible reason why you want Annual pass again?

Free $60 game.....

I'm gonna be paying anyways so I might as well get something free out of it. The lvl 90 boost is cool I guess but I'd rather have a free game.