Dragonflight Pricing Survey, Shadowlands Patch 9.2.5 - New Social Contract

Prices should be $29, $39, AND $49 at most, but SHOULD be free for the base after these two lame expansions in a row.

At this point in the games history, a boost and a mount really have nowhere near the value that Blizzard makes them out to have. The same could be said for a pet and transmog. The only thing of value for the extras really is the 30 days of game time, which if you're offering it as part of a package should come at a discounted price.


As for the social contract, it's basically telling you that you WILL interact with other people, play nice the entire time even if they're screwing up horribly, and if you say so much as one negative thing they'll punish you.

Originally Posted by druenos

Because you get extras. I always go for the higher editions because it doesn't cost me any money, I use in game currency via tokens.

Originally Posted by MrHappy

Because I want the mounts, pets, and transmog and I can afford it?

That's not what I mean. for example, on the survey-

Epic Edition - $79.99, $84.99, or $89.99

Why would you ever say you'd pay 90 bucks instead of 80?

Originally Posted by Thetruth1400

Prices should be $29, $39, AND $49 at most, but SHOULD be free for the base after these two lame expansions in a row.

At this point in the games history, a boost and a mount really have nowhere near the value that Blizzard makes them out to have. The same could be said for a pet and transmog. The only thing of value for the extras really is the 30 days of game time, which if you're offering it as part of a package should come at a discounted price.


As for the social contract, it's basically telling you that you WILL interact with other people, play nice the entire time even if they're screwing up horribly, and if you say so much as one negative thing they'll punish you.

lol an expansion being free would be a terrible sign for the game and is one way to guarantee every following expansion has less resources to work with


the only people upset by social contract are those who know they're toxic but justify it in their heads. the biggest issue - which has nothing to do with the terms of the contract - is Blizz doesnt seem to have enough GMs to fulfill the moderation needed

Originally Posted by Thetruth1400

As for the social contract, it's basically telling you that you WILL interact with other people, play nice the entire time even if they're screwing up horribly, and if you say so much as one negative thing they'll punish you.

Well, no Thetruth1400. All it is is a way to get you to agree to their already-in-existence code of conduct. I don't expect any more enforcement of it than there is now but at least everyone will know it's there. There's nothing there that forces you into interacting with anyone and playing nice is not some sin.

As for the prices: most seem to be too high given that many are already paying $140-$180 dollars a year. I'm quite sure that internally Blizzard still considers itself some paragon of design, polish and the rest but the bloom is off that rose even for many of those that still like the game. Anything higher than the lowest prices being polled and giving it a pass won't be a difficult choice. In my case they lose that and however many months I play a year (which is usually three-to-six).

Originally Posted by Corydon

Base edition should come free. This is a sub based game after all. We're in 2022. Charge half the price listed for the two other editions.

lol what game that's similar to WoW in terms of updates and content, and is also subbed base, has free expansions - without some other major trade off?

FF14 still has subs and paid expansions.

Originally Posted by Thetruth1400

Prices should be $29, $39, AND $49 at most, but SHOULD be free for the base after these two lame expansions in a row.

At this point in the games history, a boost and a mount really have nowhere near the value that Blizzard makes them out to have. The same could be said for a pet and transmog. The only thing of value for the extras really is the 30 days of game time, which if you're offering it as part of a package should come at a discounted price.


As for the social contract, it's basically telling you that you WILL interact with other people, play nice the entire time even if they're screwing up horribly, and if you say so much as one negative thing they'll punish you.

Yeah well I agree with the first part about the boost and mount not having the value that Blizzard places on them. Also I agree that if they offer game time it should come at a discounted rate. So lets say the expansion is $29.99 for the base game. I'll say the boost should be $10 as part of the bundle. The in-game shop boost costs more but they are also trying to get you to play the new content. So I would value it around 10 bucks. I'll say the Pet should be around $5, as well as the xmog, In game time I agree should be discounted if part of a bundle. Because the whole thing about a bundle is that you are offering a service cheaper to get the player committed to the game and spending more than they would have normally. So for that another $10. So all in all $59.99 total.

As far as the contract. I mean I more or less agree. People SHOULD be more social and try and interact with each other. Even a vet like myself needs to be given a kick in the ass from time to time to do so. I don't mind that. Also if someone is screwing up, then I try to help them. If they can't be helped then oh well, Not every dungeon run, etc, is going to be stellar. Not the end of the world. If I can't be bothered to try and encourage them and help them along then wtf am I even doing playing a social game in the first place? If I can't be bothered to run content at a sub optimal speed then I ask myself the same question, because if they game isn't fun unless I speed through it then I need to stop playing.

Originally Posted by wowrefugee

lol what game that's similar to WoW in terms of updates and content, and is also subbed base, has free expansions - without some other major trade off?

FF14 still has subs and paid expansions.

No game is similar to WoW in terms of updates.

Because other live games have more than one content update per year.

Originally Posted by Mic_128

Why would anyone say they'd pay the higher amounts?

Nobody would yet we gonna see it either the highest prices or they added the price as they actually want to sell it as their lowest and use 2 even higher ones to make it look less high.

Originally Posted by Mic_128

That's not what I mean. for example, on the survey-

Epic Edition - $79.99, $84.99, or $89.99

Why would you ever say you'd pay 90 bucks instead of 80?

Ah ok, i missunderstood ther question

A reminder of what we used to get from Blizzard for 79.99.

The game.
The disks.
The manual.
In-game netherwhelp pet.
Two decks of trading cards.
Exclusive mousepad.
Hardcover art book.
Soundtrack.
Behind The Scenes DVD.
Cool box worthy of some shelf-space.

These epic editions are just sad.

Originally Posted by HotSauce

Thats rich coming from Blizzard. They wouldent have had to sell their entire $#$%ing company if they listened to their OWN ADVICE.

you know a deal like that is something that is in works for a LONG time before announcement right?

Originally Posted by Amnaught

A reminder of what we used to get from Blizzard for 79.99.

The game.
The disks.
The manual.
In-game netherwhelp pet.
Two decks of trading cards.
Exclusive mousepad.
Hardcover art book.
Soundtrack.
Behind The Scenes DVD.
Cool box worthy of some shelf-space.

These epic editions are just sad.

You can still buy a physical collectors edition, you know?

Originally Posted by Lady Atia

You can still buy a physical collectors edition, you know?

$119.99:
Hardcover art book.
Four metal pins.
Mousepad.
Cool box.

Digital game.
Digital soundtrack.
Digital pet, mount, transmog, and illusion.

Originally Posted by Amnaught

$119.99:
Hardcover art book.
Four metal pins.
Mousepad.
Cool box.

Digital game.
Digital soundtrack.
Digital pet, mount, transmog, and illusion.

ANd? The cool physical goodies were always the art book and the mousepad aswell as the tcg cards but they don't do them anymore and you only wanted them for possible loot cards anyways.

Originally Posted by Lady Atia

You can still buy a physical collectors edition, you know?

I do like that the installation discs and the instruction manual are separate features from "the game" for older releases though.

Hey, and if the TCG wasn't killed off over a decade ago, maybe they'd still pack a few cards in the physical releases. Alas, CE swag outside of the "absurdly huge, expensive statue" range has fallen on hard times lately. Guess people don't need that many mousepads or custom notepads nowadays.

And the soundtrack is now for free on spotify. And the Shadowlands box art was the best of all of them.

Originally Posted by Thetruth1400

Prices should be $29, $39, AND $49 at most, but SHOULD be free for the base after these two lame expansions in a row.

At this point in the games history, a boost and a mount really have nowhere near the value that Blizzard makes them out to have. The same could be said for a pet and transmog. The only thing of value for the extras really is the 30 days of game time, which if you're offering it as part of a package should come at a discounted price.


As for the social contract, it's basically telling you that you WILL interact with other people, play nice the entire time even if they're screwing up horribly, and if you say so much as one negative thing they'll punish you.

I agree on the social contract part. That was the point I was making earlier in my post. The social contract is so broad if they actually follow it, nobody will be left playing the game, so that shit aint gonna happen, we know blizzard loves sub money.

Also I would say the expansion should be FREE! Why? cuz atm it is dogshit. It is a QOL patch with some new content and a new class. Paying $50 bucks for what? a UI update that mods can do already, a reskin race that can be 1 new class, an update to professions that was needed YEARS AGO, dragonriding which is literally stolen from guild wars 2 and then they somehow made it worse, and all the new zones look like re skin WOTLK zones.

Naw fam, im done being blizzards sucker. Aint buyin that crap.

Originally Posted by Dystemper

After last 2 expansions it should be free to appologize to the player base

Don't like it, don't buy and don't play. It's that simple.

No one owes you or anyone else dissatisfied any apologies.

Originally Posted by Goat7

Also I would say the expansion should be FREE!

---

Aint buyin that crap.

And you shall have it for free! About 21-23 months after the expansion launches.

Originally Posted by Lady Atia

ANd? The cool physical goodies were always the art book and the mousepad aswell as the tcg cards but they don't do them anymore and you only wanted them for possible loot cards anyways.

Regardless, my initial point was that theyre looking to charge more than they used to charge for Collector's Editions, but for totally digital "Epic" content that they can take from you at any moment if enough people decide to report you for spam or whatever. The fact that current Collector's Editions contain less cool stuff for more money is another topic entirely, but it is a definite trend. One day the art book will be digital too and you people will continue to just say "AND?"

There is no bar too low for Blizzard fans. I'm not saying I wouldnt personally buy a less-cool Collector's edition, just that it's dumb and disappointing that they're getting less cool while getting more expensive. The BC Classic special edition thing, for example, that was just insulting.