Welcome Back Weekend - Return Free From March 21 through March 24

Originally Posted by Darknessvamp

They're aren't though. It's the exact same "trial" back from in Oct which allowed you to either play on your old characters in Legion or create a new trial character at 110, do the class tutorial and then the Lordaeron assault scenario which you could already do on your old characters. The only taste you get of the new expansion is doing the unlock quests for the Allied Races from Legion if you have the requirements done already (and then can only play a new Allied Race character until the welcome back period is up or if you buy BfA) and literally taking a step into Dazar'alor or Borealus before it ends.

Yes, it's so scummy that they're giving people a free trial of their game that lasts either 3 hours or up to a certain point.

Originally Posted by therealstegblob

I repeat: Imagine feeling entitled to a fucking free demo pass.

awww... it's so CUTE. You learned the word 'entitled' and want to use it everywhere, even where it's not applicable. (pats on head) Run along now, let the grownups talk.

Also read the rest of my post. You sound like an idiot because you're not even understanding the basic point... which is that Blizzard would have sold more by letting people play it for the entire weekend. How people feel about it is irrelevant, it's that letting them play all weekend would likely have served Blizzard's financial goals better.

But given that I've done product marketing for decades and you probably deliver pizza... I'm not optimistic that you will get this.

Originally Posted by clevin

awww... it's so CUTE. You learned the word 'entitled' and want to use it everywhere, even where it's not applicable. (pats on head) Run along now, let the grownups talk.

Also read the rest of my post. You sound like an idiot because you're not even understanding the basic point... which is that Blizzard would have sold more by letting people play it for the entire weekend. How people feel about it is irrelevant, it's that letting them play all weekend would likely have served Blizzard's financial goals better.

But given that I've done product marketing for decades and you probably deliver pizza... I'm not optimistic that you will get this.

Except Blizz has done free weekends before on other products and I’m sure their research afterwards has demonstrated how much people buy afterwards.
Also, as someone who has worked in marketing for decades I’m sure you realize the differences between a taste for the product vs an entire meal. Bearing in mind you work in product marketing, which I’m not sure because I thought you said you did something different in a different forum, you also understand that different mediums have different marketing tactics, and again, Blizz has their own marketing strategies that they follow. Let’s also not make any mistakes here, over the course of a weekend, anyone who wanted to play die hard has 72 hours to experience the story this far. Considering outside of raiding, even a casual has more than enough time to experience the roughly 8–12 hours of story we’ve gotten, then no, Blizz would not have sold more as all that’s left is instanced content.
Before you misunderstand me, I’m saying roughly 8-12 hours of story this far, not total. When you include instanced content such as PvP, raids, and dungeons, as well as gearing up, there is a lot of time you can spend in game, as well as the xpac still going. Rather not have people jump in about a $50 game with a sub fee only offering a short story.

This is handy for me as I need to access some of my other accounts. :3

Originally Posted by Hexme

New races still locked behind time gating mechanics?

Looks like I'm not coming back and still gonna play better MMOs out there.

Apparently, "playing better MMOs out there" translates to still spending all free time whining about the game on MMO-C to some.

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Originally Posted by Sonneillon

Wow... 2 whole days for a game that should have gone Free to Play years ago, so generous. Though maybe I'm just bitter because I work on weekends. I'd love to work on Pathfinder 2 or something... but you know... gotta gate that gating behind more gating. Oh well, atleast I can finish the raid and roll a Kul'tiran and Zandalari toon I'll never play and log out without playing in the few hours I'll have, so theres that. That gift horse, I'm looking it right in it's damned mouth.

"Should've gone Free To Play years ago"... Um, according to you.

If the game remains profitable, why change the business model? I can promise you, from experience, that a F2P business model would end up costing us more in the end. No matter how much I've enjoyed F2P titles, I've been driven away without fail due to the money schemes.

"Maybe I'm just bitter" seems about right for most on these forums though.

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Originally Posted by Daemos daemonium

This doesn’t even make sense, if you have been unsubed for any decent amount of time you wouldn’t even have the allied races unlocked.

Not much of what the crowd of Negative Nates spew makes sense.

Originally Posted by clevin

awww... it's so CUTE. You learned the word 'entitled' and want to use it everywhere, even where it's not applicable. (pats on head) Run along now, let the grownups talk.

Also read the rest of my post. You sound like an idiot because you're not even understanding the basic point... which is that Blizzard would have sold more by letting people play it for the entire weekend. How people feel about it is irrelevant, it's that letting them play all weekend would likely have served Blizzard's financial goals better.

But given that I've done product marketing for decades and you probably deliver pizza... I'm not optimistic that you will get this.

Exactly. A 3 hour trial of what is basically a class trial and sod all is not going to help them shift expansions sales.

Literally nobody here has given a valid reason why for the weekend it cannot be full access to 3 days of BFA whether you own it or not.

But of course Blizzard can do no wrong to some people.

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Originally Posted by Lobosan

Intentionally ignoring the rest of his post doesn't make you sound smart. It exposes you as nothing more than an idle baiter.

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I wouldn't let this guy deliver pizza to me. He would show up at the door, eat half of what I ordered, and then shout about how I felt entitled to my food :-P

I actually had that once. Guy who delivered it ended up losing his job because the place I order from I'm a part owner in.

Originally Posted by Eleccybubb

Exactly. A 3 hour trial of what is basically a class trial and sod all is not going to help them shift expansions sales.

Literally nobody here has given a valid reason why for the weekend it cannot be full access to 3 days of BFA whether you own it or not.

But of course Blizzard can do no wrong to some people.

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I actually had that once. Guy who delivered it ended up losing his job because the place I order from I'm a part owner in.

Except valid reasons have been made, you are just choosing to ignore them to keep your spiteful attitude strong.

Originally Posted by therealstegblob

Yes, it's so scummy that they're giving people a free 3 hour trial of the new expansion.

Originally Posted by therealstegblob

Yes, it's so scummy that they're giving people a free trial of their game that lasts either 3 hours or up to a certain point.

I saw those goal posts shift.

Originally Posted by Eapoe

Except Blizz has done free weekends before on other products and I’m sure their research afterwards has demonstrated how much people buy afterwards.
Also, as someone who has worked in marketing for decades I’m sure you realize the differences between a taste for the product vs an entire meal. Bearing in mind you work in product marketing, which I’m not sure because I thought you said you did something different in a different forum, you also understand that different mediums have different marketing tactics, and again, Blizz has their own marketing strategies that they follow. Let’s also not make any mistakes here, over the course of a weekend, anyone who wanted to play die hard has 72 hours to experience the story this far. Considering outside of raiding, even a casual has more than enough time to experience the roughly 8–12 hours of story we’ve gotten, then no, Blizz would not have sold more as all that’s left is instanced content.
Before you misunderstand me, I’m saying roughly 8-12 hours of story this far, not total. When you include instanced content such as PvP, raids, and dungeons, as well as gearing up, there is a lot of time you can spend in game, as well as the xpac still going. Rather not have people jump in about a $50 game with a sub fee only offering a short story.

This may be a bit arbitrary but considering during the last few months of Legion around the end of June they allowed about 6-7 days of freeplay, access to Legion if you hadn't bought it yet and including all the stuff in 7.3, they reported in the following Earnings report that they had even higher MAUs and that pre-orders for BfA had risen significantly since the previous one citing that period as having an effect. Since they're not even giving a taste of the new expansion in comparison to the "meal" of Legion, I can see why it's not getting those that haven't bought the current expansion yet hooked as such.

Does anyone know at what hour the free period begins?

Originally Posted by Yousef

Does anyone know at what hour the free period begins?

This thread is about gangpiling on Blizzard, not the free trial. Sorry bro.

Originally Posted by Eapoe

...Let’s also not make any mistakes here, over the course of a weekend, anyone who wanted to play die hard has 72 hours to experience the story this far. Considering outside of raiding, even a casual has more than enough time to experience the roughly 8–12 hours of story we’ve gotten, then no, Blizz would not have sold more as all that’s left is instanced content.
Before you misunderstand me, I’m saying roughly 8-12 hours of story this far, not total. When you include instanced content such as PvP, raids, and dungeons, as well as gearing up, there is a lot of time you can spend in game, as well as the xpac still going. Rather not have people jump in about a $50 game with a sub fee only offering a short story.

Virtually no one is going to spend 72 straight hours playing and not sleep or eat so that's an irrelevant number. The point is that with the 3 hour intro quest being the only BfA content someone can try, they can't really see BfA at all. They don't get to see the zones, the capital cities. etc. it does little to give you a feel for BfA that makes you want to continue.

Realistically, if someone hardcores it for the weekend they'll likely play 8-12 hours for the 3 days. On the high end, that's 36 hours... which is not likely to get them to 120 (yes, a few people can do it in that time, but most won't). And even if they do ding 120... that makes them MORE likely to buy, right? They just invested that much effort, they're almost certain to buy vs not whereas a 3 hour taste? Easily something a person can discount.

Of course, there are alternate choices that they could have made, too. For example, they could have said "Play all weekend or up to level 112 (or 115 or whatever)".

As for what I do... Over the course of my working life I've done product marketing (and management), program management and some software development. I've spent my adult life in the software field, thanks.

I

Originally Posted by Darknessvamp

I saw those goal posts shift.



This may be a bit arbitrary but considering during the last few months of Legion around the end of June they allowed about 6-7 days of freeplay, access to Legion if you hadn't bought it yet and including all the stuff in 7.3, they reported in the following Earnings report that they had even higher MAUs and that pre-orders for BfA had risen significantly since the previous one citing that period as having an effect. Since they're not even giving a taste of the new expansion in comparison to the "meal" of Legion, I can see why it's not getting those that haven't bought the current expansion yet hooked as such.

You’re comparing an end of cycle xpac to one that’s not even 1/2 way thru yet.

Originally Posted by Justpassing

This thread is about gangpiling on Blizzard, not the free trial. Sorry bro.

So do I just make a whole new thread just to ask the question?

Originally Posted by clevin

Virtually no one is going to spend 72 straight hours playing and not sleep or eat so that's an irrelevant number. The point is that with the 3 hour intro quest being the only BfA content someone can try, they can't really see BfA at all. They don't get to see the zones, the capital cities. etc. it does little to give you a feel for BfA that incentivizes you do continue.

Realistically, if someone hardcores it for the weekend they'll likely play, at most, 8-12 hours for the 3 days. On the high end, that's 36 hours... which is not likely to get them to 120 (yes, a few people can do it in that time, but most won't).

Even if they do ding 120... that makes them MORE likely to buy. They just invested that much effort, they're almost certain to buy vs not. A 3 hour taste? Easily something a person can discount.

Of course, there are alternate choices here too. For example, they could have said "Play all weekend or up to level 112 (or whatever)".

As for what I do... Over the course of my working life I've done product marketing (and management), program management and some software development. I've spent my adult life in the software field, thanks.

I never said people are going to spend 72 hours playing. I said a free weekend gives people 72 hours to experience a current storyline that is maybe 8-12 hours long. Blizzard would basically be giving away the entire open world story away for free, not just a taste to get people interested. The only thing left would be instanced content, like I stated, and people that just want the story would have no reason to bother with the game.
You then move your goalposts to “level to 112.” Realistically this is maybe an extra hour or 2, if that, over the 3 people have. The fact you changed your stance shows that even your original line of thought has some questioning ideas behind it.
Not everything is so black and white as people originally make it out to be.

Well good thing is they will play for 3 hours, realise it's bad and move on to better games.

Still waiting for a good/compelling argument about how limiting people who don't own an expansion is a good thing. But /shrug guess nobody has one.

Originally Posted by Lobosan

Intentionally ignoring the rest of his post doesn't make you sound smart. It exposes you as nothing more than an idle baiter.

I'm not "ignoring the rest of his post", so piss off with that. The rest of his post is purely inconsequential and serves no point. You can bitch and whine about how stupid a 3 hour/up to a certain point demo is, but all it is is whining about a free demo. Blizzard didn't even have to give a demo, but they did anyways. Like, I'm the first and loudest to criticize Blizzard but this is just dumbass whining.

For the record, I think the demo is pretty stupid too but I'm not about to fucking cry about it and scream and piss about how "greedy" (lolwhat) it is or how "scummy" it is or how Blizzard is "deceiving" people or how people are "wrong" to pass the demo off as fine. You all need to groooooow the fuuuuuuuck up. There's about a million other things with this game that are worthy of complaint, you need to conserve your tears for things that have some medicorum of purpose. All of this limpdick rage over a motherfucking demo, it's unreal. Did you kids scream at your parents when they brought you home those demo discs for the PS1?

WHAT THE FUCK DAD YOU'RE A FUCKING SCAMMER DECEIVER111111 I CAN ONLY PLAY DA FIRST WORLD IN SPYRO FUCK U11111!!

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Originally Posted by Darknessvamp

I saw those goal posts shift.

You didn't see anything, lol. I just called it 'expansion' in one post and 'game' in another; completely interchangeable terms. Talk about grasping at fucking straws.

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Originally Posted by clevin

awww... it's so CUTE. You learned the word 'entitled' and want to use it everywhere, even where it's not applicable. (pats on head) Run along now, let the grownups talk.

Also read the rest of my post. You sound like an idiot because you're not even understanding the basic point... which is that Blizzard would have sold more by letting people play it for the entire weekend. How people feel about it is irrelevant, it's that letting them play all weekend would likely have served Blizzard's financial goals better.

But given that I've done product marketing for decades and you probably deliver pizza... I'm not optimistic that you will get this.

You ever go to Reddit, per chance? There's this sub called r/iamverysmart where people post screenshots of tools who say stupid shit a lot like this post. Stuff that's full of unwarranted condescending pseudo-intellectual/fake argument bullcrap; stuff you're pretty familiar with, to say the least. You'd be a very popular source of material there. Maybe someone would even be your friend!

Originally Posted by Eleccybubb

Well good thing is they will play for 3 hours, realise it's bad and move on to better games.

Still waiting for a good/compelling argument about how limiting people who don't own an expansion is a good thing. But /shrug guess nobody has one.

Is it difficult to be intentionally dense and ignorant? I’m just curious because you seem to try so hard at it.

Originally Posted by Eapoe

You’re comparing an end of cycle xpac to one that’s not even 1/2 way thru yet.

Yes but your argument was that if people get to eat some of the meal rather than a taste or not at all then they won't want the rest and I was just pointing out that the exact scenario happened at the end of Legion when Blizzard wanted people to sub back and also buy BfA and the result was people stayed for the rest of the meal and wanted Dessert too. I already said it may sound arbitrary but it still happened.

Welcome back! We just unloaded one of the biggest ban waves in our history and we hope you weren't caught up in it! Cheers everyone!

Funny shit. LOL

Originally Posted by Darknessvamp

Yes but your argument was that if people get to eat some of the meal rather than a taste or not at all then they won't want the rest and I was just pointing out that the exact scenario happened at the end of Legion when Blizzard wanted people to sub back and also buy BfA and the result was people stayed for the rest of the meal and wanted Dessert too. I already said it may sound arbitrary but it still happened.

But you have no proof of that. People buying an xpac because it’s new happens. It’s been proven thru the history of the game. Neither you, nor I, can prove that people stuck around or even purchased BfA because of Legion being offered as a whole. What can be done, however, is that looking to evidence of past cycles that people bought BfA for the same reason they’ve ever bought any xpac. Many players resub at the end of an xpac to get ready for the next release.
The point stands that Legion was at the end of its cycle. It makes sense to release a full xpac at that time as a weekend event as people can play it in its entirety to get ready for the next xpac. Legion was not released in its entirety at any other point during its cycle.

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Originally Posted by Low Hanging Fruit

Welcome back! We just unloaded one of the biggest ban waves in our history and we hope you weren't caught up in it! Cheers everyone!

Funny shit. LOL

Why would anyone be caught in it?

Originally Posted by Eapoe

Why would anyone be caught in it?

Why when you fall down stairs you get hurt? I think its just how reality works buddy?