Classic and Live wow under the same subscription. Is it a good idea?

[xcoatsyx]

Runescape bundles both.

[Coconut]

Yes, there should be one subscription for both. The question is whether the people who would want, for some reason, to play Classic without purchasing also BfA, be allowed to do so, and for what additional entry fee.

I would incline towards no. I know some Vanilla proponents on these forums swore up and down that they would pay this and that just to have Vanilla, but at the end of the day they are trying to lure people over from private servers, I don't think an extra paywall would help (it wouldn't help for Live players who are supposed to view Classic as some sort of mega timewalking realm either). I think the extra subscriptions alone will do it.

I've seen that a lot of Vanilla models are getting updates for BFA, and some of them are being used in the new zones. Even if the Classic crowd ends up opting for old models, this helps shift some of the cost of Classic servers towards BFA (potential Live Vanilla timewalking with the retired raids would help even more), so they have less of a reason to charge for it separately. Since all model updates were included with the basic version of the game, I believe Classic servers are even more likely to come with that as well.

[gkai]

doesn't it really depend on how much is actually changed for classic? If the entire project takes 2 years, how can people honestly expect it to be free? I would either expect the game to come at a cost, or come with a separate subscription fee. Both obviously are going to make everyone angry. If for whatever reason it's bundled in and given for free, then props to blizzard.

[Very Tired]

If the entire project takes 2 years, how can people honestly expect it to be free?

Loading up an old revision of the game and putting it on some servers isn't actually that hard. Plenty of private servers do it already for free.

[ComputerNerd]

Of course they should be bundled. For Live players, it will feel like something extra they can try in their spare time. For Classic players, implicit access to live servers might persuade them to buy a new expansion and try it out. Only Vanilla fanatics who think mere optional access to Live servers taints their pure experience want a separate subscription (so they can later claim it should be cheaper, among other reasons ).

Let me dispel any illusions you might have: Blizzard doesn't have anything to gain from separating the subscriptions. Both versions of the game will be time consuming if BFA is anything close to Legion. Very few people will have time to play both simultaneously, and even if there are a few who plan to, you can bet your blurry dragon avatar that they will rage like there is no tomorrow about paying double. They are just as likely to produce a toxic shit storm and quit over it as they are to stay silent and pay.

Other than that, if people play either/or, a separate subscription is pointless. There is zero gain for Blizzard when one player swaps from Classic to Live and vice-versa. Why would they complicate themselves? If they keep one sub, they can say you get more for the same money, if they don't, they will have to pay customer service to deal with retard events like "Omg, I wanted to play Live but I bought Classic time by mistake!" or "I wanted to try out Classic, but I hate it and I have 28 days left. Can I transfer my game time to my Live account? If not you are stealing my money Blizzard!" or "I bought the Classic + Live double bundle instead of the 90 days special offer, Blizzard help!". I'm not going to forget how a ton of people bought the wrong packs when Hearthstone launched its first expansion.

Those not interested in classic are then feeling, and quite rightly that they are paying extra for something they don't want.
If you want it, pay for it.

No, classic is not going to promote sales of current expansions.
Because those are not expansions of classic.
Because it is as far from the current game as possible.
The expansions sold because they were derived from the last.
Something very different to even the base game now.

[Saphyron]

either shared sub or classic is b2p, they can't make you pay monthly for the development of a 20ish year old game that may or may not ever get new content.

No but they can make you pay to keep the servers up.

[gkai]

Loading up an old revision of the game and putting it on some servers isn't actually that hard. Plenty of private servers do it already for free.

I'm not disagreeing. If that was the case, everyone would be playing classic right now though right? I'm sure there's a lore more happening behind the scenes that we'll eventually find out down the road.

[Coconut]

Those not interested in classic are then feeling, and quite rightly that they are paying extra for something they don't want.
If you want it, pay for it.

No, classic is not going to promote sales of current expansions.
Because those are not expansions of classic.
Because it is as far from the current game as possible.
The expansions sold because they were derived from the last.
Something very different to even the base game now.

Not necessarily. I never thought Classic servers were a good idea, but there are some small things I can get out of them. I like that they are updating more of the old models for one, and I'm hoping some old transmogs and mounts will be reintroduced on Live realms to balance out stuff like Naxx and ZG being available on Classic.

And even without all that, MMOs are about a wide audience. At the end of the day, Classic realms aren't any worse than any other new feature. Some of those sucked, some were cool, and this one seems to have an audience, so why not? I just hope they will actually enjoy it instead of being toxic to each other.

[hulkgor]

I'll pay regardless, but i'll think they'll either bundle both game experiences together, or simply offer a cheaper sub for vanilla (like 5 bucks). The bundle seems more likely, that way players of whichever one can check the other freely, more chance they'll keep subbed on the long run.

[lockblock]

I'll pay regardless, but i'll think they'll either bundle both game experiences together, or simply offer a cheaper sub for vanilla (like 5 bucks). The bundle seems more likely, that way players of whichever one can check the other freely, more chance they'll keep subbed on the long run.

I think they should offer both options since some people care not for retail.

[Soon-TM]

I doubt it. I mean, already most of the change requests (at least on this forum) are coming from retail players (this poll kind of prove it http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...Classic-Server). What is it gonna be after the Release?

- - - Updated - - -



How can Blizzard make more money out of existing subscribers by giving them a free game?

By attracting a relatively large batch of players that have no interest whatsoever in the current game

[Deleted]

It'll probably be like an extra 4 notes on top of subscription to pay for server maintenance and other such things.

[Frolk]

Charging people a sub to play a decade old game that'll get no new content when there's plenty of private servers out there offering the same thing for free? Yeah, that's not going to fly.

So you want Blizzard to give us classic servers for FREE? What bubble do u live in? Want free classic, go play on an private server, if theres any left, im sure blizz is gon nuke the remaining ones once their goes live.

[MoanaLisa]

Discussion of the features of private servers is not allowed. Please stop talking about this.

It's perfectly possible to talk about the revenue model for WoW (if any) without bringing illegal servers into it.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

It only makes sense to be honest. Free does nothing for Blizzard. Separate divides people and makes people choose one or the other in a lot of cases. Together allows people that might want to only play classic to see the new expansion and say.. "maybe" or someone playing the next expansion see classic and say.. "maybe" and then also boost numbers and profitablity of both properties into one.

[Jtbrig7390]

If its not bundled in I won't be playing it. Not paying $15 a month to play a 10 year old game that won't get more development, Hell Runescape doesn't even do that.

It has to ether be bundled in or b2p/f2p. It can not be its own sub model.

[Powerogue]

I'd expect it to be bundled since it's not technically a new game. You're paying a subscription for "World of Warcraft." Unless they do patches large enough to qualify as "expansions" (which they probably won't) I don't see any additional fees being tacked on there.

[Mushkins]

But it's more profitable for Blizzard if You stay on Live Servers than if you move to Classic (reason - cash shop).

[Hottage]

Blizzard already stated that they don't expect World of Warcraft: Classic to be a money-making product, and they are okay with that.

I expect they'll only have a subscription requirement at all to prevent too many trolls/bots/multiboxers from appearing.

With that in mind, it will be probably included in the Retail subscription (with a reduced price subscription only for Classic server access).

[Sencha]

If you have a live (retail) sub you should be able to play classic at no additional cost.

If you only want to play classic, sub price should be reduced by half.