Subscription? Yes or no?

[Schmeebs]

Doubt I'll be playing it this time round if it's not free.

so, you basically want Blizzard to do all the dev work, host all the servers, and you pay nothing for it?

[Therougetitan]

It should be $15 a month because keep classic as classic!

[Ton00]

if course its going to be on another sub maybe half or normal they aint running a charity as going take up time wages etc ...

[Uurdz]

NOTE: This isn't about whether or not you'd pay for a subscription, but rather, whether or not there will be one at all.

Just thought I'd clear that up to start off.

now watch people ignore this and talk about how they don't want to pay a subscription

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So as we all know, WoW is one of the few online games that still charges its own monthly subscription, and thus far, Blizzard hasn't said whether or not Classic will have its own subscription, or be part of the total WoW subscription, or if it will even have any subscription at all.

The main reason for the subscription is both to keep the servers running, and because of how MMOs function, with there constantly being new content added to the game. You pay a subscription, and in return you get frequent content patches, fixes, updates, etc. This is a stark contrast to normal offline games (in the early 2000s) where you just buy the game once, and that's it, no updates or patches or new content.

Now, "Classic" kinda falls in between these two. If Blizzard just goes with what private servers have been doing (1.12, nothing less, nothing more) then there will be no new content to develop, just bugs and glitches to fix. So really, the only costs will be keeping the servers online, paying ingame GMs, etc.

Other Blizzard games like Diablo, Overwatch, etc. are online and have frequent updates, but don't charge any subscription. The only purchases you make are the base game. (and for Diablo, the expansion) So really, if Blizzard is just going to be hosting 1.12 servers and not adding anything to them, I don't see any reason for there to be a subscription. A single-time purchase, yes; a monthly subscription, no.

Except that GMs need to be paid to help maintain the game. Expect there will be a monthly sub fee but probably only $5/month or if they plan to release additional content, then they might charge a full $15 but doubt it.

As for allowing Retail subbed players to play free of charge? Potentially but I don't think this is a good thing as they probably won't enjoy it. Expect they might give free access for a month and then an additional $5/month ontop

[Deleted]

It should have its own subscription or a one time buy to play. Free or included in current subscription would mean current players would have free access and would be there just to grief and ruin it for people who actually want to play classic from day one. Some would still do it but it would be far less than if it was free or included since not all would pay extra just to ruin other peoples experience.

It could be free or included in the current subscription after some time to get more people to try it out but for the release there needs to be some kind of wall to keep those people out.

[Zyky]

It'll probably be a package system they do. 1 Sub(Live or Classic) for $15usd or both for $25usd

[Pickynerd]

Doubt I'll be playing it this time round if it's not free.

Hence why Nost was so popular.

[Aeula]

Standard subscription plus box fee.

That way Classic and retail sustain one another instead of competing against each other.

[ablib]

If Blizzard were smart, they would make it 100% free. If not, then they will have done nothing to combat private servers. This whole Classic WoW/Private server thing exists from people too cheap or too poor to pay a sub.

What Blizzard will get out of it, is that Classic WoW will be the ultimate trial game to get people to buy the real thing.

I'm surprised at those saying there will be a box fee. If anything, there may be a sub fee, but there definitely won't be a box fee. We already bought the game.

[Powerogue]

I imagine it'd be lumped into the current sub fee and available to anyone regardless of expansion status. You're paying for a subscription to "World of Warcraft."

I didn't think about the "box fee" though. How does that work right now if you want to play the game but don't buy Legion?

[EbonBehelit]

If Blizzard were smart, they would make it 100% free. If not, then they will have done nothing to combat private servers. This whole Classic WoW/Private server thing exists from people too cheap or too poor to pay a sub.

...and yet we constantly hear from people playing on Nostalrius et al. that they'd totally pay the sub fee for a Blizzard-quality vanilla server. I predict that at least half of the private server community will stay exactly where they are, no matter what Blizzard does.

With that in mind, the fact of the matter is this: Blizzard is not going to invest time and money into a product that they'll then give away for free.

What Blizzard will get out of it, is that Classic WoW will be the ultimate trial game to get people to buy the real thing.

What Blizzard will get out of a unified WoW sub is playerbase overlap. As in, retail players will try classic during content lulls, and therefore keep their subscriptions ticking over. Classic players will also have a window to try retail if they so desire.

A single subscription model for all players is easily the best move for Blizzard here.

[Armourboy]

Didn't that say this in the announcement?

No, nothing has been said about it at all

[Evil Midnight Bomber]

I didn't say "free"

I said "no monthly subscription".

Well, you probably won't be paying a sub for classic WoW.

You'll probably get classic WoW included "free" with your subscription to retail.

[Deleted]

I doubt they're going to change anything. It'll be included in the normal retail sub fee.

[jstnw89]

It's obviously going to be included in the current sub as "retail".

[Pickynerd]

No, nothing has been said about it at all

Maybe it was a ones of those videos there do, I swear I remember Ion saying something about it being available to concurrent subscribers.

Honestly I wouldn't doubt if it was actually tied some how to BfA, because great marketing.

[chronia]

Most logical imho: No box fee (except for new players who dont have vanilla already) and then add it into the regular retail subscription or if they want to separate populations give it a separate sub fee.

[XDurionX]

If they'd charge extra, classic servers would be stillborn, everybody knows that. They'll be included in the normal fee.

[Lochton]

I expect it to be on a subscription plan, sharing the same subscription as the live game and all you would need to purchase to have access, would be the basic battlechest. That way, I could easily see finances being better implemented for support and resources. As well as the numbers would look better over the charts.

If it was to be free, then I would expect an opt-out function to put a discount on the main subscription but block your access to Classic.

And no, I can't really imagine it having a seperate subscription. That would be stupid.

[Deleted]

Just include it with the regular subscription. That'll be fine with me. Would also be no problem for me if they required you to have the latest expansion. I don't see a reason for a separate subscription. It'd make things muddy.