Battle for Azeroth Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Steampunkette]

- WoW Classic: HD Remaster
- You'll have to buy one
- And pay a separate subscription


Its always nice when poeple make things up and present them as facts.

Anyway i disagree with your opinion. As i said - added under the normal sub or maybe you can add an extra small sub fee to also gain acces to the vanilla servers. Most likely imo its just gonne be the same sub fee though.

Even more unlikely, to me, is that you will actually have to go and buy it. They arent making a new game here. Granted there are some things they need to redo do fit the new systems but i'm still 99% sure its not going to make them put an actual prizetag on it.

Also your No Beta Club sign makes no sense atm

You're suggesting that a Business is going to spend the next couple of years working on an entertainment product which will require thousands upon thousands of work-hours to complete, require the purchase of more server systems, a new infrastructure, and continued maintenance once it's functional, then release it to the public for free?

And that business is owned by Activision?

Barring a minor miracle or the CEO's heart growing 3 sizes before Launch day, it ain't gonna happen. The company would be taking a straight loss on all of the effort spent rebuilding the original game, which is -at least- going to be a couple of million dollars. Adding on a "Small Fee" to already active WoW subs will help pay for servers, sure, but the work to create the game would still need to be paid for and that'd eat into profits.

As to the "No Beta Club" signature banner: I'm not currently in the beta so it makes complete sense. The fact that their isn't one -explains- why I'm not in it, but the point remains that I am not, sooooooo.

[kabshiel]

If there was ever a codex of Warcraft. The first rule would be


Humans cannot be on the Horde, Orcs cannot be on the Alliance.

Well the Laughing Skull did work with the Alliance and Alterac did work with the Horde...

[Phinx]

I'm all in for derailing this thread into absurdity, but come on people, we have an entire sub forum dedicated to Vanilla.

[Merryck]

Well the Laughing Skull did work with the Alliance and Alterac did work with the Horde...

eh, alterac didn't really work with the horde per se, they more or less just ignored them

[Shizari]

I just thought about this, and i dunno if it was answered already: Can the red star from the Seat of the Pantheon still be seen in Kul Tiras/Zandalar?

[Usagi Senshi]

I just thought about this, and i dunno if it was answered already: Can the red star from the Seat of the Pantheon still be seen in Kul Tiras/Zandalar?

Yes, if you look at some of my recent posts with screens, I have a couple with that star in it.

Edit: I'm a moron

[Deleted]

You're suggesting that a Business is going to spend the next couple of years working on an entertainment product which will require thousands upon thousands of work-hours to complete, require the purchase of more server systems, a new infrastructure, and continued maintenance once it's functional, then release it to the public for free?

And that business is owned by Activision?

Barring a minor miracle or the CEO's heart growing 3 sizes before Launch day, it ain't gonna happen. The company would be taking a straight loss on all of the effort spent rebuilding the original game, which is -at least- going to be a couple of million dollars. Adding on a "Small Fee" to already active WoW subs will help pay for servers, sure, but the work to create the game would still need to be paid for and that'd eat into profits.

As to the "No Beta Club" signature banner: I'm not currently in the beta so it makes complete sense. The fact that their isn't one -explains- why I'm not in it, but the point remains that I am not, sooooooo.

1. You dont know how long it will take
2. you dont know the amount of work hours
3. You have no idea what they need to purchase

You are making complete guesses and presenting them as facts once again.

For once i think i'm actually going to save what you wrote here and then we can take it up again when Blizzard actually tells us something about these things.

"The fact that their isn't one -explains- why I'm not in it, but the point remains that I am not, soooooo"

This is literally the dumbest shit i've read all day.

If you want one of those hip signatures at least call it the "no alpha club" since its actually something that exists in this point in time.

I'm not going to go into how businesses work with you. Its pointless since as soon as we are on this site everyone becomes an expert on Blizzard and businesses with insight knowledge that possibly they dont even have yet.

That being said you are literally the first one i've seen on this forum who thinks they are actually going to resell vanilla

[Whatever Dude]

If you think about it, the average zone in Legion has quite a lot more detail and effort put into it compared to an old zone like Arathi Highlands. I think the expansion zones are on average bigger, as well.

I feel like 1/5th of the work would go into revamping old zones than making something entirely out of scratch. So I could see 20-30 zones being revamped this way, as long as they aren't designed to the level of something like Val'sharah.

I'm strictly speaking about this as part of a future expansion. I give no real weight to the discussion about a new game or remaster.

[Hitei]

If you think about it, the average zone in Legion has quite a lot more detail and effort put into it compared to an old zone like Arathi Highlands. I think the expansion zones are on average bigger, as well.

I feel like 1/5th of the work would go into revamping old zones than making something entirely out of scratch. So I could see 20-30 zones being revamped this way, as long as they aren't designed to the level of something like Val'sharah.

I'm strictly speaking about this as part of a future expansion. I give no real weight to the discussion about a new game or remaster.

It's way less than 1/5th, but it's still such a waste of time and effort. Those resources could be going into actually new stuff rather than "It's Westfall for the 3rd time, but now the Defias are thinner humans and the tornado is gone."

[Raetary]

Lookin' good, Mag'har! They'll fit in great with the Alliance.

this looks so unbelievably wrong, my god.

[Steampunkette]

1. You dont know how long it will take
2. you dont know the amount of work hours
3. You have no idea what they need to purchase

You are making complete guesses and presenting them as facts once again.

For once i think i'm actually going to save what you wrote here and then we can take it up again when Blizzard actually tells us something about these things.

"The fact that their isn't one -explains- why I'm not in it, but the point remains that I am not, soooooo"

This is literally the dumbest shit i've read all day.

If you want one of those hip signatures at least call it the "no alpha club" since its actually something that exists in this point in time.

I'm not going to go into how businesses work with you. Its pointless since as soon as we are on this site everyone becomes an expert on Blizzard and businesses with insight knowledge that possibly they dont even have yet.

That being said you are literally the first one i've seen on this forum who thinks they are actually going to resell vanilla

1) I spent 4 years working on 2 separate MMOs.
2) See number 1.
3) See number 1.

Call it an Educated Guess. And you do that, Nupo. Save it 'til launch and if I'm wrong, send it to me as a PM and I'll happily eat crow and apologize for my hubris and for being wrong. 'Cause I wouldn't mind being wrong.

As to the rest of your post: I didn't make the banner, friendo. I just put it on because it's fun. Your pedantic obsession is irrelevant to that fun. So enjoy being salty because someone else has a banner you don't like.

[Collected]

1) I spent 4 years working on 2 separate MMOs.
2) See number 1.
3) See number 1.

Call it an Educated Guess. And you do that, Nupo. Save it 'til launch and if I'm wrong, send it to me as a PM and I'll happily eat crow and apologize for my hubris and for being wrong. 'Cause I wouldn't mind being wrong.

The trouble with two subs is it will present every player who wants to play classic with a very real dilemma ... do they pay for two subs each month or do they let retail lapse whilst they go off and play classic. Especially if classic releases as expected between two expansions. So Blizzard risks losing retail players.

For that reason I suspect they'll roll both into a single sub. To play classic you'll need to be subbed to retail. That then has the effect of keeping their sub numbers healthy during the natural drop off between expansions whilst perhaps drawing old players back into retail.

As for having to actually buy the classic version... again my gut feeling is it will come with already owning WoW. Why? Well I don't think they'll be able to justify charging people again. Plenty of people already bought classic WoW. And I don't really regard it as a remaster either. I don't think they're having to go over the entire old world re-doing textures and models. If the recent EU release celebration video was filmed in the classic client as suggested, then the classic client is already playable and functional. At least in all of the starting zones.

Just my opinion of course. Everyone will have one.

[Steampunkette]

The trouble with two subs is it will present every player who wants to play classic with a very real dilemma ... do they pay for two subs each month or do they let retail lapse whilst they go off and play classic. Especially if classic releases as expected between two expansions. So Blizzard risks losing retail players.

For that reason I suspect they'll roll both into a single sub. To play classic you'll need to be subbed to retail. That then has the effect of keeping their sub numbers healthy during the natural drop off between expansions whilst perhaps drawing old players back into retail.

As for having to actually buy the classic version... again my gut feeling is it will come with already owning WoW. Why? Well I don't think they'll be able to justify charging people again. Plenty of people already bought classic WoW. And I don't really regard it as a remaster either. I don't think they're having to go over the entire old world re-doing textures and models. If the recent EU release celebration video was filmed in the classic client as suggested, then the classic client is already playable and functional. At least in all of the starting zones.

Just my opinion of course. Everyone will have one.

It's -possible- but I just don't see it as likely.

The Vanilla Diehards are people who, the moment Classic becomes available, will drop their sub and go play on that server. Similarly, people who aren't currently playing on the Live Servers and are instead using Private Servers aren't going to leap at the chance to support Retail. Now will there be some overlap? Oh, absolutely. There will be people who want to play on both the current Retail and the Classic WoW servers.

But in the end, WoWC and WoWLive will both be run by the same company. A loss of subs for Retail and a gain of subs for Classic is a net 0 change to them. Meanwhile for that segment where things overlap: There's double income. Sure some people won't be able to justify dropping $25 a month or whatever on the two subs, 'cause the sub to the Classic server will probably come at a discount by comparison thanks to it not needing an extensive development team to carry it's systems forward, but for most players of WoW dropping an extra $10 on a second sub would be peachy.

Really, it's just another WoWtoken of grinding gold, after all.

But the initial cost of putting it together is going to need to be brought to black from red. And with a new box to sell comes new marketing, which draws more attention to the game in general. Add to that the goodwill of the gaming community for Blizzard after they provide the original game for those who miss it, and you've got yourself a pretty big marketing bonanza.

And it'd be a shame to just let all that potential cash to go to waste. Put the old box on shelves, and you'll also pick up plenty of impulse purchases from people who don't even -follow- MMORPGs anymore but who might see the box and go "Wooow... I miss that game. And it's the original?" before delving into nostalgic flashbacks of their first Onyxia Wipe. "MOAR DOTS"

I'm not saying they couldn't do it as a free item. I'm saying it'll take a miracle, or the CEO's heart to grow three sizes.

[Blayze]

If they've got any sense, they'll bake it into the sub so that both versions--and any other future ones--prop each other up, because stability is important for profit too.

[Friendlyimmolation]

Well the Laughing Skull did work with the Alliance and Alterac did work with the Horde...

Laughing skull only temporarily worked with them, and it wasn't a love for them.

People still treating the "Orcs for Alliance !11" seriously though, lol.

[tristannarutofan]

Laughing skull only temporarily worked with them, and it wasn't a love for them.

People still treating the "Orcs for Alliance !11" seriously though, lol.

Yea but the main argument against it is some arbitrary "they won't do it cus reasons".

Like...In the story orcs have free will

[Syegfryed]

Yea but the main argument against it is some arbitrary "they won't do it cus reasons".
l

common sense, logic, and no bullshit is not "cus reasons"

[Seramore]

Yea but the main argument against it is some arbitrary "they won't do it cus reasons".

Like...In the story orcs have free will

uh the main argument against it is that they don't belong to alliance lol

[SunspotAnims]

It's -possible- but I just don't see it as likely.

The Vanilla Diehards are people who, the moment Classic becomes available, will drop their sub and go play on that server. Similarly, people who aren't currently playing on the Live Servers and are instead using Private Servers aren't going to leap at the chance to support Retail. Now will there be some overlap? Oh, absolutely. There will be people who want to play on both the current Retail and the Classic WoW servers.

But in the end, WoWC and WoWLive will both be run by the same company. A loss of subs for Retail and a gain of subs for Classic is a net 0 change to them. Meanwhile for that segment where things overlap: There's double income. Sure some people won't be able to justify dropping $25 a month or whatever on the two subs, 'cause the sub to the Classic server will probably come at a discount by comparison thanks to it not needing an extensive development team to carry it's systems forward, but for most players of WoW dropping an extra $10 on a second sub would be peachy.

Really, it's just another WoWtoken of grinding gold, after all.

But the initial cost of putting it together is going to need to be brought to black from red. And with a new box to sell comes new marketing, which draws more attention to the game in general. Add to that the goodwill of the gaming community for Blizzard after they provide the original game for those who miss it, and you've got yourself a pretty big marketing bonanza.

And it'd be a shame to just let all that potential cash to go to waste. Put the old box on shelves, and you'll also pick up plenty of impulse purchases from people who don't even -follow- MMORPGs anymore but who might see the box and go "Wooow... I miss that game. And it's the original?" before delving into nostalgic flashbacks of their first Onyxia Wipe. "MOAR DOTS"

I'm not saying they couldn't do it as a free item. I'm saying it'll take a miracle, or the CEO's heart to grow three sizes.

So the question is: what's more profitable? A single subscription covering WoW Retail and Classic or a separate subscription for the two. The former has the benefits of ensuring stable subs numbers, offering Classic-centric players an easy gateway into trying new updates, potentially leading to more expansion, token, and cash shop purchases, while also giving some Retail-centric players a reason to stay subscribed during content droughts through an alternate version of the game. The latter benefits from doubling subscription income from the number of players that subscribe to both.

Of course I think the former is preferable because it's ultimately a more consumer-friendly option. But even with that aside, I don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest that a single subscription might be more profitable in the long run. I'm not sure if the sizes of the CEO's hearts need to change at all for it to still be a likely option.

[Friendlyimmolation]

Yea but the main argument against it is some arbitrary "they won't do it cus reasons".

Like...In the story orcs have free will

It hinges on the complete 180 of a character to such an absurd level, kinda hard to even consider it a theory.