What would make the in-game store more tolerable?

[How dare you]

Something like being able to buy battle net balance with gold would be great. Then you could basically buy all the things on the shop with ingame currency.

[LemonDemonGirl]

Please don't get mad when I say this, but what about 'cosmetic options?' Look what Guild Wars 2, ESO and FF14 do. Outfits (preferably mog-able) of Lore characters would be nice too. I'd love to have my Troll running around looking like a female version of Bwonsamdi

[glowpipe]

so.. this would be ok with me, but ofcourse not others, so answering something like this is a sorta a moot point. But here goes.

Color variations of your current gear. You get a fancy helm from a raid, Its blue and red and you can buy different colors to change it. Maybe even add basic colors to the game and have "premium" fancier colors in the store. Totaly useless, but there for those who want it

[Mixxy]

In a game that earns... according to Blizzard's Q3 earnings call... About 350-500 million fucking dollars A MONTH from subs, I'd say the best way to improve the in-game store is to remove it entirely.

It has absolutely no fucking place in a game that boasts a buy-in cost, AND a subscription, AND offers basic account services for an exorbitant premium that most other games would offer for free.

The cash shop is objectively unjustifiable.

[Kathranis]

I'd tolerate it if it was a F2P game.

WoW is a subscription MMO. Don't dangle mounts in front of me by having Iron Skyreavers being the canonical Iron Horde flying mount, or Shadowmoon Draenei flying around on Fey Dragons (even letting you ride on them as flight path mounts!), only to put them in the store. Grinning Reavers should've been the Laughing Skull reputation mount, and so on.

How do you feel about the FFXIV Mog Shop? It's got even more expensive items and unlike WoW with WoW Tokens there's absolutely no way to earn those in-game.

[Mixxy]

Making all of the items available to buy with gold.

Oh wait.

Someone, somewhere, paid real money for that Token.

Just because you're not giving Blizzard any money doesn't mean Blizzard isn't getting any money.

In fact, they're getting MORE money, since the Tokens are priced a little bit higher than the corresponding in-game time.


Every time someone "buys" one of the premium services for in-game gold, Blizz is actually making MORE money than if they'd just bought the item outright.

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How do you feel about the FFXIV Mog Shop? It's got even more expensive items and unlike WoW with WoW Tokens there's absolutely no way to earn those in-game.

"Someone else does it worse" isn't a good defence.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

How do you feel about the FFXIV Mog Shop? It's got even more expensive items and unlike WoW with WoW Tokens there's absolutely no way to earn those in-game.

Mog shop doesn't dangle mounts in front of your face by having them be used by factions you're RPing as and make you use them on fight paths and then make you pay IRL money for them.

[MoanaLisa]

How about not using it if it's intolerable? I agree that the prices are high but if stuff is selling for those prices then the market is saying they are not over-priced.

I find that places I never shop at (like Wal-Mart) are much more tolerable.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

It's already tolerable for me. It's just mounts and pets. If you want bad Blizz could put Allied Races and Class Skins and Transmog Sets on there.

[Daedius]

"You cannot obtain ingame", while not strictly 'ingane' per se you do realize you can buy everything still with gold... by using said gold on WoW tokens then converting that to b.net currency.

Or did you ignore that? I capped out to €250 on my b.net balance converting a bunch of tokens, €13 a pop...

[Polly3685]

I have long had a bit of a burning hatred for the in-game store, with its unique mounts you cannot obtain by playing the game, pets and even toys, all in a game with a subscription base model, but also costs a larger sum every new expansion release. Though I've come to a point where I'd rather just want to discuss some ideas that could make the store better, subjectively speaking, you might be 100% okay with it, you might hate it. Regardless, what would improve it? My key points would be:


- Lower the prices. They are incredibly expensive, and serves mostly to milk whales for what they're worth. If the prices were a lot lower, it would not only become more accessible to more people, but also feel less scummy over all. This isn't just about mounts, but also extends to "services" Which I think are particularly, unbelievably overpriced.

- Make the items in the shop obtainable in-game at seasonal intervals. I would not at all mind them, being in the shop if there was, or had been a way to obtain them through playing in the first place. Either farmed during a special event, or as a seasonal (Winter's veil, Hallows End etc) reward. The new 15'th anniversary mount would be a good example. Once the event is over, it could be retired to the store, giving future players a chance to get it. Obviously, also at a lower price, just like my first point.

I understand not liking the store. But the way you phrase this stuff doesn't work.

If $25 is "incredibly expensive" to you, price points of items in a video game should be the least of your concerns. Overpriced would be a better term but since millions of people buy these items, at said price point, they are most likely not overpriced. With that said, most of the items in the store go on sale around the holidays for a substantial discount.

Nothing in the store is needed in the game and most of the mounts, while some may be unique, really aren't that great compared to others that are available in game.

[crusadernero]

Remove all of it. The wow token too.

Im betting that tmog gear will come in the store during Shadowlands. Already put it in the preoder box, having it in the store is just one small step away.

And it sucks.

[Mixxy]

"You cannot obtain ingame", while not strictly 'ingane' per se you do realize you can buy everything still with gold... by using said gold on WoW tokens then converting that to b.net currency.

Or did you ignore that? I capped out to €250 on my b.net balance converting a bunch of tokens, €13 a pop...

Those tokens still cost someone money. Or did you ignore that?

In fact, every time you "buy" a mount or pet from the cash shop for in-game gold, Blizzard is actually making more money than they would've if you'd just bought the item outright, since the Tokens are priced slightly higher than the game time they grant.

How about not using it if it's intolerable? I agree that the prices are high but if stuff is selling for those prices then the market is saying they are not over-priced.

That'd maybe be true if it weren't for the gold-to-token exchange.
Now, the cash shop is being carried almost entirely by a minority of 'whales' - either the ones who buy practically everything that pops up on the shop, or the ones buying and auctioning off Tokens for in-game gold - and people actively supporting a storefront they claim they don't support by pumping Token-bought balance into it.

It doesn't matter what the "market" says about the shop's prices, because the shop doesn't care about the market. It's making gangbusters from just a handful of individuals. (The people auctioning off Tokens, specifically)

Hell, most of the market for the cash shop does think it's over-priced. They just don't care because, instead of spending their own money, they're spending someone else's money and their own in-game gold, neither of which have any actual tangible value to the individual.

It's ingenious, but insidious. Blizzard gave people an option to get stuff from the shop while feeling like they aren't supporting it, while actively giving Blizzard more money than they would've if they HAD supported it.

Like, props to them. It's brilliant. But I'll never be able to overlook how... icky the whole thing is.
Especially in a game already making hundreds of millions of dollars every single month.

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Nothing in the store is needed in the game and most of the mounts, while some may be unique, really aren't that great compared to others that are available in game.

People always forget about the battle pets.

Most of them are really quite good, and offer an observable gameplay advantage in one of the game's modes.

[Denizly]

Something like being able to buy battle net balance with gold would be great. Then you could basically buy all the things on the shop with ingame currency.

That's what the token does, add bnet balance. So no they won't add that option as it would hurt the token.

OT: Since everything is available thru in game gold (via the token) I don't mind the store.

And before some self righteous zealot comes to tell me that someone else pays the money, I don't effin care. I don't pay MY money, I don't care if someone else does.

I do think the services cost a tad too much, and would like them slightly reduced or have "50% discount on X service" periods.

[Adamas102]

When I say earn them in game I'm not talking about purchasing them for gold but by them being a rare drop or from a special event.

"Earn" being poor word choice IMO. I'd never pay money for anything in the shop, but if someone wants to spend good money on cosmetic items that I got through RNG or because I happened to play X years ago that wouldn't bother me at all. I think it's a dumb way to spend your money, but I certainly wouldn't consider it a "slap in the face".

[Mixxy]

Hell, most of the market for the cash shop does think it's over-priced. They just don't care because, instead of spending their own money, they're spending someone else's money and their own in-game gold, neither of which have any actual tangible value to the individual.

It's ingenious, but insidious. Blizzard gave people an option to get stuff from the shop while feeling like they aren't supporting it, while actively giving Blizzard more money than they would've if they HAD supported it.

And before some self righteous zealot comes to tell me that someone else pays the money, I don't effin care. I don't pay MY money, I don't care if someone else does.

Case in point.

[letssee]

deletion, fking delete the store. thats what would satisfy me.

if the game was free then ok...but its not

[Polly3685]

Those tokens still cost someone money. Or did you ignore that?

In fact, every time you "buy" a mount or pet from the cash shop for in-game gold, Blizzard is actually making more money than they would've if you'd just bought the item outright, since the Tokens are priced slightly higher than the game time they grant.

That'd maybe be true if it weren't for the gold-to-token exchange.
Now, the cash shop is being carried almost entirely by a minority of 'whales' - either the ones who buy practically everything that pops up on the shop, or the ones buying and auctioning off Tokens for in-game gold - and people actively supporting a storefront they claim they don't support by pumping Token-bought balance into it.

It doesn't matter what the "market" says about the shop's prices, because the shop doesn't care about the market. It's making gangbusters from just a handful of individuals. (The people auctioning off Tokens, specifically)

Hell, most of the market for the cash shop does think it's over-priced. They just don't care because, instead of spending their own money, they're spending someone else's money and their own in-game gold, neither of which have any actual tangible value to the individual.

It's ingenious, but insidious. Blizzard gave people an option to get stuff from the shop while feeling like they aren't supporting it, while actively giving Blizzard more money than they would've if they HAD supported it.

Like, props to them. It's brilliant. But I'll never be able to overlook how... icky the whole thing is.
Especially in a game already making hundreds of millions of dollars every single month.

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People always forget about the battle pets.

Most of them are really quite good, and offer an observable gameplay advantage in one of the game's modes.

Ya, battle pets is a feature in the game, a very minuscule one, but the pets sold in the store still aren't needed.

[TriggeredKid]

Remove it, total bullshit to have to pay for the base game, new expansion, and sub with a mount/pet/cosmetic store in the game, does not matter if it has no effect on the game. We are already paying for new content we shouldn't have to pay a 3rd time, they should make enough money from paid character services.

[RadmaKanow]

I have long had a bit of a burning hatred for the in-game store,

what would improve it?

- Lower the prices. They are incredibly expensive,

Sorry dude but every time I see posts like yours I read it: oh boi, another whiny kid that want toys but cannot afford them so he cries for price drop.

I too like some things from the shop and would be happy having them. But then I look at the price tag (which is high for single item alone), multiply by items I would like to have and immediately decide hell no I would pay that amount for another mount. Result - I simply don't buy it. And this I advise you.

Get over it or reach into pocket. Otherwise you sound like a spoiled brat that want to eat a cake and have a cake. Life's tough, you need to make decisions. I decided not to pay for overpriced items.

also extends to "services" Which I think are particularly, unbelievably overpriced.

And this one is made on purpose, Blizz themselves stated that on several occasions. Services are meant to be pricey to actually discourage people from frequently using it. Let's assume you're Horde and your server is Alliance favored. Your PvP are always one sided, Allied victory all the time. So why stay there, $5 for server transfer and you're on Horde favored server, now you're stomping filthy Alliance dogs. Now PvP is how it should be right?

But then Alliance players will flock out since server transfer is just $5 and after 3 days of PvP stomping you have ended in Horde controlled server where Pvp is dead since there is no Alliance who want to participate. High serive costs prevent you and others from quicck and easy transfer to imbalance things.

I bet you didn't thought about that. For all you see is that you want but can't since you don't have enough money.