Why are people losing their minds over a collector's edition mount?

[Bigbazz]

Would be fine with the collectors edition if the mount only existed in retail. I don't like when people play dumb about perceived value, it's like they cannot understand the basic business model that keeps Ferrari as the most prestigious sports car company. If everyone had a Ferrari nobody would give a shit, yet they have for many years been considered to have the strongest brand value of any company on the planet.

Adding fancy new mounts to the game dimishes the other fancy ones and because it's behind a credit card they are just trash, welfare Ferraris. This is meant to be TBC and part of TBC is seeing everyone running around on a dull grey Kodo and then suddenly bammmm you see a Zulian Tiger or Ashes of A'lar. I don't want new mounts added to TBC, the ones that existed are perfect.

[crusadernero]

Cause it devalues everything in the game. For now its a mount. Next thing its boosts. Sooner or later there will be fully fleshed out Tmog gear in the store too, retail first.

Like many other things in wow, mounts used to mean something. even though retail now already has enough mounts as it is, it takes away everything what makes a mount in a game like wow cool. "Oh you have that drake? nice, that requires effort!" For everyone mount added, mounts overall loses value.

Its also lazy and greedy. Blizzard could easily create a world event, a short questline tied to some fancy lore somewhere in the world or whatever. Tie it to SOMETHING in the world. It doesnt need to be huge either, hard or complicated.

But no. Its box price, sub price, then the option to pay for store mounts were some of them actually are cool.

I'd rather want my content in game and collect.

[Prag]

Would be fine with the collectors edition if the mount only existed in retail. I don't like when people play dumb about perceived value, it's like they cannot understand the basic business model that keeps Ferrari as the most prestigious sports car company. If everyone had a Ferrari nobody would give a shit, yet they have for many years been considered to have the strongest brand value of any company on the planet.

Adding fancy new mounts to the game dimishes the other fancy ones and because it's behind a credit card they are just trash, welfare Ferraris. This is meant to be TBC and part of TBC is seeing everyone running around on a dull grey Kodo and then suddenly bammmm you see a Zulian Tiger or Ashes of A'lar. I don't want new mounts added to TBC, the ones that existed are perfect.

That’s a funny comparison. Tell me - did Ferrari become less exotic as other manufacturers entered the space?

[Bigbazz]

That’s a funny comparison. Tell me - did Ferrari become less exotic as other manufacturers entered the space?

The Mclaren F1 and Bugatti Veyron sure did have an impact actually, yes. However the difference is they're priced so far out of reach that it's not the same as this comparison, which is a Ford Fiesta that looks and performs like a Ferrari. If we had Dave the brick-layer driving a Ferrari Enzo to work and his mate Mark the chippy was driving his Ferrari F50 that they both got for $19,000 on finance due to a supply in the hundreds of thousands to millions you can be sure the Ferrari would become less exotic.

[Couchpotato2013]

That’s a funny comparison. Tell me - did Ferrari become less exotic as other manufacturers entered the space?

Other high-end car companies starting up over the years != to everyone having a Ferrari.

Interesting.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Wait a second, will the Stalker mount even be usable on Classic TBC...? Man will it look out of place if that's the case.

Why the salt though? Because people do that sort of thing in buckets these days. Can't just not buy something, you've gotta get attention for not buying it.

Ya'll will bitch and moan for a while, yet none of it will show on their bottom line which has me convinced that the vast majority never actually votes with their wallet after all. Not even the Hong Kong outrage had an impact. Another year, another case of people just wanting dat attention from an echo chamber.

[Prag]

The Mclaren F1 and Bugatti Veyron sure did have an impact actually, yes. However the difference is they're priced so far out of reach that it's not the same as this comparison, which is a Ford Fiesta that looks and performs like a Ferrari. If we had Dave the brick-layer driving a Ferrari Enzo to work and his mate Mark the chippy was driving his Ferrari F50 that they both got for $19,000 on finance due to a supply in the hundreds of thousands to millions you can be sure the Ferrari would become less exotic.

But they’re not selling the TBC equivalent of a Ferrari (I’d assume Ashes of A’lar). They’re not even selling a flying mount. Saying that there’s anything similar between Ashes or Gladiator mount and this ground mount is incredibly disingenuous.

[Bigbazz]

But they’re not selling the TBC equivalent of a Ferrari (I’d assume Ashes of A’lar). They’re not even selling a flying mount. Saying that there’s anything similar between Ashes or Gladiator mount and this ground mount is incredibly disingenuous.

I think the new mount is pretty incredble looking, it's atleast a Nissan GTR. Ashes/Glad mounts in TBC are like Ferrari's among a sea of 1991 Vauxaul Novas, if you introduce a Nissan GTR into the mix and give it to everyone it still aint a Ferrari but it sure reduces the contrast. I just don't want TBC to have stuff added like this, let it exist in retail instead.

Aesthetic of TBC matters to me, the Nostalgia and setting matters too. Everyone and their mother running around on some new shop mount is really not improving my TBC experience, it's like removing my suspension of disbelief.

[Eosia]

"Its just a mount that dosnt affect any gameplay" is just what ppl said years before the boost was added to retail, and if u cant see the similarities, you are blind.

The boost was added for a very specific reason. As expansions progressed, the leveling time got longer and longer. New players dropped $80 or so on WoW and then had to go through hours and hours of old content before they could get to the current stuff. The boost was created to address that. Hence why there is one included with every expansion now.

Additional ones can be purchased for those who want that convenience with alts.

Mounts are skins. Period. They CE/store mounts only offer ONE advantage... no need to spend in-game gold on mounts. And even that has been negated because mounts were expensive back in the day. Blizzard just throws them at you now. You fart in the right spot in game, get an achievement and a mount. Most people bought the "crack pony" mount because it was sent to all characters and functioned as both ground and air mounts in BC/Wrath. This saved you just under 1,000 gold during a time where gold was not as plentiful as it is now.

[Prag]

I think the new mount is pretty incredble looking, it's atleast a Nissan GTR. Ashes/Glad mounts in TBC are like Ferrari's among a sea of 1991 Vauxaul Novas, if you introduce a Nissan GTR into the mix and give it to everyone it still aint a Ferrari but it sure reduces the contrast. I just don't want TBC to have stuff added like this, let it exist in retail instead.

Aesthetic of TBC matters to me, the Nostalgia and setting matters too. Everyone and their mother running around on some new shop mount is really not improving my TBC experience, it's like removing my suspension of disbelief.

That’s a totally fair opinion. I view the two tiers of mounts as exclusive and general. It’s pretty easy to differentiate the two - and whether it’s a Warp Stalker or Grey Kodo, they just devalue themselves (to me).

I literally stopped in awe when I saw (and heard) the new Supra, but it doesn’t change my perspective on Ferrari.

[Kralljin]

The boost was added for a very specific reason. As expansions progressed, the leveling time got longer and longer.

I question that.

I firmly believe that leveling from 1 to maxlevel, Classic is still where it has taken the longest, simply because player characters were so much weaker, gear was worse and especially once you got close to 60, running out of quests was a real issue.

Blizzard has nerfed leveling with every expansion, they nerfed it in TBC to accomodate the additional 10 levels, they nerfed it again in Wotlk, they revamped the entire leveling process in Cata and the other multitude of leveling changes Blizzard has done over the years.

How long does it take to level a character from 1-60 in Retail right now?
20hours? 30hours?
In Classic, an average estimate is around 150h.

The boost exists because the game has shifted towards the endgame and because some people still cannot be arsed to level a character.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Well, the value of prestige isn't exactly measureable in numbers, but i think i'm not the only person who has had their story or heard stories about how people acquired their first mount in Vanilla or how amazing it felt.

Whereas i don't recall the first pet i received or heard any people getting all hyped about acquiring one, so there's that.

If you had any different experience in Vanilla / TBC, feel free to share them, altough i question whether a large group of people shares this sentiment.

I cannot say when I was playing Classic anyone doing major dances about getting the horse either. More just the fact they didn't have to walk anymore. AKA.. player power.

[Kralljin]

I cannot say when I was playing Classic anyone doing major dances about getting the horse either. More just the fact they didn't have to walk anymore. AKA.. player power.

Fair enough, but then look towards the effort people have put in for Scarab Lord, i don't think it's the weapons everyone is after.
Same when you look at the prices the ZG mounts are going when they're up for bid, they could buy you some BiS items in your average Naxx GDKP when they go out for something like 20k.

The same can't be said about pets and i'm baffled how this needs to be explained, because it's really not that hard to see why most people hold mounts in a higher prestige than pets, especially when a lot of major achievements in the game rewards mounts (be it some Mythic Boss or Gladiator) and not just a pet.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Fair enough, but then look towards the effort people have put in for Scarab Lord, i don't think it's the weapons everyone is after.
Same when you look at the prices the ZG mounts are going when they're up for bid, they could buy you some BiS items in your average Naxx GDKP when they go out for something like 20k.

The same can't be said about pets and i'm baffled how this needs to be explained, because it's really not that hard to see why most people hold mounts in a higher prestige than pets, especially when a lot of major achievements in the game rewards mounts (be it some Mythic Boss or Gladiator) and not just a pet.

In that case then I think what makes that mount great isn't the fact it is a mount. More that it is an extremely rare and hard to get mount. Which I do agree is considered a major thing to get for a vast majority of players for sure. But I don't think that really goes for mounts that come with an expansion or in the shop. Establishing that the first horse isn't considered a gold standard either one can conclude that what gives these things value is rarity and not what exactly it is. At least that is the conclusion I draw. The mounts that have value will have value. But some will not hold any for many reasons. This will more than likely just be another one of those.

[chrisnumbers]

Who is even upset about it? I see 0 people.

- - - Updated - - -

Why do people have a problem with it all of a sudden?

Who? Where are they?

[Kralljin]

More that it is an extremely rare and hard to get mount. Which I do agree is considered a major thing to get for a vast majority of players for sure.

But the reality is that they stand out in particularly because so few mounts exist in Classic / TBC.

Most people just have access to the mounts available from the race specific vendors, that's why the ZG mounts are such a huge deal, because for Horde that's the only way to ride a Tiger, for Alliance the only way to ride a raptor, it's not like there's anything special to them outside of that, all of them are just reskins.
However, those mounts stand out quite precisely because so many people only have access to very generic mounts, the Warpstalker in particular stands out because nothing equivalent even exists.

In a world where a lot more mounts would exist, they're just not that special anymore.
When you see a Scarab Lord mount in Classic, you don't even need to tell someone of the effort involved for them to understand that it's a huge deal, simply because most people sit on some generic mount, thus it goes without saying that this mount is somehow special.

Whereas on Retail, you actually need to explain to people why that Scarab mount is such a big deal because 600+ mounts exist and everybody rides a different one.

Establishing that the first horse isn't considered a gold standard either one can conclude that what gives these things value is rarity and not what exactly it is.

This comes all down to status symbols and pets are a poor status symbols because they are tiny amount of pixels walking besides you, whereas a mount is a lot more visible.
It's a huge difference whether some small dragonwhelp flies besides you or a Tauren mounts up on a ZG Tiger.

[Frolk]

Totally not pay2win

Lemme drop 1-2k in tokens to buy pvp boosts.

3-7 mil for pvp boosts to 2.4k back in s4

I predict tokens for Classic WOTL if its not added in Sunwell patch. gonna be a sad state of affairs

And the same people will say "Well, u dont NEED to buy the tokens, u can still farm gold urself, it dosnt affect YOUR gameplay"

[Low Hanging Fruit]

This comes all down to status symbols and pets are a poor status symbols because they are tiny amount of pixels walking besides you, whereas a mount is a lot more visible.
It's a huge difference whether some small dragonwhelp flies besides you or a Tauren mounts up on a ZG Tiger.

Right. It is obvious this mount won't mean much because I imagine enough people will have it for it to just be another horse. It is no ZG mount in rarity. It isn't skill earned like an arena mount. It is just another run of the mill horse a ton of people will have. It won't get you into a guild. You won't do more damage. Even your "status symbol" clot won't increase. That is why I am unmoved by it. I won't even bother buying it. It is clearly an obvious ploy to just pull more dollars out of people's pockets. If a fish bites the bait then it gets reeled in then someone gets a tasty meal. No reason to shed a tear over it because its just the cycle of life.

[Alatie]

I get you love the idea that someone can create a game, have it be 100%, then pull back to 99% and sell that 1% for more profit.

Imagine if they did this on cartridge games back in the day. You probably too young to even know what I'm talking about. But the fact you think this practice is ok, or that 'times have change' is the very reason this exists in the first place.

If I can mount up in game with ALL THE OTHER MOUNTS, and I can't with this because they put it behind a pay wall, it's not a vanity item. If it was, then every single mount should be on the store instead of in game for in game currency. But it's not and you don't want to see that.

I love how people want to know yet look away when shown. My reasoning has NOTHING to do with being upset someone has something that is only a reskin, but I grew up playing video games in which I could reskin myself free. I grew up playing games where the community put out voice packs, maps, skins, etc and it was free. You were allowed to mod your game.

But we got Blizzard saying we can't reskin the game, and instead you gotta pay them to do so. Then you got them telling you it's not really your account you're playing but instead THEIRS.

It's sad some of you have no idea how great it was to be a gamer in the 90s/2000s.

To those who say it's had no negative impact. I just gave you solid reasons. I could reskin my Unreal/Doom game. I could install different voice packs if I wanted. I could reskin and change settings in GTA2, etc. Yes, the way gaming has gone, has negatively impacted my enjoyment and replayibliity of a game. I remember reskinning and modding on ps2 in Unreal Tournament.

Some of you have no clue.

First off you start off with something thats wrong and stupid, 2 mounts and a toy don't = 99% of the game thats just wrong and is bullshit.

THen Imagine if they did this on a cartridge well hey ho you have somebody here thats not to young to remember, i remember a game being broken and hey then you are out of fucking luck because it would never be fixed the only way to "fix" it was to buy a new game a year later when it was fixed.

Now lets move on about how the mounts are not a vanity item while they are the straight up definition of one "An item in a game that is purely cosmetic, not affecting the player's abilities in any way" meaning that a mount behind a pay well is in fact still a vanity item.

Back when i grew up you could mod games. You still can in a lot of games where you can make new games mode in Dota2 Sc2 CSGO to name a few big ones, you can make your own game modes and hey auto chess was born in Dota2 costum games. Why you cant mod in some games lets say WOW should be very clear.

Did it have no negative impact it did, is it all bad no its not at all. You can still reskin stuff in the new Doom for instance you can still get a new voice pack in loads of games that have voice packs to begin with yeah they cost money but most games that offer those are also free so cant complain. The way gaming has gone might negatively impact YOU that but you 1 person and in the spectrem you are not relevant to anyone, if anything YOU will negatively impact others because you are nothing short of just a complaining person that wants other people to hate things just because you do.

[Eosia]

How long does it take to level a character from 1-60 in Retail right now?
20hours? 30hours?

You just made my point for me. The Boost is designed to get new players in current content. It does not matter how long it takes to get from 1-50. Blizzard wants players to be able to jump right to the current content. They have made that explicitly clear back at the end of MoP when they introduced the boost.

In Classic, an average estimate is around 150h.

That's because 1-60 is the current content in Classic. You're comparing Apple the Computer to Apple the Fruit.

The boost exists because the game has shifted towards the endgame and because some people still cannot be arsed to level a character.

And where can one buy a level 60 boost right now? One that does not involve sharing your account with a 3rd party service and violates Blizzard's Terms of Use? Please, enlighten us all. Because the one you get from Blizzard takes you to 50. You still have to level in Shadowlands.