Charging $35 for a character copy is why people say Blizzard is greedy

[hulkgor]

After reading this thread, i realized most people don't understand the 'feature', and think they have to pay to play TBC... or that they'll lose everything they had on classic if they don't.

Read the friggin feature boys. Payment to CLONE your character so you can have your same character -TWICE-, on two different games!

You can stay, or go, FOR FREE!

Very few people will have any interest whatsoever in maintaining duplicate chars, and even then, it's even less of the cost of a boost, or close to a transfer!

[Eosia]

Obviously people think 35 is to damn high.

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First, they have no clue about what the $35 is actually for given the tone of most of the posts in these threads. Without paying a cent, you are given a choice... keep the character in Vanilla or move to the Burning Crusade shard. You can change your mind later down the road and move the Classic Character to TBC too, but not move a TBC character back to Classic.

The $35 is for the OPTION of DUPLICATION of your character. NOT a straight transfer as, again, those are free. This way you can keep your progress in Classic and still play on that shard as well as progress that same character on the TBC shard. As someone already pointed out, this is a monetary cost for convenience.

And if people think $35 is too high, then the answer is simple... DO NOT PAY IT. Vote with your wallet. The vast majority of these posts deriding Blizzard for things like this, cosmetics in the shop, etc. are nothing more than people who childishly demanding that nobody can have a donut because they are on a diet rather than simply abstaining from donuts themselves.

[exsanguinate]

Imagine 35$ for an automatic database process that can be done by any trainee.

[SinR]

Imagine feeling like you *NEED* to clone.

I mean seriously what can you do in Classic Era that you can't do in TBC Era? Stand around SW/Org and wait for world buffs? Show off your shiny T3 on the AH Bridge in IF?


Classic Era is going to be a ghost town. Four NA servers: PVE PVP RP-PVE and RP-PVP. another four for EU: PVE PVP RP-PVE and RP-PVP.

[LordVargK]

Why are so many people arguing over the concept and not that simply $35 is way to damned much?

Because it isn't too much. It shouldn't exist in the first place and 35$ is way cheaper than I would have guessed for something that is basically a character boost.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

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First, they have no clue about what the $35 is actually for given the tone of most of the posts in these threads. Without paying a cent, you are given a choice... keep the character in Vanilla or move to the Burning Crusade shard. You can change your mind later down the road and move the Classic Character to TBC too, but not move a TBC character back to Classic.

The $35 is for the OPTION of DUPLICATION of your character. NOT a straight transfer as, again, those are free. This way you can keep your progress in Classic and still play on that shard as well as progress that same character on the TBC shard. As someone already pointed out, this is a monetary cost for convenience.

And if people think $35 is too high, then the answer is simple... DO NOT PAY IT. Vote with your wallet. The vast majority of these posts deriding Blizzard for things like this, cosmetics in the shop, etc. are nothing more than people who childishly demanding that nobody can have a donut because they are on a diet rather than simply abstaining from donuts themselves.

Hey! Its almost like you read my other posts... oh wait.. just knee jerked emotionally from one to soap box. I also dont understand why you are explaining what the cost is for I know. But people without a platform need to soapbox somewhere I suppose. 35 is to damn high is all I am saying. You might disagree or love paying 35 but I don't so, and here is what you missed, I WONT.

But if you need it I will give you your corporate defense force star for the day. The attempt to spin and pivot whle putting words in my mouth was a good try. But a fail as usual. You might have a problem with me not liking the price point but this is just how it is gping to be. Sorry.

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Imagine 35$ for an automatic database process that can be done by any trainee.

Probably just a bot. The trainee can be fired to increase profit margins after the first weekend proves the bot is working correctly.

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This is true. Most of people I know would be ok with 10 or 15 tops, but 35$ ? What.

Exactly 10 to like that 19.99 stage I could probably work with. But this cost as much as a lot of full games a month or two after release and they are on sale.

[erifwodahs]

Probably just a bot. The trainee can be fired to increase profit margins after the first weekend proves the bot is working correctly.

Forgot about that. Also the script is being beta tested by the guys who will actually buy it xD Imagine doing QA for the product you will buy. They probably will add "labour" as a justification for the 35$ cost.

[T-34]

Imagine 35$ for an automatic database process that can be done by any trainee.

And? In a capitalistic society goods/services are worth what you can get people to pay for them, regardless the production costs.
Sometimes the production costs surpass the price you can get for your goods/services = the company goes bust.
Often the production costs are lower, and sometimes far lower, than the price you can get for you goods/services. And such a company will thrive.

In this case we have a product where the the productions costs are far lower than the price the company expects it can sell the goods for. That means that Blizzard are successful capitalists.

Karl Marx developed a theory that goods/services have an objective value and that value consists of the materials and the labour put in to the product.

So your argument is purely Marxian as you argue that the labour and material costs involved are very small and therefore the value of said good is also very small. So in your argument is cost = value.

Blizzard, and all companies, clearly don't subscribe to this theory.

[Daedius]

I'd have paid $100 if they offered a class change service to use on my Main, a Priest, since TBC to something else...

Oh well, their loss.

[Malkiah]

Why are so many people arguing over the concept and not that simply $35 is way to damned much?

because it's not too damn much?

it's essentially a half priced character boost, so relative to other existing services it's actually at a discount.

[La]

What's funny to me is that you have your $35 to clone your character that you've been spending $15 for months to play, while they're introducing boosts for $$$, while also introducing fancy mounts and constant differing microtransactions. That, alongside something that is simple, easy, basic to do, in cloning a character, but why would you do that? Just milk people for money and let your fanboys defend you to the bitter end.

Think about it for a minute. Thirty five dollars. To clone a character that exists. To play said character in an already released expansion. I mean if you play in Classic, you sure as shit aren't going to start all over, now, are you? And if you are, well, shit why don't you pop open a sweet boost and get some awesome mounts! You guys know what costs $35? Take a look on Steam and look at the amazing games that can buy you, but evidently "The countless amounts of entertainment your character clone will get you, ontop of your $15/m, is worth even MORE than $35!"

[Tiwack]

It's players themselves that transformed the game into a monetized fest, blizz only charges what blizz think players are willing to pay.
They want you to buy either this, the boost or the deluxe package so they don't just break even from paid subs on this project over time.

I don't see how this is any different than something like a name change, race change or server transfer. All are basically just a database script. Why does this one generate outrage but the others do not?

Because it's 2-3x the price of any of the services you mention.


I'm curious now how private servers handled this scenario and have to wonder if blizz don't risk pushing players out of classic and back to such with these big prices for digital services that hardly take a minute to complete for an employee if they've not entirely automated it from the get-go altogether.

[T-34]

Why are so many people arguing over the concept and not that simply $35 is way to damned much?

Because "to much" is subjective.
I won't pay the price, but I am pretty sure that enough people will pay the price because they find the service valuable for that price.
Blizzard also thinks so.

[Gourbaak]

it's pretty cheap for a boost, retail's one are way more expensive

[Azerate]

Why are so many people arguing over the concept and not that simply $35 is way to damned much?

Because a lot of people, very clearly, do not understand what the price is for.

To an extent it's Blizzard's fault for sure, they should have called it something else to make it clear that you are paying for keeping the character in both eras at once, but what's done is done.

Also, the reason this is relevant is because cloning your character to a previous expansion is something unprecendented that has never been available in the game and is not something you would expect to get at all. The price may be considered to high, but half the people who think this price is egregiou think that because they think that this is the fee to play TBC with your classic character instead of leveling from 0.

[Eosia]

Hey! Its almost like you read my other posts... oh wait.. just knee jerked emotionally from one to soap box.

And that's still one more post than you read. Because your reply shows you obviously did not read mine.

I also dont understand why you are explaining what the cost is for I know.

If you had bothered to read my reply, you would have noticed I did no specify you as not understanding. But there are posts on here that imply that the poster believes the $35 is mandatory to play Burning Crusade.

35 is to damn high is all I am saying.

Again, if you had bother to read my post, I gave you the solution. I will make it easy for you and say it again... DO. NOT. PAY. IT.

But if you need it I will give you your corporate defense force star for the day.

Not defending Blizzard. Merely pointing out the entitlement I see.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

because it's not too damn much?

it's essentially a half priced character boost, so relative to other existing services it's actually at a discount.

Yup half as much of a boost. This 35$ gets you no levels. No items. Merely can play the game on both instead of choosing which. Again, I get charging because of #capitalism or whatever but 35 is to damn high. I pick which for free so under the same context I should get to charge 17.50 for picking one. I am actually picking, thinking, and doing something at least. A bot gets the option to pick both without any of that for 35 bucks.

[Lolites]

I'd have paid $100 if they offered a class change service to use on my Main, a Priest, since TBC to something else...

Oh well, their loss.

you can boost another class for 40...

[TEHPALLYTANK]

Why are so many people arguing over the concept and not that simply $35 is way to damned much?

Because there are two free options, yet people are apparently ignoring them and fixating on the only paid option. Why are people fixating on the paid option while ignoring that fact that free options exist?

The first free option is just transferring your character over from Classic, you lose access to that character on Classic but you gain it in TBC. The second option is just leveling a new character entirely in TBC. The only paid option is for cloning your Classic era character to the TBC server, meaning you keep the original character on the Classic sever and get a copy of it on the TBC sever.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

Not defending Blizzard. Merely pointing out the entitlement I see.

I see entitlement being used as a deflection. I mean it's just as entitled to go around claiming people are entitled.

I am just saying I think 35 is to high. How is that entitled?