Why is WoW $15 a month?

[MrLachyG]

We’ve gotten an answer that claims it’s in the EULA that you’re paying to access to the game. I haven’t verified that, but I’ll assume for now it’s true.

We haven’t gotten an official answer as to “why” we’re paying monthly for access to the game yet.

If anyone has anything solid (not your opinion) post it. Thanks.

as multiple people have pointed out, you're never going to get an official answer here. you want that answer you need to directly ask Blizzard themselves. People have given you pretty damn good answers but you've chosen to ignore them, probably deliberately because I suspect you're just a massive troll just wanting to stir the pot.

[luciano]

I don't think 50 cents a day is too much to pay to access 15 years of content whenever I want.

[Mysterymask]

We’ve gotten an answer that claims it’s in the EULA that you’re paying to access to the game. I haven’t verified that, but I’ll assume for now it’s true.

We haven’t gotten an official answer as to “why” we’re paying monthly for access to the game yet.

If anyone has anything solid (not your opinion) post it. Thanks.

Well the answer your looking for would probably be from some marketing exec at Blizzard...who
1. Isnt here
2. Even if they were couldn't disclose that kind of information due to a non disclosure agreement
3. Even if he did the answer is probably a LOT more mundane then you think and would basically fuck himself out of a LOT of money and opportunities

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I have roughly the same hours on WoW and Skyrim. One was considerably cheaper, and I would have fucking ***loved*** to pay full price for more WoW-sized expansions to that game. But mods are free, soooooooo....

Skyrim..a game was WAAAAY cheaper to develop, was made with minimal expansion in mind, is smaller than 1 major wow patch in file size, and attempted to have paid mods but y'all went having that

[sam86]

how else would bobby kodick keep his highest paid (and in same time, overpaid) salary in usa video game industry? firing 10% of staff every couple of years isn't enough even if ALL of them don't even cost 10% of just his yearly bonus
u pay sub so wow developers use ur money for salary while they create cash shop mounts and toys, what u think they will make them for just ur sub money?

sarcasm aside blizz flat out said they using 'other methods' to get profit from wow than sub, they are abusing addiction and they not hiding it, does wow need sub? NO, either sub and give us all service (and remove tokens of course), or remove sub and just keep everything as it is
But having a ceo who hates video games and think of gamers as idiots to scam money from since over decade (his old interviews are gold mine to show how he hates us with pure passion) make me question if they ever will

If WoW ever went the way of games like, say, Genshin Impact...

u mean like make by using real life money u can buy boosts and get 2nd best gear and far easier access to all game content giving u advantage over poor ppl who don't buy gold with actual real cash?
yeah of course they don't do that

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Skyrim..a game was WAAAAY cheaper to develop, was made with minimal expansion in mind, is smaller than 1 major wow patch in file size, and attempted to have paid mods but y'all went having that

all of that is wrong if u compare it to even 1 exp, i'd say compare it to wow total i agree, but heck it has more work than some exps
as for being cheaper to develop, i may agree on that because of how many fucked up bugs in-game that show they did little testing or even cared about it, something that i see any other company better at it, tbh if not for insane modding this game would been ignored with how many bugs it has to almost unplayable level

[Triceron]

It's $15 because people are still willing to pay that much to play.

Basic Supply and Demand.

[Mysterymask]

all of that is wrong if u compare it to even 1 exp, i'd say compare it to wow total i agree, but heck it has more work than some exps
as for being cheaper to develop, i may agree on that because of how many fucked up bugs in-game that show they did little testing or even cared about it, something that i see any other company better at it, tbh if not for insane modding this game would been ignored with how many bugs it has to almost unplayable level

...I meant file size comparison
Skyrim is 16 GB
Average wow patch is closer to 30GB

Even then Skyrim is a fucking PS3 game that is also on the PC

[rhorle]

We’ve gotten an answer that claims it’s in the EULA that you’re paying to access to the game. I haven’t verified that, but I’ll assume for now it’s true.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BLIZZARD IS NOT REQUIRED TO REFUND AMOUNTS YOU PAY TO BLIZZARD FOR USE OF THE PLATFORM, OR FOR DIGITAL PURCHASES MADE THROUGH THE PLATFORM, FOR ANY REASON, EXCEPT AS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW.

It is pretty clear that you pay for access to the platform. In this case access to the WoW platform requires a subscription. I feel though that your question is loaded and you are only looking for the answers that are specifically worded the way you want. The official answer for why is paying to access the platform. You don't need anything more official then because Blizzard said so.

[WowIsDead64]

Why does the subscription exist? Does anyone really know?

I understand you don't have to play if you don't want to. But, I'm genuinely asking. I don't understand why it exists.

I understand it provides more income for them and people pay it. They're also not the only game doing it. FF14 does for example.

It made sense to me in 2004, when it was assumed it was helping to pay for the servers, which were "special" to accommodate the massive populations and remarkable for the time. It was also assumed it would be to pay for steady content updates.

But, they need content updates or no one will play, which makes it kind of weird that we're funding them monthly in part to make content, they need to make anyway to keep people playing to buy store mounts, services, and keep interest in the game for future box sales.

Am I missing something? Is it really just to access the game? Does it make sense?

Simple question. Why does MS and Apple try to collect your personal data, sell it to ad companies and show you targeted ads, when they already sell you overpriced products? Because you allow them to do it. Some people today have got used to such things so much, that they no longer remember, what pricing models are about and just pay, what they're asked to pay. Back in old days - is you sell product for money, you don't show ads. Back in old days - sub fee is guarantee, that no other fees would be charged. But players have got used to F2P things so much, that they no longer see something bad in them in paid games.

[rhorle]

Back in old days - sub fee is guarantee, that no other fees would be charged. But players have got used to F2P things so much, that they no longer see something bad in them in paid games.

That wasn't always the case though. A sub fee didn't mean nothing else would be charged and even WoW sold with a CE that locked in-game stuff behind an extra pay wall. Then you have the TCG Loot cards that not only required a subscription fee but a third party companies licensed product. The amusing part is that the F2P model often includes subscriptions. And they make those subscriptions advantagous to have. It is just people like you who some how get tricked by the perception of "Free" that you don't see they use a model you dislike.

So don't make this about the "good old days" or anything else. It is all about you, and others, not being able to pay for free. Also e-bay banned sales of "in-game items" in 2007 though there was a lawsuit in 2001 over sales of Everquest stuff https://www.theregister.com/2001/01/...n_threat_over/.

Do you remember Entropa Universe? While it was "free" it was limited with out paying and that was essentially a subscription fee. It also had people spending thousands of dollars on virtual real estate and allowed people to cash out money earned in-game. It launched around 2002.

[Alvito]

Why does the subscription exist? Does anyone really know?

I understand you don't have to play if you don't want to. But, I'm genuinely asking. I don't understand why it exists.

I understand it provides more income for them and people pay it. They're also not the only game doing it. FF14 does for example.

It made sense to me in 2004, when it was assumed it was helping to pay for the servers, which were "special" to accommodate the massive populations and remarkable for the time. It was also assumed it would be to pay for steady content updates.

But, they need content updates or no one will play, which makes it kind of weird that we're funding them monthly in part to make content, they need to make anyway to keep people playing to buy store mounts, services, and keep interest in the game for future box sales.

Am I missing something? Is it really just to access the game? Does it make sense?

Because people will pay it and Blizzard like many companies have this odd thing where they want to be paid for the work they do. Other games charge far more they just hide their fees better with tons of micro transactions. Look at any mobile game, they make far more than most PC games do, with far less developmental time and just milk they cow until they finally skin it and kill the game.

[Dequanacus]

I have roughly the same hours on WoW and Skyrim. One was considerably cheaper, and I would have fucking ***loved*** to pay full price for more WoW-sized expansions to that game. But mods are free, soooooooo....

I'm not sure what about your post challenges what I said. You assumedly play WoW longer than you would a normal full price game and if you are not playing it constantly, you would not pay the sub.
If you're spending as much time in a month playing WoW as you would playing a game you would pay $60 for, you're saving $45 having only paid your sub. If you're not playing WoW long enough to where you would get more time played out of a $60 game, you shouldn't pay for the sub of a game you're not playing. It's just basic logic.

[kail]

Simple business. It originally helped maintain server costs and provide a profit, now it's just profit.

Simple question. Why does MS and Apple try to collect your personal data, sell it to ad companies and show you targeted ads, when they already sell you overpriced products? Because you allow them to do it. Some people today have got used to such things so much, that they no longer remember, what pricing models are about and just pay, what they're asked to pay. Back in old days - is you sell product for money, you don't show ads. Back in old days - sub fee is guarantee, that no other fees would be charged. But players have got used to F2P things so much, that they no longer see something bad in them in paid games.

WoW always had some other charges beyond the sub fee. What game are you speaking of in the old days where a sub fee guaranteed no other fees?

[doodle90]

FF14 has content updates virtually every 3-4months except during covid for their price. Their updates usually include not only new raids, but minigames, cinematics, HAIRSTYLES!!, models etc etc.

Personally I like the GW2 and ESO models. GW2 you buy the content you have the content and ESO you buy it you keep it OR you can basically rent everything for a sub AND the sub gives you equal shop credit sort of like a cover price that gives drink tickets.

FF14 is CHEAPER than wow and puts out content more often. I think WoW should be at most like 11-12 dollars. I can give them the BoTD because CoVID delayed most other developers patches/expansions so can't really hate on shadowlands/9.1 delay. but 14.99 is still a crazy price.

[Dequanacus]

FF14 has content updates virtually every 3-4months except during covid for their price. Their updates usually include not only new raids, but minigames, cinematics, HAIRSTYLES!!, models etc etc.

Personally I like the GW2 and ESO models. GW2 you buy the content you have the content and ESO you buy it you keep it OR you can basically rent everything for a sub AND the sub gives you equal shop credit sort of like a cover price that gives drink tickets.

FF14 is CHEAPER than wow and puts out content more often. I think WoW should be at most like 11-12 dollars. I can give them the BoTD because CoVID delayed most other developers patches/expansions so can't really hate on shadowlands/9.1 delay. but 14.99 is still a crazy price.

I'm still not sure what's so crazy about paying $15. Are most games these days not far more than $15 and do you play most of them nearly as much as you play WoW in a month? If yes, why would you pay for WoW to begin with?

[Xilurm]

$15/month is very cheap comparing to those free games.

Wish I could upvote comments.

I'd rather play a sub fee for an MMO than play a F2P MMO.

Buy 2 Play is in the middle though.

[Nelle]

Its pocket wool for the hours of entertainment

[Xilurm]

I paid full price for all seven of those expansions. Same price any other full game would cost. Why the subscription on top of it?

You paid full price for the expansions, subsciption for the patches.

[Dequanacus]

Its pocket wool for the hours of entertainment

I can't even count how many of these discussions over the years, on MMO or otherwise, that I've been in where I've asked "what's absurd about $15 a month if you play as much or more in a month than you would on a more expensive one time purchase game" and I still don't think I've ever gotten an answer despite this "muh sub fee" sentiment popping up so often.
I genuinely just want to know how people make that argument in spite of this reasoning.

[Meow]

Wish I could upvote comments.

I'd rather play a sub fee for an MMO than play a F2P MMO.

Buy 2 Play is in the middle though.

Long-time WoW players may be surprised when everything in-game they know is paid by cash. 200% XP? Epic armours and weapons? Portals? … Also WoW could be from grindy to extremely grindy when there’s no subscription fee, and a new system of nightly auto-grind will be introduced.

[Xilurm]

Sub based model ain't going anywhere anytime soon. Not when you have stuff like xbox live/psplus/whatever nintendo's is and netflix/amazon/hbo etc.

Honestly I'd rather pay a sub, and stop paying it whenever I want to take a break than have something for free which includes only the bare minimum and be offered a cash shop which would drain money way faster in order to actually enjoy the game.