When did this become acceptable?

[rogoth]

This isn't even a game anymore.


https://ibb.co/PtvtzCJ


https://ibb.co/F75gMDJ

have you been living under a rock, it's been like this since pretty much halfway through legion, that's basically 4 years ago at this point.

[Nerovar]

This is the stupidest thing any misguided hater has ever said on this forum. Congratulations.

Why on Earth would some media nonsense about a lawsuit have any impact on the workings of the company? You probably never had a job, but any kind of corporate shenanigans have no impact whatsoever on the workfloor. You honestly think because there's been a few articles about a lawsuit that thousands of people over multiple offices just go sit down behind their desks and cry?

Amazing. Just amazing.

The lead system designer literally tweeted out that his team is currently too traumatized by the situation to do any work on WoW.

[Lolites]

I searched for a rank 6 piece upgrade for my Hunter. 285K. That's a month of dailies. If you think playing the game for a month is expensive then don't pay to play a game you have no interest in. Inflation is a bitch and has been every expansion.

the price is too high (as always with stuff like this), but i think only problem with that is some people who barely play and who log once a week to do daily q and nothing else (which they are ofc free to do, no problem with that) feel like they need highest rank legendary day 1 or they can delete their char...
for people who dont run high keys (or adequate raid or pvp content) rank 4 will be absolutely fine for months, the legendary effect is the same and the ilvl 235 is almost hc raid gear so even the stats are not really issue... but some people just dont get that and they absolutely have to have rank 6 ASAP...

[Garymorilix]

I'd love to see any evidence that actually showcases that before the WoW Token, virtually all of that boosting was just happening behind the scenes.
Other than "trust me, bro, i am a booster", obviously.

Which frankly, doesn't make a lot of sense on the nature that likely a lot of people were deterred from it because it involved RMT and thus the threat of losing your account / personal data / etc..

Simply because you are unable to understand common sense, doesn't mean it's null and void.

I'd love to see you show any evidence for the absolute amount of bullshit you told me previously in all those lists.
Let's talk about the non-descript group of "lot of players" you keep shielding yourself with first.

Ironic how I am being called out for not having common sense.

[rogoth]

I'd love to see any evidence that actually showcases that before the WoW Token, virtually all of that boosting was just happening behind the scenes.
Other than "trust me, bro, i am a booster", obviously.

Which frankly, doesn't make a lot of sense on the nature that likely a lot of people were deterred from it because it involved RMT and thus the threat of losing your account / personal data / etc..

Simply because you are unable to understand common sense, doesn't mean it's null and void.

i helped boost people A LOT during wrath, hell during ICC we did full heroic clears for GDKP runs and literally had people with no clue what to in the raid who just had insane amounts of gold (for the time) join just to buy loot drops etc, we even sold invincible for actual currency, not gonna say how much but it was enough to pay your yearly sub and then some, 'boosting' services have existed since molten core, it's just that the number of people who partook in such things was much smaller than it is today, you also needed to 'know a guy' in order to get it done, unlike now where it's freely available to literally anybody anywhere, the 'risk' associated with it was worth it for enough people for this type of thing to flourish and grow until blizz was sick of it enough to just allow it in game as long as they got a cut of the pie.

[Kralljin]

I'd love to see you show any evidence for the absolute amount of bullshit you told me previously in all those lists.

You need proof that people being able to buy achievements with real money diminishes their value?

That is precisely the part where i say you lack common sense, when you can purchase something within a game with real money, it has barely any value.
That is why mounts from Mythic Bosses are held in much higher regard than store mounts.

If you could buy military awards with money, you'd bet your ass that any veteran would frown on them for wearing them.

it's just that the number of people who partook in such things was much smaller than it is today, you also needed to 'know a guy' in order to get it done, unlike now where it's freely available to literally anybody anywhere

Which is the fucking point, i never claimed it was nonexistant, but wasn't anywhere on the scale as it is today.

[Malania]

the price is too high (as always with stuff like this), but i think only problem with that is some people who barely play and who log once a week to do daily q and nothing else (which they are ofc free to do, no problem with that) feel like they need highest rank legendary day 1 or they can delete their char...
for people who dont run high keys (or adequate raid or pvp content) rank 4 will be absolutely fine for months, the legendary effect is the same and the ilvl 235 is almost hc raid gear so even the stats are not really issue... but some people just dont get that and they absolutely have to have rank 6 ASAP...

The pricing is dynamic and people will pay what they're willing to pay. If it's too high people will not pay it and it will gradually be reduced to an affordable price. Or likely someone will just undercut them.

You can't control how people feel. This is not the problem of the economy.

[Lochton]

This isn't even a game anymore.


https://ibb.co/PtvtzCJ


https://ibb.co/F75gMDJ

Trade chat is permitted, but in LFG, it is not.

And this has just become accepted because the spam in trade/general about sales, for or against ToS, has been a thing spammed since Vanilla.

We traded a larger evil for a lesser evil.

- - - Updated - - -

This is the stupidest thing any misguided hater has ever said on this forum. Congratulations.

Why on Earth would some media nonsense about a lawsuit have any impact on the workings of the company? You probably never had a job, but any kind of corporate shenanigans have no impact whatsoever on the workfloor. You honestly think because there's been a few articles about a lawsuit that thousands of people over multiple offices just go sit down behind their desks and cry?

Amazing. Just amazing.

Because people take a choice of solidarity to support the victims of this issue currently going on. That has an effect on the company, as there aren't as many people actively working because of it.

[Lolites]

The pricing is dynamic and people will pay what they're willing to pay. If it's too high people will not pay it and it will gradually be reduced to an affordable price. Or likely someone will just undercut them.

You can't control how people feel. This is not the problem of the economy.

oh i agree, and most legendary bases on my realm went from 0.5-1mil to 150-250k in less than a week and will go lower, economical part is clear to me (im payroll accountant )
what i dont understand why some people are in such a rush to buy something even if its overpriced when they dont even need it, and if they wait a week or two they can get it for fraction of price...

[unbound]

Almost always when I try to find a group I report these. The moment I hit refresh I get just as many new ads. It's ridiculous that this still isn't fixed and I begin to think that Blizz doesn't mind expensive ingame services to accelerate token sells.

Blizz cut most of the support resources for the game, so even if they do ban people, it happens so slowly and so infrequently that it doesn't affect.

As for your last statement...well, yeah. Bean counters run the company, and there is no such thing in their minds as a bad way to make money (i.e. as long as they don't end up in jail, and they get more than they lose in penalties, it's all good to them).

In other words, Blizz is a typical corporation (has been for many years now). Profits above *all* else. They aren't updating WoW to be a great experience for players, but just enough mechanisms that are cheap / easy to maintain (raid difficulty slider, M+) that keep enough customers wallets open.

[Darsithis]

Report them and move on. Every game has scammers and scalpers. It’s not a Blizzard-specific issue.

[prwraith]

yeah I'm calling you out on this one. firstly, the second screenshot? completely fine, not against TOS. but the first one? you ABSOLUTELY searched for "WTS" which is how you got your results. I literally just looked at the group finder now with no searches and while there were a couple there (which I reported) it wasn't the wall that you're making it out to be. report them and move on

Not that I care or have a dog in this race but - it doesn't really matter what the search terms were. If they exist to this degree and are so easily find-able. Blizzard should be able to damn near automate the removal of them.

[Nerovar]

Lmaooo imagine thinking this happens to any relevant degree in practice, people buying tokens to buy boosts.

No relevant amount of people are going to play 20 USD for a boost sre you out of your mind

People are actually willing to pay much more than that. Things like the WoW token cater to whales with very extreme or unhealthy spending habits. It doesn't really matter if those cases are very few since even one whale will likely make Blizzard anywhere from 10 to 100 times the amount of cash regular players spend on the game.

[uopayroll]

This isn't even a game anymore.


https://ibb.co/PtvtzCJ


https://ibb.co/F75gMDJ

It's not. That is why you can right click and report advertising.

Supply and demand though. As long as there are players willing to buy those services, they will continue to be sold.

[MrLachyG]

Not that I care or have a dog in this race but - it doesn't really matter what the search terms were. If they exist to this degree and are so easily find-able. Blizzard should be able to damn near automate the removal of them.

OP is framing this as an “every group was a paid boost one” scenario which is false. That’s what I was correcting them on

[TheLucky1]

The whataboutism and defensive nature of most posts here is hilarious.

This is the wow token plague, boosting has been a thing for ever but this prolific degree of it is thanks to the wow token creating a lot more customers and also more incentives to boost.

You can buy anything with ease and comfort now with real money, it doesn't matter what the correct definition of p2w is, for many players myself included this is p2w, you can buy the most important thing in an mmorpg now, easily, comfortable and without the fear to get your arse banned: character progression.

It is just... so sad, the only way i deal with it and not quit the game over it (because thats a big reason to do in most games for me) is to ignore it as much as possible and focusing on my own accomplishments, but i still know that this isn't normal or good for the game.

Just imagine the picture for new wow players when they first enter a city? Or do stuff in the lfg? I would have probably thought "what is this cheap p2w crap? Isn't this a western mmo?" and immediately quit.

"Oh but you just need to go out of your way and install and configure a 3rd party programm to counter the spam!"

Yeah... go figure what's wrong with that, if you are still able to.

[Nalam the Venom]

https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/antiboostspam

This wonderful addon got rid of all the wts boost spam nonsense. I recommend it if you're annoyed by such crap. Also...

https://www.curseforge.com/wow/addons/blockchinese

Use this if you don't want to see chat posts from players in that place.

Even if you remove them.

They still show up for most other people, So you can not really hold a normal conversation unless every one has that addon

[BigToast]

This isn't even a game anymore.


https://ibb.co/PtvtzCJ


https://ibb.co/F75gMDJ

Yes, it's still is a game. I spent the weekend raiding and running mythic + with guildies; you know, gaming.

[bigbleach]

What's the problem of having Game Tokens in the game? Says Whale Andy with all Raid Cleared on HC with a Boost. /s

The issue would be toned down by a multitude if they took away the ability to keep killing the bosses. This will exist the way it does until that goes away. Guilds sold runs, they always have, but it got out of control as soon as flex raiding came out at the end of WoD. M+ boosts would still be a thing, but at least the raiding stuff would go away. Raiding is more than accessible enough for everyone to get in there and do at least normal and heroic by the end of the tier. Allowing the bosses to be farmed is the root cause.

[Halliax]

Im not a really good player, and always have to take some time off cause work and family, but everytime I return to the game, I can find a guild to clear content, even grab some CEs myself. That said I dont know why some people paying to get carried on a +15 key or HC runs botters so many ppl, I mean, every single person who dedicates some time to the game can do those things. They arent using cash shop to buy a Shadowmourne and delete people on BGs and Arenas. People should focus more on their own gameplay and stop to care If strangers buys a rush from another strange. And talking about pvp, If a pro and carry can beat me in Arena, ALL Power to them(I probably should work on my game).
From the way I see, is matter of time until we see "professional gamers", who work selling gold(If I had 15 years again, I would probably be among them).