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  1. #1
    Merely a Setback Trassk's Avatar
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    Is blizzard becoming like capcom?

    Ok, first off, for all you blizzard fans out there who will defend blizzard even if they were eating kittens, I'll politely ask you to leave the room, because this could be something of a wake up call for you.

    Before I carry on, I'd ask you to take a look at this link to one of AlphaOmegaSin's videos about the kind of direction a company like capcom has gone in, and why when he's talking about it, just replacing the word capcom with the word blizzard makes me think its the same thing.



    Now before you rant and rave about this, let me just break this down. You might argue that 'blizzards a company and needs to make money'. Yes, I agree with you, like any other gaming company. But, just like capcom has been doing now, it seems blizzard have been slowly, ever to inch by inch, finding ways to bleed more money from there consumer as much as they can.

    What do blizzard charge for from world of warcraft right now? Well

    - Cost of the physical/downloaded game
    - Cost of every single expansion
    - Cost of subscription fees
    - Cost of every kind of additional service like race/appearance/realm transfer
    - Cost of mini pets and mounts
    - Cost of transmogrifiable armor.

    Now, lets take for example other mmos. Games like Allods online, Tera online, Lord of the rings, Conan. These games are free to download and have no sub fees. They do have a system of buying items from an ingame shop, but compared to blizzard and what they do, thats nothing.
    Even games you buy like guild wars 2 are buy ones, no sub fees.

    What gets me more, is how this has happened over years, and these additional pay for features have been creeping in slowly. you again might argue 'well don't use them if you don't want them', but just like in the video about capcom charging money for cheat codes, a features they already implemented in there games, all so they can bleed more from the consumer, its exactly the same thing.

    There came a point then blizzard lost that connection with its playerbase, stopped being the awesome company that made fantasy worlds, and became driven by greed, yes, they've become greedy, no point defending this you know its the dam truth. This is where a split has happened between the developers and the consumer, there they stopped looking at them as loyal fans, and started looking at them as wallets with money in them.

    I do wonder what they intend to bleed the players for next? new raids (download raids for $5 each)?, instant max level? there probably even charge us for character model updates when there finished, calling it now, this is what they will do.
    #boycottchina

  2. #2
    The Lightbringer LocNess's Avatar
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    Microtransactions are a thing now. As much as people LOVE to harp on them, many consumers are okay with purchasing them for making our game more enjoyable for ourselves. As long as Blizzard does not go Pay to Win, who really cares as it doesn't effect your gameplay. Hell, even Rockstar has been rumored to be looking into them and Rockstar is seen by many gamers to be one of the pure gaming companies that won't do any wrong.

    Cost of every single expansion? IIRC Vanilla - WotLK is all in one purchase now, and Cata/MoP seem to be going on sale every other week somewhere. Subscription fees are pretty cheap if you have income, and are honestly usually cheaper than buying full priced games several times a year (for those "must-have" games).

    I do agree that the price to faction change and such is a bit high, but people are buying it (including myself) and they have no reason to lower it.

    I think Blizzard is in touch with their playerbase. Just because they make decisions we don't like doesn't mean they are not listening to us. Look at this expansion versus Cataclysm, it is vastly improved. Classes that have issues (such as Mages 90 talents) are generally commented on and looked at, and improved/will be fixed during larger content patches.

    Is it a possible slippery slope? Yes. Are they going to go to ridiculous measures that possibly alienates a large percentage of their playerbase? No. Blizzard is a smart company that does want to make money, and they will look at other MMOs or games that have microtransactions and see what can profit and what cannot. Being a subscription based MMO, they gain money by having people play longer, and things like Instant Max Level will not go towards that goal. New Raids for money would just ruin players perception of the company and probably cause a lot of high end raiders to look for different waters to sail to. And Blizzard isn't an asshole that spits in its consumers faces, they won't charge us for player models. They are already going to make money off of character models just for the number of extra subs they get just to check it out.

  3. #3
    Honorary PvM "Mod" Darsithis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trassk View Post
    I do wonder what they intend to bleed the players for next? new raids (download raids for $5 each)?, instant max level? there probably even charge us for character model updates when there finished, calling it now, this is what they will do.
    Oh come on, that is such a ridiculous slippery slope and you know it.

    Yes, Blizzard, like any company, is concerned with their bottom line. Yes, Blizzard, like any company, thinks of ways to make more money, but we also all know there is a limit to what they'd do. One, because the playerbase would never accept it, and two, because there are plenty of people at Blizzard who are there to do what Blizzard does: make great games.

    Everything you've just posted is hyped-up and sensationalist nonsense. Why shouldn't they charge for convenience items like race changes or transfers? Why shouldn't they charge for new pets or mounts not found in game? Why can't they have premium items just like all of the free MMO's you listed?

    On that topic, it's easy to make a free game but it's hard to make a lasting game with a truly dedicated playerbase like World of Warcraft has. You can list all of the free MMO's you want but none of them have the cachet of World of Warcraft. None of them have entered popular culture like WoW has.

  4. #4
    I would say you are being rather paranoid. The only thing you have to pay for are the Sub Fee and the physical game.

    I don't think having features you can pay for on the side is bad.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darsithis View Post
    Everything you've just posted is hyped-up and sensationalist nonsense.
    Typical Trassk post then eh? You're asking the wrong question anyway, Capcom is obviously copying Blizzard cus they're liek, 50 bajillimillithousand times more sucsusfool.

  6. #6
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    at least blizzard updates their games not like capcom i bought super street fighter AE on launch and its never been updated but consoles got the update. Never again buying capcom games

  7. #7
    You're lumping gold sinks like transmorg and barber shop with real money features like transfers?
    You don't need those things to play the game. Any of them to be honest. You can always re-roll for free. The big difference with most F2P games is micro$$. Screw that shit.
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    There's no point in saying this, even if you slap them upside down and inside out with the truth, the tin foil hat brigade will continue to believe the opposite.

  8. #8
    Overdramatic per usual.

    Considering how much they've said they don't plan on making the game pay to win and the helmets may be a one time thing, who gives a shit?

    Do people really think they're going to sell raids and itemized gear?

    Come on.

    Why does EVERYONE have to overreact.
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  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Darsithis View Post
    Oh come on, that is such a ridiculous slippery slope and you know it.

    Yes, Blizzard, like any company, is concerned with their bottom line. Yes, Blizzard, like any company, thinks of ways to make more money, but we also all know there is a limit to what they'd do. One, because the playerbase would never accept it, and two, because there are plenty of people at Blizzard who are there to do what Blizzard does: make great games.

    Everything you've just posted is hyped-up and sensationalist nonsense. Why shouldn't they charge for convenience items like race changes or transfers? Why shouldn't they charge for new pets or mounts not found in game? Why can't they have premium items just like all of the free MMO's you listed?

    On that topic, it's easy to make a free game but it's hard to make a lasting game with a truly dedicated playerbase like World of Warcraft has. You can list all of the free MMO's you want but none of them have the cachet of World of Warcraft. None of them have entered popular culture like WoW has.
    I'm not so sure.

  10. #10
    I fully agree. It's gotten to the point where unless the next expansion to be revealed is something insanely awesome I'm probably gonna pull the plug. Shit's getting too expensive when all I really do anymore is raid on the weekends.
    It would be dark inside my head...if not for the fires...

  11. #11
    Honorary PvM "Mod" Darsithis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Cerus View Post
    The big difference with most F2P games is micro$$. Screw that shit.
    No kidding. I recently played a free-to-play phone came and calculated everything I spent in it in two months.

    3 $49.99 reloads of "donuts" (Simpsons!) + 5 $.99 Golden Tickets + 1 $9.99 reload of donuts. About $165 in two months. How much did I spend on World of Warcraft? 1 race change for $25, and two months sub: $57 total.

    $165 vs $57. Micro transactions creep up on you. You can frequently spend a lot more in a micro-transaction game than you ever would in World of Warcraft. Granted, not everyone will. My partner never spends money on games like that.

    Quote Originally Posted by Archangel Tyrael View Post
    I'm not so sure.
    There is a limit. I can guarantee we'd speak very vocally with our wallets if Blizzard charged for raids

  12. #12
    If we get all these people defending Blizzard non stop.... yes expect that we get $5 raids, but knowing Blizzard these days its more like atleast $20

    We already pay enough sub for a month, its only disgusting to see them working on very fancy stuff thats only obtainable with real money. They could atleast make that fancy stuff obtaianble in game, instead of only real money...

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by McNeil View Post
    If we get all these people defending Blizzard non stop.... yes expect that we get $5 raids, but knowing Blizzard these days its more like atleast $20

    We already pay enough sub for a month, its only disgusting to see them working on very fancy stuff thats only obtainable with real money. They could atleast make that fancy stuff obtaianble in game, instead of only real money...
    So about all the mounts and pets added as rewards for raid achievements or tournaments or collecting is totally stuff you have to pay for? This is news to me.

  14. #14
    Merely a Setback Trassk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Darsithis View Post
    Oh come on, that is such a ridiculous slippery slope and you know it.

    Yes, Blizzard, like any company, is concerned with their bottom line. Yes, Blizzard, like any company, thinks of ways to make more money, but we also all know there is a limit to what they'd do. One, because the playerbase would never accept it, and two, because there are plenty of people at Blizzard who are there to do what Blizzard does: make great games.

    Everything you've just posted is hyped-up and sensationalist nonsense. Why shouldn't they charge for convenience items like race changes or transfers? Why shouldn't they charge for new pets or mounts not found in game? Why can't they have premium items just like all of the free MMO's you listed?

    On that topic, it's easy to make a free game but it's hard to make a lasting game with a truly dedicated playerbase like World of Warcraft has. You can list all of the free MMO's you want but none of them have the cachet of World of Warcraft. None of them have entered popular culture like WoW has.
    I wouldn't be saying this, if it wasn't being said by countless other people. Don't presume I'm the only one annoyed with this just because I'm willing to discuss it.

    As warcraft has aged (I'll say aged, not grown, they lost near half the playerbase already), they've put more things into the game to make money from the players, infact they now have twice as many things that bleeds money from the playerbase then what they did years before.

    And I think its pretty obvious why. minus several million players from paying for a money subscription fee from the licence, and you are millions of dollars and whatever other currency it is down. So, they made other means of making money from the existing playerbase, well trying to make it seem everythings hunky dory.

    Its not nonsense when you've been playing the game for years and seen it happening.
    #boycottchina

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by Zaelkath View Post
    I fully agree. It's gotten to the point where unless the next expansion to be revealed is something insanely awesome I'm probably gonna pull the plug. Shit's getting too expensive when all I really do anymore is raid on the weekends.
    How has the price increased for you? Or do you mean 15$ isn't worth it at all?

  16. #16
    ive noticed ever since thrall didnt become warchief again trassk has done nothing but complain about blizzard when before he would openly defend them.

    guess you only care when you think your favorite character is going to become mister shiny again
    "I was a normal baby for 30 seconds, then ninjas stole my mamma" - Deadpool
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  17. #17
    Merely a Setback Trassk's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by McNeil View Post
    If we get all these people defending Blizzard non stop.... yes expect that we get $5 raids, but knowing Blizzard these days its more like atleast $20

    We already pay enough sub for a month, its only disgusting to see them working on very fancy stuff thats only obtainable with real money. They could atleast make that fancy stuff obtaianble in game, instead of only real money...
    yes I god dam agree. They make nice looking mounts and pets, but instead of making them something we could work for ingame, like a rep grind, achievement, faction.. they make it into something you just buy, making the mount/pet feel cheap and not earned.
    #boycottchina

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Immitis View Post
    ive noticed ever since thrall didnt become warchief again trassk has done nothing but complain about blizzard when before he would openly defend them.

    guess you only care when you think your favorite character is going to become mister shiny again
    Hahaha, exactly xD Typical 'spoiled' person. As soon as they don't get what they want, they throw crap everywhere xD

  19. #19
    Honorary PvM "Mod" Darsithis's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trassk View Post
    As warcraft has aged (I'll say aged, not grown, they lost near half the playerbase already), they've put more things into the game to make money from the players, infact they now have twice as many things that bleeds money from the playerbase then what they did years before.

    And I think its pretty obvious why. minus several million players from paying for a money subscription fee from the licence, and you are millions of dollars and whatever other currency it is down. So, they made other means of making money from the existing playerbase, well trying to make it seem everythings hunky dory.
    They didn't put in those optional, vanity and convenience features in solely to counteract the slow and inevitable normalization of subscriptions (which had to happen eventually). A good portion of that stuff was added because people wanted it. They wanted to move servers. They wanted to change races. They wanted to change names. They wanted to change factions. Every single one of those features can be traced to a playerbase that asked for it. I'm not saying they didn't see those trends and say "hey, we can make money from this, too, so let's do it), but they absolutely didn't think of on their own to "bleed the playerbase". That's what I'm targeting. The nonsense that Blizzard's sole motivation is to "bleed the playerbase" rather than provide what the players want while making money doing it.

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Immitis View Post
    ive noticed ever since thrall didnt become warchief again trassk has done nothing but complain about blizzard when before he would openly defend them.

    guess you only care when you think your favorite character is going to become mister shiny again
    Completely off topic but I almost choked on my water when I read this.

    +1
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