New Stuff Coming to the Pet Store!

[Achtalon]

I don't really like the idea of some of the best looking things in game being purchased with real money, even if they have no effect on my character's power in battle (i.e., no significant stats).

They aren't mandatory, but it can reach a point where you feel left out if you don't also participate. I'm not sure WoW is really there yet, but it's quite hard for me to justify spending any more money on the game than I already do with the sub alone, such as the multiple characters I transferred to my current realm.

Still, it's Blizzard's game and they can do what they want. If that means acting like EAware and shafting the customers that brought you success in the past, maybe that's best for their bottom line. I'll be doing my part to make sure they don't get money from me, if Blizzard gets to that point. However, I'm still in love with the SC2 pro scene and still/again playing WoW. Blizzard is currently not nearly as ruined as Bioware, imo. I still contend that it's a travesty that Diablo 3 got rating bombed worse than Mass Effect 3.

[Buck-Shot]

I Totally support Blizz on this idea.. Here's why, lets look at a MMO that recently went F2P this year (Tera).. Now Tera still have there sub option etc, to those who want to buy into that etc, but regardless if Tera hadn't gone F2P, cosmetic stuff would have arrive anyway, as it was in there Korean version...

Sorry, but for me $15 a month is cheap, its less than a dollar a day, but income aside Blizz is a company that has to create new avenues of cash and i see no problem if they want to charge of cosmetic stuff, regardless if the game is F2P or not... And lets take the idea that they do offer full F2P/sub-model and still charge for Cosmetic Stuff, they are NO different than the companies that are doing it now.

The problem here i see that the feel of entitlement because you pay a sub, its no different than a cable company charging you extra for pay-per-view stuff like boxing etc, in this case blizz pet/cosmetic store is there pay-per-view offering, you want it you buy if not don't..

I say go ahead Blizz, because those that quit, had it in there mind to quit awhile now...

[Garehn Vi-Brittania]

Might as well sell us cartel coins to buy vanity stuff from the blizz store!

[Deleted]

The best thing is that you typed this nonsense out immediately after I posted what I did. Thank you. I mean it.

You're welcome, yea you're right, one too many shit decisions

[Dronyen]

I don't really like adding micro-transactions to a subscription based game, however, I don't think these are that big of a deal. As long as Blizzard doesn't add anything pay-to-win it will be tolerated.

[Canpinter]

How is this any different then buying and expansion, i pay money on top of a monthly subscription, i get more content.

[Buck-Shot]

I don't really like adding micro-transactions to a subscription based game, however, I don't think these are that big of a deal. As long as Blizzard doesn't add anything pay-to-win it will be tolerated.

I feel your point.. The feel of entitlement can be a dangerous thing, especially if you can't see the other side view point..

[Spotnick]

I learned my lesson with the sparkle pony... no more stupid items that are more common that dungeons blues after 3 days.

[Buck-Shot]

I learned my lesson with the sparkle pony... no more stupid items that are more common that dungeons blues after 3 days.

Man to this day, it burns me to see the thing.. It has to be the most fast selling mount on the blizz store..

[Hitei]

Saying it twice, just reworded, doesn't make it right.

A PPV service is like a WoW book; Blizzard doesn't make that book - Christie Golden writes it, and her publisher gets it to the point of sale. Blizzard gets a small cut of the profit, but it hasn't taken any of their time, money or resources to produce.

You pay a sub to Blizzard to access their game, you can pay for a tie-in book produced by a different company, but you aren't actually paying Blizzard for that product because they didn't manufacture it.

You pay a sub for your cable to access their channels, you can pay for a one-off PPV or movie rental produced by a different company on their service, but you aren't actually paying your cable company for that product because they didn't manufacture it.

In the case of the helmets/mounts/pets/ongoing bullshit, you pay a sub for access to their game, then you can pay a fee for a product made by the same company in the same game that you are already paying for. You are giving them money for a product you already helped fund the creation of.

Geddit? It's not hard.

You're arguing a moot point. It doesn't matter that Blizzard is the same company you're paying the sub to and the fee to.
Do you think that cable companies don't get a cut of PPV profits?
Do you think that Blizzard doesn't get a cut of TCG profits?
Do you think it's cryptozoic who makes the in game rewards for loot cards?

If so, you're an idiot.

Just because one is conducted via a 3rd party and the other isn't, doesn't change that fact that it's ONE company who you are paying a sub to, and also paying for additional content from.

Your problem seems to be that you think your wow license covers an and all material produced by Blizzard. It doesn't.
You pay a sub to access the content that sub entails, i.e. the default game as it is.
Blizzard provides free content updates via patches, and also the occasional large piece of content for an extra fee (expansions). Nothing about your license entitles you to any and all content Blizzard produces for the game.

If we're going to use examples, lets use a real parallel example.


----------------------------------------------
You pay $15 a month to a chocolate company for a special monthly assorted pack of chocolates. The chocolate pack is sometimes updated with new chocolates, sometimes it has more chocolates, sometimes less.

Now, on the side, the company puts up a website, where you can also order individual specialty chocolates that aren't part of the normal month assorted pack. You still continue to get the same updated assorted packs for your monthly payment.

Are you now automatically entitled to those individual specialty chocolates in addition to the monthly pack that you are paying for?

[Drilnos]

Well, the usable items at least I was expecting to see in the TCG, and this is pretty much the same thing. Real money has to change hands for TCG items, too. The helms are interesting. There's no shortage of in-game helms to transmogrify, though, so it's pretty easy to resist the urge. Besides which, none of them work for a druid.

[Deleted]

Just because one is conducted via a 3rd party and the other isn't, doesn't change that fact that it's ONE company who you are paying a sub to, and also paying for additional content from.

Yes it does, absolutely it does, because ONE DRAINS RESOURCES you are paying for already to support the game's development cycle then they SELL the end product to you where THE OTHER DOESN'T.


It's not just "conducted" like they run the fucking checkout; the third party actually creates that product.

Blizzard doesn't write Christie Golden's books for her. She writes them, she sells them, Blizzard gets a cut for it being their IP. It hasn't drained ANY resources from their departments to create that product. Same thing for cable; WWE produces the PPV wrestling event, at no point is the cable company involved aside from being paid a fee to show it on their network; it didn't take any resources away from your normal viewing experience.

It is that.fucking.simple.

I'm not arguing this point with you anymore; I have laid it out in the easiest way I could think of, either you're being willfully ignorant or trying to play devil's advocate and failing.

Cards (unless cross-promotion, but that's a different thing again entirely), books, toys, do not take ARTISTS away from the ART OF THE GAME. Sale-able store goods do. That.Is.It.

It's like, so fucking simple I don't know how you don't get it.

Sub games traditionally do not have cash-shops; it's an invention of free/buy to play games because that is their sole source of income - a lot of their new content is art that you buy; skins/textures/weapons/cosmetics etc and even then you can sometimes earn it in the game (GW2 for example, you can trade gold for cash-shop currency so in theory could never spend a penny). Blizzard is an anomaly in that they charge you a sub for the ongoing development cycle, then charge you for content developed within that cycle, which you are already paying for. It's just ludicrous...

I'm out of this thread now. Have fun with your fire horns.

[Al Gorefiend]

Awesome! Can't wait for entire armor sets that work as plate, mail, leather etc. etc. and they look wonderful!

Heres hoping for racial-themed gear like Argent Tournament weapons to hit the store.

[Kuja]

Sweet! If those helmets come with a matching set, then they're all must have :P~~

[Wilian]

"Blizzard will never offer faction changes"
"Blizzard will never offer race changes"
"Blizzard would never charge you for exclusive pets"
"Blizzard would never charge you for exclusive mounts"
"Gear wont ever be on the shop"
...
"If you really think blizzard will ever be pay to win, you're not a very smart person."

Im not saying they will go P2W but its a horrible slope they are on, and it can only go down from here.

Not to mention that an experience buff is already pay to win. It gives a clear advantage over someone who has not paid.

Certainly, thus far they are planning to limit it into Asia, but as per their own words, it's not out of the table to carry it over into other regions and in all honesty, I have no trust left in them at all this point. It will happen eventually here.

[sergel02]

But WoW has had a cash shop for a while, so I don't get the big deal. A worry over the store getting better looking things than in-game is a legitimate concern, but otherwise I don't understand the issue.

[Beat5beat]

I think it's a little shameful on Blizzard's part that the art for these store helms is nicer than the art for the in game tier helms and other helms. Same with some of the pets and mounts now that I think about it. It just goes to show you where they dedicate their best talent, paid for by your monthly 15.

[Hitei]

Yes it does, absolutely it does, because ONE DRAINS RESOURCES you are paying for already to support the game's development cycle then they SELL the end product to you where THE OTHER DOESN'T.


It's not just "conducted" like they run the fucking checkout; the third party actually creates that product.

Blizzard doesn't write Christie Golden's books for her. She writes them, she sells them, Blizzard gets a cut for it being their IP. It hasn't drained ANY resources from their departments to create that product. Same thing for cable; WWE produces the PPV wrestling event, at no point is the cable company involved aside from being paid a fee to show it on their network; it didn't take any resources away from your normal viewing experience.

It is that.fucking.simple.

I'm not arguing this point with you anymore; I have laid it out in the easiest way I could think of, either you're being willfully ignorant or trying to play devil's advocate and failing.

Cards (unless cross-promotion, but that's a different thing again entirely), books, toys, do not take ARTISTS away from the ART OF THE GAME. Sale-able store goods do. That.Is.It.

It's like, so fucking simple I don't know how you don't get it.

Except the in-game items from cards (Spectral tiger, epic shirt, sword rack, companion pets, vanity items like the pedestal etc.) are done by ARTISTS and PROGRAMMERS taken from the Blizzard team, not by another company.

[benadryl]

wish it'd go b2p with more crap like this in the pet store

it would be better for everyone considering how successful cash shops are

[sergel02]

I think it's a little shameful on Blizzard's part that the art for these store helms is nicer than the art for the in game tier helms and other helms. Same with some of the pets and mounts now that I think about it. It just goes to show you where they dedicate their best talent, paid for by your monthly 15.

I suppose it's a bit subjective. I find those helms a lot worse than most in-game helms. Same for the few mounts. Some of the pets are nice in the store though.