The Blizzard Store and the Monthly Fee. What you need to realize.

[Deleted]

Does your gym offer a deal where if you invite an overweight friend, they drop lbs twice as fast?

That's right, your analogy is terrible.

Not only that but it's more like if the gym charged for membership and then starts selling access to premium equipment claiming it doesnt matter because its just as good as the old stuff and helps you lose weight just as fast.

[Tharkkun]

A game that has a paid subscription shouldn't have content locked behind more reallife cash imho
If i pay 15 euros a month for a game, i expect that i can access all the content it has, even if that includes vanity gear or gear that is "just for looks".
the selling of pets/mounts on the blizzard site was already shady, but at least that was still mostly for charity.
Now they made an ingame shop and stash a lot of things in it that are locked for already paying customers, this is a really really bad idea imho.

Getting more and more glad that i have left WoW behind me some time ago really, this kind of news does not make me want to come back.

Most of the items sold in the stores are themed after past content. None of these recent helms are based off the current theme of the expansion. Personally I have no interest in them but I'm sure some people will find them cool. If that's your kind of thing then buy it. If I ever have any interest in transmorg I will go find something in game.

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People really need to stop religiously defending a corporation like this. Blizzard will do what it can get away with, that is how business works. Do you really think that if people would not care if Tier pieces were sold in the store, they would not put them in there ? Just see what they did with Diablo3. They are testing the waters.

Also with all of this happening, people might want to look up Social Media Listening and Engagement Marketing.

Diablo is still different than B2W. You were never required to buy anything off the RMAH in Diablo. With WoW being a far more competitive MMO they aren't going to go down this path.

Neverwinter is a good example of B2W. SWTOR is as well. You feel obligated to buy tokens or increased XP/token acquisition because it's damn near impossible to progress without them. I can't think of a single instance in WoW where buying an item would allow me to progress where running a heroic/scenario wouldn't end up with the same results.

[Thimagryn]

"You pay a monthly fee to be able to log in to your account and play; nothing more, nothing less."

That's a pretty arbitrary definition and only required narrowing once they started selling additional stuff in the Blizzard store. Pets, mounts, now cosmetic gear, soon experience buffs and lesser charms... what next? Who knows.

The fact is, WoW is one of the most expensive games to play these days. You may say $15 a month is cheap, and that might be true compared to groceries or whatever, but it's a LOT more than almost all other video games demand of you. Playing WoW requires a box purchase of around $40 every two years plus $180 a year in subscription. Even more if you happen to want a server transfer or character recustomization. In comparison, most MMOs are buy-to-play or free-to-play, and other games aren't going to run you more than a one-time $60.

So, considering that at baseline WoW already demands more of your money than almost any other game today, it's just frustrating for them to continue to add more and more stuff that you have to pay extra for. Enough is enough.

Where were you when Spectral Tiger was available through trading cards? Oh right, playing the game without a care about Spectral Tigers. What exactly has changed here?

Also, no. WoW is not an expensive hobby to say the least. I've unsubbed to WoW many times over, and found myself playing other games - which in itself is an expensive hobby. $15/month is much cheaper than $60/10hr, which is what most games now consist of. Even if you compare this to hobbies like sports or collection, you can find yourself spending a lot more money than anything you've paid in your WoW subscription.

[terminaltrip421]

this would certainly have me considering cancellation had I not already cancelled. It's hard to imagine that this wont lead to at least a small number of cancellations, some of which will even likely come back at some point. but I have to wonder how well the sales will offset that potential loss. I'd imagine that blizz has probably done their homework and aren't worried. of course it could just be like the head bankers who didn't really care who lost their jobs down the road as long as they had squirreled away every last cent possible. that some big wigs are getting to call the shots creating short term profits while the longevity continues to diminish.

i've quit and come back several times throughout my wow career, every time due to blizz's decisions though and not "a lack of content." and i figure it's people like me who they're likely going to lose over this. and people like me who tell themselves enough is enough and really do move on. it's not easy by any means, i really loved the game but the cons began tipping the scale away from being pros heavy and that's when they lost $15 dollars a month + xpac and blizz store purchases (of which I made 2, one pet, one mount & the beta buy-in.)

if the pros still outnumber the cons honestly i'm happy for you. i wish they still did for me. i just have my fond memories and my not fond memories now. it's for those not fond memories that i look forward to the day wow crashes and burns though. and that's why i still come here, that and the small chance that it becomes f2p which is the only way I'll come back. anyway this is good news for me because IMO it's one step closer to one of those things becoming a reality.

[Flower Milk]

To the people saying "You're just mad because you're poor!" or whatever, I'm just gonna leave this here:

[Drilnos]

To the people saying "You're just mad because you're poor!" or whatever, I'm just gonna leave this here:

The two guys in that comic don't seem very angry that bags of shit are available for sale.

[BenBos]

Where are these items that directly increase player power on the Blizz store? Because I'm not seeing anything that compares to the Diablo 3 system in WoW.

Why is it okay for the Spectral Tiger to be rare and profitable for third parties, but not okay for something to be readily available for the same purpose at a much more reasonable price for sale by the actual developer?

The only argument I can see that squares your view, is that maybe the helms should cost even more to ensure they remain rare and exclusive, like the TGC mounts.

Perfect argument and it shows that the dudes accusing Blizzard have all DOUBLE standards.

When a 3rd party makes money out of WoW products (IN game in this case) it is no problem, but when Blizzard adds mounts, pets or fluff items to its own shop it is blasphomy.

So these guys simply oppose because Blizzard now sells a mount themselves instead of the profiting 3rd party in the past 6 years...

Weirdos and it just proves how immature these Blizzard haters really are.

Oh look ! Blizzard is gaining money !

[Huehuecoyotl]

Perfect argument and it shows that the dudes accusing Blizzard have all DOUBLE standards.

When a 3rd party makes money out of WoW products (IN game in this case) it is no problem, but when Blizzard adds mounts, pets or fluff items to its own shop it is blasphomy.

So these guys simply oppose because Blizzard now sells a mount themselves instead of the profiting 3rd party in the past 6 years...

Weirdos and it just proves how immature these Blizzard haters really are.

Oh look ! Blizzard is gaining money !

oh look, its BenBos. he owns Blizzard, which is why he is so happy they are trying to get money for doing as little as they possibly can.

oh wait, he doesnt. he is just an average person, sitting in front of his computer cheering on every move Blizzard makes.

i wonder why he does that? it really makes no sense for a normal person to behave that way.

anyone have any idea?

[Jessicka]

Not only that but it's more like if the gym charged for membership and then starts selling access to premium equipment claiming it doesnt matter because its just as good as the old stuff and helps you lose weight just as fast.

Most gyms I'm aware of operate exactly this kind of system with different levels of subscription offering access to different levels of kit and areas, and then premium services on top of that in terms of differing levels 'personal training' and classes for specific types of excersize.

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oh look, its BenBos. he owns Blizzard, which is why he is so happy they are trying to get money for doing as little as they possibly can.

oh wait, he doesnt. he is just an average person, sitting in front of his computer cheering on every move Blizzard makes.

i wonder why he does that? it really makes no sense for a normal person to behave that way.

anyone have any idea?

I think he just accepts this isn't a new business practice for Blizzard, and unless you've been waving your pitchforks at them since 2006 over TCG stuff, you don't really have a position to complain about these new items which for all intents and purposes are exactly the same. They've been extracting money for zero effort from their franchises since the first time they licensed out their trademarks for third party products - doesn't get much less effort than that to make a buck off something to have someone else make it for you.

[Syran]

Perfect argument and it shows that the dudes accusing Blizzard have all DOUBLE standards.

When a 3rd party makes money out of WoW products (IN game in this case) it is no problem, but when Blizzard adds mounts, pets or fluff items to its own shop it is blasphomy.

So these guys simply oppose because Blizzard now sells a mount themselves instead of the profiting 3rd party in the past 6 years...

Weirdos and it just proves how immature these Blizzard haters really are.

Oh look ! Blizzard is gaining money !

You don't know what you're talking about, you have no idea what the debate is about and frankly everything you post sounds like you have foam around your mouth while yelling "haters" at people and stroking your Blizzard figurines. You've proved this time and time again.

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Of course they were connected, if not worse. They promoted the purchase of a third party product and gambling by offering the chance of a shiny, rare, novelty item. The whole point was to drive repeat purchases of a product by players of WoW, who may not have even had an interest in the TGC itself at all.

They absolutely are connected, because it's their very existence is why players felt such novelty items should be available without having to purchase a third party product in the first place. If there's a thin end of the wedge, that's it, and it's been that way for getting on for 7 years now and I see no serious thickening in that time, just an expansion of what's already there.

The key word is expansion, and if Spectral mount was a more or less isolated case before, selling transmog gear and other ingame items will soon become a norm.

[Jessicka]

The key word is expansion, and if Spectral mount was a more or less isolated case before, selling transmog gear and other ingame items will soon become a norm.

It wasn't isolated. It wasn't even in the first wave of TCG items. It's been a norm with mounts, pets and tabards since 2006.

[ro9ue]

Everyone believes in this greedy corporate conspiracy theory because it makes them feel good about why they fucked up in life. That's all I have to say, now excuse me while I go buy all 3 helmets for every person in my guild.

You guys can fight "the man", whoever that might be, but I'm going to support a game developer whose products I enjoy.

[Syran]

Everyone believes in this greedy corporate conspiracy theory because it makes them feel good about why they fucked up in life. That's all I have to say, now excuse me while I go buy all 3 helmets for every person in my guild.

You make even less sense than some people here, that's quite an achievement.

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It wasn't isolated. It wasn't even in the first wave of TCG items. It's been a norm with mounts, pets and tabards since 2006.

Did the game back then signal to go the way of increasing microtransactions (even if only cosmetic) while still keeping the subscription fee? All the TCG merchandise isn't in the same basket as the current store stuff, it costs more, it isn't as readily available, the prices aren't set by Blizzard and it didn't come in the circumstances surrounding the game which we have now.

[Unclekreepy]

Like I've said before.. you can GUARANTY that blizzard will save ANY cool looking gear for the blizzard store.

and that's not cool and I guess I can only vote with my money and that's why i'm letting my account run out and considering deleting all my chars so I don't have the temptation to come back.

[Jessicka]

Did the game back then signal to go the way of increasing microtransactions (even if only cosmetic) while still keeping the subscription fee? All the TCG merchandise isn't in the same basket as the current store stuff, it costs more, it isn't as readily available, the prices aren't set by Blizzard and it didn't come in the circumstances surrounding the game which we have now.

You have your cart and horse in an unconventional arrangement. We have pet store items precisely because those vanity items from TCG were uncommon, not readily available and had prices set extortionately high by third parties.

[Deleted]

Like I've said before.. you can GUARANTY that blizzard will save ANY cool looking gear for the blizzard store.

and that's not cool and I guess I can only vote with my money and that's why i'm letting my account run out and considering deleting all my chars so I don't have the temptation to come back.

No you can't. And please do so.

[Syran]

You have your cart and horse in an unconventional arrangement. We have pet store items precisely because those vanity items from TCG were uncommon, not readily available and had prices set extortionately high by third parties.

I wouldn't say that's the precise reason but ok, it might be, in any way Blizzard wants full control over this obviously and squeeze as much profit out if it as they can.

[BenBos]

I wouldn't say that's the precise reason but ok, it might be, in any way Blizzard wants full control over this obviously and squeeze as much profit out if it as they can.

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/spectral-tiger

Please click the link ... and there are at least 20 other fluff items already in the game since years ...selling between 10 dollars and 600 dollars... and profits going to others instead of Blizzard ..

What would you do as a commercial company ?

but when Blizzard sets up a shop to sell a handfull of these fluff items at 15 dollars they are ... evil ?

LOL.

[Pann]

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/spectral-tiger

Please click the link ... and there are at least 20 other fluff items already in the game since years ...selling between 10 dollars and 600 dollars... and profits going to others instead of Blizzard ..

What would you do as a commercial company ?

but when Blizzard sets up a shop to sell a handfull of these fluff items at 15 dollars they are ... evil ?

LOL.

Who has said that third parties selling in game items for cash is ok? You do realise that the amount of people that will spend $500+ on an in game item is incredibly small? People have been buying gold ever since online gaming began although the vast majority of players are against gold sellers to extend your argument because a tiny amount players buy gold it would be ok for Blizzard to start selling it directly.

[zaxlor]

http://www.ebay.com/bhp/spectral-tiger

Please click the link ... and there are at least 20 other fluff items already in the game since years ...selling between 10 dollars and 600 dollars... and profits going to others instead of Blizzard ..

What would you do as a commercial company ?

but when Blizzard sets up a shop to sell a handfull of these fluff items at 15 dollars they are ... evil ?

LOL.

That's almost the same logic that Blizzard used to justify the RMAH in Diablo 3. Someone else was making money from their work, so they put in a system that meant it was easier for that money to go right to Blizzard.

Now Blizzard is seeing, as you just said, that other people are profitting from their own work. So instead of just allowing this to happen, they slowly start to change the way the TCG items are gained (who's to say those 3 helms wern't going to be TCG items?), by putting them into a cash-shop and all the money goes right to Blizzard.

But that's fine isn't it, because the RMAH and it's addition to Diablo 3 didn't affect that game for the worse, now did it?

LOL