Blizzard's newest venture

[Manhands]

How about for gold? Pay 1000g to get a BoA scroll that adds X experience. X should be a set number, so it's equally valuable to use at any level.

Gold sink AND leveling mechanism without real money.

[KrazyK923]

Yeah fuck them for asking questions and gauging their fanbase's opinions!

I swear, this website is ridiculous.

[Pann]

Yeah fuck them for asking questions and gauging their fanbase's opinions!

I swear, this website is ridiculous.

You gotta love Blizzard's way of thinking, they notice that there is a problem that many players do not enjoy levelling at this point you would expect them to be asking players how they can improve that experience. But not Blizzard. No. Instead they ask how much players would be prepared to pay to skip the unenjoyable content.

I suppose you can't blame them as they have been benefiting to the tune of millions of dollars for failing to manage realm and faction populations for years, why bother to expend effort and money fixing problems when a proportion of your customers are prepared to actually pay you to escape the issue? I guess if this is successful from Blizzard's point of view we can look forward to more monotonous content that can be bypassed for a small(-ish) fee.

[Deleted]

This is a fair criticism of the pay to 90 feature I had not considered. Pre-90 LFD queues would indeed go up.

But the actual dungeons experience might be better for a genuine new player, or one who isn't in a rush to level. Most LFD groups pre 70 are a sad and boring zergrush to the end.

[MoanaLisa]

You gotta love Blizzard's way of thinking, they notice that there is a problem that many players do not enjoy levelling at this point you would expect them to be asking players how they can improve that experience. But not Blizzard. No. Instead they ask how much players would be prepared to pay to skip the unenjoyable content.

So the implication is that you would prefer for them to put some effort into making 1-XX leveling interesting. Whatever they do, people aren't going to universally admire it. That really goes without saying although there's a large portion of the forum audience that conveniently ignores whatever facts they don't like. My preference is that they not bother again with leveling content--and likely short change an expansion in the process--and concentrate on end game. I think that Blizzard has made it clear that going back over leveling content again and again to keep it fresh is not worth the time as it takes away from other areas. I'm OK with that conclusion.

[Pann]

So the implication is that you would prefer for them to put some effort into making 1-XX leveling interesting. Whatever they do, people aren't going to universally admire it. That really goes without saying although there's a large portion of the forum audience that conveniently ignores whatever facts they don't like. My preference is that they not bother again with leveling content--and likely short change an expansion in the process--and concentrate on end game. I think that Blizzard has made it clear that going back over leveling content again and again to keep it fresh is not worth the time as it takes away from other areas. I'm OK with that conclusion.

I would prefer that they focus on making interesting content and if that is not possible or is it infeasible to fix the current outdated content that players no longer find interesting that they do not charge players to skip it. If levelling is no longer fit for purpose allow players to skip it for free.

[GhostShaman]

Remember most of their old base has not played since Wotlk and they are at ~80 or less.

I cant agree more. Im one of the "old guys" that has stuck around, but I have seen so many good friends come and go, I know this would bring some back to the game. Hell, I would love it I get tired of doing the same quests, and would love to do end game pvp and pve raiding as the other classes without having to go through the tiresome leveling process. Currently I am working on my 4th and 5th lvl 90 (I have 3-90s and 2 sitting at 85). I want to make it to all classes maxed level, that type of variety in gaming is what I like and look forward too. I guess I am trying to say I am an alt player, I like to plug in a toon at that right situational moment. I also have been playing for a long ass time and like the idea.

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I would prefer that they focus on making interesting content and if that is not possible or is it infeasible to fix the current outdated content that players no longer find interesting that they do not charge players to skip it. If levelling is no longer fit for purpose allow players to skip it for free.

Its a huge overhaul that runs the risk of making the game not profitable. Even though I agree with you dont get me wrong. You run a huge risk of players losing their levels cosmetically and some players have to have that little number by their avatar to make them feel important. I personally would like to see all levels (JUST THE NUMBER) wiped once you hit 60 and give players an "elite" status. Change the symbol on their avatar and everything to that greyish looking dragon(blizz default.) Then work on real class specializations branching out into some crazy classes like demon hunter, or necromancer, depending on their current class spec pre 60, and make it sandbox after level 60.

Its hard for me to put my ideas down on paper but it could work, and work well.

[Pann]

Its a huge overhaul that runs the risk of making the game not profitable. Even though I agree with you dont get me wrong. You run a huge risk of players losing their levels cosmetically and some players have to have that little number by their avatar to make them feel important. I personally would like to see all levels (JUST THE NUMBER) wiped once you hit 60 and give players an "elite" status. Change the symbol on their avatar and everything to that greyish looking dragon(blizz default.) Then work on real class specializations branching out into some crazy classes like demon hunter, or necromancer, depending on their current class spec pre 60, and make it sandbox after level 60.

Its hard for me to put my ideas down on paper but it could work, and work well.

WOW is profitable enough that it is unlikely that overhauling the levelling experience would cause it to become anywhere close to being unprofitable. To be honest, after the mess they made with Cata, I would prefer that they do not attempt to overhaul it once again however I do not think they should be rewarded for having a boring and monotonous levelling experience and if skipping large parts of it is the only answer then it should be free.

[GhostShaman]

WOW is profitable enough that it is unlikely that overhauling the levelling experience would cause it to become anywhere close to being unprofitable. To be honest, after the mess they made with Cata, I would prefer that they do not attempt to overhaul it once again however I do not think they should be rewarded for having a boring and monotonous levelling experience and if skipping large parts of it is the only answer then it should be free.

I cant really say I disagree with the free part, but if they offer it up around $20 or so per token, I can see myself jumping on that offer at least 4 times. I dont blame you for not having faith in them after CATA, I lost some good friends(as good as you can get online) because of that mess.

QUICK EDIT: As far as them becoming non profitable, that was a poor choice of words on my part. What I meant was that Blizz is a publicly traded company now. So whatever direction they would take, would have to have a positive ROI for their investors, if not then you will see stocks go down, and in this case going down isnt good

[Pann]

I cant really say I disagree with the free part, but if they offer it up around $20 or so per token, I can see myself jumping on that offer at least 4 times. I dont blame you for not having faith in them after CATA, I lost some good friends(as good as you can get online) because of that mess.

You seem like a reasonable person but I have to say that I find it disappointing that players, like yourself, would consider paying Blizzard upwards of $80 to skip parts the game that fail to offer any kind of long term enjoyment. When a large part of a product, which sole purpose is to entertain its customers, fails to do so it should be a something for Blizzard to improve not a potential revenue stream.

[MonsieuRoberts]

It's a fact that the game truly starts at level cap.

I'd expect to pay the same amount as their more expensive services, around $25, for a level 90 character. Perhaps some sort of limitation should be put in place though, like you have to level a character to a certain level before purchasing a level 90 is available?

[Orkwuzhere]

They could, you know, make the abysmal content enjoyable by cutting down the excessively absurd item level transitions where you don't need LFR DS/Normal ICC gear to go through certain expansion content (Don't do Vashjr as a melee if your character doesn't have anything out of normal dungeons and torean tundrea quests, and good luck trying to go through the first portion of Pandaria without 370-ish* gear/enhanced heirlooms. Some classes really need those enhanced looms or at least crafted armor to beat the first portions of Cata/MoP if you can't find someone to help you buy adventure gear), or something else like trimming down post 5.4 MoP and Cata content.

Oh wait, I forgot that Blizzard and most of the nostalgia peons think it's rocket science to use a flying mount and be immersed into the game, and shitty dungeons like Dire Maul should take 3 hours, and have crappy mechanics no one bothers with like Tribute runs (Don't kid yourself, nostalgia nerds. No one bothers with Tribute. It sucks, and isn't worth the trouble. Dire Maul still sucks after ~9 years). It was going to come, but I'm more dumbfounded that they would charge $10 more for a feature that's supposed to be in the next shitty expansion.

*I couldn't kill anything on my Monk when I mixed Cata questing with dungeons until a friend took me to a town to buy armor & weapons. Wtf, Blizzard!?

[KrazyK923]

You gotta love Blizzard's way of thinking, they notice that there is a problem that many players do not enjoy levelling at this point you would expect them to be asking players how they can improve that experience. But not Blizzard. No. Instead they ask how much players would be prepared to pay to skip the unenjoyable content.

I suppose you can't blame them as they have been benefiting to the tune of millions of dollars for failing to manage realm and faction populations for years, why bother to expend effort and money fixing problems when a proportion of your customers are prepared to actually pay you to escape the issue? I guess if this is successful from Blizzard's point of view we can look forward to more monotonous content that can be bypassed for a small(-ish) fee.

Yeah, they tried that, it was called Cataclysm and people lost their goddamn minds because they spent so much of their resources on remaking 1-60. You're acting like they're saying "We're doing this, get over it." They were asking people something. I swear to god, Blizzard literally could cure cancer and somebody would bitch that they didn't cure diabetes instead.

I love this fantasy of this lazy but also nefarious company that Blizzard apparently is.

You seem like a reasonable person but I have to say that I find it disappointing that players, like yourself, would consider paying Blizzard upwards of $80 to skip parts the game that fail to offer any kind of long term enjoyment. When a large part of a product, which sole purpose is to entertain its customers, fails to do so it should be a something for Blizzard to improve not a potential revenue stream.

Right, because every single aspect of the game should be built for constant, long-term enjoyment while somehow not getting stale and also them still putting out as much content as they have, right? Somebody doesn't understand how MMOs work.

[Pann]

Yeah, they tried that, it was called Cataclysm and people lost their goddamn minds because they spent so much of their resources on remaking 1-60. You're acting like they're saying "We're doing this, get over it." They were asking people something. I swear to god, Blizzard literally could cure cancer and somebody would bitch that they didn't cure diabetes instead.

I love this fantasy of this lazy but also nefarious company that Blizzard apparently is.

So because they failed to address the problem with levelling becoming boring with the revamp in Cata (which was, once again, money for old rope) we should pay them extra to skip the boring content? They are asking how much people are prepared to pay to skip the content which gives a good indication that it is their intention to charge us for the privilege of skipping the content we have already paid them for. Why are they not asking how they can improve our gaming experience?

Right, because every single aspect of the game should be built for constant, long-term enjoyment while somehow not getting stale and also them still putting out as much content as they have, right? Somebody doesn't understand how MMOs work.

The sole purpose of WOW is to entertain its customers if a certain aspect of the product is failing to do so then it is a problem for Blizzard to address but we should not be charged extra to avoid it.

[Mammoon]

Yeah fuck them for asking questions and gauging their fanbase's opinions!

I swear, this website is ridiculous.

Wake up, buddy.

People don't have a problem with Blizzard doing a questionnaire. It is the fact that this is the one time Blizzard ever does this... and the entire questionnaire is basically asking already paying customers (subscribers to WoW) how much more money they are willing to commit.

[KrazyK923]

So because they failed to address the problem with levelling becoming boring with the revamp in Cata (which was, once again, money for old rope) we should pay them extra to skip the boring content? They are asking how much people are prepared to pay to skip the content which gives a good indication that it is their intention to charge us for the privilege of skipping the content we have already paid them for. Why are they not asking how they can improve our gaming experience?

Privileges should be paid for. Why do you think you should be able to just skip an amount of content for free? Because you subscribe to the game? I am so tired of this argument that because there's a subscription, any and all conveniences should be automatically given to you. Do you even know what your subscription goes to pay for?

The sole purpose of WOW is to entertain its customers if a certain aspect of the product is failing to do so then it is a problem for Blizzard to address but we should not be charged extra to avoid it.

So, yes. You have no idea how MMOs work. Pretending that BC should still be entertaining as new content 5+ years later is absurd verging on moronic.

Wake up, buddy.

People don't have a problem with Blizzard doing a questionnaire. It is the fact that this is the one time Blizzard ever does this... and the entire questionnaire is basically asking already paying customers (subscribers to WoW) how much more money they are willing to commit.

The one time Blizzard does this? I know whenever I partake in a feature outside of the game, I am asked to give a survey about it. So you're complaining that they're asking how the community feels about entirely optional paid convenience feature? Why again? And I'm already "awake," buddy. You can shove your insult.

Could somebody explain to me why because the game is subscription based that automatically means there can't be a store or some kind of extra paid, convenience or cosmetic thing? Something they spent extra development time on, not related to the next expansion or upkeep on the current game?

As I said, I find it amazing Blizzard is both lazy and yet nefariously money grubbing at the same time. Its almost as if a lot of these people bitching just bitch to bitch. *cough*

[Tharkkun]

I would prefer that they focus on making interesting content and if that is not possible or is it infeasible to fix the current outdated content that players no longer find interesting that they do not charge players to skip it. If levelling is no longer fit for purpose allow players to skip it for free.

They already fixed the 1-60 content once. People still blaze through to 85 skipping as much as they can. Very few people care about this content or leveling in general. They want fun! Adding more things won't make it more enjoyable because people will take the path of least resistance every time.

I just recently leveled my monk to 85. Dungeons and PVP only. Now it's questing my brains out to 90. I would easily pay $20 to start the endgame because the time between 1-90 is just that, a time sink. You learn very little and unless you're leveling with someone it gets boring.

So if someone has extra $$$$ and they would like to pay for this extra service, why not?

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Wake up, buddy.

People don't have a problem with Blizzard doing a questionnaire. It is the fact that this is the one time Blizzard ever does this... and the entire questionnaire is basically asking already paying customers (subscribers to WoW) how much more money they are willing to commit.

You're taking this from the angle of someone who isn't subscribed. If you're a subscriber to WoW you already have a vested interest in the game. Subscribers would be the ones taking advantage of this, not someone who's canceled. You can't level to 90 with an inactive account...

If it's popular it will spread to outsiders by word of mouth.

[Gospels]

It took me roughly 30 hours to level my 7th toon 1-90 last week I would gladly pay for an insta 90. 30 hours to level or work 1 hour overtime to pay for it

[TheWindWalker]

Why? Despite the forum stuff which is usually overblown by a great deal there are lots of people who were happy enough to get D3 for free and guaranteed access to the beta if they were sticking around in WoW anyway. If they offered it again for guaranteed access to the WoD beta and a free expansion for D3, I'd do it in a heartbeat. I don't have any plans on quitting so why wouldn't I?

If they offered that trying to hold me back from buying it would be like getting a panicking cat into a bathtub.

[stabetha]

I have to wonder if the people using the "slippery slope" argument of "next they'll be selling gear" are the same people that think allowing same sex couples to marry will lead to people marrying a tree.

Moderator note: Let's keep politics and the like out of this discussion. [ML]