Loyal Subscriber Program - Would you support it?

[Deficineiron]

200-600 million dollars in potential revenue.

could you substantiate where they are losing 200-600m in revenue due to end-of-expansion sub dip? is this aggregate of wotlk/cat/panda or? even just basic outline of where this large number came from would be of interest.

[Walter]

The argument that it is a game, and we shouldn't be rewarded for playing it, is perhaps made without considering that Blizzard is a business?

Mitsubishi Motors is a corporation. I pay them $300 per month for my Lancer. I use the Lancer everyday. I do not expect them to also give me free oil changes, tire rotations, car washes, and other things just to keep me coming back. Would I turn it down if they did it? No. Would I never buy another Mitsubishi if the didn't do it? No.

[Krommm]

Definitely. They should be trying everything they can to keep me (and others) subscribed. Not the least amount possible, let alone nothing.

[Katchii]

I think content should be the drive behind a subscription, not a game about being subscribed long enough to get some perks.

I agree that the content should be the main reason you stay subscribed, but having a perk system like this would also be an incentive for players to stay subbed that one or 2 extra months in between expansions when they stat feeling burnt out which would be good for Blizzard because they're making more money, and with more money they are able to create more content for us to enjoy.

Yeah, it's better for Blizzard with a program like this, but if I'm getting cool stuff to play a game I already enjoy it sounds like a win/ win to me.

[Anzaman]

No, I wouldn't.

[Kalcheus]

The problem is that it's biased against those of us who use timecards instead of monthly subscriptions. Let your account lapse for a day before buying your next 30 days? Sorry, you're screwed.

[cuafpr]

The problem is that it's biased against those of us who use timecards instead of monthly subscriptions. Let your account lapse for a day before buying your next 30 days? Sorry, you're screwed.

put some sort of "grace" period in there for a lapse... i had a CC expire that caused mine to lapse for a day... easy problem to get around.

[Stacie]

Well when you are bored of the game and want to give up or just choose to giving you something for that game would be sort of pointless right? I mean what good would something to do with the game serve when you want to leave it? You must have had a reason to leave i doubt some free game time, a mount/pet or free expan would do much good at that point.

But i agree long time players should get some sort of loyalty thing. Hell even my Local McDonalds gives a free coffee after every 6 cups.

[Deleted]

I think it's a great idea, and I would support the idea, but it would not actually affect whether I was subbed or not at the moment. I'm not convinced it would actually reap the financial benefits; I think the majority of people who are unsubbing would not be tempted into continuing to pay $14.99 a month over these sort of rewards.

[Packing an i5]

I want a discount on the subscription or more free time handed out for being a long time player. I have spent about 2 grand on wow and i have friends who have spent 5 grand.

or the ability to purchase an entire years worth of game time for 60 dollars like xbox live.

[Karrosene]

Nah screw that, the only incentive to stay subbed should be that there's enough new content to keep the player entertained

Nope i want that ring

[Yriel]

Mitsubishi Motors is a corporation. I pay them $300 per month for my Lancer. I use the Lancer everyday. I do not expect them to also give me free oil changes, tire rotations, car washes, and other things just to keep me coming back. Would I turn it down if they did it? No. Would I never buy another Mitsubishi if the didn't do it? No.

But if you'd bought your Mitsubishis at the same dealer for a long time i guess he might give you some extras for free in your next car because you are a long-time and loyal customer and it pays of to give such customers small benefits.
I have a bakery i buy my breakfast every day before i go to work and they give me a free coffee now and then or some pastry or something like that and it is nice that they do. They don't have to but it's a nice gesture and it makes me feel good to continue my business there.

[Luko]

I have a bakery i buy my breakfast every day before i go to work and they give me a free coffee now and then or some pastry or something like that and it is nice that they do. They don't have to but it's a nice gesture and it makes me feel good to continue my business there.

And WoW tosses us free holiday gifts and a little something on every anniversary. They don't have to, but they do.


Seriously though people, we are more than encouraged to unsub at ANY time that we feel less than entertained by the game. That being said, why in the world would they reward people who've been relentlessly subbed with anything more than a game they're clearly enjoying.

Even if this somehow became a thing (humoring it for discussion sake) they'd only give you something forgettable like a FoS or at the very most a title. Anything more than that and they'd get an ENDLESS stream of complaints from people who, I dunno, were out of town on vacation for a month so they unsubbed to save money? Tons of real life reasonable reasons that people may have unsubbed a few times over the years, even beyond the totally justifiable "Don't pay money for games you don't like" reasoning.

[Baconeggcheese]

I wouldn't necessarily use those specific ideas but the general idea is a good thing imo.

[Davemetalhead]

No thank you, I already have a reward for being subbed for 9+ years - I got to do things that anyone starting in the last couple of years will never get to do and experience.

[Walter]

But if you'd bought your Mitsubishis at the same dealer for a long time i guess he might give you some extras for free in your next car because you are a long-time and loyal customer and it pays of to give such customers small benefits.
I have a bakery i buy my breakfast every day before i go to work and they give me a free coffee now and then or some pastry or something like that and it is nice that they do. They don't have to but it's a nice gesture and it makes me feel good to continue my business there.

A $0.12 contribution of dough and sugar =/= a stero upgrade or extras in a Lancer Mitsu does offer a long term customer discount. A $500-$1500 cashback the longer you are with Mitsu, but if they never offered it, I will still go there. I love their product, and their service. If either changed, I would start driving a Tesla.

[Alvito]

Some sort of perk might be nice the things in the OP are way more then they should do though. The dev one is pure nonsense, the xp bonuses are as well.

[Deficineiron]

well if they were to put in a customer loyalty program (call it blizzard bucks), it would be designed to try to get people to spend MORE overall in the game than they do now, both in context of keeping subs active longer AND getting players to spend more on services than they do.

Maybe give a blizzard buck for each real dollar spent (work out a way to deal with gbp/eur/dkk/etc., that would be simple compared), then let *selected* store items be purchased for a blizzard buck price 10x or so their USD$ price? Need a way to allow partial payment with blizzardbucks rather than dollars to hook people in (people see a 50 blizzard buck balance and want to use it, and end up using their bucks and spending more anyway). Maybe restrict bucks from being used for game-impacting things like xfers, racechanges, instant90s, etc.

They have sharp marketing folks, I guess they would know if such a plan would actually generate greater net revenue for the company. It isn't immediately clear that it would, or at least notably, just brainstorming it.

[electthedead]

I suggested this once and got a blue response.

Link here: http://blue.mmo-champion.com/topic/5...hose-who-were/

I have an account creation date of November 23, 2004, and played in beta. Have all the collectors editions. Basically they asked what I would like, I suggested a pet, haven't heard anything since. The only free thing I got was the original WoW in an email some years ago which I gave away. That's about it.

[Graeham]

I think that it'd be a pretty solid move and it'd make me feel like I was appreciated as a customer. When you invest a lot of time, effort and money into a particular product then there's no obligation for perks to be handed out but at the same time it's not unheard of and it typically doesn't do any harm.