Battle for Azeroth Alpha/Beta General Discussion

[Deleted]

You realize that the bottom half is a fish though right? The reproductive organs are in THAT part. Ask Fry.

She still has a mouth, hands and boobs. Plenty to do with those.

[Vakir]

Judging by the rest of the industry...yes, they can.

I may be uninformed, is there another long-term multiplayer game out there that has a box cost, a subscription cost, AND a microtransaction/loot box system?

I've seen a "pick 2" of any of the three, but not all three at the same time.

The terror is that WoW is so popular and is such an unsinkable ship that I can totally see them attempting to do all three. It would require a RealID full name enforced level of backlash.

It doesn't help that looking back on documentaries like Looking for More and the Blizzard Retrospective, some of their rhetoric about their own game comes off as freakin' cult-like.

[Deleted]

She still has a mouth, hands and boobs. Plenty to do with those.

I like the way you think.

I may be uninformed, is there another long-term multiplayer game out there that has a box cost, a subscription cost, AND a microtransaction/loot box system?

I've seen a "pick 2" of any of the three, but not all three at the same time.

The terror is that WoW is so popular and is such an unsinkable ship that I can totally see them attempting to do all three. It would require a RealID full name enforced level of backlash.

It doesn't help that looking back on documentaries like Looking for More and the Blizzard Retrospective, some of their rhetoric about their own game comes off as freakin' cult-like.

Yeah but if they do something really terrible that even their most rose tinter fans can't accept. Imagine the next expansion. It will be fanservice incarnate with like five new playable races including Ogre, Naga AND Arakkoa.

[Deleted]

That "as long as" is what people are talking about.

Nobody is against a dropped subscription and some cosmetic shifting, because F2P games follow this model and generally are the norm.

The problem is the expectation that they will do both, because we're already confronted with the first few steps of it anyway - the mount and pet shop (and to a lesser extent, race/faction/server changes, but those NEED some kind of limitation on them). And those sources of content are very often done for easy microtransaction gains rather than being honest content they were clearly intended to be.

Say what you want about any of the actual mounts or pets in terms of quality - when something like, say, Heart of the Aspects shows up on the Blizzard Store around the exact same time as Dragon Soul, it looks identical to the beam that Thrall kills Madness of Deathwing with, and the flavor on the mount listing blatantly is invoking the ending of the raid, the fair vibe to call might be that perhaps it was intended to be a drop for the Heroic (Mythic-equivalent then) kill. But instead, it was a lazy palette swap of the same rare mount from the normal difficulty. Historically, these rewards have at least unique models even if their animation rigs are reused. I could make the same argument for Algalon and the Celestial Steed, but that's a bit less obvious.

So basically, it's an example of content that could have easily been withheld behind a paywall for a microtransaction rather than direct in-game content when the intention of paying a subscription fee (for a non-hardcore example, the Grinning Reaver would be nice for the Laughing Skull rep) is usually under the expectation that it's going towards other content beyond just maintenance costs. Because the overhead there is going to profit - and the costs are exorbitantly beyond what the actual upkeep is for the service.

The question is not IF Blizzard/Activision will do it - they're a corporation and their #1 intention is profit, no matter how many "Geek Is" pandering presentations they do. The concern is if they can get away with it in terms of the sheer power and popularity of WoW. Most people, myself included, give them a BIT of rope because they deliver the vast majority of their content as in-game acquirable, but if Loot Chests came along, there would be a LOT of those examples.

So it's not a matter of whether anyone is against the idea inherently, it's the assumption that it'll be in addition to a sub fee/token fee, not in lieu of. And that's why the fear exists.

Does that make sense?

Yup.

There is, however, huge potential in loot boxes if they do it the right way.

I'd also like to see them include a few special tokens in there, for server migrations, name changes, and so on. Or simply Blizzard currency. But that should be rare and not something you aim for going in. I'd love a bunch of little goofy stuff like alternate versions of x-mog gear (colours), mounts, pets, and so on. But there still needs to be incentives to go out and play the game to find this stuff. In other words, the loot box should not feel like a more efficient way of farming a specific mount than actually farming it. But I don't mind if it could pop up in a loot box (1/10000 or something).

[Zoibert the Bear]

it's a very nice signature. I should make myself one of those.

If you look very closely, Zoibert the Wise and Mudmug are on it.

Good luk on your new signarute.

[Vakir]

Yeah but if they do something really terrible that even their most rose tinter fans can't accept. Imagine the next expansion. It will be fanservice incarnate with like five new playable races including Ogre, Naga AND Arakkoa.

Yep, and that's a worrisome proposition. Corporate greed is the norm. It's part of how business works. But there has to be a line consumers draw to be "responsible" consumers.

Sorry to doom and gloom up the thread - I just felt the need to go into @JainaKulTiras on why it's an issue.

I'd also like to see them include a few special tokens in there, for server migrations, name changes, and so on. Or simply Blizzard currency. But that should be rare and not something you aim for going in. I'd love a bunch of little goofy stuff like alternate versions of x-mog gear (colours), mounts, pets, and so on. But there still needs to be incentives to go out and play the game to find this stuff. In other words, the loot box should not feel like a more efficient way of farming a specific mount than actually farming it. But I don't mind if it could pop up in a loot box (1/10000 or something).

No argument here if they drop subscriptions in response to it.

I know many will complain regardless but if the pull-rate on utilities and cosmetics is FAIR, and there's other cosmetics that can be earned in-game through effort, I'm not against that shift. WoW is one of the very few games still doing a subscription method.

The danger is allowing both, because the store was the first step on that slippery slope.

[Nerovar]

The real question is, will there be more gender options in the character creation screen?

[enak101]

A gender slider if you will

[Julisel]

The real question is, will there be more gender options in the character creation screen?

Male Famale Another

[Zoibert the Bear]

The real question is, will there be more gender options in the character creation screen?

A gender slider if you will

Do it like South Park:

[Nerovar]

A gender slider if you will

That's perfect.

[Deleted]

I like the way you think.

Thank you. I try to make the best of any situation.

Yeah but if they do something really terrible that even their most rose tinter fans can't accept. Imagine the next expansion. It will be fanservice incarnate with like five new playable races including Ogre, Naga AND Arakkoa.

So Legion 2.0? The problem with that as was the problem with Legion reveal is that they won't have any fanservice stuff left for 9.0

[Zoibert the Bear]

So Legion 2.0? The problem with that as was the problem with Legion reveal is that they won't have any fanservice stuff left for 9.0

Boob slider

[Vakir]

Heck, that's easy.

Just change "Gender" on the UI to "Sex," which is technically correct anyway.

Then just do a gender slider that doesn't change your physical appearance because that's not how gender is connected regardless.

And boom, you've successfully implemented it without being overtly obnoxious about it but also address the people who actually care.

Yes, I'm aware it was a joke.

[Deleted]

Boob slider

Ooh, yeah. GW2 female Norn bodytypes for every race.

[Nerovar]

So Legion 2.0? The problem with that as was the problem with Legion reveal is that they won't have any fanservice stuff left for 9.0

Look at it this way, if they have no more fanservice bits left, they'll have to start being inventive again... but do we really want that?

[Vakir]

I personally want a comically obese option for every single race.

Unfortunately, the technology just isn't there. /s

[Deleted]

Look at it this way, if they have no more fanservice bits left, they'll have to start being inventive again... but do we really want that?

Well inventive gave us MoP but also Cata.

Then again fanservice gave us Legion but also WoD.

So it's 50-50 either way.

[Julisel]

Do it like South Park:

Black skin take more damage from bullet and have up skill to steal something?

[Vakir]

Black skin take more damage from bullet and have up skill to steal something?

Nah, you (tongue-in-cheek) get treated differently.

Same with income as a female. Again, tongue-in-cheek.