Originally Posted by
Celista
I really think their best chance at getting players away from pirated servers are to use a f2p model. Despite all of the claims in this subforum about how they "paid for Blizzard products/had a sub for years", those players are the minority. Most people on private servers have never stepped foot into retail. They play the pirated version because it's free, and will continue to play the pirated version because it's free, unless a competitive model is offered to them. Some of them are cheap, and some of them play in poorer countries (obviously not dirt poor if they have computer/internet access) and can't afford to purchase the game. Or are young and don't have a credit card.
A good cash shop will keep the game afloat, but it has to be balanced properly and not be too greedy. Rift had a good cash shop model, that was mostly based on cosmetic items.
Starcraft is now f2p so I don't think Blizzard is against a f2p model per se. I just don't see the subscription model working for Classic, even when bundled with BfA--basically, WoW is the only MMO that has been able to sustain a subscription model for so long.