Should wow go free to play?

[StillMcfuu]

No, the game is bad enough already with monetization.

[Lolites]

I think they should just delete WoW Token, that would fix a lot of problems.

/me hides.

only thing it would "fix" would be that some of people who now pay their gametime for gold would leave, thats it

[Hellobolis]

no offense but there is virtualy nothing to prove that other than guesswork based on google trends and similar "data sources", which are inacurate as fuck...
might be true, might be completely off the mark, we simply dont know

and btw, imo people defending everything are annoying, but people SHITTING on everything, and using their opinions as "proof" are much, much worse

that kinda says it all though doesn't it? the fact that you have to guess which game is #1. not that long ago people would laugh at you if you took a wow killer game seriously.

[srambo]

They will inevitably end up releasing entire classes in the store you need to pay for to unlock in the character creation menu.

And when they release that class, it's going to be WotLK-era Death Knight kind of OP to entice players to buy it. Since so many WoW players are completionists and collectors it will sell hard.

Once they discover a single new class is bringing in half the income an entire expansion provided them it's gg from there. Then we'll start getting sure to sell races in there, Ogres, High Elves, Arakkoa you name it

this is already happening in a way. token sales probably beat the earnings from box and sub sales....and to keep the box and sub numbers high you need to have a high quality product. to make money off whales you dont. only oversight blizzard had is that with the exodus of the playerbase you also get much less whales as wel because whales will invest alot of money only where alot of people can see them.

- - - Updated - - -

Er, all those things already exist in WoW.

The game is very grindy (heck, M+ levels and raid slider difficulties are a form of grinding just so you can get the same gear with slightly better stats.

Plenty of micro-transactions in WoW that are no different than many other F2P games.

Pay-to-win is the most debatable, but the fact that Blizz sells gold that can be used to get better gear (either directly via AH or indirectly via paid runs through raids and M+) points to this mechanic being in existence already.

Reduced functionality like Blizz providing less and less with each expansion?

Seriously, WoW is already functionally a F2P / B2P game except people are happy to either outright give them $15/mo or leverage gold from whales (which gives Blizz $20/mo instead).

The greatest trick Blizz ever pulled was convincing the playerbase post-Wrath that they get something for their subscription.

this.

and maybe, to reduce confusion, we should rename this topic to "is wow really worth a subscription?" the answer is a big NO

f2p is a tricky subject, but the whole point the OP was making is - is blizzard making you pay for wow more than its worth? and i'd say that one is a big YES

[Lolites]

They will inevitably end up releasing entire classes in the store

this takes me back, people said things like this when they introduced the star pony...
thats over decade ago and we are not a step closer, still only cosmetic shite on store

[Chumahki]

F2P would be the thing to finally make me stop playing WoW. If you want this game to sail off into the sunset and be forgotten, then by all means go F2P.

[Moozart]

Well, with all those unsubs and so on, wow now have less players, and u can notice that walking around the game.

Isnt a good time to go f2p now? Doing that surely will bring more players to the game.

And no need to make p2w, blizz shop alone could make a big money to then.

It is free to play, I haven't spent $$ on monthly service since legion.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

that kinda says it all though doesn't it? the fact that you have to guess which game is #1. not that long ago people would laugh at you if you took a wow killer game seriously.

No it really doesn’t say any thing as people have been making the same claims for in favour of FFxiv the last 7 or so years always with nothing to back it up and much longer for other games.

[azka]

No, Jesus, NO!

[Zigrifid]

No a F2P model wont work not just for wow but for many games out there, a f2p model means heavy based shop model and if people are already crying about the store imagine what will happen later when the store will fill up with booster items, transmog (which people will cry about them not being obtainable ingame) and even races that we as players have been asking for years, or classes (aka diablo 3 necromancer being a shop class)
The f2p model will give an excuse to blizz to create an even bigger monster and we wont have a saying about it anymore.

[Lynnaroo]

Good god no

[Relapses]

It is free to play, I haven't spent $$ on monthly service since legion.

Man, if only somebody could figure out how those tokens keep getting put up on the auction house...

[Shamboosie]

With F2P you have alot of gimmicks that I don't care to see in WoW. For instance, seasonal pass. Also, I believe you would also have way more toxicity in the game than it already is. People could just keep making accounts to troll people in dungeons, raids, and pvp. Dont get me wrong, I've enjoyed many F2P game models. I just believe with all the problems with content being lack luster for many people and the issues with Blizzard treating employees I would just want to team to work on these issues. If you build a F2P model that takes alot of redesign that takes resources away from areas that are already needed in content creation areas. The need to really fix the problem with the company to where you have at the very least an acceptable working environment. Hopefully, this would inspire more creativity for all involved.

[Hellobolis]

No it really doesn’t say any thing as people have been making the same claims for in favour of FFxiv the last 7 or so years always with nothing to back it up and much longer for other games.

well like i said. everybody laughed at people who said guildwars/wildstar/starwars etc was in the same league as wow. but now people aren't laughing anymore and it's too many people to be a coincidence or easily explained.

now sure, maybe wow is bigger, maybe something else is bigger. but it's no longer obvious that wow is 10x bigger than the next competitor, if you make that claim today you'll be the one getting laughed at.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

well like i said. everybody laughed at people who said guildwars/wildstar/starwars etc was in the same league as wow. but now people aren't laughing anymore and it's too many people to be a coincidence or easily explained.

now sure, maybe wow is bigger, maybe something else is bigger. but it's no longer obvious that wow is 10x bigger than the next competitor, if you make that claim today you'll be the one getting laughed at.

Guild wars or wild star sure but people have been claiming FFXIV has been bigger since like 2015 non stop, laughing as you put it at any one saying other wise.

Nothing has changed no one had any info then no one does now just people who want FFxiv to be on top days it’s obvious and people who want wow to be on top do the same both laughing at each other then nothing to actually back up raid laughter.

[Aggressive]

no offense but there is virtualy nothing to prove that other than guesswork based on google trends and similar "data sources", which are inacurate as fuck...
might be true, might be completely off the mark, we simply dont know

and btw, imo people defending everything are annoying, but people SHITTING on everything, and using their opinions as "proof" are much, much worse

Similar "Data Sources" also don't state the game is still #1. So finding the real source of truth may never be known.

And also people trying to defend everything that Blizzard does and SHITTING on other games is also much much worse.

[Relapses]

Similar "Data Sources" also don't state the game is still #1. So finding the real source of truth may never be known.

And also people trying to defend everything that Blizzard does and SHITTING on other game is also much much worse.

I think people in both camps would be better off if they stopped trying to source their opinions with imaginary numbers. But hey, that's just me.

[Aggressive]

I think people in both camps would be better off if they stopped trying to source their opinions with imaginary numbers. But hey, that's just me.

You sir are correct. I will stop trying to argue a point and leave it be.

[seta-san]

free to play automatically turns into "pay to win"

[bloodykiller86]

Well, with all those unsubs and so on, wow now have less players, and u can notice that walking around the game.

Isnt a good time to go f2p now? Doing that surely will bring more players to the game.

And no need to make p2w, blizz shop alone could make a big money to then.

f2p will destroy the game so im good