Player Compensation For Time Not Played

[Klueade]

If you pay for a month but only play 2 days worth of that time you should be compensated for your next purchase of game time.
So the following purchase of gametime, the time spent not playing prior should roll over into a race/faction change, or something of that nature.
I'm not saying it has to be a race/faction change but it makes sense to keep players playing to some degree.
Anyways what's your thoughts?

[Dread Pirate Phayde]

Is Blizzard preventing you from playing? If the answer is no, and you opted not to play, there is zero reason for them to compensate you in anyway.

[babalou1]

If you pay for a month but only play 2 days worth of that time you should be compensated for your next purchase of game time.
So the following purchase of gametime, the time spent not playing prior should roll over into a race/faction change, or something of that nature.
I'm not saying it has to be a race/faction change but it makes sense to keep players playing to some degree.
Anyways what's your thoughts?

JFC

If money is that big of a deal to you, then you have by far bigger issues than unplayed game time.

[Nutri]

Move to China, pay for time spend online. Solved.

[Sondrelk]

While I agree it could be an interesting idea, it does seem like it has several potential pitfalls.

For one it would require establishing what the baseline amount of playtime is for a month of play. Obviously it cannot be a full 30 days of 24 hour playtime.
Maybe something like 4 hours each day for 30 days. But then you would have to consider whether the timer is 4 hours x 30 days, or whether it is a daily 4 hour timer.

Seems like it might be an idea that could work, though it would require massive amounts of iteration before it can be one something useful.

[Heladys]

If you pay for a month but only play 2 days worth of that time you should be compensated for your next purchase of game time.
So the following purchase of gametime, the time spent not playing prior should roll over into a race/faction change, or something of that nature.
I'm not saying it has to be a race/faction change but it makes sense to keep players playing to some degree.
Anyways what's your thoughts?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

That's what I think. Now excuse me, I'm off to go convince the government to refund my taxes for all the days I wasn't in the hospital using their services.

[munkeyinorbit]

While I agree it could be an interesting idea, it does seem like it has several potential pitfalls.

For one it would require establishing what the baseline amount of playtime is for a month of play. Obviously it cannot be a full 30 days of 24 hour playtime.
Maybe something like 4 hours each day for 30 days. But then you would have to consider whether the timer is 4 hours x 30 days, or whether it is a daily 4 hour timer.

Seems like it might be an idea that could work, though it would require massive amounts of iteration before it can be one something useful.

Do you pay more if you use more than your allotted time?

[Lochton]

If you pay for a month but only play 2 days worth of that time you should be compensated for your next purchase of game time.
So the following purchase of gametime, the time spent not playing prior should roll over into a race/faction change, or something of that nature.
I'm not saying it has to be a race/faction change but it makes sense to keep players playing to some degree.
Anyways what's your thoughts?

I'm sorry but that is not how a subscription works, though. Just like you can't get compensated for the days you aren't watching Netflix, or whatever streaming service, or get compensated for the days your magazines aren't delivered to you. If you do not believe you have the time to make it worth paying the money, then I suggest not subscribing.

[arkanon]

I pay for a netflix sub. When im at the beachhouse, I might not watch it at all for 1-2 weeks. Should I get a half price month the next month?

When I go to a restaurant, I might only eat 50% of my meal and feel full and not want anymore - should they half the cost?

If I pay for a ticket to a football match, and haflway through my mate txts and says "wanna go surfing?" so I leave halfway through, would i get a 50% refund on my ticket?

Other peoples financial situation is none of my business, but if the $15 a month is a moderate to large cost for the user, it probably isn't the best thing they could be spending that money on. On the flipside, if a person works 70 hour weeks and barely has any time at all to log into wow, maybe it isn't the ideal hobby for them, but if they do choose to pay for the sub, its not anyone else's fault that they are unable to log in.

From memory, Blizzard have added "free" time onto everyone's accounts when they have had major server downtime or low quality service for days on end, but i cannot even think of the last time they did that. The difference is, that is them accepting responsibility for their issues, just like the player is expected to do the same regarding their own playtime.

And lastly, it would encourage all kind of shenanigans with people saying "sorry guys i cant play tonight - one more day without playing and i get a free race change!"

[arkanon]

Nice analogy indeed. Also don't pay taxes for your car when you don't drive it....etc

Yeah the others were pretty bad, but I tried to show some non subscription based examples that we accept as normal every day, and I see no reason WoW should be any different.

And yes, I have a classic car that spends 95% of its life sitting in my garage - but I still pay yearly registration costs, and a warrant of fitness every year. This differs country to country though, but is still accurate.

[Queen of Hamsters]

What an utterly moronic suggestion.

So if someone buys a burger and doesn't finish it, should he be compensated retroactively for the value of what he didn't eat? What about people not finishing watching a movie? Or a TV episode?

Jesus H Christ, if you've got money issues/time issues and know that you won't get what you want out of a subscription fee, then be an adult an unsub. Simple as.

[Aucald]

Your subscription fee is for access to the game servers, not a specific amount of time played or playable within said servers. You can access those servers at any time, and that potential access is paid for ahead of time through your subscription. If WoW's player base ever dips below a given level they will likely lower the subscription rates to entice more people back than they would create a model where you pay for specific allotments of playable time (or they would adopt any of the various free-to-play models out there).

[Karaoke]

What an utterly moronic suggestion.

So if someone buys a burger and doesn't finish it, should he be compensated retroactively for the value of what he didn't eat? What about people not finishing watching a movie? Or a TV episode?

Jesus H Christ, if you've got money issues/time issues and know that you won't get what you want out of a subscription fee, then be an adult an unsub. Simple as.

Dude is brainstorming and you crap on his idea...good job man.

OT - I actually wouldn't mind something like this...some weeks I go full tilt and play a ton, other weeks I may log in for 30 minutes. I wouldn't mind the option to 'pay as you go' assuming it was priced right. It would remove that "I'm paying for the subscription so I need to log in" feeling.

[Darsithis]

The hell?

No. You pay $16 a month for access to the servers for 30 days worth of time. It’s up to you to use as little or as much of that time as you want. Blizzard is definitely not responsible for reimbursing you. That’s just not how business, rentals, leasing, etc. work.

A pay-as-you-go option might not be terrible, but reimbursement is.

[Couchpotato2013]

Move to China, pay for time spend online. Solved.

I am pretty sure since legion or bfa they haven’t done that (aka pay for minutes). Instead they pay a sub like us but then are restricted (heavily encouraged) to abide by a 5 hours on 3 hours off paradigm.

And to be honest I would be rather interested to see how certain regions would freak out if their governments went beyond the usual lockdown on gambling and instituted what China has done. Would probably do those people a load of good too.

- - - Updated - - -

What an utterly moronic suggestion.

So if someone buys a burger and doesn't finish it, should he be compensated retroactively for the value of what he didn't eat? What about people not finishing watching a movie? Or a TV episode?

Jesus H Christ, if you've got money issues/time issues and know that you won't get what you want out of a subscription fee, then be an adult an unsub. Simple as.

The flipside of that argument though is the usual order something really really large and if you can finish it then you get your meal free and with some reward.

So if wow were to do the inane thing that op wants then why not the above situation?

[Garymorilix]

I am pretty sure since legion or bfa they haven’t done that (aka pay for minutes). Instead they pay a sub like us but then are restricted (heavily encouraged) to abide by a 5 hours on 3 hours off paradigm.

And to be honest I would be rather interested to see how certain regions would freak out if their governments went beyond the usual lockdown on gambling and instituted what China has done. Would probably do those people a load of good too.

- - - Updated - - -



The flipside of that argument though is the usual order something really really large and if you can finish it then you get your meal free and with some reward.

So if wow were to do the inane thing that op wants then why not the above situation?

Awh yes, the good ol' argument for "limiting your personal freedom because iT WiLl dO gOoD foR YoU".
The let's be like China is just the cherry on top.

I can imagine some grandpa talking about the 50's the same way.

[Couchpotato2013]

Awh yes, the good ol' argument for "limiting your personal freedom because iT WiLl dO gOoD foR YoU".
The let's be like China is just the cherry on top.

I can imagine some grandpa talking about the 50's the same way.

And yes playing wow for a genuine 12+ hours/day (as a few people in upper EU guilds have stated) for several expansions is supposedly the shining standard of functioning adult. I am not talking about binging 40 hours on a weekend when you get a free chance like 2-3 times a year.

Forced logout time would do that region good.

[Garymorilix]

And yes playing wow for 12+ hours/day (as a few people in upper EU guilds have stated) for several expansions is supposedly the shining standard of functioning adult.

Forced logout time would do that region good.

It's their decision, not yours or the governments, my god....
Especially if it's their actual job technically.

Is this a real conversation? Am I dreaming? Someone please tell me this ain't real.

[Surfd]

Dude is brainstorming and you crap on his idea...good job man

The issue here is that his "brainstorm" is neither refreshing, new, or even vaguely interesting.

This might come as a shock to the youngsters, but "pay by the minute" subscription models actually were a thing in the industry. Like, 30 odd years ago in the age of dialup MUDs and AoL internet and shit. And pretty much everyone agreed relatively quickly once internet access became a ubiquitous service and not a limited resource that such subscription models were absolute shit.

You pay for a month of WoW access. During which time you are free to use the services provided as much or as little as you want. I guarantee you that if, through some infernal miracle, you were to convince blizzard to charge you by the Hour, or the Minute, or whatever small time block you so chose, that your average cost to play would likely be SIGNIFICANTLY higher than simply getting unlimited access for a month for the relatively low price currently offered.

[Couchpotato2013]

It's their decision, not yours or the governments, my god....
Especially if it's their actual job technically.

Is this a real conversation? Am I dreaming? Someone please tell me this ain't real.

Hilarious to see how easy it is to push people’s buttons.