It may surprise you, but I don't actually subscribe to WoW.
Yes, I'm aware that I could save a few dollars by subscribing for 3 or 6 month intervals, but because I buy 60 days' worth of game time every couple of months, it forces me to evaluate as to whether I'm having enough fun in-game to continue paying for it. In my experience, when I subscribe it takes more effort to actually decide to discontinue a subscription than actually keep subscribing, so by reversing the process and making it more effort to continue playing the onus is put on Blizzard to create a better experience.
It also means that I actually engage with the cash shop on a regular basis, so I can see exactly just what Blizz is up to.
Such as this little surprise when I bought 60 days' worth of game time yesterday:
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| Whiskey Tango Foxtrot... |
Do you see it?
In addition to the Retail character boost and the Cataclysm Classic Blazing Heroic Pack, there another little addition to the cash shop: a Level 80 Character Boost for Wrath Classic.
You can now bypass the entire leveling process in Wrath Classic and go straight to Endgame.
Of course, that also means you're effectively paying for gold as well, given that you can go back and do all of the Northrend quests and just get gold as a reward instead.
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| Yeah, right. Graphic from The Simpsons, and the Comic Sans courtesy of MS Paint. |
My, how the Wrath Classic player base has fallen.
That, plus two bonus packs, landed during BlizzCon after the announcement of Cataclysm Classic. We also still have the Joyous Journeys 50% xp boost in play. It feels less like Wrath is done than that they really, really want to get as many people as possible into Cata because there are doubts people will show up.
ReplyDeleteI doubt it's a matter of getting people into Cata Classic as much as pumping up numbers for the short term.
DeleteIf there's one truism about publicly held corporations --or those privately held corporations who have a huge venture capitalist/private investment firm ownership stake-- it's that short term profits always trump long term growth. It's Steinbrenner-ism as a life strategy: do anything you can for maximum profits now, because you might be gone next quarter.
Blizz will worry about Cataclysm Classic when the time comes. They have to prove their worth right now --this quarter-- and they'll worry about next quarter or the next fiscal year another time.
In that respect, WoW Classic has turned into a cash shop profit engine for the Blizzard Division. I've heard the occasional drumbeat of the WoW Token or other cash shop items for Era from people in Trade/LFG Chat on Era servers, but they frequently get shouted down. For now.
If Cataclysm Classic lays a huge goose egg in server participation, expect more cash shop items to appear in Classic Era.
For me a level 80 character boost would be literally paying $60 to bypass the part of the game I find the most fun. I also wonder what the logic would be for a Raider that only cares about endgame at this point, since they know full well that all that Raid gear will be depreciated in six months or less.
ReplyDeleteThe mount also has me confused. If it's six months of sub time and a mount for $25, that is a heck of a deal...more generous than I would expect. However, if it's "Buying six months of sub time also gets you the privilege of paying $25 more for this mount" that comes across as incredibly greedy.
I think it's less the temptation for raid gear --unless people want that legendary they didn't get back in the day-- and more to say that they got a chance to kill Arthas. And maybe to a lesser extent re-experience Ulduar. But yes, like you I have absolutely no desire to skip the part of the game that reels me in.
DeleteI honestly don't get the 6-month sub part for that mount as well, because I think it was poorly worded given the price tag at the bottom. They shouldn't have even bothered putting in the "get this with a 6-month sub" part and instead had a separate button just for a 6-month sub to highlight the extras.
Can confirm that the mount is included for free with the 6-month sub. The price tag is if you want to buy it separately.
DeleteAhh, ok, That makes sense, and yeah worded badly.
DeleteYeah, the leveling is the game to me. Once I hit top level I start leveling alts. Cat logs in to search for pet and mounts we've missed. Ancient
ReplyDeleteAncient, I seriously suggest you try out the new Season of Discovery. The current level cap is L25 --and yes, there's a Blackfathom Deeps 10-person raid as "endgame"-- but being on a fresh server with a few unique twists to each class makes it worth checking out.
DeleteMy Questing Buddy and I are on Lava Lash, the RP server, mainly because we didn't have to wait nearly as long to get into the damn thing. Oh, and my Questing Buddy was able to have her warlock's name on that server, too.
Delete(Yes, I used Cardwyn. Again.)
Wow, I am trying. Last night made a Goblin but had all kinds of trouble. This morning I thought I'd try with a character in a different zone and managed to make a Human took the first quest and was booted out immediately and now can't log back in.
DeleteI checked support on Twitter X and it's happening to everyone. I feel better I thought they were picking on me ha! Must be popular! Ancient