76 Percent of first month subscribers ineligible for Recruit a Friend Rewards!

Community General Discussion
1

2 Days ago, 10/22/19, Blizzard’s new Recruit A Friend rewards went live.

At that point, 76 percent of first month subscribers were already ineligible, due the fact that only accounts less than 7 days old were deemed eligible. In spite of the fact that all had made just the first of many $15 payments, over 3/4 of these brand new customers were, ‘not new enough’ to be included in the program. GMs professed inability to rectify the problem, which apparently was hard coded in, which means Blizzard made this decision intentionally.

Hell of a way to treat your new players Blizzard, as well as the subscribers they came to spend time with, who also are ineligible for in game rewards, as well as game time, provided the new account is active for 12 months.

“Sorry guys, should have waited to subscribe, but then we never gave you a drop date for implementation, besides, its a good introduction to drop rates in game. Please enjoy our advertisement featuring all the rewards you CAN’T have each and every time you log in.”

Anyway, its been up for 2 days, so some of you may still have 5 days to sign up if you invited your friend to come play the game. Those of you in your first month that were left out, or had friends you invited left out, feel free to leave a comment here so Blizzard knows how we all feel about it.

My hope is that Blizzard reconsiders this terrible decision and decides to grandfather in all first month accounts active when Recruit a Friend went live. Everyone else gets these benefits moving forward, and it’s a small portion of your loyal customers that will be affected. Small enough thing to ask.

Come on Bliz, let us know you care. Or you know, don’t.

Your choice, we remember either way you choose.

17 Likes
2

RaF exists as a lure to bring new people into the game by means of people advertising the game to their friends for Blizzard. People who already paid their first month don’t need coaxing. They’re already trying the game. That’s what it comes down to.

10 Likes
3

lets be real here. people doing RaF are only doing it for the transmogs and mounts. Nobody outside of wow wants to play this game.

32 Likes
4

If there was simply a way for existing players to also obtain these rewards without engaging in the RAF program this wouldn’t be such an issue.

They are very unique and stand out. It’s no wonder players would want to collect them.

It should have been set up so that the RAF rewards were more easily obtained through the program but existing players could also earn them through some other means while playing the game.

7 Likes
5

Where did the 76% come from? I’d like a source on your “fact” please.

3 Likes
7

FYI - 94% of posted “statistics” are just made up BS.

3 Likes
8

I’ve been an outspoken critic of how Blizzard has handled the new RAF for a long time, but this thread makes no sense.

You’re claiming “a large number” of people that subbed “in the first month” are ineligible.

That “in the first month” parameter makes no sense. If you signed up before RAF went active… that’s on you. There was no RAF program, what were you expecting???

Once RAF went live, the people that signed up… are getting their rewards. It’s an overly complicated MESS, I’ll grant you that. But as to where that line in the sand is, that part is quite clear.

The new RAF is a disaster. But you’re not pointing out any of the real reasons for that. You’re focusing on what is, quite possibly, the ONLY thing about it that is clearly defined.

1 Like
9

My issue with RaF is that most people who use it are probably just using it on their own accounts. It’s just a flaw with the system. That’s why I think the rewards should be sold in the in-game store as well.

2 Likes
10

I can’t comprehend this. Seems like an awful lot for some mogs lol.

11

They’re boring af.

A dull-brown outfit that will be replaced with just about anything once you get past the snob-appeal of “this is unique.” Is anyone still wearing the Twill items from MC? Why not? They’re brown… they’re unique! All the hype over this set is nothing but snob-appeal, I can see right through that.

And a freaking BACKPACK??? I’ve never heard a single player outside of the RP community EVER ONCE ask for such a thing. Now, all of a sudden, people are acting like it’s the most desired thing in the universe. A freaking BACKPACK. Get real!

And you know what has the worst mount animations of anything in the game? Camels.

The rewards for the new RAF totally blow.

6 Likes
12

@ Ltque Oh, that is easy. If only the most recent 7 days of new subscriptions are included, and we are discussing those still in their first 30 days of playing World of Warcraft, and 7 is 24% of 30, then 76% of those that WOULD be eligible, being brand new accounts and all, (provided they were invited to play by a friend) are made ineligible by this 7 day grace period. Everyone paid the same to start their subscription, all are new players. 76% can’t participate based on this rule alone.

13

If the account was subscribed before the RFA went live, it shouldn’t count. The intent is to recruit people who have never played or haven’t played in years. The point of RFA is to bring them into the game, an existing subscriber is well already here and doesn’t need to be brought back.

1 Like
14

I dunno, I’ve always liked the idea of your character having pouches and stuff. I’ve always had my D&D character have a backpack- and I’ve always enjoyed quests that gave you backpacks/parachutes/misc stuff on your back.

I do agree that most of the mog is lackluster (if I were able to get it I would probably only use the chest for the strap that goes along the chest just because it goes on top of tabards.

But if they made it available in the store for a more reasonable price I would buy the set/backpack right away. I just can’t afford the price of a years subscription or find anyone who hasn’t played in a while to buy a years subscription.
:slightly_frowning_face:

1 Like
15

Put a different way, 76% of players who have had a friend purchase a subscription to the game in the last month, are ineligible for the RaF rewards. A group of us logged on, saw RaF is now active, and thought, “Hey, my friend is still in their first month, we should qualify!” 24% were absolutely right, and 76% were left out.

It’s arbitrary, but that is the long and short of it. As to the rewards, correct me if I am wrong, but 2 person flying mounts in game are rare. Ignoring the Legion Druid Class form, (which I have, though not on this toon) there are 3. 2 person rocket, Obsidian Nightwing (both of which I have from previous referrals) and Sandstone Drake. This program adds a 4th, though its after 9 months of subscription.

And again, every new referral moving forward gets this benefit. So all new referrals when the program launched should also have them. That is fair. Leaving out such a huge portion of new player referrals so Bliz can save $60 in the next year, (the 4 free months) while earning $180, (cost of the year’s subscription paid month to month) provided the new sub lasts a year, is petty and rude.

I think Blizzard can do better, but we shall see.

1 Like
16

Oh dang a whole 76%… can you imagine the fallout 76… percent failure would cause. I don’t know why people are falling for this new RAF scam anyway… having to pay a year’s sub time to get a camel really guys?

1 Like
17

100% of people posting on the forums have an account.

18

I just make a new account, recruit myself, and then pay the extra couple of $15 to get the rewards. Been recruiting myself from teh start because…well…no friends that aren’t already playing.

19

Oh I don’t see it as a disaster. It has a new 2 person flying mount, of which only 3 non class specific mounts to my knowledge exist in game.

My gripe is that it’s designed as a referral program to reward players for sharing the game with others. When it released, 76% of us that had shared the game with others THAT MONTH, were immediately ineligible for the following year’s worth of rewards. And 24% that happened to join in the week before Bliz decided to implement it (later than expected) were lucky. Sure, it’s clearly defined, but it’s ALSO unfair asshattery.

Obviously I am in the 76% of referrers who cannot link my account with my friends account. It sucks. Based on the numbers I know I am not alone, and that others are in the same boat. If enough of us complain, perhaps Bliz will reconsider, or perhaps not.

No harm in having a discussion.

20

Sadly yup, I’ve tried to get 2 friends from FFXIV to try WoW. They gave it a try…not even level 20 and they gave up. WoW isn’t newb appealing anymore. And yes I tried to play with them too…didn’t make them want to play either.

1 Like
22

WOW is not a new player friendly game, Them limiting gold drops in the game, ridiculous mount prices to create gold sinks, no really cool rewards for leveling, RNG, my friends & family say wow isn’t worth their time nor looks entertaining and is defiantly not worth a sub fee. Just what I’ve been told.

1 Like