Correct. This is how Subs have always worked. You can either let it auto renew every month, or cancel it before it renews so that you have control over it.
Correct. That has been a restriction since Bnet Balance came out. It can only be used to buy game time cards/blocks, individual games, and some character services. It can not be used for Re-occuring subs or for the physical gear store.
I am not sure what is confusing about it. A person who could pay $14.99 for a game time card would pay exactly $14.99 for a sub . It would be an extra step though to cancel it before it renews, but the cost would be the same.
From a price standpoint there is no change. From a convenience standpoint it is less convenient.
The people most impacted by this are the people who used to buy gold tokens , covert to Bnet Balance, then buy the large discount game time cards . They can no longer use gold to get 90 or 180 days of game time at a discount. They can use the gold token to get 30 days as a direct exchange, or use two gold tokens to get $60 days using Bnet balance.
Itâs just another scummy deal done by Blizzard. No one should need to do extra steps to get game time and I find it so funny people are fine with it.
As someone who religiously purchased 6 month chunks and then wanted to quit but still had a ton of time left, I can actually appreciate this change. Itâll let me get my 2 months of subscription time that doesnât auto-renew and once this game gets boring I can actually fully quit until the next content patch. Thanks for helping me branch out Blizzard, shows you truly care about the playerâs health and not money since clearly youâll be making much less of it now.
Oh itâs even worse than that. Blizzard already makes 100% of the profits on WoW tokens, and even takes 25% of it off the top without giving you ANYTHING in return. Now theyâre just making it so you canât get a discount for bulk purchases which is probably about another 25% discount thatâs now gone. Keep in mind Blizzard is already making 100% of the profit off the WoW tokens and theyâre just compensating you by giving you $15 worth of âvalueâ.
We all know how many billions of dollars get wasted every year on gift cards and I promise you WoW tokens are not only the exact same, but probably even worse since all you can purchase with them is Blizzard goods which are worthless if you ever quit playing. Plus good luck ever spending the $8.71 thatâs left on your account that Blizzard will not allow you to use as a partial payment.
Sort of. Donât forget that sales tax applies when using BNet balance (but not when converting a token directly to game time). So youâve got no real reason to convert tokens to BNet balance solely for the purposes of buying game time on that same account. (Unless maybe you live somewhere with no sales tax and you save $0.02)
Itâs about a 7% drop in value (depending on how high your local sales tax is) versus converting enough tokens to BNet balance to buy a 6-month chunk of (discounted) game time.
Excellent post. I was aware of the sales tax issue but it varies so much it is hard to address. Great reminder though. The taxes and fees apply to pretty much all Blizz purchases if your city, county, state/equivalent, or Country require them.
Yes, I understand that a player can pay for 30 days of game time with a credit card. The confusion comes from the implication that anyone can get 30 days by subbing, but, in fact, you cannot if you do not have a credit-secured form of payment, i.e. those who were previously buying game time month-to-month, or multi-month because they do not have a credit-secured from of payment, or who have budgets that cannot take an actual subscription, but rather lend themselves to paying for game time when they can, given their feast-or-famine resources as I indicated.
Iâm not discounting that you can buy it 30 days at a time as a credit-secured subscription. I have not actually seen or heard of anyone upset by the lack of change to the subscription system, this is a discussion about those people who are trying to pay cash in the form of Battle Net to buy game time. That said, there simply is no way for anyone to buy less (or more) game time now, with cash/Battle Net credit, unless it fits the single option now available. As have been repeatedly pointed out, this is problematic for at least a vocal minority of people.
I am part of that impacted group, as I only pay cash for the game, and now it no longer fits in the way I can and will pay for game time. My ability to spend budget on game time comes in feast and famine, and no longer is the offered option going to leave me with game time in the opportunities I have to buy it.
It is unfortunate that Blizzard has chosen to lock out some players, adopting what seems to be a âWoW is not for poors,â policy. To say the least, it is leaving a sour taste in the mouth of many folks who have, until now, been pretty devoted, and often defend the actions of Blizzard.
I did not imply that at all. I was very clear exactly which payment methods can be used for Subs. I even have a handy chart if it helps - I think I already linked that.
If you donât mind me asking, how do you convert your cash into Bnet balance. If you already explained this earlier I am sorry for asking again but it is a long thread. It canât be done directly as Bnet balance requires the same payment methods as a sub with the exception of a Gold token.
Are you using cash to by Bnet Balance cards IRL then applying that and getting the 30 days? That is not something I can do where I live so I am not familiar with it.
If so I certainly see the issue.
My apologies if Iâve misunderstood the implication of 30 day game time vs subscribing. It simply felt like that is what was being conveyed if you needed less than the single tier of game time.
I purchase Battle Net credit by paying cash for a $20 card at the store, then use the code to add $20 to my Battle Net account, no credit card involved. Thus when I have extra budget that can be devoted to WoW game time, I can buy more credit and buy larger quantities or smaller quantities, depending on if my cash flow is feast, or if it is famine.
Got it. Thank you for explaining how it works in your area and with your budget.
I certainly see how the restriction on game time blocks would impact you by limiting you to just the 60 days option if you donât have a credit payment option.
Moreover, I do not understand what âproblemâ this is resolving. Blizzard PR has not yet done a proper job explaining why this change was necessary. By âconducting a review on the available servicesâ they have yet to share why his review, why this change was necessary, leaving the player base, especially those impacted, to speculate and this always causes us to think it must be about money.
If this is a cost saving measure, they should say that. If there is another reason, they should say that. If it is a grab for more money by forcing more recurring revenues through subscriptions, perhaps this isnât something they want to share because it would not play well. Thus, without sharing, we are left to presume that itâs something they donât want to share, and must be a change to improve their profits.
A) The reason is solely for the benefit of the companyâs finances, and explaining that makes them look bad
B) They didnât realize this would be a problem for people so didnât bother elaborating
C) Both A and B are correct
I agree 1000% with you on that. Your post is very very well stated. The whole post, not just what I quoted.
There may be several reason they made the change. I am sure it all goes back to profits in some way but that is not always the whole story. I am sure some of it can be publicly shared and I feel it should be, if possible.
Even if the answer is âwe have not raised prices since 2004 and the labor costs to maintain so many payment options (game time cards are physically printed and sold), have become prohibitive. Further some methods of payment were targeted by botters/spammers more so in the interest of the player base integrity, we have limited those. For legit players impacted we do apologize.â
I MADE THAT UP! To be clear. Blizz did not say that. It is just an example of something that would be both honest and help explain what is going on.
They really SHOULD have given some sort of statement to help players understand a major change like this.
would pay exactly $14.99 for a sub 
. It would be an extra step though to cancel it before it renews, but the cost would be the same.
, covert to Bnet Balance, then buy the large discount game time cards