I feel it would be beneficial to the community and company to have the option to purchase something IRL via the trading post.
By IRL(in real life) I mean physical items that will be mailed to you. Whether it is a keychain, a poster, a pin, a plushie, whatever a gold coin in WOW is supposed to look like, who knows!
Select IRL items may be included in future offers which is more tasteful to the player base from what I can tell. This can also help expand and promote the In-game store(preferably the IRL items are exclusive to the trading post, for the most part) and the game in general. It can be every month or every three-six months, or perhaps once a year thereās an IRL item.
Waiting for IRL mail may not be as instantaneous as In-game mail but it can be more rewarding. For example, if you paid for a 6-Month subscription and received something IRL, sure nobody can see it in-game but is rewarding nevertheless if not moreso.
There can be cross promotion via the trading post and IRL items would bring more value. Whether you always play wow or barely play wow you may want an IRL Hearthstone card, only purchasable in the trading post(initially).
I think most WOW players would appreciate some IRL mail with Blizzard contents. I could be wrong maybe itās only some, or just me. Iām the type of person whoād appreciate a subscription magazine with news guides lore etc. I might not read them all but Iād like to keep it.
Iām going to oppose this idea simply because I would not want to see the ābeen three days, still no keychain, 80 tickets put in havenāt helpedā¦ā threads.
Well it helps the company get more sales elsewhere ultimately. Cross Promotion can also mean Blizzard either gets a discounted price directly from the manufacturer or for free if it is put on the trading post. Also getting things in IRL mail is a subtle(or not so subtle) IRL reminder to keep/start playing WOW. Getting things into the mail IRL will simultaneously reach people not on the Twitters etc and those who are. Which is one reason why I mentioned a subscription magazine.
Not sure, when I was a kid I used to get a LEGO magazine, even though I barely had any LEGOs IMHO, this wouldnāt be like that in my mind. If people received a WOW magazine but instead it had news, patch notes events/changes/guides, lore, shout outs to players, guilds, YouTubers, etc it would be neat. I donāt think theyād use much ink to advertise whatās on sale as people would be turned off by it but they have phones and such already.
The main problem is that thatās a lot more expensive than something in-game. In-game was a one-time bit of code thatās often, by their statements, a leftover from a past creation. Out of game would literally cost millions each time it happened.
And I just donāt see it benefitting them by millions in return.
That is a fair point, although the subscription isnāt free either. With that said, perhaps Iām asking suggesting too much. I figure if LEGO could afford to send me free magazines Blizzard could manage that at least. I donāt do ledgers so I canāt say how affordable it is. Though I think they can budget for such an investment.
Again a WOW magazine is a pretty awesome idea, I could see them using the trading post for at least an exclusive 1 time thing. Having a magazine that gets into lore a bit, updates a bit, blizzcon and dev interviews, interviewsā¦ ānew to wowā help, people/group shoutouts, addon spotlights, maybe some IRL merchandise for sale, giveawaysā¦ Calendar stuff.etc
Probably as A hopeful investment that increases sub count and player retention. I pay money for the game already so itās not exactly free for me but Iām not asking the world either.
No. Sounds terrible. All this does is cut costs in terms of game development. Also logistics would be absolutely terrible. If you want physical merchandise, buy it from the store or a third party vendor.
I donāt know specifics but shipping etc has risen in cost and manufacturers are also raising prices etc around the world so it will be expensive. Not to mention they are at odds with China so Iām not sure how thatād play out.
Iām sure they could come up with something but I stand by what I wrote earlier.
Everything costs $ and even more so in the last year.
True, but keep in mind the sub price hasnāt ever been increased, not even for inflation. I think thatās why they keep adding stuff the the cash shop, just to supplement the profitability of the game. If they have the extra overhead for something like youāre asking for, Iād prefer them to put it into the game by hiring more developers/artists, etcā¦
To put it lightly (and nicely), Iām a wishful thinking dreamer. So I tend to ignore resource restraints and accessing what the priority should be. Making a forum post about that isnāt in my wheel house. I just shoot out ideas and hopefully something sticks.
Personally I just want to lay in bed and reach for a pile of wow subscription magazines and look at pictures then maybe accidentally read something.
