Because it’s not the only way to get the item. That’s all that matters. If the item were only available through the store, then the game would actually be pay to win. But it’s not. These items are acquired through in-game means and purchased with in-game currency. And that in-game currency has no arbitrary cap on how much you can earn or hold.
200k gold is pretty easy to earn. But I only have 8.3 million gold, so what do I know.
With your mindset you’re basically saying games like EA sports NHL, madden, fifa where you can spend money on packs to get players isn’t pay to win, because I can earn those players over months and months of playing.
Yet I could go crazy with a credit card day 1, buy all the best players and have the better team than my opponents. But according to you that’s not P2W cause I’m not directly buying specific cards as it’s a lottery.
Your argument makes zero sense
Well the terminology and range of impact is what makes the difference. Saying that any perceived advantage that gets payed for is p2m breaks the whole argument down.
Does having good internet give and advantage. Definitely
Does having a really nice computer give an advantage? Absolutely
Does buying two subscriptions give an advantage? Sure.
Does buying flying mounts give an advantage? I guess.
Can a player get a slight advantage by spending 200 dollars per slot to get BOEs. Maybe, but it’s so small it doesn’t make it worth it and none of the top players are doing it.
P2W games REQUIRE you to purchase power to be competitive and this just isn’t the case. You can’t just call all perceived purchased power P2W. There is a threshhold that needs to be crossed or everyone with a nice computer is using P2W mechanics in every game.
Are you going to argue the meaning of advantage now? You get it earlier and without any grind just a swipe of the card.
This is like saying those mobile gacha games aren’t p2w since you can get a free roll every month so given infinite time you can get the same drops.
I mean that’s the critical component to “winning” so it’s kind of important.
And again, WoW is not pay to win. You don’t have any restrictions on how much gold you can earn, which is a very important distinction that you deliberately ignored so you could pretend to have a point.
More power in a smaller timeframe, im not ignoring anything you keep sliding past any questions or examples given.
What does restrictions given on gold earning matter? You get the item easier and in way less time if you just swipe the card and get an advantage.
But still no actual advantage over someone who plays without buying gold.
Having restrictions on gold would matter because then buying gold would give you an advantage.
But you could earn a million gold in a week if you really pushed yourself.
That’s why WoW isn’t like those gacha games that have limited currencies. That’s why WoW isn’t pay to win.
Except for the part where no advantage is being gained.
This is the most common argument used in defense of the go-to examples of Korean and Chinese P2W MMOs.
“It’s not exclusive to people who pay, you can grind for a extremely long time for in-game currency to get it!” … which is totally true, it just isn’t a realistic option for the majority of players, so for them it might as well be exclusive to real-money purchases.
A lot of people have tons of leftover gold from WoD’s mission boards and/or have just been stockpiling for years, but I try to view it on a per-patch basis. That is to say - if you have to earn the money right now starting from just the handful of gold you get from hitting 120.
Wot…?
I dont understand…
Yeah, no. We’re not talking about an “extremely long time” here. There is no limit to how much gold you can earn, unlike these other games.
A brand new 120 isn’t even going to be able to wear any corrupted gear without it killing him nearly instantly.
It really doesn’t take long to earn a token’s worth of gold. Even for new players. It would take most people less time to earn enough gold to buy a BOE than it would take them to earn enough money to buy one via tokens. Hours to hours it’s still better to just grind out the gold.
Look some elements are outside the game and some are controlled by the game, sure a better computer or internet helps but that’s not a system that can be controlled in game.
100% you are wrong tho about top players buying BIS corruptions it happens in the hall of fame and in the top arena ratings. I actually know a hall of fame nyalotha player who bought corruptions with money. But its hard to prove anything with straight evidence without the person themselves coming in to say he p2ws. Its much more rampant in arenas where corruptions can represent a majority of your damage, its not just low skilled players getting a boost you can be a good player buy gushing wounds and still skyrocket, look at cervantes since he bought gushing wounds x4
Well I mean you spend cash to get gold and run to the AH and buy BIS BOE corruption gear that does kinda sound like pay 2 win. In fact that is more pay to win than other F2P online games out there. Everquest and Everquest 2 the best things you can buy with cash are character boosts, exp potions, and gear that is basically junk way before max level.
SWTOR I don’t recall anything being super op in the store on it. Mostly mounts, cosmetics, unlocks for new charactor slots and things like that. Fallout 76 (granted not an MMO) just offers repair kits and its not that hard to repair your gear in that game. The upcoming New World game from what I have seen is not going to require a sub and it claims to only plan on selling cosmetics in the cash shop.
So yea I guess WOW is more P2W than at least the games I mentioned on top of requiring a monthly sub. Also the character services in wow are alot higher than other games as well. $60 for a boost is ridiculous and I don’t understand why people are willing to buy them at that cost. Mounts are higher than other games as well. Everquest, Everquest 2, SWTOR all sell mounts under $20 and the boost service is $35 and debateably gives you a better boost than the one in wow. By better I mean to reach say 85 in Everquest, or 110 in Everquest 2 would take longer than reaching 120 in WOW even without the double XP buff going.
The fact this guys argument to buying wow tokens is that it’s not an advantage because everyone can earn gold in wow just shows his argument is horrible.
Like ya I can earn gold in game but the fact Is I can just go to the store and buy the gold that is going to take someone else hours and hours of time to make.
What about race to world first where top guilds actually go into debt buying all their food/flasks/pots and whatever BoEs come up on the AH to give them an advantage to downing the boss first. If you don’t think there’s guilds that mass buy wow tokens for each raid tier you’re mistaken.
Sure, you can farm infinitely but… how long did it take you to get your 8.3 million gold? You need about twice that much to get a full set of gushing wounds gear.
You’re intentionally sidestepping the point. But, for argument’s sake, you can make the starting point a player who’s:
Level 120, iLevel 465
100,000 gold stockpiled (this is a high-end estimate of the average amount people report when asked in raids)
Cape level 15 and can reasonably be expected to be at max corruption resistance by the time they farm enough gold.
A token is less than 1/10th of one slot of gushing wound gear
checks WoW Shop i dont see any gears or anything that affects our gameplay. Where do you see pay to win??? Do you even know the meaning of pay to win???
And what would that get me? The expansion ends in a couple months.
I am intentionally staying on the point. You lot are the ones dancing around all over the place.
I’m done with this thread, y’all can keep spreading misinformation and distorted definitions if that’s what makes you happy.
I’m sure it happens at some point, my point isn’t that no one is doing it, my point is that it is in no way required to be competitive. You don’t have to buy tokens because your opponent is. A minority of people are using BOEs and the number of people who do have BOEs and purchased them out-right with tokens is even less. This just comes across as a problem made up by people looking for a scapegoat to blame for why they aren’t doing better.
Lol “checks wow shop doesn’t see P2W”… guess gold is useless in this game, news to me