with all dude respect. I hate you guys. so much right now. you guys are s of earth with money and this is so sick.
you guys didn’t fight back. all you did was join them for more money. $20 for token so people can buy gold in game with token. that’s cheating and shouldn’t be in the game.
I HATE YOU
If that was the case then other games wouldn’t permaban people over the same thing.
Even if what you say is true, the likelyhood of anyone sueing Blizzard over it is abysmal and would be laughed out of court almost immediately.
How many of them do you think are just automated bans caught by their anti-cheat which they include in that number to look good to the executives?
They could say any numbers, at the end of the day it doesn’t matter if the result has no positive impact on the players.
cmon bruh. We all know this is only going to increase gold buying for average players who were too afraid of buying from shady sites. Ban gdkp if you want less people buying gold, this only encourages it.
if you are going to put the token in to “combat RMT” then it should also be put into classic era, since there is also RMT going on there.
So the unsubs are hurting, huh? That’s funny because I was constantly told Blizzard wouldn’t miss us.
Agreed. Blizzard has some of the best lawyers on the planet on retainer. Anyone who goes against them most likely has to pay out of pocket. There’s just no realistic fear that a properly banned account would be a danger.
I understand the reasoning, but the fact that you profit will always make this look partially like greed on your end.
Donate 100% of the profit from the WoW token to charity and this would look a lot better. Though of course being under Acti-Blizz, you won’t do this.
Issues with this post and the WoW token based on your own words:
1 - “The impact of illicit RMT is beyond just buying gold; it’s the entire black market that revolves around gold sales.” - Okay, so instead of actually combatting the issues at face value, you… become a part of the problem.
2 - “We hear folks say things like “just ban the bots” a lot.” - FFXIV devs are able to handle it, why can’t Blizzard? Like actually, why is this such a big problem for presumably one of the largest game companies in the world, but not Square Enix? Everyone knows the answer - its because you aren’t allowed the resources to hire actual game masters. Everyone on the classic team is a developer, and you don’t actually have the time to moderate the game like you wish you could. That is why the playerbase is upset about bots, not because you aren’t doing the work, but because we can tell there isn’t enough people to do the work.
3 - “While we can’t completely “win” the war, what we can do is mitigate the impact it has on the game.” - By banning bots like you have been already. And there will still be bots, there will still be RMT. See: Retail bots. They’re still around. WoW token doesn’t mitigate bots.
Things I don’t actually legitimately mind about the WoW token:
1 - “When we considered that, we realized that the introduction of token wouldn’t be a temptation for most regular players to buy to help support their usual everyday gameplay.” This is true. Unironically. You look at the GDKP scene, its actually mostly its own self-contained system. Bots generate gold, people buy that gold, people go into GDKP, buy gear, gold gets redistributed to players that don’t buy gold. And then, if you don’t do any of that, like me, I still maintain and support not only myself, but an entire guild’s worth of 16 slot bags, shirts that cost 25g (the ones sold at Argent Tournament) and guild tabards. Just on my own. You don’t need to buy gold in WotLK classic. BUT - you do if you participate in the GDKP scene.
Now, it remains to be said whether consume prices massively spike or drop, because then “Doing your usual weekly raid, a few dungeons, or a few dailies a week will net even the most fervent and well-prepared characters more gold than they would need to maintain themselves.” - will age poorly and the WoW token will be what everyone points to as the root cause.
Ultimately I think the token is pointless but not necessarily bad. You’re not necessarily getting rid of bots by doing this, as proven by the Retail clip. You’re, at the very least, demotivating real players that sell gold to make a bit of cash to survive, and bots will continue to need constant moderation. However… buying gold in itself, is its own self-contained system and players that don’t buy gold atleast end up getting that redistributed to them by carrying a GDKP.
The classic player base today is, if I were to estimate… 40% GDKP enthusiasts, 30% GDKP carries, 30% People that don’t interact with GDKPs at all. This 70% crowd, I’m estimating, is what the token is there for. And it is PERFECTLY FINE TO ADMIT - YOU WANT TO MAKE MONEY. We’re mostly all grown adults, we get it.
The issue I took with the WoW token, is, not that it was introduced, but that it was introduced at the same time as Joyous Journeys, AND it wasn’t even announced. If you had literally said verbatim “Hey we’re introducing the WoW token next week because we really like money” - I personally would not have batted an eye, even though saying that requires you - the company - to admit you want to make money.
This whole post is 100% true, back when I actually played classic in TBC when there was a semblance of integrity on the team it was very well known that nothing would really happen to you if you bought gold. We had people join our guild that were like hey what’s the best way to get caught up in the later phases of the game and the actual legitimate non joke answer was buy some gold from one of those sites, do some GDKP runs and get geared out. Most people never even got caught and those that did got a 3 day ban… so yeah. You adding the wowtoken to the game is not going to achieve any of the goals you lay out here, you’re just trying to also profit off the illicit purchasing of gold, and you’re not even giving anyone a very good price for their money. The black market sites are still offering a way better deal than you. We’re far too late in the game with you for these kinds of gaslighting posts to actually work anymore. We know you don’t care about the integrity of classic anymore, we know you want to make as much money off us as humanly possible.
I’m sure this is a coincidence, but if you permaban a gold farmer, they’ll use a VPN and a new account to keep farming. If you ban the buyer, that $15/month is likely gone for good.
The very fact that this statement came after, not before, the implementation is a huge part of the problem. You guys shadowdropped an INCREDIBLY impactful item with no discussion beforehand… and it was mere months after you guys publicly rejected RDF to maintain the integrity of Classic.
Sorry to be rude, but this is the least professional communication I have seen from Blizzard. The timing was so out of touch that it almost makes it worse - this doesn’t feel genuine. It feels like a response to outrage.
How are we suposed to take these communications in good faith? This is nothing but saving face.
Also, if you’re banning accounts: show us the results. Don’t tell us the numbers. Launch WoW and record your character going to various hotspots (i.e Botanica in Classic, Stonecore in retail, etc). Why can I as a player still see hundreds of bots going in and out day after day? Are you people playing a different game than us or what?
It’s incredibly sad that you thought this was good enough communication to publish at the end of the day. You’re giving us a thumbs up and telling us to smile (for the second time) after you willingly joined in on the profit stream of goldbuyers. Actions speak louder than words.
For years, your name has been synonymous with quality, creativity, and the unwavering dedication to delivering exceptional gaming experiences. You were the beacon of inspiration that ignited the flames of passion within us, your devoted fans.
However, it grieves me to admit that the recent choices you have made have shattered our collective admiration. The introduction of a pay-to-win model within one of your games has left us disheartened and disillusioned. It feels like a betrayal, as if the essence of what made Blizzard so extraordinary has been compromised.
Blizzard, you were once the embodiment of fair play, where skill, strategy, and determination reigned supreme. Your games were a testament to the principle that everyone should have an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of their financial capabilities. You created worlds where success was earned through dedication, practice, and the strength of one’s spirit.
But now, witnessing the emergence of this pay-to-win system, it feels as though you have deviated from those principles. The very essence of what made Blizzard games captivating has been undermined by the notion that victory can be purchased rather than earned. It casts a dark cloud over the cherished memories we hold dear, tarnishing the legacy you once built.
Let us remember the Blizzard that captured our hearts, the Blizzard that nurtured a community, and the Blizzard that brought joy and inspiration to countless lives. We long for the return of the Blizzard that stayed true to its core values and fostered an environment of fairness, camaraderie, and skillful competition.
It is not too late to reassess these decisions and rediscover the path that made you a shining star in the gaming industry. We implore you to reflect upon the profound impact you have had on our lives and restore our faith in the Blizzard we once knew.
Velaurius
literally just pay people to sit on a GM account in popular botting instances at random intervals and do a /who of the dungeon.
doing a /who of Black Temple right now on mankrik at 8:30 am has over 20 people in it, 18 of those are rogues. call me crazy but i doubt 18 rogues are grouping up to run BT on a thursday morning for a shot at warglaives.
I imagine it came after because the financial consequences were much worse than they anticipated and they’re trying to fight it.
For almost everyone I know that came back for classic, this is the hill we are all willing to die on. This is a huge mistake and just plain greedy, if this bleeds down to classic era it’ll be a deathblow to all of it.
What about forcing people who use click to move to add an authenticator. Bots have been using this for over 10 years. If it really was about bots the token is not the solution.
So you cant add RDF for the players that want it because it breaks the immersion and social aspect of classic yet you can add a token for people that want to buy gold and act like it doesn’t do the same?
Lets be real and call it for what it is blizzard is a greedy company and wanted money from classic because retail is failing if you cared about what the player base wanted we would have random dungeon finder by now but nahhh we just get tokens.
If your efforts were so pure in intent you wouldnt be skimming profit off the top of each token, not to mention this post came out after the “buy your token now, hit up the shop!” post as clearly damage control.
You also didn’t commit here to never adding the token to future iterations of classic era or TBC, or other versions of classic. There’s also the fact that undoubtedly more people will buy gold through token that would have through RMT because there’s no threat of account action and it’s easy and safe.
This entire thing reeks of greed and none of you have the integrity to speak truth or defy this. Your pillars of classic mean nothing, and you stand for nothing.
Do you have a graph or metrics that show that introducing the WoW token actually has the effects you theorize it does in this post? I believe that it would, but I’d be interested to see how effective it actually is. Something like number of compromised accounts before and after the WoW token was introduced in retail, and maybe in a few weeks a similar thing for classic would be interesting to see as well.