WoW should be F2P if they going to add more and more microtansactions

Community General Discussion
27

I think that option should only be applicable for items that you can no longer get in the game.

Any item that can be earned in-game (not simply by playing the game to earn gold to purchase tokens) should not be purchasable as that can lead to a pay-to-win scenario. There is no difference at that point whether it’s cosmetic items or not if you’re giving the option to pay rather than play for items.

29

My distraction about fallacies aside, here is my problem with the cash shop:
Yes, it is a way to make extra money for the company, but at what cost is it to us that we are simply not seeing or noticing? How many badly reskinned horses did Alliance gain access to this expansion? Then to see that the designers are capable of putting out cool mounts only if we fork over additional money?

If the top brass of 2007’s Blizzard had been the same current ones we have now from Blizzard/Activision, loved mounts like Ashes of Al’ar and Invincible would not be drops - they’d be in the store for $25.

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32

FF14 doesn’t. Both theirs and Blizzard’s cash shops are far smaller and more limited than games such as ESO or Guild Wars 2. Once they go free to play they can add whatever they want, but I think both companies know that if they add anything more than cosmetic items at this point, they’d lose a lot of customers.

35

This is a good point. I always forget about FF14.

Like I said at the end of my initial post, though I was being a bit of a jerk about it, enjoy the cashshop toys.

I’ve just never been a fan of cashshops in any form and refuse to personally support them the majority of the time. I am guilty of being a hypocrite on that point though as I have bought things off of them before (oops.) I am aware that others enjoy the content on offer from them and I don’t have a problem with that.

I was just expressing my individual opinion, as everyone has a right to. The arguments folks get into on these forums for simple disagreements are pretty funny though.

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37

No I get it, and everyone’s entitled to their own opinion on it. As long as they keep it exclusively cosmetic stuff, I just don’t think it’s hurting anyone. Clearly a lot of people don’t mind paying for that stuff and it makes Blizzard some money.

When WoW does eventually go free to play, it will be interesting to see if they actually change the store up at that point.

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39

I don’t know, does anyone really DESERVE microtransactions?

But in all seriousness, why should Blizzard turn down the opportunity to make more? Even in its current state of being… well, not-the-best it’s ever been… WoW is still a better game than say, mobile games that are making money hand-over-fist from microtransactions. I’m not saying it’s necessarily “right”, but I’m not so sure we can categorically say it’s “wrong” either. As long as they keep it as strictly cosmetic items (you can argue pets have a function besides cosmetic, I understand that point) and they don’t move to loot boxes, I don’t really see how it’s hurting anything.

Speaking of hurting things, your forum avatar makes you look like a Nightborne with the body of a Draenei. Don’t punch me, friend.

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42

I don’t really understand this. What microtransactions are there for wow?

It’s just like a bunch of cosmetic crap.

I would need some one to explain how having a pet or mount on the store would impact the game in any way before I can properly give my opinion on this one.

One thing I will say is having a subscription is the best thing for wow atm. The less people playing and there for paying is more likely to encourage changes.

If it was free to play you couldn’t tell anything about trends and people could just do as they please in terms of breaks and returns to the game.

Not a healthy option for an mmorpg.

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44

Apparently the term microtransaction itself as it relates to online gaming just refers to the sale of virtual goods/services or in-game currency bought with real world money, regardless of the other nature of the goods/services being bought.

45

While I suspect this is a troll thread, I will say that the Blizzard store is far from a microtransaction.

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46

Well I know one thing I am not crowdfunding Esports for blizzard I don’t crowdfund them for any other company I sure as hell am not giving them my money for this.

48

blizzards sell golds, players buying golds then use golds to buy runs to get gears is same as selling gears and that does impact the game.

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49

So can i not buy tokens, convert them into gold and buy Mythic BoEs and carries?

You can definitely gain some advantages from buying tokens

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50

You hit the nail right on the head about the cash shop. An about shoddy development in the in-game stuff and yet they’re putting really nice stuff in the store. I just wonder how much more things will change over the next year. They are sending out those surveys asking people questions about microtransactions I don’t think this is only blizzard involved in this I do think the parent company has something to do with it whether people want to admit it or not. Like I used to say how do you boil a frog alive you said it in cold water and you slowly turn up the heat that’s what’s happening to us whether we want to admit it or not.

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51

Your example of socialism is actually quite wrong, as they held both left wing and right wing ideals.
I never said Americans are inferior or dumb, that’s on you. I just find most cannot make a distinction between the two terms, and how socialism is still (with even your example as proof) this poisonous political term when it really isn’t. But let’s stay on topic.

What’s funny is both in-game shops and souvenir shops have ludicrous prices for their stock. I like how you couldn’t prove my point wrong about mounts and pets being in-game, resorting to “well if you know so much why don’t you make a game yourself”. Seems I’ve hit a nerve ladies and gentlemen.

It’s not begging? Really?

As both Arena and MDI grow, we want to give fans a chance to further support the programs—and have some fun along the way! Soon we will introduce two new in-game toys to our shop (details to follow). A portion of the sale of these toys will contribute to the prize pools for both WoW esports programs.

I’m not sure how you didn’t get “oh please fund the MDI for us, pleeeeeeease” out of that. Yeah other companies do do this, but if you read my post earlier its F2P games that do this such as DOTA, LOL and Smite. They don’t make money from the sale of the game so they need microtransactions so players support the game. Bit of a difference between Activision Blizzard and them, don’t you think?

I don’t know, does anyone really DESERVE microtransactions?

But in all seriousness, why should Blizzard turn down the opportunity to make more? Even in its current state of being… well, not-the-best it’s ever been… WoW is still a better game than say, mobile games that are making money hand-over-fist from microtransactions. I’m not saying it’s necessarily “right”, but I’m not so sure we can categorically say it’s “wrong” either. As long as they keep it as strictly cosmetic items (you can argue pets have a function besides cosmetic, I understand that point) and they don’t move to loot boxes, I don’t really see how it’s hurting anything.

Speaking of hurting things, your forum avatar makes you look like a Nightborne with the body of a Draenei. Don’t punch me, friend.

If you ask me, WoW and mobile games are pretty much on parity with one another. It might be cosmetic, but there’s no reason why they couldn’t add those things as quests to get in-game.

If it was free to play you couldn’t tell anything about trends and people could just do as they please in terms of breaks and returns to the game.

We can’t tell anything about trends in WoW as blizz don’t release sub numbers anymore, so what’s your point?

52

So buy them with gold.

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53

I’ve read through two of these stupid threads and no one is answering the question of what we’re supposed to be mad about.

So the store has pets (check), mounts (check), and now toys? Huh?

What’s it have to do with e-sports?

:frowning:

54

… dont buy from shop?

55

As both Arena and MDI grow, we want to give fans a chance to further support the programs—and have some fun along the way! Soon we will introduce two new in-game toys to our shop (details to follow). A portion of the sale of these toys will contribute to the prize pools for both WoW esports programs.

This. Considering money has been saved due to HOTS cancellation and they’re cost cutting at Blizzard. It’s cost cutting that’s come down the consumer level now. They save money and we pay for them. Ridiculous.

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58

I don’t really know how I feel about it one way or the other…

On one hand free to play would populate the servers again and easily fix a lot of problems dead servers bring about.

On the other hand wow already has far to many cash shop items when services should be free (server transfers are fully automated along with racial changes it shouldn’t really be a premium service in my mind).

At this point it doesn’t feel like they have much to lose either way.

59

Right but that’s just some one else’s gold. That’s not a micro transaction in my book. Blizzard isn’t giving you anything.