What you've done here is taken a, "professional media backdrop," and pasted the rantings of a well worded World of Warcraft fan boys over the top of it. I can't really expect much more of you though. It's probably why they only let you write lists.
Comparing this announcement with the micro-transaction based revenue model is perfectly acceptable and your inference that it is not is... well... not acceptable lol What Blizzard have done here is introduce a micro-transaction based in-game store which is - shock horror - the same system that most MT based games use. The only differences are that (a) you have to pay a subscription fee to access the in-game store to them buy the pets, and (b) they are only planning to add vanity pets to the system and not game changing items or other things. Not apples and zebras, like you claim. Dullard.
As for this protecting the baseline? That's just simply not the case. In September last year Blizzard reported that they had ONLY JUST spent $200 million supporting the infrastructure for World of Warcraft over the (near) four years of its life. This is a company that reported a $2 billion revenue in 2008 - 2009 as well as a company that made enough of the World of Warcraft subscription alone to fund 4 other development teams working on 4 other titles. This isn't about covering the base line. This is purely about making yet more money and has nothing to do with covering their basic costs. That was a rubbish point and I' sure that you are aware of that ;-)
I also think that - if you support the idea of double dipping - then you are a greedy, selfish, untalented - clearly - man. However your point is flawed. If Blizzard felt that this would not interest the majority they would not have implemented it. As it stands however there has been a clear effort on their part to drive players into collecting vanity items such as pets, tabards, mounts etc. They've been churning over this since TBC. This is yet more one step on the ladder. Pets are a widely popular area of the game. It wouldn't be so bad if these items were available in game as well but the fact that they are shop exclusives is pretty reprehensible.
You know what? I'm fed up of reading your articles and having to deal with your opinion. You're a glorified fan site editor and nothing more and - most of the time - you are wrong ;-)
Some people actually put a high value on aesthetic items. People like looking different or having different pets, mounts etc etc in a game. They charge you roughly 50 bucks for the game and 50 for each expansion plus 15 bucks a month , now they want to milk you for even mroe If you want to collect everything in game? Pets will be the first thing ... then mounts, then something else.
Is it really a big deal? Probably not but it's the principle of the matter. But most people could give a shit , so they will make more money in the long run and continue to add more stuff down the road. So "win" for Blizz and a "loss" for consumers who can now expect some type of rmt in every single decent game down the road.
But no. Instead you spent all that time going "STOP QQING!" by... QQing. No insight into the industry aside from "the more you yell, the less they'll listen to you" (which is only true of companies that honestly don't care about their playerbase). Not actually adding anything to the massive 200+ string. Instead, it was a giant nerdrage where you're right and they're wrong and those against this should shut up.
Welcome to the world of columns and opinion pieces.
And for the record, the entire article revolves around the encroachment of a different revenue model into the Western MMO market, and how in some cases people over-react to them. This over-reaction to harmless additions is indeed making it easier and easier for those powers that be to ignore the voices of their players. This, in turn, will make it easier for companies to get away with less scrupulous behavior. Who's going to listen to the boy who cried wolf when a wolf actually appears if they've pointed at every house dog that's walked by and screamed bloody murder?
But yeah, it was probably just an un-thought out nerdrage.
Go ask the EQ2 players how harmless the "fluff" items in the virtual card game has become? Ask them about the RMT only dungeon, quests and non-fluff items are.
Don't sit back and pretend this isn't just the beginning. I know you are not that stupid.
Blizzard is now removing developer time from their normal updates and withholding the content made by those resources for an disproportionately high amount of money. Sorry, but that seems rather unscrupulous to me.
Mr Wood, What you've done here is taken a, "professional media backdrop," and pasted the rantings of a well worded World of Warcraft fan boys over the top of it. I can't really expect much more of you though. It's probably why they only let you write lists. Comparing this announcement with the micro-transaction based revenue model is perfectly acceptable and your inference that it is not is... well... not acceptable lol What Blizzard have done here is introduce a micro-transaction based in-game store which is - shock horror - the same system that most MT based games use. The only differences are that (a) you have to pay a subscription fee to access the in-game store to them buy the pets, and (b) they are only planning to add vanity pets to the system and not game changing items or other things. Not apples and zebras, like you claim. Dullard. As for this protecting the baseline? That's just simply not the case. In September last year Blizzard reported that they had ONLY JUST spent $200 million supporting the infrastructure for World of Warcraft over the (near) four years of its life. This is a company that reported a $2 billion revenue in 2008 - 2009 as well as a company that made enough of the World of Warcraft subscription alone to fund 4 other development teams working on 4 other titles. This isn't about covering the base line. This is purely about making yet more money and has nothing to do with covering their basic costs. That was a rubbish point and I' sure that you are aware of that ;-) I also think that - if you support the idea of double dipping - then you are a greedy, selfish, untalented - clearly - man. However your point is flawed. If Blizzard felt that this would not interest the majority they would not have implemented it. As it stands however there has been a clear effort on their part to drive players into collecting vanity items such as pets, tabards, mounts etc. They've been churning over this since TBC. This is yet more one step on the ladder. Pets are a widely popular area of the game. It wouldn't be so bad if these items were available in game as well but the fact that they are shop exclusives is pretty reprehensible. You know what? I'm fed up of reading your articles and having to deal with your opinion. You're a glorified fan site editor and nothing more and - most of the time - you are wrong ;-)
Mr Wood, What you've done here is taken a, "professional media backdrop," and pasted the rantings of a well worded World of Warcraft fan boys over the top of it. I can't really expect much more of you though. It's probably why they only let you write lists. Comparing this announcement with the micro-transaction based revenue model is perfectly acceptable and your inference that it is not is... well... not acceptable lol What Blizzard have done here is introduce a micro-transaction based in-game store which is - shock horror - the same system that most MT based games use. The only differences are that (a) you have to pay a subscription fee to access the in-game store to them buy the pets, and (b) they are only planning to add vanity pets to the system and not game changing items or other things. Not apples and zebras, like you claim. Dullard. As for this protecting the baseline? That's just simply not the case. In September last year Blizzard reported that they had ONLY JUST spent $200 million supporting the infrastructure for World of Warcraft over the (near) four years of its life. This is a company that reported a $2 billion revenue in 2008 - 2009 as well as a company that made enough of the World of Warcraft subscription alone to fund 4 other development teams working on 4 other titles. This isn't about covering the base line. This is purely about making yet more money and has nothing to do with covering their basic costs. That was a rubbish point and I' sure that you are aware of that ;-) I also think that - if you support the idea of double dipping - then you are a greedy, selfish, untalented - clearly - man. However your point is flawed. If Blizzard felt that this would not interest the majority they would not have implemented it. As it stands however there has been a clear effort on their part to drive players into collecting vanity items such as pets, tabards, mounts etc. They've been churning over this since TBC. This is yet more one step on the ladder. Pets are a widely popular area of the game. It wouldn't be so bad if these items were available in game as well but the fact that they are shop exclusives is pretty reprehensible. You know what? I'm fed up of reading your articles and having to deal with your opinion. You're a glorified fan site editor and nothing more and - most of the time - you are wrong ;-)
i just became a fan of infalible
You should't be, the pets are in the blizzard store, not in game.
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
my gripe isnt the fact that they are selling a completely useless pet (that doesnt have an effect on gameplay at all) but the fact that it costs 2/3 of a monthly sub to get. Fair enough that on one of the pets half the money is going to charity but once that ends i really hope that drops down to $5 because otherwise its a complete rip off
Pre-ordering a collectors edition of a game is often $10-20 and in that you would get a pet (or something similar), maybe a map, soundtrack and an artbook.
All that for $10-20 extra.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds -Solid non level based game -Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
my gripe isnt the fact that they are selling a completely useless pet (that doesnt have an effect on gameplay at all) but the fact that it costs 2/3 of a monthly sub to get. Fair enough that on one of the pets half the money is going to charity but once that ends i really hope that drops down to $5 because otherwise its a complete rip off
Pre-ordering a collectors edition of a game is often $10-20 and in that you would get a pet (or something similar), maybe a map, soundtrack and an artbook.
All that for $10-20 extra.
Don't by them, or act like an adult and ask yourself if a digital pet is worth that to you, then, keep the results to yourself.
---------- "Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
I would like to give Jon some credit for tackling a controversial issue and taking a stand as to what his point of view is. I certainly do not agree with him, but thats bound to happen when someone expresses their opinion.
Now, leaving aside for a moment my opinion on this issue, which ive made well known in the other threads addressing it, i would like to make a comment on the crying wolf analogy. We players have the right to make our voices heard through whatever forum will grant us the privilege to do so. I dont agree with the view that this in any way takes away from the comunitys (admittedly small) capacity to influence game developers. Blizzard is an industry leader (yes, the veritable Godzilla) and how we react to its policies and their implementation carries consequences far beyond WOWs playerbase. Other than quitting a game, vocal oposition is the one argument we can provide to those in companies making the decissions that affect us. They ignore players at their own peril.
The fact that, as many posters have pointed out, an investment has been made to allow for RMT is likely to bring this issue up for discussion in Blizzard´s board meetings. Other than the hard data on how this may affect their sub numbers (which they can only use in hindsight) it is players posting their rejection of RMT which will make the people on charge give this a second thought.
Back to my opinion on this issue. Some posters in here seem to almost relish the trend towards RMT weve seen overtaking the MMO world. This is unfortunate, as it is not RMT by itself that will affect gameplay, but the lack of restraint it encourages in game management, once the cat is out of the bag, and decissions are made with the sole purpose of maximizing profit. Since becoming a poster in this forums i have yet to be shown an example of a company adopting RMT without moving towards affecting the game experience of its users. NONE. One of the posters in this thread claimed to be a Perfect World player while expressing his support of RMT. He obviously hasnt been one for long or chooses to ignore the history of the game he plays in. P2p and RMT together are a perverse idea, and the one reason ill never support EVE whatever its virtues.
Finally, some people in this thread have reported in game threats motivated by the new pets in WOW. This is in no way justifiable and people getting banned because of this rightly deserve such treatment. People should voice their disaproval of what Blizzard has done and have every right to do so in a civil manner, never through intimidation.
Just to make things clear... I speak for myself and no one else, unless i state otherwise mine is just an opinion. A fact is something that can be independently verified, you may challenge such but with proof. You have every right to disagree with me through sound argument, i believe in constructive debate, but baseless aggression will warrant an unkind response.
I hereby reserve the right to claim "I told you so" when things do go south Jon.
I never said things wouldn't ever go south. I just said that what happened yesterday isn't actually proof of anything and that if people keep losing their minds over things that prove nothing, when real proof emerges, and someone cries foul over it, no one will listen.
I've got to disagree on this one (finally another columnist I can disagree with, about time).
Just because this instance is pets that don't affect the game, that is an easy place to start. It gets people used to paying money for in game items. Once people are used to that you can start selling more items and slowly work it to the point that there's pots and other items that start to become standard use in game.
I don't think there's anything wrong with people getting mad over this, I don't want to play a subscription game and then EVER pay real money in another way towards the same game. I also don't want people who are willing to pay extra money to now get stuff I can't. I don't particularly ever care about having a useless in game pet, but it doesn't mean that's where the company will stop. (For the record I don't play WoW and don't plan on ever going back to WoW, but as we know a lot of companies try to copy WoW to get the same money).
If no one ever questioned moves made both in the game world and real world, then we lose the checks and balances. You need the people who go over the top nuts, the people who never take notice of anything and the majority that falls somewhere in the middle. Telling those people they are essentially wrong to have their own opinions is fairly ridiculous and rude at the same time.
I also believe the charity is a smoke screen to help lessen the blow of adding real money items. I hate hearing companies toot their own horn and make a big public deal over giving money to charity, it helps show how fake it is. To be a truly generous company you donate your OWN MONEY to charity. Plus they are donating 50% of 1 item, so 25% and then don't forget they will be taking out the cost of making the items/running the store before taking away 50% to give to charity. If they really wanted to be giving they'd give 75% of both items, but they did 25% of the total to help gain support for making people pay them more.
Yes there are good charities out there, and yes it's good for people and companies to give to them. But it is greatly cheapened when it is used for a gain as opposed to being done simply to help the less fortunate.
Blizzard is having a Charity Drive event. They are being nice to give something to people who donate to the event. They COULD have just asked for money and everyone would have gotten less.
This is a win/win/win situation. It's a Win for Blizzard, as it gets attention to the charity and good press for doing so. This is a win for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as they will use the money for a good cause. This is a win for the pet collector, as they will get a limited edition pet for their collection.
So get over yourselves. This is for a good cause, and you are letting your own paranoia get in the way of what is a good thing.
they are doing a good thing many many many people will buy these two pets and that's it. Who the hell cares. My god yall really have been just waitin for them to do anything to bash em. Thats just pathetic.
If a company wants to use subscription +rmt business model then by all means do so. People whined about SOE and Cryptic doing it and they are whining that Blizzard is doing it now. The thing is how Blizzard is going about this whole pet store. They are saying this pet store is for charity. Ok great, good on them but there is a catch,they are keeping half the profits. They are using this charity thing as an excuse to get people to use the rmt model they are planning to use in the future. So they figure lets make people feel sorry for the people in need so we can make more money. Thats the problem I have with the way Blizzard is doing this whole thing, its pretty sneaky and devious if you ask me not to mention pretty low life how they are going about the whole pet store.
Also gamers have to start thinking differently these days. It isn't all about making great games anymore. Its all about the benjamins, its a business. It is about making a game to make money. If gamers do not like the way companies are running their business then there is one of several ways what you can do. You can either not play their games, not play mmos at all or you can simply find another company that suites your needs and wants.
A lot of you are being reactionary and stupid. Blizzard is having a Charity Drive event. They are being nice to give something to people who donate to the event. They COULD have just asked for money and everyone would have gotten less. This is a win/win/win situation. It's a Win for Blizzard, as it gets attention to the charity and good press for doing so. This is a win for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as they will use the money for a good cause. This is a win for the pet collector, as they will get a limited edition pet for their collection. So get over yourselves. This is for a good cause, and you are letting your own paranoia get in the way of what is a good thing.
Ummm, that's all well and good, but only one of the pets is for charity, and only 50% of that. So of the 2 pets sold, blizzard will keep 75% of the profit (if both sale in equal amounts) and give 25% to charity. Kinda shitty. If it's for charity shouldn't all proceeds go to the charity.
First off you dumb asses that cannot read are missing the point that the pet only costs 5 bucks the other 5 goes to a very worthwhile charity and 2nd of all it is a bout damned time Blizzard did move to micro transactions since almost every other game company is doing it and with this it would kill off the gold farmers and spammers, so the only one bitching should be those that make money from gold being sold.
A lot of you are being reactionary and stupid. Blizzard is having a Charity Drive event. They are being nice to give something to people who donate to the event. They COULD have just asked for money and everyone would have gotten less. This is a win/win/win situation. It's a Win for Blizzard, as it gets attention to the charity and good press for doing so. This is a win for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as they will use the money for a good cause. This is a win for the pet collector, as they will get a limited edition pet for their collection. So get over yourselves. This is for a good cause, and you are letting your own paranoia get in the way of what is a good thing.
Ummm, that's all well and good, but only one of the pets is for charity, and only 50% of that. So of the 2 pets sold, blizzard will keep 75% of the profit (if both sale in equal amounts) and give 25% to charity. Kinda shitty. If it's for charity shouldn't all proceeds go to the charity.
I have a better idea. Quit WoW, donate $10 to the make a wish foundation and play a sub based MMO without a cash shop.
Saying that the vanity pets wont affect gameplay is pretty naive and outright stupid, to someone that wants the pet or collects them for that matter it does affect their gameplay, they now have an extra pet you can only get through RMT, it also affects the person who collects pets and wants the pet but for one reason or another cannot buy it and now has to see the person who has it with it but knowing they will never do themselves even tho they pay the same sub at the end of the day, and dont even say they are a minority there is a full website dedicated to pets where ppl can rank themselves on what pets they have.
Like someone said before me they are using the charity excuse to make more money, if they wanted to help the make-a-wish they would put up an ad and/or send out a newsletter asking ppl to donate $10 or so to make-a-wish and get an ingame pet, where the full 10 dollars go to charity not setup a shop.
First off you dumb asses that cannot read are missing the point that the pet only costs 5 bucks the other 5 goes to a very worthwhile charity and 2nd of all it is a bout damned time Blizzard did move to micro transactions since almost every other game company is doing it and with this it would kill off the gold farmers and spammers, so the only one bitching should be those that make money from gold being sold.
Nuff Said.
Well, you already included something I was going to call you in your own post, so I wont bother re-typing it.
First off, ONE pet, just one, is having half its profits going to charity, not both.
Two, its ten bucks, don't try to hide behind the charity. If I wanted to give a charity just 5 bucks I would, and I wouldn't spend another 5 on top of that to do it. Oh, and the charity is only for ~2 months, it isn't permanent.
Third, how in bloody hell do you come to the conclusion that buying 10$ pets will mean no more gold sellers?
And fourth, how is it about time? Was Acti-blizz running out of cash, and had to pay for the servers with their own credit cards and pennies? Hell, I bet you also think every other MMO in existence needs to all become the same game, just because only two other companies are doing it.
I can not wait for blizzard to sell more stuff, i fully support it and will continue to buy what ever they offer, not only me but ill make sure the circle of friends i run with purchase and support it as well
I hereby reserve the right to claim "I told you so" when things do go south Jon.
I never said things wouldn't ever go south. I just said that what happened yesterday isn't actually proof of anything and that if people keep losing their minds over things that prove nothing, when real proof emerges, and someone cries foul over it, no one will listen.
Do you seriously believe that by having pre-emptive complaining about a very real possibility, it's going to stop the publishers from listening when they actually do what everybody's afraid they will do? Is that what you're saying Jon?
I love this. People complained about items only in-game grinders could get...the grinder just laughed and said this is their game. No there are items for real life grinders that actually make money and buy items the in-game grinders can not get. Now the ingame grinders get to cry while the people with jobs just laugh.
I love this. People complained about items only in-game grinders could get...the grinder just laughed and said this is their game. No there are items for real life grinders that actually make money and buy items the in-game grinders can not get. Now the ingame grinders get to cry while the people with jobs just laugh.
I'm not at all into RMT, but that is a funny point you bring up.
But no. Instead you spent all that time going "STOP QQING!" by... QQing. No insight into the industry aside from "the more you yell, the less they'll listen to you" (which is only true of companies that honestly don't care about their playerbase). Not actually adding anything to the massive 200+ string. Instead, it was a giant nerdrage where you're right and they're wrong and those against this should shut up.
This.
Jon was biased and rude in his tone.
Does Blizzard advertise on this site?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Comments
Mr Wood,
What you've done here is taken a, "professional media backdrop," and pasted the rantings of a well worded World of Warcraft fan boys over the top of it. I can't really expect much more of you though. It's probably why they only let you write lists.
Comparing this announcement with the micro-transaction based revenue model is perfectly acceptable and your inference that it is not is... well... not acceptable lol What Blizzard have done here is introduce a micro-transaction based in-game store which is - shock horror - the same system that most MT based games use. The only differences are that (a) you have to pay a subscription fee to access the in-game store to them buy the pets, and (b) they are only planning to add vanity pets to the system and not game changing items or other things. Not apples and zebras, like you claim. Dullard.
As for this protecting the baseline? That's just simply not the case. In September last year Blizzard reported that they had ONLY JUST spent $200 million supporting the infrastructure for World of Warcraft over the (near) four years of its life. This is a company that reported a $2 billion revenue in 2008 - 2009 as well as a company that made enough of the World of Warcraft subscription alone to fund 4 other development teams working on 4 other titles. This isn't about covering the base line. This is purely about making yet more money and has nothing to do with covering their basic costs. That was a rubbish point and I' sure that you are aware of that ;-)
I also think that - if you support the idea of double dipping - then you are a greedy, selfish, untalented - clearly - man. However your point is flawed. If Blizzard felt that this would not interest the majority they would not have implemented it. As it stands however there has been a clear effort on their part to drive players into collecting vanity items such as pets, tabards, mounts etc. They've been churning over this since TBC. This is yet more one step on the ladder. Pets are a widely popular area of the game. It wouldn't be so bad if these items were available in game as well but the fact that they are shop exclusives is pretty reprehensible.
You know what? I'm fed up of reading your articles and having to deal with your opinion. You're a glorified fan site editor and nothing more and - most of the time - you are wrong ;-)
http://www.themmoquest.com - MMO commentary from an overly angry brit. OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!
Some people actually put a high value on aesthetic items. People like looking different or having different pets, mounts etc etc in a game. They charge you roughly 50 bucks for the game and 50 for each expansion plus 15 bucks a month , now they want to milk you for even mroe If you want to collect everything in game? Pets will be the first thing ... then mounts, then something else.
Is it really a big deal? Probably not but it's the principle of the matter. But most people could give a shit , so they will make more money in the long run and continue to add more stuff down the road. So "win" for Blizz and a "loss" for consumers who can now expect some type of rmt in every single decent game down the road.
Welcome to the world of columns and opinion pieces.
And for the record, the entire article revolves around the encroachment of a different revenue model into the Western MMO market, and how in some cases people over-react to them. This over-reaction to harmless additions is indeed making it easier and easier for those powers that be to ignore the voices of their players. This, in turn, will make it easier for companies to get away with less scrupulous behavior. Who's going to listen to the boy who cried wolf when a wolf actually appears if they've pointed at every house dog that's walked by and screamed bloody murder?
But yeah, it was probably just an un-thought out nerdrage.
Go ask the EQ2 players how harmless the "fluff" items in the virtual card game has become? Ask them about the RMT only dungeon, quests and non-fluff items are.
Don't sit back and pretend this isn't just the beginning. I know you are not that stupid.
Blizzard is now removing developer time from their normal updates and withholding the content made by those resources for an disproportionately high amount of money. Sorry, but that seems rather unscrupulous to me.
What happened to blizzard happens to peeople in real life, in their youth they can be almost perfect, but later they becomes fat...
i just became a fan of infalible
i just became a fan of infalible
You should't be, the pets are in the blizzard store, not in game.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
my gripe isnt the fact that they are selling a completely useless pet (that doesnt have an effect on gameplay at all) but the fact that it costs 2/3 of a monthly sub to get. Fair enough that on one of the pets half the money is going to charity but once that ends i really hope that drops down to $5 because otherwise its a complete rip off
Pre-ordering a collectors edition of a game is often $10-20 and in that you would get a pet (or something similar), maybe a map, soundtrack and an artbook.
All that for $10-20 extra.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Don't by them, or act like an adult and ask yourself if a digital pet is worth that to you, then, keep the results to yourself.
----------
"Anyone posting on this forum is not an average user, and there for any opinions about the game are going to be overly critical compared to an average users opinions." - Me
"No, your wrong.." - Random user #123
"Hello person posting on a site specifically for MMO's in a thread on a sub forum specifically for a particular game talking about meta features and making comparisons to other titles in the genre, and their meta features.
How are you?" -Me
I would like to give Jon some credit for tackling a controversial issue and taking a stand as to what his point of view is. I certainly do not agree with him, but thats bound to happen when someone expresses their opinion.
Now, leaving aside for a moment my opinion on this issue, which ive made well known in the other threads addressing it, i would like to make a comment on the crying wolf analogy. We players have the right to make our voices heard through whatever forum will grant us the privilege to do so. I dont agree with the view that this in any way takes away from the comunitys (admittedly small) capacity to influence game developers. Blizzard is an industry leader (yes, the veritable Godzilla) and how we react to its policies and their implementation carries consequences far beyond WOWs playerbase. Other than quitting a game, vocal oposition is the one argument we can provide to those in companies making the decissions that affect us. They ignore players at their own peril.
The fact that, as many posters have pointed out, an investment has been made to allow for RMT is likely to bring this issue up for discussion in Blizzard´s board meetings. Other than the hard data on how this may affect their sub numbers (which they can only use in hindsight) it is players posting their rejection of RMT which will make the people on charge give this a second thought.
Back to my opinion on this issue. Some posters in here seem to almost relish the trend towards RMT weve seen overtaking the MMO world. This is unfortunate, as it is not RMT by itself that will affect gameplay, but the lack of restraint it encourages in game management, once the cat is out of the bag, and decissions are made with the sole purpose of maximizing profit. Since becoming a poster in this forums i have yet to be shown an example of a company adopting RMT without moving towards affecting the game experience of its users. NONE. One of the posters in this thread claimed to be a Perfect World player while expressing his support of RMT. He obviously hasnt been one for long or chooses to ignore the history of the game he plays in. P2p and RMT together are a perverse idea, and the one reason ill never support EVE whatever its virtues.
Finally, some people in this thread have reported in game threats motivated by the new pets in WOW. This is in no way justifiable and people getting banned because of this rightly deserve such treatment. People should voice their disaproval of what Blizzard has done and have every right to do so in a civil manner, never through intimidation.
Just to make things clear...
I speak for myself and no one else, unless i state otherwise mine is just an opinion. A fact is something that can be independently verified, you may challenge such but with proof. You have every right to disagree with me through sound argument, i believe in constructive debate, but baseless aggression will warrant an unkind response.
I never said things wouldn't ever go south. I just said that what happened yesterday isn't actually proof of anything and that if people keep losing their minds over things that prove nothing, when real proof emerges, and someone cries foul over it, no one will listen.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
I've got to disagree on this one (finally another columnist I can disagree with, about time).
Just because this instance is pets that don't affect the game, that is an easy place to start. It gets people used to paying money for in game items. Once people are used to that you can start selling more items and slowly work it to the point that there's pots and other items that start to become standard use in game.
I don't think there's anything wrong with people getting mad over this, I don't want to play a subscription game and then EVER pay real money in another way towards the same game. I also don't want people who are willing to pay extra money to now get stuff I can't. I don't particularly ever care about having a useless in game pet, but it doesn't mean that's where the company will stop. (For the record I don't play WoW and don't plan on ever going back to WoW, but as we know a lot of companies try to copy WoW to get the same money).
If no one ever questioned moves made both in the game world and real world, then we lose the checks and balances. You need the people who go over the top nuts, the people who never take notice of anything and the majority that falls somewhere in the middle. Telling those people they are essentially wrong to have their own opinions is fairly ridiculous and rude at the same time.
I also believe the charity is a smoke screen to help lessen the blow of adding real money items. I hate hearing companies toot their own horn and make a big public deal over giving money to charity, it helps show how fake it is. To be a truly generous company you donate your OWN MONEY to charity. Plus they are donating 50% of 1 item, so 25% and then don't forget they will be taking out the cost of making the items/running the store before taking away 50% to give to charity. If they really wanted to be giving they'd give 75% of both items, but they did 25% of the total to help gain support for making people pay them more.
Yes there are good charities out there, and yes it's good for people and companies to give to them. But it is greatly cheapened when it is used for a gain as opposed to being done simply to help the less fortunate.
A lot of you are being reactionary and stupid.
Blizzard is having a Charity Drive event. They are being nice to give something to people who donate to the event. They COULD have just asked for money and everyone would have gotten less.
This is a win/win/win situation. It's a Win for Blizzard, as it gets attention to the charity and good press for doing so. This is a win for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, as they will use the money for a good cause. This is a win for the pet collector, as they will get a limited edition pet for their collection.
So get over yourselves. This is for a good cause, and you are letting your own paranoia get in the way of what is a good thing.
they are doing a good thing many many many people will buy these two pets and that's it. Who the hell cares. My god yall really have been just waitin for them to do anything to bash em. Thats just pathetic.
It's not blizzard that is giving them the money is the customers that will buy these pets they aren't going to put 1$.
If a company wants to use subscription +rmt business model then by all means do so. People whined about SOE and Cryptic doing it and they are whining that Blizzard is doing it now. The thing is how Blizzard is going about this whole pet store. They are saying this pet store is for charity. Ok great, good on them but there is a catch,they are keeping half the profits. They are using this charity thing as an excuse to get people to use the rmt model they are planning to use in the future. So they figure lets make people feel sorry for the people in need so we can make more money. Thats the problem I have with the way Blizzard is doing this whole thing, its pretty sneaky and devious if you ask me not to mention pretty low life how they are going about the whole pet store.
Also gamers have to start thinking differently these days. It isn't all about making great games anymore. Its all about the benjamins, its a business. It is about making a game to make money. If gamers do not like the way companies are running their business then there is one of several ways what you can do. You can either not play their games, not play mmos at all or you can simply find another company that suites your needs and wants.
Ummm, that's all well and good, but only one of the pets is for charity, and only 50% of that. So of the 2 pets sold, blizzard will keep 75% of the profit (if both sale in equal amounts) and give 25% to charity. Kinda shitty. If it's for charity shouldn't all proceeds go to the charity.
First off you dumb asses that cannot read are missing the point that the pet only costs 5 bucks the other 5 goes to a very worthwhile charity and 2nd of all it is a bout damned time Blizzard did move to micro transactions since almost every other game company is doing it and with this it would kill off the gold farmers and spammers, so the only one bitching should be those that make money from gold being sold.
Nuff Said.
Ummm, that's all well and good, but only one of the pets is for charity, and only 50% of that. So of the 2 pets sold, blizzard will keep 75% of the profit (if both sale in equal amounts) and give 25% to charity. Kinda shitty. If it's for charity shouldn't all proceeds go to the charity.
I have a better idea. Quit WoW, donate $10 to the make a wish foundation and play a sub based MMO without a cash shop.
Saying that the vanity pets wont affect gameplay is pretty naive and outright stupid, to someone that wants the pet or collects them for that matter it does affect their gameplay, they now have an extra pet you can only get through RMT, it also affects the person who collects pets and wants the pet but for one reason or another cannot buy it and now has to see the person who has it with it but knowing they will never do themselves even tho they pay the same sub at the end of the day, and dont even say they are a minority there is a full website dedicated to pets where ppl can rank themselves on what pets they have.
Like someone said before me they are using the charity excuse to make more money, if they wanted to help the make-a-wish they would put up an ad and/or send out a newsletter asking ppl to donate $10 or so to make-a-wish and get an ingame pet, where the full 10 dollars go to charity not setup a shop.
Well, you already included something I was going to call you in your own post, so I wont bother re-typing it.
First off, ONE pet, just one, is having half its profits going to charity, not both.
Two, its ten bucks, don't try to hide behind the charity. If I wanted to give a charity just 5 bucks I would, and I wouldn't spend another 5 on top of that to do it. Oh, and the charity is only for ~2 months, it isn't permanent.
Third, how in bloody hell do you come to the conclusion that buying 10$ pets will mean no more gold sellers?
And fourth, how is it about time? Was Acti-blizz running out of cash, and had to pay for the servers with their own credit cards and pennies? Hell, I bet you also think every other MMO in existence needs to all become the same game, just because only two other companies are doing it.
I can not wait for blizzard to sell more stuff, i fully support it and will continue to buy what ever they offer, not only me but ill make sure the circle of friends i run with purchase and support it as well
I vote 100% on RMT and fully support it
I never said things wouldn't ever go south. I just said that what happened yesterday isn't actually proof of anything and that if people keep losing their minds over things that prove nothing, when real proof emerges, and someone cries foul over it, no one will listen.
Do you seriously believe that by having pre-emptive complaining about a very real possibility, it's going to stop the publishers from listening when they actually do what everybody's afraid they will do? Is that what you're saying Jon?
I love this. People complained about items only in-game grinders could get...the grinder just laughed and said this is their game. No there are items for real life grinders that actually make money and buy items the in-game grinders can not get. Now the ingame grinders get to cry while the people with jobs just laugh.
I'm not at all into RMT, but that is a funny point you bring up.
This.
Jon was biased and rude in his tone.
Does Blizzard advertise on this site?
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2