Wow makes more money

[Ogloo]

http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000763 and
http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000762

lol, But at least they are donated 50% to charity, but i mean has anyone noticed how they are coming out with more and more stuff just to get people to buy stuff that puts pixels on our screen ? lol
race transfer
faction transfer
character re-custom.
now... pet buying ;000

[Ogloo]

o i forgot name change ;0

[leroyreborn]

wow starting loot look more and more like the free to play games you see out there ;(

[Naysayer]

As long as it's not something that gives beneficial bonuses in game like 20 stam or something, then I could care less what they sell. The minute they start requiring people to buy items to compete is the moment this game goes to ****.

[Naysayer]

The monk does make some funny sounds when you click on him though.

[Stealthy]

Actually I think the fact that they are donating half the sale to Make-A-Wish is great.

I think I'll be getting some Lil KT's:


Watch with misplaced pride as he freezes critters and laughs maniacally at your vanquished PvP foes


:D

[Malekyth]

Hah! That's awesome! I sent the links to my pet-collecting girlfriend with the question, "so, are you about to become $20 poorer?" The reply was a simple, unpunctuated "YES". :)

I love the idea of micro-transaction for non-competitive junk, though I haven't indulged in WoW yet. In Champions Online, I wanted a hockey mask for my second Nemesis so I sprung for the Halloween costume pack. That's the only thing I wanted from it and the only thing I used, but the fact that I could get my way without relying on luck or burning hours of grinding -- legally -- is totally appealing. More! More!

[Gadzooks]

/tinfoil hat

This just days after they lose WoW China? Good way to make up lost revenue!

/tinfoil hat off

Beat me to it! :D

Personally, I don't care. It's just a pet.

What i DO wonder, tho, is this is a company with 6 million subs, and they have *27* prizes for the anniversary?

C'mon.

At the very least, start throwing in-game stuff around as prizes - forget the headphones and mousepads or whatever, start giving away phoenix mounts, or a special edition chrome proto-drake, or a gold plated sircon encrusted 22 slot bag or two. They're FREE. Throw some goodies into random loot tables for the month, or add some to the boss loot tables.

They're not even giving away enough stuff to get 1 person on every server.

Heck, throw some of those nifty loot card items out there. You don't even need to design them, you just generate some codes.

Yes, I know, we all get a mini-Onyxia, which is cool, but c'mon, splurge with the prizes a little. Put an NPC in Dalaran and all of the major cities, and once a day you get to spin a wheel, or pull a slip of paper from a box or something, and give away everything from vanity pets to ore to gems, epic gems, weapons, mounts, everything.

But noooo. *27* prizes. Among 6 million. Yeah. Whoop whoop.

[Ogloo]

lol at china going offline, but i mean... how did they do that!

[Khatovar]

Sony had for purchase items for EQ and EQ2 last year at Christmas. I think it was like $10 or something for an ingame bear cub with the money going to Child's Play. We bought 2. I can always support something like that.

[Homer]

The 50% donation is only for the monk, Not lil'KT

[IkYiolul]

Anyone have a link on this china going offline thing? I want to check the validity on this...

[Mokoi]

HOLY SHIT!! A Video Game company trying to make money? Jesus.. what has the world come to? Don't they know everything they make and services they provide should come free?

I would like to point out, that there is NOTHING extra above and beyond your subscription fee that you are required to pay to play the game and enjoy every bit of it's content from lvl 1-80, apart from xpacs, which are huge and reasonably cheap to buy.

And yet, they offer extra services (which DO NOT give other players any kind of advantage) for money to offset some of their extraordinary costs (if you believe that Blizzard is making all the money they get from subscriptions you are sorely mistaken and far from reality)

If you do not wish to support Blizzard, and think they are just out to get your money, wtf are you doing on these forums. You are not here because you hate video games, even if you don't play WoW you support some other game in some way or another.

Good on Blizz, and great on them for giving HALF their sales to charity for the panda monks.

I bet you don't spit on coca-cola for selling you a product which costs them nothing to make and has a profit margin of over 5000% do you? Yet Blizzard offers services that the community has been CRYING for, and they are making them available for people. Could you imagine the frenzy it would cause if they were allowed to be free? server xfers? faction / name xfers? .. don't be so stupid please. Stop hating on a company who gives you what you want just because its not free.

Yes, Blizzard is owned by a company who enjoys profit. guess what, if you were a shareholder in Vivendi Games, you would too. The world is driven by the market, and wherever you can make money from people willing to pay for it is fair game. Grow up and join the real world.

PS sorry for being so rude and obnoxious, I blame my Swine Flu.

[Naysayer]

^^ lolfreakout

[Khatovar]

Yeah, really not seeing any posts so far that warrent that kind of reaction. Personally, I think Blizz milks the shit out of people with all this stuff. They could do a $50 Pay-per-view of WoW Employees Eating Lunch and if buying the $50 PPV got you a code for an in-game hairstyle, you bet your ass there would be thousands of idiots foaming at the mouth and running to the computer with their credit card. They know that and have no problem taking advantage. A fool and his money, as they say.

But IMO they should be donating all of it for the pandaren like Sony did. A company this big, it's like Bill Gates fishing out a pocket-full of change, picking out all the silver and throwing a couple of green, sticky pennies at the Salvation Army Santa. Personally, I'm just going to donate money directly to a charity.

[Seldum]

I actually think the idear mentioned above in EQ is awesome, where you can buy some vanity stuff and the sale goes to charity.

I think its okey blizz charge for char transfers etc.... They probably need to do this manually so they have employees to pay.

[Malekyth]

you bet your ass there would be thousands of idiots foaming at the mouth and running to the computer with their credit card. They know that and have no problem taking advantage. A fool and his money, as they say.

Yeah, those fools, earning money and then spending it in a way that makes them happy. They're as bad as multiboxers.

[Khatovar]

They could do a $50 Pay-per-view of WoW Employees Eating Lunch and if buying the $50 PPV got you a code for an in-game hairstyle

There's the rest of the concept. Sorry, but I most certainly do think going to extremes for frivolity is foolish, be it a hairstyle or a multiboxer.

[Svpernova09]

Yeah, those fools, earning money and then spending it in a way that makes them happy. They're as bad as multiboxers.


I heard multiboxing is cheating.



When I heard about the pet store, I was kinda "wow, anything to make a buck I guess" But when I saw they're donating at least part of it to a worthwhile charity, it made me smile. I've contributed Make-A-Wish in the past, I've been involved in donation drives via an old employer and it warms my cold, hard heart to help that group. So once payday comes around, I'll probably pick one up.

If people want to pay real money for in game stuff, that's fine so long as their staying within the rules of the game. Personally, I'll be pretty upset if they start offering Titles, Gold, Stat improving Items (Gear, potions, flasks, whatever). Gear is SUPER hard to get, go farm heroics and see just how hard it is. (That's hardcore sarcasm in case you're wondering)

[Myloot]

hahah just purchased one logging in to see it

[Zzyzxx71]

hahah just purchased one logging in to see it

SS or it didn't happen.

[Naysayer]

I'm selling this One Dollar Bill for $10.00 and giving half to charity. lolcatz

[Svpernova09]

I'm selling this One Dollar Bill for $10.00 and giving half to charity. lolcatz


THIS JUST IN

For profit company offers relevant products at low cost to it's current customers in order to make money.

This is an OUTRAGE. brb looking for my pitchfork and torches.

[Lax]

wow starting loot look more and more like the free to play games you see out there ;(
+1 Insightful. I think there's more than meets the eye here.

Obviously Blizzard is enjoying great success with WoW, and their ability to monetize the game is no doubt working out well for them. They're adding layer upon layer of additional paid services to the game. The idea is not new, but think about this.. whatever the new MMO is that they're developing, it very well could be subscription-free, but instead have the same sort of nickel and dime micropayment crap that has been plaguing the game industry. It wouldn't even be the first MMO to do this -- Runes of Magic (among others) anyone? -- but in true Blizzard fashion, they could end up defining it. I just don't see them building a subscription-based MMO with brand new IP to compete against WoW.

I think they're seeing the tip of the iceberg with WoW's bajillions of players, and in order for them to truly build their Scrooge McDuck money bin to swim in, they want to expand their customer base even further. What better way to do that than drop the subscription fees, and monetize it instead with things that women with credit cards, or people with too much money, will want to buy, in a game that is designed to have mass appeal in the first place? The whole idea is to take more money out of your wallet than that $15/month subscription fee.

Okay that last paragraph sounded a little harsh but: 1. the purpose of a business is to make money, 2. WoW makes a lot of money, and 3. they are most likely trying to figure out how to make even more of it

[Naysayer]

THIS JUST IN

For profit company offers relevant products at low cost to it's current customers in order to make money.

This is an OUTRAGE. brb looking for my pitchfork and torches.

low cost?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha


We already pay far more than what it takes to produce WoW, and these companion pets.

10$ a pet? ROFLMAO it's not even their money they are donating, it's the customers. Why not charge $5 for the pet and donate 5$ of their own money? because they are in it for the profit, not the charity.

[Fat Tire]

low cost?

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha


We already pay far more than what it takes to produce WoW, and these companion pets.

10$ a pet? ROFLMAO it's not even their money they are donating, it's the customers. Why not charge $5 for the pet and donate 5$ of their own money? because they are in it for the profit, not the charity.

I agree, I think alot of people are missing the point of this and that is the fact that they are indeed milking the customer thru shady marketing practices. AWWW....its soooooo cute and half goes to charity, while blizzard gets the benefit of such charity thru business tax write offs and there is a maximum you can write off. You will now understand why the donation offer portion is for only a short period.

Everyone who is condoning this "pay-to-play" business is going to be happy to see when blizzard starts to sell mounts/flying mounts and in time gold, pre-made characters and arena rating for cash. I for one think these customers are the cash cow blizzard wants and I too would milk these sheep for every dime they had.

Shit for 10 dollars I will follow you around ironforge or wherever dancing and looking all cute. For 30 dollars I will give you a group rate and bring my mutibox team and do fricken star chain heals around your ass at your beck and call. Darwinism with money.

[Kang]

...
Everyone who is condoning this "pay-to-play" business..

Umm...we already condone this. We pay subscription fees...

[Naysayer]

You will now understand why the donation offer portion is for only a short period.



good catch

[Fat Tire]

Umm...we already condone this. We pay subscription fees...

whoosh!!!!

re read your response and try again. If you would like some help the words start with an S and F. Totally different business model.

[Svpernova09]

good catch


I agree, I think alot of people are missing the point of this and that is the fact that they are indeed milking the customer thru shady marketing practices. AWWW....its soooooo cute and half goes to charity, while blizzard gets the benefit of such charity thru business tax write offs and there is a maximum you can write off. You will now understand why the donation offer portion is for only a short period.

Everyone who is condoning this "pay-to-play" business is going to be happy to see when blizzard starts to sell mounts/flying mounts and in time gold, pre-made characters and arena rating for cash. I for one think these customers are the cash cow blizzard wants and I too would milk these sheep for every dime they had.

Shit for 10 dollars I will follow you around ironforge or wherever dancing and looking all cute. For 30 dollars I will give you a group rate and bring my mutibox team and do fricken star chain heals around your ass at your beck and call. Darwinism with money.


I'm selling this One Dollar Bill for $10.00 and giving half to charity. lolcatz


I think you guys are making a pretty big deal out of this. Like I said before, I'd be upset if they were selling stat increases. But pets? OH NOE SOMEONE HAS KT FOLLOWING THEM AROUND. Get over it. I don't see you guys bringing pitchforks and torches over Figureprints, Steins, and Jinx's Apparel or anything else. So lay off the QQ.

I agree with what Lax said,


The whole idea is to take more money out of your wallet than that $15/month subscription fee.

[Fat Tire]

You think we are QQing? Seriously.

I am making fun of the people who will pay for this and defending it under the umbrella of charity.

[Svpernova09]

You think we are QQing? Seriously.

I am making fun of the people who will pay for this and defending it under the umbrella of charity.


So? Why does it bother you so much?

[Fat Tire]

So? Why does it bother you so much?

Did you buy both or just one?

[Svpernova09]

Did you buy both or just one?

I haven't bought either since the only toon I really do achievement stuff with is my druid, that already has the 75 pet achievements. But you didn't answer the question. I just think it's silly to make such a big deal about it.

[Siaea]

Meh, I'll probably get 'Lil KT. The whole laughing at your PvP foes is worth the price of a good six pack.

[Fat Tire]

I haven't bought either since the only toon I really do achievement stuff with is my druid, that already has the 75 pet achievements. But you didn't answer the question. I just think it's silly to make such a big deal about it.

I think you misinterpreting tone on the internet. I dont care. I will quote my previous post.


"I am making fun of the people who will pay for this and defending it under the umbrella of charity. "

[Iceorbz]

I bought my wife one, she thinks its cute and wanted it. Nuff said lol.

I think lil kit is baller man, and he freezes critters thats cool. I dont use very many "vanity" items, hell Im just now using a mount thats not from SMV or Bronze Drake. But I love my murloc marine, and I think I want some KT's.

[Fef]

People who will buy these are the same as those paying for a custom/epic/manga hair cut on their characters. I too find this silly, but who am I to judge what people do with their hard earn money. After all, I pay 65 euros a month in subscription fees for a video game, which a lot of people would find silly.

I am not shocked that Blizzard sells this kind of service, and I find it good they give some money to a charity. Now, I would have found it much more classy if they would give the whole amount to charity, and not only half.

[Fat Tire]

People who will buy these are the same as those paying for a custom/epic/manga hair cut on their characters. I too find this silly, but who am I to judge what people do with their hard earn money. After all, I pay 65 euros a month in subscription fees for a video game, which a lot of people would find silly.

I think you would be hard pressed to find any console gamer who doesnt buy 1 new game per month(new games 60$). I am actually excited by this and hope they open up more options for purchase. ATVI is a stock I like to short every couple of weeks and this will no doubt increase earnings. I make more money the more everyone spends! Win/Win

500 million on MW:2 pre orders helps too. ;p

[Ogloo]

HOLY SHIT!! A Video Game company trying to make money? Jesus.. what has the world come to? Don't they know everything they make and services they provide should come free?

I would like to point out, that there is NOTHING extra above and beyond your subscription fee that you are required to pay to play the game and enjoy every bit of it's content from lvl 1-80, apart from xpacs, which are huge and reasonably cheap to buy.

And yet, they offer extra services (which DO NOT give other players any kind of advantage) for money to offset some of their extraordinary costs (if you believe that Blizzard is making all the money they get from subscriptions you are sorely mistaken and far from reality)

If you do not wish to support Blizzard, and think they are just out to get your money, wtf are you doing on these forums. You are not here because you hate video games, even if you don't play WoW you support some other game in some way or another.

Good on Blizz, and great on them for giving HALF their sales to charity for the panda monks.

I bet you don't spit on coca-cola for selling you a product which costs them nothing to make and has a profit margin of over 5000% do you? Yet Blizzard offers services that the community has been CRYING for, and they are making them available for people. Could you imagine the frenzy it would cause if they were allowed to be free? server xfers? faction / name xfers? .. don't be so stupid please. Stop hating on a company who gives you what you want just because its not free.

Yes, Blizzard is owned by a company who enjoys profit. guess what, if you were a shareholder in Vivendi Games, you would too. The world is driven by the market, and wherever you can make money from people willing to pay for it is fair game. Grow up and join the real world.

PS sorry for being so rude and obnoxious, I blame my Swine Flu.
haha i was just making a point how they are two coming out with new things to offset the economy's problem, i dont hate the new things they open crap ive done every one of the services other than the character recustomize

[Fat Tire]

On the plus side this is probably the most legal way to buy gold. Pets are selling for 1500g-2000g on my server.

[Oswyn]

I need ATVI to go up, so whatever they do to increase profits and appease shareholders is fine by me. :)

[Marious]

How dare they charge for an in game pet, how dare they charge for people to go to there stupid convention and get an in game pet! Is it not enough that I pay for 5 accounts? They should give me a free KT IMHO for each account I already have!

Honestly I don't care, I might or might not get it, really non of us in this site can say much with out coming out as hypocrites since we multibox. Lets see, some one pays $10 dollars for and in game Pixel we pay our main account $15 and then another $15x4 (X9 if you 10 box) for pixelsX4(x9) more. The only people that can complain are those that have a single account, and that still goes by the wayside since no one that buys these pets is going to care, what other people say, and we that multibox and pay more don't care what single boxers that complain about us say.

And again if you read what the blues posted this was something people wanted, so some one or multiple some ones said I will pay for an in game something if it looks cool and its cute and stuff. So what is Blizz going to do? Not do it and lose out on cash, or do it and make lots of cash.

Lax really can't say much he makes a SW that you can use with WoW, he saw an opportunity to provide a service that he can make some cash on and he did it, how dare he not provide this service for free! Oh and lets not forget Keyclone, he saw a need for SW and he sells it, how dare he make money of his work, it should be free!

All these people should just put a bullet in there heads for thinking they should make money out of a service they provide, it should all be freeeee!

[Naysayer]

I think you guys are making a pretty big deal out of this. Like I said before, I'd be upset if they were selling stat increases. But pets? OH NOE SOMEONE HAS KT FOLLOWING THEM AROUND. Get over it. I don't see you guys bringing pitchforks and torches over Figureprints, Steins, and Jinx's Apparel or anything else. So lay off the QQ.

I agree with what Lax said,

Yah, sorry but like i said I don't care about the pets. I'm just responding to your claim that blizz is super totally awesome for the charity in doing this when in reality they are just cashing in and sending your donation to charity in their name instead of yours.

freakout more kthnx

When it comes to a point where people have to start paying cash for gear I'm out.

[Marious]

Now on selling gear I would have to agree with you on this. If they ever start doing that I will close my 5 accounts and move on to some other game that does not do this.

Anyway we slice it, anyone selling anything will always look at a way to sell more of it, regardless of what it is, and why not? If people are willing to pay for the service/product why not sell it, now this might sound like I am saying they should start selling everything because they can, but we all understand the rules of the game and what people expect out of it and Blizz has set there rules and said they will not sell in game stuff that would make you OP they will sell only cosmetic stuff. So same with anything else if you break your word then you will lose out on any future business. If they said nothing on selling other stuff then we would think sure they are going to be selling gear, premade char's and there mothers for a profit, I hope it does not go this way but if it does I have the option of quitting, so in the end its all on me, I have the choice there is nothing that says I cant stop playing the game (other than my addiction).

[Svpernova09]

Yah, sorry but like i said I don't care about the pets. I'm just responding to your claim that blizz is super totally awesome for the charity in doing this when in reality they are just cashing in and sending your donation to charity in their name instead of yours.

freakout more kthnx

When it comes to a point where people have to start paying cash for gear I'm out.


lol You and FatTire are the ones going all chicken little about the whole thing. I didn't say they were "super totally awesome" I just commented about the charity. If you actually read my replies, you'd see I agree with you on the cash for gear, if it ever gets that far.

[Multibocks]

I cant play any other game than WoW. it's like a monogamistic drug. (is that a word?)

[kadaan]

Don't forget that they basically do the same thing with the CCG, except people sell the card/codes on ebay and Blizzard gets no profit from it. The demand is there, so they're just providing it for the few people who want it. $70/mo for 5 accounts, what's a one-time $10?

Also as far as the "China is shut down, they need money" BS, the pets were datamined from the PTR in August and I doubt they'd add the pets without knowing exactly how they'd be obtained. Not to mention the coding required for the online store/code generation/etc, I doubt they just whipped that up in a couple days :P.

If they want to make hundreds of mounts/pets/titles or even an feat of strength for "Gave Blizzard $1000!" I could care less. It doesn't affect gameplay at all and that person has no in-game advantage over a person who just pays the base monthly fee. Hell, maybe they'll make so much money off these useless sales that they'll lower their monthy fee to further entice new players!

[Lax]

Lax really can't say much he makes a SW that you can use with WoW, he saw an opportunity to provide a service that he can make some cash on and he did it, how dare he not provide this service for free! Oh and lets not forget Keyclone, he saw a need for SW and he sells it, how dare he make money of his work, it should be free!

All these people should just put a bullet in there heads for thinking they should make money out of a service they provide, it should all be freeeee!
I never said anything about they should do things for free. I have no problem with them charging for extras.

I was just speculating that the "free game" model is probably where they are heading with their new MMO, since it can be extremely profitable (the point of a business), so it made perfect sense for the point to be brought up.

[heyaz]

Those kel'thuzad pets are a riot. I got 4 of them, they do the kel'thuzad death laugh when you kill people in pvp. Not sure if it's on my client only but I'd love it if other people could hear them (I know you can hear other peoples' kung fu panda things)

[Naysayer]

Those kel'thuzad pets are a riot. I got 4 of them, they do the kel'thuzad death laugh when you kill people in pvp. Not sure if it's on my client only but I'd love it if other people could hear them (I know you can hear other peoples' kung fu panda things)

Yes, other teammates hear it. I don't know about cross faction though.

[Naysayer]

Also as far as the "China is shut down, they need money" BS, the pets were datamined from the PTR in August and I doubt they'd add the pets without knowing exactly how they'd be obtained. Not to mention the coding required for the online store/code generation/etc, I doubt they just whipped that up in a couple days :P.


China being shut down isn't something that just popped up, lol.

The code to add items through online store purchases has been around for years, lol.

[HPAVC]

I don't see a problem with the pet at all, it offers no in game advantage, its a charity promotion and both are damn good pets. For the last few days people have been qq'ing about blizzard making money and upselling or value adding the game, bit deal. I own one of their Jinx shirts, never thought that they were a problem that stole people's arena points because of it.

[alcattle]

just to add a couple things, Blizzard just gave you a pet. The new pet(s) you buy are Boa so you can have up to 10 of them one an account, but if you have 8 accounts on a b.net account, you need to buy pet on each sub account. The monk is the pet with the charity donation, not the li'kit. Still I like the idea, and will "give" Blizzard some money.

[Tonuss]

lol, But at least they are donated 50% to charity, but i mean has anyone noticed how they are coming out with more and more stuff just to get people to buy stuff that puts pixels on our screen ? lol
That's pretty typical, at least for a smart business. Windows of opportunity tend to be open only briefly. Blizzard has an unusually large (IMO) audience for its product, and like any other company with a popular product, they will market and sell the daylights out of it. Have you ever seen the amount of merchandise that sports teams produce? Same thing.

[kadaan]

China being shut down isn't something that just popped up, lol.

The code to add items through online store purchases has been around for years, lol.

It did "just pop up". The Ministry of Culture had already given their ok to the game, same as when The9 was running it. The GAPP (who have ties to The9) found a loophole in the publishing law so they could have some jurisdiction over WoW (since The9 obviously dislikes Netease.) As soon as they were able to get their foot in the door legally, they shut it down. It also sounds like WoW is back into a temporary free-play mode there and the servers are actually still up and running till they figure it out.

The online store hasn't been around for years, so not sure what code to add items you're talking about.

Not sure why you're laughing-out-loud at your own statements either... lol, lol?

[Ogloo]

didnt mean for this to be a big thing, i was really just pointed out the new offer ;0, never know i might get some one day, just pointed out fact, indeed they are gunna make more gold ;)

sorry for the long QQ thread this made

[Des]

Anyone have a link on this china going offline thing? I want to check the validity on this...

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyNewsAndPR/idUSN0245010720091102

Link to the story from Reuters about how the communist censored the game because of "gross violations of regulations."

[Naysayer]

It did "just pop up". The Ministry of Culture had already given their ok to the game, same as when The9 was running it. The GAPP (who have ties to The9) found a loophole in the publishing law so they could have some jurisdiction over WoW (since The9 obviously dislikes Netease.) As soon as they were able to get their foot in the door legally, they shut it down. It also sounds like WoW is back into a temporary free-play mode there and the servers are actually still up and running till they figure it out.

No, it didn't just pop up, lol. This is the SECOND time this has happened, and you'd have to be some major kind of tardo to not think blizzard has been keeping an eye on it since the first time it happened.


The online store hasn't been around for years, so not sure what code to add items you're talking about.

Not sure why you're laughing-out-loud at your own statements either... lol, lol?

Codes for in game items have been part of wow since 2007. Ever see a turtle mount? Spectral tiger? LOL

[dadan]

I am not shocked that Blizzard sells this kind of service, and I find it good they give some money to a charity. Now, I would have found it much more classy if they would give the whole amount to charity, and not only half.


.

[d0z3rr]

That lich pet looks awesome, definitely gonna get some.

[boxblizzard]

HOLY SHIT!! A Video Game company trying to make money? Jesus.. what has the world come to? Don't they know everything they make and services they provide should come free?

I would like to point out, that there is NOTHING extra above and beyond your subscription fee that you are required to pay to play the game and enjoy every bit of it's content from lvl 1-80, apart from xpacs, which are huge and reasonably cheap to buy.

And yet, they offer extra services (which DO NOT give other players any kind of advantage) for money to offset some of their extraordinary costs (if you believe that Blizzard is making all the money they get from subscriptions you are sorely mistaken and far from reality)

If you do not wish to support Blizzard, and think they are just out to get your money, wtf are you doing on these forums. You are not here because you hate video games, even if you don't play WoW you support some other game in some way or another.

Good on Blizz, and great on them for giving HALF their sales to charity for the panda monks.

I bet you don't spit on coca-cola for selling you a product which costs them nothing to make and has a profit margin of over 5000% do you? Yet Blizzard offers services that the community has been CRYING for, and they are making them available for people. Could you imagine the frenzy it would cause if they were allowed to be free? server xfers? faction / name xfers? .. don't be so stupid please. Stop hating on a company who gives you what you want just because its not free.

Yes, Blizzard is owned by a company who enjoys profit. guess what, if you were a shareholder in Vivendi Games, you would too. The world is driven by the market, and wherever you can make money from people willing to pay for it is fair game. Grow up and join the real world.

PS sorry for being so rude and obnoxious, I blame my Swine Flu.


amen, some real facts here for children, read on kiddy winks :D