Blizzard Zoomerang Survey

[Svpernova09]

I got this email,


Joe,

Our goal at Blizzard Entertainment is to make the most epic gaming experiences possible, so we want to get your feedback as a registered user of World of Warcraft®. We invite you to participate in an online survey where your responses will help us determine which areas to focus our attention in the coming months. You must be 13 years of age or older to fill out the questionnaire. The entire survey is expected to take about 15 minutes to complete.

If you would like to participate, click on the following link:

< Link Removed >


We really value your opinions and hope you'll make the time to participate. If you have any questions, you may contact us at blizsurvey@blizzard.com.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Blizzard Entertainment ResearchSounded suspicious, but all the grammar and such was correct and the links checked out ok so I went for it. Pretty interesting survey with hints at some interesting possibilities.

Here's a few of the questions (copying from what I was linking the people in IRC)

Most of the questions you had to choose *Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree



I don't mind paying for extra services or in-game items
Buying in-game gold with cash isn't a big deal
I would consider purchasing additional items or services for my character or account if they were available from Blizzard and I liked them.For each of the following statements, please say how interested you would be in using that particular feature if it were available via a web browser or on a mobile device such as an iPhone or Android smartphone.

General Vendor + Repair: Buy and sell goods from a general vendor and repair your gear
Mobile Daily Quests: Mobile mini-games that would allow you to earn gold or in-game rewards or level up associated skills
Mail: Read and send in-game mail mesages
Guild / Friend Chat: Ability to participate in guild chat and whisper with people on your friends list using any of your characters
Talent/Glyph Spec: Respec your talent/glyph build on web/mobile and then export to your character in-game for the same gold cost
Flight Path: Travel from the flight path node nearest to your character to any flight path node, at the same in-game gold cost
What do you guys think of these? Could be pretty interesting if some of this stuff actually happened.

[Starbuck_Jones]

The first 3 sound like free to play models.

Next set sound like out of game hookups. Like the mobile apps for facebook games. So you can sit at work and play web/phone app games and cash in when you get home.

[Maxion]

They have already started testing guild chat from mobile armory now included with the mobile auction house optional paid thing. Might include guild chat from web browser soon too.

But yeah, many of the ones (from free play game models) I would consider very bad for wow and should be avoided.

[Fat Tire]

Let me be the first- atleast on this site.

WoW will go FTP. For sure the next blizz mmo will be ftp from the start. DLC/FTP is the wave of the gaming future.

Edit: They had these kinds of surveys in EQ2 and Lotro also before they went ftp. However, lets be honest, all they have to do is look at blizzards store revenue to base the decision upon.

[Svpernova09]

Let me be the first- atleast on this site.

WoW will go FTP. For sure the next blizz mmo will be ftp from the start. DLC/FTP is the wave of the gaming future.

Edit: They had these kinds of surveys in EQ2 and Lotro also before they went ftp. However, lets be honest, all they have to do is look at blizzards store revenue to base the decision upon.

Yeah, I'm not doubting this at all. And I'm not sure how I feel about it going FTP.

[DrChaos]

Has Blizz ever used an email with only one "z"?

blizsurvey@blizzard.com.

[Shodokan]

From my friend.

"We currently have no plans in the immediate future to go F2P. Don't get me wrong though it is something we discuss very often and with the release of some of the items to the store which were such a hit there is a lot of consideration. Unless our user base drops substantially though the money made now that is guaranteed seems to out-weigh the move. It will happen, as to when...not soon but don't be shocked if it happens by the end of next year."

as to your survey "

We do all surveys internally and will ask a player to take it from their battle.net account, we do not deal with any off-site survey company such as zoomerang"

[Bigfish]

Hmm, interesting. Sounds like the player base stabilized and some suits are upset that the ever increasing stream of revenue finally tapered off to a more or less steady flow, so they need to come up with ways to keep the money flowing. I don't know that WoW will go FTP any time soon. Whats more likely is the consolidation of Blizzard properties in to the battle.net accounts where in you recieve "discounts" for subscribing to various games.

Certainly we're going to start seeing the fruits of the erosion of developer morality. Its been happening for a while now, and in not too long the game will fall prey to "those with the most money buy the biggest advantage".

Personally, I think that's going to be the point of falling in to a death spiral, where subscriptions decrease, so more and more superfluous add-ins get tossed in, which just pushes more people away as they get tired of dropping X dollars every time a new tier of gear comes out. It will continue to be a revenue stream, but not in the way Blizzard wants. I mean, its not going to continually grow like they apparently think revenue streams should.

Cue Blizzard's next big thing, an MMO designed for the "hardcore" (courtesy of Jeff Kaplan) where Blizzard promises they won't "repeat the direction we went with WoW". Of course, the reality will be just another attempted cash cow, but we'll have to see if their PR-fu picks up or the players are savvy enough to catch on.

But mark my words, in the not too distant future, a battle.net account will cost between 5-15$ a month, and with that you get a subscription to a game of your choice. For every game after, you'll be paying between 3-5.99$ for extra subscriptions.

[Lyonheart]

From my friend.

"We currently have no plans in the immediate future to go F2P. Don't get me wrong though it is something we discuss very often and with the release of some of the items to the store which were such a hit there is a lot of consideration. Unless our user base drops substantially though the money made now that is guaranteed seems to out-weigh the move. It will happen, as to when...not soon but don't be shocked if it happens by the end of next year."

as to your survey "

We do all surveys internally and will ask a player to take it from their battle.net account, we do not deal with any off-site survey company such as zoomerang"

I read that exact quote from a game site, someone interviewing.. your friend huh? ok

[Fat Tire]

Certainly we're going to start seeing the fruits of the erosion of developer morality. Its been happening for a while now, and in not too long the game will fall prey to "those with the most money buy the biggest advantage".



I think they could make wow ftp without going down the path you described. For example, wow goes ftp (yay!) no one is paying anything. Now they release a bunch of pink glitter ponys or hello kitty themed vanity pets for 15-25$ respectively every month. Even a "Hey! Did you just loot the Great 2hander of Noobsauce?" Dont like the look? Well for 5$ you can design the look yourself. Really endless possibilities and much more profit potential.

In those alone I believe they will make more revenue than with subscriptions alone with out disrupting class balance thru who pays the most is the most powerful.

I am sure Activi$on is pushing hard for ftp. Its only a matter of time, how much is the question.

http://cynik.co.uk/images/misc/emperor-kotick.jpg

[Vicker]

I read that exact quote from a game site, someone interviewing.. your friend huh? ok

Google told me you're a liar.

[Shodokan]

Google told me you're a liar.

made me giggle.

[Jafula]

Dont like the look? Well for 5$ you can design the look yourself.

Yay, swords that look like male genitiala. Great!

Please note that sarcasm was intended.


I hope WoW does not change, couldn't care less what happens with their new MMO.

I watched my wife starting to play FrontierVille that other day. She was complaining she couldn't do anything due to lack of resources. Paying $ would have solved that problem. It was not a fun game.

If we wanted to throw arbitary amounts of money away*, we'd do it a the casino where there was a least a slim chance of getting something back again.

* I like the fixed subscription amount. I know how much enjoyment I am getting for my money.

[zenga]

How is the remote AH standing? Anyone still using (has used) it? Personally I know no one who uses it. Anyone has seen any implications related to the AH?

[Souca]

* I like the fixed subscription amount. I know how much money they are getting for my enjoyment.

Fixt. ;)

Not sure how I feel about the game being F2P or Sub based. Guess it really depends on the motivation it. If it's done with a fair exchange intended between the customer and the business, then I'm fine with it. I just have issues when customers or businesses start believing they are entitled to something just for showing up. In other words, greed.

- Souca -

[MiRai]

From my friend.

We do all surveys internally and will ask a player to take it from their battle.net account, we do not deal with any off-site survey company such as zoomerang"
Really Shodokan... really? Your imaginary "friend" is a liar.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=26850277736&pageNo=1&sid=1#6

[Svpernova09]

Really Shodokan... really? Your imaginary "friend" is a liar.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=26850277736&pageNo=1&sid=1#6



Shodokan, looks like you friend was misinformed.

[moosejaw]

Reading the Blizz link above makes me think. Having multiple wow's on your battlenet may increase your chance at receiving this survey. Trying to max cash per customer?

I setup a battle.net for my stepson to play with only one wow on it. He didn't get the survey but my 6 account battle.net did.

[Svpernova09]

I think they could make wow ftp without going down the path you described. For example, wow goes ftp (yay!) no one is paying anything. Now they release a bunch of pink glitter ponys or hello kitty themed vanity pets for 15-25$ respectively every month. Even a "Hey! Did you just loot the Great 2hander of Noobsauce?" Dont like the look? Well for 5$ you can design the look yourself. Really endless possibilities and much more profit potential.

In those alone I believe they will make more revenue than with subscriptions alone with out disrupting class balance thru who pays the most is the most powerful.

I am sure Activi$on is pushing hard for ftp. Its only a matter of time, how much is the question.



I think the only way I'd continue to play if it went FTP is if they managed to avoid "more money = best everything". That just wouldn't hold my interest.


Reading the Blizz link above makes me think. Having multiple wow's on your battlenet may increase your chance at receiving this survey. Trying to max cash per customer?

I setup a battle.net for my stepson to play with only one wow on it. He didn't get the survey but my 6 account battle.net did.

Maybe, I have 5 WoW accounts, PTR, and Beta accounts. My 2nd Battle.net with my 4 inactive accounts did not get the email. (probably because they're inactive, although 3 of my 5 on the main account are also inactive)

[Toned]

Both my battle.net emails got the survey.

[Toned]

Really Shodokan... really? Your imaginary "friend" is a liar.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=26850277736&pageNo=1&sid=1#6

You really expect anything less from a dude who post about how long his homework is on dual-boxing.com? Seriously, there isn't anything that the attention seeker can do that would shock me cept quitting wow and this site, but that lasted like 3 days.

[thefunk]

www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B59RBK6D2?id=1050338&c=1

If you want to take part. Jafula you'll be pleased to hear I've commented on JAMBA hehe.

[Fat Tire]

www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B59RBK6D2?id=1050338&c=1 (http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22B59RBK6D2?id=1050338&c=1)

If you want to take part. Jafula you'll be pleased to hear I've commented on JAMBA hehe.

Thanks for the link.

I took part in the survey myself. If they based their decision on my answers alone, wow would be ftp tomorrow :D.

[Redbeard]

Whats the deal with the FTP? I am wary of it but dont really have a well formed reason why... Why are you guys for it?

I guess in my head if something is free then its not going to have the quality of something that costs money. I know thats not always the case and my head is just being weird, just saying.

[Overpowerdin]

Whats the deal with the FTP? I am wary of it but dont really have a well formed reason why... Why are you guys for it?

I guess in my head if something is free then its not going to have the quality of something that costs money. I know thats not always the case and my head is just being weird, just saying.

If I can 5 man without spending $75, I am all for it. lol

[thefunk]

yeah i don't know why i'm nervous personally (I nulled Fat Tire's responses hehe), maybe it could be

a) attracting a load of idiots to the game
b) it will be MUCH more expensive (I think everquest went down this line?)

Well A is pretty much ruled out as we already have a bunch of idiots playing and b COULD be ruled out if they do a dual FTP/sub system so could be no change for us. I suspect this will be the model they will go with, a little like a trial where you can play only gnome mages for free up to a certain level, and the rest of us can nuke them on PvP servers.

I just don't believe it will be of benefit to us.

Unless they ban anyone under the age of 18 from the trade channel.

[zenga]

Thing is that they believe they can make more dollars than they do with the current model. Which is roughly 10m players * 20$ * 12 months. They need to get that from somewhere in the end. And I doubt they can trick more players into the game because it's ftp (and who are actually gonna spend a lot of $) to make up for that.

I have a competitive nature and it means that I want to have the same features at my disposal as any other players. Making those 'paid' upgrades is not something I fancy. Because that can be something endless. They basically can add unlimited new features. I've had a really bad experience with the game I've previously played, and the wow concept where I knew what I was going to spend seems like the best way to me.

There is another FTP model however where player A buys a certain currency with real life money, and that currency is trade-able in the game for gold. With that currency player B can get the 'paid upgrades'. So basically the very casual player who just spends way too much money pays for the upgrades of an addicted players. Both sides are happy. The only downside to this model is the inflation on the currency/gold rate, whenever you take a break.

But then again, Blizzard has created a top game, and their decisions usually make sense one way or another, nor are they too proud to admit mistakes (remember realid / forum). So who knows, they 'll come up with a new innovative ftp model that will satisfy every kind of player.

[Starbuck_Jones]

FTP has good and bad vs a standard sub model. I have been playing EQ2 quite a bit lately while waiting for cataclysm. I did pay the one time $10 upgrade to silver. Of everything they are offering for $$, this was by far and away the best bang for the buck. I am confused with their $200 a year platinum offering with the "$70" in savings advert. My math doesn't show $70 in savings anywhere.

Some impressions that are Good.
Bronze do not have access to global chat channels so there is surprisingly little spam. Something that blizzard could look into for their trial accounts gold farm spam problem.

You have full access to all the content but the latest expansion. So compare that to a free wow trial that comes with BC and no 30 day shut off.

The station cash store is pretty decent, there are a lot of time savers to buy. Dont have or want to spend 3 hours farming mats? for a couple of bucks you can buy full 200 stacks of crafting mats including rares. XP bonus potions etc.

Some bad things from eq2 ftp so far.
Broker system (auction house). You have no access to the AH unless you buy a token for real $$. Each token is a one time use of a buy or an auction posting. Current cost is 10 tokens for $1.50. This is going to bite them in the ass imho. It reminds me of dating web sites. You get to look so finally you break down and pay so you can interact with other people only to find out that you still cant talk to the girl because she didnt pay. and the prices are so inflated it brings me to the next bad thing.

Gold cap. 5g per level for bronze 20g for silver. Its not the cap that bugs me so much but that there is no avenue to spend it. Without the AH, you are limited to spending your in game gold for repairs and vanity items. But the really cool ones you cant buy anyway because at max level, you can have a whopping 4 plat. A dead economy is a dead game.

Station store. The prices for some items are really out of wack. For $15.50 you can buy a set of vanity armor. But for $6 you can buy a full set of working armor thats better than anything short of raid gear and it looks better than the vanity gear.... Consumable items are expensive as well. $2 for a rez scroll or $1.50 for a heal potion. Maybe if you got like 50 of them for that price it would be worth it.

Missing items and options from the store. Like 1 extra char slot, or one extra bag slot or bank slot ala-carte.

It seems to me that at least EQ2x has a lot to learn when it comes to economics. They need to walmart their store. Lots of items in bulk for cheap. No one is going to shell out a buck a potion, but they might for 2c a potion. One time sales are nice, but its the repeat business that keeps the store running. Subscribing players are penalized indirectly by the economic restrictions put in place. Sure there may be a ton of people running around, but maybe 1 in 20 of those people is a subscriber you can fully interact with.

The new sub model at gold and above dont make any sense. Gold looks to be = with a normal eq2 live subscription, but its not, you still dont have access to the caracter races

To wrap it up. F2P can work and work well. But trying to mix a f2p with a sub model doesnt. At least not for Sony.

[thefunk]

Blizzard may have realised they missed a trick with not going console and are pushing to include as many popular addons as possible within the main interface for either WoW or WoD (World of Diablo hehe). Then any form of payment can be made against that console's currency (i'm thinking wii points).

Just a thought.

[Siaea]

How is the remote AH standing? Anyone still using (has used) it? Personally I know no one who uses it. Anyone has seen any implications related to the AH?

I decided to try it, so I paid the $3 to use it at work. So far, I like it. I've sniped some good deals (tons of titanium ore today for cheeeep) keeping a browser window open on it at work. I can also put everything in my bags or bank and log out if I'm running late, then do my AHing at work. Bad thing is, if I forget my authenticator at home I can only browse, not sell or buy.

On the FTP model, I strongly disagree with it. Blizzard has always been about not using real money for in game advantages (boxing aside), and as much as I love WoW, I'll probably retire if they go that route.

[Fat Tire]

I would probably start with an subscription fee increase first. I wonder how people would feel about 29.99/month

[Ualaa]

Well, haven't really played all that much over the summer... with seasonal work and all. A few days here or there, but nothing like the rest of the year.

If the subscription doubled, not sure that it is worth it. I mean, compared to other forms of entertainment, on a per hour basis over the course of a month, even a much higher number is good compared to most other hobbies.

But, I'd probably just find something else, if Blizzard were to double their subscription rates overnight.

[Toned]

I use the remote auction house and im very happy with it. I don't mind stuff like that, but if you can start paying $$ for gear buh bye my accounts that is when the game is broken and retarded.

[Harrypott]

Didn't Eve put game time tradable in game? Would be handy to farm gold to trade for game time without going against the TOC.

[jinkobi]

WOW will go free to play without a doubt. It isn't going to happen today or this year- maybe not even next year but it will happen.

When they sold that Celestial Steed they were like WOAH WTF we just pulled in an entire months worth of profits from selling 1 digital item. An item with no manufacturing costs, packaging, anything.

Then real ID fiasco- just another sign of going FTP- the entire design just think about it and how other games are doing similar things with Farcebook.

Anyway they'll release Cataclysm and what I think is their attempt at repackaging WOW. Future expansions will just be DLC in smaller installments than a full blown expansion. FTP is the future of MMO's a sad but true fact.

Not that I want to pay sub. I'd rather pay a sub than have to buy my way into top tier content and such... Or the many other bad things that usually go along with FTP.

[zenga]

FTP is the future of MMO's a sad but true fact..

Until the point where a decent game decides to not jump on the band wagon of ftp and gets in all the players that are tired of ftp. The reason why I believe that ftp is not 'the future' is because many players are going to burn way too much cash on it, ending up in bad family situations and what not. And a new demand will rise to have a game where you just pay a sub and thats it.

[Bigfish]

Until the point where a decent game decides to not jump on the band wagon of ftp and gets in all the players that are tired of ftp. The reason why I believe that ftp is not 'the future' is because many players are going to burn way too much cash on it, ending up in bad family situations and what not. And a new demand will rise to have a game where you just pay a sub and thats it.

I doubt disposable income will really ever become a factor in these types of games. Time and again consumers have shown that they have the cash to throw around. The only real question is if the game is worth throwing more money at. Hence the rise of micro transactions and collector's editions: as consumers, we KNOW what games we want to play and what games we don't. Its all just a matter of figuring out how to milk us.

Of course, that's a moderately poor business model as invariably companies will start producing core games that have crap for content thinking they can milk the micro-transactions. But I digress.

I don't think subscription MMOs will ever really make a comeback. There's not much room for more, and I think as a society we're pushing past the second life status people held themselves to back during the early generation MMOs.

[Daeri]

IMO the ftp concept sucks. I don't want to see my expenses for a game depend of factors I cannot control or perfectly plan ahead. I mean, in free to play games, the price you have to pay depends on your pace of advancement in the game, right ? obviously considering you're not going to be stopped because of money issues. So, as new content is added regularly, you cannot tell in advance what will the price be of the non-free portion of what will be added in the future. Doesn't the 'monthly fee' go up as you come near end game content ?

[Souca]

The market will adjust. In it's current incarnation, F2P will not be the future because there are enough people that find it sleazy. There will be a business that sees anti-F2P as it's target audience and will produce a game for them. It may not be mainstream, but demand is more likely to create a supply than the other way around.

The thing that I find so interesting about this whole thing is that a player's subconscious feelings about the business practices of a game company transfer over into their enjoyment of a game. If you feel like you are getting screwed, you are more like to view your play time in the fashion of an addiction than a hobby. Smart game companies realize that the entire experience from purchase, install, to actual play all impact the enjoyment/experience of the game. It seems as though Blizzard knew this, but Activision simply doesn't care.

Another thing that is happening right now is that gaming is truly becoming mainstream. Games like FarmVille have opened up the industry to unheard of numbers and traditional game companies are finding themselves on the wrong side of the social gaming race. They are in a time of transition as they try and figure out how to get a part of this new demographic that they have never had before. In some ways, it's similar to the transition that the movie industry had to undergo when TVs started appearing in peoples homes. At the time, some people thought it meant the end of the movie industry, but in retrospect it was merely the beginning of the TV industry. The next 5 years will be a very interesting time for games.

These tangential ramblings brought to you by sleep deprivation and caffeine.

- Souca -

[Bigfish]

I don't think F2P is particularly sleazy, but it does illuminate the relationship between time and money far more than a simple subscription, particularly for farmable goods that can be bought. I think the bigger concern for an MMO operator would be the difference in consumer behavior; namely, it seems to me that F2P systems tend to be subscribed to for only a few months, during which time people pay equivelent to, or perhaps more, than a standard subscription fee, but the spending doesn't last as people invariably start wondering where their money is going - more so when disciplinary measures start to be taken and people find themselves losing 400$ worth of star ponies and tiny robots because they dropped a few f-bombs.

I suppose the quality implications are of more concern, in so much that they don't have to provide quality patches or additional content under the guise of players not paying for the game. And then there is the potential lack of rule enforcement when banning players is frowned upon because of the short term revenue generation model of F2P.