Blizzard Zoomerang Survey

[Toned]

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

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...geNo=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]

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB2...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

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 .

[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.