5.4 PTR Discussion

[Fat Tire]

It doesnt matter what anyone thinks about pay to win or free to play all that matters is what blizzard is told by Activision. If they are told to increase revenue then blizzard will have to find ways to increase it. Since they cant increase the subscription costs, because evidently that is a major driver away from the game I would be curious what players would suggest. The little pets and mounts are not cutting it anymore I am sure and services will take a hit from the virtual realm thing.

[ebony]

It doesnt matter what anyone thinks about pay to win or free to play all that matters is what blizzard is told by Activision. If they are told to increase revenue then blizzard will have to find ways to increase it. Since they cant increase the subscription costs, because evidently that is a major driver away from the game I would be curious what players would suggest. The little pets and mounts are not cutting it anymore I am sure and services will take a hit from the virtual realm thing.

well they should not not removed /follow from bg's if they wonted my money!

[Lyonheart]

A lot of other MMOs have HAD to become FTP in order to survive. Some have started off as FTP based on what they learned from other previously PTP MMOs that went FTP with great success ( DDO for example ).

WoW is in a unique position to be able to still charge a sub fee AND offer some of these store items, without a "need" to be FTP. I think its a great idea. How many of us have made multiple new RaF account for the simple purpose of having accelerated exp? I know i have spent hundreds doing it. And i will gladly pay for exp potions and a monthly fee. I do it in so called FTP games all the time. I go gold ( becoming a PTP account ) and also always buy tons of shit in the in game stores for real money.

[Multibocks]

Speculation is this item will actually be bought in game from currency earned on the island that is introduced in 5.4. Don't get your hopes up too soon, it may be wrong.

[zenga]

Speculation is this item will actually be bought in game from currency earned on the island that is introduced in 5.4. Don't get your hopes up too soon, it may be wrong.

They said literally: 'We are currently exploring the possibility of adding a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly within the game'

Don't see how that fits with your ingame currency.

[Multibocks]

They said literally: 'We are currently exploring the possibility of adding a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly within the game'

Don't see how that fits with your ingame currency.

sorry I missed this, where did they say that?

[Fat Tire]

sorry I missed this, where did they say that?

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/to...765?page=9#177

[MiRai]

I've already spent more money on re-RaF'ing accounts over the last few years than I ever will on any XP potions, but I welcome the idea, though. I'd say once a game starts selling things that give an actual in-game advantage (gear, stats, currency, etc.) against other players who choose not to buy the tiems, then it becomes a problem. However, I don't think any major game publisher offers such items that truly affect actual gameplay like that.

The reasons that I wouldn't play a game isn't because they have a store where people can buy vanity/semi-useless items, it's because the content, the gameplay, or something else is lacking to where I don't find the game fun. If anything, an option for store bought items such as this will likely increase the revenue that Blizzard currently makes on WoW which, in turn, will most likely lead to the ability to hire more developers and more/better content (or even future Blizzard games).

sorry I missed this, where did they say that?

In the mega-thread on their forum - http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/9377319765

[Mickthathick]

I have gone off the subscription model entirely due to the fact that the content in subscription games is developed primarily to keep you playing, usually by doing grindy or repetitive content in one way or another. Fun is secondary!

Also, and this is my own (but pretty common) psychological issue, but I also dislike the compulsion I feel to play said subscription games as I want to make sure I get my monies worth and will play past the point of enjoyment and into unpaid 2nd job territory.

I am actually thinking of buying game cards for 2 accounts this weekend as I want to check out 5.3 and have some pet battles, but I'm really hesitant as I also want to start painting the house I've just bought!

************************************************** **************************

Thinking about this further, my life is actually so much better when I have no active WoW accounts. I still love the game though, goddam but it really plugs into the self-destructive streak I have

Going deeper, I was reminising about WoW a couple of nights ago as I was vacuuming and the way I was thinking about the 'good old days' of the game when I used to raid and be in an active guild, was equivalent to looking back on bad, fun but destructive failed relationship.



ARGH I think I better just stick to X3 Albion Prelude (awesome sandbox space sim) and other indie games that are easy to play for a bit then switch off.

[Tonuss]

I think WOW will eventually go F2P because it seems that is where the MMO industry is headed, but I think it's a few years off. As long as they can retain several million subscriptions I don't see why they would change. When they do, the number of people who will return will probably swamp the login and realm servers for a while. It's a fun game and it's managed to both attract and retain a surprisingly large number of players since it launched. Blizzard's real concern (IMO) should be that WOW might be an anomaly, and their next game will be like all of the other post-WOW MMOs, which has an early surge of subs but settles in with fewer than 1 million or even 500k.