Comic Book Guy Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Lead designer Tom Chilton says the multiplatinum MMORPG champion could abolish monthly subscription plan by adopting microtransaction system.The microtransaction-based Free Realms recruited 3 million users less than seven weeks after its launch, inviting players to its casual family-friendly world to buy accessories for their postmen and chef characters. However, its revenue has yet to match World of Warcraft's, which had more than 11 million subscriptions by October 2008. Despite its extraordinary commercial success with a traditional subscription model, WOW lead designer Tom Chilton said the dominant MMORPG could go free-to-play in the future. Full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigapixels Veteran Posted July 7, 2009 Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2009 Oh please no. I hate microtransaction games. I don't want to pay money to unlock special items and armor and whatnot. Let me earn it through skill and actually playing the game. I definitely think they could reduce the cost and do $10 a month or something. But please stay away from this microtransaction BS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qdave Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I hate that kind of stuff too....while its probably cheaper, it is definately not as fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamerboy Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 yea microtransactions are not a good way to play a game in my opinion. I will definitely quit playing WoW and return to my old MMO if they ever go to a microtransactions system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Veteran Posted July 7, 2009 Veteran Share Posted July 7, 2009 yea microtransactions are not a good way to play a game in my opinion. I will definitely quit playing WoW and return to my old MMO if they ever go to a microtransactions system. Same here... Unfortunately, every time Chilton opens his mouth it degrades the gameplay of WoW. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamerboy Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 the question is why would they ever change...they already have millions of people who are willing to pay $15 month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(Spork) Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Oh please no. I hate microtransaction games. I don't want to pay money to unlock special items and armor and whatnot. Let me earn it through skill and actually playing the game.I definitely think they could reduce the cost and do $10 a month or something. But please stay away from this microtransaction BS. i fully agree Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osiris Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Interesting article but yeah id prefer if blizz passed on some of those economies of scale that now have and lowered the price by a few bucks a month. the question is why would they ever change...they already have millions of people who are willing to pay $15 month. Well theres a general sense WoW is winding down or turning the corner, whilst a new expansion is on the horizon (cataclysm rumour) its incredibly likely that would be the last major content cycle for the game. Based on previously time lines, next expansion would be out Q3/Q4 2010, 3.3 of that expansion would be out Q3/Q4 2011...that gives blizz a fair bit of time to finish up their new IP mmo and wind down WoW so its not competiting with it. Im not suggesting WoW will just magically go offline but major developments got to stop sometime and a six odd year run (by that time) is a pretty good effort for them to cease work on the scale of new expansions. The point of course being if the above was the case, the incentive for dropping the price would be to make the game more appealing to current players and to new players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Akaruz Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 well the real deal is that micro transactions actually give more money than if you had players paying just 15$ , there are people willing to pay over 50$ per month or more on certain "f2p" games , beside players who buy money from farmers would give it to blizzard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackhearted Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 They don't even need to go to micro transactions to be honest. At this point they've made more than enough money out of millions of people every year to keep themselves and the game up for years without a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minifig Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Who ever thought Microtransactions were a good idea should be SHOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joseph B Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Great. Let this happen, because the rehashed content, recolored models of everything, and the same few BGs over and over... shouldn't require your $15 a month. Until they start churning out new ideas and stuff actually worth a subscription, with some ideas with depth... Not the shallow cesspool they for some reason have turned into a cash cow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun N. Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 If this goes ahead it will bring an end to Wow as we know it, If there is no subscription any and every retarded (yes more than we currently have) kid can log in and play/annoy the hell out of the game. I'll certainly stop playing if this goes ahead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sethos Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 I wouldn't mind this. I stopped playing World of Warcraft a few months ago and looks like it's final this time ( Tried to quit a few times :p ) though once and a while the urge hits me and I'd love to play for an hour or two but no way in hell would you pay the monthly fee, you also get this buyers regret thing going which completely turns you off. So I say bring it on, let people play the game for free and then find other methods to squeeze some money out of them - Perhaps even do a "basic" level of subscription that is free but blocks your from say entering BGs, certain zones or selected dungeons so you can still play but isn't allowed access to certain content. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+John. Subscriber¹ Posted July 8, 2009 Subscriber¹ Share Posted July 8, 2009 Well, judging from this thread alone, it's clearly a bad idea for them. Maybe they'll find a middle ground? $10 a month, but with the introduction of micro-transactions to further shake up gameplay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lalalawawawa Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Blizzard, please don't do this. Microtransactions suck. It will surely unbalance the game. The way it is now, we all pay the same and have the same features of the game (except for some of the paid services which are country-related, but this is out of the game anyway). By introducing microtransactions, you could bring more players in, but it will unbalance the game, the richer players will have all the goodies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Comic Book Guy Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 I wouldn't mind this. I stopped playing World of Warcraft a few months ago and looks like it's final this time ( Tried to quit a few times :p ) though once and a while the urge hits me and I'd love to play for an hour or two but no way in hell would you pay the monthly fee, you also get this buyers regret thing going which completely turns you off. So I say bring it on, let people play the game for free and then find other methods to squeeze some money out of them - Perhaps even do a "basic" level of subscription that is free but blocks your from say entering BGs, certain zones or selected dungeons so you can still play but isn't allowed access to certain content. That is more or less what Turbine is trying to do with DDO when it becomes free later this summer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMartian Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 When they get their new MMO out, they'd want people to leave WoW. Having microtransactions would just help them milk it for a while longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ylcard Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 They barely read their own official forums what makes you think they'll read Neowin :laugh: Would be a sad though, no doubt. Having a CC & minimum 18 years old should be a rule so you'll play. Having neither rules just asks for childish idiots to come and mess everything up.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoffrey B. Veteran Posted July 8, 2009 Veteran Share Posted July 8, 2009 i HATE micro-transactions however, i feel that if WoW lowered the cost to $5 or $10 a month and added in micro advertisements (im not talking giant bill boards or anything) they would easily lower the cost without losing anything in the game. So instead of drinking Honey mint tea to regain mana i could drink a Minute maid lemonade or something they could even mess with the names to make them fit more into the game. Or the zeppelins and trains in the towns could be named after stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrCheese Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 whilst a new expansion is on the horizon (cataclysm rumour) its incredibly likely that would be the last major content cycle for the game Only if they are completely retarded. It has a greater population (still) than pretty much every Western MMO combined. To dump it even when their new MMO comes out would be like burning money in a bonfire. When they get their new MMO out, they'd want people to leave WoW. Depends, Cannibalising their own product would be a stupid idea as it doesn't really gain them any new revenue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 im not a WoW player, never have been but play another mmorpg (lotro) and tbh the only people who would benefit from microtransactions are Blizzard, how long would it take until it was like certain games consoles where you pay $10 for a change of outfit (for cosmetics only) I prefer the subscription based payment method and do not mind paying for major expansions in my chosen MMORPG, MoM is worthy of a full game price imho. I hope it doesnt happen for a couple of reasons 1) it would bring in all sorts of casual players in which would unbalance the game of WoW 2) if it works then others will follow suit! (e.g. Lotro!) 3) ingame if your like me and have your full alllowance of alt characters (7of)....the "microtransactions" start to mount up, to me thats penalising long standing players and would end up with myself moving on to other games. im not being eliteist re: casual players, I mean screaming kids who spoil the game for long standing players. Thankfully its something Lotro is lacking (or it is on the rp server I play on (Laurelin) combined with 0 gold sellers and the spam messaging (dont know if WoW still have that problem, if so I feel for you) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMartian Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Depends, Cannibalising their own product would be a stupid idea as it doesn't really gain them any new revenue. Hmm, true.. But then again, underpopulated servers won't look too good either. Who am I kidding. This is Blizzard we're talking about. There's no such thing as an underpopulated bnet server :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madd-hatter Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 There isn't a computer gaming section anymore? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benplace Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 What if they lowered the cost of levelling by Classic content users pay 5$ a month, BC goes up to 10$, and WOTLK stays at 15$? I think you would start to see a nice balance of players in the old content playing and doing raids, etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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