Curse

Regulus X · Apr 17, 2010, 04:59 AM // 04:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by DoomFrost

I've already bought 50 of them and still buying! $_$ All the money I'm giving them is sure to burn a hole in their pockets. Maybe even set their building on fire!

either you're beyond the scope of retardation...

... ...or you're trolling me baaaaaaaaaaaaaaadly

majoho · Apr 17, 2010, 05:26 AM // 05:26

As long as it doesn't affect game-play I can't really see why anyone cares what other people spend their money on.

It's completely optional and purely cosmetic.

The outcry on the official and unoffical wow forums are rather hilarious, I can't see why people get so upset over it.

Chasing Squirrels · Apr 17, 2010, 05:58 AM // 05:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrage

Not sure if this goes here or in Off topic:

Well it seems that Blizzard is also capitalizing on the want for customization for real-world money, theirs is slightly more extreme however, up to $25 US for a Mount!

Links:
http://kotaku.com/5517956/world-of-w...blizzard-store

http://kotaku.com/5518416/world-of-w...blizzard-today

http://kotaku.com/5519154/blizzard-i...-demanded-them

What does this have to do with guild wars?

Coraline Jones · Apr 17, 2010, 06:23 AM // 06:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chasing Squirrels

What does this have to do with guild wars?

In reality, absolutely nothing.

It's a thinly-veiled way of saying, "Well, if you think Guild Wars is a big ripoff for selling costumes in the store, then wait until you look at what World of Warcraft is doing." In other words, if the industry leader rips off their customers, then everybody else gets a free pass to do the same to theirs.

Burst Cancel · Apr 17, 2010, 06:44 AM // 06:44

Blizzard made 2 million USD in four hours, legally, on an absurdly high-margin product. To call this a successful business practice would be something of an understatement.

Labeling this a "rip off" is ridiculous because no information is being withheld; the consumer knows exactly what they are buying and have all of the information needed to evaluate the value of the product.

Phaern Majes · Apr 17, 2010, 01:27 PM // 13:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by majoho

As long as it doesn't affect game-play I can't really see why anyone cares what other people spend their money on.

It's completely optional and purely cosmetic.

The outcry on the official and unoffical wow forums are rather hilarious, I can't see why people get so upset over it.

Because WoW is serious business. Heh if you think GW players are title/minipet obsessed you should see some WoW players. I play WoW off and on and I've met some truly hardcore gamers. They think they need to have every mini-pet and mount available and if it can't be "earned" through the game you can be sure they will complain about it - either on the boards or to mommy and daddy so they fork out the extra cash.

But I agree with ya, if there is no benefit to having it then I could honestly care less what people buy. Truth be told even if there was an advantage I probably still wouldn't care.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burst Cancel

Blizzard made 2 million USD in four hours, legally, on an absurdly high-margin product. To call this a successful business practice would be something of an understatement.

As opposed to Mythic's way of making 2 million at their players' expense

? I agree good for Blizzard, they know their player base. They could do this every few months and get just as good of a return every time. WoW contains some of the most obsessed/dedicated players I've seen in any MMO.

Death Syndrome · Apr 17, 2010, 03:35 PM // 15:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darcy

And our forum members complain about ANet.

lol, you have obviously never tried talking to the support staff. It is a joke.

The only company I can think of that lets stuff* go on that shouldn't be happening (as in not enforcing the rules) as much as anet is ebay.

DoomFrost · Apr 17, 2010, 04:12 PM // 16:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regulus X

either you're beyond the scope of retardation...

... ...or you're trolling me baaaaaaaaaaaaaaadly

Neither, I was just joking around whilst supporting your comment.

Lycan Nibbler · Apr 17, 2010, 05:54 PM // 17:54

I wonder if it was moved here for being off topic or absurd?

Much as I would be pissed at being charged $15 a month and then asked to pay extra for items, it is still pretty cheap entertainment when compared to $10+ cinema tickets, $25+ baseball ticket or $60+ a month cable TV bills (yes, I know youd need to pay for the internet too, but thats availabel to be used for other things too - hulu ftw!)

Cant blame Blizzard at all, they are taking advantage of their virtual monopoly of the genre.

Qing Guang · Apr 17, 2010, 11:49 PM // 23:49

In all honesty, it's not really Blizz's fault. Bobby Kotick's just a money-grubbing twat and Blizz has to answer to him.

So yeah, ANet's more justified, seeing as they haven't got Blizz's huge-o cash flow.

It's a trend in the market, and everyone's testing it out to see if it works. So far, it has, as there are tons of folks out there willing to buy stuff. And heck, if they're spending money on worthless stuff that the EULA probably claims they don't own anyway and that's funding more updates for me, I've got no problem with it. If any of the big companies start looking into the full-blown cash-shop model with actual game-affecting things being sold, then yes, it'll have to be dealt with, but otherwise it's not a problem. They know they still have to provide content for the people that don't want to buy micros, or they won't have nearly as large a playerbase. So why complain?

Winterclaw · Apr 18, 2010, 12:55 AM // 00:55

Blizzard is copying Anet! Anet should totally sue them for this reverse copying.

Arkantos · Apr 18, 2010, 01:36 AM // 01:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gennadios

The fact that WoW and STO would do this infuriates me to no end. WTF is the $15 a month for?

The $15 a month is used to keep staff paid, keep the game running, and to allow the company to give the game much more content/updates and such.

Blizzard is easily going to make over $25 million from this. Good job for them, they certainly know how to make money.

Quote:

Labeling this a "rip off" is ridiculous because no information is being withheld; the consumer knows exactly what they are buying and have all of the information needed to evaluate the value of the product.

People who call stuff like this a rip off are the people who refuse to pay a dime after paying for the game. They don't quite understand the whole point of micro transactions. Things like mounts (in WoW's case) and costumes (in GW's state) are imo the best way of doing micro transactions, because it allows customers to support the company by buying items that are purely cosmetic.

Death Syndrome · Apr 18, 2010, 03:27 AM // 03:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arkantos

The $15 a month is used to keep staff paid, keep the game running, and to allow the company to give the game much more content/updates and such.

Blizzard is easily going to make over $25 million from this. Good job for them, they certainly know how to make money.

People who call stuff like this a rip off are the people who refuse to pay a dime after paying for the game. They don't quite understand the whole point of micro transactions. Things like mounts (in WoW's case) and costumes (in GW's state) are imo the best way of doing micro transactions, because it allows customers to support the company by buying items that are purely cosmetic.

Guildwars could do better micro transactions than costumes, i mean you cannot say this is the best way.

The extra character slots, and makeovers are good ways IMO.

The makeovers are just a little over priced by about double what it should be, I see this as they would get alot more transactions at the lower price, ultimately bringing in more money from it.

Another thing they could sell would be packs of say 1000 Tournament Reward points so PvP characters can unlock armor easily.

Sell guildwars gold.

Both of these options can be bought more than once, noone would buy a costume more than once, thus being more profitable over time.

These two would both be good businesses for anet, and I do not understand why they have not started doing atleast the gold yet, this would do a few things to hit the gold sellers.

1.) It would be a safer way to get the gold, they claim buying gold could be phishers trying to get your account. Making Anet the #1 source for gold.
2.) they could beat the prices and make it to the point where the amount of time it takes to get the gold isn't even worth the amount of time put in for the amount of money the sellers get out.
3.) There would be absolutely no market for offsite gold if you can get it officially.

They want to put the gold sellers out of business, why haven't they thought of this yet, doing two things at once for anet, getting rid of gold sellers, and making them more money, does this only make sense to me?

Then we can maybe get better skill updates since guildwars would have more support money wise.

On a sidenote:
guidlwars should just copy this idea too, I would buy one of these pets to fight for my ranger for damn sure

The one on the left.

Faer · Apr 18, 2010, 05:02 AM // 05:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qing Guang

In all honesty, it's not really Blizz's fault. Bobby Kotick's just a money-grubbing twat and Blizz has to answer to him.

This is what I think most people forget, or are simply entirely unaware of. If Kotick wants money, he will get money. He'll add more ways to pull profit out of any product, including but certainly not limited to World of Warcraft and Call of Duty ($14.99 map packs, potential subscription based online services for future CoD games, etc).

But as long as the products being sold are simply cosmetic, such as in WoW, it's not a big deal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Death Syndrome

I do not understand why they have not started doing atleast the gold yet

Because if they did, it would soon be impossible to afford anything from other players without buying gold. Generating money out of thin air is not a good thing (see: the United States economy).

Death Syndrome · Apr 18, 2010, 05:11 AM // 05:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theocrat

This is what I think most people forget, or are simply entirely unaware of. If Kotick wants money, he will get money. He'll add more ways to pull profit out of any product, including but certainly not limited to World of Warcraft and Call of Duty ($14.99 map packs, potential subscription based online services for future CoD games, etc).

But as long as the products being sold are simply cosmetic, such as in WoW, it's not a big deal.Because if they did, it would soon be impossible to afford anything from other players without buying gold. Generating money out of thin air is not a good thing (see: the United States economy).

If someone wants to buy gold, they are going to buy gold, whether it is from anet, or some offsite source, they will find a way to buy the gold. Might as well be from anet.

Neo Nugget · Apr 18, 2010, 05:43 AM // 05:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Death Syndrome

Might as well be from anet.

I really don't think they would ever do that after all they did to stop gold sellers.

2005

Anet: "Don't buy gold, or you'll get banned."

2010

Anet: "Don't buy gold, unless it's from us."

It just wouldn't many any sense.

Not to mention,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theocrat

Generating money out of thin air is not a good thing (see: the United States economy).

Death Syndrome · Apr 18, 2010, 07:30 AM // 07:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neo Nugget

I really don't think they would ever do that after all they did to stop gold sellers.

2005

Anet: "Don't buy gold, or you'll get banned."

2010

Anet: "Don't buy gold, unless it's from us."

It just wouldn't many any sense.

Not to mention,

Ok, so do we not remember the days when 30hp sword pummels were 30k ea etc. When farming was actually worthwhile,and your drops could actually have value, well even if you say prices raise, then farming will be more worthwhile.

Now, are you trying to tell me all the gold doesn't come out of thin air? What's the difference between killing 3,000 char and buying say 100k gold?

The game generates the gold out of thin air. There really is no difference.

As for it not making sense it makes perfect sense. Anet doesn't want the gold sellers selling "Their Property".

Whether you like to admit it or not gold is bought/sold everyday.

It wouldn't really make a difference and if item prices raise, which I really do not see happening, that could probably be a good thing in the game even though I do not see a few people buying gold making items prices raise.

The same sellers will be selling the same in game items and the person who bought the gold will want to get the most out of his gold, buying the item for the current price.

I actually think the game would be better if the mods costed more, atleast my zkeys being used on the chest would provide me with more than 500 gold in mods. Like I said people who buy a little gold isn't going to make prices raise. It will be just like them earning the gold when they go to buy something.

The only way I could see prices raising is if the gold was sold for horribly cheap, and people bought it in huge quantities (mass produced) because of this. Solution don't sell 1 mil for 5 dollars.

Say it was 5 dollars for 100k, or even 10 dollars that doesn't sound too bad. The people that did buy the gold could get the expensive items they want at a decent real life price. At this price I doubt it would really have a huge impact on the economy, not everyone is going to buy gold and those who do buy the gold are going to be thinking about the real money they spent on the gold while they are spending that gold they paid for wisely.

People are buying/selling gold everyday, do you think if anet sold it that it would really make a difference where the gold was bought from whether it be anet or some random unofficial seller?

Faer · Apr 18, 2010, 09:16 AM // 09:16

Somebody slept through high school economics.

Death Syndrome · Apr 18, 2010, 09:44 AM // 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Theocrat

Somebody slept through high school economics.

The gold is already being bought. It is already being done. Switching where it is bought doesn't make the issue worse. Am I missing something?

At this point in the game we could use some inflation, everything is dirt cheap when it comes down to mods the merchant is almost paying the buyouts.

Divinitys Creature · Apr 18, 2010, 12:47 PM // 12:47

Microtransactions are a small price to pay to escape your shitty real life...

That said I hate the greed but understand it from a business perspective. Hopefully this leaves room for more competitive and new gaming companies to rise up to fill the void.