So just because you don't care about vanity pets everyone that collects them should agree with you? Gathering vanity pets is a good way to stop doing always the same things everyday, like people that collect achievements there are others that like the collect the vanity pets what's the problem with that? I never said the old vanity pets will be in the cash shop but if you really think they wasted hours or days to create a cash shop to have only 2 pets in it you must be fooling yourself they will add more pets in the future and god knows what else. Before the cash shop these stuff were added as extra content for those that like to get everything when playing but now there will be some that will be in game the best ones (cooler,ecc) must be bought talking about greediness....
But no one said you were entitled to them either. Its not like these things are gear and again like you said, these are extras! It just these particular pets you have to pay because they are a business and they are in it for the money in one way or another. Sure call it greediness, I call it business as usual. Greediness would be increasing subs from 15.99 to 20.99 in my opinion. Its this sense of entitlement for everything that really does make people like you look sad. I actually do care about pets and like having them. Sure 10 dollars for a good cause, I might buy it and probably more for the charity itself than the actual pet, the pet is just a bonus.
I think another thing to note here is that the people crying are trying to cry over something based off an assumption. Do you think they are really going to put every vanity thing onto the item shops now for money rather than make you earn it? Seriously? No, they're going to add stuff they feel should require people to pay and they are going to still add other vanities that will require you to earn them by various methods. They still will reward the same old and new holiday/special events one. Think realistically people rather than exaggerate the situation here. They do have to think about the customers while doing this after all so quite assuming because you are only making an ass out of you and me here
There are many people that collect those pets and they were mostly gotten ingame now these fellas need to pay to get them? so nothing has changed? right....
No, nothing has changed. They didn't add a price to the old vanity pets you can still earn in game. To tell you the truth, this idea could have been added in the begining (charging for vanity pets). Vanity pets are pointless but makes more sense if someone actually paid real money for it. I still have the Blizzard Bear and I often have that follow my Hunter around. It changes NOTHING about your charcter's ability to perform in game.
If they made more cool vanity stuff, that would be the only extra merchandise I would consider getting. (Mugs, T-Shirts and all the other stuff is just corny). I would never leave the house with a level 80 Hunter T-Shirt but a cool companion that does nothing but looks nice would be cool. Paying for mounts, items, potions, etc isn't cool, vanity pets are. Pointless, but nice.
So just because you don't care about vanity pets everyone that collects them should agree with you?
Gathering vanity pets is a good way to stop doing always the same things everyday, like people that collect achievements there are others that like the collect the vanity pets what's the problem with that?
I never said the old vanity pets will be in the cash shop but if you really think they wasted hours or days to create a cash shop to have only 2 pets in it you must be fooling yourself they will add more pets in the future and god knows what else. Before the cash shop these stuff were added as extra content for those that like to get everything when playing but now there will be some that will be in game the best ones (cooler,ecc) must be bought talking about greediness....
Dude (if you are not a guy, excuse the slang), do you NOT have enough vanity pets in WoW to collect? They don't owe ANYONE anymore items that they have put years into packing the game with. We have several years of content and free vanity items they gave away and are still giving away. Just for transfering your account to Battle.net, you get a free pet. Geez be thankful. Those pets are still there. If they want to add new ones that only people with cash can get, it's all good with me. It's the only item mall idea that makes sense. Blizzard has been good to me although I don't play WoW as often anymore, they've done good.
John, my boy, I've never seen you lay down such a fantastic line of absolute B-S in the many years I've been coming to this site. Well done. I don't think a Blizzard employee could have put it better, but then, after reading this, you are on their payroll, aren't you?
RMT DOES NOT BELONG IN A SUBSCRIPTION-BASED GAME.
I don't know if I can make this any more clear. If I could put the above statement in blinking marquee (my least favorite web-technique ever used in the 90s), I would.
"Vanity"-anything is a part of your subscription. You are paying for those features - the development, testing, and release - with your subscription. The fact that these pets have no statistical or "bonus" value is irrelevent.
The next step is, of course, something like new armor skins. Imagine being able to hide your lowly Tier whatever armor using these new armor skins... they will make your old armor look better than the latest gear drops! "No, they don't offer statistical benefits, so we're not giving players an edge over other players, just allowing them to change the look of their equipped gear." Extrapolate indefinitely and you see where this will go.
RMT is a perfectly viable model to provide the SOLE funding for a game. Allowing a subscription option with a monthly allocation of RMT points, a la DDO, also makes sense. What Blizzard/SOE/etc are trying to do is set very small precedents and allow them to settle in now, creating a mental acceptance for the players so they can incorporate more of these features in the future.
If anyone throws out the whole server transfer/character rename line, I'll smack them with a wet fish. That argument holds no weight and is irrelevent for the purposes of this conversation.
Says who? What law are you looking at? Is there something you have found deep inside the human mind? Damn you guys that wants your belifes to be something that the rest of us have to go with.
RMT does belong to the game that can embrace it. Deal with it our just turn your back. Easy as that.
Says who? What law are you looking at? Is there something you have found deep inside the human mind? Damn you guys that wants your belifes to be something that the rest of us have to go with.
RMT does belong to the game that can embrace it. Deal with it our just turn your back. Easy as that.
Only a complete tool would indicate they actually WANT to spend more money for the sake of spending more money. That's what this is about - not content, gameplay, fun - money. Yes, we all know companies are in the game business to make money. However, saying we should go along with RMT systems when a subscription-based model is already in place is like saying you don't mind walking around the street with your wallet falling trailing on a string behind you. You're just asking to be robbed and taken advantage of.
Ok I get that vanity pets are no big deal. I get the slippery slope item shop argument. What I don't get is why people don't know this is going to be a long protracted fight and you're better off picking your battles than sounding like a bunch of chicken littles? Some games are going to institue item shops. It's inevitable. If you don't like that don't play them. Your money means more to companies than your words. If enough people play games with item shops you're not going to stop them from becoming standard. As much as I deplore that it will happen if enough people want it. I hope most people don't want them. Your time is better spent trying to convince, not yell at call names or deride but convince, customers that they shouldn't play games with item shops. To yell at companies for wanting to make money is just pissing into the wind.
Blizzard will not introduce item mall or cash for resources for WoW at least. I believe they are smart enough to know better. Blizzard is making a LOT of money from subs and I doubt they would ever want to change the good thing they got going. What you see happening is a creative way to make more money from their fan base, simple. This isn't a cheat, an exploit or a downward demise of the mmorpg genre.
I have a major problem with f2p games and item malls, but they are there and players are supporting their efforts (perhaps not financial support) but their demand for getting what they want for free is ruining the business. Vanity pets are not. It doesn't support an unfair advantage either.
To explain this any further is pointless. I would rather players who play WoW start complaining about the other merchandise they charge real money for you to have, Mugs, T-Shirts etc and start there before getting bent out of shape because Blizzard (like Mr.Crabs) likes money.
Vanity pets are virtual merchandising, not cheating.
There are many people that collect those pets and they were mostly gotten ingame now these fellas need to pay to get them? so nothing has changed? right....
No, nothing has changed. They didn't add a price to the old vanity pets you can still earn in game. To tell you the truth, this idea could have been added in the begining (charging for vanity pets). Vanity pets are pointless but makes more sense if someone actually paid real money for it. I still have the Blizzard Bear and I often have that follow my Hunter around. It changes NOTHING about your charcter's ability to perform in game.
If they made more cool vanity stuff, that would be the only extra merchandise I would consider getting. (Mugs, T-Shirts and all the other stuff is just corny). I would never leave the house with a level 80 Hunter T-Shirt but a cool companion that does nothing but looks nice would be cool. Paying for mounts, items, potions, etc isn't cool, vanity pets are. Pointless, but nice.
So just because you don't care about vanity pets everyone that collects them should agree with you?
Gathering vanity pets is a good way to stop doing always the same things everyday, like people that collect achievements there are others that like the collect the vanity pets what's the problem with that?
I never said the old vanity pets will be in the cash shop but if you really think they wasted hours or days to create a cash shop to have only 2 pets in it you must be fooling yourself they will add more pets in the future and god knows what else. Before the cash shop these stuff were added as extra content for those that like to get everything when playing but now there will be some that will be in game the best ones (cooler,ecc) must be bought talking about greediness....
Aww, QQ. You have obviously lived a sheltered life.
The person you quoted had a well though out post and you respond with garbage. Obviously your shallow mentality can't understand why others wouldn't want to pay more for things they normally use to get with patches and expansion. You need to take your own advice and also stop using childish "QQ" symbols that you think make you look cool.
The person you quoted had a well though out post and you respond with garbage. Obviously your shallow mentality can't understand why others wouldn't want to pay more for things they normally use to get with patches and expansion. You need to take your own advice and also stop using childish "QQ" symbols that you think make you look cool.
To be fair, use of "QQ" was good enough for the paid writer of the original article.
So much for standards.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
To explain this any further is pointless. I would rather players who play WoW start complaining about the other merchandise they charge real money for you to have, Mugs, T-Shirts etc and start there before getting bent out of shape because Blizzard (like Mr.Crabs) likes money. Vanity pets are virtual merchandising, not cheating.
Actual, vanity pets represent an initial step in redefining what a subscription entitles you to in a game. I have no true sense of entitlement, except that I expect my monthly subscription to allow me to FULLY enjoy all aspects of a game. I consider that subscription price to be an all-in, all-you-can-eat-buffet-plus-drinks-and-desert price. Will I buy an expansion? Of course, assuming it provides content and/or functionality that enhances my experience. Expansions have to justify themselves on a cost-to-benefit ratio; you wouldn't spent $30 to add one new dungeon, would you (I guess some people might given the content and rewards for that dungeon...).
Can these pets be obtained in ANY fashion in-game? Or are they "exclusive" to the pet shop? Convenience (aka, allow people with money to obtain the same things that people with time can get) is fine, but exclusivity is not.
At the end of the day, it isn't about the pets. It is about the system itself.
Couple of points: Jon Wood - I think you are out of touch with your audience.
He didn't write it for his audience. He wrote it for his clients.
Gaming sites don't serve their members. Unless they are paying members.
*sigh* Ya know, Gyrus' statement, I personally believe to be incorrect, but at least the statement makes sense. MMO_Doubter, once again you're off base with a nice conspiracy theory. I honestly don't know what else to say to ya on that subject.
In the case of this article, I didn't write it because any advertiser told me to. I didn't write it because I thought it would reflect the opinions of the audience. I didn't write it because I thought it was the opposite opinion of the audience either. I took a subject that was in the news and wrote my opinion on it... Which is the point of a column.
Disagree with me, fine. That's cool. As much as I'd love for everyone to agree with every word I ever say, just because I say it, that just ain't how the world works. So yes, disagree. That's how it's supposed to work when it comes to opinion pieces. I wrote my opinions and backed them up with examples of why I believe them to be true. Some others in this thread have made some pretty good arguments on the other side. This creates a dialogue which, when it comes to disagreements, is the first step toward solving them. Understanding the other side's position is always a good idea.
I'm not trying to write what my audience wants to hear. Everyone wants an un-biased media, I hear that day in and day out. The thing is that someone being un-biased means that sometimes they are going to share your views and sometimes they won't.This is the reason that we have polarized left and right news outlets. Everyone wants to feel like their opinions are the "un-biased" truth, but all opinions are colored by the personal experiences of the opinion holder. Many people believe that if their opinions are unbiased than anyone disagreeing must be terribly biased.
Anyway, that's my rant on the subject. You may all continue beating me mercilessly with a stick.
Let me ask you this, why is it that we never see an article from any of the correspondence on why RMT isn't a good thing? Just curious, do all you guys just love RMT and can't wait for it to infest all games? I would rather pay a higher monthly fee, but I will never play a sub game with RMT tacked on.
John, my boy, I've never seen you lay down such a fantastic line of absolute B-S in the many years I've been coming to this site. Well done. I don't think a Blizzard employee could have put it better, but then, after reading this, you are on their payroll, aren't you? RMT DOES NOT BELONG IN A SUBSCRIPTION-BASED GAME. I don't know if I can make this any more clear. If I could put the above statement in blinking marquee (my least favorite web-technique ever used in the 90s), I would. "Vanity"-anything is a part of your subscription. You are paying for those features - the development, testing, and release - with your subscription. The fact that these pets have no statistical or "bonus" value is irrelevent. The next step is, of course, something like new armor skins. Imagine being able to hide your lowly Tier whatever armor using these new armor skins... they will make your old armor look better than the latest gear drops! "No, they don't offer statistical benefits, so we're not giving players an edge over other players, just allowing them to change the look of their equipped gear." Extrapolate indefinitely and you see where this will go. RMT is a perfectly viable model to provide the SOLE funding for a game. Allowing a subscription option with a monthly allocation of RMT points, a la DDO, also makes sense. What Blizzard/SOE/etc are trying to do is set very small precedents and allow them to settle in now, creating a mental acceptance for the players so they can incorporate more of these features in the future. If anyone throws out the whole server transfer/character rename line, I'll smack them with a wet fish. That argument holds no weight and is irrelevent for the purposes of this conversation.
Where in the contract we signed before playing this game did they say that Vanity was "part of the subscription"? The no statistical/bonus value of these pets are relevant because it shows that you are in fact NOT entitled to these items and these items are not even close to being necessary enough to affect anyone's game experience.
Sure you can extrapolate this into armor skins and other vanity type features you want to speak of, but so far, it hasn't happened, so again, you already imply that it is an assumption being made when you have to extrapolate the concept (and you only assume if they even charge for the new armor skins, they can also very easily make it available for free through quests, gold and other methods.) Again, just because they release a couple of pets right now doesn't mean all vanity features will be released in similar fashion in the future. More conspiracy theories for the lose.
When you go into your argument about RMT being viable which leads into yet again, more assumptions about Blizzard and their evil intentions. Yes, this is one big psychological game Blizzard is doing with WoW by making us mentally accept something small to EXTRAPOLATE (Sesame Street word of the post) it into bigger things for the future. And when you use words like viable that just means is RMT capable of actually working in a subscription game and in Blizzard's case, yes it can and it has worked for all its other features thus far I'm sure. This will be no different because for every 1 of you, theres about 10 or 20 willing to actually pay for the pets and not cry about it.
Ultimately, your post was one big assumption about Blizzards intent and rather wait to see if they actually do it, you just jump the gun and assume thats what they're doing and imply that this is one big psychological war between the customers and Blizzard.
EDIT: I agree with zymurgeist, in that complaining about companies looking for ways to make more money is just pissing in the wind.
.... Ultimately, your post was one big assumption about Blizzards intent and rather wait to see if they actually do it, you just jump the gun and assume thats what they're doing and imply that this is one big psychological war between the customers and Blizzard.
It's more like history repeating itself. First SOE, then Cryptic and now Blizzard, following the exact same pattern, from "harmless" additions to the RMT cash shop, to game altering ones. It's only a matter of time really.
Speaking with a voice of reason to a usually feaverd mass, who has pitchfork and torches quick at hand and already foam at the mouth whenever a sentence contains "WOW" or "RMT" is keen. A daring, honorable effort.
Ok, now ready the tar and feathers...
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Since the pet offers no in-game advantages, there is no issue here really. For myself, anyone I saw with such a pet I'd consider a fool separated from their money.
Let me ask you this, why is it that we never see an article from any of the correspondence on why RMT isn't a good thing? Just curious, do all you guys just love RMT and can't wait for it to infest all games? I would rather pay a higher monthly fee, but I will never play a sub game with RMT tacked on.
So, you would pay a higher monthly fee to have access to everything possible rather than a cheaper sub with RMT (even if its just vanity items?)? Behind what reasoning? Is this about money? Or is this about something else like the dignity of MMO gamers around the world? I don't understand this because if what you are saying is true, a possible separate higher subscription price to have access to everything in the RMT could also be another venue Blizzard can take to make money off uneducated folks like you If I were a company, I would start working on this right away if more people are following this type of thinking lol.
.... Ultimately, your post was one big assumption about Blizzards intent and rather wait to see if they actually do it, you just jump the gun and assume thats what they're doing and imply that this is one big psychological war between the customers and Blizzard.
It's more like history repeating itself. First SOE, then Cryptic and now Blizzard, following the exact same pattern, from "harmless" additions to the RMT cash shop, to game altering ones. It's only a matter of time really.
Again, if you learn to really read between the lines or maybe the actual quote you responded to/with, then you would understand where the "jumping the gun" part falls into play. Wait until they actually provide game altering items/features in their item shops before screaming for wolf here. Until then, the arguments and assumptions are pointless, you are just assuming the worst here. Let me know when it happens and perhaps I'll join you in your sentiments. Until then, as I have been saying, it all just looks childish and hilarious at the same time. The saddest part of it all, these posts are all coming from grown adults as has been mentioned earlier in this thread with responses that almost sounds like its coming from 5 year olds.
This fascination with collecting in-game pets reminds me of a couple of things. Primarily it strikes me as the same kind of mentality that's manipulated by marketers to get children to buy more and more Pokeman-related merchandise, encapsulated by that slogan "gotta catch em all". And the pets are all designed to look like animated stuffed animals. Combine this with the exaggerated child-playhouse graphics of the overall game and it makes one ponder exactly what kind of person Blizzard has designed their game to appeal to.
The fact that they are introducing a purchasable in-game pet suggests that they are looking for new revenue streams because old ones are beginning to dry up. But overall it shouldn't matter to folks whether or not someone can buy an in-game dancing elmo if that's their thing.
Again, if you learn to really read between the lines or maybe the actual quote you responded to/with, then you would understand where the "jumping the gun" part falls into play. Wait until they actually provide game altering items/features in their item shops before screaming for wolf here. Until then, the arguments and assumptions are pointless, you are just assuming the worst here. Let me know when it happens and perhaps I'll join you in your sentiments. Until then, as I have been saying, it all just looks childish and hilarious at the same time. The saddest part of it all, these posts are all coming from grown adults as has been mentioned earlier in this thread with responses that almost sounds like its coming from 5 year olds.
Only a fool waits until a sheep has been eaten to cry wolf. You cry wolf when you see a wolf, when you smell a wolf, when you hear a wolf.
You need to drive off or kill that wolf BEFORE the sheep start disappearing. Wolves eat sheep. The first wolf you see might not yet be hungry, but it will get hungry eventually.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Sorry but this is this only time I have ever disagreed with an article on here.
Yes it's ok for an MMORPG to have a cash shop.
...But only if the game is first released with one, no adding one in years later! (Even if the items are few and don't give any bonuses to players other than to fun).
Everyone knows that if this microtransaction works there will be more in the future. And who knows, maybe Blizzard will start adding items that DO give bonuses.
I just think it's funny how Blizzard is using the 50% of the profits go to a charity excuse to make money. If they really wanted to donate money then just do it by using subscription fees.
You could argue this is a good move on there half and that it's ok because they just want to make money and they can't be hated because of that. I say its a dumb move- anything that makes a customer upset is a bad move. No customers=no money.
You make two hugh assumptions. 1) that they will ever sell items and 2) that enough people think like you and will leave the game. I will bet that 50-60% of the people complaining here about it do not play WoW and have no effect on the sub numbers. I have not proof of this, but this will be my assumption.
Since the pet offers no in-game advantages, there is no issue here really. For myself, anyone I saw with such a pet I'd consider a fool separated from their money.
But they were giving pets away with expacs and patches previously? Maybe some people liked those with there sub fee and box purchases. Sub fee and box fee should include the whole game. Also I will not play a digital store, I want to play games.
Comments
But no one said you were entitled to them either. Its not like these things are gear and again like you said, these are extras! It just these particular pets you have to pay because they are a business and they are in it for the money in one way or another. Sure call it greediness, I call it business as usual. Greediness would be increasing subs from 15.99 to 20.99 in my opinion. Its this sense of entitlement for everything that really does make people like you look sad. I actually do care about pets and like having them. Sure 10 dollars for a good cause, I might buy it and probably more for the charity itself than the actual pet, the pet is just a bonus.
I think another thing to note here is that the people crying are trying to cry over something based off an assumption. Do you think they are really going to put every vanity thing onto the item shops now for money rather than make you earn it? Seriously? No, they're going to add stuff they feel should require people to pay and they are going to still add other vanities that will require you to earn them by various methods. They still will reward the same old and new holiday/special events one. Think realistically people rather than exaggerate the situation here. They do have to think about the customers while doing this after all so quite assuming because you are only making an ass out of you and me here
No, nothing has changed. They didn't add a price to the old vanity pets you can still earn in game. To tell you the truth, this idea could have been added in the begining (charging for vanity pets). Vanity pets are pointless but makes more sense if someone actually paid real money for it. I still have the Blizzard Bear and I often have that follow my Hunter around. It changes NOTHING about your charcter's ability to perform in game.
If they made more cool vanity stuff, that would be the only extra merchandise I would consider getting. (Mugs, T-Shirts and all the other stuff is just corny). I would never leave the house with a level 80 Hunter T-Shirt but a cool companion that does nothing but looks nice would be cool. Paying for mounts, items, potions, etc isn't cool, vanity pets are. Pointless, but nice.
So just because you don't care about vanity pets everyone that collects them should agree with you?
Gathering vanity pets is a good way to stop doing always the same things everyday, like people that collect achievements there are others that like the collect the vanity pets what's the problem with that?
I never said the old vanity pets will be in the cash shop but if you really think they wasted hours or days to create a cash shop to have only 2 pets in it you must be fooling yourself they will add more pets in the future and god knows what else. Before the cash shop these stuff were added as extra content for those that like to get everything when playing but now there will be some that will be in game the best ones (cooler,ecc) must be bought talking about greediness....
Dude (if you are not a guy, excuse the slang), do you NOT have enough vanity pets in WoW to collect? They don't owe ANYONE anymore items that they have put years into packing the game with. We have several years of content and free vanity items they gave away and are still giving away. Just for transfering your account to Battle.net, you get a free pet. Geez be thankful. Those pets are still there. If they want to add new ones that only people with cash can get, it's all good with me. It's the only item mall idea that makes sense. Blizzard has been good to me although I don't play WoW as often anymore, they've done good.
I have the right to like what I want!
Okay Okay Okay Okay
So Blizzard has an ITEM SHOP
That is what all of this is about!!!!!!
ITEM SHOP
but excuse me
The name they called it was ===== PET SHOP
so i Over looked that
IS a PET SHOP an ITEM SHOP?
No a PET SHOP is not an ITEM SHOP
so i guess Blizzard has now enter a new Thing in the game..
PET SHOP = A place to buy PETS
Could The PET SHOP turn into a other type of shop? YES!
We as players are at THE POWERS TO BE! (Blizzard)
Without US! Blizzard is no more!
if over 50% of players wants the PET SHOP we will get the PET SHOP with lots of PETS
There is no vote!
We have no say! except to quit the game and go somewhere else...
Blizzard is a smart Company they have seen the way we in game React to our beloved Pets!
John, my boy, I've never seen you lay down such a fantastic line of absolute B-S in the many years I've been coming to this site. Well done. I don't think a Blizzard employee could have put it better, but then, after reading this, you are on their payroll, aren't you?
RMT DOES NOT BELONG IN A SUBSCRIPTION-BASED GAME.
I don't know if I can make this any more clear. If I could put the above statement in blinking marquee (my least favorite web-technique ever used in the 90s), I would.
"Vanity"-anything is a part of your subscription. You are paying for those features - the development, testing, and release - with your subscription. The fact that these pets have no statistical or "bonus" value is irrelevent.
The next step is, of course, something like new armor skins. Imagine being able to hide your lowly Tier whatever armor using these new armor skins... they will make your old armor look better than the latest gear drops! "No, they don't offer statistical benefits, so we're not giving players an edge over other players, just allowing them to change the look of their equipped gear." Extrapolate indefinitely and you see where this will go.
RMT is a perfectly viable model to provide the SOLE funding for a game. Allowing a subscription option with a monthly allocation of RMT points, a la DDO, also makes sense. What Blizzard/SOE/etc are trying to do is set very small precedents and allow them to settle in now, creating a mental acceptance for the players so they can incorporate more of these features in the future.
If anyone throws out the whole server transfer/character rename line, I'll smack them with a wet fish. That argument holds no weight and is irrelevent for the purposes of this conversation.
Says who? What law are you looking at? Is there something you have found deep inside the human mind? Damn you guys that wants your belifes to be something that the rest of us have to go with.
RMT does belong to the game that can embrace it. Deal with it our just turn your back. Easy as that.
I7@4ghz, 5970@ 1 ghz/5ghz, water cooled||Former setups Byggblogg||Byggblogg 2|| Msi Wind u100
Hey kiddies, quit with the emo-rage. Don't like what Blizz is doing with your game, cancel your subscription. Anything else is just nerd rage...
A man is his own easiest dupe, for what he wishes to be true he generally believes to be true...
Says who? What law are you looking at? Is there something you have found deep inside the human mind? Damn you guys that wants your belifes to be something that the rest of us have to go with.
RMT does belong to the game that can embrace it. Deal with it our just turn your back. Easy as that.
Only a complete tool would indicate they actually WANT to spend more money for the sake of spending more money. That's what this is about - not content, gameplay, fun - money. Yes, we all know companies are in the game business to make money. However, saying we should go along with RMT systems when a subscription-based model is already in place is like saying you don't mind walking around the street with your wallet falling trailing on a string behind you. You're just asking to be robbed and taken advantage of.
Try again.
Blizzard will not introduce item mall or cash for resources for WoW at least. I believe they are smart enough to know better. Blizzard is making a LOT of money from subs and I doubt they would ever want to change the good thing they got going. What you see happening is a creative way to make more money from their fan base, simple. This isn't a cheat, an exploit or a downward demise of the mmorpg genre.
I have a major problem with f2p games and item malls, but they are there and players are supporting their efforts (perhaps not financial support) but their demand for getting what they want for free is ruining the business. Vanity pets are not. It doesn't support an unfair advantage either.
To explain this any further is pointless. I would rather players who play WoW start complaining about the other merchandise they charge real money for you to have, Mugs, T-Shirts etc and start there before getting bent out of shape because Blizzard (like Mr.Crabs) likes money.
Vanity pets are virtual merchandising, not cheating.
I have the right to like what I want!
No, nothing has changed. They didn't add a price to the old vanity pets you can still earn in game. To tell you the truth, this idea could have been added in the begining (charging for vanity pets). Vanity pets are pointless but makes more sense if someone actually paid real money for it. I still have the Blizzard Bear and I often have that follow my Hunter around. It changes NOTHING about your charcter's ability to perform in game.
If they made more cool vanity stuff, that would be the only extra merchandise I would consider getting. (Mugs, T-Shirts and all the other stuff is just corny). I would never leave the house with a level 80 Hunter T-Shirt but a cool companion that does nothing but looks nice would be cool. Paying for mounts, items, potions, etc isn't cool, vanity pets are. Pointless, but nice.
So just because you don't care about vanity pets everyone that collects them should agree with you?
Gathering vanity pets is a good way to stop doing always the same things everyday, like people that collect achievements there are others that like the collect the vanity pets what's the problem with that?
I never said the old vanity pets will be in the cash shop but if you really think they wasted hours or days to create a cash shop to have only 2 pets in it you must be fooling yourself they will add more pets in the future and god knows what else. Before the cash shop these stuff were added as extra content for those that like to get everything when playing but now there will be some that will be in game the best ones (cooler,ecc) must be bought talking about greediness....
Aww, QQ. You have obviously lived a sheltered life.
The person you quoted had a well though out post and you respond with garbage. Obviously your shallow mentality can't understand why others wouldn't want to pay more for things they normally use to get with patches and expansion. You need to take your own advice and also stop using childish "QQ" symbols that you think make you look cool.
To be fair, use of "QQ" was good enough for the paid writer of the original article.
So much for standards.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Actual, vanity pets represent an initial step in redefining what a subscription entitles you to in a game. I have no true sense of entitlement, except that I expect my monthly subscription to allow me to FULLY enjoy all aspects of a game. I consider that subscription price to be an all-in, all-you-can-eat-buffet-plus-drinks-and-desert price. Will I buy an expansion? Of course, assuming it provides content and/or functionality that enhances my experience. Expansions have to justify themselves on a cost-to-benefit ratio; you wouldn't spent $30 to add one new dungeon, would you (I guess some people might given the content and rewards for that dungeon...).
Can these pets be obtained in ANY fashion in-game? Or are they "exclusive" to the pet shop? Convenience (aka, allow people with money to obtain the same things that people with time can get) is fine, but exclusivity is not.
At the end of the day, it isn't about the pets. It is about the system itself.
He didn't write it for his audience. He wrote it for his clients.
Gaming sites don't serve their members. Unless they are paying members.
*sigh* Ya know, Gyrus' statement, I personally believe to be incorrect, but at least the statement makes sense. MMO_Doubter, once again you're off base with a nice conspiracy theory. I honestly don't know what else to say to ya on that subject.
In the case of this article, I didn't write it because any advertiser told me to. I didn't write it because I thought it would reflect the opinions of the audience. I didn't write it because I thought it was the opposite opinion of the audience either. I took a subject that was in the news and wrote my opinion on it... Which is the point of a column.
Disagree with me, fine. That's cool. As much as I'd love for everyone to agree with every word I ever say, just because I say it, that just ain't how the world works. So yes, disagree. That's how it's supposed to work when it comes to opinion pieces. I wrote my opinions and backed them up with examples of why I believe them to be true. Some others in this thread have made some pretty good arguments on the other side. This creates a dialogue which, when it comes to disagreements, is the first step toward solving them. Understanding the other side's position is always a good idea.
I'm not trying to write what my audience wants to hear. Everyone wants an un-biased media, I hear that day in and day out. The thing is that someone being un-biased means that sometimes they are going to share your views and sometimes they won't.This is the reason that we have polarized left and right news outlets. Everyone wants to feel like their opinions are the "un-biased" truth, but all opinions are colored by the personal experiences of the opinion holder. Many people believe that if their opinions are unbiased than anyone disagreeing must be terribly biased.
Anyway, that's my rant on the subject. You may all continue beating me mercilessly with a stick.
Let me ask you this, why is it that we never see an article from any of the correspondence on why RMT isn't a good thing? Just curious, do all you guys just love RMT and can't wait for it to infest all games? I would rather pay a higher monthly fee, but I will never play a sub game with RMT tacked on.
Where in the contract we signed before playing this game did they say that Vanity was "part of the subscription"? The no statistical/bonus value of these pets are relevant because it shows that you are in fact NOT entitled to these items and these items are not even close to being necessary enough to affect anyone's game experience.
Sure you can extrapolate this into armor skins and other vanity type features you want to speak of, but so far, it hasn't happened, so again, you already imply that it is an assumption being made when you have to extrapolate the concept (and you only assume if they even charge for the new armor skins, they can also very easily make it available for free through quests, gold and other methods.) Again, just because they release a couple of pets right now doesn't mean all vanity features will be released in similar fashion in the future. More conspiracy theories for the lose.
When you go into your argument about RMT being viable which leads into yet again, more assumptions about Blizzard and their evil intentions. Yes, this is one big psychological game Blizzard is doing with WoW by making us mentally accept something small to EXTRAPOLATE (Sesame Street word of the post) it into bigger things for the future. And when you use words like viable that just means is RMT capable of actually working in a subscription game and in Blizzard's case, yes it can and it has worked for all its other features thus far I'm sure. This will be no different because for every 1 of you, theres about 10 or 20 willing to actually pay for the pets and not cry about it.
Ultimately, your post was one big assumption about Blizzards intent and rather wait to see if they actually do it, you just jump the gun and assume thats what they're doing and imply that this is one big psychological war between the customers and Blizzard.
EDIT: I agree with zymurgeist, in that complaining about companies looking for ways to make more money is just pissing in the wind.
It's more like history repeating itself. First SOE, then Cryptic and now Blizzard, following the exact same pattern, from "harmless" additions to the RMT cash shop, to game altering ones. It's only a matter of time really.
Speaking with a voice of reason to a usually feaverd mass, who has pitchfork and torches quick at hand and already foam at the mouth whenever a sentence contains "WOW" or "RMT" is keen. A daring, honorable effort.
Ok, now ready the tar and feathers...
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Since the pet offers no in-game advantages, there is no issue here really. For myself, anyone I saw with such a pet I'd consider a fool separated from their money.
So, you would pay a higher monthly fee to have access to everything possible rather than a cheaper sub with RMT (even if its just vanity items?)? Behind what reasoning? Is this about money? Or is this about something else like the dignity of MMO gamers around the world? I don't understand this because if what you are saying is true, a possible separate higher subscription price to have access to everything in the RMT could also be another venue Blizzard can take to make money off uneducated folks like you
If I were a company, I would start working on this right away if more people are following this type of thinking lol.
It's more like history repeating itself. First SOE, then Cryptic and now Blizzard, following the exact same pattern, from "harmless" additions to the RMT cash shop, to game altering ones. It's only a matter of time really.
Again, if you learn to really read between the lines or maybe the actual quote you responded to/with, then you would understand where the "jumping the gun" part falls into play. Wait until they actually provide game altering items/features in their item shops before screaming for wolf here. Until then, the arguments and assumptions are pointless, you are just assuming the worst here. Let me know when it happens and perhaps I'll join you in your sentiments. Until then, as I have been saying, it all just looks childish and hilarious at the same time. The saddest part of it all, these posts are all coming from grown adults as has been mentioned earlier in this thread with responses that almost sounds like its coming from 5 year olds.
This fascination with collecting in-game pets reminds me of a couple of things. Primarily it strikes me as the same kind of mentality that's manipulated by marketers to get children to buy more and more Pokeman-related merchandise, encapsulated by that slogan "gotta catch em all". And the pets are all designed to look like animated stuffed animals. Combine this with the exaggerated child-playhouse graphics of the overall game and it makes one ponder exactly what kind of person Blizzard has designed their game to appeal to.
The fact that they are introducing a purchasable in-game pet suggests that they are looking for new revenue streams because old ones are beginning to dry up. But overall it shouldn't matter to folks whether or not someone can buy an in-game dancing elmo if that's their thing.
Only a fool waits until a sheep has been eaten to cry wolf. You cry wolf when you see a wolf, when you smell a wolf, when you hear a wolf.
You need to drive off or kill that wolf BEFORE the sheep start disappearing. Wolves eat sheep. The first wolf you see might not yet be hungry, but it will get hungry eventually.
"" Voice acting isn't an RPG element....it's just a production value." - grumpymel2
Yeah Nestle makes new M&M's because the old ones are not selling well.
Sorry but this is this only time I have ever disagreed with an article on here.
Yes it's ok for an MMORPG to have a cash shop.
...But only if the game is first released with one, no adding one in years later! (Even if the items are few and don't give any bonuses to players other than to fun).
Everyone knows that if this microtransaction works there will be more in the future. And who knows, maybe Blizzard will start adding items that DO give bonuses.
I just think it's funny how Blizzard is using the 50% of the profits go to a charity excuse to make money. If they really wanted to donate money then just do it by using subscription fees.
You could argue this is a good move on there half and that it's ok because they just want to make money and they can't be hated because of that. I say its a dumb move- anything that makes a customer upset is a bad move. No customers=no money.
You make two hugh assumptions. 1) that they will ever sell items and 2) that enough people think like you and will leave the game. I will bet that 50-60% of the people complaining here about it do not play WoW and have no effect on the sub numbers. I have not proof of this, but this will be my assumption.
But they were giving pets away with expacs and patches previously? Maybe some people liked those with there sub fee and box purchases. Sub fee and box fee should include the whole game. Also I will not play a digital store, I want to play games.