Blizzard Sold $2M Of Virtual Livestock in 4 Hours

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[citation][nom]michaelahess[/nom]My wife spent well over 3g's on Perfect World, I almost divorced her over it (seriously). People seem to be easily manipulated into this pay content. I think it's just stupid.[/citation]

3k could have started you on your way to your own little "perfect world"

thats a shame. i dont know if that could ever be forgiven.
 
i always said in-game stuff you can get with $$$ ruined the MMORPG game feeling...not playing anymore exactly cause of this. Before all this, you had something cool, it meant you earned it or found/crafted it, now it means you got $$$.
 
From a balancing standpoint, the purchased horse does nothing except allow some players to have only one button for a mount instead of 2. Why 2? Because, pre-"the next expansion", everyone cannot use their fastest flying mount in the old world. So, they have to have a second button for their "fastest ground mount." They are planning on doing away with this issue in the next expansion. (Both the use of flying mounts in the old world, as well as allowing someone to keep one mount for their entire life if they so choose... and have it increase speed.) With this said, I'll never own this mount since it requires real world dollars for only a few lines of code.

As for the MMO vs "other games" argument, MMO cost is easily compared to "going out with my mate" for me. We both enjoy the game, so we both play together (duo'ing). 2 subscriptions of $15 a month (if bought per month) = $30. That is the cost of one night of movie tickets and a drink if you go to the night showing. Which has more entertainment value for us... the current MMO we are playing. (We cycle through them.) Further, with the cycling, there is the added ~$100 cost the initial purchase of 2 copies of the game - $30 for the first "free" month = ~$70. $70 is 2 dinners at a non-"fast food" restaurant, and we agree to this before the purchase is made. In short, the MMO paid monthly subscription model works. (Real world example: Financing anything via a loan of X years, where you can calculate your budget and know how much you can spend.)

I, however, disagree with the "free to play, but pay for stuff" model. Why? Company X releases a new "uber X" that beats the last "uber X" they released all at a low low cost of Y. Therefore, you must pay Y in order to still be "the best of the best at your class/role"... or your guild will see you as 2nd rate and replace you with someone that can spend Y... NOW. (Real world example: Impulse buy)

As some others have stated, the problem is the difference in the Impulse buy and the Finance buy... and some people's lack of ability to budget their money.
 
what's the big deal over this?
for 25 bucks you get a mount that give you no advantage whatsoever over the ones you can get in-game... it only looks different
an advantage for new players? for 25 bucks you get a mount OR for little gold you get a mount... hmm... run at the same speed and you still need to farm your gold for the epic raiding skill, what's the advantage?

the company developed WoW looking forward to make money out of it, as much as possible if not even more, they'll keep looking on how to make even more money out of it... and there's nothing wrong with it!
you don't like the 25 dollar mount? don't buy it! (I wouldn't buy it if it was 5) no one is forcing anyone to do it and you won't miss anything important if you skip it

there are mount collectors in the game, people who love to get as many as possible... they will buy this mount, they will buy loot cards out of ebay, they will do whatever it takes to get more mounts on their collection... if they can afford it THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH IT

unless you're dealing with people using their rent money for pixelated horsies then it's not wow's fault either, morons exist in an exuberant variety and they have been the bane of humanity during the last couple thousands of years
 
PS3 does the same sort of thing with racing games and others.... buy the better car for $1.50 or something like that. Yes I have bought one or two but only because I always have only a couple bucks left over from my bigger purchases. This allows me to just get something like this. I don't think it is a problem just as long as the game allows for the item to be received in mere gameplay as well. - Godfather does this, Burnout, Need For Speed ~ Shift. There are many others I am sure.
 
I think some people are missing the point here. $25 for a mount is not the issue. Shoe-horning the microtransaction format into a monthly-subscription game which you just bought for $50-$70 bucks is the issue despite what the item is.
From my experience, it always starts off as a mundane item providing little or aesthetic use only. The beast then evolves by manuevering the people who have more time than money to play against the folks who have more money than time. It always kills off the veteran population of the game while allowing the noobies to "catch up" to the veterans who don't even play anymore and is usually a sign that a game is dieng. While I don't play WoW, I am almost certain it isn't dieing... so what gives?
 


That is apples to oranges. None of those examples are MMOs and none of them require a monthly fee for subscription. Those are single purchase consoles games + paid DLC. It still is a shaft your getting, just not quite as large as the one the MMO communities are receiving.
 
i like the look of this mount, even if it cost me 25,but consider the fun that the game gives to me, it worth the money.to make the game more interesting i think the money spend on wow gold is also worth, and i often buy wow gold from the reliable WGT Online.
 
Nothing wrong with it. Its a premium game and goes well above and beyond compared to other games in terms of entertainment value. Purchasable items is fine as long as better items can be obtained in game. I would limit the mount speed of a purchased item over one earned in game (but only just slightly). I find it odd how some feel they are getting raped by what they spend on games. A game like WoW with nearly unlimited play gives you so much value compared to other games and especially compared to other hobbies. It costs a lot to employ an army to make the BEST top tier games. No one is being screwed not even close.
 
[citation][nom]niz[/nom]Players are annoyed that Blizzard are making it possible to buy your way through the game, but thats always been possible one way or another. Blizzard dont do nearly enough to stop gold farmers. Its one of the many reasons why WOW sucks.I'm got put off of WOW because Blizzard keep making stupid decisions such as removing skills I already earnt and continually dumbing the game down and making it easier. It sucks when you see a newbie immediately get stuff that took you months of effort to get. And why do they keep forcing more and more gameplay where players have to team up all the time? I hate that and want a game I can still play well at on my own when I don't feel like being social.[/citation]

Try a good game like Oblivion, Dragon Age, or Fallout 3. :)
 
When all the ashes have settled, and all your dollars spent on the game are tallied...all you got was fat from sitting around in a chair while life passed you by. There are better things to do with your time. Really valuable things. Like learning something that can lead to new opportunities, improving yourself, doing something to change your world for the better, or being involved with family. We're becoming too anti-social, lazy, and then we wonder why our economy sucks and we're falling behind in technological advancement...
 
[citation][nom]vertigo_2000[/nom]I'll qualify this whole rant by first stating... I've never played WOW. With that out of the way, I find it amazing that people pay so much of their hard earned REAL WORLD money on digital "goods" in a FANTASY WORLD. Blows me away.Personally I avoid games that require me to pay a monthly fee for the "privalege" of playing the game after I've already dropped $50-$70 on the game itself. There are enough games out there with free servers to play on. The business model is slowly moving toward pay-to-play, but I'm avoiding it for as long as I can.Seems weird to me to spend $50 on a game and then $10-15 every month afterwards. After a year, I'll have spent $230 on 1 game (this is just for the game and subscription fees, no digital goods purchased). For the same money, I could have bought 3 or 4 other games to keep me entertained in that year.[/citation]

Your $15 a month goes towards running the servers and infrastructure that allows you to play with 3000-5000 other players simultaneously. It also goes towards developing additional content for the game, as you never "beat" MMOs. When you buy more games the time you've invested is essentially wasted when you start playing something else, this is not the case with any MMO and I think that is the draw.
 
[citation][nom]vertigo_2000[/nom]I'll qualify this whole rant by first stating... I've never played WOW. With that out of the way, I find it amazing that people pay so much of their hard earned REAL WORLD money on digital "goods" in a FANTASY WORLD. Blows me away.Personally I avoid games that require me to pay a monthly fee for the "privalege" of playing the game after I've already dropped $50-$70 on the game itself. There are enough games out there with free servers to play on. The business model is slowly moving toward pay-to-play, but I'm avoiding it for as long as I can.Seems weird to me to spend $50 on a game and then $10-15 every month afterwards. After a year, I'll have spent $230 on 1 game (this is just for the game and subscription fees, no digital goods purchased). For the same money, I could have bought 3 or 4 other games to keep me entertained in that year.[/citation]

Everyone that does not play MMORPGs states this exact same thing. Everyone that plays them states the monthly fee is worth it.

Blizzard already released pay for pets a while ago, I'm sure they will never issue a better weapon or armor or some elite dungeon for extra money.
 
[citation][nom]RADIO_ACTIVE[/nom]I think of it like this. I could buy a couple of games ($100+) each month with only 7-10 hours of content or play WoW for $15 a month and play get endless (practically) content. I usually only play WoW and an FPS here and there.[/citation]

Just take Counter-Strike Source, 20$ for over 3000 hours of gameplay since its release.
 
Blizzard has done it again they have added varity to their card game. The TRH or astsral mount is just another way to boost their revenue. Blizzard has been doing this for quiet sometime, ever since the card game allowed you to put codes in and get unquie effects and mounts they have had a boost in revenue ever since. Someone mention that they have been dumbing the game, to be quite honest it seems that with people quiting and new people join they are aiming to allow new people to get right into the action. With this new addition to physical money bought mounts and effects blizzard has successed in their proabible goal to boost their revenue. The money made from this mount might go to help launch one of their other games that is comeing out this year.
 
Do items such as the Celestial Steed and other in-game, purchasable goods mean that players are taking the express lane?

But as Blizzard said in the past, it is not selling "progression," but rather vanity items to (1) make a profit and to (2) give something unique for fans to collect.

I believe making this mount available is not selling progression.

Do you or would you buy virtual in-game goods? Would you pay money for weapons and armor to get ahead of other players? We want to know!

I would never pay for such a thing. Only for 3D printed real models.
It's way to unstable, the stuff you purchased could be worth nothing in six months or so, thus why chasing uncertainty? It only ruins my game. I play games for fun, not for statue, ego or those other stuff.
 
[citation][nom]gwellin[/nom]This is just a stepping stone for Blizz. If a lot of people start buying these items they might think that people can afford a larger subscription fee.[/citation]

I highly doubt that, but you can count on a LOT more purchasable content to go along with the subscription fee.
 
EVERYBODY buys their way through the game. You just have to use some marginally less simplistic thinking to understand this. You either spend time or money to earn levels and gear. That time could be used working to make money. You CHOOSE to waste that time playing this craptastic time sink. Don't get all high and mighty, bearing the delusion that you are somehow less fantastically lame than a guy who spends $25 to buy some pixels that YOU would have spent hours leveling up and saving money to purchase. For somebody who makes epically more than minimum wage, time is infinitely more valuable than money. Think about it.
 
$25 is hardly a "micro-transaction". I found their server transfer fees to be ridiculous as well. I'm so glad I finally quit WoW but I'd LOL @ anyone who bout one of these.
 
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