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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsForum post of the day: Retroactive recruitment
by Amanda Dean 
Aug 8th 2008 at 2:57AM
Blizzard does not particualry appreciate petitions on the official forums. This does not stop players from starting them. Lyccan of Ner'zhul started a petition in the Suggestion forum to make the Recruit-a-Friend benefits retroactive. At this time Blizzard has announce no current plans to give these rewards to folks who have brought players into the game in the past.
Most of us are pretty open about our love or World of Warcraft, and many of us have invited our friends and family to join us in WoW. In the past, the joy of sharing the game and a potential game-time buddy was enough to bring our friends into the game.
The rules have changed. Now that new recruits are rewarded with a fancy new mount and some snazzy bonus experience, many who have brought friends into the game want those rewards as well. Calliope of Ysera echoed the sentiments of many with, "I think this reward system should go for all players who recruited in the past as well. This is like a slap in the face to those who already brought Blizz customers."
Blizzard doesn't see a need to make these rewards retroactive. This is a move to entice new players. Theoretically it will also keep existing players happy if they manage to recruit new players into the game. There is very little point in being bitter, many things have changed in WoW, like decreases in mount prices, that the developers have not seen fit to make retroactive.
Is WoW's popularity waning enough to warrant Blizzard turning it into a gamer's pyramid scheme? I have a friend who's been itching to give WoW a try, with the new incentives, I may just buy him a copy.
Filed under: Fan stuff, Blizzard, Forums, Forum Post of the Day
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
tanek Aug 8th 2008 5:42AM
The suggestion is to make it retroactive for a period of time to cover players who used the recruit-a-friend feature just before this new promotion started. I still don't know if it is even possible for Blizzard to do, but there would be a record of the recruit link between the accounts.
Farfromout Aug 8th 2008 5:29AM
Check on the recruit a friend page on wow-europe.
There is a status of invites thing there, if and 2 little boxes. first one is a free month, second is a mount.
If they are there you may get them.
Radiophonic Aug 8th 2008 5:33AM
lol, worst petition ever.
People are so greedy for shiny things. Get over it.
Draenors Aug 8th 2008 7:37AM
Hm... This problem wouldn't exist if they hadn't made the RAF rewards in the first place.
Rhapsody Aug 8th 2008 7:52AM
It's hardly a pyramid scheme, since there's actually a product or service being offered in compensation for bringing a new person into the fold. Your comparison to a highly illegal business model for recruiting incentives put out by a gaming company is a little misleading, as it suggests that Blizzard is doing something illegal in the current incarnation of its recruitment drive.
tiker Aug 8th 2008 8:42AM
Can I recruit myself? Lets see... I get a free month on my account, I pay for 2 months on my new account, I get the mount.
I actually paying just 1 extra month and I get a mount..
Hrmm..
Adam Aug 8th 2008 8:33AM
Thats dumb the point is to bring new people into the game, I want a petition to keep old school naxx up. Bliz has kael in two places, i think Muru should be in silvermoon too. It fits the idea of a progressive story line. the quests for blood knights suck without muru. the idea is that as your toon levels the world changes, higher level material takes place after older material. new players shouldn;t lose content cause they joined late.
Marvela Aug 8th 2008 8:43AM
I invited a friend 2 days before they announced this, they were still a trial when it happened, and now...nothing.
Thanks for the slap in the face blizzard, I been playing for 4 years, woulda been nice to feel rewarded for a change.
Jayo Aug 8th 2008 12:20PM
Your reward is the amazing game you get to play, nothing more. That's what you pay for, that's what you get. Just because you've been a customer for 4 years does not entitle you to freebies, nor the other 10 million players. Players need to get it through their thick heads that this game is NOT a democracy, no matter how much you think it should be.
Your had your vote when you payed your bill last month.
Marvela Aug 8th 2008 7:40PM
Re-read what you wrote, and try to understand your own cynicism.
I have been playing this game, complete with bugs, through thick and thin, for 4 years.
I have never asked for more, never decided to quit due to class balance, nothing - and here I stand, perfectly legible for the rewards offered to those that improve the player base, with no dice. The account I invited was even linked for 2 days, until that was taken away.
If my disappointment makes me a thickheaded nameless WoW-player, so be it.
Better than being a cynical WoW Insider comment nazi.
ThorinII Aug 8th 2008 8:45AM
They shouldn't make this retroactive. It's just like buying a new car then a month later seeing the same one for less, or that some of the equipment you paid extra for now comes standard. Or discount offers to cable/dish/phone subscribers that are only good for new customers.
If you already recruited all your friends, too bad. Although, I feel your pain too, I don't have anyone I can recruit either.
Lasso Aug 8th 2008 8:59AM
WoW players will whine about anything new Blizzard implements.
Rhombus Aug 8th 2008 9:07AM
This just shows how freaking greedy people are.
People don't raid Cupertino when Apple releases a new iPod, and you bought yours yesterday (or last year in this case for some of these people).
I understand their frustrations, but it's just a game. It's just a mount. Relax. Invite another friend.
Milktub Aug 8th 2008 9:24AM
I guess I'm an odd duck in the WoW crowd. I don't mind chatting about WoW with the co-workers who play, but I don't want to play with my real life friends.
Nick Aug 8th 2008 10:00AM
Yeah, the timing wasn't too great for me, since a bunch of friend and I all began playing at the beginning of this summer, but I can understand them not making certain things retroactive, like the xp.
Still, I really wish they would make the summon ability completely retroactive, because they would imbalance anything (I don't think) and really makes if MUCH easier to play with a friend, especially if you want to play different races. e.g. I wanted to be Tauren and my friend's a bloodelf, so I had to trek across the entire freaking world to go quest with her, which was slightly annoying. If I hadn't known the geography of the game so well, from having many friends addicted to it for some years, I probably wouldn't have bothered, and would've been frustrated or given up. The summon spell would be a nice little thing that Blizzard should make available to all past referrals.
Jakeman Aug 20th 2008 11:18AM
Have any of you actually ever been slapped in the face?
Biggles Aug 8th 2008 12:07PM
> However, this doesn't appear to be a swift mount, so it would only be for show and it's likely there will be a lot of them. Kind of pointless IMO.
It's odd Bliz wasn't explicit, but apparently it is swift. A buddy of mine just sent me the following:
> Got the zhevra. Nice, I did the ride of I-have-one-and-you-don't around and through Shat. Turned some heads--and that was that. It is a fast mount, btw.
So that's good at least.
Rhapsody Aug 8th 2008 6:55PM
I saw one in Durotar yesterday while I was doing lowbie quests for Org rep. It's 100% speed increase according to the tooltip, just like any other epic ground mount.
Jayo Aug 8th 2008 12:15PM
God, people will BITCH about anything in this game.
Shawndra Aug 8th 2008 1:02PM
My husband bought a new account, paid the two months, and I got my Zhevra. She is a fast one! We are also leveling new characters, and this triple experience is definitely worth it. My husband has one 70 to my 3 (almost 4) in the time we have been playing, and this is the perfect opportunity for him, who hates the whole get to 70 experience, to get another one. A guild member dragged us through Ragefire Chasm last night and the experience was worth doing it again.
Who needs a leveling service? :)