Alt Text just short of the real bribe
by Michael Gray 
Aug 22nd 2008 at 2:00PM
Lore Sjöberg at Wired's Alt Text talked yesterday about the Zhevra mount you get as part of the Recruit-a-Friend program. It's a pretty fun read. He talks about the myriad of vanity items, and how these items can be such a motivator for WoW players, even though they don't really affect your gameplay at all.
I do want to add a point to his article, though. The new Recruit-a-Friend benefit isn't just the Zhevra. For me, the ability to gain triple-XP is the huge motivator. I'm involved in a Guild that's doing it's best to truck through Zul'Aman content. I can't wait to get a good friend of mine involved in the fun, but getting from 0 to 70 is going to take a while.
Even with the speed levelling records out there, going from zip to end-game isn't going to happen overnight. So, while my friend will be starting after Labor Day weekend, there's a little bit of delay before she's rocking out to left-handed Nalorakk. The triple-XP bonus -- and the ability to teleport me to her when she needs help -- overcomes the big hurdle to getting a friend started.
This is the real power of the new Recruit-a-Friend benefit, in my opinion. The Zhevra's cool and all, but the XP bonus and teleportation feature makes getting my friend involved three times faster. The benefit doesn't just reward getting friends involved, it empowers us to get our friends involved.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, News items, Leveling, Mounts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jahnkasad Aug 22nd 2008 2:05PM
I got the refer-a-friend bonus with my wife, and went from level 0-45 in 1.5 days played time. And that's taking it slowly, spending an hour or three of that in SW leveling profs.
jeff Aug 22nd 2008 2:07PM
actually, to teleport you must both be under level 60, the triple xp stops at 60, and you can no longer teleport each other, you dont gain triple xp unless you are both within short distance of one another. however its awesome. i got a character leveled up already! my playtime at 60 was 2 days 8 hours, i did some pvp and stuff
Kirtan Aug 22nd 2008 2:16PM
it would be nice if ALL countries could use Recruit-a-friend
it just sucks that Blizz only gives such privileges to big countries and it's so annoying
oh why Blizz? why? why are you tormenting us little guys like that?
Ste Aug 22nd 2008 4:37PM
It's nothing to do with the size of the countries, but the laws in each individual country. There was a blue post about it in the forums. So if your country doesn't have recruit-a-friend, it's due to your country's laws.
Jay Aug 22nd 2008 2:19PM
Ahh yeah, I did this just to get the zhevra mount :>
I also used the second account to dual box for a while.
d_bandoni Aug 22nd 2008 2:52PM
The recruit a friend is the biggest f-u to people who leveled multiple charcters on there own and recruited family and friends who did the same with out all these so called perks. Recruit a friend is a corporate scheme to make more cash. It's totally financially driven and anyone who thinks likewise is a sucker and I have a bridge I would love to sell them. Blizzard you sold out for the almighty $. For shame!!! Blizzard with this new move is like an awesome rock band who sell their song to sell bubble gum. Can you say sell outs? If you want to make leveling faster thats fine but this is not the way to do it. I notice in your article you did not mention the level jumping...just left that out??? The ultimate of all cheating moves. What's next blizzard going to start selling level 70 charcters like the powerlevers? Might as well, they are practically doing it anyway.
Blayed Aug 22nd 2008 3:34PM
"Blizzard you sold out for the almighty $."
Why do you think they made the game in the first place? Sure as hell wasn't "Hey Bob! Wanna know what would be fun! Creating an epic MMORPG video game that will attract millions of people! What's that? No, of course we would only do it for fun, money's not important."
Dod Aug 22nd 2008 5:08PM
@Blayed: Actually, Blizzard were rather surprised at how popular WoW became. Now they sit firmly on the throne of MMORPG gaming. When it comes to making money, they have been hugely successful. So, what people are puzzled about is why they're resorting to desperate marketing schemes like R-a-F.
vbg17 Aug 22nd 2008 5:15PM
So I suppose that anything that is upgraded later is a ripoff huh? Like the cars that have the better fuel economy, or the computer with more memory, or even the 2nd in a series of video games. Those are all ripoffs because we arent giving new cars or computers away? Come on man think about it.
Dod Aug 23rd 2008 4:39AM
Your analogy doesn't really suit R-a-F particularly well. You shouldn't embrace everything new and call it "progress" just because it happens to benefit yourself. Especially when there's obviously better solutions easily within reach.
If I were to follow your line of thought, I would have to make my friends buy new cars in order to make gas pumps work at triple speed.
Gulstaff Aug 22nd 2008 2:30PM
Has any sub-60 ganker been forced to regret his actions when a lvl 30 RAF teleports a big brother lvl 60 to "take care" of the situation?
Good to hear it ends after 60...
Liel Aug 22nd 2008 2:31PM
I did this so I could two box a pally rogue combo, once I am done I am transferring the pally to my main account and cancelling the other.
HappyMurloc Aug 22nd 2008 2:31PM
"they don't really affect your gameplay at all"
Disagree.
It's up for a discussion what "gameplay" really is.
Just because it doesn't affect mechanics and performance, it adds to the immersion, aestetical pleasure, fun and all these other things that some see as a major part of gameplay.
Dod Aug 22nd 2008 2:40PM
The major flaw about Recruit-a-Friend is that it's giving people gameplay rewards for actions performed outside of the gameplay. This is breaking an important principle in MMO gaming. It should never happen. Only what players do in the game, should affect what happens to your character in the game. Especially when it comes to basic gameplay mechanics like xp and leveling. Blizzard knows this very well, and that's some of the reason they have taken an aggressive stance against various forms of cheating, like hacks, account trading, gold and item trading (RMT), botting, powerleveling and so on.
Not only is R-a-F a powerleveling service provided by Blizzard, but it's also additionally flawed by having various strings attached to it that makes it unusable by a lot of the players.
The most obvious problem is that if you do not have anyone to recruit, you're left out. If you don't have the hardware or money to multibox, you're left out. If you come from a country like Denmark, where this kind of scheme is illegal, you're left out.
This is the second basic MMO gaming principle that Blizzard violates by using the R-a-F ploy. They are effectively discriminating players by doling out xp and levels for only a select part of their customer base.
Some of you are saying, "Yeah, but it's for a greater good. They are facilitating players, so that they can catch up with the other players". Well, I agree with you. There should be an option to skip leveling, since there's not enough players in the starting areas to make our time there enjoyable. And with those who are able to use R-a-F leveling up in a jiffy, it will be even more empty and boring.
Some seem to totally disregard the fact that R-a-F is an extremely poor solution to the problem. There's a lot of other options that could facilitate *everybody* in the same way, instead of just catering to those who provide Blizzard with extra income.
Now, some of you might say "Well, Blizzard are all about making money. If you don't like it, you can play something else". That's true. They are free to do whatever they want with their own game. They're free to degrade the game, sell out and disgrace themselves if they want to. But, remember that a large part of Blizzard's success and henceforth a large part of what makes them so great is that they always have been all about putting *good and fair gameplay* in front of gaining monetary wealth. This has always been Blizzards official development strategy. They have been proud about it, and not afraid to use it as a selling point. A standpoint that has gained them a lot of respect amongst their fans.
US CM Belfaire posted on the subject before R-a-F came in effect, i.e. Blizzard's official stance on the subject:
"We want all players to be on equal footing, regardless of income and livelihood. You say that because it's open to everybody, that it won't give one player an advantage, but this is patently false. While we do offer paid services, these are technical or vanity services as opposed to services which offer a real and true advantage in the game, like RMT gold buying would."
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=4822544200&pageNo=1&sid=1#6
Recent interview with Paul Sams, the "Chief Operating Officer" of Blizzard Entertainment. In it, he explained a bit about Blizzard's way of dealing with business models:
"At Blizzard, the business model doesn't come until late in the game. We focus on what the experience is, what the gameplay is and what the overall kind of feature set is before we start talking about what the business model is. I know there is a lot of speculation, but candidly, we just don't know yet.
I think a lot of businesspeople would say "oh well, the important stuff is how we generate profit and revenue". But, our feeling is that's secondary. We need to focus on what the experience is, make sure that the gameplay is right, and then we wrap a business model around that."
Source: http://warcraft.moviechronicles.com/
So, why have Blizzard launched R-a-F? Honestly, I don't know. But I do know that there is dissent amongst the people at Blizzard about this. Unfortunately, they are bound to silence as employees. Some bullheaded businesspeople have probably forced this decision, and now they are testing the water while at the same time stealing potential customers from the new MMOs like WAR. How do you think that will affect the evolution of MMORPG gaming for us as gamers?
So, yeah... Before you start blindly defending R-a-F, just remember that it *could* have been fashioned in a way that would facilitate *all* players and without breaking these fundamental principles. There's no need to go into tunnel-vision mode.
What will be next?
BitterCupOJoe Aug 22nd 2008 3:02PM
Your supposition falls apart pretty much immediately. "Only what players do in the game, should affect what happens to your character in the game." So you've never used wowhead, read boss strategies, looked at the forums, used an addon, or used a profession leveling guide? Heck, how are you even on wowinsider?
Chuddy Aug 22nd 2008 3:09PM
You just posted this ridiculous rant over at mmo champion. Get over yourself. "important principle in MMO gaming". Princinple's in a video game? Good lord. And, putting crap like this out there "If you don't have the hardware or money to multibox, you're left out." I can run two wow's on my old 2000 dell with it'joke of a 4x agp card. And if 14.99 a month is breaking you, you have more problems than just playing wow. Someone's always gotta complain about something and you're just raging over small stuff.
Liel Aug 22nd 2008 3:12PM
They did not break or did anything wrong, Blizzard knows ever increasing level caps makes getting your friends in the game and leveling a daunting task.
Dod Aug 22nd 2008 4:30PM
@Bitter: Information gathering doesn't alter the game mechanics directly, like R-a-F does. Neither does Blizzard set any limitations on who's able to access information.
@Chuddy: Blizzard already established these principles, I happen to agree with them. R-a-F goes against Blizzards own philosophy.
If Blizzard provided something similar to all players without any strings attached, it would be an excellent feature imo.
Chuddy Aug 22nd 2008 7:45PM
haha. You really dont see how much of a stink you're making out of nothing. Man, if you're so beefed up about this, gosh...hahahahahaha...there's SO much more to be concerned about. Yet you're so pissed of by this you write that ridiculous rant and now are try to pass it off as totally legit..haha. Man this is 10/10.
jbodar Aug 22nd 2008 9:55PM
Clearly, RAF discriminates against the friendless. Glad you're here to set things right, Captain Awesome.