I'm not sure I understand your logic in making the decision to not renew your subscription. Please elaborate.

Good decision. Stay gone.

Yeah, now I actually wish I wasn't just re-subbed for 6 months. I'll pull my auto-resub and go with game cards.

It seems that Acti-Blizz just changed the terms without warning; their option, my mistake for committing to a company that has been giving signals of major change by breaking old taboos recently. And with this Pet Store Blizzard just 'in effect' sanctioned gold-selling since these pets are already being exchanged for gold in the game.

And what's next?
I can't believe Blizzard's word anymore because they've not kept their word.
Pay for consumables?
In-game advertising?
Pay for levels?
$$$ for epics?
Sorry, but there are no guarantees anymore. The game has changed forever and there is no going back.

Dear Everyone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope
kthxbye

Overreact much?

I don't believe that they will ever sell non-vanity items in the game for real money. That just wouldn't make any since unless they wanted to remove raiding from the game completely.

However, I don't mind just a couple pets being for sale. It is just like the TCG, I can see a few vanity items that I know I won't be getting, or at least, not for a little while.

My only hope with this whole thing is that Blizzard won't get overly excited about how much money they make from this and stop putting new vanity items in the game for us to earn the old way. If they start putting 50+ cosmetic pets on the store, then I will not be happy one bit. Like right now, I know there are like 10 or so vanity items I can't get from the TCG, but I am ok with that. If all of a sudden I can't get 50 items without spending more money, then I will not be happy. Especially if I have a hard time getting the pet achievement without buying them.

My one request Blizzard:

Keep amount of items limited, and don't stop putting sweet pets and mounts in the game to earn as well. I don't want all the best pets/mounts to cost extra.

I can see where this is going ...

"Hi, I'm Thrall. As Warchief of the Horde, I need to keep refreshed and energized. That's why I drink Mountain Dew!"

Nah, Blizzard would never use Warchief Thrall to advertise for Mt. Dew..

Garosh will be Warchief.

Don't be so hard on him. He has a point. These are the BEST pets we've sen so far as Mike says. Does it not bother you that the achievements awards for pet collecting are not as good? This trend will continue. You want the best mount, tabard, silly outfit? forget working hard in game break out your credit card. I wonder how much time this is taking away that the designers could be spending on "free" in game things. Face it, they are going to make the best stuff here because they get the most money for it. This is a bad thing.

Kinda funny how that one guy posted a link to the wikipedia for Slipper Slope, which clearly states in beginning that it is a fallacy, meaning that it is not logical and does not work when reasoning things.

Here's where the story leads, a true story of some sad people in China and the ultimate RMT/Microtransaction destination

http://www.danwei.org/electronic_games/gambling_your_life_away_in_zt.php

Can't believe that people can sit down and devote time to something like that and not see it coming

Do you need the Pandaren for melee dps? Does Lil KT give you a super buff against Naxx bosses? No. You don't need it.

The day blizzard starts offering high level weapons for cash I'll riot alongside everyone here. For this? I paid my $20 happily.

@Jon Do

"And with this Pet Store Blizzard just 'in effect' sanctioned gold-selling since these pets are already being exchanged for gold in the game."

I call bs! These are account bound, so unless people are gifting them for in game gold I don't believe a word of it.

I agree with Moonkinmaniac. These buyable pets will have to be much better than any other pet if Blizz wants to make money off em. Think about it: buyable pet has x animation, but regular in game pets don't. When I compare my Orange Tabby Cat to another player's Dark Whelpling, I know that obtaining one is possible and will be a great reward for my hard work. But when I compare it to a Pandaren Monk or lil KT, there's a new hurdle to overcome and this one doesn't feel right when I'm already paying my monthly subscription. I feel the content of the game should be available to me if I work hard enough.

They crossed a line indeed here.

"Working hard" and "in a game" should never be used in the same sentence.

My god, who are you people? I can tell you who I hope you are... a fast dying, very tiny minority within the player base.

Keep crying. Your tears are vodka to me! Mwhahahaha.

"These are account bound, so unless people are gifting them for in game gold I don't believe a word of it. "

These can indeed be gifted. At the end of checkout you have the option of redeeming your pet code, or gifting it to someone else. If you gift it Blizz e-mails the code to the address you provide, or you could just copy down the redemption code, pass it to someone else, and they can enter it manually.

I don't think buying it for in-game gold is the way to go though. I've seen these pets hawked in /trade for anywhere from $2k to $5k on my server. I'm thinking if you hand over a few thousand gold to someone for their code, and it turns out not to be good for some reason (fake, previously used, etc.) then you're just going to be out that gold. I highly doubt Blizz will lift a finger to help you in a "scam" such as a that.

oh lord, if they piss off the casual players and pet collectors this game is going to crash so hard.

On topic: As for the OP, I'm guessing there a many more things about this game that are frustrating him other than $$ for vanity pets, amirite? Speaking as a 2-time quitter, the urge to quit is usually brought on by a series of small changes

Right now my quit-meter is about half-way recharged. This worries me, not because Blizzard will start selling epics for cash (that would never happen), but I worry that only the 'good stuff' that doesn't affect gameplay will be in the store, and from here on out the 'mediocre stuff' will be available in-game for free. This will be especially troubling when they start selling mounts, as I'm more of a mount person. Developers have to make 'stuff' and time costs money. This is extra-scary with the fat cat Bob Kotick driving the cash van.

For now I will withhold judgement, but I must say this was actually a good article. It seemed well thought out, and it represented both sides of the argument. Nice one.

I just don't get what is different. The trading card pets/mounts/etc have always been really cool (spectral tiger anyone?), Collector's Edition minipets have always been awesome, and even the mount you got for recruiting a friend was pretty awesome in my opinion (I want that zhevra so bad I'm almost willing to pay for a second account for 3 months just to get it)... There have always been things that people could spend money on and get in game. I don't see why there's this huge problem all of a sudden with Blizzard cutting out the middleman. You could say "Well you were always getting something *else* before (trading cards, extra account, collectors edition stuff), but with the amount this stuff sells for on ebay.. do you really think people care about that stuff?

Have you seen the stuff for patch 3.3? They are consistently getting better. Look at Arthas' mount- that's easily one of the coolest things in game to date and there's no way that's going to be something we buy. What about the gladiator Frost Wyrms? You really think they're going to put something like that in the store? I don't.

And you know what? I applaud this- It drives me BUGGY when there is a mount/pet/etc I can't get because it's for something exclusive like attending Blizzcon or the world invitational or something similar that I have absolutely no hope of ever doing (or a desire to in some cases). I LIKE being able to just go to the blizz store and buy one of these pets- even though neither one really appeals to me at this point as something I want. And for anyone who is upset and says they want the pet but can't afford it- They don't look like they're going anywhere anytime soon and if you can afford $15 a month to play WoW, I'm sure you can find a way to save up $10. Or ask for a Christmas present. Whatever.

Everyone is going on and on about how this is a slippery slope and next thing you know Blizzard will be selling epics and gear. No. They won't. They have been "selling" vanity items for YEARS. This is not really that big of a surprise for me. Faction Change and Race Change, those are bigger in my opinion- but I still am in favor of them. It doesn't really change anything. The changes are for the most part purely cosmetic even in those cases- sure you could say that they'll get different racials but truly, do those racial abilities really change things that much? No.

Anyway, if for some reason Blizz ever does start selling epics, that is the day that I'll cancel my account. But I don't see it happening, so I'm not making plans for the "End of Days" yet.

@Dukrous
"Do you need the Pandaren for melee dps? Does Lil KT give you a super buff against Naxx bosses? No. You don't need it.

The day blizzard starts offering high level weapons for cash I'll riot alongside everyone here. For this? I paid my $20 happily."


Just because you value raiding more than pets doesn't mean others do. You say "pets are okay but raiding gear isn't" specifically because you raid. But many of us are pet fiends, and this is $20 we have to spend to continue collecting pets in WoW. We don't love the pets because they give buffs(it doesn't always have to be about raid buffs you know), but because they look so good and are unique and unattainable in-game. And these 2 pets count for achievements, which is a $20 that achievement hunters have to buy, especially once they add a "150 pets" achievement. The guy who bought 2 pets on Blizzard's store will have a 2 pet head start on that race to 150 pets.

Just imagine it from the perspective of the "pet heads". We love pets, you love raiding. What if you could buy iLevel 264 Icecrown Citadel loot that counted towards Icecrown Citadel achievements? Would you consider that fair that people could buy their way through some of the lesser achievements? Sure microtransaction stuff is okay when it doesn't affect stuff you care about, but what about if it did affect the stuff you cared about? Would it still be okay?


And just to prove I'm not the big bad man here like yesterday, I will say I'd love for Blizz to sell the Collector's Edition pets on the Blizzard store. You already have to spend money to get them(buy the Collector's Edition for each pet), so why not simply put them on the Blizzard store and save us having to trying to find a copy of the Collector's Edition? I can think of a lot of late comers to WoW who would love that Zergling Pet.