Breakfast Topic: The high cost of playing
by Zach Yonzon 
Dec 6th 2009 at 8:00AM
Let's take character transfers, for instance. If I wanted to transfer all my characters to a server where my friends play (why would I want to move just one?) it would cost me a hefty sum. Add to that the fact that my wife plays wherever I play so we multiply that hefty sum by two. Imagine if I wanted to change my characters' races to those combinations that were previously unavailable come Cataclysm... how much would that add up to? It doesn't take an accountant to see that it could cost a small fortune.
$25 isn't a paltry sum. Specially not in these hard times. Neither is 20€, £15, or ₩24,000, which is what most services such as paid race change and realm transfers cost. Name changes are the most affordable at $10. But hardly anybody plays just one character these days, right? Even though Zarhym explained quite plainly that none of the paid services are necessary to play the game and that our monthly fees go towards regular development, sometimes I can't help but wonder.
Back when there were just one or two services, I thought it was fine. Now that Blizzard offers a host of services -- not to mention the pet store -- it becomes staggeringly expensive, especially if you multiply that against the number of characters we usually play. Realm transfers, character customization, and even faction changes these days!
What do you guys think? Since the paid services are really more of a luxury than anything, do you feel comfortable with the current costs? Do you think Blizzard should lower the costs so that more players can avail of them (and possibly lead to more profits)? Should there be a wholesale price to transfer all characters from one server or faction to another? Or do you think the cost is a good way to limit how these services can be abused in some way?
Share your thoughts on Blizzard's paid services with us this morning.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Blizzard, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Hooch Dec 6th 2009 8:08AM
The Subscription itself is too much for a student, and it's not even expensive :*(
mtsadowski Dec 6th 2009 9:38AM
Everything is too expensive for a student. Been there and don't wish to relive it.
Krow Dec 6th 2009 10:56AM
you're crazy
Kleptov Dec 6th 2009 11:51AM
Hooch IS crazy.
Mr. Tastix Dec 6th 2009 12:49PM
I'm a student and I still manage to pay it, not exactly "easy" of course but I pay it. I mean, I don't pay for anything else so there you go. I also have to pay more than you guys because of the currency conversion.
I wanna do a few race-changes come Cataclysm and I also wanna do some realm transfers as well. I'm thinking one or two currently which is around $60 US. Or $83 for me (remember currency conversion). For the same price I could just buy Dragon Age: Origins, have a bit of cash left over, sit on my ass and play that for 40+ hours.
Schadenfreude Dec 6th 2009 1:34PM
I'd really appreciate if they started charging "group rates" for server transfers or race changes, that kind of thing, to help those of us that are serious alt-o-holics.
/has 8 characters over level 60 on a dead server
Asandir Dec 11th 2009 1:58PM
On the monthly fee:
$15 is too expensive? For what, 100hrs/mo? How much do you spend on other entertainments in a per hour basis? Movies? $5/hr? Parties? $50/hr?
You can buy a console game for $50 - but how many hours will you actually play it? 10? 30?
Money is scarce as a student (yes, I lived off of Ramen for two months -- barely,) but you will not find a many more cost-effective entertainments!
That said, changing a server costing almost as much as two months of play... wth? That seems to me to be pure gouging.
Artificial Dec 6th 2009 4:10PM
The time cost of this game is far, far greater than the monetary cost.
uncaringbear Dec 6th 2009 5:52PM
Hooch is right - the subscription cost isn't expensive, and I'd say the cost of the new services is reasonable. The cost isn't based just on profit margin. The services need to be priced at a point which makes it attractive for those who are seriously considering doing the transfer to a new realm or to the opposite faction, race, etc. If the pricing was too low we'd have a constant stream of people flooding from one realm/faction to another, creating population imbalances.
dominikwells Dec 7th 2009 10:25AM
Seriously. Hooch is crazy.
RothKeahi Dec 6th 2009 8:09AM
It is definately going to be a pain come Cataclysm when I chenge my pally to a Tauren, my Shaman to a Goblin and my hunter to an Undead, but I figure that i can do one at a time and the cost won;t seem as bad. It will still be as bad, but it won't hit all at once.
Dennis Dec 6th 2009 1:43PM
A package discount would be nice. I'd like to transfer 4 toons to another server, but for the cost of 6 months of playtime, no.
Snuzzle Dec 6th 2009 1:50PM
I second the package discount. For example, if it costs $30 to transfer one toon's server (number pulling out of my butt here) let's say it costs $50 for two, $70 for three, or $100 to transfer all of your characters on that server.
If you're like me and have the character slots maxed out on your main realm, it makes it significantly more financially feasible to switch servers. And blizzard is getting $100 out of the deal, which is not a paltry sum. Considering how much it probably REALLY costs to move a few bytes of data around (exaggeration, I know a character's files on their server are more than a few bytes) they're still making out like bandits and people will be more willing to use the service more often.
Kaltarr Dec 6th 2009 8:19AM
While it does cost quite a lot of money on the outside, WoW is practically the perfect game for the low-budget gamer. Thanks to its relatively low system requirements you don't need a monster of a PC to run it. As a former University student, WoW was great for some rest from studies. I'd much rather pay £8.99 a month for a game that consistently keeps my interest, than pay £30-40 for a new release and be done with it in anywhere between three days and two weeks.
Cogswick Dec 6th 2009 10:32AM
Agreed. I bought Assassins Creed 2, and finished it in a week. $60 gone in a week. Thats 4 months of WoW, which has many more things to do than AC2. When you get down to it, with a longer subscription time, WoW's monthly payment goes down too. Buy a year like I did, and you realize that it is a really good value.
OLDMIKE Dec 6th 2009 10:55AM
but your just doing the same thing over and over in WOW
raids dont change PVP is the same
The Raven Dec 6th 2009 11:11AM
@OLDMIKE You do the same thing over in every game, games are meant to keep and hold your interest for long periods of time such as WoW which has kept my interest for a year where other games have me tied up for a week or two
Croe Dec 6th 2009 3:33PM
@Cogswick
You can buy a year? The most i can find it 6 months at a time. How do you do this?
Lemons Dec 6th 2009 4:00PM
@OldMike
The raids DO change.
Sehvekah Dec 6th 2009 8:10PM
@Croe You can buy up to (IIRC) six 6-month time codes at a time at the Blizzard store. That's what I did last year with part of my income tax return(1 years time on three accounts), and will be doing again this year. Yeah, it's a big hit when you do it this way, but if you do it once a year when you know you'll have the money, it's not so bad, especially with not having to keep $15(or $45 in my case) dollars aside every month(even having the income to not worry about it, it's just nicer not having a monthly charge at all).