The Daily Blues
by Adam Holisky 
May 14th 2010 at 12:20AM
Each day WoW.com will take you through all the blue posts and other Blizzard news from around the internet. From Ghostcrawler's latest posts to the lowdown on StarCraft II and Diablo III, we'll keep you informed.
In which Zarhym, using that crazy thing called logic, doesn't think WoW should be free. How dare you make sense, Zarhym? How dare you!
Table of Contents
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Zarhym -- WoW should be free?A game of this size and scope requires a sustainable income in order to finance the maintenance and upkeep of all of our realms, maintain a very large staff of employees to support the game, develop the tools necessary to support our players and keep things running smoothly, and afford all of the work that goes into evolving and improving upon the game with each patch.
A subscription model is ideal for MMORPGs due to the fact that the scale at which they're run requires a lot of work and investment. Yes, the game has been out over five years now, but that doesn't mean we no longer need money to afford the substantial, ongoing operation and development costs. It seems that such logistics were not fully considered in the argument made within the original post. The amount of money it costs just to keep the realms running and pay all of the staff working directly on World of Warcraft each day is probably a number you wouldn't imagine.
Your continued support in the form of playing World of Warcraft ultimately helps to secure the longevity of our company. It allows us to find and retain some of the best talent in the gaming industry and continue to develop fun, engaging content for the future, which we hope you'll enjoy as well. :)
A subscription model is ideal for MMORPGs due to the fact that the scale at which they're run requires a lot of work and investment. Yes, the game has been out over five years now, but that doesn't mean we no longer need money to afford the substantial, ongoing operation and development costs. It seems that such logistics were not fully considered in the argument made within the original post. The amount of money it costs just to keep the realms running and pay all of the staff working directly on World of Warcraft each day is probably a number you wouldn't imagine.
Your continued support in the form of playing World of Warcraft ultimately helps to secure the longevity of our company. It allows us to find and retain some of the best talent in the gaming industry and continue to develop fun, engaging content for the future, which we hope you'll enjoy as well. :)
Ujumqin -- PTR maintenanceServer maintenance will commence at approximately 9:00am PST on May 14, 2010 for all PTR servers. At this time, all PTR servers will be unavailable for test.
There is no current estimated time of completion for this maintenance.
There is no current estimated time of completion for this maintenance.
Blizzard
Filed under: The Daily Blues
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
dodgeballer2005 May 14th 2010 12:48AM
Wow, just pay 15 bucks a month and be happy you're playing! Blizz doesn't have to grant your every wish.
dodgeballer2005 May 14th 2010 12:49AM
Edit: They DO have families to feed, unlike whoever that poster Zarhym replied to was.
dodgeballer2005 May 14th 2010 12:59AM
EDIT yet AGAIN: I read this guy's post from the source and he is trollin'. I wonder why some people look at stuff and assume, I feel ridiculous now...
Thundrcrackr May 14th 2010 9:26AM
They have to pay for all those orc and Illidan statues somehow. ;-)
Jack Liu May 14th 2010 12:57AM
Great troll or greatest troll?
Eternauta May 14th 2010 12:27PM
Great or greatest? I don't know, but I know what he was: Successful Troll.
Trolls make threads like this to get as much attention as they can, This guy got the attention and an official response of a blue. Can you be more successful in trolling?
oniryuujin May 14th 2010 1:08AM
lol I'd reply "so how bout a $5 price cut at least??"
dodgeballer2005 May 14th 2010 1:24AM
The point the troll was trying to get across was "I've played for this long, give me something!"
Like THAT'S going to happen.
it's about as likely as me ever saying that I posted in this article fir- Wait a minute, never mind. You almost tricked me into actually saying it.
brian May 14th 2010 1:28AM
Yeah, but that point isn't valid either. I get the idea that a veteran player would want discounts for their loyal service, but no other businesses do that.
I mean, I guess you could say that credit card companies or insurances do that to an extent, but WoW doesn't cost what those do. Plus, you have to use those for a *long* time before they give you *anything*.
Zanathos May 14th 2010 3:31AM
man, i've been paying this electricity bill forever, why doesn't the electric company start giving it to me for free!
brian May 14th 2010 1:25AM
The greatest thing about that post was that he was threatening them with canceling, on an already canceled account, to make the game free. Sure, because you decided to stop paying, we'll let you play the game without paying.
Troll logic, it gets you every time.
I do know he said "or lower the cost to $5" but that's still not a good argument. Especially considering that it was $15 five years ago, and inflation has happened since then. Considering that, they have been giving us discounts.
aaronthecow May 14th 2010 4:21AM
You bring up a very good point, and reading your comment had me mm-hmming like some looney limey who thinks that his opinion is the only one that he is reading in the paper. Good job man!
slythwolf May 14th 2010 4:28AM
Well, and they *have* been giving us discounts. I pay around $13.33 a month because I pay for six months at a time. That's what a discount for being a loyal customer looks like.
meatykid May 14th 2010 7:41PM
@aaronthecow
i agree with you but please dont use the term loony limey, its a tad bit offensive
G-stan May 14th 2010 2:14AM
The other thing to consider is the simple economics.
WOW Vanilla would have cost millions to develop and maybe a year to recover that amount.
WOW TBC would have cost millions to develop and a few months to recover that amount.
WOW WTLK would have cost millions to develop and weeks to recover that amount.
11million subscribers paying $15USD per month? $165M per month revenue, thats $2.0B per annum. If Blizzard were not making stupendous amounts of money from WOW they would not roll out content patches, re-balance classes, etc in an effort to keep us interested.
I agree with the OP in that long term subscribers should get something other than a 'Feat of Strength' to indicate they have been there since the beginning. How abouts a vanity pet for a 5yr subscriber?
And I've only been (addicted), (hooked), playing for 2.5yrs.
CoolSpot May 14th 2010 3:52AM
You can't simply take $15USD x 11 million players to calculate their revenues. You have to factor in foreign accounts which pay varying amounts, most often less than what we pay in the States.
slythwolf May 14th 2010 4:29AM
I hope you don't go into any form of business if you don't realize that the cost to develop an expansion pack is not the only operating cost Blizzard faces.
dick May 14th 2010 5:56AM
One thing I always mentioned is having something like a birthday present. Using your real birthday, you'd get something in the mailbox to celebrate. The longer you have been a player, the bigger the present, so each year it would get better (with at least 6 or 9 months of active paid subscription per year for example).
For example:
Year 1 - Anniversary tabard
Year 2 - Vanity pet
Year 3 - Something useless but fun, like Slashdance, disguise with unlimited number of uses
Year 4 - Special mount
Year 5 - Permanent repair discount, so like -10% on each repair bill no matter what repair guy you use.
Year 6 - 20 Experience emblems BOA to use for granting levels to alts below 80
Or there should be plenty of things to think of ( I know last two are iffy but still...)
Year 6 -
Kar May 14th 2010 11:14AM
The MMO City of Heroes/Villains has a system called Veteran Rewards. It's a system of minor, mostly cosmetic perks you pick up as you stick with the game. At certain milestones of paid account activity, you unlock new character customization options (spiffy costume sets), non-combat or minor buff companions, or alternate versions of existing abilities with a new look. I loved it when I played, I'd be looking forward to those next milestones and their rewards like a little birthday present.
Alar May 14th 2010 12:02PM
I really would like, say, the ability to wear visual armor over my gear armor. This is a feature that can be instantly disabled by entering PvP combat.
If people really want Veteran benefits, why not give it only to people who have been playing for over two years?
As to the price, I have no problems with it. The cost of developing and maintaining the games, as well as paying all their staff, various insurances (Blizzard has AMAZING benefits, so they likely have to pay a hell of a lot for these nice perks), and other nice things for their employees. I really don't mind at all, considering how I would day would like to be a Blizzard employee, and continue to put some of the money they pay me back into the wonderful system. ;)