Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsCross-realm Dungeon Finder premium service coming soon
by Mathew McCurley 
May 17th 2011 at 4:20PM
This new feature will be part of a premium package of WoW features requiring an extra fee to use. Blizzard says that only the person doing the invites and creating the cross-server party will need to have access to the premium feature for the system to work. Currently, there is no release date, and the service is being described as a complex one to develop. Blizzard is most likely getting out in front of the news sites and datamining sites now, since pieces of this new system will begin to hit the PTR soon and Blizzard doesn't want too much speculation.
I personally think that this system is really cool for players who have an already-established friends base on other servers but don't want to leave their current home or don't have the money to do so and pay for a premium server transfer. For instance, Sacco and I can finally run some dungeons together. You hear that, Sacco? It's dungeon time.
Premium services always receive some type of backlash in the WoW community, and this one will be no different, so for caution's sake, let's wait until pricing information is officially announced before we explode with indignation. This is, however, a feature that many players have been asking for and will be very popular.
With the continued popularity of the Dungeon Finder, many players have been asking for a way to group up with real-life friends who play on other realms to take on instances together. Today, we wanted to give you a heads up about a new feature currently in development that will allow players to invite Real ID friends of the same faction to a party regardless of the realm they play on, and then queue up for a 5-player regular or Heroic dungeon.
As this is a fairly complex service to develop, we don't have a release date to share quite yet. It's important to note that as with some of the other convenience- and connectivity-oriented features we offer, certain elements of the cross-realm Real ID party system will be premium-based, though only the player sending the invitations will need to have access to the premium service. We'll have more details to share with you as development progresses -- in the meantime, you may begin to see elements of the feature appear on the World of Warcraft PTR.
As this is a fairly complex service to develop, we don't have a release date to share quite yet. It's important to note that as with some of the other convenience- and connectivity-oriented features we offer, certain elements of the cross-realm Real ID party system will be premium-based, though only the player sending the invitations will need to have access to the premium service. We'll have more details to share with you as development progresses -- in the meantime, you may begin to see elements of the feature appear on the World of Warcraft PTR.
The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 13)
LordMorrolon May 17th 2011 4:34PM
Was it ever delightful to be perusing the forums?
This will just add to the list of things whiners complain about. For the next 6 months they'll cycle between CTA being unfair to DPS, DE'ing in instances, "ninja looting", etc. etc.
On the surface the idea is great, but I'll have to wait for pricing to be announced before I make my final judgement.
The Dewd May 17th 2011 5:09PM
I think the real question is if this will be anything like the first-name/last-name RealID fiasco thread.
Chairman Kaga May 17th 2011 6:01PM
The Blizz forums have never needed a reason to complain.
So it'll be business as usual, working as intended, etc etc.
Herman May 17th 2011 4:24PM
oh boy, micro transactions HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
leo909864 May 17th 2011 4:24PM
Been waiting for this for ages... but wait what is this!? Premium! Sorry, but I am not paying more for something that should have been included for free many years ago. I understand paying for optional things like pets or mounts, especially when part goes to charity, but not being able to play with our friends which are already paying customers is insane. We pay for the xpacs, we pay the monthly subscription, we pay for character re customization (which is free in many other MMOs...) and many of us pay for remote AH. Enough is enough, I really hope you backtrack on this premium idea.
Kragragh May 17th 2011 4:33PM
I love that you've been "waiting for ages" on this, like you had your nerdrage all prepared on a Word file somewhere on your hard drive. The problem with this group of people is, they don't even know WHAT the features are, how much it costs, or ANYTHING and they're ALREADY whining whining whining. Clearly you weren't going to give it a chance, even if it's only $0.25 a month, it delivers a free pizza to your house once a month, and comes with the option to see all the female characters naked.
Sterb May 17th 2011 4:41PM
Hey, they gotta make up for the profit shortfall from losing 5% of its userbase.
leo909864 May 17th 2011 4:43PM
Actually, I just happened to be refreshing Wow.com as this story hit and quickly summed up my response. I am by no means raging, merely expressing my opinion. If they are going to make it premium, all the power to them. Just saying that I will not be paying for yet another service, even if it is cheap, all these micro-transactions add up.
Jack Spicer May 17th 2011 4:50PM
"I am not paying more for something that should have been included for free many years ago"
The dungeon finder itself hasn't been around for "many years" yet, so how could Blizzard have possibly made that possible?
Skarn May 17th 2011 5:32PM
"Hey, they gotta make up for the profit shortfall from losing 5% of its userbase."
True...except there wasn't a profit shortfall this quarter. They actually made MORE money, despite losing customers. Perhaps you refer to a future shortfall? That's sure possible.
@Leo
I don't think it's fair to say we should have had it "many years ago." As was mentione, Dungeon Finder itself is fairly recent and it was only extremely recently that Blizzard was able to expand that beyond Battlegroups. It's certainly a difficult feature to implement and it's awesome they are trying to get it in. Far as I know, it's pretty rare in any sort of game to be able to play with friends who are on a whole different server.
t0xic May 17th 2011 7:26PM
@Skarn:
"True...except there wasn't a profit shortfall this quarter. They actually made MORE money, despite losing customers. Perhaps you refer to a future shortfall? That's sure possible."
That's one way to look at it. Another way to look at it:
Blizzard left somewhere in the neighborhood of $9M on the table for ONE month (600k players * $15/month). Whether you count that as a shortfall in profit or not is up to you, but they clearly didn't get as much money as they could have.
They need to address concerns and re-engage the people that left. I still don't see that happening.
calaf May 17th 2011 4:24PM
I have been wanting this for quite some time. But i have to say. Making it premium?... that is going to raise quite a few hackles with some people....
tresser May 17th 2011 4:24PM
i'll have to wait for a few more posts before i can decide how i feel about this.
Jonathan May 17th 2011 4:26PM
Speculation: Say it's an extra fiver a month. Surely if you are wanting to play with your mates on another server more often, you're better of paying the (one-off) £15 to switch? I think that extra fiver would have to include a lot more to entice me ...
Iirdan May 17th 2011 4:26PM
Is it too late to say inb4 slippery slope?
What interests me is they say it will be part of a premium "package". What does this "package" entail beyond Dungeon Finder goodies?
I patiently await new information.
Udderpowered May 17th 2011 4:28PM
If I was just a few seconds quicker. :(
Skarn May 17th 2011 5:34PM
My guess is the "package" includes the other services: Auction House and Guild Chat.
Iirdan May 17th 2011 5:50PM
I'd be a bit underwhelmed by that unless they keep the price the same. While this feature is amazing I don't see how it really connects to those features enough to be rolled into a package.
Udderpowered May 17th 2011 4:28PM
Y'know when they announced the first paid for vanity pet, and the response from those against it was that it was the top of a slippery slope, next it'd be mounts, then things that aren't cosmetic?
Yeah.
Iirdan May 17th 2011 4:43PM
The thing is, the slippery slope is a logical fallacy. There is a middle ground, and Blizzard has clearly defined it.
They didn't say "it will only be cosmetic things". They said that premium services and microtransactions will never give players advantages over other players. Thus far, they've kept true to that.