World of Warcraft SHOULD HAVE NO MONTHLY FEES!

I think its pretty stupid having to pay for a game that youve already bought. Thats why i quit WoW. Millions of people are addicted to this game. Eliminating the monthly fees for WoW would be a small price for Blizzard to pay. Because of Diablo etc. they rack in millions if not billions of dollars on an annual basis. Plz post your opinions.

you have no idea what you are talking about...how about you become informed on a topic before you make a thread...

Ill use old school wow for an example...with out the monthley fees you would have not had ZG, AQ20, AQ40, or Naxx...that is more than 2/3 of the end game...i can say you definately were not and end game player...

I agree it should have no monthly fees

I'll tell you why there are monthy fee's...because blizzard knows they can charge gamers $15 a month and they'll fork it over in a heartbeat. Is it a ripoff?, it depends how you look at it. Blizzard spends countless hours patching WoW and doing regular maintenance on it. Now I've only tried to free trial of WoW myself and It just wasnt for me.

Its just good business.

Too late. the experiment has already been done. They released it with monthly fees, people took the bait, and now the studies show that they can milk you of your money.

Guild Wars 2 aims to be a full-fledged MMORPG without the subscription fees, but that won't be out for probably at least two years, and it is yet to be seen just what exactly it ends up being.SpaceMoose

I personally cant wait for it. But I got many games (including Guild Wars) to keep me busy until then. Actually even if WoW was same as GW with no monthly fees, I still wouldn't play it.

I think its pretty stupid having to pay for a game that youve already bought. Thats why i quit WoW. Millions of people are addicted to this game. Eliminating the monthly fees for WoW would be a small price for Blizzard to pay. Because of Diablo etc. they rack in millions if not billions of dollars on an annual basis. Plz post your opinions.

SuperGamer911

Yes yes... the world environment is getting to the point that socialism is good and capitalism is bad. They made a product and they can do what they want with it and make as much money as they can with it. When you make a game, YOU can let people play for free. Until then, don't tell people what to do with their products, especially one as successful as WoW. That's like telling MS they should give their OSs away because you bought Windows 3.1... Don't be a commie.

[QUOTE="SuperGamer911"]

I think its pretty stupid having to pay for a game that youve already bought. Thats why i quit WoW. Millions of people are addicted to this game. Eliminating the monthly fees for WoW would be a small price for Blizzard to pay. Because of Diablo etc. they rack in millions if not billions of dollars on an annual basis. Plz post your opinions.

weirjf

Yes yes... the world environment is getting to the point that socialism is good and capitalism is bad. They made a product and they can do what they want with it and make as much money as they can with it. When you make a game, YOU can let people play for free. Until then, don't tell people what to do with their products, especially one as successful as WoW. That's like telling MS they should give their OSs away because you bought Windows 3.1... Don't be a commie.

Socialism is always a good idea... just doesn't work too well in reality, however it's why some of the best countries in the world are socialist/capitalist

[QUOTE="weirjf"][QUOTE="SuperGamer911"]

I think its pretty stupid having to pay for a game that youve already bought. Thats why i quit WoW. Millions of people are addicted to this game. Eliminating the monthly fees for WoW would be a small price for Blizzard to pay. Because of Diablo etc. they rack in millions if not billions of dollars on an annual basis. Plz post your opinions.

lundy86_4

Yes yes... the world environment is getting to the point that socialism is good and capitalism is bad. They made a product and they can do what they want with it and make as much money as they can with it. When you make a game, YOU can let people play for free. Until then, don't tell people what to do with their products, especially one as successful as WoW. That's like telling MS they should give their OSs away because you bought Windows 3.1... Don't be a commie.

Socialism is always a good idea... just doesn't work too well in reality, however it's why some of the best countries in the world are socialist/capitalist

:lol:

right...

name 3

Are you kidding me? Countries like Switzerland etc hold to a social capitalist society... Capitalism and Socialism are not mutually exclusivelundy86_4

I said name 3. I'm not interested in the exception to the rule. There is always an exception to the rule.

[QUOTE="lundy86_4"]Are you kidding me? Countries like Switzerland etc hold to a social capitalist society... Capitalism and Socialism are not mutually exclusiveweirjf

I said name 3. I'm not interested in the exception to the rule. There is always an exception to the rule.

Fair enough, it's applied in the Nordic region, consisting on Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden... Switzerland, and the People's Republic of China in which the PRC economy has grown leaps and bounds since it's economic liberalization in 1978

• ~250 realm servers
• lots and lots of instance servers
• 24/7 GM support accross all those realms
• website/email technical support for the game including accounts
• World servers which I think handle logging in and out
• A massive team of developers creating new content for patches which would equal at least a large expansion pack of another game
• Massive amounts of bandwidth flowing in and out of their centers

Never got into WoW because of their monthly fees. Benjiman_Guile

i've never gotten into any game with a montly fee

[QUOTE="lundy86_4"][QUOTE="weirjf"]

Yes yes... the world environment is getting to the point that socialism is good and capitalism is bad. They made a product and they can do what they want with it and make as much money as they can with it. When you make a game, YOU can let people play for free. Until then, don't tell people what to do with their products, especially one as successful as WoW. That's like telling MS they should give their OSs away because you bought Windows 3.1... Don't be a commie.

weirjf

Socialism is always a good idea... just doesn't work too well in reality, however it's why some of the best countries in the world are socialist/capitalist

:lol:

right...

name 3

I think its pretty stupid having to pay for a game that youve already bought. Thats why i quit WoW. Millions of people are addicted to this game. Eliminating the monthly fees for WoW would be a small price for Blizzard to pay. Because of Diablo etc. they rack in millions if not billions of dollars on an annual basis. Plz post your opinions.

SuperGamer911

A small price to pay!!?!?!?!?? Are you nuts? You know how much it costs to run that game? Millions per month.

Sorry, but you just mentioned 3 failing socialist countries (feel free to believe the media, though). England is struggling to keep their socialist policies above water. Their way of breathing life back into it was to offer a better form of health care for those that pay for it and that was a long time ago, but it is still failing. Sweden has a nearly 70% individual tax rate combining income tax and property/sales taxes (sounds like Canada), they have life-long benefits, free education and they can even accumulate over 500 vacation days per year (yes, over 500). What is the result? They are on the verge of collapse on many of their "socialist" programs. The life-long benefits and the education benefits are on the bubble. They also love to tout their less than 4% unemployment rate but with that 500+ vacation days per year, how long will you accumulate before you just plain decide to stop working.... but because you are technically on vacation, you aren't unemployed. It is a veil, nothing more. They have their real unemployed and mentally ill in government programs which titles them "employed",

Don't fool yourselves kiddies... the only way these countries have lasted as long as they have is because they took what makes capitalism great and used the gains to act socialist (not Marxist socialist). It cannot last forever and is failing in the same manner as the USA's Social Security program. Same limitations, same weaknesses... same result. You definately don't try to make a country with 2 trillion in national debt into a capitalist/socialist state because you're just planting the headstone. Maybe with 2 trillion SURPLUS you could make a good run at it for half a century or so.

Anyways, my original point was the idiotic new perspective that seems to be infesting the minds of the world that socialism is good but capitalism and success are bad, is wrong and stupid. If you want to say that socialism is good and socialist countries can succeed with a capitalist foundation... ok, they can succeed, for a little while. The more capitalist they are, the longer they will stay afloat. If Bliz was forced to give their game away because of government oversight it would be good for whiners like the OP but in the end it only hurts the company that entertains us and the taxes it creates to pay for the people that just plain don't want to work and the 800 billion pork bill they just signed into law.

It's cost Blizz 200 million to run the game since 2004. Yes, they make that much in about 2 months, but there are 2 advantages and maybe 3 for you.

1) They release tons of free content patches that are pretty significant
2) Depending on how addicted you get, you might not buy another game while you are into WoW, saving you money in the long run.
3) If it helps, you could think that you are helping to attract and pay top-tier talent and ensuring quality development on other blizz games.

Sorry, but you just mentioned 3 failing socialist countries (feel free to believe the media, though). England is struggling to keep their socialist policies above water. Their way of breathing life back into it was to offer a better form of health care for those that pay for it and that was a long time ago, but it is still failing. Sweden has a nearly 70% individual tax rate combining income tax and property/sales taxes (sounds like Canada), they have life-long benefits, free education and they can even accumulate over 500 vacation days per year (yes, over 500). What is the result? They are on the verge of collapse on many of their "socialist" programs. The life-long benefits and the education benefits are on the bubble. They also love to tout their 500 vacation days per year you will accumulate before you just plain decide to stop working.... but because you are technically on vacation, you aren't unemployed. It is a veil, nothing more.

Don't fool yourselves kiddies... the only way these countries have lasted as long as they have is because they took what makes capitalism great and used the gains to act socialist (not Marxist socialist). It cannot last forever and is failing in the same manner as the USA's Social Security program. Same limitations, same weaknesses... same result. You definately don't try to make a country with 2 trillion in national debt into a capitalist/socialist state because you're just planting the headstone. Maybe with 2 trillion SURPLUS you could make a good run at it for half a century or so.

Anyways, my original point was the idiotic new perspective that seems to be infesting the minds of the world that socialism is good but capitalism and success are bad, is wrong and stupid. If you want to say that socialism is good and socialist countries can succeed with a capitalist foundation... ok, they can succeed, for a little while. The more capitalist they are, the longer they will stay afloat. If Bliz was forced to give their game away because of government oversight it would be good for whiners like the OP but in the end it only hurts the company that entertains us and the taxes it creates to pay for the people that just plain don't want to work and the 800 billion pork bill they just signed into law.

weirjf

I never said Capitalism was bad? I also stated that Socialism is a good concept, however very rarely works when put into practice, it's certainly why communism failed, because of the fact that it was extreme socialism. I stated that the best form of economy is a hybrid, which is Social Capitalism. I have lived in the UK, and currently reside in Canada. It's not just specific countries which are suffering. It is the world economy that is. Pretty much every country is in debt.

Also I never believe the media with anything, I work in banking and many people I speak to are hording and hording money in order to ride this out because of what the media have said, when in truth, whilst the economy is bad, it's not as bad as stated in the news.

I think its pretty stupid having to pay for a game that youve already bought. Thats why i quit WoW. Millions of people are addicted to this game. Eliminating the monthly fees for WoW would be a small price for Blizzard to pay. Because of Diablo etc. they rack in millions if not billions of dollars on an annual basis. Plz post your opinions.

SuperGamer911

There is the same problem with WOW that is with Xbox Live for 360 users. As long as the company providing the servide has enough people willing to pay for it then they will continue to charge for it. You may not like it, but because millions of others don't care enough not to pay for it you have no choice but to either pay or not use the service. I'm mostly with you on this, aside form the fact I can sympethize with Blizzard needing to cover the cost of servers and what not.

Because free MMOs are known to be good. If they cut the monthly fee, they'll charge you for extra content. Want to run the newest dungeon in Northrend? Pay 15 dollars to unlock it.

Be happy you don't have to buy a new expansion every 6 months a la Everquest.

Sorry, but you just mentioned 3 failing socialist countries (feel free to believe the media, though). England is struggling to keep their socialist policies above water. Their way of breathing life back into it was to offer a better form of health care for those that pay for it and that was a long time ago, but it is still failing. Sweden has a nearly 70% individual tax rate combining income tax and property/sales taxes (sounds like Canada), they have life-long benefits, free education and they can even accumulate over 500 vacation days per year (yes, over 500). What is the result? They are on the verge of collapse on many of their "socialist" programs. The life-long benefits and the education benefits are on the bubble. They also love to tout their less than 4% unemployment rate but with that 500+ vacation days per year, how long will you accumulate before you just plain decide to stop working.... but because you are technically on vacation, you aren't unemployed. It is a veil, nothing more. They have their real unemployed and mentally ill in government programs which titles them "employed",

Don't fool yourselves kiddies... the only way these countries have lasted as long as they have is because they took what makes capitalism great and used the gains to act socialist (not Marxist socialist). It cannot last forever and is failing in the same manner as the USA's Social Security program. Same limitations, same weaknesses... same result. You definately don't try to make a country with 2 trillion in national debt into a capitalist/socialist state because you're just planting the headstone. Maybe with 2 trillion SURPLUS you could make a good run at it for half a century or so.

Anyways, my original point was the idiotic new perspective that seems to be infesting the minds of the world that socialism is good but capitalism and success are bad, is wrong and stupid. If you want to say that socialism is good and socialist countries can succeed with a capitalist foundation... ok, they can succeed, for a little while. The more capitalist they are, the longer they will stay afloat. If Bliz was forced to give their game away because of government oversight it would be good for whiners like the OP but in the end it only hurts the company that entertains us and the taxes it creates to pay for the people that just plain don't want to work and the 800 billion pork bill they just signed into law.

I think its pretty stupid having to pay for a game that youve already bought. Thats why i quit WoW. Millions of people are addicted to this game. Eliminating the monthly fees for WoW would be a small price for Blizzard to pay. Because of Diablo etc. they rack in millions if not billions of dollars on an annual basis. Plz post your opinions.

SuperGamer911

How would it benefit Blizzard to keep you playing WoW if you didnt pay a monthly fee for doing so? It would be bad buisness to spend large sums of money to pay upkeep for a product that wasent generating a significant income.

As for the idea of pay to play WoW is actually not a good example since it's in such a unique possition due to it's incredible success. There are several things that sets the pay to play games appart from the free to play (potentially after a purchase):

1) Upkeep. Most games are ultimatly finished when launched. While a minor patch or two might be released, for the most part they stay the same after having been launched. Pay to play games keep eveolving since it's in their interest to keep players interested. In order to do so they employ a full development team to keep adding new features, content and art to the game.

2) Persistant servers. The major diffrence between most free multiplayer games and pay to play multiplayer games is that the later employs persistant servers. In diablo 2 you only connected to battlenet in order to sync up with other players. The actual gameplay were hosted on the players machines. Thats also the reason for the hard cap on the number of players you could find in one world.

In essence the pay to play games are less of a game in the traditional sense and more of an ongoing service. Paying a monthly fee allows you continued access to that service. Thats not at all diffrent from many other similar services you most likely already pay for. To use the original argument.. After I buy a mobile phone, why should I keep paying every month to be able to use it? If I buy a satelite dish, why should I continue to pay every month to get the programming?.. Hey.. If I buy a house, why should I keep paying rent after having bought it?

So.. is it worth it or is $15 unreasonable?

Thats obviously up to the individual. I've played a lot of MMO's over the years and generally enjoy the genre. for me it's generally worth it. I can easily spend 40-60 hours a month (if not more if I have the free time) in my MMO of choice. Compare that to the number of hours of game play you get from most games you buy for $40-50? 10 hours? 30 hours? There are exceptions (especially if you enjoy online FPS's) but generally even long games with a lot of content ends up being a lot more expensive 'pr hour' than most MMO's. At the end of the day, if you enjoy the genre you get a lot more game time for your money than you do with, for example, single player RPG's or single player shooters.

To maintain the servers they have to charge this and of course to make a profit. Aswell as bringing out all the new content so people don't get bored. I stopped playing though because of the balancing issues with the new death knights. IMHO they made the new death knights so powerful to make everyone buy the expansion.joshuahaveron

Guild Wars and RuneScape have similar players and they manage to do it without the fees.

I keep hearing about

For those of you saying "They need the money for updates, expansions, ect.," let me throw a few numbers at ya. At 8million users paying $15 a month, Blizzard was making $56 a second. Try to comprehend that amount of money. Not only has the user base risen, but more expansions have been bought since then. All of this, not including the 11million who bought the game at $20-$50 dollars. Now, the last thing Blizzard needs is more money, they COULD stop charging, for the fan base, but they wont.fatzebra

[QUOTE="joshuahaveron"]To maintain the servers they have to charge this and of course to make a profit. Aswell as bringing out all the new content so people don't get bored. I stopped playing though because of the balancing issues with the new death knights. IMHO they made the new death knights so powerful to make everyone buy the expansion.i--Ki1l--U

Guild Wars and RuneScape have similar players and they manage to do it without the fees.