Tag: world of warcraft (Page 5 of 6)

Blizzard bends you over the customization fence…again

October 28, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Blizzard’s unveiled its latest scheme to boost profits from World of Warcraft in the face of declining subscriptions: race change. You no longer have to traipse about Azeroth wishing you had made your warrior a Tauren. You can finally pay to get the best arena racials without buying yet another account.

The service costs $25, and only works for a change within your current faction. A faction change runs $30, though you obviously get a race change for free. Personally, this isn’t something I’d be spending money on, but it’s been a while since I’ve been in that unique state of WoW-drunk where almost anything seems reasonable.

Though I wish for the people still playing that Blizzard would lump some of these customization fees together, I also realize people are paying for this crap, so it’s hard to blame Blizzard. At least let me say, I feel for you, crackheads. It’s tough to pay for stuff like this when you’re calling off work to grind out those last few levels.

Activision, MMO

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September was a great month for MMOs

October 21, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

The NPD numbers are in for September showing strong sales among MMOs in the PC market. NCSoft’s Aion topped the list, bumping last month’s Sims 3 down a slot. Third and fourth went to Champions Online and Wrath of the Lich King respectively, and the Collector’s Edition of Aion. took fifth.

Aside from the MMO scene, the list was dominated by older titles and smaller games. September wasn’t set to be a huge month for blockbuster titles, regardless of the fact that most of the major Q4 releases have been pushed to 2010. Any time Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships is in the top 20, you know it’s been a slow month. Here’s the full list:

MMO, News, PC

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Blizzard COO Buys A Chunk Of The Steelers

September 27, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Blizzard COO Paul Sams has reportedly gotten into the football business, and I’m not talking about a Madden competitor. No, Sams and his family are listed as one among ten of the new joint owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise. The news came courtesy of the Steelers’ official website, which gives a quick bio for both Sams and his wife.

I guess when you’re at the top of a company whose biggest title has 11 million subscribers and sits on the verge of another expansion, whose critically acclaimed RTS has an upcoming sequel, and whose dungeon masher is about to become a trilogy you simply have more money than god and can buy just about whatever you want. That includes Super Bowl champions.

Activision, News

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Healer Wanted – Willing To Pay

September 21, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

Every World of Warcraft addict has wished at some point or another to make a living playing Blizzard’s MMO. As it turns out, there was at least one other addict willing to indulge that fantasy this weekend.

The posting has since been removed, but someone in the Bay area posted for a WoW arena partner to take him to a 2000+ rating. Thankfully, Kotaku was able to copy an image of the post before it was pulled. The position required 20 hours a week, a Death Knight for farming, and the ability to carry someone with too little skill and too much money to the top of the arena ranks.

The pay? How about $50/hour up to 1850 rating, $100/hour after the 1850 mark, and a $5000 bonus if you reach 2350. Since Kotaku picked up the story I’m sure the poster has received digital droves of hate mail and spam, mocking his abilities and rebuking his method. Wouldn’t it be cheaper to just buy an account at that level?

Activision, MMO, News

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WoW Faction Changes Go Live At $30 A Pop

September 3, 2009 / Jeff Morgan

I really hate the fees that come along with Blizzard services for World of Warcraft. Name changes are a completely absurd $10, server transfers are $25 per toon, and the “re-customization” service, which will include a name change, runs $15. Blizzard made an addition to the list of money-minting scams with the faction change. The service, which a lot of people have been after for some time, will run you a whopping $30. That’s almost 3 months of gameplay on a subscription plan, which is just ridiculous.

While the rest of the services seem to truly be aimed at character customization, and not necessarily just making money, this one looks to be designed to bleed players dry. For starters, there’s no included server transfer. I don’t know about you, but for my part, changing factions to play with other people means changing servers. I would think it’s pretty rare that your friends just happen to play the opposite faction on your server. Changing factions for this reason means you’ll be spending $55 per toon. Pretty rough.

Also, Blizzard is looking to roll out a Race Change feature in the future, at what I assume will be similarly rapacious prices. For a full list of limitations to the new service, check out Blizzard’s two-page FAQ.