WoW Laying The Groundwork for F2P? Not So Fast...
Here we go again!
The recently datamined info found on World of Warcraft's public test server turned up an item, the Enduring Elixir of Wisdom, that offers a 100% XP buff from killing monsters and completing text. It seems like the kind of thing that would come from a cash shop – which Blizzard's community manager didn't exactly deny – and when a cash shop comes along, free-to-play is next, right? Right?
Take another look at Zarhym's words: the Elixir is potentially “a way for players in certain regions to make purchases directly in the game.” As we've long known, the tendency for Asian players is not to buy subscriptions as we do here in the West, but to play in Internet cafes, purchasing time as they go. That's why F2P “started” in Korea and Japan before migrating to the U.S. It was simply the better model for those regions.
If I had to guess, I'd suppose the Elixir – and any other cash shop boosts that might come along – is designed primarily for those players, and those are the “certain regions” Zarhym's talking about. But adding an in-game cash shop takes time, effort, and money, and I'd be surprised if Blizzard was going to go to all that trouble for just one item, for only one, albeit significant, part of its customer base.
So let's suppose Blizzard adds the Elixir and other (we'll assume) non-gamebreaking items, as well as the usual plethora of mounts and other services, to an in-game cash shop that it makes available to all its players, worldwide. Now is it going free-to-play?
I'd say that it increases the odds by a not-small amount, but it probably still won't be for a long time coming. 8.3 million players is still a lot, and it's going to take a bigger drop than what we've seen to force Blizzard's hand and make the momentous switch. Plus, with a new expansion likely coming next year, and the bump in player numbers that usually comes with it, we probably wouldn't be looking at F2P until 2015 at the absolute earliest.
It's entirely possible, however, that the Elixir, and whatever else comes after it, is Blizzard's way of testing the waters of a F2P cash shop, both from a technology standpoint and a community reaction standpoint, to iron out all the kinks and make sure they present it in a way that's palatable to its player base. Only after they're 100% sure that everything is as it should be would they even consider turning the switch all the way.
Blizzard has always been willing to borrow concepts from other games and implement them in World of Warcraft. Eventually, they'll probably take the big concept of free-to-play and make it their own, but they can afford to do it at a their own pace and make sure it's done right.
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About the Author
Jason Winter is a veteran gaming journalist, he brings a wide range of experience to MMOBomb, including two years with Beckett Media where he served as the editor of the leading gaming magazine Massive Online Gamer. He has also written professionally for several gaming websites.
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I've heard a lot of ruckus from this game; that being P2P was in the long run cheaper than some F2P games out there, that you actually had access to all the content instead of having to pay to get more. Where does that stand if they start to add micro-transactions? Sure, its an Elixir now, but what else are they going to add to it? If people pay every month for it, I think it should stay the way it is. Aren't they milking enough money from WoW or are these the last efforts of getting all the cash they can before it all goes to hell?
PvE is repetitive and time consuming, usually intended to keep amateurs from getting into raids and PvP. The problem is that they'll still get there anyway, so this whole waste of time is for nothing. I personally think Panzar has the potential of being the new League of Legends.
I would rather play W III Frozen Throne
The transfer would certainly receive it's due media coverage, but considering the upcoming F2P games and the ones already out, F2P simply doesn't need World of Warcraft.
que sea gratis
que tenga buena historia
que tenga excelentes gráficos realistas
que tengan habilidades extraordinarias
que tenga pvp dinamico
entre otras cosas y a la actualidad hay juegos que tienen eso y muchos mas
WOW fue bueno en su tiempo por que era novedad..... a hora es historia pero no deja de ser un buen juego tiene sus medallas xD
the only qq i see is sub players afraid if f2p does happen we will loose the upper hand of their so called " Talent"
yo los he jugado todos hasta lvl 20 de ahi aburren xD pero Tera online y Aion excelentes
que prefieren un playstation 1 o un playstation 3 xD es obvio verdad.
And Blizzard won't even think F2P unless the numbers drop below 1 million. And again, think. 1 million people that pay 15 bucks each month is still a lot. That's still more that half the subscribers other paying mmo games have.
We really cannot say when WoW will go free to play. Their next expansion could be the best so far and bring back those 4 million subscribers more they had during the WotLK period. Or it could be the worst expansion so far. And they could lose 7 million. But if they keep this steady pace WoW might not even be free to play even in 2020.
Maybe they would even make WoW 2.0 with better graphics. You never know.
There down right greedy... You pay for subscription... you pay for expansions... you pay for pets and mounts. Why should they go f2p... no just slap it to the players and make them pay for more. Money Money Money.... why kill the cash cow lets just milk it more.
a apocalypse
Blizzard may find people won't want to play their new MMO. The Warcraft Universe is a very casual place even though the Warcraft games were not. If Blizzard makes another traditional MMO, a click to attack and wait game, I don't think many people are going to pay for it, at least, not as many as WoW, or maybe not even 50% of that.