What does Redeemed think of Blizzard's store?

Buying in game items is....

  • Silly

    Votes: 4 25.0%

  • Fine as long as it doesn't change the game

    Votes: 7 43.8%

  • Fine and should be unlimited

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • ....option 4?

    Votes: 5 31.3%
  • Total voters
    16
Flamethrøwer said:
True, you can still get things done with in-game work only. My problem is that I believe that in-game work should be the ONLY way to accomplish things. Keeping with my Mountain o' Mounts example, there are now two ways to do it - the player that grinds 100 mounts, and the player that only had to grind 99 mounts because he could afford to spend the $25 on the 100th without having to grind it.

Someone has to agree with me lol...
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm not big on achievements, but they are getting too easy to get. I've been working for Battlemaster lately and and if after I spend the hours and days grinding for it, they released something I could have bought that would save a lot of time, I'd be ticked off.
 
But, Flame, the problem I have with your argument here, is that you're referring only to in-game stuff as "work." I see doing stuff in game and making fake money to be "playing" and making real money by doing a job in the real world "work," so, it seems to me that coughing up 25 bucks that you earned by, say, waiting tables, for a mount is more "work" than playing a game for several hours.
 
I see Flame's point but really come down agreeing with Piano and BBQ. There's stuff you can get by skill and stuff that you get by grinding. The "grinding" stuff that really just eats up time, I am happy to see a "purchase" option being offered in some cases. Person X might have a free weekend, person Y might have cash burning a hole in his/her pocket ... why shouldn't Bliz have an option for both? So long as the purchase isn't replacing "skill" items, I realy don't think anything gets unbalanced.

For collection meta-achivements ... it's not like cash options come anywhere close to closing the gap there. You still have to grind the vast majority of the activity. And there is always a component of such activities that can be obtained via the AH. Which means some people will get there via gold-buying, and some people will get via auctioneer wrangling (perhaps supplemented with paid-with-cash auction data). What's the bright line? I don't there is one that isn't subjective.

Overall, I think Bliz has been extremely conservative with their approach to micro-transactions and cash-for-item deals ... including Collection's Editions of the software boxes, Blizzcon giveaways, and all the TCG items, the total number of "RL buyable' items is probably not more than a few dozen or so out of the thousand of total in-game items. They could 10x that number, collect a ton of cash, and still not unbalance the game. But I think Blizz is ultra-sensitive about the perspective espoused by Flame that millions of WoW-ers share, and so they've held back. But you gotta imagine the fun conference calls with the Activision execs on this very topic ... the Bliz execs are willing to sacrifice their personal RL bonuses and political capital within their company to NOT just monetize the game rashly, and I totally give them credit for that...
 
Oh yeah, and this

So saddle up, because this supernatural warhorse will fly as fast as your riding skill will take you, and it will travel at 310% speed if you have at least one other 310% mount

tells me that they're very overtly preempting anyone to "buy" their way to a mount speed that currently is only available through great skill, great luck, or concerted grinding.
 
Flamethrøwer said:
True, you can still get things done with in-game work only. My problem is that I believe that in-game work should be the ONLY way to accomplish things. Keeping with my Mountain o' Mounts example, there are now two ways to do it - the player that grinds 100 mounts, and the player that only had to grind 99 mounts because he could afford to spend the $25 on the 100th without having to grind it.

Someone has to agree with me lol...
Click to expand...

People don't have time for those insane grinds :P
 
I don't like the buying stuff for cash in game. Next thing you know, when you kill a boss there will be a loot box come up for standard drops and a loot box come up with enhanced loot and a space for a credit card number. take the standard loot free or pay for the enhanced loot.
 
I can see everyone else's point - it's just that I don't want to see things go as far as heals has taken it here. Sure, at first it was just pets. Now it's mounts. Either way, they've already crossed the line - a very small crossing of the line, but to me, it makes the next step that much easier.

I'm just a very black and white person, and this subject seems to be going a little gray - and there are so many shades of gray.
 
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