wow-microtransactions
Latest
Breakfast Topic: Will microtransactions be the end of WoW?
Since datamined information from patch 5.4 have pointed to an in-game store selling XP buffs, the WoW community has been in a tizzy over it. Is an in-game store a sign that WoW may be moving to a free-to-play system, supported by microtransactions? Or that Blizzard is just trying to milk every dime from their dwindling playerbase? Or, more importantly, with as fast as leveling is these days, who really needs a 100% XP buff anyway? (After all, you can get this same effect for free by doing daily quests as a monk.) Of course, as with all datamined information, all we're working with is speculation: we've yet to hear a peep from Blizzard on what their plans are and this may turn out to be a lot of fuss over nothing at all. But while we wait for Blizzard's official take, we can't help but wonder. So tell us what you think, readers! Will more microtransactions drive you off... or would a potential free-to-play transition bring you back into the game?
The Daily Quest: Starpony edition
Here at WoW.com we're on a Daily Quest (which we try to do every day, honest) to bring you interesting, informative and entertaining WoW-related links from around the blogosphere. Is there a story out there we ought to link or a blog we should be following? Just leave us a comment and you may see it here tomorrow! Take a look at the links below, and be sure to check out our WoW Resources Guide for more WoW related sites. TDQ's back from an unplanned Cataclysm-news-overload hiatus! And what better topic to come back to than the epic debate currently raging over Blizzard's new starpony spacepony sparklepony My Little Algalon Pony Celestial Steed? Want to see the rest of the above comic? Of course you do. It's from Wowhead's latest comic by Noxychu. Wowhead also speculates on the number of Celestial Steeds sold. WoW.com's sister-site Massively has an opinion on this latest addition to the world of microtransactions. The 'mental Shaman talks sparkuls. Mystic Chicanery thinks this is more than a micro-payment. Big Bear Butt says it's superficial. Life in Azeroth has a thing or two to say about slippery slopes. Leafshine thinks this changes everything and asks: am I a beautiful and unique snowflake? Dechion's Place talks on Blizzard's marketing genius. Ixobelle explains how to create demand. Oh look, an alt! is happy. Matticus is ashamed.
Celestial Steed mount and Lil' XT pet to be sold on the Blizzard store
Early this morning our staff uncovered pictographic evidence of the Celestial Steed and Lil' XT Pet being sold soon at the Blizzard Store. The image is no longer in their front page rotation, but likely it won't be gone for long. We don't know any details. That's all there is to say on that. So any speculation about price, functionality, etc... it's all just that. Speculation. We do know, however, that this is the first mount being sold at the store; and the first useful in-game item you can directly buy with real world money (if you don't count the mounts from the WoW TCG game). Video of the steed after the break.
Blizzard launches real money in-game pet store
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Blizzard_launches_real_money_in_game_pet_store'; In a surprising and stunning move, Blizzard has just launched a real money online in-game pet store. You spend real money, you get an in-game pet. This fully brings Blizzard into the world of microtransactions -- even if the cost of $10 for one of these pets isn't exactly micro. While these are just vanity items, one has to wonder how far Blizzard can take this microtransaction model with the largest MMORPG game being played today. They already offer (and offer quite successfully) realm transfer, name change, character re-customization, and race and faction change services. This appears to be the next logical step for them to take. Could the next offering being in-game vanity outfits? A valid question that only time will answer. The first offerings of microtransactionable in-game items include a Pandaren Monk pet and a Lil K'T pet. Half the proceeds from every Pandaren Monk pet (and only the Pandaren Monk) will go towards the Make-a-Wish foundation -- which is a nice gesture to a company Blizzard has previously supported. The full details of the announcement, along with the images of the pets and an FAQ, after the break.
