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Breakfast Topic: How far would you let WoW microtransactions go?
One of the hottest topics in the past week was Blizzard's foray into the microtransactions game. By announcing the Blizzard pet store, World of Warcraft had officially come on par with other MMOs and online games that sold in-game items for real world money. Our informal survey showed that views on the move were officially split... a good third of our readers would buy the pet, another third didn't plan to, while another full third thought that our world was coming to an end. Well, the World of Warcraft, at least. At any rate, it looks like the Pet Store is here to stay. Besides, Blizzard has already been hawking in-game services for real money, so it's not as if these vanity pets are any different. I personally don't find anything wrong with these pets, and seeing the number of diminutive liches and kung fu pandas showing up all over Azeroth, it really seems like a lot of other people don't, either. Blizzard states that these items, similar to the TCG loot cards, are "purely cosmetic and just for fun." They say that they'd be loathe to introduce things that are "detrimental to the game and (detracts) from the gameplay experience for players who choose not to use the service." So that probably means no epic weapons or anything of the sort. How far does that go, though? Are heirloom items considered detrimental to the game? How about buying levels? Premades? I personally wouldn't mind paying a fair price to skip the painful leveling process (an attitude that might admittedly change during the Cataclysm). What's do you think is next for Blizzard? Armor dyes, perhaps? Vanity outfits such as the complete Brewfest set or gag items such as those found on the TCG? Titles? Now that the microtransactions gate has been opened, how far do you think Blizzard will go?
Pandaren in the World of Warcraft
In among all of the "omg fake pets for real money" drama from this week's announcement, we may have missed something big: the Pandaren are now live in the World of Warcraft. The Pandaren are my favorite Azerothian race, even though they're essentially a joke -- Samwise Didier just loves pandas, and he made art for an April Fool's joke that Chris Metzen loved so much they decided to include the bears as real characters in Warcraft III. Since then, they've become fan favorites (not least of all, especially for me, because alcohol and ale are a big part of their culture), but we've only seen hints of them in World of Warcraft. There was a rumor going around a while back that they would never appear in the game because China didn't allow depictions of violence against the bears, but that was just a rumor. Still, the Pandaren have existed in WoW only as a Blizzard in-joke. We assume they're out there somewhere, but until now, no one has ever seen one. Of course we say "until now" because there are now little Pandaren monk noncombat pets running around, bowing, and doing magical kung-fu. Does this mean that the future Emerald Dream expansion will have us all playing as Brewmasters? While yes that would be awesome, not so fast again: Diablo and the Zergling from Starcraft are both in the game as noncombat pets, and they don't mean anything at all (although they were both included in the game before the announcements of Diablo 3 and Starcraft 2 -- maybe Blizzard is working on a Pandaren-based puzzle game? Conspiracy theorists, assemble!). And just because we all have Grunty doesn't mean murlocs are suddenly going to take to spaceships with battle rifles in the official lore. But it's cool to see Pandaren actually in the game, even in pet form, and who knows, maybe we will one day find the legendary realm of Pandaria in our own version of Azeroth.
Breakfast Topic: Will you buy the new in-game pets?
In-case you missed it, which really is only possible if you were living under a rock or had something else going on, yesterday's news was some of the largest out of WoW this year. Blizzard is now allowing you to purchase in-game pets for real life money through the Blizzard store. There are two pets, pictured about, available for sale now. The Pandaren Monk and Lil K'T'. Both pets cost $10, and the Pandaren Monk will see 50% of its sale price go towards the Make-a-Wish foundation (for the remainder of the year). This firmly brings WoW into the arena of microtransactions -- purchasing in-game items for real life money. Some games, not WoW, allow you purchase items which make you stronger in the game. Other games, like WoW, allow the purchase of vanity items, such as these pets, which do nothing other than look cool or count towards vanity achievements. Some people really don't like this model of gaming, others are indifferent, and others are in love with it. I'm personally in love with it. I think the items are cheap enough to be affordable to a large portion of the player base, and are cool enough to warrant the purchase. Further, since the items don't provide in-game power ups for people, they are essentially meaningless toys. This makes it an ideal luxury item for the virtual-nerd to spend $10 on. So will I buy the new in-game pets? Absolutely, I already have. But what will you do? Are you going to go out and buy them? Vote in the poll and leave a comment, we want to know. %Poll-36542%
Patch 3.2.2 PTR: Pandaren and Lil' K.T. pets revealed in latest build
Like Diablo's Cow Level, the Pandaren have almost mythic status within World of Warcraft since that memorable and almost plausible April Fool's Day prank. Blizzard has paid homage to that by tucking a pet Pandaren Monk into the latest build (10371) of patch 3.2.2 which has just gone live on the PTR.Boubouille over at MMO Champion has once again been rooting around the patch files and he came across the first model of the aforementioned pet. Isn't he cute? Heavy on the Chinese aethetics, we have no idea how you'll be able to get this little guy. While datamining, Boubouille also discovered another hitherto unmentioned pet, Lil' K.T.. Yes, you too can have your own pocket-sized Kel'Thuzad, a tiny trophy-sized lich to call your very own! Again, we're not sure how you get one. Here's hoping he drops off his full-sized self in Naxx but who knows? For now we just have a spell note in the files And as a note, please remember that Pandarens are not a playable race, nor is this an indication they will ever be added to WoW. 2n - 1 go left, 2n go right. I don't see enough DoTs! More DoTs now! Are you ready for the return of Onyxia? With the Brood Mother being revitalized as a 10 and 25 person raid, you'll need to be sure you know everything that's coming at you. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.2.2 will make sure your set for the next patch!
