1 subscription. Access to both US and EU servers

[Joe-silvermoon]

That is a common misconception Pop, I outlined this above, but ill quote myself for reference.

DCUO = free
FFXVI = Global sub
ESO = Global sub
SWTOR = Global sub
Runescape = Global sub
Lost Ark = Global sub
Eve Online = Global sub
Conan = Global sub

And then every other multiplayer title out there eg. Battlefield, COD, Rust, PUBG, R6, Minecraft, Overwatch, CS, Valorant… The list goes on, basically every single game.

None have issues with regional trade, price differences, taxes and currencies, its a complete fallacy that only Blizzard and only WoW have issues with this. They just either havent gotten around to fixing it, or dont want to. Its demonstrably false that MMO’s have issues with this, or any multiplayer games for that matter. Plus, huge AAA corps like ActiBlizzard have gigantic legal teams on their books 24/7, they can work around any legal issue they want.

With regards to your sub fee thing, that is a valid issue, that has arisen most recently due to the strength of the USD $. However, its not difficult for them to lock an account to a region in terms of payment. Eg you must sign up with an account from your local region, so US players make US accounts, and therefore they are locked into a USD payment. This system exists in different forms already. Look at Steam, you cannot purchase a Russian key for a video game, its against the ToS and you will get banned for it if they catch you, because Russian keys are cheaper.

The issue may be currencies, but thats not an issue that cannot be fixed, as I demonstrated above. Every other game does it, but apparently WoW cant.

[Allahandra-hydraxian-waterlords]

@Joe-silvermoon

Eg you must sign up with an account from your local region, so US players make US accounts,

This was a line i forgot in my reply but it was on my mind , thx for sharing my toughts

[Joe-silvermoon]

You literally said quote “I can afford an extra £10 a month for two accounts and that’s the cheapest entertainment for the money. Not sure why you can’t, you sound like you have a good job.” so yes you literally are doing as Onimaru said, and then your ‘counter’ should probably be worded as a ‘backfire’ because you said quote “How the hell are you spending $400 on an expansion?” which I then proved, and since then you’ve gone quiet on that matter and backtracked, shifting your argument into “well it might be $400 but its not all in one go so its not really $400”. OK.

Im still waiting for a list of multiplayer games without global subs by the way Dottie, I asked you the question, you thought it was ok to not answer then turn it on me, I answered out of good faith anyway and you’ve just said nothing in reply, all you do is make things up such as saying I mentioned sub games (which I didnt) and single-player FPS games (which I didnt) and that I had a good job (which I never said) the list goes on, and then just like every single post that supports your completely wilfully ignorant viewpoint. You are outright failing to support your argument yet you still stand on your view.

And yeah thats just a terrible bait, and again, I can just about afford 1 sub, but Im not paying twice for WoW.

[Joe-silvermoon]

Of course, its something that already exists in gaming, and well in lots of media, you cant just sign up in other regions for lower prices, thats against ToS

[Popgligor-magtheridon]

It’s a matter of how they’ve set it up from the ground up. Most of these studios handle publishing through subsidiaries, and Activision Blizzard is not an exception. In fact, they recently moved the main corporation to the UK for legal reasons. Facebook does the same - their European dealings are handled through a subsidiary, which owns the Facebook IP now. The American company sold it to its own Irish subsidiary for tax reasons.

My point is this is shockingly complex. If WoW is from the ground up set up in a way where the US and EU versions are legally seen as different products, who are under the jurisdiction of the respective regions, it may be hard to consolidate them. Hard, but not impossible, obviously. It’s a matter of whether it’s worth it.

From the point of view of the game as a product, it’s better to consolidate them. Blizzard will earn more from this, not less. The people paying separate subs for each region are not enough to offset the benefit of consolidating everything, having people play in multiple regions, making the game as a whole feel more alive, which will drive profit up.

[Joe-silvermoon]

Yes I completely understand that, and you’re absolutely correct that they do separate themselves for tax/legal reasons etc, but as I demonstrated above, it is not an issue that cannot be resolved, and basically every single other multiplayer game out there of note does not have this issue. Regardless of how they are set up, the truth is that Blizzard needs to get their act together and fix their systems instead of expecting the players to suffer the consequences of it.

And yes, I agree, its beneficial for them in the long run to fix this, I don’t think that a significant number of players will directly benefit from fixing this, but WoW right now suffers from a lot of those little issues, old systems etc that simply need to be fixed if they want to be serious about revitalising the game. This is one of them.