WoW Esports in 2019 - WoW

[Punyelf-draenor (Punyelf)]

It does not affect game play.

Actually it does, store items count towards their corresponding achievements.

You do not have to buy any of the store items. There are more than enough items in game.

[Razien-quelthalas (Razien)]

On the contrary, the Token has removed an important gameplay element - gold. Gold is no longer a dimension of the game, and the game is the poorer for it.

When I first dinged 85 in Cata, gold was my first big problem. I needed gold I didn’t have to skill up my Alchemy, get flying, buy gear (yes, I know buying gear is silly … now; I was noobish beyond understanding back then) and whatever else seemed important to me at the time. I was actually considering buying gold. The money was nothing to me, and nowadays I would buy a Token and sell it without thinking. Back then, though, having to plan out how to get gold made me develop an understanding of WoW’s economy and how to use my professions and the AH. And that was a new learning, and a new game activity for me. Since then, of course, gold has never been a problem for me.

So, yeah, it removed a dimension of the game. So, yeah, it did harm.

Good point.

There are no changes that are purely bad, and no changes that are purely good. Every change is a trade-off, and whether you see it as good or bad depends on how it affects you , and how limited your vision is.

Define the removal of Naxxramas 40 and other raids then? One could argue it gave more players the chance to see it as current content and I won’t argue against that. Think of how it was re-used however, surely you would agree there could’ve been better ways without removing the old version, so like you said… A case of lacking vision, perhaps.

Pressure on the devs to incentivise e-sports is pressure to change the game in that direction, and that’s a pressure I don’t like.

Agreed.

So playing the game to earn gold to play for free it is okay but playing the game to earn ingame gold for mounts is not?

It’s okay as long you play the game to earn ingame gold and buy said mount from an in-game vendor, not from a cash shop. That’d just be playing the game.

And paying real cash to play the game is okay but paying for a handfull of mounts and pets is not?

You guys make no sense.

There’s nothing wrong with a subscription model.

Promotional mounts are just that; promotional. They tend to support a good cause, I’d argue those mounts are a good thing because they do good IRL.

Aside for the promotional stuff all I see the shop items as is rewards that could’ve been rewards from actual content.

[Bukachu-ravencrest]

Aside for the promotional stuff all I see the shop items as is rewards that could’ve been rewards from actual content.

what’s gonna thicken activisions pockets then?
obviously people buying game, paying for subscription isnt enough.
Oppulance has no end
gotta add them micro-transactions for extra points in greed.

[Shogath-dragonblight (Shogath)]

Aside for the promotional stuff all I see the shop items as is rewards that could’ve been rewards from actual content.

But you are doing content to be able to buy them with gold are you not?

[Munkuga-twisting-nether]

But you are doing content to be able to buy them with gold are you not?

you are buying them with real money just someone else is middle hand and paying for it with their cash. And every item that goes in the store is one less item that should have been in the game and obtainable by playing the god damn game.

[Mion-argent-dawn]

I love Blizzard! I hope they keep giving us more rewarding content like this.

[Jito-turalyon (Jito)]

@Destruct-runetotem

Give me the accounting books of Blizzard and I will look them through, I am trained in it.

Yeah, sure. Let me just go and get them. I have them on my shelf, next to my classified documents on who killed JFK and the Roswell UFO sightings. Because that’s the kind of stuff I just have lying around.

@Destruct-runetotem

Product, place, price and promotion. Know what’s gaming nowadays is? Promotion, sell a beta as a game with promises to fix it later because investors want you to rush it to people who hate said genre but you want as customers so screw your loyal fanbase for a high fee.

That’s product. I too have learned about Porter’s 4 Ps.
Blizzard’s marketing strategy leans overwhelmingly toward a focus on product. It’s the Blizzard brand. The high-quality, polished, triple A game experience.

Blizzard do relatively little in terms of promotion, because they don’t really have to. Their games are eagerly anticipated and given lots of attention and coverage in the media, letting Blizzard fall back on their loyal fanbase to rely on word of mouth.

Place is something they emphasize a lot. One of their core values is Think Globally. Blizzard’s games are available in more countries and localized for more languages than almost all other games in the industry. Market expansion and penetration is what drives the high userbases for any of Blizzard’s games.

And price goes without saying. Premium pricing, always.

As far as the gaming industry as a whole goes, I’d say price and product is the main point of competition these days.
PS Plus. Xbox Live Gold. Nintendo Switch Online. The console competition is all about who can deliver the best subscription product at the most competitive price.
On PC it’s the same. Steam, Uplay, Origin, battle.net, Epic Games, and so on. The competition is all about having the strongest digital platform. Steam and Epic Games are basically competing on price, with Epic Games now offering a higher profit-cut for developers than Steam. And the rest compete mainly on product, because they’re tied to their own publisher/developer.

Promotion is the last thing I’d say describes the gaming market right now.

@Destruct-runetotem

Blizzard used to be this snackbar, pricy but you knew what you would get would be done and be top quality! But ever since they teamed with activision the quality slipped, minimum wage jobs were suddenly the standard etc.

I would argue that Blizzard still thinks of itself as the pricy, top-quality snackbar. They still operate under that model. Diablo Immortal isn’t being made as a cheap, quick, low-quality fling. It’s intended to be the same high-quality, polished, triple A game experience that Blizzard are known for, on mobile.
Whether or not individual players like you and I think their games are terrible and crap these days is a bit besides the point. As a game developer they still operate under the same model as they always have. That’s what their brand is built around.

[Shogath-dragonblight (Shogath)]

you are buying them with real money just someone else is middle hand and paying for it with their cash.

No, one person is buying a token for pixels and another is buying pixels for cash. There is at least 1 person playing for free.

And every item that goes in the store is one less item that should have been in the game and obtainable by playing the god damn game.

But you are “playing the god damn game” to be able to buy them with gold are you not? So what is the difference between a vendor mount and a shop mount?

[Razien-quelthalas (Razien)]

But you are doing content to be able to buy them with gold are you not?

IF I wanted them, i’d buy them with gold. To me they might as well just be regular gold cost items from some mount or pet vendor in-game.

Tbh I was considering just paying real money to buy the “see you later” deal thingee but then they re-hired the cfo and gave him a 15 million bonus and that pretty much set in stone that I won’t buy extra things anymore.

It pisses me off that they give one guy that much money, yet take away the yearly bonuses from the developers.

[Shogath-dragonblight (Shogath)]

Tbh I was considering just paying real money to buy the “see you later” deal thingee but then they re-hired the cfo and gave him a 15 million bonus and that pretty much set in stone that I won’t buy extra things anymore.

It pisses me off that they give one guy that much money, yet take away the yearly bonuses from the developers.

Ah here we go. So you are pissed off because of a high profile business deal you have no clue about. Maybe you picked that up from a youtuber? Perhaps Az or YongYeah or someone like that?

[Razien-quelthalas (Razien)]

Ah here we go. So you are pissed off because of a high profile business deal you have no clue about. Maybe you picked that up from a youtuber? Perhaps Az or YongYeah or someone like that?

I don’t need to know more than what is already common knowledge, plus I’ve got my sources, so I hear things.

[Shogath-dragonblight (Shogath)]

Ah here we go. So you are pissed off because of a high profile business deal you have no clue about. Maybe you picked that up from a youtuber? Perhaps Az or YongYeah or someone like that?

I don’t need to know more than what is already common knowledge, plus I’ve got my sources, so I hear things.

Yeah i hear things too… from the bois on the youtubes. You know how they make their money right?

At least Blizzard are selling something they made themselves.

[Destruct-runetotem (Destruct)]

Ah oke, thought it was gone completely good to hear that. But yes paying a guy who just quit 15m just retake the job? EH, if you were headhunting a new person but somebody who just quit?

[Razien-quelthalas (Razien)]

Actually, I missed the following…

"Although GameSpot originally reported that employees are losing their bonuses, that’s not the case, a Blizzard rep told Variety via email on Thursday.

“In December of 2017, Blizzard transitioned 100% of the Holiday Bonus into the base salary of employees. The Holiday Bonus program was implemented to provide a lump sum bonus at year end to make the Holidays special for Blizzard employees. However, when employees expressed that they wanted the flexibility of receiving that extra 10 percent as a part of their regular payroll, Blizzard made that change as part of our overall commitment to fair and competitive salaries. So no employee, including Mike, has lost out on that bonus money.”."

Regardless, I still find this…

“Dennis Durkin, Activision Blizzard’s new chief financial officer, is getting a bonus worth $15 million for taking the job. The award consists of $11.3 million of stock and an additional $3.75 million in funds. That’s in addition to a $900,000 salary and a $1.35 million target bonus.”

…still pretty ridiculous just for taking the job.

Especially since they’re so… let’s call it ‘focused’… on saving money and cutting costs.

[Izila-ravencrest (Izila)]

I wonder if Dota forums get mad everytime they release the compendium for TI.

[Mahmeya-darkmoon-faire (Mahmeya)]

Esports, lol

If everything is as well-tuned and balanced as Hearthstone which has balance patches roughly never, esports are a bad joke and I will stay away from their any form.

[Zombiezombie-kazzak]

Everything is you pay for does not belong to you. Your character does not even belong to you, you are just renting it. Pets, mounts, title or whatever are not owned by you.

The only value that you are paying for and that you own is the concept of having fun.

[Bukachu-ravencrest]

I wonder if Dota forums get mad everytime they release the compendium for TI.

no because dota is free to play?

lmao

some comparisons really are next level here sigh

[Shogath-dragonblight (Shogath)]

…still pretty ridiculous just for taking the job.

Especially since they’re so… let’s call it ‘focused’… on saving money and cutting costs.

It’s only been working like this since forever. The only new thing here is the sudden public outrage over it.

Maybe you should take a look at some of the people that are screaming the loudest. Like how their income rises along with the dismay and unrest they sow.

[Shumensko-azjolnerub (Shumensko)]

The only new thing here is the sudden public outrage over it.

That’s not new. People have been screaming against the in-game shop from day 1.