Which is fake. And superficial.
It’s pathetic.
So let them. Let them spend money on this game; better for the people who actually enjoy playing it.
It’d be funny though if Blizzard incorporated a ‘glitter bomb’ type of tagging to players. Anyone who paid for a boost or bought a WoW token would have this ‘glitter tag’ so everyone would know that person is a poser.
I think in WoW its because one goal always leads to the next.
One path of progression is a path to another.
So players spend money to pay for one type of progression so they can do another type.
It’s a means to an end mentality.
“I need to buy a boost for Cutting Edge so I can get invited to raids and get better geared!”
I’m honestly really surprised why “time spent achieving X” is still not seen as “having an advantage”… xD
It’s like people only see advantage as being ilvl or some crazy legendary weapon that no one else can get unless they pay real money…
Like even take the mount achievements… People who buy the store mounts have an easier advantage filling their stable, than people who only farm? Why is this not seen as an advantage?
Why is it not seen as an advantage, that 2 players that work 8 hours a day, both are M+ players, one of them logs in and farms gold to sustain materials, enchants etc., the other buys token and goes directly into M+… Why is this “time saved” not seen as an advantage? Yes the other player also had to work to get the money, but he didn’t have to farm gold… But noooo because technically the other player can just farm the gold too…
Advantage is not just performing better than someone else… Advantage is: “A condition or circumstances that puts one in a favorable or superior position”… And I would say having the luxury of swiping your card and skipping stuff is “A circumstance that puts one in a favorable position”
No!
It’s immoral of Blizzard to exploit people’s desire for instant gratification and dopamine and so on, in order for them to make more money.
We players get nothing out of this. It doesn’t make the game better. Blizzard just makes more money off of people’s weak psychology.
We shouldn’t just be okay with that.
“Drug companies do advertisement for kids? Let them! The kids are pathetic if they give in to it anyway!”
That’s insane!
Why are you a “poser” for buying a token?
It is an advantage when entering a particular fight, but not an advantage in the game as a whole.
Ok so to put this into perspective. I have barely stepped into anything above a +10 and I have 2766 io on my ret paladin (which is by far the most played spec). I am ranked in the top 21 000 world wide. How many of those 21 000 do you believe have boosted their way there?
I’m fine with that.
Well, I’d hope at least some of that money is invested back into the game. Because that’s how it generally works.
I am. Because it doesn’t affect me and the way I enjoy this game.
People can go be posers in the endgame I’ll never play; it’s fine.
No that’s a very silly (and disturbing) example. Kids are protected by law from making certain decisions; for their own protection, because they’re not fully developed and matured yet.
If you are an adult and can’t handle your own instant gratification urges than that’s your issue and you’ll have to deal with it yourself.
What? How is being able to save time achieving different things, not an advantage in the game as a whole?
That you would have to clarify a bit more for me
But it is, nevertheless, an example.
And both absolutely have the potential to destroy your future. There are people who have legitimately died because of microtransactions because they spent so much money they either got into custody or died due to lack of food. It’s a thing.
For WoW? I don’t think you can go that far. But with Diablo Immoral? Oh yes, you absolutely can. This sort of abuse is not above Blizzard.
This is basically exactly like gambling. You drain people out of cash by promising them money/power/winning and when it all comes down to it, you’ve just wasted your money, but some people can’t understand that and it can genuinely hurt them.
It depends on how you earned that advantage. One of WoW’s core skill requirements is preparing yourself. If you do so you enter into an individual fight with an advantage, but that doesn’t mean it’s an unfair advantage.
Why? How I earned it shouldn’t have any relevance to my question.
So being able to achieve things in less time, is an overall advantage in the game?
No one spoke of fairness or unfairness?
Hahahahahahahaha!
Hahaha!
Hahahahahahahaha.
Wait you’re serious?!
HAHAHAHAHA!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
All money goes into Microsoft’s coffers.
There is no notion of “This money was made in WoW so it should also be invested back into WoW!”
That’s not how it works.
So long as WoW is profitable it will get enough funding.
But WoW doesn’t get more funding because it gets more profitable.
That extra profit gets invested elsewhere.
It has everything to do with it. If you played one part of the game to get an easier time with another, that’s simply good 'ol fashioned progression and preparation.
Of course!
This whole discussion is all about unfairness. Pay2win is unfair.
If you gained your advantage in any given activity by preparing for it doing other things instead of just banging your head against the wall, that’s smart play. If you gained your advantage by swiping your credit card, that’s unfair.
This game is for 12 year olds!
Your complete disregard for your fellow players and lack of human empathy is borderline psycho. That whole “I don’t care” attitude is starting to give me the creeps.
Did you read my comment? Why are you talking of “playing” when my entire comment was about saving time with paying? Hence, why the relevance?
Then I truly do not understand:
Can you tell me whether it is or it is not an advantage in the game as a whole?
But I again ask you… Did you read my comment? I feel like you’re answering my comment by blending in everything else? I was clearly talking about the advantage of buying stuff has… And then you start talking about playing, and individual fights, and talking about fair and unfair?
IF that is true (which I personally don’t agree with that it is), then it’s something for national/international laws and regulations to deal with; and not a company itself (like lootboxes). A company WILL try to make money; that’s why it exists.
Have proof of this claim?
Because with a claim like that, I’m not ‘just going to take your word for it’.
That’s the rating. But we all know it’s not MADE for 12 year olds.
Because the vast majority of WoW’s playerbase nowadays is adult/middle-aged people.
Demonize me all you want if that’s the kind of tactics you want to use.
That just makes me win the argument, really.
sorry. out of topic. you hate blizzard and this game, now. In the past you whiteknighted every inch of the game.
Now every piece of world of warcraft is seen by you as an abomination: you seem like a star wars fan after 2000 AD
Sometimes i have positive POV of wow and sometimes negative like the majority of ppl posting here. So, since the game wont go back to the glorious times when the gras was green and the girls were pretty… why still you lose time here in game and in forums?
Because certain ways of playing allows you to reach the same goals faster than other ways of playing do. It’s really quite simple, and if you understand that, the rest of your questions fall away.
It is true - objectively. And lawmakers have been involved several times, but the monetary interests are too great.
It’s been a huge topic in the EU. It was actually banned outright in China but gaming companies lost so much market cap almost instantly that it was reverted. I also know that Ted Cruz in the US has been lobbying to ban lootboxes, but he wasn’t successful. I’ve been following this rather closely. 
I do wonder when something will happen. It has to eventually… right? 
That’s the PEGI rating.
Since you don’t seem to know what a PEGI rating is:
PEGI is an age rating system for video games which is used throughout the European Union, with the exception of Germany which has its own age rating system. So a game with a 12 rating has content which is suitable only for those of 12 years and over, and a game with an 18 rating is suitable for adults only.
For WoW, as an example:
Advice for consumers
This game has received a PEGI 12 because it features moderate violence and use of bad language. Not suitable for persons under 12 years of age.
Saying it’s for 12 year olds is like saying the live adaptation of Aladdin is for 11 year olds because it has an age rating of 11.
I kinda dont understand your logic here. You need to care what Bobby and Johny has equiped for the game to be mmorpg?
I dont care what John next door does at his free time but that doesnt mean I want to be the only person on Earth either…