So, i did a bit of research. I was curious to know if there is a cost difference between playing on a EU server and a chinese server or other region. So i found the following:
The price of one token (converted in US dollars at today’s exchange rate to make it easier to understand) per region:
- US : 20$
- Australia : 16,03$
- European Union (€) : 21,95$
- United Kingdom: 21,24$
- China: 10,72$
- South Korea: 17,96$
- Taiwan: 16,72$
So as you can see, there is a price difference. And a quite big one. The region with the highest disadvantage is EU+ UK (in these regions, the token is the most expensive). Ok, let’s say that i understand the difference between UK and China. Obviously UK has a better currency and ecomony and the average wage in UK is much higher than in China, so it makes sense that the token is cheaper in China to “balance” the economical difference between these two countries…but what i don’t understand is the Eurozone:
There are countries in Eurozone (aka European Union) that have less average wage than China (which is around 600-800$), but they still need to pay the same amount of money like a german or french. Countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia, etc, where a monthly wage is around 400-500$ average, need to pay the same amount of money for a token like Germany or UK, where a monthly wage is 4x times higher. If Blizzard decided to make this “let’s help poor countries” with China, why didn’t they do it with the east-european countries?
What i mean is that the buying power is very unequal in the Eurozone, yet everyone pays the same amount.
So to bringing “country economy” as a reason for these differences would be failure.
Now let’s talk about the in-game economy between regions. First let’s talk about the token value in gold for each region:
- U.S + Australia : 1 token = 110k gold
- EU + UK : 1 token = 170k gold
- China: 1 token = 285k gold
- South Korea: 1 token = 182k gold
- Taiwan: 1 token = 200k gold
So taking in consideration the “rule” that states : the more token buyers are, the lower the gold value it has, that means the US+ Australia and EU regions are the biggest spenders in this game and China is the country with the least “spenders” in the game.
This “theory” directly contradicts the “rumours” about China and the facts that all gaming companies try to enter the chinese gaming market because China has the biggest “spender playerbase” in the world. And not to mention that Blizzard literally changed the entire game (World of Warcraft) and their other games to fit the chinese “market” (skins, zones, names, etc). And they would not do that if they knew that there is no potential to make more money than in other regions. Blizz was so willing to please China, that they chosen even to defy the principles of democracy, just to satisfy them (Hearthstone event). And not to mention other game companies that try to do everything, just to enter chinese market.
And now we have this paradox: China, a country with a average wage 3x smaller than average wage in countries like UK or Germany, logically should have a smaller “buying power” , yet everyone wants to join the chinese gaming market. There are two reasons for that:
- The population number (1,3 bil, which is more than all other WoW regions combined)
- Their social system and chinese players “gaming behaviour”: is known that the male/female ratio in China is very “unequal” and that there are more males than females and that a percentage of males (but also females) who fail “to create” a family, they seek “refugee” in games. Therefor, there is a high number of chinese players that revolves their entire existence in games, spending entire wages in games, etc. Unlike european society who is more “tempered”, that doesn’t spend like crazy in games. (!!! This is a generalisation!!!)
Now, going back to Draenor expansion, the time when the token was released, the average price of the token, on it’s release and following starting months, was around 380-400k gold. So 400k gold let’s say it was the starting price. Looking at the “ALL TIME” history of the token, China was the only region who kept the token price “balanced and stable” during the last 5 years since the token release. What i mean with that is that China, was the only region who didn’t had a dramatically and long lasting decrease of the value of the token in gold.
Historically, China region kept the value of the token balanced at a roughly 300k gold in the last 5 years (that’s around 30% drop), while other regions, especially US and EU, had a drop of gold value by more than 60-70%. For example,since july-august 2018, in EU region the token price dropped from 350k to 190k and since then it stayed stable (at a average of 175-200k gold at most) , at the same price for almost 2 years, without any dramatically increase, while in China the value stayed pretty stable at a average value of 250-300k gold.
Now going back to the game economy, i wanted to know what is the value of items and goods in other regions. So obviously, the best way to compare is by checking the pet and mounts market. I checked the AH prices of different pets and mounts from all regions, focusing primary on China to compare it with my region (EU) and i discovered that basically there is almost no difference:
EU prices (all realms):
-Gusting Grimoire pet average price is around 90-100k
-Tuskar Kite pet average price is around 120-140k gold
-X-51 Nether Rocket mount average price is 5,2-5,5 mil gold
-Wooly White Rhino mount average price is 1,6-1,7 mil gold
China prices (all realms):
-Gusting Grimoire pet average price is around 100-110k gold
-Tuskar Kite pet average price is around 130-160k gold
-X-51 Nether Rocket mount average price is 5,4-5,7 mil gold
-Wooly White Rhino mount average price is around 1,6-1,8 mil gold
So as you can see the prices differences are very small. Taking in consideration this comparison (the one above) , is easy to deduct that other prices are similar (boosts, BOE gear, mats,etc). So basically there are very small gold prices differences between these two regions (China and EU), yet the token gold value is double than EU and the money value is halved than EU.
Another thing that i don’t get it is the AH system:
When you put something in sale in AH and you are online, you receive a system message that says: “a buyer for your x auction has been found” . So if you put multiple items on sale in AH, each time a buyer is found, you get the message. All okay so far.
In the past i bought the weekly allowance of tokens (10 tokens/week) and put them all on sale in the same time. Usually it takes around 2-3h to find a buyer and here the strange part begins: you get the sale system message for all 10 tokens at once. **So what’s the probability to sell 10 tokens in the same exact moment? What is the probability that 10 random players decide to buy my tokens in the same exact time? **
And this didn’t happened once, it happens every time i put tokens on sale in AH. Usually i sell weekly between 4 and 10 tokens, depending my money “status”.
When i was selling other things in AH (pets,mats,gear,etc), i never got simultaneous messages from AH for all items sold. Always i was receiving for example a message now for x pet, after 15 min another message for x mats and so on. Never i received simultaneous messages for all in-game items on sale in AH, except tokens. So, either the game sends me those messages (all 10 messages, even if the sale was done in different times) after the last token is sold or the AH system is altered on purpose and after a certain amount of time the game buys the tokens from you and adds gold from the system.
So, to end it i want to clarify that this post is just a “curiosity” post. Unlike the last one i did regarding this topic, where my “expression of opinions” was wrong, now i just want a logical answer to my following questions:
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Do you think it’s fair the money price difference depending the region you play, taking in consideration that the gold prices for almost everything (mounts, pets,boosts, items,mats,etc) is almost equal in both regions? (!!! When answering take in consideration also the Eurozone example from above!!!)
To understand better my question, lets give as example the AH dinosaur mount:
On both realms (EU and China) the mount cost the same amount, 5 mil gold.
If you are a EU player and you want to buy the mount with tokens, you need to buy 30 tokens to gather 5 mill gold. 30 tokens at EU price = 660$ (today € to $ conversion)… If you are a chinese player, you need to buy 18 tokens. 18 tokens = 192$. -
How is possible that 250 million west-european people (because we don’t count players from countries like Romania,Bulgaria,Poland,East-Europe, Balkans, due to the fact that their buying power is very low compared with west) can buy almost the double amount of tokens than a country with 1,3 bill population and a high focus on “gaming” and “gaming-spending”? Does it make sense?
The logic is simple: if on EU the token is 170k and in China the token is 300k, following the “rule” that says : the more token buyers are, the lower the value in gold it has…that means the europeans buy almost double amount of tokens per region than the chinese players. -
Can someone explain why, if you have tokens on sale, every time you sell them all simultaneously? How do you think that system works?
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How is possible on China region, the in-game gold prices to be almost equal with EU prices, yet the token real money price is halved and the gold value of the token is almost double?
Basically the in-game prices are dictated by the token “influx”. The more influx of tokens in game is, the more higher the in-game gold prices go. That’s why now for example a HC boost cost 400k gold, but back in Draenor a HC boost was valued at 100-120k gold, while the token had the same price. So, it makes sense to deduct that too many players buy tokens, therefor the in-game prices in gold go higher. -
How come the token price isn’t equal in rich regions?
Australia, US, EU and South Korea are very strong economical countries. Basically all these countries are almost equal. Even more, for example South Korea has a higher average salary than US or EU (it’s around 2500 dollars, compared with US and EU which have around 2000 dollars).
I understand the “China” difference, but i can’t understand the rich countries difference.
At the end i want to say that this is not a ranting, complaining or whining post. I have a few suspicions, where i suspect that the “token topic” is altered by Blizzard in certain ways and i want to see if my logic (the things written above) are right or wrong:
- I suspect there is a clear evidence that Blizzard favours China over all other regions. That’s obvious and proven countless times, especially in the last years.
- I suspect that the system (game) buys the majority of tokens instead of real players and also the system sells tokens to real players. I also suspect that the price of the token is “altered” intentionally by the system.
If i would be Blizzard, i would think like this: EU are rich and easy to milk. China ar many, but not easy to milk. How to deal with it? Let’s lower the gold value of the token in EU so that EU spends more money and milk them as much possible and raise the value in gold in China, to please them. And, boom, 2 rabbits with one shot. - It bothers me that there is no “openness” regarding token trade. When you buy something in AH, you can see the name of the vendor. But when we talk about tokens, you see nothing. All the information is hidden. WHY? Why can’t i see from which player i buy the token? So they bothered to create a complex auction house system, where you have 100 pages of one type of mats and you can see who is the vendor for each one, but they didn’t added the same feature to the token AH system? Huh?
Usually, most of the games have a fixed price for their “cash-shop” items. A game chooses a currency (usually US dollar) and all items sold by that game have a fixed price in dollar, no matter the region and country you play. So for example let’s say that in US a mount cost 20$, if i play from UK and i pay in british pounds, i will pay that day conversion rate of pound to dollar, that would mean i would pay around 16-17 british pounds. Yet, Blizz decided to ask different prices depending the region you play.
I can’t deny that this “inequality” doesn’t bother me a little. But it doesn’t bother on a level where i would say that i quit the game or start crying. In the end, we all play the same game and have the same gold cost, no matter the region we play. I would understand if for example the dino mount would cost 8 mil gold on China server and 5 mil on EU server. This way there would be a proof that Blizzard is trying to do something to balance this issue. But i don’t think it’s fair for me to pay almost 700$ and another guy to pay 200 dollars, just because he plays from China. We can’t compare the necessity of daily needs (like food and bills) with the necessity of having a mount in game. Okay, i understand that in China a bread is 3x cheaper than in Germany,that makes sense, but i can’t understand a “pleasure” to be treated the same. In a way, WoW is a personal “pleasure” . Others have drugs or alcohool. But all of them are not vital to our existence.
In the end, i know that my post can’t change nothing. I don’t want the token money price to go lower just to favour me. I don’t want a gold value increase of the token just for me. The only thing i would wish, but it won’t be possible and not gonna happen, is that all players to be treated equally. If other games apply the “currency equality” tactic, Blizzard should do the same. Even if it won’t happen, i will still buy tokens and go on with my life. So it’s no drama. I know things can’t be as i wish, so the only option is to accept them.
But at least i want to know if what i have written above is wrong or not. If my logic is reasonable or i missed something and that’s why i am wrong. I am curious if my ideas and ideology regarding this topic is wrong or not.
So, therefor i ask you, please, to answer as much logically and reasonable possible to my questions above or “counter” what i have written above with reasonable arguments. Don’t reply with : “because of idiots like you the token value in gold is low” or “people like you ruin the game” or “i didn’t read it all, it’s too long text,but here is my dumb opinion”…etc. Let’s try to have a civilised and normal conversation where each one of us brings his opinions and ideas properly.
The token is part of the game and offers to players like me (limited time to play) a chance to “catch-up” with other players. Yes, it’s true that it is a bit “p2w” , but regarding this topic don’t blame me. Argue with Blizzard. I just take advantage of it because it is available and because i can. And anyone like me, would do the same. So things like “you destroy the game…bla bla” would be pointless. It will only prove your limited mentality and mediocrity.
Thank you in advance for your good replies.
Have a nice day.
I won’t spend unnecessary money on this game or any game until I get as rich as Donald Trump.