Pay to play -- World of Warcraft

Blizzard's World of Warcraft looks like it is Diablo 3 from the description
on Blizzard's website. If you read their FAQ file there is a notation that
there will be a monthly fee to play this game. Since many "professional"
computer game players use multiple computers, the idea of paying a fee to
play
World of Warcraft does not sit well. Please send emails to your friends
warning them about the projected monthly fee.

It might be reasonable for Blizzard to charge a fee based on hours played
per month (with a discount for people who are using multiple computers and a
copy of the game). If Blizzard starts at a low monthly charge, and then
raises it in the future, there will be a big backlash and boycott.

Send your concerns in emails to your game playing friends, with copies to
sales@blizzard.com. If Blizzard gets enough mail regarding this prior to
setting their fees, they may be VERY careful in setting those charges.
Remember, the total charge for this game is going to be what you pay in the
store plus what you pay to Blizzard each month. Calculate your projected
cost based on how much you play current games.

Reply to: techsupport (at) p2-c2 dot com
Tom

"Koenig_IX" <supporttech@p2-c2.com> wrote in message
news:29k1d.6836$qT2.1720@news.flashnewsgroups.com. ..

Duh - are you just figuring this out


It is a huge multiplayer online game that will require expensive servers and
maintainance.


Yep your one man boycott is going to drive them out of business

Blizzard isn't dumb. If there is a promotional discount period then it will
be clearly communicated


Your spambot will just be blocked.


I subscribe to all kinds of things. I pay money for usenet access,
internet, phones, sat TV, insurance and the list goes on and on, but there
is a strong emphasis on entertainment.

1/2 Hour of overtime a week is going to pay for my subscription cost, or
else Blizzard will not have many clients. You don't need to "educate"
people to not spend too much money - the markets will regulate themselves.

-LTP

On Mon, 13 Sep 2004 16:45:50 GMT, "Koenig_IX" <supporttech@p2-c2.com>
wrote:


Oh, give me a break. It's a MMORPG, for crying out loud, were you
expecting to play it for free? The only ones who can be bothered to
complain about fees for online games are l33t hax0r d00ds who download
all their games off the internet and wouldn't buy a game fair and
square if their very lives depended upon it.

I, for one, have no problem with paying $20 a month for server
maintenance, patching and all the other elements that make up a
MMORPG. As long as the game doesn't release half finished like Star
Wars Galaxies and certain others. Seriously, if Blizzard hadn't
already gone above and beyond everyone else when it comes to online
services and continous patching, nobody would even think about
complaining about fees for WoW.

--
theobliviousbyers

Give you a break -- sure! I think you have more money than brains. I am
used to playing Diablo II on battle.net where Blizzard does not charge for
the server. I have not played the MMORPG games.

The purpose of my posting was to get people to THINK about the cost of
playing Blizzard's WOW. Are people going to be charged on a per hour basis,
or monthly basis? Are people who like to play using multiple computers
going to be paying twice as much as a person who uses a single computer?

Perhaps you can afford the initial cost of the game plus $240 per year (per
computer). I am retired and on a fixed income. I am also watching such
things as gasoline and grocery prices going up faster than a 4th of July
rocket. There are going to be many more "baby boomers" in the next few
years who will have time to play computer games. They will do that only if
the cost of playing is reasonable. Suppose Blizzard gets $5.00 per month
per computer from 200,000 computers being used over a period of three years.
That is one million dollars per month. That would be better than getting
$20.00 per month per computer from 20,000 computers for six months.

Rule number one in business -- if you want to have repeat customers, then
keep the customers happy. People do not object to reasonable prices, but
will object if there are problems with quality, service, or upward changes
in the price.


Byers ex machina <don't@think.so> wrote in message
news5tbk0d79bl557o4or2ci73hdb8ohsa5b9@4ax.com...
description
that
and a
the

U¿ytkownik "Koenig_IX" <supporttech@p2-c2.com> napisa³ w wiadomo¶ci
news:29k1d.6836$qT2.1720@news.flashnewsgroups.com. ..
description
that

you say you can't login on your account from different computers?

I don't know what their structure for charges will be. A person can log
onto multiple characters in a single account simultaneously by using
multiple computers in Diablo II (as long as they are using different
characters from the account on each computer). I don't know whether
Blizzard intends to charge on the basis of each "account", or on the basis
of each computer, or just a flat monthly fee or ????

My concern is that any monthly charges be reasonable. I have suggested to
Blizzard that they should consider selling a "gold" version of the game that
has a higher initial cost, but no monthly charge. A monthly charge would be
made depending on whether the person bought the "gold" version or the
"standard" version.



bias <qirmqopmtopqtmioprniosnvoihyio@rniowetnoiwntiowen t.qnwiornioqw> wrote
in message news:ci5moi$o44$1@atlantis.news.tpi.pl...
"professional"
to

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 02:44:14 GMT, "Koenig_IX" <supporttech@p2-c2.com>
wrote:

MMORPG servers are fundamentally different, and MUCH more expensive to
develop and maintain, than anything ever used with Diablo II. Nobody's
going to force you to play WOW; it's an entirely different type of
game than Diablo II. If you want to play it, you'll have to pay
(monthly).


Per hour? Are you insane? Nobody's been charged for anything per hour
since the days of dial-up. There's no extra charge for multiple
computers. Technically, it might violate the license agreement to
install a single copy on multiple computers, but it's hardly
difficult. You simply log on as your character and everything is
stored on the server. (other than local files required to run the
program, obviously) This is generally how MMORPGs work, and I'm sure
it's how WOW will work. (no CD-Key required for installation, just to
create an account. And you can only create 1 account per cd-key, and
accounts are required to play)


$5 is probably a little low, and 200,000 might be a tad high, but only
time will tell. Even so, if Blizzard didn't charge a monthly fee, they
wouldn't be able to support and maintain the game. MMORPGs provide new
content regularly after the game's initial release. You are paying for
that content with your monthly fee. It's not completely different from
paying for an expansion pack. Doing this involves having a full time
staff working on the game, usually for the duration of its existence.


Nobody's forcing every former Blizzard customer to buy every new game
they develop. If 1/10 of the people that bought Starcraft buy WOW,
Blizzard could easily make the loads and loads of cash they're
expecting to.

--
Play Earth! Get Drunk! Join TIE!
http://games.swirve.com/earth http://e2hq.com/tie/

"No I'm saying that I'm a cow dung." - Stephen "The Stupid" Ung
"Eat a bag of hell." - Cyric The Mad
"I'm all for the girl on girl action, but it could put a strain on the marriage" - LTP

ICQ:65589349 MSN:ktwilson86@hotmail.com (BUT DON'T SEND E-MAIL!)
Zealot the Crazy Lui
Grand 16-Star General and overall director of AGSC operations for the Pronoun Army(and webmaster)
http://pronounarmy.homestead.com/
re-vamped sig xp Build 2004.5b

There will be a monthly charge per account and each account can only have
one player active at a time. You can access your account from any computer
in which WOW is installed. As for prices, you're lookin for anywhere from
13/mo to $50 for 6mo, which isn't bad if you consider the time you will
spend playing it. MMOGs are highly addictive and will likely consume 10
hours/week of your schedule ;P
Do the math - would you rather pay $50 for a new game and beat it in 30
hours then have to spend another $50 on another game, or would you rather
spend the initial $50 + 10/mo and have an unlimited ammount of gaming hours,
each with new experiences and encounters? As for MMORPGs tho, Blizzard
doesn't have much experience and you might want to go for EQ2. Those guys
have a CRUCIAL 5 year head start on just about everyone, except maybe Sierra
(The Realm).

my 2 cp


that
be

no man that would be silly.

"Koenig_IX" <supporttech@p2-c2.com> wrote:


And this matters, how?


Exactly. You haven't a clue about how they work.


The purpose of your post was to whine about having to pay to play a
MMORPG which will be constantly maintained and updated. Another purpose
was to encourage people to spam Blizzard.


Oh my. You can afford multiple computers powerful enough to run WoW, but
you can't afford the game itself?! Well then I guess you'll just have to
play on just one computer, or quit whining and play something else.


Rule number two in business is to ignore the whiners who encourage
people to spam you because they are too cheap to pay for playing the
game when they can afford several high-end computers anyway.


People will object to just about anything if it doesn't suit their
lying, whining asses.

On Tue, 14 Sep 2004 02:44:14 GMT, "Koenig_IX" <supporttech@p2-c2.com>
wrote:


Uh huh...I'm a student with a part time job.


Then quite frankly, you have nothing to do in this discussion.


You say that like the MMORPG concept is a new one...


Monthly, of course.


All files will be stored on the servers, so which computer you use
won't matter much.


Nobody's forcing you to play the game. There's very little similarity
between this game and Diablo 2. You failing to grasp this is not my
problem, nor is it Blizzard's.

--
theobliviousbyers