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Yet another Celestial Steed thread... from the business angle this time.
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Post by
Squishalot
http://www.news.com.au/technology/celestial-steed-rakes-in-nearly-4m-for-blizzard-in-first-week-on-sale/story-e6frfro0-1225857500866
Apparently it's earned US$3.5M in its first week. Not bad cash, eh? Hope the developer who came up with the idea got a nice bonus to show for it.
Post by
414992
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Kelborn
One thing I find pretty cool about the design of it is the shadow. All you see is the armor. Truly is celestial.
Post by
pgh1980
Even better for Blizzard is when things like this make the news, it's free publicity.
Post by
anywherenotes
I don't know who told you that a developer came up with the idea. And I don't know why artists would be getting bonuses - they are payed to make pretty things as part of their job. Surely the idea was taken from many other games working off micro-transactions.
Blizz isn't making many mistakes. And as much as some, like me, don't like the idea of micro-transactions in wow (because it already requires a monthly fee), it maybe a smart move. It may also be a stupid move, but that's only if another company manages to come up with something as interesting for a wide variety of people as wow, and only uses one subscription model.
I think, though I don't like it, that micro-transactions are the wave of the future. However requiring two payments is a bit odd.
I didn't like it when server-changes were announced for a fee, or when sex-changes/customizations were announced for a fee, and than they expanded to pets, and now mounts.
Looking forward, I predict, additional hair-cuts and new hair-colors for micro-payment in the near future.
However if the game is transitioning to micro-payment structure, this is fine, though I'd rather it be a quick switch.
Post by
367590
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
302110
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Koper
Apparently it's earned US$3.5M in its first week.
This sounds like a big number but it's not really that much compared to what they make every month from subscriptions alone.
Post by
434523
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
anywherenotes
As long as Blizzard isnt making these items mandatory or give players an advantage (for example, selling a personal Jeeves while not having engineering) is a dumb move and destroys the purpose of monthly fees.
I agree with what you said. But I forgot to list one more thing which could be considered a huge advantage that blizzard sells, and isn't available outside of RL purchase. It's the 3x XP bonus you get by buying a second account in your name, and linking it as 'invite a friend'. It's not against the rules to get an account just for that. So if you got money, and you want to level up fast, you could buy new copy of game, pay second subscription, level up, and than transfer your toon to your normal account (unless you want to keep both accounts).
I would never do that, but people do it all the time, as I see in these forums. Blizz could have made it against rules to do this - and enforce it by not letting you transfer the toon from that additional account to your main account. But it's a money maker.
All your wallet are belong to Blizzard :) (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us
)
Post by
302110
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Squishalot
Apparently it's earned US$3.5M in its first week.
This sounds like a big number but it's not really that much compared to what they make every month from subscriptions alone.
Well, yes and no. When you consider that a developer / artist's annual salary might add up to be about $100k, account processing fees would be about 2-3%, that's still a pretty hefty profit margin on something that is otherwise free to produce. And they wouldn't need to devote an entire man-year's worth of development / artistic effort on the mount.
The article quotes that about 140,000 people have purchased one to date. That's only about 1-1.5% of the player base, sure, but it's at a very hefty markup. More players = higher ongoing maintenance costs (on average, since they need to add more servers). Sale of in-game mounts = no ongoing costs.
Post by
KittyKat77
Hope the developer who came up with the idea got a nice bonus to show for it.
It wasn't like it was difficult idea to come up with. It's the model that the majority of MMO's use. For my part, I hope the guy who signed off on this is fired.
Blizz used to feel like the good ol' boys. Now they just feel like any other money grubbing corporation. Yeah, they are a business, they can make money however they want. Doesn't mean they're doing it in
morally acceptable way
or that I have to love them for it.
Wait, selling a product some people want to buy, for a price they are willing to pay, that breaks no laws, and harms no one is not "morally acceptable" now?
Who knew?
Making money selling highly addictive illegal drugs that ruin lives and that can kill people is not morally acceptable.
Making money via blackmail or "protection rackets" is not morally acceptable.
Making money via false advertising or other scam activities is not morally acceptable.
Making money by selling art, both digital/virtual designs or tangible media is morally acceptable.
Making money by selling a service to people, whether it is "entertainment purposes only" or not is morally acceptable.
If you don't like Blizzards current business direction, you have the freedom to NOT send them your money. But hopping right up on your high horse and calling it morally unacceptable is silly!
I am actually considering buying a steed myself, i have a birthday coming up. Either that, or I might buy some really cute sock yarn and knit myself a new pair of socks, it's a toss up. But I guess I'm morally ambiguous like that.
Post by
xaratherus
Hope the developer who came up with the idea got a nice bonus to show for it.
It wasn't like it was difficult idea to come up with. It's the model that the majority of MMO's use. For my part, I hope the guy who signed off on this is fired.
Blizz used to feel like the good ol' boys. Now they just feel like any other money grubbing corporation. Yeah, they are a business, they can make money however they want. Doesn't mean they're doing it in
morally acceptable way
or that I have to love them for it.
Wait, selling a product some people want to buy, for a price they are willing to pay, that breaks no laws, and harms no one is not "morally acceptable" now?
No kidding. What they are doing is not immoral in any way.
While I did capitulate with loki that these mounts do have impact on game play (with the caveat that
anything
has an impact on game play), his comments have been getting more unbelievable and "tinfoil hat"-esque with every additional post.
An immoral action is one that society judges to be harmful to others. Since no one - and I literally mean not a single, solitary opponent - has given a valid and cohesive reason as to how these mounts harm your game play, this is not immoral in any sense of the term.
This is a capitalistic society. They're making money, and the method in which they're doing it is not any different than any other thousands of marketing ploys used every single day.
I speculate that the reason that people are complaining is because they are jealous - not of the mount, but that Blizzard has become such a popular game and is no longer the sole province of the original gaming crowd who enjoyed it. It's yet another extension of the "I don't want casuals playing in my sandbox!" argument.
Post by
KittyKat77
No kidding. What they are doing is not immoral in any way.
While I did capitulate with loki that these mounts do have impact on game play (with the caveat that
anything
has an impact on game play), his comments have been getting more unbelievable and "tinfoil hat"-esque with every additional post.
An immoral action is one that society judges to be harmful to others. Since no one - and I literally mean not a single, solitary opponent - has given a valid and cohesive reason as to how these mounts harm your game play, this is not immoral in any sense of the term.
This is a capitalistic society. They're making money, and the method in which they're doing it is not any different than any other thousands of marketing ploys used every single day.
I speculate that the reason that people are complaining is because they are jealous - not of the mount, but that Blizzard has become such a popular game and is no longer the sole province of the original gaming crowd who enjoyed it. It's yet another extension of the
"I don't want casuals playing in my sandbox!"
argument.
I keep hearing how bad/awful/horrible the "casual player" is.
If someone is referring to the "casual player" who expects to go on every guild raid, despite making no effort to get appropriate gear, skill, gems, enchants, buff foods, and who dies in the fire every. single. time. then yeah, I get that. But then, I have grouped with people who seemed to always be online no matter what time I happened to be logging on... and they were horrible! So being hardcore addicted is obviously not the same thing as being a good player.
On the other hand you have "casual players" who only play a few days per week, and while on vacation. They take up less of the server resources than the "hardcore" guy who plays every waking moment possible. They can be really nice people, helpful, friendly, polite, and fun to play with. They may take longer to gear up, but they don't expect handouts from everyone.
These casual players have jobs, families, and other activities outside WoW. They can afford to buy a character re-customization if the mood strikes, or they get their "Significant Other" wow themed gifts for special occasions (pets, mounts, etc.) thus sending Blizzard money while not taking up huge amounts of resources. These casuals also tend to have authenticators (hey, it comes with a cool pet!), and not do stupid things like buying gold.
If WoW
only
appealed to the most "hardcore" players it would cease to exist, because those dedicated few are not a significant enough portion of the WoW population to keep the game in business.
Obviously making easy modes/hard modes, and offering fun/flavor items for those iiiiiiicky casual players is working for Blizzard.
For those who might say "Let it go out of business then! Just keep the casuals out!" Here's your solution: Pretend Warcraft did end. Delete the game, deactivate your account, and move on. By continuing to play, you are tacitly agreeing that what Blizzard does is working, because they keep you coming back...
Post by
Squishalot
I speculate that the reason that people are complaining is because they are jealous - not of the mount, but that Blizzard has become such a popular game and is no longer the sole province of the original gaming crowd who enjoyed it. It's yet another extension of the "I don't want casuals playing in my sandbox!" argument.
Ironic, because even the non-casual gamers in WoW that I know personally were tossing up buying one. The casuals will probably make a value judgement call and decide that they don't play enough for one to be worth it. The 'hardcore' gamer will realise that they'll get it across all 10 of their characters, on any of their realms, and so actually get *more* value from it.
The people who are complaining about it are the ones cynical of Blizzard's corporate existence and profiteering attitude, make no mistake about it.
Post by
qwertydood
I think its funny to see the difference in comments on that article and the ones on these forums. Just goes to show how WoW players on these forums are so hopelessly sucked into the game they don't realize just how ridiculous what they are doing is.
Just to quote a few...
"O.M.G. Paying real money for a cyber horse? Come on people, get a life! Put that money towards something outdoors. It's no wonder obesity and social disorders are on the rise. Addiction to these online computer games can surely not be healthy. Still, well done Blizzard for the profit."
"A fool and his money is soon parted. Why does it seem like an exponential growth in fools these days. Thats laughable. $25 so nerds can go virtual horseriding on weekends. "
"what an exciting life some people lead........."
"WOW - World of Wallies. What goose pays for an online horsey ride. Get a life you tools. Donate $25 to a poor starving child in Africa."
"Maybe these sad, sad people should spend their cash on buying themselves a real life instead..."
These opinions aren't the minority either. Sorry to burst all your little virtual bubbles.
Post by
Adamsm
Qwerty, kindly shut up, we get you hate the horse, but seriously, your just beating the topic into the ground now.
Post by
qwertydood
Qwerty, kindly shut up, we get you hate the horse, but seriously, your just beating the topic into the ground now.
Just thought I'd bring in some outside opinions free of the grasp of WoW's addictive properties that seem to have taken hold of nearly every last person on this forum.
Perhaps you just need to be more open minded and accept that most people* think its hilarious that people would purchase this.
*"most people", again, is referring to the majority of the population, more specifically, those who don't play WoW
Post by
Adamsm
It's still a bit much man, your last few dozen posts have been about your hatred of this horse.
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