I wouldn't pay to level up in any game, and I wouldn't pay a monthly sub to keep playing a game. I really don't know how this ever caught on; I just don't get it. "Buy this game. And - isn't this great? - every month thereafter you get to pay us again in order to play it!"

I wouldn't pay that much for a 90. It's too easy with heirlooms to get there, so I really don't think its worth $60.

Do you also complain about having to pay the phone/internet bill?
"I bought a phone and - isn't this great? - every month thereafter I have to pay again to talk to people!"
"I bought a computer and - isn't this great? - every month thereafter I have to pay again to download things!"

Some "tech blogs" were bitching about how SMS is totally a ripoff because the messages themselves are just a rider on a cell ping. Yes, obviously. Except the part where installing a tower on a nondescript building can pay all the taxes, fees, utility bills and bribes on that building forever (sauce: my contact in the Foreign Property Management Office).

Infrastructure costs money.

This is what's called a dick move. Blizzard knows that experienced players do want to skip the grind to level up additional chars and put the feature behind a huge paywall. It's ridiculous.

They'll have their PR out soon enough to try and explain "why?", in an attempt to bullshit players. Hopefully, their player base will riot and they will make it free as long as some conditions are met.

LoL @ the dude with the "infrastructure costs money". Players already pay to 1) get access to the current expansion 2) get monthly access to play the game. "infrastructure" is already paid for. Unless you can provide proof of heightened TCO because of that feature. 60 fuckin' dollars to operate changes in a database by an automated system?! Are you serious?!

While I love warcraft, have steered clear from WOW. Never liked MMORPGs since they tread the fine line between turning a hobby into an obsession.

you don't pay to finish the game. you pay to start the game.

for people who don't play MMO it is pretty weird idea to pay to skip the game. yet it is not for us who would consider levelling up a game.
questing, xp grinding is not fun. what matters is endgame content, raids and shit like that. If you want to have fun with that you need 90level character. so you either grind for dozen of hours or pay 60 bucks.

i don't get it myself. yet people like that. they spend hundreds of hours with their maxed level character. but getting to max level is not fun for them.

True, yet a good number of MMOs already work on a free-to-play model. And a good number of F2P models in MMOs is actually relatively fair - obviously, you won't get the advantages of paying members, but devs can't afford to drive people playing for free off, so fairness is a must. Besides, comparing internet connection and phone, which you usually need to even have a job, to a computer game, which is obviously just entertainment and luxury, is quite simply a very bad comparison.

So yeah, as much as I liked TES Online, I won't be getting that or any other subscription-based MMO. I don't think the model works all that well anymore.

its only 15 bucks for sub. seeing how many hours people put into the game playing wow is one of the cheapest entertainments out there.
your total cost per year is
15*12=330
game: 30 bucks (assuming an expansion every 2 years for sixty bucks)
so 360 bucks a year
seems to be a lot for a video game. even if you assume only 10 hours per week thats 520 hours in a year on average spend on the game.
cost to play for one hour is: 69 cents
...
compared to:
going to see a movie. 2 hours. min. cost is what. 5 bucks? so you pay 3.6 times more for the entertainment. add to this parking, overpriced cola and popcorn, charging extra for 3d movie...


playing wow is cheaper than going to the movies. Analyze your expenditure on entertainment. You will see that you are spending more money per hour than regular people who play wow.

MMO might not be something you like. I don't for example. I don't see appeal myself. Yet you shouldn't be surprised that people pay to play it as it really is not expensive.

Wohooo, for $60 I can feel u-b-e-r... maybe for $120 I can run around with a T-shirt that reads "I am GOD".

Good times, good times...

looks like desperation tactics to leech as much cash out of WOW while they still can

It hasn't stopped them so far. Prices like that have actually been going on for quite a while and are pretty much the norm for the free-to-play casual mobile market. Dungeon Keeper just got a lot of publicity thanks to it being a bastardisation of a beloved franchise.

Most of that market seems to survive on catching a few players willing to spend thousands of dollars.

$5?!? Maybe twenty years ago... It's hitting $18.50 here. Add another $12 or so if you want a single drink and a single piece of food.

That's already a reason some people stay at home to watch a movie, or sneak in drinks and candy.
Also with wow you are stuck to it the whole year. You go to a movie when you want to (which probably isnt every month). Plus it's different entertainment. So not sure about comparing that.

Your problem is easily solved: do not, I repeat, DO NOT use the insta-level 90 button!

There, I told you it was easy.

Thanks for the advice ;)