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These girls show off their WoW boxes - Image courtesy Spong

Thousands of fans queue, some in full cosplay mode - Image courtesy Spong
Blizzard releases its highly anticipated WoW expansion and sells out its coveted Collector's Edition

For over eight million World of Warcraft players, the launch of The Burning Crusade expansion set is a monumental event. Gamers around the world queued in front of storefronts to help ensure acquisition of a copy of the game and to be one of the first to play. Game stores and major retailers held midnight launch events so that customers may purchase the game as soon as the date rolls over to release date January 16, 2006.

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is now available at retailers nationwide at a suggested retail price of $39.99. A special Collector's Edition of the expansion is also available, at a suggested retail price of $69.99. This limited-edition package includes the expansion on both CD-ROM and DVD, the Art of The Burning Crusade coffee table book, an exclusive in-game pet, a behind-the-scenes DVD, two Trading Card Game card packs and three exclusive cards, a map of Outland mouse pad, and the official soundtrack CD.

A local Best Buy held a midnight launch event, which saw approximately 300 people about an hour before opening. Customers were informed that everyone in line would be able to purchase a copy, as the store received a total of 2,500 copies. Even with the impressive allocation, the vast majority of people in line were disappointed with the news of only 96 copies of the much sought-after Collector’s Edition.

While the regular edition of The Burning Crusade is still widely available, the Collector’s Edition sold out at most outlets within hours of store opening. Copies of the Collector’s Edition are rapidly cropping up on eBay to take advantage of the limited release. Over 600 listings for the Collector’s Edition are on eBay at time of writing, the average auction closing at around $200.

World of Warcraft fanaticism isn’t limited to just North America – the launch of The Burning Crusade attracted more gamers onto the cold, wet streets of London, England than the Nintendo Wii launch, according to Spong. Nearly 3,000 gamers reportedly attended the launch event at HMV London, with some dedicated fans showing up dressed as their favorite characters from the game.

"The Burning Crusade is the single largest expansion we've ever created, and we're grateful for the support shown by our beta testers and the millions of World of Warcraft players worldwide during its development," said Mike Morhaime, president and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're excited to share all of the new content with players, and we're certain that they'll enjoy the quality and breadth of new experiences that The Burning Crusade offers."

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By AppaYipYip on 1/16/2007 6:28:35 PM , Rating: 2
Am I the only one that thinks this game sucks? I've played many MMO's and find it terribly boring and a major time-suck. Get on with your lives people!




RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 1:58:29 AM , Rating: 3
It sucks, this coming from a guy who has played many a MMO and played EQ1 for 6 years. However, what I think sucks may not be true for someone else. WIth that said, as someone has already mentioned, WoW is all about instant gratification and making you feel like you are making progress at an easy pace. There is no reward and no work. Don't pretend WoW is hard, because I played when it started, got to lvl 30 in a week, and saw lvl 60s after two weeks. At least in EQ1, when you get to lvl 50 finally, it felt like something, mostly because it took many weeks to get there, with diligent play. Even though it's just a game, when you work for something, it feels better, and usually means people that haven't worked as hard aren't as good as you. You actually felt 'special' or accomplished (uber even). It was even harder to get to 55, 60, and 70. Anyway, the point is, is that WoW caters to what most Americans, and apparently most people around the world want, and that is something for nothing. No races for mobs, no camping, no fighting over crap... what's the point if it's all handed to me relatively easy? So yeah, I hate WoW and think the people who play it are usually chumps with nothing better to do. I've been there, done that, and nothing beats just getting together with buddies and heading to the bar/pub or playing some consoles in the living room drinking beer. Why sit in your room and play with people you can see in person? Unless of course you have no friends or they are socially reclusive like you.


RE: ....
By Razlakh on 1/17/2007 11:04:43 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
It was even harder to get to 55, 60, and 70. Anyway, the point is, is that WoW caters to what most Americans, and apparently most people around the world want, and that is something for nothing. No races for mobs, no camping, no fighting over crap... what's the point if it's all handed to me relatively easy?


Those are downsides to MMORPGs, not things you should look for.

quote:
So yeah, I hate WoW and think the people who play it are usually chumps with nothing better to do. I've been there, done that, and nothing beats just getting together with buddies and heading to the bar/pub or playing some consoles in the living room drinking beer. Why sit in your room and play with people you can see in person? Unless of course you have no friends or they are socially reclusive like you.


Unless of course you have both real friends and online friends, and hang out with both. Not like I'm a lazy drunk with other drunk friends. Hey, aren't generalizations great?


RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 3:28:46 PM , Rating: 2
Downsides, no, challenge, yes. If everyone can easily get to 60, everyone can semi easily to high end content. This is fine in WoW I suppose, since you can instance almost anything useful and rarely see a case where you race for a mob. But yeah, I'd rather be a lazy drunk with drunk friends then be lazy in front of a computer, or worse yet, lazy while I wait in line to play I game I PAY for, by my lonely self. I also threw in usually chumps, not always chumps. I have lived the life, but I was in high school. Those pics above show a LOT of people way older then late teens/early twenties, so I know what's wrong with it. Now, with that said, if you want that life, fine. However, get a real game to play that requires effort and dedication. You haven't had a challenge until you have to wait for things to pop, then race to get it, not to mention actually beating the thing. Half the fun of EQ was doing exactly that, having people camp spots with mule characters and then racing to something. But on to the next post!


RE: ....
By novacthall on 1/18/2007 10:43:12 AM , Rating: 2
You should see the blood elf starting area. It's an absolute madhouse. I created a character on a new server because my old ones are overpopulated, but within hours, the need to be ultra-competitive just to get mobs and drops became a questing imperative. Whereas before you could quest in a relative bubble without aggravating anyone, now you're bound to step on more than a few toes just to get at that level 1 mana worm that warlock's gunning for!

My suspicion is that in a few weeks, the level distribution on the servers will calm down a bit (especially with blood elves, which seem to have ballooned the population of the Horde) and things should (read: may) return to normal. People will either abandon their new characters before 40, which is fairly common, or see them through to 60 and start on the end-game content.

Like you, I'm an EQ vet, but I've never quite seen anything like this. I understand that some people saw the leveling mechanics and the camping in EverQuest as an elevated difficulty, but most people I know saw it as a chore. I know I'm not alone in saying that I dreaded every hell level that came my way. What they've tried to do with WoW is create an environment in which the leveling isn't the game. That way, they've opened the game up to being able to focus on other things, such as player interactions, story elements, and unbelievably huge content rollouts that tie into world events (the likes of which I haven't seen since Microsoft destroyed the world in the Asheron's Call beta).

To that effect, I'm of the impression they've done quite well.


RE: ....
By DrKlahn on 1/17/2007 11:34:15 AM , Rating: 2
It's very obvious that you saw leveling in WoW as the challenge and not the content. Which is a big mistake. The game (pre expansion) began at 60 not ended. The majority of EQ players I talk with feel the opposite about the 2 games. They felt the grind in EQ was needlessly painful. WoW can cater to the casual player who wants to simply level their toon and complete quests. It can cater to the hardcore PvP player. And the high end instances provide enough challenge to keep players busy for months at a time. Sorry you didn't like WoW. I respect your opinion. To bad you don't have enough respect for the 8 million people who play the game to not call all of us friendless chumps.


RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 3:34:51 PM , Rating: 2
There is one point to an MMO, besides the ability to play with others online, and that is getting to the high end and being the best (well, as best as you could be I guess). The end game, so to speak. Now, if there are 5 thousand on a server, and 4 thousand of them are 60, how is that fun? Who applied effort? Or, was it handed to them? 4 thousand can now do the instances they want, when they want, and get the rewards they want, in due time. So maybe you can explain to me why that is a good waste of time and why, if noone is really that much better then anyone else, you would want to keep playing?


RE: ....
By Aikouka on 1/17/2007 3:43:56 PM , Rating: 2
Well, there may be a bunch of 60's, but give me ample time and I can easily weed away a lot of the bad-I-don't-know-how-to-play-because-I-got-power-le veled 60's away and you'll find the numbers a lot nicer.

I remember back in the day... very little would people ask stupid questions like, "Where's Mankirk's Wife?" (Barrens joke) or where's something that I'm too dumb to read where the quest tells me it is. But while playing Burning Crusade, all of those sucky people who can't read a quest log are now flooding the channel asking the dumbest questions because they need someone to hold their hand.


RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 4:06:54 PM , Rating: 2
I know what you mean. But, I'm assuming those players needing to hold their hand are lvl 60? That's my problem with WoW, you shouldn't be able to get to 60, unless they bought their character or something, and be asking dumb questions. In EQ, for the first 3 or 4 years, those who asked those questions, were no where near 50 or 60. Oh well, as long as you and your guild aren't dumb and are having fun.


RE: ....
By Houdani on 1/17/2007 11:42:25 AM , Rating: 2
Awe, c'mon now. Don't be calling other folks chumps for playing WoW ... particularly after admitting a six year affair with EQ1.


RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 3:39:56 PM , Rating: 2
I said usually chumps, and didn't say I wasn't a chump for 6 years on EQ, of which I pretty much was. :-p This is always fun for me, because I spent my high school years and beginning college years on EQ, and spent time at WoW, so I know how to get to WoW players. I did sales at Frys for awhile, and I was the only one who didn't play WoW, but always found a way to piss everyone off because it seemed easy to push their buttons. By the replies I am getting, it's easy on the internet as well.


RE: ....
By mcmoo on 1/17/2007 11:53:45 AM , Rating: 2
Whoa, where does one even start? From my experience in EQ and WOW, you totally seemed to contradict yourself. I wouldn't call someone a social recluse for playing WOW considering that out of the two games, it seemed like EQ required a lot more of a time investment to acquire the next level, item, etc. versus something in WOW. Like you said, WOW is definately scaled down to level pretty simply through step-by-step quests/zones and all can be done individually. I bailed on EQ because I disliked the races for mobs, the camping, fighting over a single spawn point ... plus, it's easier to play WOW for only a few hours and still have enough time to go out with friends to the local pub for a drink or ten.
But personally, I enjoy WOW because a few of my friends also play and it's just fun enjoying something together and the game itself is pretty well done ... as expected from a Blizzard product.


RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 3:47:55 PM , Rating: 2
Thank you for a put together reply. But I was a social recluse in a small town during my high school days, the people in those pics seem to look well into their 20s and 30s. I have been there and done that, but I never saw the point in WoW. You are right, EQ took a lot of time, camping, racing, fighting over mobs etc... but that was more then half the fun. People dropped the game who couldn't take it, which left a much smaller base of last level characters during most of my time playing. That is, it took a lot of effort, not just in time, but patience to get there. It was worked for, not given to you. Ultimately, I dont see why you'd play an MMO when everything, compared to EQ, is handed to you. You are correct and it takes less time to give you more time to go out. But you also prove my point, why play an MMO if you and your friends have no chance to be better then everyone else? Oh well, I guess I'm just like an old man saying "well back in my day..!", who thinks life is to easy now a days. Only this refers to MMOs, not real life. :-p


RE: ....
By rushfan2006 on 1/17/2007 12:06:03 PM , Rating: 2
I love this post...this stuff makes me laugh my ass off when people sound so bitter at what other people like..lol.

If you don't like what people are doing and you think it is illegal, immoral or hurtful to others THEN ranting on about how people are chumps or losers for what they do is one thing. However if what you are ranting about and calling people chumps for is just innocent, minding their own business, what they do with their time -- fun....that its just stupid beyond reckoning.

For me, for example...I think drinking is stupid, pointless and a silly waste of money -- but yet many friends I know and family enjoy getting together to go out to drink. I don't slam them for it (I would if they were irresponsible drinkers though...but that's different).

As for your implications of trying to childishly sound "uber" (I remember EQ..blah blah blah...Wow is so easy...blah blah blah)....

First I have to say DUH!..Hell in the 2 YEARS *BEFORE* the game was released in article and article of interviews with blizz about the game they said up front they are looking for a game that CATERS TO THE MASSES. It's easier to level in WoW than other games...BECAUSE THAT IS BY DESIGN..its ON PURPOSE!!

And save the uberness stuff about how hard prior games you played were....you are calling other people chumps for enjoying a game and not bother you...but yet you carry on about how the game is easy......I don't know about you but you sound more bothered and "geeky/nerdy" than the folks who merely enjoy WoW and don't bother anyone. Because who after all brags about their "uberness" IRL, regarding a computer game? Outside of joking with your friends that play ...of course.

Finally I've played games for 20 years....remember SSI? Those were thinker games...real strategy....ever play Civ? RPG Genre -- Might and Magic, Wizardy, Bard's Tale....I think all those games in one form or another offered more individual challenge that any current MMORPG (even your precious EQ)...so what's your point?

I play WoW because I truly enjoy the game.

As for challenge -- isn't the real challenge of any MMORP really just a timesink investment? It takes a while to get the pvp rewards...it takes some effort to get the better instances down...BWL, Naxx anyone? So no I don't think you feel like stuff is "handed" to you.

Of course...I'm only a casual player, I guess if you play 40 hours a week it might be a different vibe.


RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 4:00:04 PM , Rating: 2
Well, I am not IRL right now, and I am talking to people who obviously play WoW or other MMOs, so yes, you just attacked me and gave me the response to defend myself. Thanks. Sounds to me like you are a bitter WoW player who doesn't like getting told you didn't work for what you have, just like all the WoW players I meet in person. They all react like you and claim WoW is a challenge and is hard or some other such nonsense. You are the guy/girl who makes it fun to go after all the WoW players. And DUH!, I KNOW it's by design, and therefore why I am IMPLYING that the MASSES are IMPATIENT and want SATISFACTION from a game ASAP. Yeah, I played all of those SSI games, in fact, I have an old computer with my old voodoo 2 sli in it, DOS, Win95 etc. etc. just to play old DOS and Glide games. And no, they didn't require half the patience or time of EQ, which makes me a loser at the time on one hand, but someone who can argue the point on the other. I have no qualms about saying playing EQ so much for 6 years was stupid and lauging about it. To answer you last question, yes, the real challenge of any MMORPG is a timesink... of which there is very little realtive timesink in WoW, thanks for making my point.


RE: ....
By rushfan2006 on 1/17/2007 4:23:40 PM , Rating: 2
Words can't describe how silly you sound, reading your reply to my first post and then your other replies.

I'm not a bitter WoW player. That in and of itself is making my point about you..and you can't even realise it...which is all the fun for me...LOL.

Why would someone play a game that makes them bitter? Either IRL or while playing it -- that just makes no logical sense to me.

I reply to a lot of posts on a variety of subjects, based on my feelings -- because I'm a very outspoken and opiionated person. A lot of times this makes people get mad or whatever. But I believe 100% in being truthful and expressing yourself. I'm the person that is a sucker to reply to something I think is wrong, low or just simply untrue.

It's how I'm made...so no you didn't get to me regarding me being so hung up on WoW persay....but your arrogant, judgemental nonesense - I view as off the wall..regardless what subject we are talking about.

This thread could have been about the car I like to drive and then you could have said "what a chump for liking that car, I drive (insert car here) now...that's a real car"....

Basically I think your an idiot, with nothing better to do to be an ass to folks.




RE: ....
By novacthall on 1/17/2007 10:09:17 AM , Rating: 2
Most likely not. And, as your opinion, you're certainly entitled to it.

The game's not for everyone. It doesn't have to be for you. You won't hurt any feelings either way.


RE: ....
By Lakku on 1/17/2007 4:02:10 PM , Rating: 2
Apparently, I did hurt feelings. :-p


RE: ....
By novacthall on 1/18/2007 10:45:08 AM , Rating: 3
So I've noticed! Oh well.


most expensive mmo expansion i've ever bought.
By noxipoo on 1/16/2007 4:13:15 PM , Rating: 2
milk that cow! on a side note, EBGames sucks, they wouldn't sell to people that didn't preorder at their midnight openings here. why else open at midnight? just went to target and bought it there.




RE: most expensive mmo expansion i've ever bought.
By Frank M on 1/16/2007 4:20:13 PM , Rating: 4
I don't understand how gamers are willing to pay $40 or $70 for an expansion, only to be charged a relatively high monthly fee on top of that.

I tried the MMORPG scene once, with D&D online. I paid $50 for the game, and then $18 per month. On top of this, for the first two months (I stopped after that), the game was extremely buggy, so I was basically paying them to be a beta tester for 2 months.

No more subscription-only games for me.


RE: most expensive mmo expansion i've ever bought.
By Homerboy on 1/16/2007 4:22:36 PM , Rating: 2
agreed
if anything make the game itself FREE and the monthly fees the income. Why would I even GAMBLE with a MMORPG at $50 shelf price then $15+ per month. What if I don't like the game? Then the $50 I paid is useless to me as it has no stand alone.

SHEEEPLE


RE: most expensive mmo expansion i've ever bought.
By MrSmurf on 1/16/2007 4:27:23 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I don't understand how gamers are willing to pay $40 or $70 for an expansion, only to be charged a relatively high monthly fee on top of that.


Millions of people beg to differ. My guess would be because they enjoy the game so much.

quote:
Why would I even GAMBLE with a MMORPG at $50 shelf price then $15+ per month


Gamble? People know what to expect when they purchase WoW. Besides there were demos when it first launched and now they actually allow you to download the game with a free trial.


By KristopherKubicki (blog) on 1/16/2007 4:56:24 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
People know what to expect when they purchase WoW.


Yes we do!
http://dailytech.com/The+World+of+Waitcraft+How+Ma...


By Sulphademus on 1/17/2007 10:39:58 AM , Rating: 2
Move to a different server. I have never had to wait to get onto my realm.

Also if $50 + $15monthly is too much for you, then don't play it. In the past year I've averaged 10 hours of play time for each dollar spent. Compare that to the classic 40 hour RPG which costs $50.

(And if Guild Wars is more your thing, I won't be stopping you.)


RE: most expensive mmo expansion i've ever bought.
By bollwerk on 1/16/2007 4:29:59 PM , Rating: 3
I'm not sure why people don't understand how the pricing, etc. on MMORPGs work. It's not like they are a new thing. The "up front" $50 or so is for the initial game development. The monthly fees are for server, database, etc. maintenance and ISP costs. Remember that there is a persistent world you are connecting to. It's not like Joe Schmo is hosting his own BF2 server here. Not trying to flame here, just pointing out basic business and economics.


By h0kiez on 1/16/2007 4:39:16 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
The monthly fees are for server, database, etc. maintenance and ISP costs.


You're forgetting the most important portion: profit. At 8 million users paying roughly $10 a month, that's $80M in revenue every month. I think I remember hearing blizzard admit that over 1/2 of their monthly revenue was pure profit. If that's the case, then $40 million a month in straight profit is quite a cash cow. WoW makes more in a month than most games do in their lifespan.


By mpc7488 on 1/16/2007 6:13:45 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
'm not sure why people don't understand how the pricing, etc. on MMORPGs work. It's not like they are a new thing. The "up front" $50 or so is for the initial game development. The monthly fees are for server, database, etc. maintenance and ISP costs. Remember that there is a persistent world you are connecting to. It's not like Joe Schmo is hosting his own BF2 server here. Not trying to flame here, just pointing out basic business and economics.


I'm not knocking owners and subscribers, it is a fun game and $15/month isn't a "lot" of money. However, it's also a basic matter to figure out that Blizzard is making a killing. Upfront: 8 million * 50 = 400 million dollars. I've seen WoW development costs quoted from a few sources at just over 40 million. To be fair, don't forget the deployment and marketing costs either, let's say that's another $20 million. This still leaves a difference of $340 million dollars. Add to that (as mentioned) another ~80 million every *month* (just shy of a Billion dollars per year) for sustaining costs, which I suspect are far, far below that number, and it's no wonder every company in the world is trying to churn out a MMORPG.


By Frank M on 1/16/2007 6:50:59 PM , Rating: 2
Oh, I understand the motivation on the developer's side, although I don't know that it divides up that easily. I don't understand the motivation on the player's side.


RE: most expensive mmo expansion i've ever bought.
By ninjit on 1/16/2007 4:42:21 PM , Rating: 2
I used to feel the exact same way. But then I found WoW for $10 and figured I'd give it a try, since it comes with 30 day of play time.

Needless to say, I don't intend to continue my subscription at all... because I don't like the game... I LOVE it, but I would rather keep my life intact - it's that addictive.

The game is phenomenal, they really did an amazing job, and when you think of it in terms of hours of entertainment, I would rather pay $15/month for WoW, then $15 for 2 movie tickets that could definitely be hit or miss (i've seen some movies for which I've certainly wanted my money back afterwards).

Your argument about losing $50 if you don't like the game is silly, because that could apply to ANY $50 game you buy, single-player or MMORPG.
Which is why you should read reviews and talk to friends first before buying anything.

Personally I won't pay that much for any game, let alone an expansion, I'll wait for Burning Crusade to drop in price considerably before giving it a go (like i did with WoW itself).

I don't know how the expansion works, but with the original WoW the game IS free, because you get 30 days of play time with it.

Basically both your arguments are false, and don't knock something until you've tried it - but if you're the kinda person who gets hooked on something easily, then I'd actually recommend staying away, it really is online crack.

I just hope Blizzard continues to make RTS games as well, as that's my favourite genre - Starcraft and WC3 being my favourite games ever.


By VooDooAddict on 1/16/2007 5:35:10 PM , Rating: 2
[q]...with the original WoW the game IS free, because you get 30 days of play time with it.[/q]

Quite true. There's also a completely Free 10 Day Trial widely available.

There was this discussion back with EQ1, too. (And I'd imagine also with Ultima Online.) There are plenty of people that justify entertainment purchases based on ...

"If I spend this money on X, will I get as much enjoyment as if I spend this money on Y?"

Using this measure, many people who have played WoW feel it's worth the $$.

Compared with something else around $15 a month ... NetFlix. WoW offers quite a bit of entertainment time.

Others will see it as Base cost + $15 a month to play WoW vs Base Cost + $0 a month for CounterStrike.

It's a quality game no matter how you slice it ... if it's not your thing fine ... but WoW is quality gaming.


By novacthall on 1/17/2007 10:06:17 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
"If I spend this money on X, will I get as much enjoyment as if I spend this money on Y?"

Using this measure, many people who have played WoW feel it's worth the $$.

Excellent example. To use myself as validation, I pay for two accounts: one for myself and one for my fiancé. The monthly cost of each of those accounts is $12.99 per month, totaling about $26 per month. We play almost nightly, together, usually for a couple hours.

Over time it's become a sort of "date" for us. That's not to say we don't still do out on weekends and do normal "couple things", but during the week we can log on and play together. After all, the family that plays together, stays together.

So suppose we log on 20 days in one month (a low estimate). My effective date cost is $26/20=$1.30 per date. That's more than reasonable in my book, and the money goes towards something that's continually improving, quite unlike Hollywood.


By novacthall on 1/17/2007 9:54:14 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Why would I even GAMBLE with a MMORPG at $50 shelf price then $15+ per month. What if I don't like the game?

If you know anyone who plays World of Warcraft, they could give you a guest pass, which basically gives you ten days to play the game without pay as an introduction to the world. Delivery of the game is digital, so you don't even have to get out of your computer chair.

In the extremely unlikely event that you do not, in fact, know any of the 8 million plus people who play World of Warcraft, Blizzard also offers a free download on their website that enables the 10-day trial. Ideally, in ten days, you should be able to decide if you love it or hate it. The drawback is that you would not be giving a friend of yours a free month of play for the referral.

So the bottom line is that if you don't like the game, you don't have to pay for it, at all, ever. There is no gamble.

If after the trial you decide that you do like the game and would be open to paying for it, there are subscription plans that lower the price to as little as US$12.99 per month.

Additionally, beyond World of Warcraft, your options are not limited. If you're not a fan of the subscription model at all, I would recommend looking into the "Guild Wars" game and its expansions. You pay for it at the store, but online play is entirely free.


By SniperWulf on 1/17/2007 9:57:37 AM , Rating: 2
pfft...

It's not about "SHEEPLE"... If you don't care for subscription games, then simply don't buy or try them. No need to rag on others that do.

As a side note, the way I see it, playing WoW is actually saving me money. How you say? Well compare $15/mo to 2 or 3 titles at $40 to $50 each per month.... well, you do the math


By Aeonic on 1/17/2007 12:44:06 PM , Rating: 2
Don't take this as a flame, but you basically bought a YUGO and have sworn off cars because it sucked :)

You do have a point about the cost (the time you put in is the true cost though), and there are downsides to a subscription based game. But comparing Turbine and Blizzard is like comparing apples and oranges. Not that Blizzard is so good really, but that Turbine was that bad.



By Samus on 1/17/2007 9:01:13 AM , Rating: 2
word of wisdom. don't shop at eb/gamestop


WOW
By thepinkpanther on 1/16/2007 5:07:08 PM , Rating: 2
my principel is never to pay monthly payments to games. And its fairly easy.

I can really not understand why people do it.

Lets see I played zero hour roughly 2 years...if that was warcraft it would be.

17-20 dollars a month (I live in denmark, where its closer to 17-20 dollars a month if you calculate it to dollars from our curency..

24 * 18 dollars thats 432 dollars...lol plus the game cost of 50-60 dollars...thats roughly 500 dollars.

Well I bought Generals and expansion zero hour instead for 90 dollars....gee guess I saved 410 dollars....lol

Has now played company of heroes for 6 months including beta and is surely continueing when expansion comes.

I really dont see the reason why they charge people that much money. plus Relic which makes Company of heroes have a really kick ass support..4 patches in 4 months..voila..

and to top it of. the graphics in WOW looks like the millenium has not happend..




RE: WOW
By UsernameX on 1/16/2007 6:09:33 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
I can really not understand why people do it.


Because it caters to their gaming tastes. You like RTS games... great! They like MMORPGS, it's as simple as that.

quote:
I really dont see the reason why they charge people that much money. plus Relic which makes Company of heroes have a really kick ass support..4 patches in 4 months..voila..


Well this has been discussed already; because there is on going labor involved with this type of game. If they made the game completely free they would lose money... so they have to charge money. Now that's not to say that every dollar spent on their monthly fee goes to their labor and support, because it doesn't. However, they do need to make money not just break even. And even though 1/2 of their revenue is pure profit... they deserve it obviously. The game is amazing... and 8 million other people find it worth paying 15 bucks a month. (or 20 depending on your location)

Secondly Blizzard's support is top notch as well. Blizzard, as far as I know, has the best customer service out of any other game that I have played. Can anyone else attest to this?

For the record I used to play WoW, but I had to stop because it was interfering with my life. (It's so good you have to be careful how you spend your time with this game.)


RE: WOW
By FITCamaro on 1/16/2007 7:20:53 PM , Rating: 2
I lasted 3 months in WoW (and didn't find it terribly interesting even at the beginning) and had to quit. It was the most boring MMO save one I've ever played. Kill stuff, get gear, do a dungeon, repeat. No story.

The only reason people like it is because its easy and doesn't make you think. It's all about instant gratification and keeping those 12 year olds happy. Not to mention that half of WoW's player base is in China to fuel the selling of ingame currency.

Play a real game.


RE: WOW
By mushi799 on 1/17/2007 12:04:33 AM , Rating: 2
You played a MMO for the storyline?...wrong reason. Plus you didnt mention PvP. It's one of the biggest draw for WoW players.


RE: WOW
By slacker57 on 1/17/2007 12:39:05 PM , Rating: 2
Why would playing an MMO for a story be the wrong reason? I'm pretty sure quite a few people have some interest in the story. You can PvP in a lot of different games, so if you have no interest in the story, why would you play any one game over the other? Why would someone play SWG over EQ? Probably because they're engrossed in the Star Wars story. (although does anybody actually play SWG?) Remember, these are MMORPGs. The RPG stands for "Role-playing Game." How can you play a role if you don't care about the story?

I've never played WoW, but I can only assume they hired some writers to write some story for it. I mean, obviously, there are people that just want to go in and kill stuff and PvP and whatever, but to castigate somebody for playing for the storyline seems close-minded and more than a little obtuse.


RE: WOW
By Aikouka on 1/17/2007 3:13:47 PM , Rating: 2
I pretty much agree with you here. I'm one of those "lore nuts" when it comes to WoW (although I don't do things like write huge posts about how one little tiny thing goes against the lore). To help clarify a couple things about it (since you haven't played Warcraft) is that the Warcraft games have all followed the same story, but each game builds upon it. World of Warcraft (and now the expansion) is the latest game in the series and expands upon that lore even further. My brother is the antithesis of me when it comes to lore. I'll prod him asking, "Do you even know why that's there?" or something along those lines and of course he has no idea. I mean... how does the game even make sense to anyone without knowing the story (or at least some of it)! I knew it was bad when he asked me who the horned guy was in the Burning Crusade opening :/.

Burning Crusade has been fairly nifty so far though. I've been able to meet Danath Trollbane (last heir of the Lothar line) and Archmage Khadgar (most powerful Azerothian mage once Medivh was killed). Based on city names, I should also get the chance to meet Alleria Windrunner (Sylvanas' older sister and also a high elf ranger) and Falstad Wildhammer (leader of the Wildhammer Dwarves of Aerie Peak), which should prove to be interesting as these four have been "immortalized" in the WoW world as you can see their statues while entering Stormwind (they're listed as missing as no one knew what happened to them once they said they were staying behind to ensure the Dark Portal's destruction on Draenor).


RE: WOW
By rushfan2006 on 1/17/2007 12:18:02 PM , Rating: 2
Actually I rarely read all the quest stories myself...and don't keep up with the lore...I just play..LOL...however I had to reply to your post because its contradictory to what some in my guild feel. There are some folks in my guild who are way into the lore (story) of the entire Warcraft universe and they'll tell you if you ask where this boss came from, what's the history of that instance and etc. Supposedly they tell me I should read the quests more -- its quite interesting. Aside from that...there is a storyline framework....its just if you take your time to involve yourself with it. Like I said I'm more of the "just play" guy...I like killing shit...and pvp and questing...I don't really read into the stuff too much.

As for play a real game....buy a real car? get a real house? oh and get a real job?

My point? Simply that such things are relative to one's own perspective. Games you play that you'd rave about, I might well say "Play a real game" to that.

Value is different to us all. If you enjoy a game, and the fun it provides...then by all accounts to YOU at least...it is very much a "real" game.



Regarding the booth-babes...
By ninjit on 1/16/2007 4:46:03 PM , Rating: 3
I'd like to WoW their boxes!


...sorry couldn't resist ;)




RE: Regarding the booth-babes...
By walk2k on 1/16/2007 5:40:55 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah all the young hotties all play WoW! As if.


By rushfan2006 on 1/17/2007 12:21:25 PM , Rating: 2
LOL..well I'm not gonna pretend on the amount of "hotties" in the game...or even suggest the amount of females that play....but I know for fact that at least two adult (both married and their husbands play) women who are extremely attractive play....they are in my guild..lol.



CE $200?
By darkpaw on 1/17/2007 1:16:22 PM , Rating: 1
Damn... wish I woulda sold mine on ebay and just bought another regular edition.

Too late now.

I was someone that said I'd never pay for a monthly subscription based game too, until I started playing EQ. $15/month is a lot cheaper then $40-50 every two weeks for whatever the newest 10-30 hour game is.





RE: CE $200?
By Aborted on 1/17/2007 4:38:44 PM , Rating: 2
In regards to Lakku. I read Daily Tech every single day at work, every single post. For 3 straight months now. And I never wanted to create an acount and didn't until this moment. In all my time browsing the mindless banter in article response you sir take the care for being the biggest ***hat to ever post. You completely contradict yourself from start to finish and boasting about how incredible your IRL life is, that's something that only the most nerdy of players do. It happens on wow from time to time, and these are players we usually end up having to guild kick because they can't understand playing on a team.

First of all, saying wow isnt challenging is rediculous. The game starts at 60, anyone who has played end game content will tell you exactly that. I played 16h a day for 6 straight months and I've still never been to Naxx the last instance and hardest one created for wow pre-burning crusade. There are about 25 guilds in the world who have completed naxx and downed Kel Thuzad the boss. So 25 groups of 40 people in the entire world have killed this boss. That's 1000 people. In a game that has 8000000 players and only 1000 people have killed this boss. It's retarded to say the game isnt hard, that's a more exclusive demographic then anything ever was in EQ. True end game content like Onyxia/MC/AQ20/AQ40/BWL/Naxx is incredibly exclusive and challenging. It requires months of practice to kill the boss in each of these instances and a dedicated group of 20 or 40 players all part of the same guild and usually communicating verbally via a voip program like ventrilo.

EQ is the ultimate grind fest. You grind and wait and wait to reach 70. And then end game content some instanced bosses have you fighting for 16 straight hours to kill. So a lot of guilds would have 2 shifts of 8 hours each. So yeah, you're arguement is completely broken. Before you start bashing my lack of life, I've got a great full time job selling computers now, I'm 21 years old. Just got out of a 2 year relationship a couple months. I'm a college student, and I have my own apartment. So as far as you trying to tell me I'm pathetic or don't have a life or something childish like that. Think it through.

End Rant.


RE: CE $200?
By Aikouka on 1/18/2007 8:29:24 AM , Rating: 2
Eh, this is really your opinion, so I'll give you mine. I've been a WoW player since the day it came out and I think most people can and will agree that end-game PVE (what you mention as the "real game") is one of the most boring tasks you can uptake. I started MC before BWL came out and it was kind of fun in the beginning. But then, you begin to realize that everything is the same and you just kill the same bosses each week for loot hoping it's the one you want.

The game doesn't really begin at 60... it becomes mundane at 60.

Also, Naxxramas progression was soured by the impending release the Burning Crusade. I know a couple guilds on my server that if they kept progressing, they most likely would've beat Kel'Thuzad, but a lot of people simply gave up, because of either the new PVP system, the Burning Crusade coming out soon or both. So now, only one guild on the server has ever killed Kel'Thuzad and it will probably stay that way.

I haven't been to the new instances yet, but I've watched people who have and it seems they're a bit shorter than they used to be, which is nice. Instances in WoW were always too long and that caused issues with some players (having to leave, etc).


stupid people
By mobutu on 1/17/2007 3:46:15 AM , Rating: 2
This is only possible because there are too many stupid people in the world ... in this case we're talking about ~ 8 million ...




RE: stupid people
By anonymo on 1/17/2007 7:21:17 AM , Rating: 2
They only make up only a fraction of the stupid people in the world. WoW is crack in computer form. Sure crack is lots of fun, but it's stupid.


well...
By teng029 on 1/17/2007 12:18:10 AM , Rating: 2
i'm glad i never got into this game. 40 bucks is a little steep for an expansion.




Got mine...
By Aikouka on 1/17/2007 8:16:16 AM , Rating: 2
I actually was able to pick up a Collector's Edition of WoW (two to be exact... for two accounts, not eBay :P). I know I originally expected to just be able to walk into EB Games or wherever and purchase the Collector's Edition, because you can almost always do that for the XBOX 360 games and such... but whoo was I wrong. A month or two ago, I was in EB Games and I asked about pre-ordering the Collector's Edition and they said they were sold out. I was a bit surprised about that, but it seems Blizzard's idea of a Collector's Edition is more accurate where other "Collector's Editions" that I buy are more like Limited Editions :P.

Oh and I think the CE was worth it overall. I mean $30 over the regular edition is a bit high for some, but just looking at the art book lets you know that you got a good deal. I mean, that thing's about 150 pages and hardcover to boot! Most of the "art books" I get with my 360 games are puny (they gotta fit in the case) and don't have much to them.




By paydirt on 1/17/2007 9:25:52 AM , Rating: 2
There are many more casual gamers than there are hardcore gamers, so it makes sense that a casual or "easy" game like WoW is so popular.

I find it ironic that Vanguard is coming out and touting themselves as a 3rd generation MMO, but it clearly has not learned the lessons of Warcraft. Vanguard is intentionally much harder, just like Everquest. Most gamers, and casual gamers are in the majority, do not like it as hard as Everquest. So there is no surprise that WoW is so popular.

I think it's great that WoW has helped bring more casual gamers to RPGs as opposed to other genres, but I like RPGs so I'm a little biased there. :)




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