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World of Warcraft to eventually go free-to-play?

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DVDBack23 @ Jul 02, 2010 18:19 | 19 comments

World of Warcraft lead designer Tom Chilton has suggested this week that Blizzard may eventually move the extremely popular game to a free-to-play model.

Says Chilton: "At some point, it may not make sense for us to have a subscription fee."

That being said, the developer was quick to note that his suggestion was on a very long time frame, if it was to happen at all. "We’re not spending a lot of time thinking about it. It’s not something that’s a reality for us in the near future."

Other major MMO games such as The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online have recently moved to a free-to-play model, choosing to make money off weapon and clothing upgrades for characters as well as other digital items.

When asked about their movies, Chilton responded: "I feel like they’re doing that to compete with other games that are on a similar subscriber level to what they were at. I imagine that when one of them went free to play it cannibalised some of the other subscribers. I can definitely imagine that being the case with World of Warcraft. If another game comes along and blows us away it may not make sense for us to have a subscription fee. Or even further down the line, when we have another MMO out."

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Comments

Comment by: Mysttic (Jul 02, 2010 19:10)

If it were free to play I'd have an account; hell I'd buy the game as long as they get rid of subscriptions. Until then I am satisfied with my D&D account.

Comment by: scorpNZ (Jul 02, 2010 19:24)

Sounds like players are moving to other games,still would be interesting to see what would happen in regards to revenue & whether there would be a loss or a gain,only thing i don't like about subs is it forces you to pay for a whole year,not exactly user pays since you pay even if your not online or game seldom online,i don't know why these wally's & others don't trial a prepay system & see how it goes it works for isp's tho support is limited etc since it is prepay & not subs however you now have a larger user base than you would've otherwise,they could even limit amount of hours your allowed to play each month or something,doesn't take a genius

Comment by: Frogfart (Jul 02, 2010 22:20)

Never subscribed to this form of rip off and never will. My preference would lean towards buying a wonky iPhone before the recall and sell it later as an original wonky iPhone. People who subscribe to this type of game play don't have real lives or balls. WOW PEOPLE HAVE TOO MUCH $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Comment by: ntense69 (Jul 03, 2010 04:24)

i wouldn't pay to play online on a pc game on a 360 or ps3 i see it

Comment by: cart0181 (Jul 03, 2010 04:43)

Originally posted by ntense69:
i wouldn't pay to play online on a pc game on a 360 or ps3 i see it

That's weird. I think the opposite, since PC games are on a superior platform. All else being equal, that is. Oh, and I don't play WOW.

Comment by: ps3lvanub (Jul 03, 2010 10:30)

Originally posted by cart0181:

Originally posted by ntense69:
i wouldn't pay to play online on a pc game on a 360 or ps3 i see it
That's weird. I think the opposite, since PC games are on a superior platform. All else being equal, that is. Oh, and I don't play WOW.

I have to disagree and agree with you there. I agree because seen as PC's are upgradable the technology can perpetually increase and therfore so can the graphics and audio of the games but I disagree because in my eyes the new generation of games consoles always surpass PC's at least for a while until PC's catch them back up and surpass the consoles' tech once again. Plus on a console there is no issue with performance, compatability and lag issues and almost everyone can afford one.

WoW is a total ripoff seen as if you work it out from the 60 day subscription cards it is more expensive than XBL payed in 1-year advances.

Comment by: KillerBug (Jul 03, 2010 14:07)

All platforms have weaknesses; PCs have cheaters and consoles don't have mice (at least not while playing games).

The price of WoW is much more severe than the service fee...WoW is a leading cause of diabetes among geeks. It ruins relationships too...not that the average WoW player can get a girlfriend to begin with.

Comment by: ps3lvanub (Jul 03, 2010 14:32)

I totally agree. I once stumbled across a serious website for mothers and partners of people who have gotten into WoW. Bit off topic are are those mouse things for the 360 and PS3 any good?

OMG! COD6 TENTH HACK WITHOUT JTAG!

Comment by: Mysttic (Jul 03, 2010 15:03)

Come Nov. It'll be 6 years since its release; that's a long time to carry out any MMO, I would say you'd think they start thinking about canning it altogether if it wasn't for the fact the addicts feed their coffers. I know Blizzard is working on another MMO, bur it ain't likely to be released until 2015. Still even so, they have to move off subscription fees, it's not worth it. Not in a world where there are so many other games that can feed the addiction for free or way cheaper.

Its too bad as a hardcore player I can't find a way to convince all the blind idiots *and yes they are idiots* to stop paying out to blizzard for an out dated game; *and yes, its very outdated and starting to be as bad as Starwars.* Yes I know I said I'd play if it were free, but that doesn't mean I'll be addicted. My D&D character hasn't even been logged into for months, but from time to time its fun for me to go in and do a bit of hack and slash and leave. My online play is done in spurts and I find the best online play is when it involves guns.

Comment by: Hopium (Jul 03, 2010 17:01)

i play wow, i have xbox live, and i have a girlfriend. i contradict every comment on here, lol. maybe you guys should get a job its like 14 bucks a month for wow that doesn't even give me a quarter tank of gas. quit crying and get a job. and as far as playing wow the so outdated game, why dont you stop using a computer that was so 1980's.

Comment by: Mysttic (Jul 03, 2010 23:09)

HAHAH you speak as if you know what my computer is; who the *uck are you to presume that taking a choice is whining. Why should I pay out hundreads of $ for a game I already played and know I wouldn't get into. If that's your thing, than fine; but that gives you no right to push your opinions onto others, so for that you need to get a life.

For you info, my gaming PC is an AM3 Quad with 8GB of DDR3 memory with 2 XFX HD 5850s. So I pretty damn fucking sure, it can run WOW on max settings, especially since I can run Crysis like that. The only thing my PC is missing is Eye Infinity, which I intend to jimmy a way to do it with 3 "42 LEDs. I don't like 3D with glasses which is why I won't go that route. So as far as me not having a PC, I wouldn't be surprised if mine out benches yours, but even if it didn't; its not a matter about who has a better PC, its about wasting $ on a game that doesn't deserve the amount they charge.

Go on playing WoW, and yes a game 6 years old is outdated, but you don't have to like it; you just keep on playing. I do commend you for having a job and a woman tho; that's great I've seen friends divorce over WoW and lose their job, glad to see not everyone is like that.

Comment by: ntense69 (Jul 04, 2010 16:42)

lol last blizzard game i played was diablo 2 lol and i bought it and thought id play it well i played it enough to know it sucked and havent played it in over 5 years or 6 heck who knows

Comment by: ps3lvanub (Jul 05, 2010 15:02)

Originally posted by Mysttic:
HAHAH you speak as if you know what my computer is; who the *uck are you to presume that taking a choice is whining. Why should I pay out hundreads of $ for a game I already played and know I wouldn't get into. If that's your thing, than fine; but that gives you no right to push your opinions onto others, so for that you need to get a life.

For you info, my gaming PC is an AM3 Quad with 8GB of DDR3 memory with 2 XFX HD 5850s. So I pretty damn fucking sure, it can run WOW on max settings, especially since I can run Crysis like that. The only thing my PC is missing is Eye Infinity, which I intend to jimmy a way to do it with 3 "42 LEDs. I don't like 3D with glasses which is why I won't go that route. So as far as me not having a PC, I wouldn't be surprised if mine out benches yours, but even if it didn't; its not a matter about who has a better PC, its about wasting $ on a game that doesn't deserve the amount they charge.

Go on playing WoW, and yes a game 6 years old is outdated, but you don't have to like it; you just keep on playing. I do commend you for having a job and a woman tho; that's great I've seen friends divorce over WoW and lose their job, glad to see not everyone is like that.

Someone just got served. WoW isn't even entertaining. I'll just keep on playing my FIFA 10, Fallout 3 and Oblivion, thanks very much.

Comment by: KillerBug (Jul 06, 2010 08:02)

Originally posted by ps3lvanub:
I totally agree. I once stumbled across a serious website for mothers and partners of people who have gotten into WoW. Bit off topic are are those mouse things for the 360 and PS3 any good?

There are a lot of the adapters; most don't work very well, even the best ones are rather limited as the games themselves are often written to have slower movements to compensate for the sticks. Still, a good adapter is better than using a DS3...I just have to find a good, RELIABLE adapter...so far, no luck on the reliable part.

Comment by: JOHNSTARR (Jul 06, 2010 11:14)

Give me a break. So a company that has 11 million people paying 14$ a month or whatever it costs is gonna go free?

This person definitely needs to get a life

No time for Leap frog!!!

Comment by: H0bbes (Jul 06, 2010 14:06)

I suppose it depends on opinion and preference. I play WoW. I don't have cable or satellite TV, but rather Netflix which I intermittently turn on and off. Between the two [Netflix and WoW] I pay far less combined than all the people I know with TV service. I do not have a console that I use often. The one we have is a Wii which my wife uses 90% of the time between the two of us. I also have three young curtain climbers to chase, a full time job and a part time job so I don't have a lot of time to play. When I do, it's a cheap outlet that's involving but not lame in my opinion, like Farmville [again, my opinion ;)]. I do find it entertaining unlike some here, especially since some of my real-life friends are on also. It's a cheap, entertaining outlet for someone that can't get out the house much except for his job.

"It’s as if McGruff the Crime Dog snuck into our basement, enlisted an army of cellar rats to eat up all of our cheese, and then burned the house down when we finally locked him out – instead of just knocking on the front door to tell us the window was open." ~Revision3 CEO Jim Louderback

Comment by: borhan9 (Jul 07, 2010 02:08)

If this is the direction that they are going to go with this then they will lose more than just if the had the subscription fee. Leave it as it is and don't be soo greedy :P

Edited by DVDBack23

"the mediocre teacher tells. the good teacher explains. the superior teacher demonstrates. the great teacher inspires."- William Aruthur Ward

Comment by: dEwMe (Jul 08, 2010 12:36)

Originally posted by KillerBug:
The price of WoW is much more severe than the service fee...WoW is a leading cause of diabetes among geeks. It ruins relationships too...not that the average WoW player can get a girlfriend to begin with.

DOH! I used to be hooked on WarCrack...I can hear my wife now..."Better in the game, worse in real life." Oh the years of my life lost grinding levels or standing around waiting on raids...and yes paying $15/month for the pleasure...What a waste!

Just my $0.02,

dEwMe

Comment by: waynebaal (Jul 12, 2010 11:03)

Originally posted by Mysttic:
HAHAH you speak as if you know what my computer is; who the *uck are you to presume that taking a choice is whining. Why should I pay out hundreads of $ for a game I already played and know I wouldn't get into. If that's your thing, than fine; but that gives you no right to push your opinions onto others, so for that you need to get a life.

For you info, my gaming PC is an AM3 Quad with 8GB of DDR3 memory with 2 XFX HD 5850s. So I pretty damn fucking sure, it can run WOW on max settings, especially since I can run Crysis like that. The only thing my PC is missing is Eye Infinity, which I intend to jimmy a way to do it with 3 "42 LEDs. I don't like 3D with glasses which is why I won't go that route. So as far as me not having a PC, I wouldn't be surprised if mine out benches yours, but even if it didn't; its not a matter about who has a better PC, its about wasting $ on a game that doesn't deserve the amount they charge.

Go on playing WoW, and yes a game 6 years old is outdated, but you don't have to like it; you just keep on playing. I do commend you for having a job and a woman tho; that's great I've seen friends divorce over WoW and lose their job, glad to see not everyone is like that.

Seems to me that you are 'pushing' your opinion on others. And calling people idiots because they choose to pay to play is offensive. Each to their own....if you don't like it, don't do it. But don't criticise others for their choice.