Profile: VirgoThree
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• • Server Merges made for a wise decision

  • yeah im kind curious where people are getting this server merge info from. Unless I missed something they only did free transers, and that does not equal a merge.

  • Posted: 11/16/08 9:16 PM
    WAR (Warhammer Online)
• • Why spend money for an expansion?

  • Originally posted by Pappy13
    

    Originally posted by VirgoThree
    

    What I think the naysayers are trying to stab at that some of you guys aren't getting is that Blizzard is making enough money to fund a couple AAA games within a month of monthly fees alone.

    
     

    It's called capitalism.  If you are willing to pay for it, then it's worth it.

    Why do NFL players get paid millions of dollars to play a game?

    Why does Madden put out a new copy of it's game every year and charge for a full game when it's nothing but an update?

    Why do the charge us to buy pet rocks?

    Why?  I'll tell you why. 

    Because they can.

    um yeah I pretty much state that how it is just for profit and they just know how to take advantage of the market which coincides with "Because they can".

  • Posted: 11/14/08 11:09 AM
    World of Warcraft
• • Why spend money for an expansion?

  • What I think the naysayers are trying to stab at that some of you guys aren't getting is that Blizzard is making enough money to fund a couple AAA games within a month of monthly fees alone. So why is it that we the gamers have to spend our hard earned cash for new content which they can easily afford and then some? The revenue generated by the monthly fees is MORE then enough to cover all of their expenses for a very long time.

    Just to throw some numbers around on what it costs to produce a game. Remember these are just production costs. This is not including advertising, shipping, or store profit.

    Gears of War (1) $10 Million www.videogamer.com/news/05-10-2006-3767.html

    Halo 3 Approx $60 Million www.mashedbuttons.com/

    Vanguard (not the best example) $30 Million (do not have the source atm)

    Here is another interesting number to throw around. Apparently as of 9/16/08 Blizzard reported that the total cost of upkeep for WoW since the 2004 nov release has been $200 million from then to now. So they have more then payed the bills for four years within 2-3 months of monthly fees alone. www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2330507,00.asp

    However, the answer is quite simple why they are doing this and that is charging for expansions increases their profits a great deal. Whatever they do right now is going to be profit, and the only way they are going to start losing money is if WoW suddenly loses several million subscribers in afew months.....which i can almost guarantee you that will not happen. Even if Starcraft 2 flops (which I highly doubt) or Diablo 3 (again highly doubt) they will still be making profits left and right. That's all I can really say, they are only doing it because they are good businessmen first (which isn't necessarily a bad thing) and they know how to take advantage of the market and the consumers when it is all in their favor.

    I also believe that release expansions is an excellent marketing strategy because every has that awe factor of something new coming out. Just look at all the buzz for the WotLK expansion for god sake. Releasing a free, and equally large expansion via patching does not seem to generate such hype.

    You may ask why am I even bothering to post all this possibly useless info? Well I'm bored for one, but I'm also genuinely interested in both perspectives of the matter. I'm not on either side to be honest. I understand and sympathize with the gamer who feels like they are being milked for all their worth from a greedy company. On the flip side, I also understand and can appreciate the cold harsh realities of business and how it operates.

  • Posted: 11/14/08 5:58 AM
    World of Warcraft
• • Need some friends :P

  • oh cool i just started recently too and I am on odin. So far 16 whitemage and loving it.

  • Posted: 11/14/08 1:44 AM
    Final Fantasy XI
• • The Soloer - the new king of "my playstyle should be the only way to play"

  • I think it would be nice if developers start focusing more on niche markets and cater to very specific play styles and that's it. Sure it won't have the most subscribers but that's how a niche game would turn out. They could potentially corner an untapped group of players and keep a loyal fanbase for years if they continue to cater to them specifically.

  • Posted: 11/12/08 6:37 AM
    General Discussion