World of Warcraft's monetization seems to be getting way more aggressive (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) by Buttflapper@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

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The monetization of World of Warcraft has evolved significantly since I played during Burning Crusade over 10 years ago. Back then, the model was straightforward - you bought the expansion and paid a subscription fee. That was all you needed to access 100% of the game's content.

Today, I'm noticing through my friends' Discord group that the purchasing model has become much more complex. Beyond the base expansion packs and subscriptions, there are now early access passes, limited-time mounts (like a $90 dinosaur mount), and promotional tie-ins with products like Mountain Dew and Doritos that offer exclusive cosmetic items. Some players are even buying these promotional codes in bulk to resell online.

Example above, someone paid over $200 just to get some of the mountain dew codes..... This shift in monetization strategy raises interesting questions about the direction of the game and MMOs in general. While additional cosmetic options can add variety and personal expression to the game, I wonder about the impact on the player experience and community. Does having these exclusive items create a divide between players who can afford them and those who can't? Or is it simply offering more choices for those who want them?

I'm particularly curious about the psychological aspect of limited-time offers. The "fear of missing out" seems to be a powerful motivator, especially with items that are advertised as never being available again. But is this enhancing the game experience or just creating artificial scarcity?

Looking forward to hearing different perspectives on this, especially from others who've witnessed this evolution firsthand. What do you think about the current monetization approach compared to the simpler model of the past? Has it affected how you engage with the game?

TLDR: WoW's monetization has changed dramatically from the simple expansion + subscription model of the past to include various limited-time purchases and promotions. People today are scalping and reselling thousand of dollars of mountain dew for in game codes

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[-] Aielman15@lemmy.world 43 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

[removed by mod]

[-] Dremor@lemmy.world -2 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

If you feel like an user may be a bot, please report it to a mod so we can put said user under observation in order to access its behavior.

Your comment seem well documented, but that's something that should be sent to the mods via PM, not posted on the open.
If you were wrong, and he was legit, you'd have triggered an harassment campaign against him by encouraging others to just conclude he must be a bot because someone said so with a lengthy comment they don't have the time to fully check.

Edit: clarifying why this shouldn't be done that way, as my previous take was kinda harsh (I was a bit tired)

[-] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 month ago

The game uses every type of dark pattern there is to make you log on every day and soak up all your time.

[-] Poopfeast420@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 1 month ago

How so? I actually think in recent years, they've gone away from making you log in all the time, with less daily quest and much better catch up mechanics, so it doesn't matter too much if you don't play for weeks or even months.

[-] Chronographs@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 month ago

That could be true, I quit during battle for azeroth

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 26 points 1 month ago

What is your obsession with WoW? First you make multiple posts about the costs vs. investing that money, now this? Didn't you also complain about the art style changing, even though multiple people said it's always been like that?

You really just need to understand that different people have different feelings.

[-] Crashumbc@lemmy.world 11 points 1 month ago

This reads like chatgpt garbage also.

[-] PunchingWood@lemmy.world 14 points 1 month ago

Yeah and he keeps deleting his posts if they don't perform well and he gets called out for them.

Honestly should just be banned for botting at this point.

[-] Dremor@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

This was the first of his post to get reported. I don't ban immediately unless it is obviously a bot trying to link to forbidden content.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 2 points 1 month ago

Is it reportable when someone makes low-quality AI-generated posts, even if they're not technically breaking any rules?

[-] Dremor@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

It could fall under rule 4, but would require to be sure that it is indeed AI generated.
There are people that throws AI accusation around with no evidences other that a gut feeling, so I prefer to be cautious.

[-] catloaf@lemm.ee 1 points 1 month ago

Makes sense. It's not conclusive, but this user did make a post with a line like "here's a breakdown you can post to reddit" until I pointed it out.

Not that it matters in this case, because they've already deleted their account.

[-] wirelesswire@lemmy.zip 23 points 1 month ago

This has been a thing since TCG mounts and pets... back in TBC.

I won't bother with any more of an argument since you'll probably nuke this thread, too. I suggest you stop flapping your butt about WoW and go find a game you enjoy that respects your time and money.

[-] PunchingWood@lemmy.world 22 points 1 month ago

The amount you complain about WoW you should probably just quit the game, if you're even playing it. Also why do you keep making topics and then deleting them? You complained about subscriptions, and now you're complaining about optional additional cosmetic content.

Like 99% of the community likely doesn't care about promotional stuff. You can just pay the game and subscription and get access to all gameplay features just fine. If someone spends hundreds of bucks to get some useless promotional item, then let them. It doesn't affect my gameplay.

Yeah, you can buy a mount from the store that saves you like a 2 minute walk or flight to your closest auction house, ironically I've never ever seen anyone even use these mounts outside of the cities that have actual auction houses, they're usually just next to a mailbox or bank across the street of the auction house.

The fact that these things sell is probably one reason why subscriptions in the past 20 years haven't rising in the first place.

[-] adarza@lemmy.ca 10 points 1 month ago

World of Warcraft's monetization seems to be getting way more aggressive

of course it is. it's a microsoft property now.

[-] Poopfeast420@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I think you're looking at this through rose-tinted glasses.

In my opinion mounts, pets, toys or whatever don't count as content, so in that case, you still get everything with the expansion and a sub.

But even if you think it's content, back in the day you also already had Collectors edition mounts and pets, the stuff from Blizzcon (before it was digital), TCG codes, etc. Not much different than today I think.

[-] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 6 points 1 month ago

While additional cosmetic options can add variety and personal expression to the game

I guess if bragging about spending extra money to advertise for some company is personal expression, sure.

[-] Yingwu@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

I just started playing WoW again and I don't feel any pressure from the supposed "dark patterns", or having to buy this stuff (which I can't, because I'm not in the US). It has zero effect on my gameplay. WoW is fun and addicting in a sense for sure, but there are way worse MMOs when it comes to this. Just look at any Korean MMO, like Black Desert Online. I'd even argue ESO is way worse than WoW when it comes to monetization.

[-] Carighan@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

Yeah it's the same when people say this about FFXIV, which does have an extensive money-shop for extra mounts/animations/skins/etc.

They're pricey as hell, but at the same time the only thing you ever might feel pressured into getting are:

Fantasia (character do-overs) after enough years because you feel like you've seen enough of this face and want another one and want to finally become a cat-girl like everybody else is! The game does however give you two for free, and we're soon getting a third one, at least temporarily.
Character boosts if your friends are being assholes and berate you for not skipping the story (seen it happen) and it starts to get to you, instead of what 99% of the community does which is the exact opposite and encouraging everyone to take their time however many many months that might be. 😅