Pets On Sale In WoW

[Telefrog]

Love them or hate them, microtransactions are here to stay for PC gaming until someone comes up with a better way to open players' wallets without them realizing how much they're spending. Blizzard has offered "monetized options" for World of Warcraft like haircuts and server migrations, but now you can buy a companion pet for $10. Get your miniature Pandaren Monk or tiny Li'l T.K. quick!

Today we’re pleased to introduce the Pet Store for World of Warcraft, a new way for players to obtain in-game pets to join them on their adventures in Azeroth. Two brand-new companions are now available for purchase exclusively at the Pet Store in the online Blizzard Store: Lil’ K.T. and the Pandaren Monk.

Half the proceeds of the Panderen Monk will go towards the Make-a-Wish Foundation until the end of the year.

[Ink Asylum]

As long as it's solely cosmetic, charge away.

[Ten19]

Isn't it funny that, for the price of two of these pets, you could purchase something like Torchlight and actually get something for your money?

[Troggles]

Originally Posted by Ten19

Isn't it funny that, for the price of two of these pets, you could purchase something like Torchlight and actually get something for your money?

You can't use a silly thing like logic on a WoW achievement whore. It just doesn't work.

[Sl1pstream]

Half the proceeds, so they still get the other half? So when people jump on this to support Make-a-wish, their profits go up too. Pretty lame, considering that they're virtual items.

Other than that it's a pretty cool.

[digitalErich]

It's purely cosmetic and part of the money goes to charity...charge away.

[Superman's Dead]

Heh. Half the proceeds for ONE of the pets goes to charity.

[rein]

Originally Posted by Ten19

Isn't it funny that, for the price of two of these pets, you could purchase something like Torchlight and actually get something for your money?

Not me. I purchased Torchlight and still get runtime errors. It has something to do with ATI mobility gpu's.

Besides, watching your pet zap critters with freeze bolts could be considered entertainment.

[total]

Originally Posted by Ten19

Isn't it funny that, for the price of two of these pets, you could purchase something like Torchlight and actually get something for your money?

I wouldn't get something for my money as I wouldn't want Torchlight. Value is subjective. I'm sure there are people here that wouldn't hesitate to buy stuff like this.

[digitalErich]

Originally Posted by Superman's Dead

Heh. Half the proceeds for ONE of the pets goes to charity.

Yes, and the amount the charity gets from this will be substantially greater than zero.

[J Arcane]

This is where it starts.

This is where Champions started, and now they're charging $12.50 for a respec. DDO hopped on whole hog and now they're selling character stat points and making you pay to level.

Now that the big guy's hopping on that hog, you can expect the few who haven't to follow suit. This is corporate America, no paycheck is ever big enough, not even $180,000,000 a month.

[Ink Asylum]

Yeah! Screw those bands, too, for selling t-shirts! How dare someone offer people something they might like in exchange for money!

If WoW starts offering things that give one player an advantage over another in exchange for money I'll object then, but I see no reason to start raking Blizz over the coals for cosmetic pets.

If Valve offered a collection of hats in TF2 for a reasonable price I'd be one of the first in line. If they offered a new weapon with different stats I'd be pissed.

[J Arcane]

You're assuming that the latter isn't the inevitable natural step from the former.

It's been that way with every game that has gone the microrape route, what makes you think Activision will be any better?

[Ten19]

Originally Posted by Ink Asylum

If WoW starts offering things that give one player an advantage over another in exchange for money I'll object then, but I see no reason to start raking Blizz over the coals for cosmetic pets.

I don't really view it as a negative move on their part, I just find it interesting that $10 can get you a purely cosmetic thing that dances around you in an MMORPG or halfway towards a complete RPG title.

People can spend their money however they want for whatever they find value in, I'm in no position to judge them on anything. I just find little things like this amusing.

[Ink Asylum]

I'm not a big follower of "slippery slope" theories.

I believe the fan base of WoW would revolt in huge numbers if people started being able to purchase non-cosmetic improvements to their characters. I don't think even Activision is willing to risk all those subscriptions to try to make some extra money.

If it does happen then it's evidence that Blizzard's independence has been completely crushed by Activision's greed, and they'll lose a whole lot of their fan base. There is a heavy competitive aspect in WoW, from Battlegrounds to being the first to beat Raids. Giving people who are willing to spend money a leg up in either of those would be completely unacceptable in the community.

[J Arcane]

Countless WoW players buy advantage in the game every day, they just aren't officially sanctioned.

SOE saw the bread in that years ago, and the Koreans have been doing it practically from the moment they were given a copy of UO.

It's only a matter of time, once the infrastructure to sell a thing like that is in place.

[Camel]

I would have probably bought the monk if I were still playing. He is pretty awesome looking in action!

I don't really find this any different than people buying the items on ebay that you can get from the trading card game. Buy it if you want to, don't if you don't. If the game ends up getting to the point where you have to pay tons of extra cash for microtransactions (or you have to pay for stuff that isn't purely cosmetic) and this bugs you, stop playing.

[Ink Asylum]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Countless WoW players buy advantage in the game every day, they just aren't officially sanctioned.

How? By buying gold or powerleveling? That's something that'll get your account banned. I don't see how players finding a way to cheat the system that goes against Blizzard's own policies has anything to do with this discussion.

Originally Posted by Camel

I don't really find this any different than people buying the items on ebay that you can get from the trading card game. Buy it if you want to, don't if you don't. If the game ends up getting to the point where you have to pay tons of extra cash for microtransactions (or you have to pay for stuff that isn't purely cosmetic) and this bugs you, stop playing.

Pretty much. And Blizzard has been very careful to make absolutely every item in the CCGs cosmetic only.

[J Arcane]

Originally Posted by Ink Asylum

How? By buying gold or powerleveling? That's something that'll get your account banned. I don't see how players finding a way to cheat the system that goes against Blizzard's own policies has anything to do with this discussion.



Pretty much. And Blizzard has been very careful to make absolutely every item in the CCGs cosmetic only.

Because it's money on the table, and everyone knows it, which is why so many other companies have gotten in on it. They know the market's there, the gold sellers are proof of that. It's like free market research, that they can still claim ignorance of and dismiss.

It's exactly how it happened with SOE and the Station Exchange.

[BigJonno]

Originally Posted by J Arcane

Countless WoW players buy advantage in the game every day, they just aren't officially sanctioned.

Assuming that you're talking about gold selling, I disagree. There is little of real value that you can buy with gold in WoW. You just can't get good gear without raiding or repeatedly running instances. Buying gold can save you a little time with mundane stuff, or allow you to get hold of vanity items like the chopper mounts, but you can't gain an advantage.