No Microtransactions for StarCraft II

vansau

Mortician of Love
May 25, 2010
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No Microtransactions for StarCraft II

Even though Blizzard believes in the power of microtransactions with World of Warcraft, the developer has no plans to include them with StarCraft II.



Microtransactions are <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/95927-World-of-Warcraft-Gets-Microtransaction-Pets-Players-Freak-Out>a part of World of Warcraft that isn't going to go away any time soon. Something that players have been wondering about, though, is whether extra [http://www.gamestop.com/Catalog/ProductDetails.aspx?product_id=65548] content will be sold to players willing to spend a little extra cash.

Fans can rest easy: Blizzard doesn't plan to use microtransactions in any way with its upcoming strategy game. At least, the company isn't planning to include them any time soon. Speaking to Blizzard VP Frank Pearce, GamesIndustry.biz was also able to learn about the change in the <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/100834-Blizzard-Forced-to-Censor-StarCraft-II>game's age rating in Korea.

When asked about microtransactions, Pearce explained the rationale behind the exclusion, though he explained that they could appear in the eventual future: "I think micro-transactions probably don't make sense for a game like StarCraft II. Unless we decide to do something much more extensive with player profiles, then maybe we'll evaluate it."

Meanwhile, when Pearce was asked about the game's status in Korea, he confirmed that the revised version had received a 12-plus rating. He also explained why Blizzard chose to make the revisions: "Well the biggest factor is that if you have an 18-plus rating, it's really hard to get the game into game rooms for people to play - and that's where a lot of people play games. So we want to make sure that we can get the game into as many people's hands as possible."

From what Pearce said, though, it doesn't sound like the revised version is all that different from the build that was originally submitted. According to him, no one at Blizzard is entirely sure what change was responsible for lowering the game's age rating since, "we submitted a build with changes, and [the Korean Game Ratings Board] didn't really tell us what the big difference-maker was. We're just happy to get the rating."

Source: <a href=http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/war-on-terrans-interview>GamesIndustry.biz


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Dobrev

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Mar 25, 2009
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Hold on a sec. Of course they are not planning to do micro transactions soon. That is beacause they still have two more expansions planned. And you can be sure that they'll each have colector's edition. But once these goodie bags have been sold out, they'll be free to start selling cosmetic items. Decals, custom textures and unit models are the obvious. Portrait enhancements, backgrounds, achivements are among the posibilities. And I'd still be looking at what they are doing in BlizzCon as hint what else they have in mind.

Bottom line is people want and will pay for vanity items. Why shouldn't Blizzard oblige?


PS: I want a Hydra plushi.
 

Alar

The Stormbringer
Dec 1, 2009
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Dobrev said:
Hold on a sec. Of course they are not planning to do micro transactions soon. That is beacause they still have two more expansions planned. And you can be sure that they'll each have colector's edition. But once these goodie bags have been sold out, they'll be free to start selling cosmetic items. Decals, custom textures and unit models are the obvious. Portrait enhancements, backgrounds, achivements are among the posibilities. And I'd still be looking at what they are doing in BlizzCon as hint what else they have in mind.

Bottom line is people want and will pay for vanity items. Why shouldn't Blizzard oblige?


PS: I want a Hydra plushi.
Agreed. I foresee all of this happening in the distant future (once the other games are released, which will hopefully come out relatively quickly, seeing as how they're mostly just doing single-player packs for them).

I would totally buy a Hydra plushie/WoW pet.
 

Peace Frog

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May 31, 2008
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Thank god.
They should still merchandise some Hydra plushies since that's not a microtransaction ^__^
 

samsonguy920

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Mar 24, 2009
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Blizz probably wants to give SC2 a chance to get broken in by us raging fangirl/boys, and see what will really be wanted as far as microtransaction items. Considering that SC2 has good odds of being a very popular tournament game, it would be bad karma to throw anything out right off that would turn out to be balance breaking.
I approve of this decision.
Peace Frog said:
Thank god.
They should still merchandise some Hydra plushies since that's not a microtransaction ^__^
That's just silly.

Real gamers deserve their Zealot plushies more.
 

TsunamiWombat

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Sep 6, 2008
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samsonguy920 said:
Blizz probably wants to give SC2 a chance to get broken in by us raging fangirl/boys, and see what will really be wanted as far as microtransaction items. Considering that SC2 has good odds of being a very popular tournament game, it would be bad karma to throw anything out right off that would turn out to be balance breaking.
I approve of this decision.
Peace Frog said:
Thank god.
They should still merchandise some Hydra plushies since that's not a microtransaction ^__^
That's just silly.

Real gamers deserve their Zealot plushies more.
I want to be able to build an actual zergling rush out of plushies. Perhaps have them ripping apart a goliath.
 

paketep

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Jul 14, 2008
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And here I was thinking that I could buy LAN support via microtransactions.. :(
 

Inco

Swarm Agent
Sep 12, 2008
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Party!
Seriously, this is good news.. as i am going to be down 150-200 dollars for the collectors edition, i don't need to spend more on small shit.

That money is going towards dead rising 2 and halo reach.
 

Rauten

Capitalism ho!
Apr 4, 2010
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As long as whatever possible microtransactions they implement in the future have no effect on gameplay, I don't really care.
What worries me is the one-campaign-per-game system. Yes, they've promised full-fledged 30 or more hours long campaigns for each, but I'll believe it when I have it in my hands.
 

Deofuta

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Nov 10, 2009
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Rauten said:
As long as whatever possible microtransactions they implement in the future have no effect on gameplay, I don't really care.
What worries me is the one-campaign-per-game system. Yes, they've promised full-fledged 30 or more hours long campaigns for each, but I'll believe it when I have it in my hands.
Not sure where you heard this, but what they promised was at least 30 missions for each race. Not thirty hours of gameplay (singleplayer at least)
 

grmbl

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Jan 11, 2008
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You do know that you can still play WoW fully without paying one extra penny? Blizzard will never, yeah nevah, implement microtransactions which will give real gameplay benefits over other players.
That would be the real opposite of their gameplay above all mantra (or something like that)
 

DTWolfwood

Better than Vash!
Oct 20, 2009
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The Single player has aesthetic and accompanying unit upgrades. I can see micro transactions for unit aesthetic changes for the multiplayer. Nothing like rolling with a blinged out marine marauder army XD

But really i dont see ppl really spending cash on an avatar pic <.<
 

tehroc

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Jul 6, 2009
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Microtransactions are where battle.net comes in, that when you'll pay for premium features for Starcraft II, like ladders or leagues.
 

Delusibeta

Reachin' out...
Mar 7, 2010
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tehroc said:
Microtransactions are where battle.net comes in, that when you'll pay for premium features for Starcraft II, like ladders or leagues.
And even then, only in Russia and Latin America. (Hopefully it won't go further than that)