$25 World of Warcraft Mount Launches on Blizzard Store

[Eldarion]

"Oh look, another guy who sucks so bad he can't earn a good mount in game" - probable elitist response. *mounts cenarion hypogryph*

I do not get those people.......earn a mount? Really???? Cause, you know its not like there aren't like 3 drake mounts you get for practically nothing anyway.

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

Haha, wow. Just logged in and these things are all over the place.

Look really cool, too.

And the worst part of it all? I swear to Slaanesh the lucky bastards that got the mount are showing off! They're always hanging around in Dalaran, flying all over the place on those magnificent mounts! And I can't Death Strike the living daylights out of them because it's a sanctuary!

 

[addeB]

It is not rip off if people are willing to pay for it.

 

[mew4ever23]

Looks cool. Kinda want.

 

[Nurb]

This is bull... microtransactions in a subscription based game? Combining two types of MMO plans into one big money-sucking middle-finger to the loyal customers is just plain greedy!

Screw you Activision and your little *****, Bobby too!

EDIT: considering it's 25 bucks for one damn mount, they should call it "MACROtransactions"

You see blizzard has been doing this for years already with race/sex/server changes. They are slowly taking it one step at a time in order to best take advandage of the drooling mass that is wow fans. Its the new hip thing to get in wow just like sex changes were when they came out, and race changes before that. In two months 90% of the people who bought those mounts will never use them again.

All that race/sex/server stuff were just services, the difference is that they were not charging for in-game items. The whole point of subscription based gaming is to put everyone on a level playing field where everyone has the same chance to get everything in the game without spending extra money for in-game items/mounts/pets. It's greedy.

 

[Kragg]

A fool and his money...

Would you apply that to any hobby anyone has? If not, you're not being reasonable.

not like you are either, playing games is fine, paying montly fees is ok too, but these micro transactions (micro?) are a step too far for most people, its like playing basketball, one team in red other team in blue, and you pay the ref 2000 of your money to play in a gold outfit, that wuld be the same kind of deal no

you bought it cause it is special and rare i guess, cept it wont be for long which is funny ^^
its also a bit risky to pay money for stuff like this, cause your claim to the item is so flimsy, they can instaban you for pretty much anything and theres no way to get that money back is there

in response to the initial article, its both ok and a moneygrab, go capitalism !

 

[soren7550]

Looks pretty cool. Imagine riding that to work or something.

 

[Kasawd]

Hah, I kind of like the mount, actually.

A star Pegasus makes me smile inside.

Anywho, I wouldn't pay for it but more power to the people who do. It's a service they offer and folks are taking advantage. There's nothing wrong with that.

There's no need to criticize people who spent their money on it.

 

[Eri]

cept it wont be for long which is funny ^^

Yeah, except no. As soon as a week goes by you won't see nearly as many as appeared now.

its also a bit risky to pay money for stuff like this, cause your claim to the item is so flimsy, they can instaban you for pretty much anything and theres no way to get that money back is there

Again, except for the fact they don't ban for anything, you're being absurd. They are not some random tyranical group, they don't ban just because they can. Don't break the rules, and nothing is to worry about.

 

[Zappa Daddy]

I personally think DLC is always wrong in a game that charges a monthly subscription fee. Yes, I recognize that Blizzard uses that money for servers and new content, but additional DLC is just a greedy move. It's one of the reasons I'm not a big fan of Cryptic, a company that charges for in-game benefits like the ability to play a Klingon Federation character.

 

[FieryTrainwreck]

I think it's perfectly reasonable to express concern about where this is heading. They've become more and more aggressive, for lack of a better word, in their purchasable content as time progresses. Where does it end? Does it end? Are they always going to stop short of meddling with game balance or providing tangible in-game bonuses? The fear, for a lot of people, is that WoW will eventually devolve into the same money-grubbing nonsense of The Sims or any number of Korean MMO cash-grabs. The game is already somewhat stressful for pure entertainment, what with intense raiding and/or competitive pvp. When you put certain monetary expectations or constraints on top of that, you're quickly arriving at something a lot of pure gamers don't want to experience.

TLDR version: keep it to occasional vanity items for all the casuals and dress-up enthusiasts and no one has much of a right to complain. Start expanding into other areas of the game, like armor/items, and you're crossing the line.

 

[McNinja]

I actually just saw the mount in-game. It looks pretty sweet. I didn't know it was $25 though. There's no way I would pay for that.

 

[Poofs]

Thats not a waste of money
it goes to a good cause
and it is awesome
also if you dont like it dont buy it

A good cause? are they building celestial schools in space?

i meant it is going towards making a good game even better

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

I saw about a dozen or so of these things prancing around Dalaran on my server today. Not really to my tastes, but hey, to each his/her/its own.

At least the things are quiet. The voice of Lil' XT makes me want to tear my eardrums out through my urethra.

 

[Vitor Goncalves]

It might seem like Blizzard is ripping players off here: anger, hate, rage, etc, but perhaps it isn't. Some WoW players spend dozens of hours grinding and questing just to get certain in-game items, which they are paying for the privilege of, so this is sort of like cutting out the middleman even though it costs almost two months of subscription fees. On the other hand, I don't play WoW anymore, and was completely over special items that made people stop and point at me when I did play. In a way, it's just like Blizzard selling a World of Warcraft t-shirt or another piece of merchandise, but the Celestial Steed just happens to be in-game.

I lose faith in this site more and more with every single one of these articles...

Way to mitigate, apologize and condone another ultra-facepalm-worthy-horse-armor moneygrab of the "Best Developer Ever" in one paragraph...

And I'm honestly surprised at the amount of people endorsing and approving this.

It's a sad sad day for gaming indeed that this has become "okay" and defended in "critical" game media. I seriously wonder if they'd be selling StarCraft 2 by the level or have you swipe your credit-card through a scanner in order to Level Up in WoW if The Escapist wouldn't find the advantage to that right now...

By next year hope all the supporters remember that when zynga returns for march mayhem. Oh its not a game but we never said farmville is a game, its a hobbie, so excuse us. I hope this doesnt turn into a rule and all developers go lazy just relying on microtransactions, and in 2050 we will still playing games with engines of 2000, with yet, another in-game pet for $250 in commemoration of our 50th anniversary.

 

[James Hueick]

wow... just... wow...
I don't even think that it looks good...
50 billion...
wow...

 

[ASnogarD]

As it has been stated a few times already, it isnt the item itself that is the issue its the implication that comes with it...

Is it that hard to imagine Bobby ...err Blizzard feeling sorry (*retch* koff* *heave*) for the casual players and offering them a competitive set of PvP armour that allows them to join the PvP fun without all that stressfull grinding.

(PvP armour set for only $35 , skillz sold seperatly and one Arthas pet free with each Frostmourne you buy extra, only $25 or $65 for the pack (armour and sword, incl free pet))