World of Warcraft's Character Boosts Now On Sale for $60

Cognimancer

Imperial Intelligence
Jun 13, 2012
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World of Warcraft's Character Boosts Now On Sale for $60


World of Warcraft's express route to level 90 is available now, if you don't mind doubling down on the cost of the game.

Blizzard has been flirting with microtransactions for a while now. The World of Warcraft store is mostly stocked with cosmetic items, or flashy pets, but nothing that does much to change the way the game is played. Today, though, Blizzard steps across that line with its new Character Boosts, sending one character on the fast track to level 90. Character Boosts can be purchased from the in-game interface for $60.

We got an unintended sneak peek [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/132340-World-of-Warcraft-Paid-Level-90-Boost-Will-Cost-60] at that price tag when a glitch allowed players to visit the in-game store last month, but the details weren't confirmed back then. Now, it seems like this is the real deal: one Character Boost comes free with all purchases of the Warlords of Draenor expansion, but subsequent boosts will cost $60. For those keeping track at home, that's ten dollars more than the price of the expansion, which you'll need to own to reach the level cap.

Once you purchase a Character Boost, you'll be able to use it on any character with a level lower than 90. The Boost brings that character to the level cap, outfits them with level-appropriate gear to start playing end-game content, and (if the character was level 60 or higher) maxes out their professions.

This is definitely a convenience purchase, intended for players with a lot of disposable income. Still, it raises some questions - if you're willing to pay the equivalent of four months of subscription time to skip most of the game's content, your definitions of "work" and "play" might be getting a little blurred.

Source: Battle.net [https://us.battle.net/shop/en/product/world-of-warcraft-service-character-boost]

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Skeleon

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Nov 2, 2007
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Considering I play games like Torchlight, Rogue Legacy etc. for the progression, I'd never do that, even if I played WoW in the first place. That's the main motivating factor for me!

I guess I might think differently if I had played the game for ages and got sick of leveling, but I doubt I'd spend THAT MUCH MONEY even then. If I got so sick of playing the game, I'd probably just stop instead of investing more. We're talking about the price of a NEW, FULL-PRICE game here!

As for microtransactions in general, fine. Make the basic game free-to-play and go ahead. Or make it "buy once, play free" at least. I might even spend some money on buying the game and its add-ons, but that plus the subscription fees? Plus, perhaps, microtransactions on top of that?! I dunno, not for me.
 

Kuala BangoDango

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Mar 19, 2009
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Imagine that...

Pay-to-Win can apply to subscription games too! Who would'a thunk it.

Glad I left when I did. I refuse to be triple-dipped (Up-front purchase, monthly sub, AND microtransactions). Only way I'll ever go back to WoW is if they went F2P cause that's the only way I can stomach microtransactions in my games.
 

schrodinger

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Jul 19, 2013
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$60 to just boost to level 90 and get one set of gear is one giant ripoff.
Seriously, who the fuck would pay that?! You might as well grab $60 right now and set it on fire because that equals the value you'll spend on this character boost.
 

Compatriot Block

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Jan 28, 2009
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I'm actually okay with this.

Some people have some extra money and friends who are already at the level cap, and now they can elect to skip the leveling process in order to save time that they would consider wasted. Like it or not, for some people the real game starts at an MMO's level cap, and that is a valid opinion. They have decided that the leveling process is worth some amount of money per hour, and they would rather spend the money than the time.

I will most likely never use the service, but I don't mind the price. If it was cheaper, people would be raving about the influx of level 90 players who have no idea how to play their class, and the "pay 2 win" argument would become more valid as players with extra cash would have more classes available to them without the time spent leveling. A $60 price tag means that the majority of people who buy it will only do so once, which significantly reduces the aforementioned problems.

tl;dr: Some people think that the leveling process is less appealing than the endgame, and will agree that $60 is a fair hour/dollar ratio for skipping it. There is no large advantage over normal players, as a fresh 90 cannot compete with experienced 90s in either PvE or PvP immediately due to lack of gear.
 

ffs-dontcare

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Aug 13, 2009
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I'm going to try it out on my Hunter later to see how it goes. This just gives me a convenient way of skipping the leveling bit - the whole reason I started my Hunter in the first place was to level him up to 90 and then go transmog/achievement hunting like I originally planned, so now I can go straight to the fun part. I normally love leveling but I've gotten bored with it lately.

And good thing too, because right now my Mage is my only level 90 character and I don't have any others anywhere near that level. Also, I'm getting bored with Anno 2070 which is my go-to game at the moment.
 

nekoali

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Aug 25, 2009
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This doesn't bother me, really. If people want to drop money to skip all that leveling (until the expansion anyway), then more power to them. It doesn't affect me or how I play. Having run to the end game on many characters, and many 'end games', I can see the appeal. I have several characters on my main server hanging around the low 80s because I just don't want to level through two expansions yet again. And I've started playing on other servers to hang out with friends.. only to find I don't really hang out with them, because they're max level and I'm not... I would probably use this service myself if it was cheaper, but I can't afford that kind of money for just a convenience thing.
 

kaizen2468

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Nov 20, 2009
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I can understand why they are offering the service. Sometimes you just want to play your class at end game and don't want to go through the same content all over again. It's pricy so it doesn't diminish leveling, otherwise no one would ever level.

Maybe I want to play a shadow priest but don't want to spend dozens of hours of my time leveling.

PS My time is worth a lot more per hour than 60$. Well closer to half that. So is .13% of my yearly income worth not spending several days of my time leveling...
 

Micalas

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Mar 5, 2011
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I have no problem with this. I was a hardcore raider/pvper back when I played. I was a seven year veteran. But I absolutely loathe leveling. I know it's "not all about endgame" but it was for me because I did it with my friends. Leveling with friends isn't something that's easy to do because you have to all be on at the same time so that no one gets ahead. After five years I wasn't playing WoW for the game anymore, I was playing it for my friends. That's not to say I didn't have a good time those last two years. Hanging with friends is what made it enjoyable.

The way I see it, this just would have made my life easier in being able to group with them for more content on more characters without the leveling. Before anyone says anything about how "scrubs will be getting insta-90s," let it be known that good players will pick up the new classes fairly quickly. The bad players would still be bad even after 90 levels of manual leveling.
 

anthony87

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Aug 13, 2009
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Kuala BangoDango said:
Imagine that...

Pay-to-Win can apply to subscription games too! Who would'a thunk it.

Glad I left when I did. I refuse to be triple-dipped (Up-front purchase, monthly sub, AND microtransactions). Only way I'll ever go back to WoW is if they went F2P cause that's the only way I can stomach microtransactions in my games.
Please explain how it's pay to win?
 

Ophiuchus

8 miles high and falling fast
Mar 31, 2008
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In a rare avoidance of the usual "$price = £price" thing, it's £40 in the UK. Just in case anyone was wondering and couldn't be bothered to check for themselves.
 

Grimh

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Feb 11, 2009
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WoW, so I can either use that money to buy a whole new game and not play your game, or I can pay you the same amount and still not play your game. Man, that's a tough one.

Actually I would be willing to pay 5 bucks to skip Outland.
God, I freaking hate Outland so much.

Seriously though I can see the appeal of such a service in different situations.
But 60 bucks? Really? I'd love to see the justification for that.

Kuala BangoDango said:
Imagine that...

Pay-to-Win can apply to subscription games too! Who would'a thunk it.
Do you really win though? I mean, really?
 

Fdzzaigl

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Mar 31, 2010
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The World Famous said:
Remember when this game was a game? What the hell happened to it?
I'm wondering as well. Seems like no one cares about the journey anymore.

Its sad to see it come to this kind of milking when you imagine what WoW could've done content wise with all the money they made. The sky could've been the limit, instead they focus on grinding dungeons and selling level cap boosts so people can get to more dungeon grinding faster.

To be fair, I guess the WoW community blindly follows that reasoning as well.
 

Cowabungaa

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Feb 10, 2008
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Kuala BangoDango said:
Imagine that...

Pay-to-Win can apply to subscription games too! Who would'a thunk it.
Except that it's not pay-to-win. Not in the slightest. Hell, it's almost a disadvantage to the player itself.

Why? Because A: with this you can get nothing you cannot get by actually leveling up your character yourself and B: you'll actually be missing any sort of experience playing your character which is very important for the PvP side of things.
Fdzzaigl said:
The World Famous said:
Remember when this game was a game? What the hell happened to it?
I'm wondering as well. Seems like no one cares about the journey anymore.

Its sad to see it come to this kind of milking when you imagine what WoW could've done content wise with all the money they made. The sky could've been the limit, instead they focus on grinding dungeons and selling level cap boosts so people can get to more dungeon grinding faster.

To be fair, I guess the WoW community blindly follows that reasoning as well.
Funny thing is that, after starting again recently after a four year break, I must say that the road is more fun than it ever was. Endgame doesn't feel like dungeon grinding these days though, with little scenarios and smaller raids, it facilities casual play pretty well.

But I too find it a shame that the majority of the player base doesn't seem to think like that, but I can't actually blame Blizzard for looking at those people and making a service they might want. The price point is too high though, if you ask me.
 

Sectan

Senior Member
Aug 7, 2011
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I guess I don't really get why anyone would do this. Why would you pay money to NOT play a game? I'm probably totally off on this, but if you're willing to pay money not to put time into a game then maybe you should find another game to play.
 
Sep 14, 2009
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60 bucks? hah holy fuck, blizzard is apparently running low in their greedy coffers if they are asking for that. I can do so much more with my money than be triple dipped for WoW.