World of Warcraft Gets Microtransaction Pets, Players Freak Out

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
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World of Warcraft Gets Microtransaction Pets, Players Freak Out



The announcement that Blizzard would be opening an online store for special WoW in-game pets has some members of the community bouncing off the walls.

Yesterday evening, Pandaren Monk [http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=20677775733&sid=1].

Both pets were priced at $10, though half the proceeds of every Pandaren Monk sold through the end of the year would be donated to the to visit the Blizzard offices [http://www.wish.org/], meet the developers and design his very own quest.

Predictably, the announcement was greeted by some members of the WoW community with proclamations that this was the beginning of the end, like every other change the company has made to Warcraft since the game launched in November of 2004. A quick look at the first page of the WoW General Discussion Forum [http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/board.html?forumId=10001&sid=1] - not that you should ever read the WoW forums, but in case you were really, really curious - reveals dozens of topics discussing the Pet Store, and how these two microtransaction-only pets are an indicator that within six months Blizzard will be letting you buy a level 80 character with full epic gear right from the get-go.

In case you couldn't tell, I think that the outrage is a bit silly. I'm okay with the idea of microtransactions in general [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/view-from-the-road/6330-A-View-from-the-Road-How-I-Learned-to-Stop-Worrying-and-Love-the-Microtransaction], but the real kicker here is that this isn't anything Blizzard hasn't done before - it's just being more transparent about it now.

WoW and both of its expansions all had collectors' editions which were more expensive than the "vanilla" versions, and which came with special in-game pets. Even the Warcraft Trading Card Game has been doing something exactly like this with its rare loot cards that get you exclusive in-game items if you're lucky enough to find one (or have the cash to burn on eBay). People who spend the money to go to BlizzCon - or who ordered the Pay-Per-View stream - got exclusive pets there, too. Blizzard has been offering vanity pets for cash since the game came out, and we're no closer to "buy your epics with real money" now than we ever were.

All this is doing is really just eliminating the middleman and cutting away the extraneous stuff surrounding the acquisition of those aforementioned pets. At least with the Pet Store, you won't have to waste time and money buying godforsaken TCG booster pack after booster pack hoping luck will be on your side this time.

Besides, that Lil' K.T. is just adorable. How could you say no to that lovable, horrifying undead visage?

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JugglerPanda

New member
Apr 23, 2009
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Agreed, micro-transaction pets use the same tactics as the loot cards, only now they don't have to go through the middle-man. Nothing game-shattering is going to occur with this newest addition.
 

Ashbax

New member
Jan 7, 2009
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No ones gonna buy them anyway, so the outrage is kinda pointless.

Besides, none of them are better than Mr. Chilly the Penguin!

I wuv my Mistur chilee...
 

John Funk

U.N. Owen Was Him?
Dec 20, 2005
20,364
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Ashbax said:
No ones gonna buy them anyway, so the outrage is kinda pointless.

Besides, none of them are better than Mr. Chilly the Penguin!

I wuv my Mistur chilee...
Speak for yourself, man. Do I want a pet that murders all nearby Critters and cackles maniacally when I dominate someone in PvP? You bet your ass I do.

:p
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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As long as microtransactions have no affect on game balance or game progression, I see no issue. The pets are little more than a vanity item - actually, they're not more than a vanity item. That's all they are.

If people wanna pay $10 for a little Lich or a Pandaren monk (which does sound tempting), no qualms here.

But when if they move on to trading equipment for money, then there's something wrong.
 

Proteus214

Game Developer
Jul 31, 2009
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As long as it never comes to letting the players buy gear and/or gold or other items, I don't think it's a bad thing. I am quite enjoying my Pandaren Monk. It's always amusing to hear the little "HYA! HWA! WHOPOW!" in the middle of a raid.
 

Eric the Orange

Gone Gonzo
Apr 29, 2008
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Ashbax said:
No ones gonna buy them anyway, so the outrage is kinda pointless.

Besides, none of them are better than Mr. Chilly the Penguin!

I wuv my Mistur chilee...
Oh, dear you do not know the length some obsessed WoW players will go. I don't play but I have a friend that dose, so I know a few things. He said that people will pay 400$ for a Trading card that lets you unlock some kind of ghost panther mount. 400$! If they're willing to do that then 10$ for a pet is nothing.
 

BlueInkAlchemist

Ridiculously Awesome
Jun 4, 2008
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CantFaketheFunk said:
Do I want a pet that murders all nearby Critters and cackles maniacally when I dominate someone in PvP? You bet your ass I do.

:p
My warlock would love that one. If I could afford even such a paltry microtransaction.

And if I still played WoW. I'm on the patch, you see.
 

Ashbax

New member
Jan 7, 2009
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Eric the Orange said:
Ashbax said:
No ones gonna buy them anyway, so the outrage is kinda pointless.

Besides, none of them are better than Mr. Chilly the Penguin!

I wuv my Mistur chilee...
Oh, dear you do not know the length some obsessed WoW players will go. I don't play but I have a friend that dose, so I know a few things. He said that people will pay 400$ for a Trading card that lets you unlock some kind of ghost panther mount. 400$! If they're willing to do that then 10$ for a pet is nothing.
well, comon, the shadowsaber is COOL!

:p
 

Ashbax

New member
Jan 7, 2009
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CantFaketheFunk said:
Ashbax said:
No ones gonna buy them anyway, so the outrage is kinda pointless.

Besides, none of them are better than Mr. Chilly the Penguin!

I wuv my Mistur chilee...
Speak for yourself, man. Do I want a pet that murders all nearby Critters and cackles maniacally when I dominate someone in PvP? You bet your ass I do.

:p
Aw crap. Ive just realised. My Druid's humiliating defeats in PvP are about to get 50 times more humiliating at the hands of people like you.

...Fuck.
 

Cherry Cola

Your daddy, your Rock'n'Rolla
Jun 26, 2009
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People seem to get upset over everything.

It's just microtransaction, no big deal.
 

bakonslayer

New member
Apr 15, 2009
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Make-A-Wish is so frickin' cool. I am really thinking of grabbing the monk. Not to mention that it's adorable factor is, like, 10!
 

Beero

New member
Oct 17, 2009
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I luv the lil K.T :D
But wont see him very soon though, cause my account still is inactive, due to my exams this year....bah!

Still, if people want to buy a minipet, its their decision. Guildwars uses the same method already for quite some time. Didn't hear people complain back then.
Besides, there isn't a middle-man anymore :D
 

Kross

World Breaker
Sep 27, 2004
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Kalezian said:
the only drawback I see to him laughing is hitting stealth after backstabbing someone and his friends hear his little giggles, now if there is a command to make him laugh before you kill a player, that would be awesome.
I've found and killed quite a few rogues that forgot to put their pet away. Any pet is a dumb pet for a stealthed rogue. ;)
 

uppitycracker

New member
Oct 9, 2008
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The big difference between this and the collectors editions and Blizzcon and the WWI, are that with those things, you get more than just an in game pet. Collectors edition, you got art books, audio CD's, mouse pads, ect. Blizzcon and the WWI, you got a LOT more. So yeah, sure, some people may have bought them for just the pets, but that extra 30 bucks also went to a lot of collectors style stuff. This is a lot different in the sense that all you get is a vanity pet...

Now granted, I'm glad that it's simply a cosmetic item and nothing that gives an in game advantage. However, I can understand peoples concerns. It does seem like a step in the direction of most free to play but pay to get epic MMO games. Hopefully, should that day ever arrive, it'll come with servers dedicated to such things.
 

GothmogII

Possessor Of Hats
Apr 6, 2008
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Umm...I thought they've -had- micro-transactions for well, quite a while now. A quick look at any WoW account page reveals, paid character transfers/server changes, paid gender/faction changes and the like. I mean, though I'd still prefer that you got pets by, you know, playing the game, it's still a far cry from being able to buy characters or levels.
 

Amnestic

High Priest of Haruhi
Aug 22, 2008
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Kross said:
Kalezian said:
the only drawback I see to him laughing is hitting stealth after backstabbing someone and his friends hear his little giggles, now if there is a command to make him laugh before you kill a player, that would be awesome.
I've found and killed quite a few rogues that forgot to put their pet away. Any pet is a dumb pet for a stealthed rogue. ;)
Isn't the Wolpertinger [http://www.wowwiki.com/Wolpertinger] invisible to all but drunk players? Perfect rogue pet!
 

shadow_pirate22

New member
Aug 25, 2008
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Kalezian said:
as for the rest of us, does Lil' K.T. actually do damage to his zapable targets? or is it just some sort of emoticon that he does?
It just attacks random critters, like rats and spiders. Now, if it would attack other people's companion pets, then we'd have something to talk about. But all this is doing is making it so Blizzard is making the money off the out-of-game sold pets. It's not that big a deal, and it's not going to lead to blizzard selling lvl 80s or gold, not when they're tirelessly working against that.