World of Warcraft's Character Boosts Now On Sale for $60
- Thread starter Cognimancer
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Leveling is fun the first few times. For some people, though, it gets boring and tedious after a couple times. It's not a problem with the leveling system, it's a problem with the people. There is likely nothing Blizzard can do about it. It's similar to the situation of eating chocolate for every meal, eventually you WILL get tired of it, even if you love it.Olas said:
I have five 90s.
If you think the leveling grind is unbearable try LFR gearing.
Getting to level 90 isn't anything special, doing the content isn't anything special. Level 90 is only a barrier to the REST of the content the game has to offer.
This "service" removes that barrier. If I had the disposable income at this time and really wanted another 90 I would fork out $60 for the boost. As it stands I don't have a single character under level 80 and all my character slots are filled. I have no reason to spend this money.
But I can't fault anyone for doing so and I applaud Blizzard for supplying a demand.
If you think the leveling grind is unbearable try LFR gearing.
Getting to level 90 isn't anything special, doing the content isn't anything special. Level 90 is only a barrier to the REST of the content the game has to offer.
This "service" removes that barrier. If I had the disposable income at this time and really wanted another 90 I would fork out $60 for the boost. As it stands I don't have a single character under level 80 and all my character slots are filled. I have no reason to spend this money.
But I can't fault anyone for doing so and I applaud Blizzard for supplying a demand.
I like the idea of skipping the leveling grind, I now have four 90's within three months and I was so bored with the same repetitive and tedious quests. I have changed to the alliance for my warrior to try and freshen things up a bit and see the different sides of the leveling zones.
$60 is a bit excessive but if it's from level 1 to level 90 I can understand it. For a level 60, paying $60 seems to be a total ripoff as you could have saved so much time by just buying the boost at level 1 for the same price. I reckon a scaling system would be great where the cost is reduced the higher your level gets with maybe a limit of say $15 for 80-90.
$60 is a bit excessive but if it's from level 1 to level 90 I can understand it. For a level 60, paying $60 seems to be a total ripoff as you could have saved so much time by just buying the boost at level 1 for the same price. I reckon a scaling system would be great where the cost is reduced the higher your level gets with maybe a limit of say $15 for 80-90.
Unfortunately, "Levelninetygate" doesn't have the same ring as "Monoclegate".
Seriously though, this isn't a big deal, but the price is way too high. Let's think about it:
$40 gets you WoW:WoD plus a character boost.
$60 gets you a character boost.
That would be like spending $4 for a Happy Meal then buying more of the crappy toy it came with for $6 a pop.
At most, it should be $20 per character boost, with maybe a four-pack going for $60.
Edit: Whoa, it's $50 bucks for the xpac now? WTF?
Seriously though, this isn't a big deal, but the price is way too high. Let's think about it:
$40 gets you WoW:WoD plus a character boost.
$60 gets you a character boost.
That would be like spending $4 for a Happy Meal then buying more of the crappy toy it came with for $6 a pop.
At most, it should be $20 per character boost, with maybe a four-pack going for $60.
Edit: Whoa, it's $50 bucks for the xpac now? WTF?
To clarify the incomplete information presented in this post:
With preorders (and presumably post-orders) of the expansion, which costs $50 like all the others, you get a free level 90 boost so you can jump into the new content. Because it's inevitable that players who want multiple free boosts would just buy the expansion again and again (I know people who actually used recruit-a-friend to recruit themselves just for the mount), they allow you to instead streamline the process and spend $60 just for the character upgrade. A silly thing to offer, maybe, but with decent reasoning behind this. Make no mistake, the primary product being offered is a preorder of the game, for $50, NOT $60. The $60 character boost is just a side thing.
With preorders (and presumably post-orders) of the expansion, which costs $50 like all the others, you get a free level 90 boost so you can jump into the new content. Because it's inevitable that players who want multiple free boosts would just buy the expansion again and again (I know people who actually used recruit-a-friend to recruit themselves just for the mount), they allow you to instead streamline the process and spend $60 just for the character upgrade. A silly thing to offer, maybe, but with decent reasoning behind this. Make no mistake, the primary product being offered is a preorder of the game, for $50, NOT $60. The $60 character boost is just a side thing.
I completely disagree, the hierarchy is already ruined, and it does not exist on the leveling bracket. You already have idiots fully decked out in the latest PvP gear for only a day, coming down from on high to kick sand in the faces of someone making an alt in the starting zone.Olas said:
Leveling is not where differences in power appear, that existed only in Vanilla WoW, it has since changed, Raiders and PvPers are numerous and deadly. It's gear that matters, call it the secondary leveling aspect. And the phasing technology for alot of quests now makes seeing leveling players in the world difficult enough. The only place you're likely to see them is that the heavily guarded quest hubs, the pet battling areas or the capital cities. For the past 3 expansions you've been frantically leveling to not get picked off by a player who out gears you. Since they're the main threat. Those still leveling? These guys know your plight and are your fucking allies, I've hid out with an alliance player in Hellfire Peninsula, neither of us raising a weapon to the other because a bunch of level 85's were duking it out in the center arena and all that would have ended our lives would be a stray bit of AoE. After they left, we nodded to each other and were on our merry way.
The level 90's who buy their way are still going to get curb stomped by geared individuals. I've sworded enough of them to death to know I'm fairly scary on my main. And these are people in purple gear. Sadly my gear is heroic level, there's no contest. Those lot buying their way and jumping into a few greens have no prayer.
No one is particularly impressed when you reach max level except you. So 'invalidation' would only be in your own eyes. I personally would never use this service. I will level all 6 of my alts as I have always done. Is anyone legitimately impressed by my efforts compared to the guy who paid? Of course fucking not. But I myself place value in the leveling system, I like to take it easy, so that's all that matters. Also I value my money over my spare time in the evenings. If anything the guy/gal paying will be torn to shreds if they cannot adapt at the end game. And everyone who leveled and learn their class will get a good ol' laugh. Just like the 'ebayed' max level characters.
And as I said earlier in my post. Someone starting to play is exceedingly unlikely to make use of this service. And if they do are likely to struggle in their level bracket to prove themselves in a very harsh social environment, Like learning a champion in LoL/Dota2. While Blizzard has implemented a 'learn how to use your skills first' tutorial for those using the service, it's weak. So the leveling system still has large merit from a story and learning stand point, and most players know that. The thing is, not many players are new. So many players are returning players. And while some want to see the content they've missed on their first go. After getting to their 5th/6th alt and beyond...they may feel the cost worth it (they're crazy of course, but my best friend is a raging altoholic so who am I to judge)
As for the hole issue, I disagree here too. The leveling experience is still here. Those that don't want to pay either aren't going to use it and use the doorway with a few monsters to slay in it. The hole belongs to Blizzard fully, and that's fine, the chinese leveling sites have never been legit, it just gives them an easier foot hold to take down the illegitimate websites under the banner of 'the service exists, there are no more legal loopholes for you to exploit'.
Leveling is still fun, it's still there, and the 60 dollar barrier turns off those who've just bought the game.
I really fail to see the problem.
No. The high price is supposed to be a deterrent, to stop everyone just skipping the content. If it was cheaper, say £15-£20 like other services (faction change, race change etc) there would be a huge influx of new players just skipping to level 90 and not knowing how to play their class and everyone would complain. I feel this service is aimed more at people who have already done the 1-90 grind several times, or for people who are getting into the game but have friends who are already at 90.kortin said:
Absolutely not, for the reason I just stated above.delroland said:
Sadly, this thing is fine. To anyone saying "pay2win!" or "but new people with money won't learn their class correctly!", they wouldn't get that with the current state of leveling anyway. PVP might be a different story, but normal leveling will teach you all kinds of things about how to use WASD to move, the number keys to use skills, and how to create builds and habits that will be shockingly useless when you hit the latest expansion content. The difference between 85 Cataclysm and 85 Mists of Pandaria difficulty is huge. In any expansion before Mists, you could easily wear gear 10-20 levels below you and stomp through content. I'd be surprised if any reasonably well-geared characters (especially with heirlooms) had any issues rolling their faces across the keyboard to get through leveling dungeons, even in support roles like tank and healer (tanks pretty much double as dude-who-stands-in-front-of-things and max DPS for leveling anyway). Getting to the latest expansion is about the only point where real learning happens for a class, so skipping everything before that makes sense. I guess the only people who would suffer now are noobs who 1) started at the end of an expansion and 2) have several months to potentially torment people with their noobliness through all of the current end-game content (which is actually a lot). I'm guessing this is not going to be a huge demographic.
The real tragedy is that this is the answer to "leveling is boring." Yeah, it's an easy answer, but sometimes harder is better. I'd love to see leveling improvements that make it more entertaining than it currently is. Or even just harder than it currently is. I blow through zones without finishing them, because they become irrelevant before I'm done. I go out of my way to scrounge out some kind of challenge (which is hard without it becoming physically impossible). I don't mind leveling at all, but I'd love more of a challenge ramp to really learn a class before the latest expansion content...
The real tragedy is that this is the answer to "leveling is boring." Yeah, it's an easy answer, but sometimes harder is better. I'd love to see leveling improvements that make it more entertaining than it currently is. Or even just harder than it currently is. I blow through zones without finishing them, because they become irrelevant before I'm done. I go out of my way to scrounge out some kind of challenge (which is hard without it becoming physically impossible). I don't mind leveling at all, but I'd love more of a challenge ramp to really learn a class before the latest expansion content...
Oh look, people who don't play World of Warcraft criticizing World of Warcraft. How novel.
You clearly don't play if you don't understand this. Blizzard have already stated that they want people to get into Warlords of Draenor content as soon as it came out rather than being behind for weeks because they have to level all the way through new content. It's hard to get new players into the game if they're forced to go through all the old stuff that nearly everyone has already done while their friends are progressing in end game. It's a smart way to get new players.
Not only that, after you've leveled a couple of 90's, you'd understand why someone would pay $60 to skip all that.
You clearly don't play if you don't understand this. Blizzard have already stated that they want people to get into Warlords of Draenor content as soon as it came out rather than being behind for weeks because they have to level all the way through new content. It's hard to get new players into the game if they're forced to go through all the old stuff that nearly everyone has already done while their friends are progressing in end game. It's a smart way to get new players.
Not only that, after you've leveled a couple of 90's, you'd understand why someone would pay $60 to skip all that.
I originally had reservations about this feature. That being said...
Having tried it out on my Hunter and played around a bit yesterday morning before going to bed, I've had time to think about this issue overnight at work.
But I don't buy that, because I don't give a coin toss about e-peen. Because that's what this whole issue of "invalidation" comes down to: e-peen.
And even then the level boost doesn't invalidate anything. The only way it would is if it outfitted you with a set of blue (or even purple or legendary) quality equipment, achievements, a lot of gold, etc that you would've only gotten by leveling the traditional way. But you get none of that.
You get a crappy set of green meh-tier equipment that essentially puts you at the same strength as someone who literally just hit 90. You still have to earn your end-game gear properly, like any other level 90. The only achievements it gives you are the ones that you would automatically get every ten levels and the ones you get for learning each level of the riding skill. Nobody cares about those achievements. You're given 150 gold, which is even less than a minor amount. It's practically nothing, but it's there to get you started. Anyone who's leveled to 90 the normal way will have gold coming out the ass unless they've been stupid at the auction house.
Expanding on the e-peen thing a bit, why care what other players are doing? If you leveled to 90 the normal way and someone else boosted to 90, why does that matter? How does that invalidate your effort, your level 90 character? If you cared about it, you'd be glad that you did it the hard way and earned it, so to speak, while the other person took a shortcut. If anything, it just validates you more.
tl;dr A lot (but not all) of the nay-sayers are just arguing from ignorance.
Having tried it out on my Hunter and played around a bit yesterday morning before going to bed, I've had time to think about this issue overnight at work.
Why do people keep saying this? Leveling isn't the entire game and this statement essentially disregards all of the other content. The game doesn't end when I get to max-level, whether or not I do it by leveling or boosting. Leveling is only a small part. Raiding, pet battles, achievement runs, PvP, etc - that stuff is also part of the game.RealRT said:
But... why even weigh in on this issue if you've never played it? I'd personally never feel comfortable commenting on such a heavy issue about an MMO I've never touched or been anywhere near.Olas said:
Humouring you for a brief moment, this implies that the accomplishment of people who had reached level 90 the traditional way weren't already invalidated by people who obtain their level 90s by way of power-leveling services - that is, paying someone else to level their toons to max at record speed. In the end, they didn't level their own toons to max level themselves. Someone else did it for them. None of the effort was theirs. So my effort (and the efforts of nearly everyone else who didn't make the dumb-ass mistake of letting a complete stranger into their account to level their toons to max level for them) just happened to have been invalidated this entire time.Olas said:
But I don't buy that, because I don't give a coin toss about e-peen. Because that's what this whole issue of "invalidation" comes down to: e-peen.
And even then the level boost doesn't invalidate anything. The only way it would is if it outfitted you with a set of blue (or even purple or legendary) quality equipment, achievements, a lot of gold, etc that you would've only gotten by leveling the traditional way. But you get none of that.
You get a crappy set of green meh-tier equipment that essentially puts you at the same strength as someone who literally just hit 90. You still have to earn your end-game gear properly, like any other level 90. The only achievements it gives you are the ones that you would automatically get every ten levels and the ones you get for learning each level of the riding skill. Nobody cares about those achievements. You're given 150 gold, which is even less than a minor amount. It's practically nothing, but it's there to get you started. Anyone who's leveled to 90 the normal way will have gold coming out the ass unless they've been stupid at the auction house.
Expanding on the e-peen thing a bit, why care what other players are doing? If you leveled to 90 the normal way and someone else boosted to 90, why does that matter? How does that invalidate your effort, your level 90 character? If you cared about it, you'd be glad that you did it the hard way and earned it, so to speak, while the other person took a shortcut. If anything, it just validates you more.
tl;dr A lot (but not all) of the nay-sayers are just arguing from ignorance.
Considering that levelling hasn't mattered at all since the beginning of The Burning Crusade I still remain of the opinion that this is completely fine and amazingly cheap considering what mathematicians could cook up to be a price related to the amount of hours spent on it.
Again, levelling doesn't matter in WoW, the journey is not a journey, it's just the conga line to end game. I say that as somebody who enjoys levelling, too.
Again, levelling doesn't matter in WoW, the journey is not a journey, it's just the conga line to end game. I say that as somebody who enjoys levelling, too.