WoW Adds New Purchasable Mount - Winged Guardian

Greg Tito

PR for Dungeons & Dragons
Sep 29, 2005
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WoW Adds New Purchasable Mount - Winged Guardian

On the hoofs of the Celestial Steed, Blizzard is now offering another way to separate players from their money.

For the most part, Blizzard has stayed away from the free-to-play business model, mostly because there are still 12 million people who are happy to drop $15 a month on the flagship MMO World of Warcraft. But that doesn't mean the powers in Irvine aren't above a few cosmetic micro-transactions. Mini-pets like the gamers balked at the perceived money-grab [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/98391-Pandaren-Monk-Pet-Grants-1-1-Million-Worth-of-Wishes]. Now, the Steed is joined by the Winged Guardian, a new mount that fits the theme of the latest Cataclysm expansion.

[gallery=266]

"When you take to the skies astride a blazing, eagle-winged lion, your comrades will know you mean business. Serious business," the description on the Blizzard Store reads. "So saddle up, because this flying mount will travel as fast as your riding skill will take you, and it can even travel at 310% speed if you have at least one other 310% speed mount."

The Winged Guardian will still set you back 25 bones, but good luck trying to buy one in the next few days. The Celestial Steed had a queue of over 80,000 people waiting to get the digital delivery, and the comments over at the official Blizzard site [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2878502#c-2592971571] is any indication there is already a waiting list 3,000 strong.

Head over to the Blizzard Store if you're interested. [http://us.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100001495]

I like playing WoW as much as my schedule permits, but I don't think I would ever purchase a downloadable piece of content like this. But c'est la vie.

Source: Battle.net [http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/2878502]



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Wolfram23

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Mar 23, 2004
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Winged Guardian Leviosa...

*ahem*

Totally not as prestigious as the Mechano Hog or Traveller's Tundra Mammoth I owned... =P
 

CM156_v1legacy

Revelation 9:6
Mar 23, 2011
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Real money for digital items, Blizzard devs are evil geniuses.

Ah well, cue people bitching on the WoW forms, even though this is an optional item, and threating to stop playing. People will still pay for it, and Blizz will be crying all the way to the bank.

EDIT: Hell, I'd pay $25 or more if I could add wings to my Mammoth. They should add that.
 

The Rogue Wolf

Stealthy Carnivore
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Well, it's not a sparkle-pony, so it has that. But in some of those shots, it looks like a winged elephant. Not something I'd spring half a Grant on.

Also, Blizz... where the hell is my rideable Sporebat? Epic opportunity wasted and never returned to.
 

Alar

The Stormbringer
Dec 1, 2009
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CM156 said:
Real money for fake items, Blizzard devs are evil geniuses.

Ah well, cue people bitching on the WoW forms, even though this is an optional item, and threating to stop playing. People will still pay for it, and Blizz will be crying all the way to the bank.

EDIT: Hell, I'd pay $25 or more if I could add wings to my Mammoth. They should add that.
Are they fake? Digital, yes. Fake? No. You will actually get this mount in the game.
 

Enkidu88

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Jan 24, 2010
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Greg Tito said:
is any indication there is already a waiting list 3,000 strong.
Ummmm. How do you run out of what is essentially a bunch of numbers? What are they sending these things out on CDs?

25$ is pretty outrageous but I guess if someone likes WoW enough, and has enough disposable income, then it's not really any of my business.
 

Wirelink

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Nov 27, 2009
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so why did they make it look like the lion of the White Lion from Warhammer Online ?
 

Panzervaughn

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Jul 19, 2009
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its not that theyre 'running out' but i think they have employees manually activating them.

As for prestige, "I have $25" never really seemed like something worth bragging.

However"I was prepared to pug Tempest keep for 2 years straight, but only had do run it for 3 months and now i ride on a blazing phoenix and am better than all'a 'yall" THATS something i take pride in flaunting. =P And once you have an Ashes of Alar, any other flying mount, aside from a Mimi's head, or Onyxian Drake just doesnt really have any impact. =P
 

Kris015

Some kind of Monster
Feb 21, 2009
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I just don't understand why anyone would pay 25$ for something like this.. There are soooo many things i'd rather spend those money on.
 

CM156_v1legacy

Revelation 9:6
Mar 23, 2011
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Alar said:
CM156 said:
Real money for fake items, Blizzard devs are evil geniuses.

Ah well, cue people bitching on the WoW forms, even though this is an optional item, and threating to stop playing. People will still pay for it, and Blizz will be crying all the way to the bank.

EDIT: Hell, I'd pay $25 or more if I could add wings to my Mammoth. They should add that.
Are they fake? Digital, yes. Fake? No. You will actually get this mount in the game.
Pah-ta-to, pah-tah-to. Tah-ma-to, tah-mah-to
Thanks though, I fixed that.
But my point is that you are paying money for something that does not exist in the real world in a tangable sense.
 

Ladette

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Feb 4, 2011
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Well that looks awful, not as bad as sparkle pony, but still awful.

I was shocked when so many people spent $25 on sparkle pony, I still can't see why people will buy this. $25 puts you half way to a new game and the mount is purely cosmetic. If people will pay for it I can't fault Blizzard for selling it.

I am getting a good laugh out of the people on the WoW forums calling this "a desperate move" and a sign that "the game is going downhill".
 

Taunta

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Dec 17, 2010
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Om nom nom. So it's finally out? Time to open up my wallet.

The Rogue Wolf said:
Well, it's not a sparkle-pony, so it has that. But in some of those shots, it looks like a winged elephant. Not something I'd spring half a Grant on.

Also, Blizz... where the hell is my rideable Sporebat? Epic opportunity wasted and never returned to.
Psst. Get exalted with Sha'tari Skyguard. There's 5 of them.
 

Rad Party God

Party like it's 2010!
Feb 23, 2010
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I have a huge wishlist of games waiting to be purchased on GOG and 25 bucks for 3 games (or 4 $6 games) sounds like a better deal than a stupid mount.
 

Alar

The Stormbringer
Dec 1, 2009
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CM156 said:
Alar said:
CM156 said:
Real money for fake items, Blizzard devs are evil geniuses.

Ah well, cue people bitching on the WoW forms, even though this is an optional item, and threating to stop playing. People will still pay for it, and Blizz will be crying all the way to the bank.

EDIT: Hell, I'd pay $25 or more if I could add wings to my Mammoth. They should add that.
Are they fake? Digital, yes. Fake? No. You will actually get this mount in the game.
Pah-ta-to, pah-tah-to. Tah-ma-to, tah-mah-to
Thanks though, I fixed that.
But my point is that you are paying money for something that does not exist in the real world in a tangable sense.
And this is a problem all of the sudden, why? I'm fairly certain this has been happening for years and years with many companies.

This isn't to say something is 'fine' just because it's been around for a while or other people do it, I just don't understand why everyone is getting all upset about it now when practically every other big developer out there does the same damn thing.