Stepping back from all the rage around here, I'm wondering if the things going on right now will be indicitive of the way this mmo will be run.
I was shocked when I heard the CE store will be selling actual gear with stats on it and possibly leveling xp potions or things of that nature. I figured ok they're pushing CE sales and they're asking 150 for it so they have to offer something with a hook. I was kind of surprised they threw in the free mounts as in effect you are just buying in game credits for cash with this move. Now the launch staggering (which was expected) is also something I have never experienced in my long history of mmo gaming. My 1st thought was they would have everyone in within 36 hours... now it appears those who preordered the earliest will have as much as a 4 or 5 day head start on others who also preordered the game.
My point is where will they draw the line in the sand? They have already set the precedent of treating players differently based on when/how much they spend. Is this going to turn into microtransactions for gear? How much of a ***** will this game become?
This is not an issue of integrity so please don't go there. If Blizzard thought it would be more profitable to open a cash shop for epics they would do it. It is just their opinion that the long term sub loss due to lack of perceived integrity would not equal the benefit. BW/EA have already decided that an extra 90$x500k CE's was worth the loss of some SE sales due to the enitial QQ. (I would be willing to bet a weeks pay they are right) My real question is 6 months from now if they have 3-4 millions subs are they the type of company to open a cash shop like that? Other then Dragon Age I'm not very familiar with BW and how they operate so this is a serious question..not just me complaining. I heard they ran WAR for a while..does anyone who played that know if thats what they do? This is not an i'm cancelling thread..when I get in im going to play the hell out of this game for at least a month. This is just a question thats been in my head.
