BlizzCon,
is a place of gaming
magic. It is here at this typically yearly (at least up until now)
convention that players can come together for two days of Blizzard game
filled goodness. During these two days of fun filled festivities
players can expect some big announcements about the games they love to
be revealed, especially in the opening ceremony. BlizzCon 2012 did not
leave the fans disappointed with several major announcements including
the revealing of the newest World of Warcraft expansion pack and
perhaps just as exciting the WoW Annual Pass.

As we all probably know by now
the WoW Annual Pass is exactly what it sounds like; players sign a
contract with Blizzard basically saying that they will pay for a year
of World of Warcraft. Overall nothing much changes, you may still pay
for your subscription monthly if need be except you have now promised
that you will continue to do this for at least a year. There are of
course perks involved that sweeten the deal including; free Diablo III,
guaranteed access to the next available beta, as well as a very cool
looking in game mount.

alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/228660">

The WoW Annual Pass
Blues

While most players, myself
included, have no serous regrets after signing up for there are more
than a few that find themselves suffering from what I like to call the
WoW Annual Pass Blues. While the reasons behind the WoW Annual Pass
Blues tend to be as varied as the players behind them, three
universally felt reasons behind this feeling tend to arise to the
forefront:

No Way to Opt-Out

The annual pass is a relatively
new and mostly unheard of concept in the gaming world. Thanks to this,
many players really do not understand what they are getting themselves
into. When signing up for the WoW Annual Pass you are entering into a
binding (and I do mean binding) contract with Blizzard that states that
you will pay for their game for a year. There is almost no way to
escape this contract once you have signed up and if the contract is
broken it may even be possible for Blizzard to take legal action.

This is a grim revelation for
the player who rushed headlong into the WoW Annual Contract without
fully understanding exactly what they were getting themselves into. So
imagine the surprise of these players when a few months down the road
they decide they no longer wish to pay for the game only to discover
that they must do it regardless of most circumstances. Lost your job?
Getting a divorce? Bored with the game? Too bad! You will still be
paying for your WoW subscription like it or not which can cause a
serious case of the WoW Annual Pass Blues.

BlizzCon
2013 Cancelled
style="padding: 5px; float: right; width: 250px; text-align: center;"> href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/228661" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/228661/preview"
width="245">Your
World of Warcraft subscription cannot be cancelled.

You may be wondering what
exactly the cancellation of BlizzCon 2013 has to do with the WoW Annual
Pass and why those that sign up for it are taking it a bit personally.
Up until now, BlizzCon has been a yearly staple that Blizzard fans
everywhere look forward to. For one weekend out of the year like minded
players get to intermingle and basically get their geek on. Here new
games are previewed and major announcements about Blizzard and their
games are made.

In fact, the WoW Annual Pass
was announced at the most recent BlizzCon and players everywhere rushed
out to sign up for it. By now the grand majority of players that are
going to sign up for the pass have already done so, and here in lies
the problem. Imagine these player’s chagrin when Blizzard
announced that there would be no BlizzCon 2013. While not directly
affecting anything the pass had to offer, cancelling BlizzCon 2013 felt
to some players like Blizzard was saying why bother, they had your
promise you would pay for a year, why go through all the trouble of
BlizzCon to keep you interested. While the reasoning behind the
cancellation of BlizzCon 2013 is surely more complex than this, one can
see why this could potentially cause a case of the WoW Annual Pass
Blues in many a player.

Free Diablo III Delayed

The final and perhaps most
lauded banner of those with the WoW Annual Pass blues is the Diablo III
conundrum. One of the major reasons players signed up for the annual
pass is to get their very own downloadable free Diablo III copy. While
no official release date has been given, judging by the completeness of
the game in the beta version as well as subtle hints from Blizzard,
most of us had hoped to see our free Diablo III copy in our hands early
in 2012.

However, these hopes have been
all but crushed as a release of the game seems to be no where in sight.
To further confirm this just recently it was spilled that Blizzard
doesn’t expect the game to release until late June. Sure we
can all sit back and say we want a game that is finished and well put
together, but none of us really expected to be waiting almost the full
year of our contract for our free Diablo III did we? As it directly
relates to my reasons for signing up for the WoW Annual pass this is
one reason that even causes me some mild WoW Annual Pass blues.

The WoW Annual Pass is not all doom and gloom though, many players find themselves more than happy with the contract, especially those who were planning on paying for a year of the game regardless, and more sign up everyday. In this writer’s opinion at least, the WoW Annual Pass was well worth it. So if you do have the WoW Annual Pass Blues, remember, we will get Diablo III eventually and even without BlizzCon it seems like Blizzard fans will still manage to have much to look forward to this year.

Wondering if you too may be
experiencing the WoW Annual Pass Blues? Players with the WoW Annual
Pass Blues may find themselves experiencing the following symptoms:

  • Feelings of regret and/or
    sadness
  • Compulsive /face palming
  • Extreme periods of nerd rage
  • Clicking the mouse with
    excessive force

Did you sign up for the WoW
Annual Pass to obtain your very own free Diablo III? Do you find
yourself regretting the decision and possibly experiencing any of the
symptoms outlined above? shareour thoughts in the comments section
below!


To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 29, 2016

About The Author

Amunet, also fondly known as Memtron, is an organic life form best known for its ongoing obsession with Blizzard Entertainment's numerous properties. To that end, Amu has authored hundreds (thousands?) of the most popular World of Warcraft guides, editorials, and Top 10 lists on the planet. When not gaming and writing, Amu is busy chasing after her three children in a perpetual loop of ongoing disaster.

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