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Let's get into the Overpull this week!
Heres the lineup this week
Hey guys, I was out last week with a really bad toothache and had to get it pulled, which as you know is a lot of fun. So this week I'm going to try something new with our recap of this week's news. I'm going to give you a link to our news post on the subject then a short commentary about what it's about. Feel free to shoot feedback to me at [email protected] or on the forums about how you feel about this and if you like it or not.
WoW - 3.3.3 Patch Changes Updated
The Glyph of Mangle gets changed to 10% more Mangle damage, bug fixes, and clarifications.
WoW - World First Lich King Hard Mode
Oh boy, what a surprise, am I right? Now we just need to wait on the world's first 25man Lich King.
WoW - WoW's 5th Anniversary!
This is finally over. For those of you who weren't paying attention... basically Blizzard wanted pictures of you holding an Alliance or Horde sign and they made this big picture with all of 'em. Pretty cool and they finally have it finished. Go have a look.
WoW - Minor Icecrown Citadel Nerfs
Tons of nerfs, Bone Storm for Lord Marrowgar for instance is changed where he'll keep threat and will pause a bit.
WoW - WARNING Issue with new NVIDIA drivers!
Downgrade your drivers if you installed the latest!
WoW - ESL World Championship Comes to an End
Huge upset in this game, for the pro-gamers out there.
WoW - Eyonix Reveals Information on Catalysm Mastery System
Finally we know how Mastery might work, but it's a beta so it'll probably change.
WoW - New Ruby Sanctum Info
There is a lot of Onyxias in this new dungeon. Some BWL trash returns with a new skin and a large dragon sits in the middle, like always. I ponder if "buffet" will be used in one of the abilities.
Here at Ten Ton Hammer
Loremaster's Corner #5: A Steampunk Paradise
World of Warcraft has a lot of steampunk themes and we take a look at them this week in our Loremaster's Corner. What kind of technology is in WoW, how will things change in Cataclysm with the Gnomes and Goblins, and what do the various factions and races think about technology? All of this and more in this week's Loremaster's Corner.
Ive been keeping a topic in my pocket for awhile that Ive wanted to touch on since it has come up so often lately. Microtransactions. Yes, this isnt a topic for those weak in spirit. Its something that gets people upset at just the mention, but honestly is it such a bad thing? Lets find out.
Games have been like banks in this recession with a new one falling each month. New launches are bogged down within the first thirty days because users cancel when their free time runs out. Investors are becoming even more anxious to see products out the door and development time has been cut all around. Many blame developers for creating subpar games that arent worth their $15 a month while developers blame the market and the economy. Me? I think that the subscription model is heavily outdated and archaic at this point.
Close your eyes and think about this. Well, wait; keep them open so you can read. Think about going to the video game store and picking up a brand new shrink wrapped game. Think about going home, playing it through to completion, the ups and downs in the story, and the satisfaction you get. Think about shoving it on your bookshelf and feeling that happy feeling as your collection grows. You look at the games and see either a building collection or an investment that you can turn around at a later point for more games.
On the other hand, think about the charge you see each month for your MMOGs. Its like youre paying another phone bill. You dont get a new shiny box for your cash, no cartridges, no CDs, or even a +1 to games owned on Steam. You just have permission to play on someones server with a game that youve already bought. Feels kind of bad doesnt it? If you pick up too many subscriptions then the number keeps growing and makes you feel even worse. $15 a month isnt bad, especially if you play the game a lot, but what about $30? $45? At what point does the price become a bit too much when you dont get anything tangible from it?
For example, I want to play Star Trek Online with my friends but Im unable to because I play WoW and am not in the mood to pay $30 a month, especially for a second game that I might play casually. I get my monies worth out of WoW because I play a lot each week. However, with STO, I might only be logging on a few hours a week and playing around a bit. Thats one of the big reasons subscription models are archaic and need to go away.
Microtransactions work so well in countries like South Korea because it was used way before most modern games came out. For instance, Cyworld was South Koreas largest social networking game and had over 25% of the countrys population playing. It was based purely off of microtransactions and it provided by a successful model. Games like Lineage and Lineage II were subscription based but almost every gamer already played them (much like we play WoW) and werent up for paying a subscription for something else. Not only that, but many gamers play from cyber cafes where you pay by the hour. Who wants to pay by the hour and then by the month for a game more than once?
The point of the story is that more games need to embrace microtransactions and more gamers need to stop flying off the handle when the word is mentioned. Sure, Blizzard will be charging us like OMGPOP does for some kind of armory features. Im sure it wont be as bad as what Zynga has done in the past with their social networking games (annoy your friends and download awesome toolbars that the CEO admits you cant uninstall). It also wont be necessary for you to enjoy the game. As long as there is a subscription on the game you can bet that there wont be any XP potions in the Blizzard store anytime soon.
Other games should embrace the mechanic and open up the market a bit. Keep prices fair, keep limits in place on spending, and make the games fun. Let them out as free-to-play and let people enjoy the game without a ton of upfront spending. Then people like me could enjoy a lot more of the games on the market without feeling bad as our wallets are drained monthly for games we want to play, probably dont mind spending money on, but would rather buy something than be billed for something.
Bioware may be doing this, so the rumors go. Star Wars: The Old Republic could be a microtransaction based game and thats a scary thought. Imagine if you could play other AAA titles without forking out a ton of cash unless you want to level a bit faster or see additional content.
Im fine with it, Im fine with how Blizzard has been implementing it with the pets, and I want to see more games embrace it. Down with monthly fees I say. Im tired of seeing so many good games fall short because everyone plays WoW and doesnt want to fork out the cash for something else.
Well thats whats bothering me this week. What are your thoughts? Hate that Blizzard charges you for pets or do you already have em all?
This Week's Forum Thread for your commenting pleasure.
-David "Xerin" Piner
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