Everyone and their dog has an opinion on “premium” services in WoW. There are some people that feel that because WoW charges a monthly fee, it is unethical to charge for some premium services. Currently, there are quite a few services that Blizzard offers to enhance your MMO experience:
Purchasable pets and mounts in the Blizzard Store (Celestial Steed, Lil XT, etc), $10-$25 per item, applies to all characters
Many MMOs have gone free-to-play, where the only revenue from the game is from optional, purchasable services like the ones Blizzard offers for WoW. However, WoW requires you to pay a non-trivial amount to play per month, as well as the price tag of the game. Here are the current numbers for the software and game time on the Blizzard store and Amazon as of the publishing of this post:
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (requires Wrath of the Lich King), $39.99 Blizzard Store, $39.99 Amazon. (currently on sale on Amazon for $28.95 on May 30, 2011)
That’s just for the software licenses, a total of $110 as of the publishing of this post for US players purchasing on the Blizzard Store. For game time, players have the following options:
30 days, $14.99 (about $0.50 a day)
60 day prepaid card, $28.99 Amazon (about $0.48 a day)
90 days, $41.97 (about $0.46 a day)
180 days, $77.94 (about $0.43 a day)
So how do these premium services, especially the cross-server RealID invite, fit in? Continue Reading
Ready to have your May end with a bang? I hope not, we may not be able to give you that. However, if you’re craving to hear some news, we’ve got it! Join us here, or at Facebook / or LiveStream page.
Below the video embed is our agenda. Join us today at 11AM PDT (2PM EDT).
Just when you thought you wouldn’t see Mordil’s ugly face again, he and Beararm pop out from their foxhole to attack once again! This time, they have less news and more discussion – with a little twist of community involvement.
Below is the quick agenda of the podcast. Reminder: anything can change depending on what you, the viewers want.
Return back here Saturday, May 28th at 11AM PDT (2PM EDT) to join us on the fun – and bring your friends!
Whatcha Been Playin?
Kyle: World of Warcraft, LA Noire, Magic: The Gathering, Lord of the Rings Online, Rift, Brink, Borderlands
I have a pension for efficiency: I have my inscription business down to a science. It’s all fully automated, and my revenue and time investments are carefully calculated to contract out my milling and herb buying labor at a price that maximizes my gold per hour.
Archaeology taunts me with its complexity. I have no idea if I should be using keystones or not, nor do I know the best region in which to dig. There are many theories on the mechanics of discovery for rare and epic artifacts, but there isn’t a consensus in the community, nor a good source of data. Even with data, there are so many nuances that may or may not affect the outcomes. Apparently, Bountiful Bags is believed to be affecting fragment gathering. Patch 4.1 introduced a new mechanic: dig sites for races that you have completed all the rare finds for will be less likely to appear. Do races have different drop rates for keystones? Does the location of a dig site affect the number of fragments discovered? What determines which artifact you will have next, and what are the chances of getting which artifact?
These are only a few of the questions on the tip of my mind. What follows is my anecdotal account of leveling to 525 and a few weeks spent digging while skill capped, and my thoughts on the best way to level and dig. Continue Reading
It’s an incredibly simple feature and one that, arguably should have been implemented long ago. But regardless, the ability to rearrange characters on the login screen — currently being tested on World of Warcraft‘s Patch 4.2 Public Test Realm — is one that many players are eagerly awaiting. Here’s a quick look at how it works on the PTR. Stay tuned for more of our coverage of the 4.2 PTR.
The Winterspring Cub was a snap, so I’m back again — this time with another pet new to WoW Patch 4.1 which takes a bit more work to get. That’s right, I’m talking about the Panther Cub. It’s a reward that’s about a dozen or so quests into a string that explores the rise of the Zandalari trolls.
We’ll zoom through the quests and focus on the end result more than the lore, since that’s what For the Hoard is all about. But definitely pay attention as you go through the lore, too — it will make your next entrance into Zul’Gurub and Zul’Aman all the sweeter!
We’ve seen an influx of new pets and mounts to go collect since the release of WoW Patch 4.1 last week, and I’m here to show you how on For the Hoard. We’re starting off the action with something simple but cute — the Winterspring Cub. Hope you enjoy the episode, and keep a lookout for more FTH episodes coming very soon!
Lately, Blizzard has been releasing a ton of information in regards to Patch 4.2, “Rage of the Firelands.” So far, everything looks amazing. The new quest hub sounds like a good concept and all the phasing that is being implemented with it is going to make it 100% cooler. Oh yeah, Firelands (The raid) also looks a.w.e.s.o.m.e. I can’t wait!
Over the weekend, the World of Warcraft community website released one of the things I was most anticipating about Patch 4.2 — Tier 12 Armor Set previews. Only 6 classes have been covered so far, but that’s fine because 4 out of those 6 are classes I have at level 85!
Here, I’ll cover each of the new Tier 12 Armor Sets, and I’ll also let you know what I think about them. Do you agree or disagree? Leave a comment to let me know. Now on to the loot:
1. PALADIN [9 out of 10]
I love it. In my opinion, it looks pretty similar to the Paladin’s Tier 2, which is considered by most people as the best looking armor in-game. I’ve heard a few people complaining on how this set doesn’t look like plate, but it looks more like cloth instead. That is true, however, you can’t deny the fact that it’s a very nice model.
What do I think about wearing a skirt again? First of all, it’s not a skirt, it’s a kilt. Erm, anyway, I really think kilts look much better than actual pants when it comes to Plate DPS, but that’s just my opinion.
Everyone and their dog has an opinion on “premium” services in WoW. There are some people that feel that because WoW charges a monthly fee, it is unethical to charge for some premium services. Currently, there are quite a few services that Blizzard offers to enhance your MMO experience:
