So a In-Game Store in WoW. Thoughts?

[chaos5061]

I'm not even sure this would be coming to the USA. Most people think it's mainly for the Asian Markets. If it does come to the USA then I have no problem with it. I'm just wondering what all they would sell. There are so many things they could.

Here is a list of stuff they could be selling based on other games stores.

1. XP Boost Potions
2. Valor Boost Potions
3. Justice Boost Potions
4. Honor Boost Potions
5. Conquest Boost Potions
6. Gold Gain Boost Potions
7. Crafting Level Boost Potions
8. Bag Slots
9. Bank Slots
10. Void Storage Slots
11. Transmog Gear
12. Mounts (Move from Blizzard Store.)
13. Pets (Move from Blizzard Store.)
14. Some kind of random item chest like the Black Lion Chest from Guild Wars 2 maybe.

Any of these I don't really mind. It's nothing that other games don't have. Couple I would question if they would be made available though. An example would be the Valor, Conquest & Gold Gain Boost Potions.

Valor and Conquest Boosts they may not want to do since that would really affect the World Firsts for Raiding and maybe a slight buying of power feel for the Conquest.

The Gold Gain is questionable because they have been really trying to get gold out of the game instead of into it lately with the Black Market Auction House.

In no way shape or form do I see them putting any kind of gear except maybe a 10% chance for Heirloom Gear on the store. And even the Heirloom Gear is a major stretch I think with a XP Boost on the store but it could still happen. Let me end this here before it gets TL;DR.

[cabby]

I'd worry that if they put in an in-game store that it would herald in the advent of free to play WoW. Most games that have added an in-game store in the past have gone free to play within a couple of years.

[Cartman]

Everything you mention except pets and mounts would be a punch in the face of the customers already paying a subscription.
I have no problems with any XP or reputation or other boosts if WoW was free to play.
But paying 150 Euro each year I don't want to have a voice in my head that says "pay more and you will have more success in less time".

[chaos5061]

I will say that WoW will go free to play eventually. Myself I'm expecting sometime around 2016 when Titan is rumored to be released. Most people will be moving on to the new MMO and to keep people playing WoW it would be a good move.

[AussieEevee]

I'd worry that if they put in an in-game store that it would herald in the advent of free to play WoW. Most games that have added an in-game store in the past have gone free to play within a couple of years.

I think it is a herald of free to play. WoW is, sadly, a sinking ship. Something I've always stated that the only ones that can kill WoW is Blizzard themselves. I still believe that. In todays market, it's very rare for a sub-only game to survive and WoW is no exception. It's losing subs at a constant rate. If WoW stays sub-only, i fear that in a few years it'll simply collasp.

They would be, in my opinion, wise to switch to a hybrid model. It seems to have worked for other games (TOR, etc). Free to play with some restrictions (limit battlegrounds, instances, amount of gold, maybe other stuff) that can be lifted by a $14.99 sub.

About the ingame store... We already have one, the Pet Store. So I'm not too torn up to see it simply move ingame. I also don't think there's anything wrong with boosts. RAF is already a paid XP boost that boosts you to 300% if you level with a friend. And i dont see anything wrong with gold, valor, rep,, honour, etc boosts as you are still working towards the goal so it's hardly pay to win.

In addition to what the op said, i'd be okay in seeing fun items such as the wands from Hallow's End getting added to an ingame store. Maybe some of the ones from the TCG. I'd be willing to spend $1 on fun little items that serve no purpose other than looking cool or being silly.

Where i draw the line is on stuff that affects combat. I never want to see gear*, gold, buff potions, etc added to the store.

*=I might be okay with some leveling gear added to the store. That is, a set of blue gear for levels 40, 60, 70, 80 and 85 that is immediately soulbound and worth 0 copper (must be destroyed when finished with, cant be sold). Quite a lot of players screw up their gear as they level, or simply are under geared so i might be okay with gear sets added to help them get back on track. I stress might though. I would rather they keep gear out of the ingame store all together. But that's as far as i'd go. Best in slot Mists of Pandaria items should never be sold for real cash.

EDIT: With the valor and honour boosts, there would still be weekly limits to them so it's not like you'd gain an advantage over other players.

[Cartman]

The problem I have with anything else except fun items or optical stuff is that we already pay to play the game.
If anything that saves time can be bought the game should be free to play or at least every subscriber should receive a certain amount of shop currency to at least get some of these things without paying additional money.
I think SWTOR and LOTRO do the same, as a subscriber you get some sort of points you can spend on stuff.

Apart from that WoW is far from being a sinking ship. As long as they have more than 1 million players in the major regions the game still has more players than any of the competitiors.
One problem WoW has is the server structure. Currently a lot of players and guilds switch servers which causes a great imbalance in server population. People that cannot afford character transfers or are not willing to pay or level another character from scratch may quit the game. We'll see how the virtual server thing works and if this helps. And if they need to Blizzard can even put all realms into one big virtual server as all realms are already connected.

[AussieEevee]

Apart from that WoW is far from being a sinking ship.

WoW is most definitely a sinking ship. Subscriptions are on the way out. The modern MMO market does not want a subscription-only system, they want cashshops and they want free to play. Other MMOs that are not Fantasy RPGs should have done pretty well as a sub system, but I believe almost all of them - save Eve Online - have gone free to play or adopted a hybrid model now.

Thing is, Blizzard still has time to patch the holes in the sinking ship. If they wait until WoW has less than a million players, it'll be too late. In my opinion, they should switch to a free to play hybrid system. I've given my opinion on how that system should work, because I have seen it work very well for SWTOR.

And yes, you get 500 cartel coins a month with TOR sub, 600 if you have a security key.

[cabby]

Eve Online can almost be considered to be a f2p system at this point. You pay a subscription for a few months while you build up your skills and before you know it you can earn more than enough isk to be able to purchase a plex every month and never have to pay the sub fee again.

[Cartman]

Thing is, Blizzard still has time to patch the holes in the sinking ship.

And that's why I wouldn't call it sinking. I agree Blizzard needs to do something and virtual realms for example is one step forward to keep players that otherwise would need to transfer characters or again level new ones on better populated realms.
The flex raid may be another good thing for smaller guilds on lesser populated realms. My guild had to quit raiding because we needed to take too many random players with us and other guilds have their own raids. With the flex raid it would be possible to merge two raid groups into one with about 15 players. We'll see how this will work.
And finally we have to wait for the announcement of the next expansion later this year. WoW always loses players fater some time in a new expansion, especially when it is something not everyone likes (remember the discussion about Pandaren?).

I've given my opinion on how that system should work, because I have seen it work very well for SWTOR.

I agree that a fair hybrid system would be a good solution. Let's all hope that Blizzard will make it fair, looking at the prices for the helmets in the item shop I fear that someone from the management will have some brilliant ideas