So it *is* free?

Sorry, I thought you said it wasn't?

Colour me confused???!!1

But, seriously, I was just talking the piss out of Markham for saying giving away content is bad. Here we have Blizzard giving away content, and it is going to work out brilliantly for them, no doubt. Once people are hooked, how could they not pay.

Ok you win it is FREE

lol yep I realised after Gideons post that you were messing about. I get so sick of people saying "free" does not work and i kinda jumped on it to quick without realising who you were.

Yep Blizzard will make a lot more money from doing it this way

It's fucking genius.

They are smart guys.

Of course free(mium) works. I've gotten more work from giving away the work I charge for on www.adultmarketing.co.uk than anything else I've ever done.

Yeah they are and the "Free" model is not that new. Shops have used it for years with the "buy one get one free" ect. Even some porn sites do it "Join one site get access to 10 more sites for free" Dating sites have been doing it for years. Damm even GFY does it and they make money lol. I see cam sites doing a similar thing. As long as you can monitize your "Free" members or use "Free" as a hook to catch the surfers who are intrested in what you have, you will allways make money from it

lol crazy pic

Just been reading that and that is even crazier than WOW lol People buying virtual citys in the hope of re-selling to make a profit ....$33500 lol

U seen that minecraft which is getting very popular as well

That's taken crazy to a whole new level lol

lol yeah it has but it has also given me an idea for my mmorpg :thumbsup

I've never played WoW but I can't imagine it takes very long to get to level 20.

They should just go completely free. Free MMORPGs still make hundreds of millions - I've spent over 10k on "free" games :Oh crap

Let's define Free to Play as they have always had a free trial program. The only difference is that now instead of being 10 days of free trial its a free trial until you get to level 20. The current level cap is 85. Level 20 takes about a week to 10 days, 3 days or less if you join under the Recruit a Friend program.

I think in the end WOW will go completly free with buyable items in the game

Been in WoW for 5 years and they are a client. I even have a copy of their financials on my desk (Activision/Blizzard) and see where their income comes from.

Console games where hit and miss showing a loss in their Wii and PS2 divisions while making a bit on their PS3 and XBox divisions. About 15 million in all for their console games.

Their MMO division (WoW) netted over 300 Million last year from memberships and about 30 Million from In Game Items (mounts and pets mostly done as promotional pieces or fund raisers).

There is a large business in China which is illegal in the US from Gold Farming. Today's gold farmers in China include prisoners. It completely changes the dynamics of the game and was made illegal by the players themselves in a class action suit a few years back. The owners of the larges farmers (IGE) left the country to escape going to jail.

As far as off the shelf games, the software copy of WoW is the 15th largest selling game of all time, not including revenues from monthly memberships.

In all, I don't see this as any indicator that the most successful game of all time is jumping the shark to get members, they do a great job at that already however, I do see this as being more fair as many join but don't take advantage of their free game time and then leave.

This will no doubt will let those trial memberships have the time to play and in the end, it will produce revenues.

What was the top level ? Something like 80 - 100 ? I played that a long time ago - bought the game CD with free access for a month to their server. Was busy though and managed to get just two or three times. Could not have a fun of that game - and I heard that it's cool.
Anyway - I had to uninstall it and now I'm possessing PSP. Actually my kid plays on it...

i hate this fucking thread. makes me want to reactivate my old account. i had a geared out rogue, holy priest and warlock for wotlk.


lvl 20 = 10 day free trial imo. just marketed under the new name.

Blizzard is making a new MMORPG but no one knows what it is yet. after that comes out they will buy a small country and call it Blizzard.

ahahahaha u love this thread you want to play WOW agian u miss it soooo much

Don't make me bring my mage and druid out of retirement. Pew Pew Pew!

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh lol at pew pew pew

You are so full of shit it isn't funny :1orglaugh:1orglaugh