So the other day I learned the popular MMO World of Warcraft will test an in-game cash shop. Along with giving the players to buy vanity pets and mounts within the game as opposed to through Blizzard's website, the shop will also be selling experience boosts and, in particular, items that are grindable in-game and used to trade in for re-rolls for item drops.
As a player who started up in the mid/early Wrath of the Lich King days, I have a fair amount of experience with the game. I've been watching it get... easier, I think? I am by no means a hardcore WoW expert, but the skill cap has definitely been going down. But as a man who is finding less and less time to sit down and play a game, the ease-of-play and the convenience it provides (that is, not having to pore over five different skills when it's all in one handy skill) I can't say I'm complaining too much.
So with that in mind, I would say the in-game shop is overall not a bad addition. The majority of things it will be selling is stuff that players could have bought previously through battle.net, except instead of forcing the player to go outside of the client to make the purchase, they can do it in-game.
Secondly, when Mists of Pandaria came out, after I had leveled my main, a warrior, I spent a lot lot lot of time leveling my first alt, a mage. Let me tell you, despite having heirloom items, the whole process still took a long while. Like I mentioned before, I have limited time to devote to gaming sessions, so if this experience boost is reasonably priced, then I am all for it.
The last thing is the doozy, though: the lesser charms of good fortune. Back when I was still playing, players had to grind these lesser charms from the end-game daily quests. Players needed 90 to get a greater charm I believe, which then allowed the player in any of the end-game raids a free re-roll on a boss. If I am not mistaken, this as well as the drops specializing themselves to your character and specialization were new features for MoP as well, and I was all for it because it lessened the time needed to get geared up.
(For those unfamiliar with WoW, this extra chance at a powerful item was great because players can only search for them one per unique raid, so doubling one's chance at getting the item is crazy good. Additionally, boss monsters could drop an item for ANY class, so the newest expansion made it so that big bad bosses only drop something that could be useful to your character.)
The only concern I would have for the end is the idea of pay2win, but really, those charms helped gear players for PvE which, while competitive, is not the same as PvP. It just lets the player get the best raiding gear they can get a hold of. Plus, if they want to drop money on something that can be easily grinded, then that is their prerogative. Last I heard, the previous 90 requirement was lowered to 50, and supposedly those charms are being given away like candy now.
For now, though, I think the best we can do is wait and see how it all pans out. Thanks for reading!
Wow, what a nerd,
Eric
As a player who started up in the mid/early Wrath of the Lich King days, I have a fair amount of experience with the game. I've been watching it get... easier, I think? I am by no means a hardcore WoW expert, but the skill cap has definitely been going down. But as a man who is finding less and less time to sit down and play a game, the ease-of-play and the convenience it provides (that is, not having to pore over five different skills when it's all in one handy skill) I can't say I'm complaining too much.
So with that in mind, I would say the in-game shop is overall not a bad addition. The majority of things it will be selling is stuff that players could have bought previously through battle.net, except instead of forcing the player to go outside of the client to make the purchase, they can do it in-game.
Secondly, when Mists of Pandaria came out, after I had leveled my main, a warrior, I spent a lot lot lot of time leveling my first alt, a mage. Let me tell you, despite having heirloom items, the whole process still took a long while. Like I mentioned before, I have limited time to devote to gaming sessions, so if this experience boost is reasonably priced, then I am all for it.
The last thing is the doozy, though: the lesser charms of good fortune. Back when I was still playing, players had to grind these lesser charms from the end-game daily quests. Players needed 90 to get a greater charm I believe, which then allowed the player in any of the end-game raids a free re-roll on a boss. If I am not mistaken, this as well as the drops specializing themselves to your character and specialization were new features for MoP as well, and I was all for it because it lessened the time needed to get geared up.
(For those unfamiliar with WoW, this extra chance at a powerful item was great because players can only search for them one per unique raid, so doubling one's chance at getting the item is crazy good. Additionally, boss monsters could drop an item for ANY class, so the newest expansion made it so that big bad bosses only drop something that could be useful to your character.)
The only concern I would have for the end is the idea of pay2win, but really, those charms helped gear players for PvE which, while competitive, is not the same as PvP. It just lets the player get the best raiding gear they can get a hold of. Plus, if they want to drop money on something that can be easily grinded, then that is their prerogative. Last I heard, the previous 90 requirement was lowered to 50, and supposedly those charms are being given away like candy now.
For now, though, I think the best we can do is wait and see how it all pans out. Thanks for reading!
Wow, what a nerd,
Eric
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