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World of Warcraft Launches
The last major MMOG launch of the year hits retail stores today. World of Warcraft finally goes live after years of debate, development, and a more than six month Beta test. The usual suspects have details on the game, with Gamespot already having details on upcoming content and Gamespy laying out personal experiences from the test and interviews with the developers.
"Why can MSFT pull off XBox Live for 50 bucks a year, but the MMOG guys can't do it for much less than 20 bucks a month?
XBL no doubt sucks more bandwidth and does a shitload of backend work."
Xbox Live has very few dedicated servers. Most of what Live does is matchmaking (the Xboxes themselves host the games).
MMORPGs need to have a ton of dedicated servers, run by a full-time networking team, on ALL the time. When servers are down on an MMORPG, there's no game, period.
Equals about 2.5 meals at McDonalds
Yeah, right. Like I'd do that in the first place.
2 trips to the movies
Four bucks. In a real theater. With comfortable seats. Dumpster-O-Popcorn, a buck fifty.
Of course DVD "rentals" are "free".
I saved nice amounts of money on single player games. I used to buy one or two single player games a month, now, not one.
I found a few games five or six years ago that entertainingly offer infinite replay value and have strong communities that keep them up to date. One of them supports internet play with a direct connection so I'm not even dependant on company servers for that one.
I don't have time to buy new games. I'm too busy having fun.
Look, if it's worth it to you I'm not going to gainsay that. It's your money. I honestly don't care if you burn it and I'm not trying to say that you should spend your money as I spend mine. Spend it as you will, but there are those of us who can stretch a dollar a long, long way, and have just as much, or even more fun out of it.
It may look "cheap as it gets" to you, but that doesn't stop it from looking damned expensive to us, because it actually gets a damned sight cheaper.
KFG
To whom it may concern:
There were several posts and FAQ answers concerning billing and
payment methods for WoW. PayPal was one of the options often
mentioned, along with prepaid game cards, and credit cards. With no
prepaid game cards available until the third of December, and PayPal
NOT being an option at the time of this email- I am a naturally
frustrated customer. Blizzard has always been very fair corporation to
me, and I would appreciate a non-misleading update on the availability
of alternative billing methods. I realize that credit cards are in
Blizzard's best interest, but repeatedly stating that alternative
methods for payment would be available, but not come through on that
promise, is frustrating to me as not only an avid Blizzard fan, and as
a consumer. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
-William A. Morrison
HwaguyGmail.com [@ removed]
(XXX) XXX-XXXX [phone # removed]