Slashdot Mirror
World of Warcraft and UDE Point System Fiasco
Richard Manley writes "A report on the card game trinket fiasco. When the UDE (Upper Deck Entertainment) point system finally went live, I would imagine most of the people that logged in felt the same fury I did. Blizzard knows the lengths that its fans will go to get trinkets (look at the price of Murloc cards on eBay), but their arrangement with Upper Deck simply takes advantage of the good will many fans have shown." From the article: "This means that in order to get these trinkets, one would have to purchase 9 BOXES of cards for the fireworks and 21 BOXES of cards for the ogre. What does this mean? Want a fireworks trinket? Sure, it is only going to cost you $900.00. Want an Ogre trinket? No problem, it is only going to cost you $2,100.00. Bear in mind that these items are purely for show off purposes and give no in-game advantage to players." Having been through the Magic: The Gathering addiction twice, I've decided staying away from this Collectible Card Game is a good idea.
Players of WoW will be pissed for about two weeks, then blizzard will implement [Axe of ZOMGWTF Pwnage], and soon they'll all be off to EPL to grind the 400 zombie asses they need to turn in to get it. This is just the epic obsession of the month. Next patch there will be something better.
Aah yes, the UDE system... I'd much prefer CCQ myself as well. Although I never had an MtG problem, I still fear MiG's that were sold to some unfriendly countries.
....
What the heck does all THAT mean? I must be getting old
It seems to me that the more time passes, the less I understand around here. Funny how that happens.
That's a 50 DKP MINUS!
You see? You see? Your stupid minds! Stupid! Stupid!
Complaining about this makes as much sense as being a devout Catholic and then getting all upset with the arbitrary rituals and limitations that come with the package.
The article makes a huge assumption: That the cards are the ONLY way to get UDE points. Maybe this is just the first way. Maybe you can also earn them by grinding, in-game. Or winning contests. Or special quests. Or other WoW merchandise.
Or maybe they just placed an extra 0 on all the stuff online by accident.
Or maybe they really are just greedy bastards and know how to exploit the playerbase of the most popular game in the world.
Or maybe, just maybe... They meant it to be REALLY FSCKING TOUGH to get those. They aren't special if everyone has one.
"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
So let me get this straight. I group of people bought large amounts of some card game they didn't actually want to play, because they would get some points, with no idea as to how many points they will need. Then it turns out the things they can buy with the points are really expensive.
Why not either a) Buy the cards for the cards, or b) Wait until you know how much things will cost before buying the cards?
Combination - fun iPhone puzzling
Complaining about the cost of "trinkets" is a little silly. They're nothing
other than "vanity items".
So the writer of this article is upset that vanity items cost too much? Hello?
Any disappointment on the part of players is a result of over-expectation
in the 'freebie collectible' component of the offline game. I'm not sure that
having one's un-researched expectations shattered by reality is something that warrants
casting blame on the manufacturer.
IMHO as long as we're talking about something that has no other purpose but to
flaunt in front of other players and say "Na-ha, look what I have!", there's no
'appropriate' price. As in the real world, vanity has no upper price limit.
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
How can we kill that which... has no life?
Repetition does not transform a lie into the truth. - FDR
Do people complain about those little coke codes that you can redeem?
Hell no, why? Because only an idiot goes out and buys the coke bottle just for the code. They code is a little reward for drinking the coke. Its not a consolation prize, it is a little reward for a bit of brand loyalty. Hell the rewards for the soda are less useful.
God, what an ass. I'm gonna buy a ccq so i can win a freaking e-penis enhancement. Oh boy, I pay 15 bucks a month already, why don't I just bend over some more then bitch about it. You have not been kidnapped, you don't have a knife at your throat, DON'T BUY THE FUCKING CARD GAME YOU MORON, GOD DAMMIT ITS THAT SIMPLE. ITS ONLY A FIASCO IF YOU ARE A FUCKING MORON.
cough. ahem. sorry.
You mad
*DrugCheese rants*
The context is a crossover for marketing. Blizzard (who publishes the WoW online game) contracted with Upper Deck (a card manufacturer) to publish a WoW collectible card game. As a draw for the online folks, they put 100 "points" in each pack of cards, with a promise that those points could be used to purchase items in the WoW online game. So, a lot of online-WoW players ponied up for the cards to get points, before the points and rewards were announced. When Blizzard announced how many points each trinket or doodad cost, the points were so high that people would need to buy thousands of dollars worth of cards before they could amass enough points to get anything but lowball stuff like screensavers/wallpaper. WoW players who bought cards just for the online points are now understandably bent out of shape about it.
Virg
If you expect to open a pack and get a fun trinket in game, what would stop every wow player to open just one pack and get it? Then it would not be special.
- You get 100 points per pack.
- You can get a nice amount of points in special tournaments (probably more than 100 points and less than 5000).
- You can get omg lucky! and open an special Legendary Loot card. It gives you a code for a special reward in game. Turtle mounts are reaching some high prices...
So this is more a problem of children crying GIEF NAO!
I tried to click on the [Axe of ZOMGWTF Pwnage] but doesn't work. can anyone link it so I can see the stats please?
Ironclad Security only exists when you have Chuck Norris on the shift. Do we really have to discuss this? (Plutonite)
You know, if they were trinkets that were easy to get then everyone would have them, and all the dimwits who are getting so upset about this wouldn't want them.
And it seems pretty clear to me that having introduced a reward system, Blizzard are unlikely to just leave it at these daft card games. You could pick up points in all manner of other ways. Some points, its to be hoped, could be earned in ways that don't involve you having more money that sense.
How about a WoW-branded credit card? Instead of cashback, you get in-game points for real-world spending.
WoW isn't the most popular by a long shot. Take a look at the numbers for Lineage, and you'll see what I mean.
Latest numbers from http://www.mmogchart.com/ put Lineage and Lineage II combined at about 3 million subscribers. WoW is at about 6.5 million and on their website they recently claimed to be over 7 million. That sounds like a pretty big lead to me.
Ain't it a shame when facts get in the way of making a point? What was your point anyway?
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
A couple counter points to the article -
First, I've known many many people who have spend over 1000 dollars on CCGs, most notably MTG. The extra tabard, the turtle mount, and whatever else is a bonus. It's not meant to be a grind, it's not meant to be the sole reason you spend 1000 dollars. The fact that people are willing to spend such an obscene amount of money for one, rather than leave it up to chance, is no more Blizzard's fault than it would be Sony's fault that people will buy playstations on Ebay for 3x the price just to get one 2 weeks early.
Second, everything I've seen as a bonus from this is inconsequential in the game. The turtle mount isn't even epic, meaning you would still need a regular in game mount or everyone (your guildies, your battleground comrades, or that night elf you were chasing down) will outpace you. Vanity in game pets don't fight in combat, and most shape altering trinkets (this UPC item I'm sure included) don't fool guards or most players.
Conclusion : The article's author confused a collectible card game with a lottery, and got teary when he didn't win. To quoth the WoW forums, "Cry more nub".
You can get 15 minutes of fame, but you can go down in history for infamy.
Having been through the MtG additiction twice, I've decided staying away from this CCQ is a good idea."
If the editors can't it right, who can?
No no, I think it's a new word. An "additiction" is when you get so miserably hooked on it your face starts to twitch when you realize your dealer--sorry, the card manufacturers--has upped the price again.
That's actually a pretty good idea, guy (not that I play WoW)... it'd be another revenue stream for Blizzard, and it'd give the players another way of getting points. IANAL, but I hope there is some way you could copyright (or whatever the proper legal phrase would be) that idea so you could get something if Blizzard ever does it.
You think less of me. Oh the shame. Somehow i'll just have to try and pick up the pieces of my shattered life and go on. I'm sure it'll be a hollow shell of an existence, full of misery and regret, but maybe, just maybe, some day i can redeem myself and earn back your favor. Oh wait, nevermind. I cared there for a second, but i'm over it now.
Welcome to the internet Virg. Bring along a sense of humor next time you visit.
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
You have $5 in your hand. Do you buy:
a) A deck of WoW UDE cards - throwing away the cards and hording points for a system not yet in place to spend the points online?
b) A video game rental?
c) 5 Crispy Chicken Sandwiches from Wendy's (pre-tax)?
d) A share in Ford (they're hovering right around that)?
e) Some cheap headphones?
f) A 1 gig flash drive from TigerDirect (after rebate)?
g) 5 lotto tickets?
h) 5 songs on iTunes?
i) 40 songs on AllOfMp3?
j) any other thing on this planet you can get for $5?
Utility theory says that all of these are not equal to everyone. The major downside to spending the $5 is, of course, that you no longer have the $5, and the thing you have acquired may not be worth $5 to anyone else, so you can't always just "turn it back in" and magically get $5 again. It is that moment of choice which defines self utility. And frankly, people scarfing up these decks of cards placed an irrational (and needlessly high) value on these decks.
It's like playing the lotto. Irrationality is predictable, too, because self-utility is not a rational thing, but it can be measured all the same. Good marketing people know this.
Dude, you were wrong, he corrected you, and in a lot nicer way than most would have on /. Take a pill or something.
Yeah, as usual people whine about it being to hard to get a useless item that they don't need. If you don't want to spend the money, don't get it! It isn't like some powerful item that only uber-raiders can get, it's a piece of crap that will make you look cool for two seconds.
Besides, they're easy to get. I've almost got mine already.
Sure, if you just buy enough cards off the Auction House, you'll have to spend 900-2000g to get the trinket, and of course that isn't worth it. Instead, just grind it out!
The day after they patched the game to include the cards, I went to the Franklin Elementary Playground zone during lunch. The weak mobs there were dropping packs of cards pretty often, and other loot besides. Plus they have a really hilarious crying emote they do when you hit them. The "Save me mommy!" one was the best; keep at it until you hear it, trust me! After an hour the mobs stopped spawning, but I came back later and there were big crowds of them all lined up in front of where the big yellow tram comes. I must have taken out a hundred of them in like fifteen minutes. A few tougher mobs aggroed from the trams, though, so be warned.
All told in about an hour and a half of grinding, plus travel time, I got a total of 10k points towards my ogre trinket, a few g worth of cash, a Nintendo DS Lite and a Nintendo DS (strangely the Lite sold for more on the AH even though it is white and the DS is blue... go figure). Compared to most of the semi-worthless things you grind for in WoW this is easy, so those complaining about the price should just STFU.
One more note... I know this is probably just the Random Number Generator screwing with me, but I went back to Franklin the next day and it seemed like nobody was dropping WoW cards any more. So I left and went to Washington Middle School nearby. The mobs were a little harder, but still pretty easy and they droppped more cash and the WoW cards to boot.
Uh oh, gotta go, the My Boss elite is patrolling this way.
The enemies of Democracy are
The UDE reward points in the World of Warcraft TCG were intended to be a reward for players - not a reason to drive sales. They're simply a "bonus" that can be redeemed for not only items in the WoW online game, but also for physical items like deck boxes, playmats, token cards, etc. However, we understand that we didn't do the best job communicating our intent, so as of Monday morning we've announced that we're cutting the points required to obtain the trinkets in half, and eliminating the threshold for the tabard.
A pack of cards, containing 100 points, sells for $5.00, while an entire box, containing 24 packs or 2400 points, costs around $100.00. UDE lists the in-game fireworks trinket at 20,000 points and the ogre trinket at a whopping 50,000 points. The talbard, which sells for a "reasonable" 2,500 points, actually requires an account of points worth 25,000, placing it in the same price bracket as the other trinkets.
The article's math is a little off. The MSRP for a booster pack is $3.89, so a box of 24 packs retails for $93.36. Most game stores sell boxes at a discount, and if you poke around online or on eBay you can find them as low as $60. With the new costs announced today, you can accumulate enough points for the fireworks trinket by spending $389 at retail, or about $250 if you order online. The Ogre trinket will cost about $625 if you bought boxes just for the reward points.
The article glosses over the fact that alongside the UDE points, you're also getting cards to, you know, actually play the game. You end up with at least 250 Rare/Epic and 750 Uncommon cards which all have a value on the secondary market, and looking at prices one week out from release things are looking pretty good. If you just want the UDE points, then take your cards to a game store or put them on eBay, and you can recoup a large amount of the money you spent on cards originally.
Honestly though, you should just give the game a chance. It's the best TCG to be released in the last 10 years, and does a good job being honest to the online game. If anyone at a recognized website or print publication wants some product to review the actual gameplay, please send me a message and I'll get some out to you this week.
Cheers,
Ben
--
Ben Drago
Organized Play
Upper Deck Entertainment
Ok, I'd like 50,000 free points, then.