Tom Chilton On Blizzard's Microtransactions
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I know I had a little nerd rage in me yesterday during our polite discussion about the Pandaren Monk. It turns out that Blizzard wasn't trying to be an evil corporation. Just that somewhere along the lines Blizzard made a simple mistake when populating a database field, causing the item to sell out when it wasn't possible. It took the situation a few hours to be rectified, but I'll give the web team a little leeway since I blew my lid while they were still counting sheep.
After a guildmate saw me fly off the handle he pointed me in the direction of The Instance. The long-running podcast managed to corner Tom Chilton for an interview, which went live as part of the latest episode. In a case of near-perfect timing, the host pinged Chilton on the topic of the moment, Blizzard's non-combat pet microtransactions.
According to Chilton, the inclusion of the pets in the Blizzard store are a result of the WoW TCG. Initially conceived as a bonus to players of the TCG and WoW, the loot cards became a way for players to raise their pet or mount count directly. The decision was made to offer these incentives directly, removing the randomness from the practice.
It'd be naive of us to not think of the monetary/safety factor though. Purchasing the pets and mounts required obscene amounts of money. Money that Blizzard, nor Upper Deck, saw any part of. By selling the items directly Blizzard not only gets its hand in the pie, but it can also police the transactions. This lowers the amount of customer service calls from people who were scammed or hacked as a result of third party purchasing.
How did the company arrive at the $10 slice of pie, you ask? Chilton covers that as well. The $10 price is no accident. Not only is a Hamilton a president that Blizzard feels the market can bear, but the company needed to justify the efforts of the artists and animators that were involved in the project. I'm sure we've all noticed just how complex and detailed Lil' KT and the Pandaren Monk are compared to the stable of vanity pets we already have.
Chilton even offers a glimpse at the future of the project, one that he calls a "side project." For starters, there is definitely going to be more items placed in the store, but none were detailed. He did mention that there'd be "pet and plushie" sales. These would offer a physical and virtual item of a stuffed mob. We assume that the price point would be lower than purchasing them separate. Chilton ensured listeners that normal WoW content development has not, and would not, be effected by the store. He stated that new developers would be hired to produce its content, should the store continue to grow.
There, now no one can call me anything but 'fair and balanced.'
P.S. Kinda sucks for the Europeans out there that pay €10, which is ~$15. Even worse is what UK players pay, £9, which turns out to be more than their subscription rate. Not much more, but North Americans only pay two-thirds of our rate for a pet.
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I know I had a little nerd rage in me yesterday during our polite discussion about the Pandaren Monk. It turns out that Blizzard wasn't trying to be an evil corporation. Just that somewhere along the lines Blizzard made a simple mistake when populating a database field, causing the item to sell out when it wasn't possible. It took the situation a few hours to be rectified, but I'll give the web team a little leeway since I blew my lid while they were still counting sheep.
After a guildmate saw me fly off the handle he pointed me in the direction of The Instance. The long-running podcast managed to corner Tom Chilton for an interview, which went live as part of the latest episode. In a case of near-perfect timing, the host pinged Chilton on the topic of the moment, Blizzard's non-combat pet microtransactions.
According to Chilton, the inclusion of the pets in the Blizzard store are a result of the WoW TCG. Initially conceived as a bonus to players of the TCG and WoW, the loot cards became a way for players to raise their pet or mount count directly. The decision was made to offer these incentives directly, removing the randomness from the practice.
It'd be naive of us to not think of the monetary/safety factor though. Purchasing the pets and mounts required obscene amounts of money. Money that Blizzard, nor Upper Deck, saw any part of. By selling the items directly Blizzard not only gets its hand in the pie, but it can also police the transactions. This lowers the amount of customer service calls from people who were scammed or hacked as a result of third party purchasing.
How did the company arrive at the $10 slice of pie, you ask? Chilton covers that as well. The $10 price is no accident. Not only is a Hamilton a president that Blizzard feels the market can bear, but the company needed to justify the efforts of the artists and animators that were involved in the project. I'm sure we've all noticed just how complex and detailed Lil' KT and the Pandaren Monk are compared to the stable of vanity pets we already have.
Chilton even offers a glimpse at the future of the project, one that he calls a "side project." For starters, there is definitely going to be more items placed in the store, but none were detailed. He did mention that there'd be "pet and plushie" sales. These would offer a physical and virtual item of a stuffed mob. We assume that the price point would be lower than purchasing them separate. Chilton ensured listeners that normal WoW content development has not, and would not, be effected by the store. He stated that new developers would be hired to produce its content, should the store continue to grow.
There, now no one can call me anything but 'fair and balanced.'
P.S. Kinda sucks for the Europeans out there that pay €10, which is ~$15. Even worse is what UK players pay, £9, which turns out to be more than their subscription rate. Not much more, but North Americans only pay two-thirds of our rate for a pet.
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