an open letter to Blizzard on WoW

[tking]

I just tried the 10 day trial. Great game, not a fan of the milking-scheme, I mean payment plan. I thought I'd fire this at Blizzard and see what they say. I'll post any reply I get...


Dear Blizzard,

I'm a long time fan (from the original Warcraft on a Pentium 1 to Diablo on battlenet, to just about every other game you've ever made). I'm also a long time RPGer who also happens to be a high school English and Media Studies teacher.

Working in education, I’m a minority in suggesting that video games have any social value at all. Being a gamer myself, I recognize the many inherent skills that gaming develops. From the obvious hand eye coordination to complex multi-tasking, tactical analysis and inventory management, I believe that gaming is THE power-medium in the 21st Century. Everything is spoon fed pacifism.

I have a number of students who are hooked on WoW so I decided to take a 10 day trial and see just how good it is. I'm usually an early adopter (especially of a good RPG) but I never got into WoW due to time commitments (my career and my young family).

You have made a coherent, complex world and it's nice to see the Warcraft universe brought to life so vibrantly by its players. It's obviously a labour of love and I commend you for it from an artistic perspective.

From an economics and ethical perspective I'm having some difficulties though. The manner in which you charge for the game (unlimited access, monthly fee, rigid suspension of account rules) encourages people with too much time on their hands (i.e.: many of my students) to dedicate an inordinate amount of time to it. These are smart kids who are encouraged to spend time in WoW not only because they love being there, but also because your system of payment strongly suggests their doing so.

I would hope that Blizzard might consider a more flexible and responsible means of allowing their players access to this engrossing world. A light account with a 30 hour time limit would be both responsible to under aged players while still allowing you to develop interest those same younger gamers. A variety of options would be better still, allowing parents to more easily monitor and encourage positive behavior in their children.

I'm glad your massive MORG is as successful as it has been. Perhaps it's time to address some of the responsibilities that come with creating such a social phenomenon and create an accounting department that is just as flexible and creative as your game artists are. A payment system based on your client’s best interests might not increase your bottom line, but it might take the word ‘greed’ out of an historical description of WoW in the future. The Karma wouldn’t hurt either.

Sincerely Yours,

[AllGamer]

i too agree on that

most people playing these MMORPG games gets addicted to it.

i know for a fact, been there done that.

lucky i got bored of it... after... hmm... 8 months or so

[germanNiklas]

why does 12 euros ecourage them to pay a lot? its their own fault then, its their own fault if they get addicted!

i pay 12 euros a month, have a lvl 60 character and im playing every 2 days for like 1-2 hours, on some weekends if i have time i go bwl etc

i do that because i like the game not because of the money, sometimes i dont play for a week

blizzard is charging people because they work hard on wow and "need" the money to make patches, for the support etc etc

its not their problem if people get addicted imo, if people get addicted its their fault and 12 euros per months doesnt make me play the game a lot

parents can control how many hours their children play

[kpm547]

why does 12 euros ecourage them to pay a lot? its their own fault then, its their own fault if they get addicted!

i pay 12 euros a month, have a lvl 60 character and im playing every 2 days for like 1-2 hours, on some weekends if i have time i go bwl etc

i do that because i like the game not because of the money, sometimes i dont play for a week

blizzard is charging people because they work hard on wow and "need" the money to make patches, for the support etc etc

its not their problem if people get addicted imo, if people get addicted its their fault and 12 euros per months doesnt make me play the game a lot

parents can control how many hours their children play

I agree with this. It should be up to the parents to regulate the childs WoW intake. Even if it is using some sort of timer program to restrict the usage on the net. I also agree with the fee. WE just got 1.11 patch the other day with new content as well as new servers just set up. If there was no fee, they wouldn't able to provide that.

[JediOfDarkness]

I agree that it's a persons own fault for playing a game too much and ignoring real life situations. If a kid gets on WoW all day and doesn't do his homework, how is that possibly Blizzards fault? It's very easy for a parent to install some sort of software to limit the usage of a computer and/or internet access during certain times of the day, which would then allow the child plenty of time to do homework. So it's the parents fault for not monitering their children more. I know that when I was in school, I never let any game take over my life enough to stop me from doing my homework. Real life is more important than getting in an Ony raid group so you get the DKP :P

Now saying that, I wouldn't disagree with people being able to buy a "limited" or "light" type account. It would be nice for those casual players who only play an hour or two a day to be able to pay maybe half the cost per month, because how much do you think they bog down servers and create problems if they're hardly ever on?