And… he has done it again. Pandaren DoubleAgent Reaches level 100 as Neutral. Last year, on June 14th he reached level 90 as a Pandaren who didn’t choose Alliance nor Horde faction. A few hours ago, he announced he reached level 100. It was no easy feat.
Not choosing a faction means his character is stuck in the Wandering Isle and he is not able to queue PvP Battlegrounds, Scenarios, Dungeons nor Raids. So how is he able to level up at all? That has two answers: Patiently; and by earning experience (XP) through herbing/mining and pet battles. You can browse through his progress documentation in Twitter.
The initial reaction has been rather for the change, albeit with some resistance from other commentators. Most opposing commentators have been stating that Blizzard selling gold can only end in a “Pay-to-Win” scenario. A “Pay-to-Win” scenario is exactly how it sounds: you pay with real money to succeed in the game. This practice has been adopted by quite a few online games, including Rift, Diablo 3 (specifically and only when the Real Money Auction House existed), and H1Z1. These games have (or in Diablo 3’s case, had) given players the means of progressing without doing any actual work. When the player reaches the maximum level or endgame content, they could simply go to any of these shops and purchase the best gear and items for their character.
It’s a frightening thought, and it’s a fear that seems to permeate World of Warcraft’s outlook by some presently.
Well, I say you’re all wrong.
First off, can someone explain to me how this is “Pay-to Win” in the slightest? I see no gear being sold. I see no items that offer an advantage over other players being sold.
With WoW’s in-game currency revolving almost entirely around Gold, a vast amount of players save gold, upon gold, upon more gold. In my time playing, I still know a guy who has collected close to 9 million across all of his characters and no matter how he approaches the game, he can’t spend it all.
To have such a surplus, wouldn’t it make sense to have some sort of system to alleviate this and positively change their approach to the game? All that effort after all those years, all that gold compiled.. and it doesn’t pay off at all really.
Sure, you can buy the best cosmetics and mounts in game, but what else is plausible? You can buy pieces of gear that will simply become replaced when you raid, and that’s about it. This surplus situation boils down to having nothing to spend it on, all while still having to pay a monthly subscription fee.
Basically, you’re rich in the game, but you’re not rich in real life. And while real life continues to happen and you pay monthly fee after monthly fee, the totals add up and you’re sitting there with millions of gold and nothing to spend it on.
Let’s look at this change from another perspective: meet Joe, the Average WoW player.
Joe’s loved WoW since he was 12. He’s adored every moment in the game, meeting each with laughs, or screams, or even rage. All of this though, for all the good and bad, it combines into his own wonderful experience with the game.
Despite all this, Joe’s facing problems. No, I don’t mean a boss not dropping the specific piece of loot you want, or some in-game guild drama; I mean real life problems.
This average WoW player loves the game. Sure, he’s not the best at it; he’s mediocre in every sense of the word. But, truly, he loves WoW. Meanwhile and outside of Azeroth’s virtual existence, Joe is having financial issues. He wants to keep playing the game he loves, the game that may have even inspired him to do wondrous things in the world, but he can’t continue as long as his financial means are poor.
Joe comes to one final conclusion: either give up WoW and don’t face financial collapse, or keep playing and cut back further on your financial standing (which, obviously, is the worse decision in my opinion).
“Why the WoW Token is the best thing to happen to WoW in years.”
That’s where the WoW Token alleviates this. The effort players pour into WoW every day, every other day, once a week… pays off in-game AND real life.
Everyone, and I mean everyone is in some ways Joe. You want to play the game, you want to enjoy yourself, you want to socialize with your friends and guild and conquer every challenge that entices you.. but you can’t, purely due to a tacked on fee.
I say this because the game acts as an outlet for more of its playerbase than I believe anyone will admit. When I personally used to seriously raid, the nights we’d progress and eventually down a boss were exhilarating. It made me feel like I accomplished something while everything else in life was moving rather slow. The game acted as a stress reliever and something that I, and many others I would bet, prided myself on.
The game itself is hard to put down, specifically when it’s used as an outlet for one’s frustrations. I know from first hand experience, and I’ve come to know others over my years who have felt the same.
Outside of this reasoning though, I am so for this change because of its moral implications. Blizzard has stated constantly over the years its disdain for Gold Farmers to the point they’ve even sued a Gold Farming company. Over the years we’ve also learnt more about the actual machinations within Gold Farming industries; their entire culture and workplace is toxic and horrible. Many of the Gold Farmers we know today are in fact prisoners to the game others, like myself, enjoy.
With Blizzard more-so overlooking the way Game Time and Gold itself is distributed, it helps to eliminate an entire industry based around borderline slavery and slimy practices. I fail to see how that’s bad. Furthermore, with Blizzard allowing the in-game economy to decide for the worth of a WoW Token, it allows a plethora of players who I personally know to play the game freely without questioning their choice to fund their World of Warcraft subscription over living essentials.
This is a change I welcome with open arms, and I hope those still carrying pitchforks will lower them a tad bit after gaining such perspective.
The game isn’t going Pay-to-Win; it’s adopting a practice that has been becoming much more commonas the years have passed.
The game is still the same; it’s not suddenly forcing you to buy a Token. You can freely pay for your subscription month to month per usual.
If anything, the game just had some new life breathed into it. All the players who haven’t touched WoW in years due to its subscription fee will have means to access it without that pay wall we all experience month to month.
And because of this change, I already have a few long time friends who wouldn’t touch the game because they couldn’t pay for it coming back.
So, if you’re still sitting there trying to come up with every X, Y, and Z reason to counter the WoW Token’s existence, I sit here and ask you this:
This was announced on the sly by Blizzard a few months back, the possibility for players to exchange gold or a virtual money to buy game time or even gold. This is now official with the introduction of the WoW Token. Read more about the details
Coming soon to an Azeroth near you: the WoW Token, a new in-game item that allows players to simply and securely exchange gold and game time between each other.
Players will be able to purchase a WoW Token through the in-game Shop for real money, and then sell it on the Auction House for gold at the current market price. When a player buys a WoW Token from the Auction House for gold, the Token becomes Soulbound, and the player can then redeem it for 30 days of game time.
Want to buy a WoW token for gold? Head to the new Game Time tab in the Auction House, and purchase one immediately for the current gold buyout price—there’s no bidding involved.
When you put a WoW Token up for sale, you’ll be quoted the amount of gold you’ll receive once someone buys it—you’re guaranteed to get that amount no matter how the market moves.
The WoW Token was created to give players with lots of extra gold the option to use it to help cover their subscription cost, and give those who want to purchase gold a way to do so from fellow players through a secure, easy-to-use system. The Token will be making its debut in an upcoming patch—in the meantime, check out the FAQ below for details on how it works.
We have opened up an account to allow our loyal and new visitors support Blizzplanet on Patreon.
Since 2008, Blizzard Entertainment has invited Blizzplanet to various events around the world. The first time, Blizzard invited me to the Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals held in Paris, France for the unveiling of Diablo III. Ever since, staff members from around the world have gone to special events in Los Angeles, the Irvine Headquarters, BlizzCon, San Diego Comic Con, GamesCom, Toy Fair, New York Comic Con, PAX East and PAX Prime.
Blizzard Entertainment has invited Blizzplanet to PAX East 2015, and hopefully will continue to do so in future events around the world.
Thus far, I have been able to help some of our volunteer contributors through your support with Jinx and Amazon links year-round, but sometimes travel, and hotel expenses come from our pocket. We produce content for fun, and not for a living. We are fans just as you are. There is no corporations behind us nor a payroll.
Your continuous support will ensure that all staff members who go to these Blizzard events can bring you the latest news and interviews. We are your eyes where you aren’t able to go. We gather your questions and voice them during our interviews. Please, contribute $1.00 every month through Patreon to help us serve and entertain you.
Thank you for your support, and for checking out our fansites’ latest news when you get downtime.
If you want to learn more about what is going to happen when the patch 6.1 (with spoilers) will launch tomorrow, then you must read the following article published by Blizzard. How many orcs do you need to kill before the end of the Iron Horde and the other savages foes of Draenor?
Since we first stepped foot on the Draenor of the past, we’ve been inexorably drawn toward one intriguing tale among a multitude of storylines taking place there. In patch 6.1, the quest line that began with ‘Call of the Archmage’ will continue, and the stakes have never been higher.
Spoilers follow from here! Do not read this post any further if you do not want story details spoiled.
As a follow up to our recent article, Studio Cosplay reaches 40% of Kickstarter Goal. They have already reached $9,778 with only 100 pledge backers. Their actual goal is $24,000. At this rate, Studio Cosplay will be able to fulfill their dream offering classrooms, 3D printing support, and crafting stations for cosplayers in the area of Washington D.C.
Studio Cosplay: We have a Kickstarter goal of $24,000 to cover start-costs and operating expenses for the first year. Most of this will go to rent, utilities, and deposits for a 1000+ square foot studio in the Washington, DC Metro area. After we meet our goal, we will be adding stretch goals to bring even more awesome stuff to the space. The more we raise, the better the space! We have many backer rewards to choose from, so check it out and support us today!
Our Kickstarter launched February 13th at Katsucon and concludes on March 15th. We have a long wish list and many stretch goals, including a classroom area, sewing stations, airbrush and painting stations, fabrication stations with a 3D printer, and green screen for a photography area.
Show your support and spread the word! Like us on Facebook for updates on our status and donate to our Kickstarter today!
I am a fan of cosplay. It all started a few years ago with the BlizzCon costume contests, and viewing photos of a cool cosplayer by the name Christina Sims, who we all know nowadays as Hearthstone community manager Zeriyah.
Recently, a Blizzplanet visitor: Stephanie, emailed me about her upcoming Kickstarter plan. I felt more than obliged passing on her press release for those of you who share the same passion.
A group of likeminded women joined forces to launch a non-profit makerspace exclusively for Cosplayers in Washington D.C. They have plans to expand to other cities in the United States, but this can only be possible with the support of the community over time. Now just imagine you plan to go to BlizzCon, San Diego Comic Con, PAX East, GenCon or your favorite national event — and out of the blue one of these makerspaces open up in your area.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to create your first cosplay costume, or enhance your skills with top-of-the-line tools and materials; and to be able to talk and have fun with likeminded cosplayers while building your next project?
Well, their Kickstarter will begin on February 13, so get on the boat and start rowing away to get this idea rolling.
Nonprofit Breaks New Ground with Cosplay Makerspace
Studio Cosplay says: “Our Kickstarter campaign titled “Studio Cosplay: A Makerspace by Cosplayers for Cosplayers” is set to kick off Friday 2/13/15 at 4:30PM! Early pledges help our project to gain visibility so we’ll need as many backers as possible to jump on this straight out of the gates! Watch our website and social media pages for a direct link on Friday. We greatly appreciate the support we’ve received so far on this journey and we’re honored to have so many people excited to see our workshop become a reality! We can do it”!
Fairfax, VA — Studio Cosplay, a Washington DC area-based non-profit, is changing the world of cosplay and makerspaces. In 2015 it plans to offer the best of both worlds by opening the first community workshop by cosplayers for cosplayers.
With multiple stations catering to making and displaying costumes, armor, and props, the types of equipment provided will include sewing, painting, fabricating, wig styling, 3D printing and more. Photographers will also have the use of a green screen.
The studio will offer hands-on classes for cosplayers across all skill levels, ranging from sewing to photo shoots to working with thermoplastics.
“Cosplay has not only allowed my artistic expression to flourish but the people I have met through cosplaying are more than just friends; they are family,” says Liz Gmaz, a founding member of the organization. “Studio Cosplay is going to be a home for cosplayers. In a way, to me, cosplay means Ohana.”
The group also plans to provide emergency repair support at fandom conventions nationwide where members can glue up, stitch up, finish up, and rest up before diving back into the crowd.
To meet the needs of interested cosplayers and to fund subsequent years of operation the organization will offer multiple “cosmakerspace” membership tiers.
Studio Cosplay’s mission is to promote community through the art of costuming by providing workspace, opportunity, and education. The organization’s founders, Liz Gmaz, Stefanie Hackenberg, “Katilist” and Daria Medved, are themselves cosplayers who saw a need in the cosplay community for a place where cosplayers can go to work on their projects, meet other cosplayers, learn how to make costumes and props, and expand their artistic expression. Their crowdfunding campaign to cover the workshop’s first year of expenses launches in February 2015.
For more information or to schedule an interview, contact Studio Cosplay at:
For those that are following us on Twitter, you might have seen that Blizzard is quite active over that social media. An ingame functionality that would allow Twitter and World of Warcraft to co-exist was only nice to improve that feeling.
With the patch 6.1, Blizzard is introducing us to how you will be able to use Twitter inside the game. And who knows, if the feedback is interesting, it could be applied to others Blizzard games.
We have a new feature coming in Patch 6.1 that’ll allow you to send out Tweets directly to your Twitter feed while playing World of Warcraft. It includes the ability to send out text-only Tweets; easily take, crop, and Tweet out in-game screenshots; and let your friends know about your recent accomplishments.
It’s easy to get started; all you need is a Twitter account! Under the Social section of the in-game Interface options, just check the Enable Twitter Functionality option, and then the Sign In button. You’ll be taken to a standard app approval page that will allow you to send out Tweets using the in-game UI.
Once you’ve authenticated the app, you can initiate a new Tweet by typing /share into chat, or by clicking the small share icon that’ll appear in-chat next to Achievement and item drop notifications. You can also add an Achievement or item directly to a Tweet with the Twitter UI open by shift+clicking the Achievement or item.
Tweets from within World of Warcraft are only ever initiated by you, and we will never automatically send out Tweets on your behalf—we’ve disabled Addons from sending them too. Our goal is to make it easier for you to Tweet while playing World of Warcraft, and more convenient to share fun moments with friends.
Of course if you don’t use Twitter or don’t want to see any of this stuff, just don’t check the ‘Enable Twitter Functionality’ box and it’ll stay out of your way.
We’re excited to see how people enjoy this new feature, and encourage everyone to jump on the 6.1 PTR to test it and provide feedback.
FAQ
Q: When authorizing the World of Warcraft app it says authorizing it will let you see who follows me, allow you to change my profile, and some other things; why do you need access to do all that? A: The Twitter app authorization system only has a few tiers of access that we as app developers can choose from, and the one we chose was the most basic with the least access required. It will list out a bunch of features this integration does not use, and have no plans to use, like those mentioned. The World of Warcraft Twitter app only exists to allow you to Tweet while playing WoW if you want to, and only you can initiate and send out a Tweet.
Q: So I’m going to see a bunch of Tweets in-game now? A: No, there’s no in-game Twitter feed; this feature just sends Tweets outside of the game.
Q: What if I don’t want to see anything related to Twitter in-game? A: If you don’t authorize a Twitter account through the Interface option you won’t see anything related to the feature.
Q: Are you going to start requiring Twitter use for in-game activities? A: No, we just think it’s a cool convenience feature for those who do like sharing their gaming activity on social media—if you don’t like doing that, no problem.
Q: Isn’t this going to cause a lot of spam, or issues with people sending out inappropriate content from the game? A: This doesn’t add any functionality that isn’t already achievable through Twitter. This simply makes it more convenient to link items and share achievements and screenshots while playing.
Q: Is there a separate login per-character, or is this account-wide? A: Your Twitter authorization is Battle.net account-wide. Any WoW license (as well as any characters) within the same Battle.net account will be able to Tweet from an authorized Twitter account. You’d want to sign out of Twitter through the Interface options before logging out of the game if you don’t want the authorization to persist between logins.
Q: My child uses my WoW account sometimes; will they have access to Tweet from my Twitter account? A: The Twitter authorization will remain active until you log out of it through the Interface options.
Q: I don’t use Twitter, but I do use some other social platforms, when could this be implemented for those? A: We’re starting with Twitter, but the /share functionality certainly could be expanded to other social platforms if you would find it useful. We’d appreciate your feedback and ideas on where we could go next.
Q: This seems cool but I haven’t tried Twitter yet, how can I get started? A: Twitter has a helpful guide to get you started, and we maintain a list of official and employee accounts right here that you can follow to start building your list.
Q: How moddable is this by Addons? A: The UI is fairly locked down to keep access to sending Tweets secure, and ensure that you—and only you—are choosing when to send them. Addons may still perform some light functions, such as helping to populate the chat field in customizable formats.
Our French friends from Blizzheart, had the chance to receive from Blizzard some nice goodies from the Blizzard Store. Among them you can found the Southshore – Tarren Mill Shirt, the cute but deadly Mur’ghoul Plush, a terrifying Shirt inspired by the Lord of Wars series, a World of Warcraft Water Bottle and finally, the fabulous Green Murloc Mug.
How to enter the contest is quite simple. Just have a Blizzheart account, then go to your profile, change it and you will see a field dedicated to the contest. It’ll just check off the items that interest you! A draw will be made for each article Monday, February 16th at 11:59 PM CET, and the results will be published in the day of 17, the day after.
Of course, since the website is in french, I will show you on the screenshots below how to proceed through this savage site.
Activision Blizzard Q4 2014 financial report conference call was held today at 1:30pm PST. Blizzard Entertainment CEO Mike Morhaime reported the latest updates on all current and upcoming games. Overwatch and StarCraft: Legacy of the Void beta testing have no ETA, but he confirmed these will start in 2015.
In addition, Team 5 is working on more Hearthstone content. So far 9 million players have signed up for Heroes of the Storm beta.
Highlights
At BlizzCon® on November 7, 2014, Blizzard Entertainment announced a new intellectual property, Overwatch™ — a highly accessible multi‐player game featuring an amazing cast of heroes and set in an all‐new Blizzard game universe.
On November 13, 2014, Blizzard Entertainment launched Warlords of Draenor™, the fifth expansion for the #1 subscription‐based MMORPG in the world, World of Warcraft®. The expansion sold‐through more than 3.3 million copies as of the first 24 hours of its availability and helped drive World of Warcraft to more than 10 million global subscribers at the end of 2014.
On December 8, 2014, Blizzard Entertainment launched Goblins vs Gnomes™, the first expansion for Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. The release of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft on Android tablets followed on December 15, 2014.
On January 13, 2015, Blizzard Entertainment began the closed beta test for Heroes of the Storm™, its upcoming free‐to‐play online team brawler featuring iconic heroes from more than 20 years of Blizzard gaming history. To date, more than nine million players have signed up to beta test the game.
In January 2015, Blizzard Entertainment’s Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft reached more than 25 million registered players.
Additionally, in 2015, Blizzard Entertainment expects to begin beta testing Overwatch
Overwatch going to beta soon this year. No ETA.
Blizzard working on new Hearthstone content
Activision Blizzard Q4 2014 Transcript
Dennis Durkin: In 2014, Blizzard generated record avenues and near-record operating income. The year was driven by Diablo III: Reaper of Souls and World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, both of which generated significant revenues and income that will not have comparable releases this year.
In addition, we expect WoW subs to decline as we have seen historically in the year following the release of a large-scale expansion.
In terms of new releases, in January, Heroes of the Storm Blizzard second free-to-play game entered closed beta. While we expect it will take time to ramp in monetization as it builds its audience, we are very excited about the opportunity we have in front of us with this game.
In addition, this year, Blizzard will continue to release new content for Hearthstone as well as bringing the game to mobile devices later in the year.
Lastly, Overwatch, which was just announced in November, is expected to go into closed beta later this year. While we are very excited about this new franchise, it has not been factored into our outlook.
Finally, Blizzard will continue to invest in our own distribution platform, Battle.net, which will need to support a significantly larger audience and commercial capabilities going forward.
Mike Morhaime: Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated and talented employees around the world, Blizzard Entertainment delivered one of our most successful years ever.
In 2014, we released award-winning expansions: World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (on Windows and Mac), and Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (on Windows, Mac and Consoles).
We also launched our first free-to-play game, Hearthstone, which has collected Game of the Year awards, and nominations as well.
Hearthstone was released first on Windows and Mac; and later on iPad and Android tablets, bringing Blizzard into the mobile space for the first time.
Additionally, we supported Hearthstone with two major content releases: the Curse of Naxxramas Adventure and Goblins vs. Gnomes, our first expansion. Our success across multiple game genres and platforms in 2014 drove Blizzard’s best-ever annual revenue, and more importantly, helped us continue expanding our global community of gamers.
On the World of Warcraft side, we ended the year with the release of Warlords of Draenor in November. As we previously announced, the expansion was a great success in all regions, pushing the global player-base above 10 million. The introduction of the character boost as well as design updates to the game made it much easier for lapsed players to return to World of Warcraft, and quickly reintegrate themselves into the community.
Looking ahead, we’re already preparing new content and features to support the game in the coming months. As with previous expansions, we do anticipate a decline in subscribership in the coming months, particularly out of Asia, where the subscriber-base has been more fluid.
Moving on to Hearthstone, the game continued to excite and attract players around the world. After announcing the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion at BlizzCon in November, we launched it a few weeks later in December. This was followed shortly after with the Android tablet version of the game. All this activity helped drive Hearthstone’s highest monthly active players ever in December, as well as our highest revenue quarter-to-date for Hearthstone.
Registered players for the game have now reached over 25 million, capping off a spectacular start for Hearthstone. It’s gratifying for us to see how the global Blizzard community has responded to our first foray into a new genre; as well as the free-to-play market and gaming on tablets. We will keep working hard to build on last year’s momentum with more content in 2015, as well as the upcoming Android phone and iPhone versions of the game.
We do have another free-to-play game in the pipeline with Heroes of the Storm (our Online Team-Brawler). This is a genre that has proven to be very popular in the online space in recent years. We are excited to put our unique spin on this genre, in a game that stands out from the rest, with highly accessible play and iconic Blizzard characters from the Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo universes.
Heroes of the Storm has recently hit some major development milestones including the start of closed beta in January, along with sales of the Founder’s Pack (a digital bundle for $39.99) that gives player an array of heroes, skins and other content; as well as instant access to the beta test.
We are continuing to ramp up our infrastructure and game service capabilities, allowing us to open up the game to more of the 9 million players who have signed up for beta testing. Excitement around Heroes of the Storm continues to build as we are seeing more grass-root tournaments pop up and major eSports entities are already creating professional teams for the game.
Looking further ahead, we gave the world a glimpse of what’s next for Blizzard at BlizzCon.
We kicked off the show by unveiling Overwatch, a team-based first-person shooter featuring an amazing cast of characters of heroes; and set in an all-new Blizzard game universe. The announcement trailer for Overwatch was a viral sensation on the Internet, while attendees and press alike raved about the gameplay after trying an early build on the BlizzCon show floor.
In addition to Overwatch, we also showcased the final chapter in the StarCraft II trilogy: Legacy of the Void. This will be a stand-alone expansion, meaning anyone can jump right into the StarCraft II experience without needing to own the previous games. We expect beta testing for both Overwatch and Legacy of the Void to start later this year.
For a while now, we have been discussing the strong pipeline of Blizzard games. Gamers have long known us for World of Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo. Now with Hearthstone added to the mix, and Heroes of the Storm and Overwatch soon to follow, we will have more games in more genres and on more platforms than ever before.
As busy and successful as 2014 was, we’re looking to build on that momentum this year and deliver even more excitement to players in 2015.
Past Activision Blizzard financial conference calls for trend research in our archive.
that’ll appear in-chat next to Achievement and item drop notifications. You can also add an Achievement or item directly to a Tweet with the Twitter UI open by shift+clicking the Achievement or item.
