12 month annual pass...

Just went to sign up for this as I thought it would be at a discount price or something. You know, like with other subscription games like LotRO where you pay for a year, or Xbox live. I was wrong in thinking this. It's a damn contract where you continue your monthly subscription but are -not- allowed to miss a payment until the contract ends. How do I know I will want to play the game this time next year still? At least with a one off payment you don't have to worry about they billing you once a month. You do get a free in game mount and Diablo 3 with it, and beta access but who cares about that? Just thought I'd let you all know. It's not what it seems to be at first, and not what MMO-Champion describe it as. It's a contract, not a one off annual payment.

I figured it would be like this, otherwise I could've *maybe* considered it. I'm also pretty sure that even just the access to MoP beta attracts some people to pay over 100€ of this, Diablo 3 and mount included or not.

Not to mention that if it wouldn't be a contract, Blizzard could possibly end up giving a whole lot more free D3 copies than they'll end up doing with this deal. Whatever that would be a good business solution or not, I don't know. I just felt like answering something! Tired mind! Need to play Batman now!

Well if you think you're gonna be playing for 12 months you might as well get Diablo 3 for free and the fancy mount

Do it then, just saying they're asking for you to sign a contract not buy a years worth of gametime and what MMO hut said, "WoW subscribers get Diablo 3 for free!" is not true.

what I don't get is why make it a contract for monthly payments rather than just a one-time payment for 12 months of game time like the 3-month and 6-month subscriptions?

Obscuring the exact price-per-month between the different subscription offers maybe? Is there some advantage I'm missing?

So you can't change your mind and run off to other MMO's. Blizz are getting worried.

Is it because of the increasingly inactive subscriptions? Naaaaah....

>_>

Saevir wrote:what I don't get is why make it a contract for monthly payments rather than just a one-time payment for 12 months of game time like the 3-month and 6-month subscriptions?

Obscuring the exact price-per-month between the different subscription offers maybe? Is there some advantage I'm missing?

Imagine you just paid for your usual 6 month subscription but then wanted to take advantage of this offer.

So you can't change your mind and run off to other MMO's. Blizz are getting worried.

Or rather, they don't want WoW players to leave for D3 while the new expansion is under works.

Saevir wrote:what I don't get is why make it a contract for monthly payments rather than just a one-time payment for 12 months of game time like the 3-month and 6-month subscriptions?

Obscuring the exact price-per-month between the different subscription offers maybe? Is there some advantage I'm missing?

You can do it with 2 6 month payments if you'd rather. I'm betting the reason for it being monthly is there's a lot of kids who play the game who might want to use it and might not have the money neccessary to make one lump payment of cash up front.

Anyway, I signed up for it. The only other mmo I see coming up that I might want to try is GW2, which doesn't have a monthly fee anyway. The Star Wars mmo looks booooring.

I'd sign up but I might want to take a break or not have the funds to pay for a month and have to wait a week to get said funds into my account. I'd rather pay a lump sum like after christmas or something.. I really want beta access too.. this sucks. I'm a paying customer and won't run off to another MMO, why do I get left out for those who willingly sign contracts. Grr..

glilya wrote:
You can do it with 2 6 month payments if you'd rather. I'm betting the reason for it being monthly is there's a lot of kids who play the game who might want to use it and might not have the money neccessary to make one lump payment of cash up front.

Kids are not allowed to sign legally binding contracts in most countries, so I'm having a hard time thinking it could be that.

Saevir wrote:

glilya wrote:
You can do it with 2 6 month payments if you'd rather. I'm betting the reason for it being monthly is there's a lot of kids who play the game who might want to use it and might not have the money neccessary to make one lump payment of cash up front.

Kids are not allowed to sign legally binding contracts in most countries, so I'm having a hard time thinking it could be that.

Blizz has no way to confirm wether or not you're really born on your stated birthday so you can just put your birthdate to before 1993 and you're good to go.

At the end of the day this was because of their fear of SWtoR (Obviously, as they would not care if you played Diablo 3 instead of WoW, they are taking your cash either way), they could of easily add a year game time payment even if so called kids play the game and can't afford it, nothing is stopping Blizzard from doing it. Why they haven't done it is probably because they can charge fees for people who did not have the sufficient funding for them to deduct from your account, to ensure you play WoW for the next year (Past SWtoR hype phase) and so that they recieve a sustainable income rather than a large boom and then nothing for a full year. Their management and development methods are now probably tied to deep into the income provided by WoW subscriptions for them to just not recieve any.

This annoys me greatly though. If the one thing that has annoyed me at all coming from Blizzcon so far it is this, I love MoP and everything it has to offer, yet something unrelated to the actual game of WoW I have found fault with..

Cyrdain wrote:At the end of the day this was because of their fear of SWtoR (Obviously, as they would not care if you played Diablo 3 instead of WoW, they are taking your cash either way), they could of easily add a year game time payment even if so called kids play the game and can't afford it, nothing is stopping Blizzard from doing it. Why they haven't done it is probably because they can charge fees for people who did not have the sufficient funding for them to deduct from your account, to ensure you play WoW for the next year (Past SWtoR hype phase) and so that they recieve a sustainable income rather than a large boom and then nothing for a full year. Their management and development methods are now probably tied to deep into the income provided by WoW subscriptions for them to just not recieve any.

This annoys me greatly though. If the one thing that has annoyed me at all coming from Blizzcon so far it is this, I love MoP and everything it has to offer, yet something unrelated to the actual game of WoW I have found fault with..

This offer isn't aimed at those thinking of migrating from WoW to SWTOR.
I mean, why do you quit playing WoW? Because you're bored with the game or otherwise just not satisfied with the product.
Offering D3 for free to those who agree to keep playing WoW for a year longer won't interest those who are looking for a new MMO.
What it *does* do is keep those playing who would've quit or taken a break from WoW while waiting for the new expansion.

wait so basicaly even thow i have been payying prity much none stop for 3 years no missed payments i need to do a full year contract to take advantage of this offer?

Yes. It's there to *keep* you playing and not to reward you for having played for a long time.

Well, I bought the 12 month thing, and I'm excited

Beta access for meeeeee

Well, the Diablo 3 for free thing means that if you were planning on buying that game anyways, then you're basically saving 4 months off your 1 year subscription. And then you get a mount and a beta key.

Basically, this deal is very good if you're planning to play WoW AND D3. Even better if you're fanatic about getting into the next beta test, as I imagine a beta key will be expensive on eBay.

This offer isn't aimed at those thinking of migrating from WoW to SWTOR.
I mean, why do you quit playing WoW? Because you're bored with the game or otherwise just not satisfied with the product.
Offering D3 for free to those who agree to keep playing WoW for a year longer won't interest those who are looking for a new MMO.
What it *does* do is keep those playing who would've quit or taken a break from WoW while waiting for the new expansion.

Funny how they announce this shortly before the release of SWtoR then. Why would they want to loose so much money on D3 sales just for the sake of not paying for 2 months of subscription to wait for the next expansion. It's blatantly to keep people playing through and past the SWtoR hype. As loosing subscribers to another MMO is a greater loss than loosing sales from D3/2 month skipped subscription.

Cyrdain wrote:

This offer isn't aimed at those thinking of migrating from WoW to SWTOR.
I mean, why do you quit playing WoW? Because you're bored with the game or otherwise just not satisfied with the product.
Offering D3 for free to those who agree to keep playing WoW for a year longer won't interest those who are looking for a new MMO.
What it *does* do is keep those playing who would've quit or taken a break from WoW while waiting for the new expansion.

Funny how they announce this shortly before the release of SWtoR then. Why would they want to loose so much money on D3 sales just for the sake of not paying for 2 months of subscription to wait for the next expansion. It's blatantly to keep people playing through and past the SWtoR hype. As loosing subscribers to another MMO is a greater loss than loosing sales from D3/2 month skipped subscription.

Imagine the following scenario:
You're bored with WoW and are going to pick up this new and exciting MMO called SWtoR. Then comes Blizzard and says that those who agree to keep subscribing to WoW for 12 months will get their latest new game Diablo 3 for free.

What will you do?
A) Take the deal and keep subscribing to WoW because hey, free Diablo 3! Nevermind that you were actually bored with WoW already.
B) Pass the deal and get SWtoR instead. WoW is still boring even if you'd get a free game with it. You're not interested in Diablo 3 anyway.
C) Pass the deal and get SWtoR instead. WoW is too boring to keep subscribing to it for a year, even if you'd get that brand new Diablo 3 you've been waiting for since forever. You can just get it the normal way.

Offering a completely different game that you could just as well buy from stores isn't an incentive to keep playing an older game.

If this deal was aimed at those planning to migrate from WoW to SWotR they'd offer something that is actually related to WoW.

I took the thing because hey, I'll still be playing for the sake of Roleplay until Pandas arrive and I leave for greener pastures <.<

Might as well get Beta, Diablo III, and a nice pegasus to go with it.

Lini wrote:

Cyrdain wrote:

This offer isn't aimed at those thinking of migrating from WoW to SWTOR.
I mean, why do you quit playing WoW? Because you're bored with the game or otherwise just not satisfied with the product.
Offering D3 for free to those who agree to keep playing WoW for a year longer won't interest those who are looking for a new MMO.
What it *does* do is keep those playing who would've quit or taken a break from WoW while waiting for the new expansion.

Funny how they announce this shortly before the release of SWtoR then. Why would they want to loose so much money on D3 sales just for the sake of not paying for 2 months of subscription to wait for the next expansion. It's blatantly to keep people playing through and past the SWtoR hype. As loosing subscribers to another MMO is a greater loss than loosing sales from D3/2 month skipped subscription.

Imagine the following scenario:
You're bored with WoW and are going to pick up this new and exciting MMO called SWtoR. Then comes Blizzard and says that those who agree to keep subscribing to WoW for 12 months will get their latest new game Diablo 3 for free.

What will you do?
A) Take the deal and keep subscribing to WoW because hey, free Diablo 3! Nevermind that you were actually bored with WoW already.
B) Pass the deal and get SWtoR instead. WoW is still boring even if you'd get a free game with it. You're not interested in Diablo 3 anyway.
C) Pass the deal and get SWtoR instead. WoW is too boring to keep subscribing to it for a year, even if you'd get that brand new Diablo 3 you've been waiting for since forever. You can just get it the normal way.

Offering a completely different game that you could just as well buy from stores isn't an incentive to keep playing an older game.

If this deal was aimed at those planning to migrate from WoW to SWotR they'd offer something that is actually related to WoW.

Who says you have to be bored of a game to stop playing it? What if a 'better' game comes out (Like GW2 or SWtoR). Also what do you mean "Actually related to WoW"? Is a WoW mount not related to WoW?

I know for a fact it's because of SWtOR because when Warhammer Online was released they upgraded their RaF system, when LoTRO went F2P they updated their scrolls of resurrection or added them. I for one took their offer thinking I'll probably play for another year. Then a friend of mine asked if I wanted to roll Sith with him in SWtOR and tried to convince me, I couldn't justify paying for 2 MMO's as I have this annual pass now. So many other players who assume they will be playing for another year will take this pass and then when SWtoR is released be less likely to be tempted to leave for it as they have to pay for another half a year of WoW.

hehe i did it

Lini wrote:

Saevir wrote:what I don't get is why make it a contract for monthly payments rather than just a one-time payment for 12 months of game time like the 3-month and 6-month subscriptions?

Obscuring the exact price-per-month between the different subscription offers maybe? Is there some advantage I'm missing?

Imagine you just paid for your usual 6 month subscription but then wanted to take advantage of this offer.

Just commenting on this that those 6 months would still count towards the year, as the FAQ at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&tag=D3WoWFAQ&rhtml=true says.

Sorayah wrote:

Lini wrote:

Saevir wrote:what I don't get is why make it a contract for monthly payments rather than just a one-time payment for 12 months of game time like the 3-month and 6-month subscriptions?

Obscuring the exact price-per-month between the different subscription offers maybe? Is there some advantage I'm missing?

Imagine you just paid for your usual 6 month subscription but then wanted to take advantage of this offer.

Just commenting on this that those 6 months would still count towards the year, as the FAQ at http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&tag=D3WoWFAQ&rhtml=true says.

Precisely. That's why it isn't a single payment for 12 months.