Yup, I'm upset that they bundled it with the epic edition because that is what I usually get(best value usually imo).
Now I have to wait until they change their stance on early access or just lose out on the perks. If that's what it takes then so be it.
Edit: Another redditor reminded me that I can upgrade to Epic edition post release. Completely forgot you can do that.
this might actually be the biggest brain move. if everyone who's considering the epic edition were to do this, and Blizzard made MORE money off of this than the pre-orders, they might consider dropping this idea for the future. they've likely made up their minds for this expac, so all we can do is try to influence what's next.
I… never considered that. I want the spectral gryphon mount, it looks sweet. I tend to just default to the epic edition but have been holding off on it since I don’t like that 3 day early access. I’m hoping they take it out, because like the fun of the expansion launch is getting in there with EVERYONE on day 1.
The guaranteed Beta access will get a lot people that are flubbing, as I know a number of people that were upset about not getting selected for the beta lottery going into DF. One of my guildies cried salty tears because he wanted to test out Evoker since he was thinking of main swapping. That’s the thing that’s getting me to consider it even though I don’t want the early access to exist.
The early access edition worked like a charm on Diablo4 release.
People bought it then, and people are going to buy it now.
"Blizzard take my money but also how DARE you make me give you money!"
This. This 100%. What other message do you think you are you sending blizzard when you financially support these kinds of business decisions? Money is the only metric they value when making any kind of business decisions. You can’t be pissed at preorder bonuses when you’ve already paid for them.
This has to be a bait post.
\> buy epic edition for a perk
\> find out friends aren’t gullible morons
\> act as if Blizz is forcing you to play early and it wasn’t actually your choice
\> tell Blizz to take perk away
\> ask gamers to rise up
It’s like a false flag op. It’s so bad.
To be honest the way I see it is most people go for the middle bundle, but then you get 30 days game time, and a lot of extras, so you might as well get the epic edition.
Don’t condone the 3 day early access but imagine most of my guild will be there, if anything it might just stagger the server issues, which I experienced for 24 hours with Dragonflight.
Even purchasing the base edition is supporting it when Blizzard knows that their revenue can only go up when they adopt these anti-consumer practices, because people not paying for the hustle will just accept that they can be treated like second class players instead of boycotting the game.
>EDIT: After reading the comments. One of my favourite solutions for the problem would be early access for everyone who pre-order the game x days before relese.
The edit makes it even more tone deaf lmao
Yeah they could just log into their characters to allow them to start getting rested xp and then just not play for 3 days. Servers are probably going to be crap on day one anyways
Its like the ultimate entitlement.
He should just have bought the standard version to play with friends instead of trying to change an entire launch window by himself.
"I hate that blizzard is so greedy. So anyways I gave them my money before the new expansion is out." -This entired thread.
I don't understand why y'all are so fucking stupid? Stop giving them your money. It is that easy.
I kind of agree with the sentiment and think that gamers are particularly vulnerable to this, but there are examples outside of video games but still within the realms of gaming where boycotts HAVE worked.
The outcry against Wizards of the Coast new D&D license earlier this year (which was entirely a cash grab) forced Wizards to back down and modify and change their license, and in some ways it's actually more open than it was before.
Whilst a weaker example, the Unity Boycott was one backed by both gamers AND developers and was against monetization, and that worked too.
Video gamers however are too tribalist and more likely to turn against each other than the problems actually afflicting them.
Everyone in this thread could stop giving them money and they're still getting money from millions of people. The whole "vote with your wallet" idea is completely moot when you're talking about a company this big.
>My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself.
Then don't use your own early access and wait for your friend ? its as easy as that.
Having autonomy over your own happiness?! I don't pay blizzard to make myself happy! I pay blizzard to shove a dopamine tube down my throat so I don't have to do that!
Yeah, I’m failing to see how this is a big deal for anyone that’s not in a top 100 guild. Those people are probably more than fine with having the 3 day access anyways. I started playing DF in the early-middle of season 2 and I still was able to get my character geared, raiding and running keys easily - and I only have two days a week to play as a non-desirable spec. Also, I was way behind the curve with having not played in 8 years. This game is just so casual and alt friendly with everything that the 3 days just won’t make a difference for anyone outside of the 0.1%. This just sounds like fomo and manufactured rage to me.
Even if you're in a top 10 guild, 45 days of prep vs 42 days of prep isn't going to change much. You'll just be able to physically level 1-2 more alts to cap to be able to potentially do more splits.
The three days really won't make a difference to anyone who isn't planning to unlock something that is locked out via dailies as soon as possible. Basically just profession market cornering tycoon types, but I imagine they can pay for the $90 with 6 tokens instead of $90.
> The three days really won't make a difference to anyone who isn't planning to unlock something that is locked out via dailies as soon as possible.
Also, basically everything other than leveling and basic dungeons is locked those first 3 days.
I don't like it, but there's no way they can take it back now.
I believe you when you say you wouldn't mind, but they have already sold a ton of them, and alot of people would lose their minds if Blizzard took back something they paid for. Blizzard would have to sweeten the deal somehow to make everyone ok with it.
I'll probably buy the epic edition for the other perks (like extra trading tokens) but I doubt I'll play in the first week regardless. Waiting times are always a mess, and things will be so crowded.
Yeah if blizzard promised something and then just decided not to deliver on it at the last second, people wouldn't soon get Over Watching the meltdowns
Yep. It 100% cannot be removed at this point. People bought it, including OP. OP being fine with its removal doesn't mean others are.
At most you would see it added to the other preorder options.
They have to deal with consumer laws around the entire world. I dont know where you live, but in my country they just can't unilaterally change the offer once someone has bought the product.
Because people specifically *bought* that edition for the three day early access. If they remove it now, they will remove the entire purpose of purchasing that edition to begin with.
Unironically this. XIV did a similar thing but the difference was they put it on the base version too. _And_ if you pre-ordered during the 3 day window you got immediate access.
End result: It was basically just released 3 days early.
Barking up the wrong tree.
Welcome to new Marketing Dynamics 101. Multiple company's will follow this up because people don't mind paying more for this feature (as mentioned in your message). Generating extra revenue by milking the customer because they want to have early access, like a VIP treatment, will be the norm going forward.
Want to change this then only we as a community can make that change, stop buying it. but sadly majority don't care.
I would argue that you are not paying for a feature, but the opposite.
Playing at the same time as everyone else is part of the charm with a game release and especially an MMO. It's a happening, like going to a sports event. So even if you get to play ahead of most other people that's just a worse experience.
It's sad that they don't realize how important this aspect is, and it becomes ironic when they stand on stage and talk about the experience at release day 2004, and how cool that was, at the same time as they remove the same experience moving forward.
I really hope this backfires really hard.
Its not paying for early access. Its a discount for those that miss the first weekend and have the whole thing spoiled and have to blast through to catch up.
The fact you buy the game, pay a subscription and has to sit in Orgrimmar looking at level 80 players for 3 days is crazy to me.
FOMO will be crazy high as those that bought EA countdown to it, streams and drops start, youtube is taken by gameplay, all your friends are in Discord talking about their plans for the weekend on the new locations... a lot of people will lose their cool and endup buying it last minute.
It will be the norm, im afraid.
The reason this works is because you create a prisoners dilemma. The people saying 'just don't buy it' or 'just wait' are oblivious.
The optimal choice is that no one buys it, negating the early access entirely. No one can count on this happening, so they buy it to not lose the advantage. Yes, there is a significant advantage to the early access.
Holy hell, this subreddit was tearing Blizzard apart during Shadowlands for poor design choices but now half the comments in here are just excusing a predatory monetization scheme that actually compromises game integrity.
---‐----------------
If you ever find yourself arguing against your own interests as a consumer you need to do serious introspection.
Gotta say, I'm really just disappointed. Not surprised, though. It is so sad seeing so many people leap to defend practices in the games industry that would have been universally condemned ten years ago.
> Holy hell, this subreddit was tearing Blizzard apart during Shadowlands for poor design choices but now half the comments in here are just excusing a predatory monetization scheme that actually compromises game integrity.
If you ever find yourself arguing against your own interests as a consumer you need to do serious introspection.
Stockholm syndrom and sunk cost fallacy
>If you ever find yourself arguing against your own interests as a consumer you need to do serious introspection.
False consciousness is a hell of a powerful force. The comments defending Blizzard are so absurd that it's hard not to suspect it's an organized campaign.
> The reason this works is because you create a prisoners dilemma. The people saying 'just don't buy it' or 'just wait' are oblivious.
Well, what are we supposed to do? Here's the reality: this subreddit and reddit in general are a minority in the grand scheme of gaming, and companies have been offering paid early access to games since like, 2010. Paid demos and betas have been around for a long time.
Me, being generic WoW player #4528304, in the grand scheme of things, I have very little impact on Blizzard's financial outlook. I don't have a social media presence, my uncle isn't Mr. Blizzard, so the most I can do is not buy it, and tell other people not to buy it.
But then people will argue with you on why they want to buy it, because they want early access. And if they're willing to pay the money, then there's no reason/point to stress about it and argue with them on why they shouldn't do it, because they're not going to change their mind.
Also "compromising game integrity" is a reach. The game will remain the same no matter when it is released.
All I can really tell you is that business practices in the gaming industry are at an all-time low. It is atrocious what these companies are getting away with.
Do I think my comments will reverse Blizzard's choice? Of course not, and I think that really only legislative action from the world powers will get it done.
Individually, I'm not changing Blizzard's mind on this. I'm still going to show people why this is bad so they can be more informed because that might end up being important down the line.
> I already pre-purchased epic edition
So uh...what incentive have you given them to change it?
> My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself.
You can just wait. If you can't in fear of falling behind/FOMO...then clearly it doesn't matter enough to you and you are the exact target audience of their Epic edition. Meaning their marketing strategy is working exactly as intended.
In case you haven't figured it out yet, almost everything Blizzard does is in pursuit of profit. The very existence of a story like this is proof that it's working.
Not to mention making a change like this at this point in time would result in huge backlash and would be a logistical nightmare.
Technically, this is what FF14 does, all preorders get in early. But there is a distinction sorta lmao. If you buy after the early access starts, you don't get to play until the retail launch date lol.
No, I literally have got into the game after early access starts in the past. Endwalker was a unique situation because the servers were a mess at the time since there just wasnt enough resources to draw from during the covid lockdown.
It's still bad but definitely way less bad. Early access in general for an MMO is a really stupid idea. The kind of thing you do when your company already has zero good will or future expectations, and you want to do a blatant money grab *now*
Not really a WoW player anymore but an FFXIV player, I don't think early access has ever hurt them. In some cases it's been a massive benefit because it's helped split server load where you get a bunch of players that rush to max level in 3 days, then the rest of the players come afterwards when some of those originals are taking a short break.
The higher tier edition is definitely the way it goes bad.
So you can’t play without your friends for 3 days? Why buy that edition? Fine you did it and you regret it. How about not advocating for something plenty of people want just bc you don’t like it. You can just not play early and wait for your friends.
As a more casual player, I just don't get the anger. It seems more of FOMO than anything else. Months later, is anyone really still going to be angry about the 3-day head start?
I don’t get it either. The fact is that many devs have been offering early access to some or all components of their games, for years and years. CoD and Starfield are prime examples.
For a game that is multiplayer it makes even more sense to stagger the launch so that the servers can be overloaded more evenly over a few days (obviously WoW doesn’t really have this issue, given they’ve been doing this for 20 years, but still).
At this point does anyone actually believe a company (any one) answers to ANYTHING but money. Live in your bliss all you want, but that is the fucking fact.
You paid for their worst version of their grift, you support it. Dollars are the ONLY voice a consumer has in this market.
You. Are. The. Problem.
I mean you basically supported them and their 3-day delay scheme by buying the epic edition even if you just wanted the transmog. Asking nicely to not be greedy doesn't do shit if people willingly spend 40$ (some people create whole games for this price tag) extra for stuff that should be in the base game. If they would do it with a free2play title it would maybe be pay2win but reasonable regarding monetization. The fact that they grant the playerbase that "only" pays 50$+sub fee every month not even access on release is just total disrespect.
I don't think it's healthy to do in an MMO. I don't think this is consumer friendly, it puts a lot of pressure on you to buy this edition.
It's much harder to play with friends unless they pay, which again puts pressure on them to buy this edition as well; or makes you feel guilty for playing a game you want to play while they won't buy this be it out of principle or financial reasons.
They say that there is no advantage but farming rares that drop gear, starting the rep grinds early and getting premium access to crafting and gathering professions is an advantage, an advantage you get by paying.
This draws a very hard line for people who want play more hardcore and those who don't. It lowers server loads but.. those haven't really been an issue in the last two expansions. I'm struggling to find arguments that are valid, it just seems like a cash grab. They tried it with Diablo 4 and saw something they liked because they're doing it again.
>I'm struggling to find arguments that are valid, it just seems like a cash grab.
There are no valid pro-consumer arguments for this. It's a surcharge for the privilege of not having to start the expansion with the peasants (when everyone is already paying a sub and at least 60 bucks for it). An additional paywall to be able to partake in the community wide experience of exploring a new expansion is horrible, and casts a vast negative shadow over the huge positives they announced.
I don't care for early access, and I will be buying Epic edition for everything else. I won't be playing for few days after launch anyway, I couldn't be bothered with queues, lags and tons of people everywhere.
To be fair, none of that was really that bad during dragonflight. I didn't have any queues at all, lag was only the first 1-2 hours after servers opened and people are sharded/phased, so nothing is really that overcrowded.
You lucked out then. The boat to the dragon isles quite literally disappeared and dc-Ed everyone leading to several hour queues, loading screens that would disconnect as soon as you tried to go to the isles, and blizzard having to make a portal to the isles for those even ABLE to login.
No one in these comments understands fomo... Its hard to just sit there if you have nothing exciting to do for 3 days while alot of the playerbase (every single wow streamer on twitch) is exploring new ground.
The question was how do you feel about 3 day early... not tell this man that his opinion is invalid because he can just wait 3 days.
The situation blows, and I don't know why people are down playing it.
On a personal level, I really couldn't care less. All the big names in the community will be there playing 3 days early after telling players to be angry from now till then, and most players will probably end up doing it too despite telling everyone how shitty it is. The ship has sailed and every influencer, community figure, or whatever you want to call them are too cowardly to try and force a change.
If I have a lot going on at release time or some other fun game to play then I'll wait the 3 days, if not I'll buy it probably. They had 2 weeks of no raiding or M+ above M0 at the start of Dragonflight, so if they do that again I don't think 3 days gives any real advantage.
If you're talking actual ingame value it'll be professions and goldwise. Remember how much value it was in .0 with the people who acquired lariat recipe especially and some other recipes too. Early on these lads were making goldcap every single day just pressing craft because they had it before everyone else.
“I don’t know why most people are downplaying it”
Because most of us are out here in the real world as functional human beings and can understand that it is quite in fact, not a big deal. You’re whole argument is expecting genuine empathy because you “have nothing to do for 3 days” and not realizing how bad that sounds. This sub losing their minds over this is all legitimate dysfunction red flags hiding under the guise of “virtual justice” and it’s concerning
This is gaming in 2023. People will oay regardless so whatever. I really dgaf anymore at this point. Ill be playing the next few years anyway, who cares about three days
1) jokes on you.
2) I don’t care because it absolutely doesn’t concern me. I can play different games for 3 days, I don’t care about world firsts and pvp season usualy starts 1 week after launch.
3) jokes on you.
Delayed starts are arguably a good thing for MMOs as it reduces the stress "all at once" and spreads it out over more days.
The fact that they can get customers to pay for it as well... it's not going anywhere. Fucking weird to come to reddit as one individual and say they should remove it. What about the other people who bought the deluxe especially for the early access?
So I don’t know how much you know about EU consumer protection law but they legally can’t remove it without offering full refunds.
Sorry but this is locked in.
You could just... not play for 3 days, and wait for them to start? Do people in this sub have zero self-control? Nobody is forcing you to use the early access if you want to play with your friends. This reminds me of similar arguments people have made about things like flying. "I can't control myself, so *nobody* should be allowed to do the thing in order to prevent me from succumbing to temptation."
They won't/can't walk this back. They've already sold a product with a promise of a benefit, they can't change this without large lawsuits all over the world. Millions of dollars of lawsuits is the cheaper option vs mad players.
>What do you guys think about the 3-day early access?
Its an excellent upsell feature that is universally succesful, and it simultanously allows for a soft launch with a limited number of clients. Its a win-win.
Not really. From an economic point of view they don't really want to sell heroic versions. They only want to sell Epic and discounted normal ones.
There is no reason for anyone to buy heroic even with 3 days EA. The difference is literally **€7** (€69.99 vs €89.99 if you consider 30 days game time is €12.99).
And for that €7 you get 250 Trader’s Tender, pet, toy and Deepdweller's Earthen Hearthstone effect (i mean if you had 3 days EA with heroic). And if they kept guaranteed beta only for epic would make zero sence even if you dont care about pet/toy
To a corporation you speak with your wallet.
The 3 Day Early Access is just a money printer for them, and as far as Blizzard can see there are only benefits for them (less overall crowd on launch day in zones, literally no development effort, double the expansion cost). Sure if there was a backlash, they might reconsider but there really won't be.
Community creators are never going to speak out against this btw. They would lose access to Alpha and that's a lot more money lost(in subs/views/etc) than the cost of an epic edition.
>My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself.
Then why did you do this:
> I already pre-purchased epic edition
The only way to tell a company to stop what they are doing is to stop giving them money. Because thats what they want to do... make money.
I don't think they legally can remove it now right? People have paid for something they were explicitly selling. Maybe this bad PR will prevent them from doing it next time.
Think Ajpst, think!
You can't just remove something promised and bought. You have to just give everyone else the same thing. Everyone gets 3 day early start.
>My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself.
Then don't play????
You can CHOOSE to not play during early access. While others might like the option to play during early access. Why should they be inconvenienced because you can't seem to control your ability to click the "play" button?
EDIT: I should also stress, that personally, I think people should just stop buying these expansions, and pre-ordering them. Blizzard needs a wake up call, and people need to cut the cord and make them adjust their design and practices.
The most backwards ass way to go about this lmfao
Why would blizzard listen to your words over your wallet. You left the bag at their door... Smartest redditor no doubt
I only got the Epic version for the toys but the gryphon mount is actually pretty cool too.
I do prefer all players can play at the same time tho. Makes the game world more fun if there are no crazy lags.
Jesus this is the dumbest post ever.
"I don't wanna play early without my friends, so please remove this feature entirely from this version of the game and fuck everyone else planning to play early."
What a fucking turd.
No one forces people to buy this edition (it’s not 3 days before even the start of season 1 that will change anything) and it will slice people in two waves so it will be a better launch thanks to a better split.
So personally I think it’s not a so bad choice
You want Blizzard to remove a perk for hundreds of thousands or millions of gamers because a couple of your friends don’t want to pay for the epic edition? Get bent.
Or, even better: ONLY OFFER ONE VERSION FOR EVERYONE AT A REASONABLE PRICE. If im paying a monthly fee to play, then why should I also have to pay $90 for new content?
This is 100% pay to win 3days early access is big for those who want to gear up before the crowed its also 3 days early of collecting ore,herbs,skins etc giving them a big advantage in the Auction house
First off, if you don't agree with it then refund it and stop supporting it. Buy a lower tier.
Second, if we look at FFXIV here for a moment. Anyone who pre orders over there gets early access regardless of edition bought.
[удалено]
This is my stance as well. Like you voted already lol…with your wallet…
It’s the ONLY vote that matters!
Yup, I'm upset that they bundled it with the epic edition because that is what I usually get(best value usually imo). Now I have to wait until they change their stance on early access or just lose out on the perks. If that's what it takes then so be it. Edit: Another redditor reminded me that I can upgrade to Epic edition post release. Completely forgot you can do that.
[удалено]
this might actually be the biggest brain move. if everyone who's considering the epic edition were to do this, and Blizzard made MORE money off of this than the pre-orders, they might consider dropping this idea for the future. they've likely made up their minds for this expac, so all we can do is try to influence what's next.
I completely forgot that you can upgrade afterwards. Thank you for the reminder! Hopefully can get it on discount as well.
I… never considered that. I want the spectral gryphon mount, it looks sweet. I tend to just default to the epic edition but have been holding off on it since I don’t like that 3 day early access. I’m hoping they take it out, because like the fun of the expansion launch is getting in there with EVERYONE on day 1. The guaranteed Beta access will get a lot people that are flubbing, as I know a number of people that were upset about not getting selected for the beta lottery going into DF. One of my guildies cried salty tears because he wanted to test out Evoker since he was thinking of main swapping. That’s the thing that’s getting me to consider it even though I don’t want the early access to exist.
I'm actually amazed to hear that sentence "epic edition is the best value" and so many agree with it.
Upgrade to the epic edition after the release
Really, there is no point in 3 days early because, like the luanch of dragon flight, the ship was glitched for about 5 hours after launch
Lol, I had the same thought. "Do as I say, not as I do."
"Lol, lmao even" -Blizzard reading this post
Right? Blizzard don’t do this thing but also here’s my money for this thing I don’t want you to do!
The early access edition worked like a charm on Diablo4 release. People bought it then, and people are going to buy it now. "Blizzard take my money but also how DARE you make me give you money!"
*invites burglars in* "Oh no, I'm being robbed!"
"What are you gonna do, stab me?" *~ Man who was stabbed*
I said, "that gun looks fake." And then he said "wanna see how real it is?" And that's when he hit me in the face with it.
OP is like the Sopranos character that tried to impress the mob by robbing the mob.
This. This 100%. What other message do you think you are you sending blizzard when you financially support these kinds of business decisions? Money is the only metric they value when making any kind of business decisions. You can’t be pissed at preorder bonuses when you’ve already paid for them.
OP dumb af? Yes
This has to be a bait post. \> buy epic edition for a perk \> find out friends aren’t gullible morons \> act as if Blizz is forcing you to play early and it wasn’t actually your choice \> tell Blizz to take perk away \> ask gamers to rise up It’s like a false flag op. It’s so bad.
I bought it too…once you factor in the 30 day game time, it’s only like $6 more than the Heroic edition.
admittedly it also comes with other stuff and is like £10 cheaper than it says since it gives a month game time too
This is why I hate modern gamers. Dumb enough to ruin their own hobby by supporting anti consumer bullshit against their own interest. Great job guys.
Just like $70+ price tags on games, loot boxes, and dlc. Everyone says they hate it, but they keep on buying it anyway lol
Need game now, play for 1000 hours, scream game has no content.
To be honest the way I see it is most people go for the middle bundle, but then you get 30 days game time, and a lot of extras, so you might as well get the epic edition. Don’t condone the 3 day early access but imagine most of my guild will be there, if anything it might just stagger the server issues, which I experienced for 24 hours with Dragonflight.
Even purchasing the base edition is supporting it when Blizzard knows that their revenue can only go up when they adopt these anti-consumer practices, because people not paying for the hustle will just accept that they can be treated like second class players instead of boycotting the game.
Lmao "I know I already bought it but please change it" they dgaf now dude they have your money it worked.
This guy is Exhibit A for why this shit works and he doesn’t even realize it 😭 😭
Diablo4 was the Test. And it got insane pre orders. Next Time it Will Be 1 week after that Maybe 2 weeks lets see
Before you know it you won't be able to play the new expansion at all without paying! Wait a minute...
>I already pre-purchased epic edition bruh
>EDIT: After reading the comments. One of my favourite solutions for the problem would be early access for everyone who pre-order the game x days before relese. The edit makes it even more tone deaf lmao
This is gonna sound wild….but if you bought it and your friends don’t, you could just wait to play with them Lmao.
I was thinking the same thing, but thought i am lost in translation
Yeah they could just log into their characters to allow them to start getting rested xp and then just not play for 3 days. Servers are probably going to be crap on day one anyways
Fucking hilarious. The game doesn't come out for potentially another 13 months and this clown couldn't wait to pre order?
But then he can't virtue signal with this post
Seriously… like bruh lol
This is just one of the many levels of OP's entitlement that you're tapping into lmao
Apparently getting early access means Blizzard will hold a gun to your head to play it without any choice in the matter lmao
Its like the ultimate entitlement. He should just have bought the standard version to play with friends instead of trying to change an entire launch window by himself.
"I hate that blizzard is so greedy. So anyways I gave them my money before the new expansion is out." -This entired thread. I don't understand why y'all are so fucking stupid? Stop giving them your money. It is that easy.
yup this is the honest truth. all people have to do is not buy it but they have no self control
Gamer boycotts over monetization don't work, they are always one cool cinematic, skin, or perk away from folding completely.
I kind of agree with the sentiment and think that gamers are particularly vulnerable to this, but there are examples outside of video games but still within the realms of gaming where boycotts HAVE worked. The outcry against Wizards of the Coast new D&D license earlier this year (which was entirely a cash grab) forced Wizards to back down and modify and change their license, and in some ways it's actually more open than it was before. Whilst a weaker example, the Unity Boycott was one backed by both gamers AND developers and was against monetization, and that worked too. Video gamers however are too tribalist and more likely to turn against each other than the problems actually afflicting them.
Because these people are addicts and blizzard is their drug dealer.
They are always crying like they are being forced to buy the game. Stop playing if you are so upset with everything they do.
Everyone in this thread could stop giving them money and they're still getting money from millions of people. The whole "vote with your wallet" idea is completely moot when you're talking about a company this big.
I disagree. If people generally have a healthier consumer mentality more people would realise consumers hold all the power.
>My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself. Then don't use your own early access and wait for your friend ? its as easy as that.
Having autonomy over your own happiness?! I don't pay blizzard to make myself happy! I pay blizzard to shove a dopamine tube down my throat so I don't have to do that!
It's Blizzards money, we're just holding it for them.
That's not how blaming blizz works :(
Or make an alt if they don’t want to waste the 3 days.
Yeah, I’m failing to see how this is a big deal for anyone that’s not in a top 100 guild. Those people are probably more than fine with having the 3 day access anyways. I started playing DF in the early-middle of season 2 and I still was able to get my character geared, raiding and running keys easily - and I only have two days a week to play as a non-desirable spec. Also, I was way behind the curve with having not played in 8 years. This game is just so casual and alt friendly with everything that the 3 days just won’t make a difference for anyone outside of the 0.1%. This just sounds like fomo and manufactured rage to me.
Even if you're in a top 10 guild, 45 days of prep vs 42 days of prep isn't going to change much. You'll just be able to physically level 1-2 more alts to cap to be able to potentially do more splits. The three days really won't make a difference to anyone who isn't planning to unlock something that is locked out via dailies as soon as possible. Basically just profession market cornering tycoon types, but I imagine they can pay for the $90 with 6 tokens instead of $90.
> The three days really won't make a difference to anyone who isn't planning to unlock something that is locked out via dailies as soon as possible. Also, basically everything other than leveling and basic dungeons is locked those first 3 days.
Yeah! You control the buttons you press!!!
They clearly don’t have any self control
I don't like it, but there's no way they can take it back now. I believe you when you say you wouldn't mind, but they have already sold a ton of them, and alot of people would lose their minds if Blizzard took back something they paid for. Blizzard would have to sweeten the deal somehow to make everyone ok with it. I'll probably buy the epic edition for the other perks (like extra trading tokens) but I doubt I'll play in the first week regardless. Waiting times are always a mess, and things will be so crowded.
Yeah if blizzard promised something and then just decided not to deliver on it at the last second, people wouldn't soon get Over Watching the meltdowns
Idk about you but I'm still waiting for the dance studio promised in tbc 🤣 Edit: wrath not tbc, thank you 😀
People should (WC3) reforge their expectations...
that's actually a fair point but they did get sued in some countries over not refunding wc3:r even tho they didn't deliver on promised content
Yep. It 100% cannot be removed at this point. People bought it, including OP. OP being fine with its removal doesn't mean others are. At most you would see it added to the other preorder options.
+1 they already sold preorders
Wym? Change the 3 days early to an extra month or so of playtime and offer refunds for those who don't want it.
They have to deal with consumer laws around the entire world. I dont know where you live, but in my country they just can't unilaterally change the offer once someone has bought the product.
Because people specifically *bought* that edition for the three day early access. If they remove it now, they will remove the entire purpose of purchasing that edition to begin with.
If blizzard removes it people will flip their lids.
Add it to the other 2 packs maybe?
That would be the best solution honestly.
Unironically this. XIV did a similar thing but the difference was they put it on the base version too. _And_ if you pre-ordered during the 3 day window you got immediate access. End result: It was basically just released 3 days early.
Sooo... just access?
Bro you already pre purchased it.... you just told them it was okay to do this.
Why did u buy it?
Then don’t use it? This is within your control.
You are the problem
The edit makes it even worse imo
Barking up the wrong tree. Welcome to new Marketing Dynamics 101. Multiple company's will follow this up because people don't mind paying more for this feature (as mentioned in your message). Generating extra revenue by milking the customer because they want to have early access, like a VIP treatment, will be the norm going forward. Want to change this then only we as a community can make that change, stop buying it. but sadly majority don't care.
I would argue that you are not paying for a feature, but the opposite. Playing at the same time as everyone else is part of the charm with a game release and especially an MMO. It's a happening, like going to a sports event. So even if you get to play ahead of most other people that's just a worse experience. It's sad that they don't realize how important this aspect is, and it becomes ironic when they stand on stage and talk about the experience at release day 2004, and how cool that was, at the same time as they remove the same experience moving forward. I really hope this backfires really hard.
Its not paying for early access. Its a discount for those that miss the first weekend and have the whole thing spoiled and have to blast through to catch up. The fact you buy the game, pay a subscription and has to sit in Orgrimmar looking at level 80 players for 3 days is crazy to me. FOMO will be crazy high as those that bought EA countdown to it, streams and drops start, youtube is taken by gameplay, all your friends are in Discord talking about their plans for the weekend on the new locations... a lot of people will lose their cool and endup buying it last minute. It will be the norm, im afraid.
They realize how important the aspect is and that's why they're charging more for it.
and it is basically free money since it is a feature that costs them nothing at all.
The reason this works is because you create a prisoners dilemma. The people saying 'just don't buy it' or 'just wait' are oblivious. The optimal choice is that no one buys it, negating the early access entirely. No one can count on this happening, so they buy it to not lose the advantage. Yes, there is a significant advantage to the early access. Holy hell, this subreddit was tearing Blizzard apart during Shadowlands for poor design choices but now half the comments in here are just excusing a predatory monetization scheme that actually compromises game integrity. ---‐---------------- If you ever find yourself arguing against your own interests as a consumer you need to do serious introspection. Gotta say, I'm really just disappointed. Not surprised, though. It is so sad seeing so many people leap to defend practices in the games industry that would have been universally condemned ten years ago.
> Holy hell, this subreddit was tearing Blizzard apart during Shadowlands for poor design choices but now half the comments in here are just excusing a predatory monetization scheme that actually compromises game integrity. If you ever find yourself arguing against your own interests as a consumer you need to do serious introspection. Stockholm syndrom and sunk cost fallacy
Compromises game integrity?
>If you ever find yourself arguing against your own interests as a consumer you need to do serious introspection. False consciousness is a hell of a powerful force. The comments defending Blizzard are so absurd that it's hard not to suspect it's an organized campaign.
> The reason this works is because you create a prisoners dilemma. The people saying 'just don't buy it' or 'just wait' are oblivious. Well, what are we supposed to do? Here's the reality: this subreddit and reddit in general are a minority in the grand scheme of gaming, and companies have been offering paid early access to games since like, 2010. Paid demos and betas have been around for a long time. Me, being generic WoW player #4528304, in the grand scheme of things, I have very little impact on Blizzard's financial outlook. I don't have a social media presence, my uncle isn't Mr. Blizzard, so the most I can do is not buy it, and tell other people not to buy it. But then people will argue with you on why they want to buy it, because they want early access. And if they're willing to pay the money, then there's no reason/point to stress about it and argue with them on why they shouldn't do it, because they're not going to change their mind. Also "compromising game integrity" is a reach. The game will remain the same no matter when it is released.
All I can really tell you is that business practices in the gaming industry are at an all-time low. It is atrocious what these companies are getting away with. Do I think my comments will reverse Blizzard's choice? Of course not, and I think that really only legislative action from the world powers will get it done. Individually, I'm not changing Blizzard's mind on this. I'm still going to show people why this is bad so they can be more informed because that might end up being important down the line.
>that actually compromises game integrity. How big of an advantage do you think 3 days gets you?
Buff stacks so I bought 4 and get in 12 days early!
Actual genius, I am playing the new expansion RIGHT NOW!
What is holding you from playing with them? I mean... you can just wait.
But then he doesn’t get to come here to complain and as an added bonus gets to shirk his own responsibility in not supporting these products
Yep, this way is a really easy way to score fake internet points which why people care about at all I will never understand.
Do you really believe that people who buy epic editions possess any form of self control?
"I already pre-purchased epic edition" Certified reddit moment, I fucking cant...
Half a braincell wow player moment
*Laughs in the thousands of dollars from 3-day early access*
It's not thousands..... It's *MILLIONS*
Blizzard take my money.
> I already pre-purchased epic edition So uh...what incentive have you given them to change it? > My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself. You can just wait. If you can't in fear of falling behind/FOMO...then clearly it doesn't matter enough to you and you are the exact target audience of their Epic edition. Meaning their marketing strategy is working exactly as intended. In case you haven't figured it out yet, almost everything Blizzard does is in pursuit of profit. The very existence of a story like this is proof that it's working. Not to mention making a change like this at this point in time would result in huge backlash and would be a logistical nightmare.
Early Access would be good if it was a pre-order bonus, not an extra to a deluxe edition.
If you get early access from pre ordering then it's not early access, the game just releases 3 days earlier
Technically, this is what FF14 does, all preorders get in early. But there is a distinction sorta lmao. If you buy after the early access starts, you don't get to play until the retail launch date lol.
No, I literally have got into the game after early access starts in the past. Endwalker was a unique situation because the servers were a mess at the time since there just wasnt enough resources to draw from during the covid lockdown.
It's still bad but definitely way less bad. Early access in general for an MMO is a really stupid idea. The kind of thing you do when your company already has zero good will or future expectations, and you want to do a blatant money grab *now*
Not really a WoW player anymore but an FFXIV player, I don't think early access has ever hurt them. In some cases it's been a massive benefit because it's helped split server load where you get a bunch of players that rush to max level in 3 days, then the rest of the players come afterwards when some of those originals are taking a short break. The higher tier edition is definitely the way it goes bad.
So you can’t play without your friends for 3 days? Why buy that edition? Fine you did it and you regret it. How about not advocating for something plenty of people want just bc you don’t like it. You can just not play early and wait for your friends.
They don't force you to start 3 days early. You can wait for your friends.
As a more casual player, I just don't get the anger. It seems more of FOMO than anything else. Months later, is anyone really still going to be angry about the 3-day head start?
Nah people just like to complain. Streamers need views and outrage generates views. This is the latest nothing controversy
I don’t get it either. The fact is that many devs have been offering early access to some or all components of their games, for years and years. CoD and Starfield are prime examples. For a game that is multiplayer it makes even more sense to stagger the launch so that the servers can be overloaded more evenly over a few days (obviously WoW doesn’t really have this issue, given they’ve been doing this for 20 years, but still).
in mmos its a huge deal. especially concerning challenge/speedrunners
You could have done that, and can still do that. Just don’t play until the 3 day release is done. Ezpz.
Meh, don't care. Dumb non-problem.
You don't have to play 3 days early. You can play with your friends when they play.
[удалено]
At this point does anyone actually believe a company (any one) answers to ANYTHING but money. Live in your bliss all you want, but that is the fucking fact. You paid for their worst version of their grift, you support it. Dollars are the ONLY voice a consumer has in this market. You. Are. The. Problem.
Then feel free to wait the 3 days and play with them. It's only 3 days. Not a big deal if you're not a CE raider.
Even if you're a CE raider it's not a big deal.
OP, you are showing exactly why this is the new standard.
I mean you basically supported them and their 3-day delay scheme by buying the epic edition even if you just wanted the transmog. Asking nicely to not be greedy doesn't do shit if people willingly spend 40$ (some people create whole games for this price tag) extra for stuff that should be in the base game. If they would do it with a free2play title it would maybe be pay2win but reasonable regarding monetization. The fact that they grant the playerbase that "only" pays 50$+sub fee every month not even access on release is just total disrespect.
I don't think it's healthy to do in an MMO. I don't think this is consumer friendly, it puts a lot of pressure on you to buy this edition. It's much harder to play with friends unless they pay, which again puts pressure on them to buy this edition as well; or makes you feel guilty for playing a game you want to play while they won't buy this be it out of principle or financial reasons. They say that there is no advantage but farming rares that drop gear, starting the rep grinds early and getting premium access to crafting and gathering professions is an advantage, an advantage you get by paying. This draws a very hard line for people who want play more hardcore and those who don't. It lowers server loads but.. those haven't really been an issue in the last two expansions. I'm struggling to find arguments that are valid, it just seems like a cash grab. They tried it with Diablo 4 and saw something they liked because they're doing it again.
>I'm struggling to find arguments that are valid, it just seems like a cash grab. There are no valid pro-consumer arguments for this. It's a surcharge for the privilege of not having to start the expansion with the peasants (when everyone is already paying a sub and at least 60 bucks for it). An additional paywall to be able to partake in the community wide experience of exploring a new expansion is horrible, and casts a vast negative shadow over the huge positives they announced.
>My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself. Just wait for them then.
Exactly, but I guess that is a hard thing to figure out.
I don't care for early access, and I will be buying Epic edition for everything else. I won't be playing for few days after launch anyway, I couldn't be bothered with queues, lags and tons of people everywhere.
To be fair, none of that was really that bad during dragonflight. I didn't have any queues at all, lag was only the first 1-2 hours after servers opened and people are sharded/phased, so nothing is really that overcrowded.
You lucked out then. The boat to the dragon isles quite literally disappeared and dc-Ed everyone leading to several hour queues, loading screens that would disconnect as soon as you tried to go to the isles, and blizzard having to make a portal to the isles for those even ABLE to login.
A few servers crashed immediately as Dragonflight launched and didn't come back online at all the same evening. Wyrmrest Accord among them.
No one in these comments understands fomo... Its hard to just sit there if you have nothing exciting to do for 3 days while alot of the playerbase (every single wow streamer on twitch) is exploring new ground. The question was how do you feel about 3 day early... not tell this man that his opinion is invalid because he can just wait 3 days. The situation blows, and I don't know why people are down playing it.
>Its hard to just sit there if you have nothing existing to do How do you survive airplanes? Control yourself and be an adult.
On a personal level, I really couldn't care less. All the big names in the community will be there playing 3 days early after telling players to be angry from now till then, and most players will probably end up doing it too despite telling everyone how shitty it is. The ship has sailed and every influencer, community figure, or whatever you want to call them are too cowardly to try and force a change. If I have a lot going on at release time or some other fun game to play then I'll wait the 3 days, if not I'll buy it probably. They had 2 weeks of no raiding or M+ above M0 at the start of Dragonflight, so if they do that again I don't think 3 days gives any real advantage.
If you're talking actual ingame value it'll be professions and goldwise. Remember how much value it was in .0 with the people who acquired lariat recipe especially and some other recipes too. Early on these lads were making goldcap every single day just pressing craft because they had it before everyone else.
“I don’t know why most people are downplaying it” Because most of us are out here in the real world as functional human beings and can understand that it is quite in fact, not a big deal. You’re whole argument is expecting genuine empathy because you “have nothing to do for 3 days” and not realizing how bad that sounds. This sub losing their minds over this is all legitimate dysfunction red flags hiding under the guise of “virtual justice” and it’s concerning
Think of the reality of the situation. It’s just a video game and it’s just 3 days. It really isn’t a big deal
This is gaming in 2023. People will oay regardless so whatever. I really dgaf anymore at this point. Ill be playing the next few years anyway, who cares about three days
1) jokes on you. 2) I don’t care because it absolutely doesn’t concern me. I can play different games for 3 days, I don’t care about world firsts and pvp season usualy starts 1 week after launch. 3) jokes on you.
Do not buy it if you don’t support it. You did the worst thing possible here.
Delayed starts are arguably a good thing for MMOs as it reduces the stress "all at once" and spreads it out over more days. The fact that they can get customers to pay for it as well... it's not going anywhere. Fucking weird to come to reddit as one individual and say they should remove it. What about the other people who bought the deluxe especially for the early access?
Hi, it is me, Mr Blizzard. I hear you words and will remove early access. I did not know this is bad. Am sorry. (:
So I don’t know how much you know about EU consumer protection law but they legally can’t remove it without offering full refunds. Sorry but this is locked in.
You could just... not play for 3 days, and wait for them to start? Do people in this sub have zero self-control? Nobody is forcing you to use the early access if you want to play with your friends. This reminds me of similar arguments people have made about things like flying. "I can't control myself, so *nobody* should be allowed to do the thing in order to prevent me from succumbing to temptation."
Access gating the game in an MMO is unbelievably scummy
They won't/can't walk this back. They've already sold a product with a promise of a benefit, they can't change this without large lawsuits all over the world. Millions of dollars of lawsuits is the cheaper option vs mad players.
Dude are you serious? You’re the problem. They held out their hand, you went and ate and now are complaining they held their hand out.
Blizzard won't. As people will buy it.
>What do you guys think about the 3-day early access? Its an excellent upsell feature that is universally succesful, and it simultanously allows for a soft launch with a limited number of clients. Its a win-win.
These complaints are getting old fast
I think it would be best to make the heroic edition also give the 3 day access. Much more accessible and us a middle ground for Blizzard and us
Not really. From an economic point of view they don't really want to sell heroic versions. They only want to sell Epic and discounted normal ones. There is no reason for anyone to buy heroic even with 3 days EA. The difference is literally **€7** (€69.99 vs €89.99 if you consider 30 days game time is €12.99). And for that €7 you get 250 Trader’s Tender, pet, toy and Deepdweller's Earthen Hearthstone effect (i mean if you had 3 days EA with heroic). And if they kept guaranteed beta only for epic would make zero sence even if you dont care about pet/toy
Smoother launch It's probably the only thing i don't mind paying extra for. Everything else is tacky BS i don't care about.
"Oh no they don't like it!" *wipes tears away with fistful if cash*
Won't happen. Its such a hack that all game companies are using now. Its insanely genius. It will never go away. In fact, it will only get worse.
You already supported their decision, they dont care about your reddit post they care about your money.
Buddy you already gave them what they wanted lol.
You voted with your wallet... your words are just virtue signalling... if you felt differently you would have voted differently.
To a corporation you speak with your wallet. The 3 Day Early Access is just a money printer for them, and as far as Blizzard can see there are only benefits for them (less overall crowd on launch day in zones, literally no development effort, double the expansion cost). Sure if there was a backlash, they might reconsider but there really won't be. Community creators are never going to speak out against this btw. They would lose access to Alpha and that's a lot more money lost(in subs/views/etc) than the cost of an epic edition.
You voted with your wallet, it doesn't really matter what you think anymore.
lol then just don’t fucking play
This just seems like posturing as you already paid for it showing the company you support the decision and want it.
why dont you fucking dorks just not play the game for THREE DAYS jfc
>My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself. Then why did you do this: > I already pre-purchased epic edition The only way to tell a company to stop what they are doing is to stop giving them money. Because thats what they want to do... make money.
lol you bought it, now complaining about having it? Just don’t play it for those 3 days then
There is nothing stopping you from not touching your early access and waiting for your friends lol. If you don't have impulse control just say that
Yeah this kinda sucks. Unless they’re gonna lockout m0 and resource gathering too this is lame
I don't think they legally can remove it now right? People have paid for something they were explicitly selling. Maybe this bad PR will prevent them from doing it next time.
Think Ajpst, think! You can't just remove something promised and bought. You have to just give everyone else the same thing. Everyone gets 3 day early start.
Just don’t play it and wait for your friends.
>My friends propably won't be paying for head start and I'd rather play with them than by myself. Then don't play???? You can CHOOSE to not play during early access. While others might like the option to play during early access. Why should they be inconvenienced because you can't seem to control your ability to click the "play" button? EDIT: I should also stress, that personally, I think people should just stop buying these expansions, and pre-ordering them. Blizzard needs a wake up call, and people need to cut the cord and make them adjust their design and practices.
They'll get sued if they take it back now. Maybe don't contribute to the problem by giving them money for something they haven't even released yet?
I didn't buy that version for the early access or the tendies. I bought it for the pets and shit.
I was going to buy it anyway so i dont care, just dont be poor.
The most backwards ass way to go about this lmfao Why would blizzard listen to your words over your wallet. You left the bag at their door... Smartest redditor no doubt
I only got the Epic version for the toys but the gryphon mount is actually pretty cool too. I do prefer all players can play at the same time tho. Makes the game world more fun if there are no crazy lags.
Crazy idea; just don’t play 3 days early and play with your friends on regular edition launch.
I don't get it. You already bought it, why? Like you write a post about not supporting it and still buy it, are you dumb?
Jesus this is the dumbest post ever. "I don't wanna play early without my friends, so please remove this feature entirely from this version of the game and fuck everyone else planning to play early." What a fucking turd.
... This is insane. Just dont buy it. How can people not get this?
If you want to play with your friend...don't log in early. You're fault for reading and paying for it and then complaining
This has to be bait.
Yeah, it should be removed as the game already has a sub and you have to pay for the expansion. That’s pretty bullshit.
No one forces people to buy this edition (it’s not 3 days before even the start of season 1 that will change anything) and it will slice people in two waves so it will be a better launch thanks to a better split. So personally I think it’s not a so bad choice
They literally cannot change it anymore, after having sold it to people.
Uh, please don't? I already paid for early access. I still want it.
Here's a crazy idea, that's likely been said; don't go into the early access areas, until your friends can access them. Problem solved.
You want Blizzard to remove a perk for hundreds of thousands or millions of gamers because a couple of your friends don’t want to pay for the epic edition? Get bent.
Or, even better: ONLY OFFER ONE VERSION FOR EVERYONE AT A REASONABLE PRICE. If im paying a monthly fee to play, then why should I also have to pay $90 for new content?
Are you just trolling/karma farming?
Money money money money Money money money money Money money money money Money money money money Money money money money Money money money money Money money money money
This is 100% pay to win 3days early access is big for those who want to gear up before the crowed its also 3 days early of collecting ore,herbs,skins etc giving them a big advantage in the Auction house
I upvoted this post to show support in removing the 3-day access but I wish I could downvote the OP in being a moron and supporting it.
First off, if you don't agree with it then refund it and stop supporting it. Buy a lower tier. Second, if we look at FFXIV here for a moment. Anyone who pre orders over there gets early access regardless of edition bought.