Cataclysm: Barrier of Entry Increases

Blizzard hasn’t announced yet what it’s going to cost to get Cataclysm.  So this article might be a little premature.  Let’s just chalk it up to expecting the worst in human nature.  I’m good at that, and I’m rarely disappointed as a result.  I was chatting with Ethic from Kill Ten Rats via Twitter this morning and he mentioned something that got me thinking and is the genesis of this post.

When Cataclysm ships many of us who are currently playing WoW will happily plop down our fifty or so bucks and grab our copy, head home, update our accounts, install, and play.  For a lot of other accounts in WoW it won’t be so easy.  Take my son’s account.  He hasn’t played since before Burning Crusade but he’s making noises like he might want to play again.  OK, cool.  So he has to buy Burning Crusade, only recently lowered to $20, Wrath of the Lich King, which is still about $40 street price, and the new Cataclysm.  Now we’re up to $110, and we haven’t paid a subscription fee yet.

As Ethic said;

…it would seem that too many boxes to buy will start to chase some folks away. I know of one person it already has.

And he’s right.  If you read my blog over at The Grouchy Gamer, you may already know that I don’t begrudge a company their profit.  Especially if they are producing quality products that I continue to enjoy.  No problem Mr. Publisher, here’s my credit card number, feel free to charge it every month.  Go you.  I’m not one to want to put artificial limits on how much money someone makes either.  If their business model allows them to make money hats for everyone who works there, then money hats they should have.

So here is what Ethic is calling for, and by extension me as well;  Blizzard should make the Cataclysm box a “reset button” release like SOE has done in the past with EQ and EQ2.  That is to say, if they ever expect to get the monthly stipend from me or my son for that account they should make the Cataclysm box bring you current to that level of service and take the other boxes off the shelf, save the original WoW Vanilla Edition for $20.

Here’s my rationale; Blizzard is past making money hats and is all the way to making money cigarette lighters. Reports are that World of Warcraft is a billion-dollar franchise in and of itself.  A billion.  With a B.  For One Game.  Forget how much they are going to make with Diablo III and StarCraft II.  It’ll be lots.  Trust me.  They are doing fine, it’s time to lower the barrier of entry into the later content in the game.

Some will argue that they paid for all that stuff, why shouldn’t a new player have to?  Well that is all well and good.  Except we all paid for that over time, and in between we got a lot of use and enjoyment out of the game.  You paid a lot more for your car than it is worth now too, and people who buy 5-year-old cars don’t have to pay what you paid when it was new.  Same is true with WoW.  Besides when you make an argument like that it makes you seem like an elitist jerk, and not the cool Elitist Jerks either.  Just a jerk who happens to be elitist.  Let it go…

So Blizzard if you are listening, take this opportunity to bring everyone current.  Do it at launch, not six months later.  And do it for anyone who buys Cataclysm.  It’s an opportunity to do something that will not only engender a little good will, but will actually help your long-term prospects by bringing even more people into WoW.  And you can get their money on a recurring basis.  And make all the money cigarette lighters you want.

- Genda