eunichron wrote on Jul 5, 2011, 14:40:

Fion wrote on Jul 5, 2011, 14:28:
Yea Blizzard has had a 'make money any way we can' attitude since WoW hit. It hasn't really ever had any major competition so they could get away with charging a monthly fee and also having microtransactions. On top of that charging twice what the other guys do for things like character name changes or switching servers. I mean now they are seriously considering charging extra for 'premium content'? It's audacious in the least.

But now the days of WoW's absolute dominance are coming to a close, with games like GW2 and SW:ToR on the horizon. They won't be able to rape their customer base much longer and still hold a leading position in the market.

You do know that monthly fees for MMOs were around long before WoW was even an idea on paper, right? $10-$15 was about the standard before WoW was released.

As for microtransactions and charging for services; the "microtransactions" are purely for aesthetic items; mounts, non-combat pets, vanity items that have no impact on the game, most of which have a similar item that already exists in the game that can be obtained freely. The rates they charge for services is kind of ridiculous, but I wouldn't expect things like name/race/server transfers to be free no matter who the company was.