Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by el_muerte

Sweet jesus, unless you were wishing you could change your name and sex for free since the release of the game four years ago, quit bitching.  I don't recall reading a single thread moaning about how Blizz needed to implement sex changes, so obviously it wasn't a big deal.  But now that they have and are charging for it, you all are crying like a bunch of three year olds that just got told they can't have any ice cream.  It's not like they're forcing everyone who subscribes to pay them another fifteen bucks, it's just to take advantage of dumbasses willing to throw their money away.  You know what they say about a fool and his money.  Just pretend it doesn't exist and go back to your earlier contented (or bitching about something else) state.

 

Ok, I can buy that they charge for sex change and name changes but just for changing your hair? That is something that is commonly asked in all games that don't have it, and since it is not something a real human at Blizzard needs to do for you like a server transfer it should be free.

It is true that they only try to take money from morons but it is still low off them, it is not like they don't have enough money. Also the risk is that other companys follows.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you're saying here, but Barbershops are in the game already and only cost a few gold.  The changes discussed in the service are major changes, such as body type.

The only game I've known to do this sans fee is SWG ( Image Designer ).

I am very confused as to what the problem is with this. It is a paid option that the company is offering. They are not forcing you to do this and there is no actual in-game effect. CoH has charged previosly for extra character slots, costume sets, etc. What about FFXII charging you PER CHARACTER SLOT. If they just openly allowed drastic character changes it would be rampant. If it has a real cost, less people are likely to do it. So just like with anything, if you don't like it don't support it. How hard is that?

Originally posted by Loke666

Yeah, all that surely costs a dollar or ,aybe even 2. Rest go to Blizzards (or any other MMO companies) pockets. This is not something that costs Blizzard a single dime.

Barbers which are free (or costs a gold in game currency) exist in both EQ 1 and 2 (Probably Vanguard too, never played it). Only games I know that charges for this are F2P games like Runes of magic.

Being able to change stuff like hairstyle is a basic thing that should be included for free in any MMO, anything else is bullcrap.

There is a tendency to greed right now with the big MMO publishers, SOE item shop is another sign at this. Love Wow as much as you like, nothing wrong with that but trying to defend Blizzard when they taking your money is a different thing. It is ok for F2P game to take money for all small services they do but not for P2P.

If Blizzard or SOE don't think that can include basic services in the monthly fee they should raise it, not put in small crappy fees for functions that should be included in what we already pay. Only MMO company right  now that isn't greedy are Arenanet.

Well as others have said the barbershop is in game, and people haven't put it honestly. It does cost you some gold, only if your high-leveled. The cost of using the barbershop is completely dependant on your level, while it might cost my Belfadin to get his hair and goatee touched up a few gold, for my alts, it may only cost a few silver or so.

Also I laugh at this line.

"Love Wow as much as you like, nothing wrong with that but trying to defend Blizzard when they taking your money is a different thing."

They aren't taking your money with this. Its a completely optional idea that has no adverse effects in game. They couldn't let you change your race because then people would use it to change races with the current winning flavors of the month in arena or raiding. Imagine a guild forcing you to roll a Draenei warrior or priest for the 1% hit bonus and free HoT (specially if you play a healadin). Or making you change into a human for the racial "pvp trinket" ability they have just so you can PvP with them.

I've seen some people argue "your choice, live with it". If you've been playing the game for as long as its been, I'm pretty sure you'd be a little tired of your hair. And while the hair is something that most can hide with a helmet, yet changing the entire model (specially between male and female) is most likely a little more work. The barbershop lets you change the things that aren't affected by the character model, only its look, your face or skin color or switching gender on the hand, requires a bit more.

I'm no game designer, and I very well may be wrong, but that's how I see it. Personally, I think the prices are crazy. $15 for that, 10 for a namechange are outrageous. The transfer thing I'm fine with, its not a simple click, they have to gather up all the data of your toon, whats on them and in their bags, gold, and all that and carry it over to a different cluster of servers, and possibly deal with another toon that might have your name already.

Edit: As the person said above me, it aint nearly as bad as some other devs. The people behind FFXi made you pay just to have more than 1 toon, and pay more incase you want some minigames. WoW allows you though, to have multiple toons (I've heard the max is 40-50 toons per account). for just the $15 a month you pay, no additional cost.

Originally posted by kilrya

Lotro have barber in game that you can go to and change your hair style or eye brows and thing like that. if i remember it doesnt even cost much to do it some silver in game to do it.

There are barber shop in wow already, you find them in the major towns. I think that Blizzard is doing the right thing by charging money for theese kinds of changes, because that way.. people will not change gender every time they are bored.. and by charging a little bit, people that are absolutely desperate after doing such a thing can do it.. And I think its nice when MMO companies adds things that they otherwise would not, because they simply can not defend the cost and time of developing theese small things instead of doing things that majority wants. So by doing it for a small fee is a good solution.

And honestly I am happy. As long as Blzzard is making money, they keep my favourite game going and adds new nice things to it that we dont have to pay for either. I have played many MMOs during the years and no other game are even close to the amount of content that you get with wow.

Originally posted by theJexster

Welcome to the new era in MMORPGs. Pay, Pay more, Pay again.

Couldnt have said it better myself.

Cmon, were talking about a GREED invested company called BLIZZARD, did you expect anything less. Thats why this company is successful, take from the poor to give to the rich.

The folks over there are pure geniuses and the hardcore WoW fans will pay them the xtra $15 bucks to change their details because WoW is a great investment of their personal time, so to them, they are'nt losing much and its well worth it.

To me, I rather sub in another MMORPG that I havent played yet instead of giving BLIZZ more money cause I am tired of the way my character looks, just a BLIZZ ploy to make money so they can get their Holiday bonuses.

Hopefully one of the other MMORPG will do this service for free, then WoW will copy them and state to our dedicated fans, we will no longer charge for recustomization and for those who paid will get a Free Murloc Pet in game.

So that you know, I not a anit-Blizz fan, I am just stating a point.

You know, I paid almost 5.00 for this Jumbo Jack Combo,and it only comes standard without cheese,  regular fries and a small drink, but I want cheese, curly fries and a large drink.... but they want me to pay more that, shouldn't it be include in my meal for the regular price???!!!  Waaah, Waaah, Waaah.

And that's about what I think about this subejct.....

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by altairzq

Well, better this than an item shop. If someone spends money to change their gender or face, well ok, doesn't bother me.

 

yeah i agree, i mean if someone wants to change their gender in game or the way they look i could care less. If they want to buy EXP pots and etc that speeds up their leveling, then i have a problem.

Whats the diff of MMO's charging 40 to 50 bucks extra if you want a special mount or fluff item with their limited edition boxes?

First you are paying X amount for the game/expansion/content

Then they hit you with a $40+ charge for a mount... or a fluff in game item?

and yes

EQ2 lets you change everything (other then name, sex and class) for 5 gold.... not no 15 dollars

I guess this can be seem in many dif ways...

WoW is making billions... do they really need to charge for this... yes they are a company just like SOE... and what do companies want to do.... make money!

This is only the beginning.... (read the red text for your answer)

For me i dont play WoW much other then to log on and say hi to some friends. So this doesnt bug me.... but i do like how some ppl are saying its ok when WoW charges for fluff... but its not ok for other games to charge for fluff.

Most of the crap SOE is trying to sell its player is.... crap.. the exp pots are giving to you for free.. i think you get your free set of exp pots after 6 months of subing. The armor set that has 0 stats (to me) looks butt ugly.
 

this is great for people who want to buy a toon

otherwise, not sure why anyone woould pay for it...of course the fanbois praise blizzard and happily open their pockets

also, didn't they alreayd have paid name changes for like $10?  And the appearance you can change in-game?  So you are paying another $5 for a gender swap?

Originally posted by Nocuma

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by altairzq

Well, better this than an item shop. If someone spends money to change their gender or face, well ok, doesn't bother me.

 

yeah i agree, i mean if someone wants to change their gender in game or the way they look i could care less. If they want to buy EXP pots and etc that speeds up their leveling, then i have a problem.

 

 

and yes

EQ2 lets you change everything (other then name, sex and class) for 5 gold.... not no 15 dollars

I guess this can be seem in many dif ways...

WoW is making billions... do they really need to charge for this... yes they are a company just like SOE... and what do companies want to do.... make money!

 

So does WoW, actually it's sometimes cheaper ingame. It's been said a million times, WOW HAS A BARBER SHOP.

Originally posted by kilrya

Lotro have barber in game that you can go to and change your hair style or eye brows and thing like that. if i remember it doesnt even cost much to do it some silver in game to do it.

WoW has barbers too.  This is supposedly for people that aren't happy with just altering their hair, facial hair, etc...you know....BARBER stuff.  This is more like cosmetic surgery....skin color, eye color, etc.

EDIT:  ROFLMAO....I didn't read past this guys post to find out how MANY times this has already been stated.  Sorry guys!  LOL!!!

Nonetheless....it still blows.  This should be free to do anyway.  Yet another ignorant decision, is all I have to say.  Pffft.  Wake UP, Blizzard....you're living in a dream state created by your greed and arrogance.

Originally posted by mehoron

Originally posted by Nocuma

Originally posted by tvalentine

Originally posted by altairzq

Well, better this than an item shop. If someone spends money to change their gender or face, well ok, doesn't bother me.

 

yeah i agree, i mean if someone wants to change their gender in game or the way they look i could care less. If they want to buy EXP pots and etc that speeds up their leveling, then i have a problem.

 

 

and yes

EQ2 lets you change everything (other then name, sex and class) for 5 gold.... not no 15 dollars

I guess this can be seem in many dif ways...

WoW is making billions... do they really need to charge for this... yes they are a company just like SOE... and what do companies want to do.... make money!

 

 

So does WoW, actually it's sometimes cheaper ingame. It's been said a million times, WOW HAS A BARBER SHOP.

In EQ2 its not just the hair you can change...

You can change the size of you toon

Age

Skin color

Eye color

how your face looks (Ears, eyes, nose, chin, cheeks, lips)
 

Wings (fae race)

etc, etc

You get all the same options as if you where making this toon for the first time.

Now i have only messed with the WoW Barber once when it first came out and i was only able to change my hair style/color and my facial hair style/color. I could not change my body type or a diff face type.

People are ACTUALLY going to buy into this piece of crap gimic!

I can't stand trash gimics like this, I feel like they are saying "Pay for something that you are suppose to get for free because we say so"

I Can't wait until Aion comes out lol. I will do all the customizing I want, and then some. Infact Aion's customizing makes this idea look so elementary. No thnx!

Originally posted by Nocuma 

 

EQ2 lets you change everything (other then name, sex and class) for 5 gold.... not no 15 dollars

I guess this can be seem in many dif ways...

WoW is making billions... do they really need to charge for this... yes they are a company just like SOE... and what do companies want to do.... make money!

This is only the beginning.... (read the red text for your answer)

 

The monetary fee serves more purpose than to make money.  It is put in to discourage people from constantly changing names[primarily] and gender. 

I fully support charging for name changes [would prefer no name changes, but oh well]

I am not to keen on charging for gender change, but it isn't earth shattering.

Skinn/facial changes should be in game mechanics just like the barber shop.  Those need to be removed from a pay service and placed in game.

Honestly this whole packages sounds like it is designed for people swap accounts. 

Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by Nocuma 

 

EQ2 lets you change everything (other then name, sex and class) for 5 gold.... not no 15 dollars

I guess this can be seem in many dif ways...

WoW is making billions... do they really need to charge for this... yes they are a company just like SOE... and what do companies want to do.... make money!

This is only the beginning.... (read the red text for your answer)

 

 

The monetary fee serves more purpose than to make money.  It is put in to discourage people from constantly changing names[primarily] and gender. 

I fully support charging for name changes [would prefer no name changes, but oh well]

I am not to keen on charging for gender change, but it isn't earth shattering.

Skinn/facial changes should be in game mechanics just like the barber shop.  Those need to be removed from a pay service and placed in game.

 

 

Honestly this whole packages sounds like it is designed for people swap accounts. 

 

Just before I read your response I was talking to another WoW hardcore fan that works here with me and he said the exact same thing, that the fee was to discourage the abuse of name changing constantly yada yada. Personally I still disagree with it because there are other discouraging ways to go about it, such as charging a higher amount of in-game currency than you would for the barber shop...say like 100-500 gold or something rediculous like that.

Even having a cool down on character changes the big, like only allowing people to be able to change up theire characters every 6 months and add an ingame currency charge to it, that would have been a MUCH better option to me. That would stop abuse no doubt, Charging people won't really stop abuse because honestly if I didn't have a life and really wanted to I could change up my toon every month or a bit more frequent just for kicks, the only ones the charges are affecting (in my opinion) are the kids that may be playing on an account funded by mommy or daddy credit card. Otherwise, to me this is still looking like a gimic even if that was not the intention.

Say I was all for this, there would still remain my opinion of a better way of doing it like; name changes are $10 in WoW so they had to make this $15 I guess because it's more involved but what they could have done was even lower the price of name change to $5 and make this customization feature $10 but that's just me I guess. I don't buy this, not that I would ever use this feature so this does not really affect me none, just that I hate thinking people are trying to take advantage of others because they have the ability to do so.

Your right though, this does seem geared up for character swaping, another bad idea.

Originally posted by InfectionCE

Originally posted by theJexster

Welcome to the new era in MMORPGs. Pay, Pay more, Pay again.

 

Its really bad that they're making it so obvious that they care more about $$$ than us.

And if it was free, do you really believe that would mean they care about you?  Seriously, a business which cares about you rather than that which is their purpose, getting your money?..................

Another reason I'm not going back to that game. My only hope in MMOs is either AoC or WAR get thier act togethor, or hope that Darkfall or SWTOR is amazing.

Originally posted by Scripture1

Originally posted by Daffid011

Originally posted by Nocuma 

 

EQ2 lets you change everything (other then name, sex and class) for 5 gold.... not no 15 dollars

I guess this can be seem in many dif ways...

WoW is making billions... do they really need to charge for this... yes they are a company just like SOE... and what do companies want to do.... make money!

This is only the beginning.... (read the red text for your answer)

 

 

The monetary fee serves more purpose than to make money.  It is put in to discourage people from constantly changing names[primarily] and gender. 

I fully support charging for name changes [would prefer no name changes, but oh well]

I am not to keen on charging for gender change, but it isn't earth shattering.

Skinn/facial changes should be in game mechanics just like the barber shop.  Those need to be removed from a pay service and placed in game.

 

 

Honestly this whole packages sounds like it is designed for people swap accounts. 

 

 

Just before I read your response I was talking to another WoW hardcore fan that works here with me and he said the exact same thing, that the fee was to discourage the abuse of name changing constantly yada yada. Personally I still disagree with it because there are other discouraging ways to go about it, such as charging a higher amount of in-game currency than you would for the barber shop...say like 100-500 gold or something rediculous like that.

Even having a cool down on character changes the big, like only allowing people to be able to change up theire characters every 6 months and add an ingame currency charge to it, that would have been a MUCH better option to me. That would stop abuse no doubt, Charging people won't really stop abuse because honestly if I didn't have a life and really wanted to I could change up my toon every month or a bit more frequent just for kicks, the only ones the charges are affecting (in my opinion) are the kids that may be playing on an account funded by mommy or daddy credit card. Otherwise, to me this is still looking like a gimic even if that was not the intention.

Say I was all for this, there would still remain my opinion of a better way of doing it like; name changes are $10 in WoW so they had to make this $15 I guess because it's more involved but what they could have done was even lower the price of name change to $5 and make this customization feature $10 but that's just me I guess. I don't buy this, not that I would ever use this feature so this does not really affect me none, just that I hate thinking people are trying to take advantage of others because they have the ability to do so.

Your right though, this does seem geared up for character swaping, another bad idea.

As far as the entire topic is concerned I would rather they just did not offer name and gender changes at all.  I believe the cosmetic changes should remain in game. 

Putting a price tag on it is a better option that making all of the above options in game mechanics.  By removing them from the game (gender/name/server) you eliminate them as playtime goals.  Only people who are truely unhappy with those elements of their character will go offline to make those changes.  If you put something like this inside the game, no matter the consequences to the game world, people will do it.  Keeping it a paid service serves a few balance purposes even though I am not fond of additional fees like this.  

No it will not stop everybody and nothing ever will, but it is meant to discourage abuse.  If there was a better alternative I would be all for it, but I just can't think of one to be honest.

Really I am still torn about the issue.  I don't want to see any more of this type of stuff and want to see some of it removed. 

Personally i view paid sex changes and the like as a sort of stupid tax, if you couldn't figure out you were unhappy with your character through 60+ levels then by all means cough up the dough.

Originally posted by Thekandy

Personally i view paid sex changes and the like as a sort of stupid tax, if you couldn't figure out you were unhappy with your character through 60+ levels then by all means cough up the dough.

Well I find the gender change to be a bit weird. I would also find a race change very weird and wouldn't support it.

I like to roleplay and feel part of my character. Some things in the world should mean something, both the static environment and the characters themselves. I'm not some weird roleplayer who talks in Shakespear English or reads up on all the lore though.

I just think it's....wrong?....to influence a virtual world so much with cold cash.

Blizzard is on the path to not only charging 15 bucks but micro transactions for other things.  It'll eventually hit cash for gear.  Be a sad day for the game too, but after RAF and things like this it won't be surprising.

Blizzard with calculate how much money they'd make off of microtransactions compared to subscription loss and go through with it if it meant a profit.

Originally posted by Malvolentia

Blizzard is on the path to not only charging 15 bucks but micro transactions for other things.  It'll eventually hit cash for gear.  Be a sad day for the game too, but after RAF and things like this it won't be surprising.

 

Blizzard with calculate how much money they'd make off of microtransactions compared to subscription loss and go through with it if it meant a profit.

As HARSH as this may sound I certainly would NOT be surprised after seeing all of this.

Originally posted by Scripture1

Originally posted by Malvolentia

Blizzard is on the path to not only charging 15 bucks but micro transactions for other things.  It'll eventually hit cash for gear.  Be a sad day for the game too, but after RAF and things like this it won't be surprising.

 

Blizzard with calculate how much money they'd make off of microtransactions compared to subscription loss and go through with it if it meant a profit.

 

As HARSH as this may sound I certainly would NOT be surprised after seeing all of this.

Enter the most  notorious Wow haters to the discussion.
 

Blizzard is on no path at all.

Wow haters are on the path to look into ANY detail to spread lies for ... 4 years now and they always get smashed back to the wall of World of Warcraft, by far the most succesfull MMORPG of all time.

"I don't care if the servers in your game are empty and it certainly is not Blizzard's fault...."

Originally posted by John.A.Zoid

www.massively.com/2008/12/10/world-of-warcraft-launches-paid-character-re-customization/

 

There was a time when content was added for good gameplay mechanics and content. Here comes the times of the micro transactions for things that should come as part of the game or under the subscription fee. This is a basic service that you'd expect to come as part of the game and not something you should buy... theres sooo much Role Play involved putting your credit card details in on a site to change your look.

If you're going to charge for stupid things like this then get rid o subscription fee's. This is like charging me $15 a month and saying it's for server bandwidth and yet come patch day I see it's using bittorrent and I'm actually downloading everything off of other users.......  Oh wait!

I don't even get good customer service as part of my subscription fee and after 2 months all I've got back from customer support is "It's you not us" even though other people with similar cards have complained about the same issue. I can max Crysis out with my 4870X2 but your right my 8FPS Framerate in Feralas is my fault because I didn't program the game.

I think this is a good point. SWG had a single class just dedicated to recustomizing other players appearance at one point. Which wasn't such a big deal since you could dual class. It does seem a little odd to charge players for this service, but then again, I guess the name of the day is to maximize profits on your playerbase. Not disimilar to SOE's card games.

Originally posted by bodypass

Originally posted by Scripture1

Originally posted by Malvolentia

Blizzard is on the path to not only charging 15 bucks but micro transactions for other things.  It'll eventually hit cash for gear.  Be a sad day for the game too, but after RAF and things like this it won't be surprising.

 

Blizzard with calculate how much money they'd make off of microtransactions compared to subscription loss and go through with it if it meant a profit.

 

As HARSH as this may sound I certainly would NOT be surprised after seeing all of this.

Enter the most  notorious Wow haters to the discussion.
 

Blizzard is on no path at all.

Wow haters are on the path to look into ANY detail to spread lies for ... 4 years now and they always get smashed back to the wall of World of Warcraft, by far the most succesfull MMORPG of all time.

"I don't care if the servers in your game are empty and it certainly is not Blizzard's fault...."

"WoW haters"? well, I'm not quite sure where you got that from because I absolutly love the game and seriously enjoy smashing people in pvp...but anyhow. This has nothing to do with hating wow, infact if I or others posting here did not like that game then we would not even bother to post on wow forums, just like I dont post on any other forums except this, Aion and maybe some misculanous ones here and there. WoW is an awesome game, but this bussiness idea they came up with rubed a lot of people the wrong way. Don't be judgemental everytime someone voices theire opinion, that's what these forums are for, it's a great way for people to voice how they feel about things like this and should be able to do so without being called haters. Nutn against you but I'm tired of seeing that phrase in almost EVERY wow related forum. No one hates wow, people just have different preferences I, which is totally normal.

I don't care how much they charge for this service, it does not affect me at all because I will never use it, but I am however entitled to say the way they are going about implimenting it sucks. This does not change my veiw of the game itself neither will it get me to quit playing. Now if they said they were raising the subscription fee to $20 a month then I think that would make me finally cancell my account because that would be a bit much in my opinion.

Originally posted by kilrya

Lotro have barber in game that you can go to and change your hair style or eye brows and thing like that. if i remember it doesnt even cost much to do it some silver in game to do it.

Wow has this too, i changed my hair style & colour at a barber for like 2-5s or somin