I heard a terrible, terrible rumor. Now the official word is in. With the release of World of Warcraft’s newest expansion, Warlords of Draenor, Blizzard will be adding a feature in which players will be able to purchase level 90 characters for $60. Characters purchased in this way come with a myriad of additional freebies, including a flying mount and level appropriate gear. Of course at 60 bucks, I suppose these are hardly “freebies,” but the player certainly didn’t have to do anything to earn them. In fact, perhaps the only redeeming quality about this awful turn of events is the steep price. I would like to think that with such a high price tag, most people will just opt to level their characters the good old fashioned way. However, I have witnessed players (myself included) tolerate 30 dollar faction changes, 25 buck realm transfers, and mount after mount after mount with a $25 price tag. This is all on top of the monthly subscription fee we addicts pay just for the pleasure of logging on. Judging by how freely players migrate from server to server and always seem to buy up every mount and pet available in the shop, I’m willing to bet that despite the intent of Blizzard to not “devalue the accomplishment of leveling,” we will be seeing an enormous surge in level 90 noobs with the release of the expansion. It’s a pity, really. I was more excited for this expansion than I have been for one since Wrath of the Lich King. I still do have high hopes for Warlords of Draenor, but the looming threat of a bunch of players who have absolutely no clue what they’re doing suddenly being added to the heroic/raid/pvp pool puts quite a bit of a damper on my excitement. How far removed we have become from the glory of what WoW once was. It breaks my heart. I hope I’m wrong about the Rise of the Noobs™ and the $60 price tag will keep most people away from character buying. It honestly could come in handy for occasional use by people who already know what they’re doing in the game. Perhaps a requirement of a character at max level before the feature is unlocked for use would up my confidence, but I don’t see that happening. Blizzard has little interest these days in endeavors that come between themselves and a gamer’s money. Le sigh.
~A~
Some articles on the subject from Gamespot:
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-world-of-warcraft-character-boosts-cost-60/1100-6417949/
Nerocast 