I will take two please!

[chargerrich]

So Blizzard has 25 year time cards that they give to employees and friends and family of employees.

Here is a blog about it..
 
http://www.stevetruett.com/archives/tech/warcraft_for_life.html
 
I even found a craigslist add with someone selling one... 
 
http://lasvegas.craigslist.org/tag/1159374684.html
 
Add up the cost and its $4,500 (assuming you play and the game exists for 25 years...damn I may be on social security and an oxygen tank with severe arthritis... anyone else think they will be gaming into their 60s?

Does anyone even think the game will be around in 10-15 years?

Crazy but since they are not selling these the games longevity is moot, but still pretty cool... and I want one! 

[Paelos]

EQ's been around 10 with a hell of a lot less subs. So who knows how things will go.

[Fordel]

Fucking UO is still kicking, new expansion and all, no?

[Merusk]

People still play Warcraft II on battle.net.

[Fordel]

That's pretty awesome, I'm not sure my computer could run War2 properly at this point.

[Tannhauser]

Goddamn, that game was Robot Jesus.

[Mattemeo]

World of Warcraft isn't going anywhere. Two possible things can happen from this point - it gets bigger (phenomenons of the WoW kind occasionally being a self perpetuating engine), or it loses between a third and a half of its zenith playerbase over the next 4-5 years, and those that stay will still be logging on while the bombs fall. And that's two scenarios I can see Blizzard being perfectly happy with.

It's the reason there will never be a 'WoW 2' as it's been proven commercial suicide to alienate half your playerbase (that even Blizzard cannot have the temerity to think they're exempt from) - and while I suspect initial sales/playerbase of Blizzard's next MMO will be impressive, they won't knock WoW from the top in the long run. Principle there being that it's highly unlikely the next game will be pure fantasy and MMOs that are not fantasy based are niche at best.


As for the 25 year WoW card, yes please. I'd like to be able to play the bloody game, it seems no matter how I try to pay them to subscribe, they don't want my money, and it's just not going to be sensible/affordable to ship US gametime cards to the UK in terms of money or time. But right now it seems I can't get their subs to accept either Mastercard, Visa debit or Paypal as a means of paying to play. Fucked if I know what to do next.

[Lantyssa]

You shouldn't need to ship the cards, just have someone read off the numbers and send them PayPal or such.

Does this mean you're out again?  I had a tattoo idea I wanted to talk with you about.

[Mattemeo]

You shouldn't need to ship the cards, just have someone read off the numbers and send them PayPal or such.

Does this mean you're out again?  I had a tattoo idea I wanted to talk with you about.

Hmm, that could work as a shortterm solution, perhaps.

So yeah, I'm out again. This time it's not strictly Blizz' fault, as my flatmate graciously allowed me to resub using his debit, but alas his details got stolen and some dickhead paid for a bunch of IGN downloads and a doctor's bill with it and the card was cancelled PDQ and fraud forms are being filled now. Either way, card cancelled = subs cancelled = QQ4me.

As for a tattoo idea, you're welcome to run that by me whenever/whereever :)

[Ingmar]

Maybe a tattoo of someone's credit card number...

[FatuousTwat]

Awww, I was just thinking about a PARTYCAT avatar.

[Samprimary]

It's the reason there will never be a 'WoW 2' as it's been proven commercial suicide to alienate half your playerbase

What's likely is a WoW 1.5 Graphical Overhaul.

[Mattemeo]

What's likely is a WoW 1.5 Graphical Overhaul.

Almost certainly, most likely in the form of a new expansion a couple of years down the road when they can be certain that it's not going to lose them customers by requiring slightly more demanding hardware than a 486 (I mean christ, you can play WotLK on an EEE or mini9 ffs!). Then again it might be something they increment slowly with a series of .x versions, after all they added a new high-end texture setting for player models/gear last patch, didn't they?

[Sjofn]

COMPLETELY off topic, but your avatar makes me laugh every time I see it. 

[chargerrich]

I have no doubt that WoW in some flavor will be around in 10-15 years. Like you guys said, look at UO, AC and EQ all still alive. I guess I always thought that at some point Blizzard would make a new "WoW" that would invalidate any lifetime subscription, but perhaps a serious expansion/overhaul will be and would be the proper course.

[Trebes]

So Blizzard has 25 year time cards that they give to employees and friends and family of employees.

Crazy but since they are not selling these the games longevity is moot, but still pretty cool... and I want one! 

I have one. A friend of mine got a job with Blizzard during the WoW beta and gave me one of these F&F accounts. What I (hazily) remember from when I set up the account was seeing the Account Management page announcing me the account was active through 2025 or something ridiculous. A couple years ago, however, they apparently switched to just listing One Day Exemptions every day.