Blizzard recently provided some details regarding their next service: sesame (boost) to level 90, for $ 60 (the price of the service in Europe has still not been revealed).
We already knew that those who buy the next expansion, Warlords of Draenor, will be able to use this service once on one of their character, all at no additional cost. If a player wishes to apply this service to another of his characters, he will however have to go through the store and pay $ 60 / character.
Ion Hazzikostas, World of Warcraft Lead Designer, explained during a meeting with Eurogamer reporters why Blizzard decided to sell this service separately.
We already knew that by offering this service with Warlords of Draenor, players would like to be able to use this sesame 90 more than once ... However, it seemed rather ill-advised to us to ask players to buy two copies of the expansion just to be able to use the sesame a second time. We therefore thought of offering this feature as a separate service.
What especially made people cringe, it is the price, much higher than what the players expected… Why to have fixed such a price? According to Mr. Hazzikostas, the wish of Blizzard is not to reduce the interest of leveling, it must remain something that the player can be proud of having accomplished, to build his character by himself.
If our goal was to make as much money as possible, we could have sold this service for $ 10, but most players wouldn't bother to build a new character anymore. The leveling occupies the players for long hours, and many invest themselves in it, we do not try to reduce the effort and the interest of this phase.
He also adds:
I am not an economist, it is not me who takes care of defining the value of the dollar, we do not try to maximize our profit with this service. This is not our goal.
Some players have spoken about this new service which they believe will eliminate any interest in getting a character into the MMORPG world. They criticize the studio for offering this service that favors players who pay this immediate progression to level 90. The designer says he doesn't agree with that:
Our intention is not to create a universe in which the level of the character does not mean anything. This service is there for people who already have characters at maximum level and who do not have time to raise another character to maximum level by themselves, because of their family life or their job ... now lets have fun with another high level class.
What do you think ? Is the high price a good guarantee to keep the interest of building your character by yourself?
