incentives for returning player

[Krushkobra]

I used to play wow when it was first released but quit a few months before BC came out. I've got more free time now and have been thinking of reactivating my account. I've even given the 10 day burning crusade trial a go, and it's been fun.

Now I've been wondering if Blizzard offers some type of incentive for returning players. They've recently beefed up their recruit a friend program so I figured they might also be offering some carrots to old players. I've read about the Scroll of Resurrection business, but that seems to only reward the current player bringing his friend back.

Does anyone know if Blizzard has any plans to entice me to return?

[mmorpg man]

surely the game is enough incentive to return if you like it. although its an interesting point.

[royo]

Entice you to return? What exactly would you expect them to do? The 3x EXP is a pretty large incentive to return if you have someone to refer you and play with you, but with the money they're earning I highly doubt they care about doing anything more right now.

[Mazhulsage]

Uhh, incorrect royo. If they were making "so much money that they didn't need to do anything else" why would they make any more games, other than WoW expansions? It's for the benefit of the players, AND themselves. I absolutely think they're making tons of money and they don't really NEED more, except... Why would you settle for making 10 dollars an hour if you can make 15 just by asking the boss?

Not to mention, they don't NEED to have ringtones etc. out, but they do. Why? More money.

[Lothaer]

i think what hes getting at was that one account wont make a difference and to the OP return or not return the choice is yours if you think blizzard should give you something for coming back then you are sorely mistaken.

[mmorpg man]

in most businesses, the company thinks about keeping the customers they already have before attracting new customers. its always been that way and with 11million players I don't think blizzard have attracting new players as 1 of their priorities right now.

[royo]

That is completely different from player incentives. I didn't say they could stop making expansions. This whole refer-a-friend was released after careful planning and banning of botters, not to mention in the summer when they could still get a lot of new accounts in, as that's what happened since people made a second account so they could get 3x exp, not many new players entered the game through this method, but a lot of accounts did.

They're not idiots, they know how to make money and how to keep players reeled in. Also, that ringtone thing seems incredibly gay to me, but w/e.

[clevins]

None of you actually work in marketing do you?

in most businesses, the company thinks about keeping the customers they already have before attracting new customers. its always been that way and with 11million players I don't think blizzard have attracting new players as 1 of their priorities right now.

1) He is a customer, his account is just inactive.
2) recruit a friend is in direct contradiction to your last point. They JUST launched a program to get new players. Oh and any business that does not have customer aquisition as one of its primary goals AT ALL TIMES does not last long.

And it's not just one person they'd be attracting with a program to get people who used to play back... there are likely hundreds of thousands of inactive accounts so getting some of those is real money.

To the OP: Unless you're willing to reroll and have a friend to play with, no, there's nothing out there. Recruit-a-friend is the current program but I think it's for new accounts only, not reactivated accounts. Might want to check the WoW site to be sure.

[Tunga]

1) He is a customer, his account is just inactive. A customer who pays you nothing is worthless. But your points are good otherwise.

[clevins]

A customer who pays you nothing is worthless. But your points are good otherwise.

They aren't worthless at all - your view is too narrow.

It's not just about who's paying you now, it's about who you can get to pay you in the future and you know something very important about customers who are inactive - they HAVE given you money in the past. They're far more likely to do so again in the future esp since you can contact them and make them offers.

In fact, most companies have a way to value their customer lists. You can usually predict something like "If we make an offer to our customers X% of them will accept and our average offer is $N. That revenue divided by the size of the list means each name is with $Y to us." It's usually more complex than that as you segment the list and age it (some customers will respond to offers with higher frequency, others never... a more recent customer is probably more valuable than a customer who's not bought anything in 2 years...). But inactive lists are certainly worth something.

If you think Blizzard doesn't do kind of analysis... I'd bet you're wrong. Look at the Scroll of Resurrection program. They give you a free month when the person who you use the Scroll on pays for a month. They do that because, on average, those people who have received scrolls probably stay active for long enough that the entire program nets Blizzard money.

[Mazhulsage]

Lol, Tunga...

If someone walked into your shop weekly and payed 15 bucks each week, then quit buying stuff but kept coming back, what does that mean? They're still interested, they just don't have a reason to buy something from your store. Multiply that situation times around a million. One million people coming in and out of your stores (Since they can't all fit in one) each week, but not buying anything. What do you do in that situation? Make it more appealing to the customers that keep coming back.

[Tunga]

They aren't worthless at all - your view is too narrow.

It's not just about who's paying you now, it's about who you can get to pay you in the future and you know something very important about customers who are inactive - they HAVE given you money in the past. They're far more likely to do so again in the future esp since you can contact them and make them offers.Well this was actually my point, an inactive customer is worthless unless you can turn them into an active one again. I guess we're saying the same thing :) .

[Daedelus84]

Actually, Blizzard does offer an extra incentive for players with inactive accounts. It's called Wrath of the Lich King. :P

[Mazhulsage]

I absolutely think Blizzard should add a feature for returning players. Nothing major. Say, 2-5 months, 5 bucks knocked off of your bill for the first month, then it goes back to normal, no additional features. 6-9 months, 5 bucks knocked off the bill for 1 month, and you gain a buff on all of your characters increasing their experience by 5% (Maybe call it "Revived from the Grave" lol) for killing mobs for 1 month as well (It is a perm. buff for the month, not something that goes away when dead.). 10+ months, 5 bucks knocked off their bill for 2 months, gain a +5% exp buff on all chars, and a mini-pet that's a skeleton or something called "Revvy" or "Awoken" or something actually good, lol.

[elsegundo]

i can think of several incentives.

1. since you've never played TBC, thats your incentive.
2. you would have maxed rest exp on all your characters.
3. experience gains between levels 20-60 are improved.
4. scroll of rez gives you 10 days free, with full use of your accounts (none of those trial account limitations).
5. you get to play a game.


i personally think the 3x exp incentive for new players is a bit unfair.
i dont think certain people should get incentives while the remaining group of current subscribers do not. we're the ones paying for the game. incentives should go towards those who have been consistently playing. "hey, thanks for being a customer for the past year. we really appreciate it. here's a pet walrus." or something similar.

[Mazhulsage]

IMO Blizzard should drop the price to 10 bucks a month for subscribers of over a year or something. What harm would it do? They'd still be getting over 11 billion dollars a MONTH. That means, over 132 billion dollars per year. They can afford losing a bit of money to make subscribers love them. I mean, I've honestly met many many people who have said "I'd play if it were only about 10 bucks a month instead of 15." not joking at all. 5 dollars makes a big difference to people.

[clevins]

um... try that math again.

$10 *10million =....

[Tunga]

That's ELEVENTY BILLION!!

[thefrozenpanda]

Personally, I saw the RAF program as an incentive to come back to the game, after being inactive for awhile. I'm of course referring to dual boxing. I know some of you may think it's lame or cheating or whatever, but the truth is after years of playing, dual boxing is a nice challenge and a break from the norm of leveling alone (or occasionally with a friend around that level). You get 3x the xp with 2 chars, and once you get to 60 on your "friend account" you can gift 29 levels to an alt, making their leveling faster.

It cost $20 to upgrade a 2nd/trial account, which if you use the RAF program, will give your 1st account a free month essentially making reactivation free. And considering the 2nd account gets a free month, returning players get a month that they can dual box for 3x XP for $5. If my math or facts are incorrect please let me know because thats how I see it.

Plus if you do it right you can move your 60 on your 2nd account to your 1st. How is that not an incentive?

[Tort]

i think what hes getting at was that one account wont make a difference and to the OP return or not return the choice is yours if you think blizzard should give you something for coming back then you are sorely mistaken.

I'm glad you don't actually work for Blizzard in any sort of official capacity with this mindset, or the company probably would have collapsed years ago. Giving new and returning players/customers perks and benefits to persuade them to keep playing is one of the cornerstones of the business world. For examples of how Blizzard agrees with me and disagrees with you, look at the Scroll of Resurrection and Recruit a Friend programs.

Also, one account DOES make a difference! It is 15 more freakin dollars that Blizzard otherwise would not have received. :rolleyes:

in most businesses, the company thinks about keeping the customers they already have before attracting new customers. its always been that way and with 11million players I don't think blizzard have attracting new players as 1 of their priorities right now.

Are you crazy? Blizzard is a business, attracting new customers is ALWAYS one of their high priorities. The Recruit a Friend program was JUST NOW implemented, and it is one of Blizzard's strongest and heaviest pushes to gain new customers as I have EVER seen in pretty much any video game to date. Saying Blizzard doesn't prioritize gaining new customers, with this huge recruitment program just implemented, is frankly mind boggling.

[elsegundo]

Personally, I saw the RAF program as an incentive to come back to the game, after being inactive for awhile. I'm of course referring to dual boxing. I know some of you may think it's lame or cheating or whatever, but the truth is after years of playing, dual boxing is a nice challenge and a break from the norm of leveling alone (or occasionally with a friend around that level). You get 3x the xp with 2 chars, and once you get to 60 on your "friend account" you can gift 29 levels to an alt, making their leveling faster.

It cost $20 to upgrade a 2nd/trial account, which if you use the RAF program, will give your 1st account a free month essentially making reactivation free. And considering the 2nd account gets a free month, returning players get a month that they can dual box for 3x XP for $5. If my math or facts are incorrect please let me know because thats how I see it.

Plus if you do it right you can move your 60 on your 2nd account to your 1st. How is that not an incentive?

isnt there a time restraint on this? if you are going to do this, do it soon. iirc it is a 90 day promotion, and the promotion has been out for almost a month.

[Tort]

isnt there a time restraint on this? if you are going to do this, do it soon. iirc it is a 90 day promotion, and the promotion has been out for almost a month.

No, actually the perks and benefits of the program (3x experience, instant summoning, ect.) only last 3 months from the time the new account is created, but the program itself doesn't have an end date atm. Blizzard has said they dont know when or if they will stop the program.

[elsegundo]

No, actually the perks and benefits of the program (3x experience, instant summoning, ect.) only last 3 months from the time the new account is created, but the program itself doesn't have an end date atm. Blizzard has said they dont know when or if they will stop the program.

wow. more incentive to do it early since we dont know when this will end.

[Mazhulsage]

5x11 million = 55 million dollar loss per month. Absolutely, a large amount. To them? That's how much they spend on electricity for an entire year for EVERYTHING they do most likely. That, along with the fact that they're making much much much more than that...

[clevins]

Business people do not say "hey, we don't need that $55m in revenue every month." No rational person gives that kind of money up.

[thefrozenpanda]

isnt there a time restraint on this? if you are going to do this, do it soon. iirc it is a 90 day promotion, and the promotion has been out for almost a month.


Yes, there is only 90 days to do it and I knew about that time restraint when I bought the 2nd account. 90 days with triple XP is more than enough to get 2 sets of characters to at least 60. Considering I started up on the 2nd, and with playing only a few hours a night after work, I've gotten to 31 and 30 with like 1.5 days play time....and that is FAR slower than most people claim on most forums. Granted most of that played time was spent setting up the voice command program while sitting in Brill.

Anyone with a good guide and a level 70 helping (cause cash is certainly a problem) can level up quick.

[elsegundo]

looks like i'll be making a trial account just to goof around with the multi-box software. hehe just to get it to work! nice nice. something to do now that im a bit bored. hehe.

[Mazhulsage]

Well, considering Blizzard makes around 50 dollars from both games (battle chest), plus a monthly payment, plus previous Warcraft games+books+action figures+ring tones+++++.... I'd say 55 million a month is by far less than the MINIMUM of 200 million a month they're making.

[Valas Azuviir]

Well, considering Blizzard makes around 50 dollars from both games (battle chest), plus a monthly payment, plus previous Warcraft games+books+action figures+ring tones+++++.... I'd say 55 million a month is by far less than the MINIMUM of 200 million a month they're making.

You really don't want to go there, bit of a dead horse, due to why can't WoW be free discussions we've had in the past.

In short, considering we don't know what exactly Blizzard's monthly expenses are, we really cannot make an semi-accurate tally of what their profit margins are. Especially, in light of their income being variable.

Some folks have multimonth subscriptions and thus pay less than the standard month ones. Asia's subscription model is drastically different from that in the US and EU. Novels? Publishers also get their share as do the writers, action figures, same thing. So many unknown factors, that to make any claim of they make X amount of money is just sheer tomfoolery.

And that doesn't change the fact, that even if the Devs thought it a bright idea, the beancounters wouldn't, and they'd put a stop to any such idea faster than you can whistle Dixie.

[clevins]

Mazhul... SO what? Who cares how much they make? That's the POINT of a business in a capitalist economy. There's NO reason for them to decrease the price, give cheap subs to those of us who've played over a year, etc EXCEPT if they feel it will result in MORE money. You only spend money to make more. The Scroll of Res program is a perfect example... aside from the overhead of the program, they're spending the price of a month's subscription since they give you a free month when the friend pays for a month. But they do that because it increases overall revenue. If your friend plays for a year they get 12 months from them, 11 from you (12 minus the free month). That's 23 paid months. Which is better than the 12 months they'd have gotten from you alone.

[elsegundo]

..... which is why i suggested they'd give us in-game items, like pets, or something more useful like a 30 slot bag. =/

[Tort]

..... which is why i suggested they'd give us in-game items, like pets, or something more useful like a 30 slot bag. =/

The Recruit a Friend program gives you a very cool mount. And if you time it right, you can give the mount to your level 60 toon, and save some money on the mount as well. I would call that pretty dang useful.

[Wintrow]

From the suggestions made for improving the Scroll of Resurrection-program the only one I find not over the top and not "meh" is the 1 month persists-through-death "Back from the Grave"-buff that nets you +5% xp.

Giving a pet would make people (especially those pet-collector maniacs) revolt over inactive players getting a bonus pet over them. The 30-slot bag is a bit too much as well since it's something that'll remain useful for FAR too long.

The buff is nice, but limited, so it fits the bill IMO.

[Mazhulsage]

I don't see why people were being so agressive, I was simply stating "IMO". I was using real figures and facts, then what happens? "lol l2money nub" essentially.

I was just saying, it'd be a nice thing for them to do. Not a requirement. Not like I expect it to happen.

[elsegundo]

i was speaking of incentives for people who have stayed for a year or more. for those who are thinking of returning, yes, you guys get your 3x exp and zebra mount. awesomeness. but for the guys who have been paying consistently for over a year? come on. give us something more. it really doesnt cost that much.

[clevins]

Mazhul... because you kept insisting they were making so much money they wouldn't miss $50m or so per month.

Els - Actually they could give out titles if you've played since before TBC, since opening month... you know "Dirty old Bas****" "Decrepit Nerd"... :wink:

[elsegundo]

titles are meh.... lol. i wish i can say more about them. i see people with "Dualist" "Challenger" others. i know they're from preTBC, but other than that... i run by them and ignore them on my way to doing my quests or something. i guess for them its something dear they hold on to. now i guess the spirit of competition dragon or tabard might never come back, and that is one way of rewarding those who played last month, and in 3 years the person might feel special, but a reward for longevity would be nice.

[Valas Azuviir]

Els - Actually they could give out titles if you've played since before TBC, since opening month... you know "Dirty old Bas****" "Decrepit Nerd"... :wink:

Achievements might be another way to go. I know that CoX has badges for those who have been active members for ABC years. So, the longer your account has been active, the more "veteran" badges you have.

They also toss in some other stuff, like minor abilities, pets etc. But that's highly variable really, and it's only for those who've been active members for the longest period of time. See here (http://www.badge-hunter.com/view_badge_bytype.php?type=7) for more on what I'm writing about.

[clevins]

yeah, I can see that it would be a nice nod to longtime players to give them something (perhaps something every year... like an anniversary present etc). But I play as long as it's fun and that's my reward for the $14 per month or whatever my payment plan works out to. And it's darn cheap entertainment.

[Mazhulsage]

Yes, absolutely it's cheap and yes, they'd miss that 50 million dollars per month. Thing is, someone who's played for just one year has paid around 130 bucks and 130 dollars is nothing to shrug at. Absolutely, I find it a cheap form of entertainment, and it's worth it... Just don't feel that it's RIDICULOUS to think that we deserve something more. Even give 2+ year players the -5 bucks a month, whatever. Just give long term players SOMETHING.

[clevins]

but you're not asking for SOMETHING... you're asking for money. And there's NO REASON to give people back money that they're happily paying unless there's an upside for the company.

[Valas Azuviir]

Ok, this thread has just about outlived its usefulness in my not so humble opinion.

*Casts binding spell*
*Clank*