Ask Joystiq: Hot Topic and Warcraft
Yesterday we received a letter from Ryan, a perplexed Hot Topic shopper and Warcraft addict-to-be. He writes:"Hello. I was at the mall yesterday. I happened into Hot Topic while looking
for an awesome Halloween costume and came across a $1.99 14-day
trial DVD of World of Warcraft. I thought, What the hell. Everyone else is addicted, why not me? So for 2 bucks I picked it up. I haven't installed it yet but, what I wanted to know was if you have seen these and if I only get it for the 14 days and then have to go buy a $20 box copy, or if I get the 14 day trial and then just have to sign up for an account? There seems to be a bunch of back and forth on this on the message boards. I tried to search your site but didn't find mention of it ... (I wish Weblogs inc. would upgrade their search engine). Anyway, thought it was interesting also that Hot Topic was selling WoW, it not being a game store and all. It begs the question, how long before my local 7-11 sells MMORPGs over the counter."
Check out what we discovered after the jump.
For those of you who don't know, Hot Topic is a chain of clothing stores that cater to the goth, the emo, and the punk in everyone. We visited one after receiving Ryan's letter and found his precious $1.99 DVD trial edition of WoW. What was really surprising though was the sheer amount of other WoW merchandise on sale. It was a veritable treasure trove of goodies filling two whole racks in the store.
They had pins galore for all of the different character classes. Is it just us, or do buttons and pins seem to be making a comeback these days? Cyndi Lauper would be so happy.
Even the hoodie craze hasn't missed the World of Warcraft. Decorate one of these with all of your favorite buttons, and play "don't get your ass kicked" at school.
Our favorite though were the "?" and "!" quest indicator hats. Most of the world won't know what in the hell they mean, but those people who come up to you and say "Hey, I have 48 Murloc scales to turn in, are you the one I talk to?" will always hold a special place in your heart.
We almost bought this shirt but then realized we'd just look like one of the 46,284,952 wannabes out there since Pirates of the Caribbean came out. We bought a very emo "Game Over" wristband instead.There's also a lot more merchandise where that came from over at the Hot Topic website, including the "Dance" t-shirt at the top of this post. We're really surprised that they don't have night elf thongs or dwarf boxer briefs. Maybe those will be forthcoming.
Okay, we really went off on a tangent from the main topic here, sorry about that. Anyhow, right by the front register was a display chock full of WoW Trial Edition discs all for $1.99, so that part of the story is most definitely true. Note that $1.99 is just the suggested retail price. Let's be honest, Blizzard should really be giving these things away; they're useless after two weeks. C'mon, even a crack dealer will give you the first hit for free, then he knows you're suckered in as a repeat buyer ... er, subscriber.
Inside was the promised DVD, and an extremely concise (and much easier to digest) ten page version of the WoW game manual.
Inside on the last page of the manual were the words that will make Ryan (and others out there) very sad. Yes, you will have to buy a full retail version of WoW to experience the full game. The $1.99 DVD version seems to be identical to the version available on Blizzard's website (except that one is only a ten day trial version). We couldn't find any extras on the disc except a .pdf version of the manual, which can probably be downloaded from the same site.
So basically Ryan, yes -- you will have to buy a full retail version of World of Warcraft to keep playing the game and get rid of the trial limitations (no auction house, no trading, etc). Hopefully you aren't too disappointed, seeing as how it only set you back a cool two bucks. Buy three more and you'll have a set of themed coasters ready to protect your wooden furniture from drink rings.
What would you like to Ask Joystiq?
[Thanks, Ryan ... or should you be thanking us? Anyhow, there's some thanks involved here somewhere, so thanks!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
another_it @ Oct 30th 2006 10:11AM
We've had those discs at circuit city for a few weeks now...
I personally think it is kinda sweet. Instead of waiting forever for the client to download or installing the game with 4 or 5 discs (I dont remember exactly how many), you get the whole thing on one dvd disc. Makes for an easy reinstall.
And I mean come on its two dollars... I have that in change in my ash tray.
Toad64 @ Oct 30th 2006 10:26AM
Yeah, we have those at EB Games, too. Something to note, however, is that once your two weeks are up, that character you were playing as is dead, from what I understand you can't transfer him to the full game if you buy it, so don't go getting too attatched!
Jason @ Oct 30th 2006 10:27AM
Yup this is true, I paid $2 for a DVD installed (much easier than downloading) then played for 13 days and bought the $19.99 retail version, and you still get the extra month free, so it's a win win situation.
crono141 @ Oct 30th 2006 10:29AM
Too bad its not the full version. I'd buy that just so I wouldn't have to keep up with my 5 WOW discs I have already.
steve @ Oct 30th 2006 10:32AM
"a perplexed Hot Topic shopper"
Isn't that redundant?
All of those World of WarCraft items are from jinx.com, which sells them online.
Datix @ Oct 30th 2006 10:54AM
@2...I haven't used these discs, but the "Recruit-A-Friend" feature on Blizzard's page allows a subscriber to send one of these 14 day keys and a link to download what I'm assuming is the client on these DVD's. However, if they upgrade their account, the toon they have used during the trial will go along with it. So yes...play this trial, decide if you want it, and then continue your adventures where you left off. You will not lose your toon.
Dr.Funbags @ Oct 30th 2006 10:56AM
#4 - It is the full version - it is the full game client - with a 14 day trial key.
007craft @ Oct 30th 2006 10:57AM
yes.. weblogs inc search is terrible. If you type 3 words in the search, it searches every post (and comment in the posts) for any topic that has ANY of those 3 words, and not a topic that has all of those 3 words. This means its basically impossible to find.
Suppose you wanted to find that old zelda cell phone java game post (like I was the other dau). Typing in zelda + cellphone + java will bring up millions of posts. Luckaly I typed in all that + joystiq into google and it was the 1st search result.
Storm9 @ Oct 30th 2006 10:59AM
Um Toad64, no your trial account actually transfered to a full wow account. I started with a trail and then few months later got the full game. I just put the CD key into my account management on Wow.com and it gave me full acess to the game and i stil had the trail characters months after my trial expired.
trent @ Oct 30th 2006 11:14AM
its been joked that "once hot topics starts selling your subculture, you know its ruined"
Matt @ Oct 30th 2006 11:21AM
I'd like to point out the following, a link for a FREE 10-day World of Warcraft trial. It appears to be a promotion in England, but easily works in the US.
http://teaser.wow-europe.com/index.html
C. Grant @ Oct 30th 2006 11:23AM
007craft: Yup, I use site:joystiq.com on Google a hundred times a day. :-)
Laser Sharkbear @ Oct 30th 2006 11:26AM
So basically this kid who wrote in could have answered his own question by opening the disc he'd already bought and reading a single paragraph?
That's lazy.
John @ Oct 30th 2006 11:42AM
You can also get the 10 day free trial at the World of Warcraft myspace.
http://www.myspace.com/worldofwarcraft
In case anyone would rather grab 2 double cheeseburgers at McDonald's with their $1.99
OtakuCODE @ Oct 30th 2006 11:50AM
From the wise "Hot Topic Is Not Punk Rock" by MC Lars:
Hot Topic is a contrived identification with youth subcultures to manufacture an anti-authoritarian identity and make millions. The $8 you paid for the Mudvayne poster would be better spent used to see your brothers friends band.
DIY ethics are punk rock
Starting your own label is punk rock
G.G. Allin was punk rock.
But when a crass corporate vulture feeds on mass-consumer culture, this spending mommys money is not punk rock!
trent @ Oct 30th 2006 12:25PM
@15 i knew there would be an anti-hot topic post. i tried to avoid it in mine, but oh well.
yes yes hot topic commercializes that which shouldnt be commercial. home made clothes, unique style, etc. to get that look, you were supposed to make it on your own! the point is to be unique. by buying cloths from a commercial retail outlet, youre no longer unique. youre just like every other hot topic shopper, which defeats teh whole purpose of that particular subculture
but its much easier for some disillusioned kid who wants to be cool in school to buy some weird looking blouse (lol guys wearing a blouse... freakin goths) than to actually make something creative.
dont get me wrong, i buy stuff there sometimes too (like said wow patches) but it just represents the death of the REAL punk/goth/metal scene.
regardless, yes you can easily obtain a free 10 day wow trial from all sorts of places, and you can upgrade that 10 day trial account to full but simply putting in the full version cd key. If you have a wow account you can invite up to 5 10 day trials and you receive a free month for each on that registers! ive already gotten 2 free months for addicting poor souls to wow-crack.
im a dealer.
Matt @ Oct 30th 2006 12:32PM
OtakuCODE - Do you want a cookie for mentioning G.G. Allin or something? How f*cking old are you? Did you ever even go to G.G. show?
Frexy @ Oct 30th 2006 12:55PM
Well... I don't know about the US, but in Europe buttons are that much in (maybe 1,5 yers now) they're almost out again... =/
♪
OtakuCODE @ Oct 30th 2006 1:08PM
Matt: Are you retarded? I clearly stated that what I posted was written by MC LARS, NOT ME. Try going back and reading the first sentence of my damn post.
ZeroCorpse @ Oct 30th 2006 1:12PM
WAY OFF TOPIC: GG Allin (note- no periods between "Gs") wasn't really punk. He was WAY outside everything and defied a label, and he was disliked by most people for a reason; He was a horrible human being who didn't care about anybody or anything. The only people who think GG Allin was punk are people who came to punk sometime in the 90s, long after it was dead and buried.
I was punk in the early 80s. Punk died around that time. Hot topic is handy for picking up a studded belt or occasional T-shirt, but they are most definitely not punk.
And if you think Green Day or Slipknot are punk, then you need to be smacked. If your idea of punk is wearing a band T-shirt and $65 baggy pants with buckles on the legs, you're probably not old enough to have even been alive while punk was actually around.
And yes--- I've seen Allin, as well as many of the other old-school acts-- in my lifetime. Allin's show was one of the most deplorable things I have ever seen and I walked out halfway through. I'm no prude, either. I've been to GWAR back when they were new and controversial and spewing every bodily fluid known to man on that stage, but I draw the line at a performer whipping out his "little GG" and urinating on random audience members while yelling "F**K YOU" to the crowd. That's not art; That's sadism. Play some music or get off the stage, jerk.
Punk is not mental imbalance or insanity. GG Allin was a nutjob, who disguised his brain disorder as being "punk."
Frank Palazzi @ Oct 30th 2006 1:25PM
So.... Where's the "" hat?
Frankrac
Frank Palazzi @ Oct 30th 2006 1:26PM
Sorry.... so where's the AFK hat?
KilgoreTrout XL @ Oct 30th 2006 1:31PM
Heh- funny story Kevin.
Brandon @ Oct 30th 2006 1:34PM
Hi, I had the trial for two weeks and I was able to use the auction house several times. I also made several trades. I got so hooked in my two weeks that my school work was suffering, so I made the decision not to get the retail version and end it while I could.
@ #4 If you want to upgrade to the DVD version, this will work. The software is complete, the "limitations" are only set in place by the account. So if you installed it on a second computer and signed in with a full account, everything would be there.
SpishackCola @ Oct 30th 2006 1:37PM
http://www.jinx.com/blizzard/default.htm
Most of that stuff came from here when Blizzard went with Jinx a few weeks ago for clothing merchandise.
Chrysee @ Oct 30th 2006 2:36PM
Isn't Hot Topic owned by The Limited or Gap or something like that?
Anyway, yeah that WoW swag is all the same stuff that's online and was actually advertised on the official WoW site. I guess it saves on S&H costs though.
sarcastor @ Oct 30th 2006 3:13PM
i didn't know natalie portman was modeling tshirts.
lordroba @ Oct 30th 2006 3:31PM
Hey, you know what those hats remind me of? The enemies in the metal gear solid games. Like when your seen by an enemy, they would have that exclamation mark over their head. Anyone else agree?
J Empire @ Oct 30th 2006 4:29PM
I thought those ? and ! hats were for my Halloween costume as a Metal Gear Solid grunt.
EggMan @ Oct 30th 2006 4:40PM
Does this surprise anyone? World of Warcraft is becoming *the* hot new thing. It's suddenly becoming cool to play WoW...
Since this is the case, why not get a headstart on everyone else and learn to make all the money you'll ever need, and not have to buy a single bit from the Chinese gold farmers! Visit http://www.easygoldguide.com to learn how!
Gavin @ Oct 30th 2006 4:53PM
I bought that two dollar trial at Best Buy a couple of weeks ago and then picked up the full version later. So for $22.00 I pretty much got a month and two weeks of WoW and during my trial I was able to trade with people and my characters transferred over when I upgraded to a full account.
Toad64 is just reiforcing my belief that most EB employees are woefully misinformed on many topics.
moominsean @ Oct 30th 2006 5:25PM
hell, why not. in japan they sell video games everywhere. even have special 7-11 limited packages and such. hot topic is a bit of a current pop culture store as much as anything. I've picked up a few nice anime shirts that are actually cool and not the usual comic books store garb.
the store still annoys me in that 'too many 13 year olds dressed in black' kinda way, though.
Balla360 @ Oct 30th 2006 8:19PM
Somebody bust out the weedkiller; I smell a plant.
PuniPuniSakura @ Oct 30th 2006 10:37PM
in a word, pirate servers...
this is a cheap copy of the client ^_~
Phillip Demro @ Nov 1st 2006 1:57AM
haha, how ironic that you mentioned 7/11 selling mmorpgs. I recently visited Taiwan (which is PACKED with 7/11s) and every one of them had WoW for sale. Crazy!
Janet Barber @ Nov 16th 2006 4:27AM
I must say that WarCraft is one of the best games I played. Hell, I played the whole trilogy. I don't know a single soul that claims WarCraft sucks. I'm not addicted to the game unlike most people I know. I love the game however, I have not had the pleasure of playing WOW.I know it's a hell of a game but I refuse to play it. The reason is that I am afraid. I'm afraid that I will get addicted and WOW is the game that I cannot afford to get addicted to.Unless a love one will get it for me for Christmas.