BlizzCon breaking news: Wrath of the Lich King may require Burning Crusade
by Kevin Kelly 
{ Aug 4th 2007 at 2:30PM }
We attended a press conference at BlizzCon this morning that was held far too early for people who had been out all night ogling people in World of Warcraft contests. In attendance were J. Allen Brack, senior producer for WoW, Rob Pardo, the Senior VP of Game Design for Blizzard, and Frank Pearce, Executive VP of Product Development at Blizzard.
One big tidbit that they dropped was the fact that The Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack may require you to have the Burning Crusade as well. Blizzard isn't sure if this will require an additional purchase, or if they will bundle it in at no extra cost. When asked how retailers might react to this, no one had any idea. If you're Joe Retailer and selling copies of Burning Crusade pretty well, will you want to put something on the shelf that will cannibalize those sales, or will you just stop carrying the older title altogether?
Another interesting fact is that if you pick up say, the latest expansion pack a couple of years from now, when there are three are four out, will you have to go back and buy the others? That could get potentially very expensive for players who have already shelled out for the base game and are paying $14.95 a month. What are we, made out of gold? We'll follow this as it develops.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Thierry @ Aug 4th 2007 2:39PM
Blizzard is milking the WOW franchise like any business will do until the players are sucked dry of their hard earned cash. It's up to the consumers to decide if they wanted to be treated that way.
sZimm @ Aug 4th 2007 2:51PM
but adding an expansion DOES require the base content to be present, its just not technically possible to avoid, especially in an MMO that has a leveling system and level-specific zones!
if you are pessimistic about actually PAYING FOR THE CONTENT, you should probably find another game. offering the burning crusade for free would be an insult to people who paid full price for it just a few months ago.
and seriously, how many players do you think will want to skip the burning crusade, after having made the commitment to play the original game?
n_revolution9 @ Aug 4th 2007 4:04PM
Yeah, I'm glad I stopped playing WoW when I did.
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 4th 2007 2:44PM
it only makes sense to require burning crusade, since northrend is 70-80. How else are you gonna get to 70 if you dont have burning crusade?
sZimm @ Aug 4th 2007 2:51PM
well, can this really come as a surprise to anyone? how would players be able to level from 60 to 70 without the content offered in burning crusade? i dont think it would make sense to offer burning crusade for free, but lowering the price substantially (like blizzard have already done for the original game) would definitely be prudent.
Night Elve @ Aug 4th 2007 2:49PM
Well how about ship in the same package the two expansions otherwise it will be a rip off.
Taedirk @ Aug 4th 2007 2:54PM
Simple. Do what EverQuest does.
After a time, expansion sales will taper off to the few people who are new or returning to the game. Once you reach that point, you aren't going to see but a few sales and you'll be ready for the next expansion. Once you reach a certain number of expansions, all the old ones will no longer be selling and you simply bundle them all together with the base game and hike the price a bit. Call it an Aniversary Edition or Complete Pack and throw it on shelves. Present someone with the option of a game + x expansions to be useful (at $20+20+20+...) or with one $40 or $50 box that has everything in there and you'll suddenly have their subscription fees to make up the difference. Not only does it give you new gamers, it also brings back people who quit a few expansions ago and want to restart but don't want to fork over $100 in expansion costs.
Markster @ Aug 4th 2007 3:02PM
"Blizzard isn't sure if this will require an additional purchase, or if they will bundle it in at no extra cost."
Most likely they will bundle it in AT extra cost.
If BC costs $40 now, then expect WotLK to cost $40, and a bundle to appear for $60.
GamerCrusader @ Aug 5th 2007 11:50AM
This seems like a null point to me.. Mostly because the expansions are end game content for the most part... specifically this expansion as an example, not in one place do they say that this expansion has beginner content, everything is level 70 and up, heck the quest to get a Dark Knight will probably require that you are 68-74 and have a few friends.. so its more than likely you already have the burning crusade.. The issue with further expansions will be that if they decide to make beginner content they will have to make it independant, or worthwhile to those without the expansion to make them reach the higher level content. As it is, this will be a play it as it comes situation.
Coen @ Aug 4th 2007 4:05PM
Expansion are a great tool in keeping games interesting. However, when they become in some way obligatory in order to play the game, that's when it gets dodgy. Personally, for example, I lost interest in playing Magic:The Gathering when the expansions started coming fast and hard AND older sets were being banned in most tournament play. It's hard to keep up when you can't afford it.. *sigh*
Nite_Moogle @ Aug 4th 2007 4:04PM
Considering that you can't level above 60 if you don't have Burning Crusade and the new content is for level 68+ characters, having the previous expansion is pretty brainless. This is probably the stupidest headline I've seen on Joystiq since the wii chip debacle.
Kevin Kelly @ Aug 4th 2007 4:10PM
Yeah, the headline should actually be "May require players to purchase..." Obviously, the new area is for level 70 and above, but this trend of releasing only new high-content areas will eventually choke the life out of this game.
Ignatius @ Aug 4th 2007 4:38PM
Wish Blizzard would go back to making games rather than raping people for more money. Back up 10 years and it was about the games, not the multiple expansions, which are priced well above regular expansions, monthly fees and full-priced 2-3 year old games...
XDefuego @ Aug 4th 2007 6:25PM
Like, hello... Duh... this is expected. And why the "shock and awe". Final fantasy been done this... hello. Why isn't there a comparison to how Squareenix been doing their MMO. Infact, why aren't there any needed coverage of SE's new expansion to FFXI; Wings of the Goddess, and their upcoming Convention this November?????????
ZippyDSMlee @ Aug 4th 2007 6:17PM
milk wow for all tis worth I already don't care for it LOL
The good thing is Bliz now prints money the bad thing is it takes a extra 5 years to finish one of their non MMO games LOL
jynxycat @ Aug 4th 2007 11:24PM
This is new how ?
What game besides Guildwars, doesn't require the previous addons, to play the newest ?
How are they milking people ? The game has been out for two years, and only has one expansion so far. It'll have 2 at it's 3 year mark (or later).
Malicah @ Aug 5th 2007 2:49AM
Ok so who cares if it requires the previous expansion. As people have said, of course you will have to have the previous so that you can level to 70 to be able to survive in the new area.
And then those saying "Well new players to the game will have to shell out all this money for expansions" You have to think about the fact that it takes TIME to level. It's not you buy wow and you immediatly HAVE to buy the expansions, it takes alot of time to level to 60, which until you do that you really don't even need to buy BC, and then the same applies to 60-70, you don't have to buy the next expansion till then.
So really you only pay for them over time and when you are ready and WANT to move on in the game, plus that should give you the reason why Blizzard shouldnt bundle BC for free with the new expansion, the people that should be buying the new one should already have BC, and those that need BC shouldn't be worrying about the new one yet.
I believe the best options is that blizzard merely lowers the price on BC and as someone already said, eventually after a few expansion make some anniversary addition with the first few expansion added in.
Demolira @ Aug 5th 2007 3:48AM
This is nothing new. Dark Age of Camelot has done this with all expansions. If the account doesn't have the previous expansions activated, you can't activate the expansions. After a few years, Mythic makes the expansions free, so right now, the first three expansions for DAOC are free downloads.
Kbunch @ Aug 6th 2007 12:32AM
-That could get potentially very expensive for players who have already shelled out for the base game and are paying $14.95 a month. What are we, made out of gold? We'll follow this as it develops-
Joystiq are you Fing kidding me? This is the standard MMO model. Look at ALL MMO expansions!
Kevin Kelly @ Aug 6th 2007 3:17PM
Yes, but not all expansions are upper level characters only. Lich King is Level 70 and above. In Burning Crusade you could re-roll as one of two races and start completely over from Level 1. No can do in Lich King.