Comments on: Battle.net 2.0 Marketplace and Premium Content Fees

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:10:27 +0000

The point is that you can have a mutually beneficial relationship with developers. A company/group of people could create a high quality game using the engine. The developers can save a ton of money on publicity, engine development, distribution, etc (half your money goes to retailers when buying the game). This can add value to your SC2 purchase, getting games for $5-$20 or whatever the pricing scheme is. Which might be comparable to $15-$50 retail games. If the editor is that flexible.

Wouldn’t be so bad if the best of the Warcraft 3 maps were ~ $1 (with free updates) or like $.10 each. Or if you just had to pay to get a host-able version so you could get people to play. But i don’t think the store is for maps, or what the editor can do relatively easily. Its meant for unique uses of the engine.

It could be quite good for Blizzard, developers, and players, if its done well. If not done properly it would most likely just end up being a relatively useless feature of SC2. At worst the content should be similar to WC3 customs. At best you’ll have better free content (to demo premium) and more content worth a few $$ to add value and longevity to your SC2 purchase.

By: Remscar

Remscar — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 00:48:10 +0000

I am a map maker for WC3, and i have to say the idea of needing to buy premium content is ridiculous. No one is going to pay $2 for a random map that no one has ever heard of. Think of HL2 and all of the HL2 mods, you don’t have to buy the mods, the mods are 100% free. But you HAVE to buy the HL2 engine. Blizzard needs to stop thinking about nickle and dime-ing people and start thinking more towards open source. I mean the already make about 4.5 million dollars A DAY from WoW. Think how good Valve is doing, and they don’t have a single MMORPG, and they have successfully put out countless games. Maybe if a map/mod is EXTREMELY GOOD like for example Garrysmod or Killing floor then i would see the logic in releasing it for money. But charging 1-3 dollars just to play a single mod is outrageous. Its like turning sc2 into Combat arms or other games. And Blizzard keeps on thinking that they need to continue working on sc2 making it better and better, well please blizzard. Tie up the loose ends and get this game out! You can always release patches if you would like to add things.

By: chrysrobyn

chrysrobyn — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 22:01:51 +0000

I’d easily pay $5 for a DOtA that would support my Mac with tools like banlists and pings. The developer put in a lot of time, and seemingly for nothing other than practice and resume building.

Of course, if IceFrog decided that every minor update was another $5, or that the whole thing was more than $10, or that my Mac means I’m still a second class citizen, I’m going to stick with free stuff.

By: SikTh

SikTh — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 19:56:17 +0000

I don’t get it.

You don’t have money – don’t buy games. How is complaining about it different from complaining about anything costing money?
If people take the time and effort to make something, anything, why is it suddenly wrong to give them money for it in exchange? Be thankful that you have so many free maps to play with.

By: ErkZ

ErkZ — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:10:09 +0000

While I agree with the post above mine that the majority of maps will be free, I expect that once people start seeing their maps gaining monstrous popularity, like DotA, they’ll say to themselves, “Self, I could use a bit more money. Why don’t I put in the extra effort to meet the premium requirements.” And then the chain game starts.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 02:05:11 +0000

Since i have to believe the vast majority of people making maps will be amateurs, the maps that make the premium cut will most likely be few and far between. Assuming of course blizzard has high standards, but we all know they do
so i figure the vast majority of custom maps will be free. Though i’ve seen some amazing work done with warcraft 3, and there was never any incentive of cash to make those campaigns and maps.
I guess my point is that EXTREMELY high should be met before a game is given premium status, to ensure people are paying for something worth paying for, and that there are enough TD’s and footie maps for the rest of us

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:34:14 +0000

From what I read, Blizzard wants to, like they said, “keep a chain-reaction purchasing”. It really sounds more like “chain-reaction money income”. Not everyone is able to purchase/download things online that requires payment through online/credit card/etc, you know? What about those teenage gamers, those die hard StarCraft fans that play SC2 and keep up-to-date with the latest, coolest, awe-inspiring maps/mods?

I mean, I don’t’ expect Blizzard to be targeting much more older players, who have 3 or 4 credit cards in their wallet, are they? I mean, payment online is something too much for the gamers, especially when most of them don’t even own a credit card yet.

it’s good enough that Blizzard didn’t make SC2 like WoW, but doing this marketing, casual gamers will not be able to experience playing mods as good, or maybe better, than DotA. Then, only those rich/well-income people with credit cards will be able to play them. It’s just not, practical in my opinion

By: SC2 Fan

SC2 Fan — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 14:19:10 +0000

It’s alright for me if they choose to sell Premium Titled games to the public. As long as it’s priced equal to a normal game. I’ve seen DotA VCD’s being sold everywhere, despite it being just a mod to Warcraft 3. I don’t think people care if DotA’s designed from Warcraft 3 engines, it’s still one heck of a game to play.

Sure, there will be SO MANY other map mods like Warcraft 3 has, but keep in mind that not all of the community-made maps are worth playing. DotA is an exception, but what about the rest? I personally do not think mods like Tower Defense can be made to a big game and compiled into a VCD, it’s just a mini-game for the gamers to enjoy.

But for nice games like DotA, if there is a chance that modders and developers are able to create a mod using SC2 engines WAY better that DotA, why not? If it deserves a Premium, than it does. If it’s a darn good game, it’s worth being marketed as a game by itself, with giving credits to SC2.

I’m a gamer myself, and I understand that we all love good games, even better if we do not have to pay for it, but look it in another point of view, having the Premium Title will allow games which are the best among the best to be recognized globally, among gamers. This way, I would certainly pay more attention to what games/mods that have earned the Premium, and I would certainly try to get my hands on those games/mods, providing the pricing is reasonable. Those games would be of more priority to gamers than other normal/decent mods.

By: THE_BANANA_REPUBLIC

THE_BANANA_REPUBLIC — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 08:12:21 +0000

It seems to me that there are a lot of mal-informed opinions being spouted on this premium content thing. I believe that it is the developers who decide whether or not they choose to develop a premium map. We’ll still have plenty of free madness/tower/dota/rpg/fps/scroller maps. No problem.

Premium content is not mutually exclusive with the traditional, free, use map settings maps as seen in wc3.

So quit your bitchin’. $$ goes to developers.

By: Chef

Chef — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:35:11 +0000

I am willing to pay for professional content, provided I can pay directly, as opposed to buying $30 of “blizz-credit” and spending it on a $2 game.
I also believe that if blizzard are charging real money for mods, then these mods should be treated as stand alone games, and people should be able to purchase them stand alone, including the SC2 engine, without needing to purchase SC2. I know that’s not going to happen though.