Blizzard Criticized for Removing Time Purchasing Options on 'World of Warcraft' Without Warning

Blizzard announced that there are changes to how "World of Warcraft" players can buy game time, and players are not happy about the update.

World of Warcraft update

In a forum post, "World of Warcraft" community manager Bornakk announced that from now on, players would only be able to buy game time for "World of Warcraft" in increments of 60 days, meaning players can no longer make a one-time purchase for 30, 90, and 180 days of "World of Warcraft" game time.

But this change does not affect "World of Warcraft" subscriptions, which players can still buy on a recurring monthly basis or in increments of 90 and 180 days.

Although subscriptions are probably the most common way to access the game, many players prefer to purchase the game time as a once-off purchase.

It is an excellent option if you do not play consistently, as you can just purchase a little bit of game time whenever the player needs it rather than committing to a monthly fee that potentially gets wasted.

Purchasing game time like this is also preferable for many players in different countries where credit cards are not always a common payment method. At the end of the day, it is great to have more options for how you purchase.

Selling game time cards for 60-day increments is the standard for most other MMOs, but the change that Blizzard did is still upsetting to a lot of players.

Blizzard's backlash

There are over 500 comments between the official forum post and a thread on Reddit. Many players expressed their frustration and confusion over why the "World of Warcraft" developer made the change suddenly and without any warning.

One Redditor wrote that there is nothing about the change that benefits game players and subscribers at all. Other comments accuse Blizzard of trying to use subscription numbers and retention rates by forcing players to purchase a recurring subscription.

Another player on Reddit wrote that the whole purpose of the change is to force more people to subscribe, and when players quit the game and forget to cancel the subscription, the developer can make more money off of the player with the plan's auto-renew feature.

Even if Blizzard is just adjusting to the industry standard, it is easy to see why having fewer payment options is very frustrating to players.

Buying game time or subscription at a larger increment gives players a discount. Buying the game time in 180 days would save the player $25 as opposed to paying monthly.

However, buying a game time of 180 days is still expensive at $75, so it is natural that some players would not want to commit to a subscription where they might forget to cancel when that six months is done.

Nevertheless, other commenters are pointing out that players can immediately cancel a subscription after purchasing it, and it only takes a few seconds. This could help those who want to spend less but want to avoid getting charged for another month.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Sieeka Khan