Everyone Loves a Sale

             

          In recognition of a pivotal WWII battle called the Battle of Prokhorovka, World of Tanks has placed several tanks on sale for 50 Percent off. To see the original article and to get the complete list click HERE. Also included in this deal which lasts for about a day these same tanks will also grant the owner double the amount of credits per battle. Personnaly I have purchased the M3 Lee and SU-76 as I might a well advance my tech tree for less expense. Oh and I will be playing my Tiger A LOT over the next day as its credits are also doubled. At least I'll have one full day of this thing not costing me credits to play it.

Popularity is Relative to Expense

 
So starting today in World of Tanks the Lowes price hike is in effect and I am going to make a bold prediction in relation to this event. The KV-5 will become the new Lowe. What That means is I am fairly certain we will now see large amounts of KV-5s rolling around the higher tiers of combat.

Not that the KV-5 is as good as the Lowe or that it even has the same value for money spent as the Lowe used to have when it was the same price. Instead the KV-5 will fulfill the same use as the Lowe had, just not as good but good enough. That goal will be to generate Currency for aspiring tank drivers which will facilitate their ability to purchase and upgrade their actual tanks of choice. The problem is that while there was three different options in purchasing a Tier 8 gold tanks (Lowe, KV-5, M6A2E1) for the same price, there is now 1 expensive one and two that have remained the same. Most new gold tank buyers will now go with the new best option, the KV-5 at that price range and I suspect very few will pay the extra gold needed for the Lowe.

This very well may be the actual intent of the designers as it allows for a larger variety of gold tanks on the field. Raising the price for the Lowe might actually have been designed to draw customers to its lesser sought brethren in the tier 8 gold group. If this is true then it looks like it will probably generate a lot more sales for the KV-5 and M6A2E1 and will fulfill the developers goal. What I am wondering is will it do it too well. Will the day soon come that we will see battles that are heavily populated by KV-5s instead of Lowes? I think that day is already upon us.

True Value of a Virtual Tank

            Today Overlord via his World of Tanks blog informed us that the popular German Lowe tank will become more expensive come July 12th. The increase will be from its present amount of 7,500 Gold to a whopping 12,500 Gold. This is apparently due to the fact that the Lowe is much more powerful than its Russian Counterpart the KV-5.


            So let's put this into perspective, The Lowe which is OP by the game makers standard needs to be altered in a way to make it more in line with the KV-5. However they can't justify nerfing the tank for fear of upseting present Lowe owners and for an unstated reason they won't bring the KV-5 up to the Lowes levels. Instead they justify the move by increasing it's cost and have given all players 1 week to make their purchase before the price increase. Here is the tricky part to this thing, the options to purchase gold from Wargamming.net are as follows -


25000 Gold for $99.95

12000 Gold for $49.95

6500 Gold for $14.95

1250 Gold for $ 6.95


            What this tells us is that after July 12th, if you wish to purchase this tank you will need to spend more than 50 bucks to get it because the available payment system doesn't allow for enough to pay for the thing with anything less than the 100 dollar option which gives you 25000 gold. You can pay almost 60 bucks to get enough with a 12000 and 1250 Gold purchase but the 50 dollar option for 12000 gold will leave you short. Sounds a bit like raking of the coals to me. Now I have always been for game makers receiving money for their creation, but this one seems a tad bit fishy. 7500 to 12500 is quite a jump in price and conveniently high enough to facilitate extra spending. Needless to say the comments section has been less than positive from players.

Return to Middle Earth

  
Continuing my goal of trying out new games I have once again entered the realm of Lord of the Rings Online. I have been here once before when the game was a new release as I gave the game a try over two weeks on a trial account. While I enjoyed the game at the time, I didn't stick with it because of other games that had my attention. This time around I plan on giving it a good try and look forward to exploring what is my favorite Fantasy setting.

I have taken on the roll of a Human Champion this time and have Begun the introduction quests in Archet. The game is much as I remembered it and I am quickly making my way around the opening quests in the town. Being a veteran of other fantasy MMO's I am having an easy time of picking up the commands and progressing my character. I am looking forward to once again brave the lands of Middle Earth and will report back as often as I can to detail my journeys.

WoT’s Freemium Model

             Never in the history of gaming has a consumer had so many choices in choosing how to pay for their gaming. You have Subscription methods, Free-2-play models, Micro Transactions, pay as you go and Now Freemium. The basic premise behind the Freemium structure is you get the stock game for free and if you want certain added details, like more storage space, faster level pace and special vehicles or weapons, you can choose to buy them, but it is not required.

World of Tanks uses a Freemium system where anyone can play the game and progress fully without ever spending a dime (Free) and a system that allows you to purchase certain features and bonuses that can enhance the game or speed up your leveling (Premium). The purchased currency in the game is aptly called “Gold” currency and with it you can buy special tanks, additional storage space and accelerated experience and money advancement.

I have purchased and played all types of games under every single model and although I don’t despise any one system, I am starting to really enjoy this Freemium system. The biggest advantage is the freedom to decide when and how I spend my money. Take as an example a standard subscription MMORPG game, that you pay for the game and then pay a monthly fee to continue playing it. This system has very limited choices in payment options where you have to pay for each day consecutively. Sure you could stop your subscription and restart it when you want to if you need to take a break, but ultimately this is not practical as the hassle of turning an account on and off daily or weekly is to great.

           World of Tanks allows you to purchase game time in several different increments from single day to 30 days. This allows me to pick and choose which days I want to pay for and I don’t have to pay for days that I am unable to play. Even if I don’t pay for that day I can still play the game, just not at a premium level. Some people may not like this system, but for me the advantages out weigh the disadvantages and are great for a person with limited play time. Many may complain about gold tanks filling up the ranks of each battle, but honestly I could care less how the other player achieved their tier 8 tank. As long as I am enjoying the game it ultimately doesn’t matter.