Time is Money, Friend

So we've got a bit of a conversation striking up on our forum, as well as the buzz around the rest of the wow community at the mo, about these new vanity pets Blizzard have released, where you pay real money for a virtual item.

Surely we're only an epic handout and gold-buying feature away from totally throwing this game into the bin with all the other games that have sold out, right?

Well, no, not really.

Much in the same way that the achievement system was introduced, offering "non-combat rewards" for putting in the extra time/effort to certain things, the new bells and whistles that have appeared in the game (the character customisation, faction and race change options, and more recently the new Pet Store) provide the player with no benefit other than to their own gaming experience.

I, for example, am a total sucker for all things shiny. A good example is how at the minute I'm levelling Tailoring on Cattrina, my DK bank/mule character on Hellfire. Surely Tailoring is a crappy profession to have on a DK? You're right. So why am I doing it? Because I want to be able to make the Tuxedo and the Haliscan outfit. I've spent about 500g so far in levelling it alongside enchanting. Just so I can make myself a tux. True story.

This is just the kind of person I am, which is the really good thing about MMOs, especially one as versatile as World of Warcraft. If I want to spend eight hours repeatedly killing pirates to farm Mageweave cloth, to turn into a snazzy jacket to match my Diamon-Tipped cane and Battered Jungle Hat, then damn it, that's what I'll do! Same that if I want to spend WEEKS repeatedly powerhousing through Stratholme so get a fucking skeleton horse, then I will!

This is who I am in life. I see something I want, and I have to have it. I have a pile of shoes and clothes in my wardrobe that I saw because they looked pretty, only to find out that they don't fit. Do I return them? No. No, I keep them, look at them occasionally and admire their unattainable beauty.

And it's the same with WoW.

Let me put into perspective how much money I have spent on WoW since I started playing.

The average person who has played like I have since opening their account will have spent the following:

£10 Vanilla WoW (Prices may vary dependant on time of purchase)
£10 Burning Crusade (Prices may vary dependant on time of purchase)
£25 WotLK (Prices may vary dependant on time of purchase)
£200 Game Time (See Below)
TOTAL £245

Sound like a lot? Read on.

My Version

The game I ended up buying two copies of, the original name and then the battle chest as well. I don't remember exactly why; I think I wanted the guides that came in the battle chest. So take £10 for the game, add another £15 for the battle chest.

Running Total = £25

Subscription from January 2008 - November 2009 @ £8.99 per month, which I kept even over the summer of '08 when I wasn't really playing. Forgot I had it. That's £197.98. Let's go nuts and round that up to £200.

Running Total = £225

Add to that the second account I got when they introduced the recruit-a-friend concept and became interested in dual-boxing. I had to buy the game again, so let's say £10. I also had to buy the Keyclone software (well, didn't HAVE to, but it made it easier, and after all, I'm all about the easy) for another £10. That lasted about 3 months, with 1 month free, so add say £16 to that. I transferred one of my characters (40 warlock) from my old account to the new one, so that's another £15. I then closed this account.

Running Total = £276

I then got another second account for about another 2 months (with 1 free), which is where my Rasco & Disotto duo came about. So another game £10, plus I wanted to dual box two dranei, so stick the expansion in there, as well, another £10. Once I had a new level 60, I stopped that account, as well. So just say £9 there for subscription.

Running Total = £305

When WotLK was released (£25), and Riande and I rerolled on Darkspear, I transferred my belf hunter from Aggramar to Darkspear just so that I could roll a Death Knight. Add £15. I don't even like Death Knights! I also transferred my Draenei hunter (the other Catrinna) from Aggramar (£15).

Running Total = £360

I moved Disotto from the 2nd account back to the original account so I could keep her. £15. I recustomised a character I don't even use now, Maestermin, from a female to male Draenei. £15. I changed the name of my hunter from Catriná to Catrinaa (£15), later to Catrinna during the aforementioned server transfer to Darkspear (included in transfer). I moved Reggina (most of you won't even remember that character) to my other other account, before it exired. I don't remember why I moved her (£15).

Running Total = £420

When rolling out the NuGen Horde, I transferred level 30 Tauren Druid from Aggramar into Hellfire in order for us to have some gold to buy guild tabs straight away (£15). Since then, I've also transferred Disotto over to the Horde (£20).

Running Total = £455

Then there's the pets. I bought the BlizzCon virtual ticket, let's face it, just for the pet. £25. And, of course, I've bought the two new controversial pets from the Pet Store, totalling £20.

Running Total = £500

Nice even number to round up with there.

So, let's take off the original game prices (£45), and average it out over the 22 months I've been paying/playing, I'm paying about £20.68 a month to play this game. That's £11 more than your average player. If I was still smoking, I'd have spent about £1,650 within the same space of time on cigarettes (22 months on 10 a day, £2.50 for 10, which is how much they were once).

It's all relative.