What bothers me is that they're purposefully restricting both the revenue and community potential of D3 by giving it away. What does that say about how they view D3 in comparison to WoW? That is a rhetorical question.
Is it a rhetorical question because you don't want anyone to disagree with you?
World of Warcraft is a major source of revenue for Blizzard; a proven source. Diablo III, while it obviously has a large fan base already, is unproven. It makes a lot of sense that Blizzard is still going to focus on WoW, and to try keep existing players there. Sounds like wise business decisions to me.
If players are trying to decide between WoW (at up to $180 a year) and Diablo 3 ($60 one time fee), it is easy to see that it's worth it to give the player Diablo 3 for free if they're going to keep forking over $180 a year. Revenue for Blizzard is revenue for Blizzard, regardless of the source. Blizzard has been using revenue from World of Warcraft to fund all sorts of non-WoW projects, Diablo III included.
How exactly does giving away Diablo 3 for free diminish the community? It sounds to me like it would grow the community, since it's another user.
Why? I don't see a problem with Blizzard revealing this. It makes perfect sense that they would try not to force existing customers to choose between WoW and Diablo 3.
For a commited WoW player who wants to play Diablo 3, or for someone who might have had to chose between WoW or Diablo 3, this is awesome.
Don't ignore the other part of the article, which clearly states that Blizzard is trying to benefit both the company and the customer: win-win.
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Is it a rhetorical question because you don't want anyone to disagree with you?
World of Warcraft is a major source of revenue for Blizzard; a proven source. Diablo III, while it obviously has a large fan base already, is unproven. It makes a lot of sense that Blizzard is still going to focus on WoW, and to try keep existing players there. Sounds like wise business decisions to me.
If players are trying to decide between WoW (at up to $180 a year) and Diablo 3 ($60 one time fee), it is easy to see that it's worth it to give the player Diablo 3 for free if they're going to keep forking over $180 a year. Revenue for Blizzard is revenue for Blizzard, regardless of the source. Blizzard has been using revenue from World of Warcraft to fund all sorts of non-WoW projects, Diablo III included.
How exactly does giving away Diablo 3 for free diminish the community? It sounds to me like it would grow the community, since it's another user.
For a commited WoW player who wants to play Diablo 3, or for someone who might have had to chose between WoW or Diablo 3, this is awesome.
Don't ignore the other part of the article, which clearly states that Blizzard is trying to benefit both the company and the customer: win-win.