I really wish the old forums were up.
Someone had done a write up about when the game started that the profit Blizzard made from our $15 a month was around $5 per sub per month. After the changes in the in game GM staffing, consolidating servers, etc, this person showed that the profit per month per sub was around $9 a month. He had all sorts of graphs and numbers and where the sources were, almost all of them from official Vivendi/Activision Blizzard/Blizzard investor and accounting reports.
And do not think for a moment that developing this feature wil be a massive undertaking. For one thing it is already developed. Go into game, go to your friends list and a Real ID friend, right click their name and you will see, disabled by default, an invite to group option.
The point is that the real work was done way back in Wrath when cross realm dungeons were implemented.
And let's not forget, our monthly subscription fee is suppose to pay for content development. And yes, in game features are just as much content, as they are CONTAINED in the game, as are killable mobs.
For those who wish to disput the above statement I will refer you to Blizzard's own words...
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article. ... geNumber=1
Why does World of Warcraft have a subscription fee?
World of Warcraft is a unique entry in the relatively new but very popular massively multiplayer online game genre. Unlike a traditional PC game, World of Warcraft is designed for ongoing growth, with exciting new content being added regularly.
In addition to benefiting from regular expansive content updates from our ongoing live development team, World of Warcraft has its own dedicated server infrastructure and internal support staff.
Also, this goes against what Blizzard has said they wanted to do. Yes, Blizzard is a for profit company and I want them to make a profit. However, I do not wish to be charged twice. My subscription fee helped pay for the development of this so paying for it again is being double charged.
Not to mention a game has two models to choose from. Microstransactions, and yes, paying for a premium service for a game is a microtransaction, or a subscription fee. Blizzard chose a subscription model. Now they want to have both.
Let me direct you to Rob Pardo's comments on this very subject. I'll even highlight the relevant points...
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/vi ... f-Warcraft
Blizzard's Rob Pardo has criticized micro-transactions in MMOGs, saying the increasingly prevalent payment system is unfair to gamers in subscription-based games like World of Warcraft.
Pardo, the senior vice-president of game design at Blizzard, made the comments during the Q&A session following his GDC address entitled "Blizzard's Approach to Multiplayer Game Design." According to a WoW Insider transcript, Pardo was asked if Blizzard had considered implementing micro-transactions in World of Warcraft. "We chose to go with the subscription-based model instead of that approach," he replied. "We've taken the approach that we want players to feel like it's a level playing field once they're in WoW."
"Outside resources don't play into it - no gold buying, etc. We take a hard line stance against it," he continued. "What you get out of micro-transactions is kind of the same thing and I think our player base would feel betrayed by it. I think that's something else you have to decide on up-front instead of implementing it later."
When it was suggested micro-transactions might make it easier for casual gamers to maintain pace with more serious players, Pardo said, "They aren't going to be the ones spending the money."
You notice his comment on the level playing field ONCE INSIDE WOW? That means because they chose a subscription model, each customers game experience and potential to do things should be the same as anyone else because we all pay the same.
This "service" will change that. It will no longer be a level playing field. Someone who pays extra money will have access to do something easier in the game than someone else.
If something is from a non-Blizzard source, please specify as such.