[GameSpot] - WoW: Wrath Of The Lich King Classic Survey Hints At Possible Microtransactions

[343iBot]

A "Classic" version of World of Warcraft's 2008 Wrath of the Lich King expansion seems to be in the cards, and a new survey from Blizzard gives hints as to what kind of microtransactions players can possibly expect come the game's official announcement.

As reported by Wowhead, certain players recently received a survey asking for their opinion on a number of optional add-ons for "the next World of Warcraft Classic package" and how appealing each would be if offered as part of a paid bundle. Mentioned in the survey are character boosts up to level 68, character boosts specifically for new Death Knight characters, mounts usable in both Classic and the current live version of WoW, character transfers, exclusive pets, and more.

The survey goes on to present two possible add-on bundles for players to purchase, asking which they would be more likely to pay for. One option includes a one-time level 68 character boost, a Death Knight character boost, and a toy for $50, while the other includes a character boost gift (to be given to another player), a character transfer, mounts for use in WoW Classic and modern WoW, and 30 days of game time for $30.

While the vanilla version of WoW Classic only allowed for paid character transfers and didn't include any additional add-ons or the ability to purchase character boosts, Blizzard did offer what it called a $40 "Dark Portal Pass" for the release of Burning Crusade Classic in 2019, which essentially served as a fancy name for a character boost. It also offered a digital deluxe edition, which included the Dark Portal Pass as well as an exclusive mount, special hearthstone, unique toy, and 30 days of game time for $70.

The inclusion of things like paid mounts, character cloning fees, and character boosts in Burning Crusade Classic caused a bit of an uproar in the WoW Classic community last year. Many players felt it comprised the original spirit of the early days of the game that WoW Classic was trying to replicate, a time when those kinds of microtransactions and services didn't exist. The fact that Blizzard based on this survey seems to be doubling down on its effort to further monetize WoW Classic, which requires a subscription to play, is likely to resurrect those same conversations once more.

WoW: Wrath of the Lich King Classic is looking increasingly likely, with Wrath-related files, including a logo, having recently been found in the public test realm version WoW Classic. Blizzard is set to reveal the next modern WoW expansion on April 19.

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