(Updated) Earlier this week, Blizzard released the latest addition to the World of Warcraft family: the Wrath of the Lich King expansion pack. But the company is also tapping former WoW players to try out an older expansion pack, Burning Crusade.
On Friday morning, Blizzard sent me and other former WoW players an email titled "You've been summoned back to Azeroth." The message offered 10 free days of game time, plus a free trial of Burning Crusade -- an expansion pack that was originally released in January 2007.
Why promote a product that's nearly two years old and costs between $22 and $30 at many retailers, instead of the new Lich King pack which retails for $40? It most likely relates to the fact that Burning Crusade is a requirement for Lich King. If Blizzard wants to re-recruit long-retired WoW players who may be tempted by the Wrath buzz, it will first have to migrate them to Crusade.
I won't be making the jump. My five-year-old iMac barely meets the systems requirements for Crusade, and can't touch the minimum requirements for Wrath of the Lich King. There's also the time issue -- unlike some people I know, I can't block out a few nights each week to play an MMORPG.
Update: A note from the Standard's Jordan Golson:
"You can also download the original WoW game and Burning Crusade off the internet, without physically going to a store. That's not the case with Wrath. For now, at least, you must have the disc in hand to get it.
This is because there isn't an ISP in the world that could handle a million WoW fans downloading 7 gigs at once."
Sources cited, referenced, or consulted: Blizzard promotional email, Blizzard press release, Wowwiki.com, worldofwarcraft.com, Wikipedia, Telegraph.co.uk, Amazon.com, email from Jordan Golson
Comments
I think we have yet to see how many totally new players they can attract for eighty levels. The present and former players remember the original game.
New players face those eighty levels, under changed conditions. The lower quests are made simpler, easier, and perhaps boring. General chat and helpfulness among new players has decreased from the original game. Having level 80's with high tier armor and weapons raid Crossroads, or Astranaar, provides no opportunities for lower levels to have camaraderie in defending those places.
And the new "achievement" system seems a bit childish.
They may be prolonging the end, by trying to keep current players playing, but they may be losing potential new subscribers. How many totally new players also are going to pay the cost of the original game and for two expansions?
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