its on the blizzard launcher, sales must be hitting a snag

Or maybe they had their best selling expansion ever and decided why not yank the utter one more time?

 

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Doubtful. This is a great way for people "on the fence" to try and possibly buy the full expansion. Its also a great way for potential new players to try it before Christmas. A free trial may make them request the full version as a gift.


Great marketing on Blizzards part. Or should we be upset they are trying to make money? Hrm...

 

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crazy...just came out last week. i know a bunch of people who did not like cataclysm that probably wish they waited a week instead of paying $55. i would think this is bad business since they probably make a ton of money from people who buy games then realize right away they hate it. if someone already has all the way up to wotlk and care enough to do the trial they are probably hooked enough to buy it in the first place

This. I'm one of them.


Everyone who was certain they were going to buy the expansion anyway will have purchased it already. I think waiting a week or two, then offering a free trial like this, is exactly what was needed to suck in a lot of people who were like me... I've been away from the game for a while, I was planning on waiting a month or two before buying this expansion, to see what people thought of it. Now I can test it out. Even if it's not a great expansion, just being in the game again for a short time will rekindle my desire to play it, and I'll most likely end up buying it.


Having the free trial before Christmas is a huge bonus for Blizzard, in my opinion. I can just buy the game whenever I want, but a lot of younger people need their parents or someone to buy it for them, and what a better time to give them a taste than 1.5 weeks before Christmas.

 

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Yeah, I hope my business is never able to "make a ton of money," that would suck.


This is great business. Almost all the current players go out and buy it right away... good for business. Even if they dislike it, Blizzard's got that $40. Then offer a free trial for all those people who weren't sure. You have to figure a lot of them will like it enough to buy the whole thing, so then you get all of those people's $40, all right before the end of the year. Well, I don't know when Blizzard's fiscal year ends, so maybe that doesn't matter, but this way you at least get a bunch of people to try it in time to ask for it for Christmas.

 

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I highly doubt it is driven by "low sales".


Obviously, they had this cooked up earlier, as it takes more than a week to get a trial going for something this big.

 

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Blizzard just doesn't have to worry about offering it too early. Cata sales were great, we've all seen the reports, this free trail will only boost them further. Any player that tries the trail and as a result doesn't buy Cata they are not too worried about. I am sure they figure there will be more people that wouldn't have tried if not for the trail.

 

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Smart business.

 

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What other free trial can they offer? A wow classic trial with the old content? that stuff is all gone...

 

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