How many vaulties are actually paying for the game?

Since a lot of our... "activities", as it were, require premium items(gargantuan bags, expensive boxes, VIP, shards), I feel like turbine is actually making at least a few shiny pennies off of our adventures, potentially more so.

I know, for example, that after coming to the Vault, I've spent quite a bit more money than I would have if I'd never spent time here. If anything, I probably wouldn't be bothering to play the game at all anymore.

noamineo wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2015 at 2:36pm:


I am not someone who does said "activities" so I can't speak for those guys, but i have dropped over $1000 for both my wife and I to have all of the content, over the course of 5 years. Just recently she picked up the $50 expansion, due to my patience, I got it for $12.50.

omgspiderz wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2015 at 2:41pm:

Yes. Spent maybe 150 € on double/triple points in 5 years. Nothing else.

Yeah I'm not suggesting any of us are whales, but I figured we'd at least be paying, even if its only a few dollars here or there.

I'm amazed how often I run into people in-game who just flat-out cannot stand the notion of "paying for games". Like "No, this game has given me hundreds of hours of entertainment, I refuse to pay a single penny for it!"

Of course my original question was based around the idea that vaulties do still spend money on the game We aren't cheating turbine out of revenue, at least.

The closest i've been to exploiting would've been during the cove event when you could plat farm the wands.  I don't even think people consider that an exploit though.

-Signed. Your Local Paladin.

I pay for VIP and expansions.

on a side note.. in addition to points spent, i've also purchased the expansions and some astral shards for the new airships.... and the thing is.. i know several people who are VIP that also buy a ridiculous amount of stones/store pot/etc.  but.. when "features" came about... quite a few of those people re-(ab) used stones, made endless sov pots...bypasses...etc.. :/

onions wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2015 at 3:40pm:


This can go two ways.  The grind mechanic is there as a psychological hook to give you motivation to keep coming back to achieve the next thing or next power level etc.
But I think Turdbine get it wrong too - TF and collectible turn-ins.
The grind is not worth it unless you're a hardcore player.

But I'm with you Onion, the exploits changed my perception of the game.
I discovered exploits at the tail end of Dupapalooza1 and only managed to do crafting ingredients, but it got me into Cannith Crafting - prior to that the materials required were absurd for the benefits.

Since then, I have most of what I need and so I now play the game less worried about stuff and enjoy it more.  I don't need to rerun content 400 times to get one item, so I don't burn out on that content.
I even ran the new Xoriat quests the other night, just for kicks, because I didn't care about the loot, I semi-enjoyed it.  I can see how on EE with Champions it would a a laugh a minute (not) though.

The grind is a double edged sword. It keeps your hardcore players in the mouse wheel, but it also makes them jaded and bored if you don't stay ahead of the curve with new content and collecting systems.

You do need something to play for, so having hard to obtain items is a good thing (not everyone wants items, some want power, some just want to experience the content), but again I think Turdbne make the drop rates too low thinking it will extend the lifespan of content - in fact it does the opposite.  People run it to death, hate it and never come back.

As a casual player, I find BTA loot is good in that you can get what you're after and move on.  But it does means hardcore players don't rerun it.
BTCOE loot at least means hardcore players have a reason to rerun content to make some shards.

By way of an example, as I run mostly caster toon, I hate the double dragon raid.
Despite this, if guildies or friends ask, I will run it because I want to help out.  I don't need the scales or phlogs, so happy to pass them.  I actually enjoy helping others out, and without the grind aspect, I don't feel burned out on it.  So duping has helped me to enjoy the game.  For others I know, it ended the game for them.

Luxgolg wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2015 at 6:04pm:


Which one is WOT? Just curious.

See I wasn't exactly "burned out" on the game, but duping really made it a lot more pleasant. I was getting pretty annoyed about not being able to find weapons I liked. I had stuff that was "good enough" but I wasn't satisfied with the way the items looked or how much damage I did.

Then along came the Ruins of Thunderholme, the stuff looked cool, was pretty powerful, and I had just figured out how to dupe!

So I bought points(at non-sale prices) bought the expansion pack(not on sale) and spent astral shards(for the first time ever) on a few stacks of mats.

...which I then duped the shit out of and made more lvl 24 and 26 TF items than any righteous god should allow. I never sold or traded a single ingot. But I collected enough gear to last a few lives and fit-out a few characters. It made the game suddenly fun again.

Same with the stone re-use.

I'm certainly not saying duping should just be "allowed", but my original point is quite clear: these bugs made turbine some money and got some players to stay.

And it seems patching them is likely to make a few of us leave

Turd_Ferguson wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2015 at 7:20pm:


What about prior to 2 years ago?

I'm with you on the cosmetic shit, btw Lame-ass garbage!

I agree e DropBear - special features allowed some people to have fun in game again, just by ignoring grind.
Maybe i have luck to be in guild which is not as far as i know infected by duping. most of them even refuse use such trick, when i reveal them some minor. it allowed me be the good uncle helping other guildies with just the last bit of ingredients they need and maaking them really happy for while.

anyway by daily confronting my view with uninfected ones i realized all the thing about grind (and the grind is awful in my POV) is whether u let the grind spoil the fun from game for u. it s just a game - i can have fun running gimpy flavor builds wo all those past lives and top tier tf gear. and i m happy i have folks who still make the game fun for me.

noamineo wrote on Feb 2^nd, 2015 at 6:26pm:


World of Tanks:

http://worldoftanks.com/