New WoW Model

There has been talk about World of Warcraft gaming Free-2-Play. While I don’t really see that happening right now I do see them moving in that direction about a year and a half from now. Being that before the only true rival WoW had in the F2P market was Guild Wars but this year there is Global Agenda, Guild Wars 2, Ghost Recon Online, and Team Fortress 2 just to name a very small few. I have a plan that if Blizzard followed would allow them not only to move into the market of F2P.

1. Make Vanilla WoW F2P - Being that the original game without expansions will introduce many players to the world it would also eliminate people from having to buy the basic game and expansions when get the full experience for the first time..
2. Price the Expansions Right - With the core game free you can still charge for the expansions. Being that they are currently priced as follows; $10 Core, $10 EXP1, $40, EXP2, $40 EXP3. I say that when the next expansion is released price it at $40. Move EXP3 to $30, EXP2 to $20, and leave the first one at the same price. This will add a layer of leveling, pacing, investment, and level of entry better for new players.
3. ...Timing! - I say wait for the release of the next expansion before doing this. A new expansion will allow for the price cuts above and to add more value to the overall game. You also want to wait to see how you want to play out in the market. We have no idea where the F2P market is gaming but what we do know is that it’s not going away. Remember, you have to compete with free.

With all these points in place a users would have to be crazy not to try WoW at lease once (or one more time) with the addtion of these overall new features. Plus, never forget the marketing power of free!