Blizzard Entertainment
World of Warcraft Packaging Hides Expansion and Subscription Costs

Yes, this is probably the most popular multi-player online game on the planet. They also use very deceptive marketing practices. Here is how it works:

First you purchase the game at a retailer. What you get is kind of a starter kit, but they do not tell you that. In tiny, tiny print on the side of the box it says that it "includes one month of play and additional online fees apply." So you install the game off the two DVDs in the box. The first thing you have to do is open a account with them and agree to pay $14.99/month after the first month. Then when you open it and try to play the first time it downloads 10's of gigabytes of additional stuff before you can play. When the game finally starts, you see a short movie that indicates you have the latest version of World of Warcraft.

The game is pretty addicting, so you play and play, and eventually get to a spot in the game that to go any further you have to pay $29.99 for a "expansion pack". The pack is really one the older versions of the game. I did this, then noticed that there were certain things that the game said I was allowed to have, that I could not access. After contacting customer support, which is frustrating in itself. I was told that I would have to purchase all previous versions of the game, including the one I started with, to have access to everything in the game.

Here is my problem, and where I feel they are deceptive: There is nothing when you purchase the game to indicate you will need to pay over $100 in addition to the price of the game to keep playing. They should make this clear on the packaging in the store. There is nothing when you open the account to tell you there is significant additional expense to keep playing. These things should all be made clear to you before you spend any money on the product.

They did refund me the money I spent on subscriptions and upgrades when I complained. I am still out the $30 I spent on the original product.

Company: Blizzard Entertainment
Country: USA
Address: P.O. Box 18979
Site: blizzard.com

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