The Celestial Steed mount that everyone thinks is super-pretty and I theorized would fall off of Arthas's Mom is actually being sold for $25 from the Blizzard Store and will be account-bound like the pets -- thus it will go to all of your present and future characters -- and is usable as a ground mount in no-fly zones. (I guessed that the Steed would be $30 and sent to all characters.) I love things that are account bound.
Also the Lil' XT pet is up for the normal $10. He has the voice of that silly Ulduar boss, so if you like that boss you can hear him anytime with the pet.
Personally, I'm excited about these. The Celestial Steed is an exquisite mount, and plenty of people would get enjoyment from it. As my Guild Leader said, "Very affordable. It'll be all over the place, but @#$% it's awesome."
Husband wants one, and I told him to go for it. He's sad that it'll be everywhere, but he's going to "Enjoy this for me, and try not to care about who else has one." I told him that when they put a new mount up on the store, everyone will start using that and only the people who really love this one will keep using it, and he agreed that I'm usually right about this sort of thing (I love it when men say the woman is right).
Husband also asked if I was going to buy the Steed, and I said "Eventually, yes. But Dusty won't ride it, Plum won't ride it, and Birdy... I dunno. So until I know which character will actually use it, I don't see the point of getting it right now."
He said "You're not going to get it to go from 79 mounts to 80?"
"Right. And it's 80 to 81 now." Then we talked about the progress of my mount grind.
I realize there will be some concerns about "buying achievements" with the Steed, but I'm looking at it from a different perspective -- it's one of the most beautiful mounts I've seen since the phoenix and it's being made available to the masses. Not just to the hardcore raiders. I'm really glad about this. The Spectral Tiger was such a hit, I'm thrilled that the populace gets something this beautiful if they want it. (I'm especially happy for players who can't invest a lot of time into the game to get mounts but who want something special and work hard enough to afford it.)
^ Husband on his level 20 bank alt.
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If you're only at 80 mounts now, you probably won't get the 100 mounts pre Cataclysm. And we can assume that there will be plethora of new mounts coming with Cataclysm.
ReplyDeleteDon't buy it to increase an irrelevant number. Buy it only because you want it. :)
You're exactly right. I don't like buying things I'm not going to get any use out of. I bought the Netherwhelp for Birdy and the Hippogryph Hatchling for Plum and even the Turtle Mount because I love it, but until I decide if I can use the Steed, I'm not going to buy it. The only reason I know I will once the fever goes down is that it really is beautiful. I'm sure I'll break down eventually, but not quite yet.
ReplyDeleteGood thing you're not buying it. Freaking 2 hour wait for it atm. Killer
ReplyDeleteHusband is in the queue. Estimated time: 5 hours.
ReplyDeleteI NEED THIS MOUNT OMFG -dying-
ReplyDelete*giggle* You made me laugh out loud, Shiro.
ReplyDeleteEven though the queue for Husband said 5 hours, he got through in 1 hour. He also said something interesting about this on our guild forums:
ReplyDelete[husband]
Yes, works like a ground mount in no-fly zones and at early levels. I assumed the wrong thing before, was very happy to see that it works like this.
/waxing philsophical
They aren't really selling a mount for $25 dollars a pop and making millions in a single day. I mean, they are, but they aren't really. They're leveraging 15+ years of the Warcraft franchise, 5+ years of World of Warcraft specifically. If you or I were to make a really sweet 3D model of a sparkly horse, think we could sell it for $25 a pop and have a 20,000+ queue for it?
The reason it's selling well is because people care about the game and about their characters. Blizzard is getting additional value out of the countless hours of previous labor. Yes, we already pay for the games and the subscription. If everyone thought that the price of the games plus price of subscription was just enough money for the worth of the game, then they wouldn't buy the mount. Clearly this is the opinion of a lot of people, and that's cool. It's not a 400% mount that you're "forced" to buy. But some people have enough interest and think it's worth the money. The investment of making a good game pays off in ways other than subscription money. Good for Blizz, I say.
If players want a sweet mount, we have options. They aren't selling the Ironbound Proto-Drake for money. If you want one of those, you still have to do hard modes. They aren't selling the Deathcharger; if you want one of those, you still have to put in the time to grind it (or get lucky). They aren't taking anything away from anyone else. If they ever sell epic weapons for money, I would quit in a heartbeat, and I'm sure a lot of people would join me. I think it's hilarious that wow.com calls this the first "usable" item. It's just as cosmetic as selling pets previously.
[/husband]
I saw a dude riding one this morning, and I shot over to the Store ASAP.
ReplyDeleteNo queue for me. Just BAM!
And my Druid just hit 20 today, so she got a free mount out of the deal.
Im happy with vanity items being sold. I would quit if they sold gear though, definately. I bought my mount today and it's awesome :) Im really glad that it wasn't turned into some lame 1% drop off Algalon. Ulduar as a raid was the pinnacle of WotLK raiding. It was the most fun, exciting and mysterious place. This mount feels like a reward for all those players who really loved Ulduar. It also took me to 98/100 mounts - slowly slowly catchy monkey :)
ReplyDelete:) Yay! I'm so glad to hear you're so close to 100 and enjoying your Sparklehorse.
ReplyDelete