I'm really tired of the ranting and complaining about Early Access and 'making' people pay for it and all that bullshit. Blizzard is a company that makes money selling a resource that is created by people working for them. That resource is more or less all digital in form. You pay them to access that digital material. Everyone thinks that the way that THEY access that material is better than the way that other people access it. We all have our opinions, but we are all still just accessing the same material.
If I pay extra to access it sooner than others, great. In a month, nobody will know or care aside from you.
If I pay extra to access a specific look or object, great. In a month, nobody will know or care aside from you.
If I pay extra to access a sweet set of Bookends designed to look like that main character of the expansion, great. Nobody will ever know or care aside from you.
Blizzard has created different aspects of this material for a reason. Each one appeals to a different subset of people. And each one contains things that appeal to a different subset of people. Some people want early access, some want beta access, some want special pets, and some want transmogs.
You are all complaining about paying for EA when you don't want it or feel like you shouldn't have to. Or paying for Pets when "nobody uses them". Or paying for Tender when they promised you would never have to. I swear, some people would complain about free gold being too heavy. If you don't like what you're paying for, then don't pay? Stop making it bad for others. Stop bringing your negativity into something that others enjoy.
I look at each expansion like "Okay, am I willing to pay this much for this item?" or "Will I be able to get this item later in the game for free?" All of the rest is just a bonus. If I don't want it, or think I can get it later, I won't spend the money. But paying money to access something sooner than other people is just foolish to me. You gain nothing. If that's what you're paying for, I think you need to rethink how you spend your money. That's just my opinion.
We all have a different opinion and that's why this is such a great marketing tool. They are able to appeal to a wide variety of opinions with the same product and we are all willing to pay for the part of it that's important to us and share our opinions on why ours is better than yours. I'm just happy to have been a part of it for 20 years. It's been quite a ride.
