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VideoGamer.com: It's interesting that you don't think you can compare a subscription-based MMO with a free-to-play MMO. Does that mean you don't consider Free Realms to be in the same category?TC: I certainly would consider Free Realms to be an MMO, but as far as how do you measure the success of Free Realms versus measuring the success of WoW, it's very difficult to do that. Even if they got more subscribers than us, you could still make the argument that they're not really all paying. Is that really more successful? I don't know. It's a nebulous land of whoever wants to feel better about saying that they got the best. At the end of the day it's all about whichever company is making the most money will claim that they're the best, but whatever – as a game designer and developer that doesn't interest me that much. What it's about for the guys on our team is we just want to have a lot of fun and make a game we're proud of.VideoGamer.com: Will WoW always be subscription based? Could it ever have a micro-transaction/free-to-play model?TC: I certainly think it's possible that we could do some kind of micro-transaction stuff. Whether or not World of Warcraft ever goes the direction of, I guess like Anarchy Online has gone the direction of going free-to-play with micro-transactions. Whether we ever shift to a free-to-play model is really too hard to say at this point. Anything I say now could easily five years from now end up seeming like, oh my gosh, that was an incredibly dumb thing to say, how naive!
GamingProtozoa.com: It's interesting that you don't think you can compare a subscription-based MMO with a free-to-play MMO. And by interesting, I mean not really that interesting at all because... uh, you can't compare the two. So does that mean you don't consider Free Realms to be in the same category?TC: I certainly would consider Free Realms to be an MMO, albeit one that's even more nauseating and cutesy than our own, but as far as how do you measure the success of Free Realms versus measuring the success of WoW, it's very difficult to do that. Even if they got more subscribers than us, you could still make the argument that I'm currently sleeping on a mattress made out of solid gold and using pillows stuffed with money. Is that really more successful? I don't know. It's a nebulous land of whoever wants to feel better about bathing in the blood of a thousand virgins every day. At the end of the day it's all about whichever company is paying for the most hookers will claim that they're the best, but whatever – as a game designer and developer that doesn't interest me that much. What it's about for the guys on our team is we just want to do massive amounts of blow as often as humanly possible.GamingProtozoa.com: Will WoW always be subscription based? Could it ever have a micro-transaction/free-to-play model? What about LAN play?TC: I certainly think it's possible, but anything I say now could easily five years from now end up seeming naive.One thing is for sure, though: LAN play, definitely. It's coming in the next patch. We at Blizzard just love our fucking LAN play!
