Fancy Horse Makes Blizzard $2 Million in Four Hours

[[ES] Jacksimus]

The Blizzard Pet Store is offering two new virtual pets to World of Warcraft players today, one of which has generated over $2 million in sales in its first four hours.

The "Celestial Steed" is according to its description on the Blizzard Store, "freshly born from the Twisting Nether" and allows players to "travel in style astride wings of pure elemental stardust."

More research is of course necessary but as of press time, it is widely believed that the Celestial Steed may be the fanciest horse ever born.

The fancy horse costs $25 and offers no new abilities to players, only riding as fast as a character's riding skill will enable it to go.

According to wow.com, the download queue as of 1:45 Pacific time was at 80,000. At $25 a pop, this means that this noble steed has generated sales of $2 million since its approximate debut at 9:30 this morning, or around $500,000 an hour.

[[ES] Canadian Bacon]

Things like this make me hate our society so very much.

People will sooner spend $25 on a digital glitter horse than on a charitable donation. Ugh. I've been continuously broke for a long time, but I'm committed to doing something useful with my time and money once I start making some.

[[ES] Jacksimus]

Things like this make me hate our society so very much.

People will sooner spend $25 on a digital glitter horse than on a charitable donation. Ugh. I've been continuously broke for a long time, but I'm committed to doing something useful with my time and money once I start making some.

I agree canadian, when i first read this article i was thinking "dont people have anything better to spend their money on" even though my bro wants to buy one . But hey who am i speak, i also paid Blizzard a ridiculous 25 pounds to change my characters faction, which was a complete waste of money as i dont play the game anymore but i think they definately need to tone down the price of things.

[[ES] Mindflayer]

Things like this make me hate our society so very much.

People will sooner spend $25 on a digital glitter horse than on a charitable donation. Ugh. I've been continuously broke for a long time, but I'm committed to doing something useful with my time and money once I start making some.

That's a fallacious argument and it annoys me when people make it. People that aren't going to contribute to charity won't do so regardless of opportunity cost. People that will contribute won't make a guns and butter decision.

I bought the earlier Blizzard Pandaren Monk pet, of which 50% of the full US$10 price went to charity. This is a direct, significant contribution to the Make-a-Wish contribution by Blizzard. People that would not make the donation otherwise did so indirectly.

If you really want to dive into it, there is significant philosophical and economic debate about the worth of charitable contributions, especially those of cash. I won't get into it here, but feel free to research.

That all said, I donate significantly to several charities every year.  I also bought the horse, since it makes me happy. Your contempt is based on a fallacious argument.

[[ES] Canadian Bacon]

That's a fallacious argument and it annoys me when people make it. People that aren't going to contribute to charity won't do so regardless of opportunity cost. People that will contribute won't make a guns and butter decision.

I bought the earlier Blizzard Pandaren Monk pet, of which 50% of the full US$10 price went to charity. This is a direct, significant contribution to the Make-a-Wish contribution by Blizzard. People that would not make the donation otherwise did so indirectly.

If you really want to dive into it, there is significant philosophical and economic debate about the worth of charitable contributions, especially those of cash. I won't get into it here, but feel free to research.

That all said, I donate significantly to several charities every year.  I also bought the horse, since it makes me happy. Your contempt is based on a fallacious argument.

Fair enough. I see my mistake, or rather logical error. I still think there are better ways to spend $25 though. Even though monetary donations also have to cover the charity's overhead costs, it's better than no donation. And if the Celestial Steed included a built-in charitable donation like the Monkey, it wouldn't be an issue. Corporate initiatives like that are great.

I'm glad that you donate, but not everyone does. There are definitely people who just paid for their horse and will not contribute to good causes.