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Blizzard Unveils its Nefarious Plan to Make You Play World of Warcraft Again

The new Scroll of Resurrection offers up a sizable pile of perks for those who might want to dip back into the world of Azeroth.

I've abandoned my level 36 Dwarf rogue!
I've abandoned my level 36 Dwarf rogue!

You may have heard about World of Warcraft's recent drop in subscribers. Once known as the world's most ubiquitous massively multiplayer online role-playing game (hell, it still pretty much is), the game has lost a decent number of players in the last fiscal year or so, though there are still something like 10 million of them currently active.

Unsurprisingly, Blizzard is not interested in having players leave WoW. Instead, the publisher is exclusively interested in making those players who have dropped out come back. And they're removing quite a few barriers to entry in order to make it happen.

Today the publisher announced the new Scroll of Resurrection, a deeply nefarious device existing players can unleash on so-called "friends" who have abandoned the battle for Azeroth like Daniel Plainview abandoned his child. Should the wayward player happen to accept the aforementioned scroll, they'll be able to jump back into the game with the following perks:

  • A single character immediately boosted all the way to level 80
  • A FREE upgrade to Cataclysm (which means that someone who hasn’t played since the original release would receive all of the game’s additional content for free, including the Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm expansions.)
  • An optional FREE character move and faction change (specifically to the inviter’s realm and faction.)
  • 7 FREE days of game time, available immediately

    That's all well and good for the former turncoat who saw the error of their ways and came crawling back because they got a bunch of free stuff, but what of the loyal player who sent the scroll? What reward awaits them for their distribution of email fliers to their former guildmates? They will be getting free mounts. Provided the newly scrolled friend renews and pays for at least 30 days of play, Alliance players will receive a free Spectral Gryphon, while Horde characters get a free Spectral Wind Rider.

    All of this does, of course, hinge on former players having friends who still play World of Warcraft. Blizzard isn't just sending these things out all willy-nilly. Also, this is a limited time offer, so if you are planning on sending out a scroll, head over on to Blizzard's official page for this whole promotion and get crackin'.

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    alex

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    Edited By alex
    I've abandoned my level 36 Dwarf rogue!
    I've abandoned my level 36 Dwarf rogue!

    You may have heard about World of Warcraft's recent drop in subscribers. Once known as the world's most ubiquitous massively multiplayer online role-playing game (hell, it still pretty much is), the game has lost a decent number of players in the last fiscal year or so, though there are still something like 10 million of them currently active.

    Unsurprisingly, Blizzard is not interested in having players leave WoW. Instead, the publisher is exclusively interested in making those players who have dropped out come back. And they're removing quite a few barriers to entry in order to make it happen.

    Today the publisher announced the new Scroll of Resurrection, a deeply nefarious device existing players can unleash on so-called "friends" who have abandoned the battle for Azeroth like Daniel Plainview abandoned his child. Should the wayward player happen to accept the aforementioned scroll, they'll be able to jump back into the game with the following perks:

  • A single character immediately boosted all the way to level 80
  • A FREE upgrade to Cataclysm (which means that someone who hasn’t played since the original release would receive all of the game’s additional content for free, including the Wrath of the Lich King and Cataclysm expansions.)
  • An optional FREE character move and faction change (specifically to the inviter’s realm and faction.)
  • 7 FREE days of game time, available immediately

    That's all well and good for the former turncoat who saw the error of their ways and came crawling back because they got a bunch of free stuff, but what of the loyal player who sent the scroll? What reward awaits them for their distribution of email fliers to their former guildmates? They will be getting free mounts. Provided the newly scrolled friend renews and pays for at least 30 days of play, Alliance players will receive a free Spectral Gryphon, while Horde characters get a free Spectral Wind Rider.

    All of this does, of course, hinge on former players having friends who still play World of Warcraft. Blizzard isn't just sending these things out all willy-nilly. Also, this is a limited time offer, so if you are planning on sending out a scroll, head over on to Blizzard's official page for this whole promotion and get crackin'.

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    Fuga

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    Edited By Fuga

    Thank god I didn't buy Cata.

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    csl316

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    Edited By csl316

    Never again.

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    phrosnite

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    Edited By phrosnite

    Never could get into WoW, it just felt super boring. GW ftw. GW2 should be awesome :P

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    Frank_Mann

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    Edited By Frank_Mann

    Nope.

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    Benny

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    Edited By Benny

    The scroll has been around for years and this is just a revamp of it. It's quite a bit of stuff for free though. I guess it means all the expansions are obsolete for anyone with an old WoW account too.

    Removing the level grind is madness to me. It's basically them admitting it's not worth playing through it.

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    AxleBro

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    Edited By AxleBro

    no.

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    Nurabsal

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    Edited By Nurabsal

    pass

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    Forcen

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    Edited By Forcen

    I saw this pop up on the Starcraft and Diablo parts of Battle.net of all places. They really want to get the lost ones back.

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    SlightConfuse

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    Edited By SlightConfuse

    wha that is really enticing, might sign up for it

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    Milkman

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    Edited By Milkman

    Dude, fucking what?  
     
    The Scroll of Resurrection feature has been around forever, for the record but obviously, never quite like this. I wonder if I used the old Scroll of Resurrection in the past, am I now allowed to use this new one?

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    musubi

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    Edited By musubi

    What in the HELL is the point of getting a lvl 80 out of the gate? Isn't half the fun the journey to the top? I mean....fuck. =\

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    ajamafalous

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    Edited By ajamafalous
    @Demoskinos said:

    What in the HELL is the point of getting a lvl 80 out of the gate? Isn't half the fun the journey to the top? I mean....fuck. =\

    Not if you've already played through it a ton of times.
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    DrDarkStryfe

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    Edited By DrDarkStryfe

    @Demoskinos: Blizzard has always been about the endgame. All of the quest revamps in Cataclysm were simply there to speed things along.

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    WJist

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    Edited By WJist

    So, if your guild is feeling awfully dusty and lonely these days (sorry guys, I've moved on from WoW!), have a free raid buddy on the house from Blizzard.

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    CoolYetiDance

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    Edited By CoolYetiDance

    I'm good, thank you!

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    cassus

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    Edited By cassus

    @Milkman: You are. the player you "resurrect" needs to have had his account deactivated for at least 90 days. There are next to no limitations on the user who sends the scroll, though. Limiting scroll-sending would only give blizzard less subscribers, so that wouldn't make much sense. Doubt you'll get more mounts, though, as I believe you get a mount for all your characters.. That might not be the case.

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    Sinful

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    Edited By Sinful

    boring

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    Cubidog1

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    Edited By Cubidog1

    Thats a good strategy by Blizzard.

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    Subjugation

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    Edited By Subjugation

    No thanks. Now, if one of those perks had been access to the GW2 beta you would have my attention. Sorry Blizzard.

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    buft

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    Edited By buft

    I wonder if any of my friends are still playing, haven't played since wrath of the Lich king but i could go for this

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    BabyChooChoo

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    Edited By BabyChooChoo

    I love reading the comments on any article about WoW.

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    jimi

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    Dota2 and SC2 are my current addictions, can't handle a third. No thanks.

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    Milkman

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    Edited By Milkman
    @cassus said:

    @Milkman: You are. the player you "resurrect" needs to have had his account deactivated for at least 90 days. There are next to no limitations on the user who sends the scroll, though. Limiting scroll-sending would only give blizzard less subscribers, so that wouldn't make much sense. Doubt you'll get more mounts, though, as I believe you get a mount for all your characters.. That might not be the case.

    Sorry, I meant if the Scroll was used ON me. I've had a friend use it on me in the past and at the time, the rule was that you can only be "resurrected" by the scroll once. Now, that I've stopped playing again and the rules of the scroll has changed, I'm wondering if I could be resurrected by it again. I'm guessing probably not but there is definitely a character on my account that could use the server transfer and boost to 80.
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    Red

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    Edited By Red

    Damn. That optional faction and server change is hella enticing. I've got a friend who's been trying to get people back into WoW, he may finally get me to resub with this.

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    veektarius

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    Edited By veektarius

    @Demoskinos: Not if your friends are already level 85 and you'll have to solo your way up.

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    UltimAXE

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    Edited By UltimAXE

    I don't even know what Blizzard would have to do to get me back into WoW. Drastically reducing the cost of the subscription would be a start.

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    fazzle

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    Edited By fazzle

    Maybe I just don't "get" WoW, but in no way would this entice me to come back. Character leveled up to 80 for you? Sweet! Now I can come back and...not have to play the game at all? I'm confused.

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    Zaapp1

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    Edited By Zaapp1

    Interesting timing... SWTOR just sent people 1-week trial codes to give to their friends, no end-game stuff though.

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    Canteu

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    Edited By Canteu

    I'm not sure of the point of giving somebody a free level 80 character.

    1. They won't know what the fuck to do with it and will be a detriment to any player they have to co-operate with

    2. There is nothing to do at level 85.

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    Brackynews

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    Edited By Brackynews

    A free upgrade to Cataclysm right before Pandaria comes out? Well played. :/

    I wonder how many of the 600 pink slips worked on any of this (from the business and marketing side)? Damn.

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    GrahamMaster

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    Edited By GrahamMaster

    This sounds like a very crummy tradeoff. The person who leaves them and then gets bribed into coming back gets rewarded greatly, but the people who always stayed loyal with a subscription and even did Blizzard's job of enticing people to return get a little pat on the back.

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    NegativeCero

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    Edited By NegativeCero

    As someone who has never played WoW that sounds pretty good, though I obviously couldn't take advantage. But that's okay because I will never let myself play MMO's.

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    monetarydread

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    Edited By monetarydread

    Well damn. My friend Tavis is trying to get me back into WOW lately (I haven't played since Burning Crusade), and this might actually do it.

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    Lotan

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    Crack is wack,

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    spiceninja

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    Edited By spiceninja

    Hot damn.

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    monkeystick

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    Edited By monkeystick

    I'd be more interested if they bundled all past expansions into the current expansion (like EverQuest does). As it is now I'd have to buy three expansions just to catch up.

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    Aarny91

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    Edited By Aarny91

    Hmm. It's the straight to 80 thing that interests me.

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    Benny

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    Edited By Benny

    @monkeystick: no, this gives you access to cataclysm and a level 80 character instantly, you wouldnt need the other expansions.

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    DerekDanahy

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    Edited By DerekDanahy

    I'm glad this got a news article because when I first heard about the perks my head nearly exploded.

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    SoothsayerGB

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    Edited By SoothsayerGB

    I am logged into WoW right now. Its a shitstorm in chat!

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    monkeystick

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    Edited By monkeystick

    @Benny: Oh neat, I saw the part about Cataclysm but must have glazed over the part about it including past expansions. Very nice indeed.

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    Katkillad

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    Edited By Katkillad

    the only way i'd come back, is if they gave me the diablo 3 beta/demo

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    Nikells

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    Edited By Nikells

    I lost interest in WoW because they kept making the levelling easier and easier for new folks (making me question what the point of having levels was at all?)

    This new push just makes me want to return to WoW even less if anything.

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    citizenjp

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    Edited By citizenjp

    Relatively proud to say I never got into World of Warcraft. :P

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    Nikells

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    Edited By Nikells

    @Katkillad said:

    the only way i'd come back, is if they gave me the diablo 3 beta/demo

    They were offering the retail version of Diablo 3 for free if you subscribed to WoW for a year or something a while ago. Sold?

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    zyn

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    Edited By zyn

    WoW!

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    Nerolus

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    Edited By Nerolus

    Hey man, want some crack? I know it's the old shit but I'll throw in an extra rock if you buy it right now. I got a new flavor coming up soon that'll revolutionize your shit - you wait and see.

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    DrMcKittrick

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    Edited By DrMcKittrick

    They should give everyone a pass to lvl 80. I have a 34 Shaman I just don't feel like leveling up.