I understand the net cafe argument. However, as I recall, I needed a CD-key to start a WoW account (it has been a few years since I played) so this required at least a purchase of the game to start a subscription. I recall my brother and I both had to buy the game so that we had separate CD-keys to start accounts. Is this no longer the case? Or did Blizzard structure this differently in Asia?
I do agree that I have not seen sales numbers in the Blizzard PR to confirm the levels; however, from a business perspective, pushing subscriber data is stronger than original sales data because it indicates continued revenue. So that is one reason they push subscriber data. I thought the assumption was that each subscriber was also a buyer, so subscriber numbers are inclusive of sales.
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I understand the net cafe argument. However, as I recall, I needed a CD-key to start a WoW account (it has been a few years since I played) so this required at least a purchase of the game to start a subscription. I recall my brother and I both had to buy the game so that we had separate CD-keys to start accounts. Is this no longer the case? Or did Blizzard structure this differently in Asia?
I do agree that I have not seen sales numbers in the Blizzard PR to confirm the levels; however, from a business perspective, pushing subscriber data is stronger than original sales data because it indicates continued revenue. So that is one reason they push subscriber data. I thought the assumption was that each subscriber was also a buyer, so subscriber numbers are inclusive of sales.