Bank offering World of Warcraft Visa card

Users of First National's credit card will receive introductory 0 percent APR, get free game time for purchases.

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In 2005, Sony Online Entertainment became the object of widespread derision when it let players order from Pizza Hut via in-game commands in EverQuest II. Nowhere was the mockery louder than at Blizzard Entertainment, developer of World of Warcraft, EQII's archrival in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game space. The Irvine, California-based developer/publisher even played an April Fools' Day prank satirizing the Pizza Hut function by posting a fake page about how players could order Chinese takeout in WOW.

This week, though, Blizzard set itself up for criticism of a harsher variety. The company has struck a first-of-its-kind gaming-banking deal with First National Bank to release a World of Warcraft Visa card. Much like the credit cards that offer frequent flyer miles for each dollar's worth of purchases, the new WOW Visa will give players of the MMORPG free play time for their consumption with the card. After receiving a free month of WOW for their initial purchase, players will receive "game time at the rate of 1 percent of every dollar in qualifying purchases." That means for each $1 spent on their WOW Visas, players will get $0.01 credit toward their $14.99 monthly subscription fee. Rewards are awarded through a points system.

Naturally, WOW Visa cards will be emblazoned with art from the game. Several themes were featured on the official site of the card--which accepts online applications--including blood elf, dwarf, and paladin themes. In total, 13 different WOW designs are available.

418 Comments

  • theKSMM

    Posted May 14, 2007 7:52 am PT

    I can just see some poor guy losing his chance at a second date when he pulls out his limited edition World of Warcraft Visa to pay for dinner only to have the girl realize, "I'm dating a nerd."

  • DeadlyMaster

    Posted May 14, 2007 7:34 am PT

    idea sucks

  • Kingthekiller

    Posted May 14, 2007 2:22 am PT

    What the hell?? Easy as it is, if you don tplay wow, dont fancy a credit card or sth dont just post anything, its crap... People just comes in reads the review and posts stupid things... if you dont like it and have nothing reasonable to say, just dont post anything

    i think this is a nice idea thou, you just buy some stuff and get some wow time free. remember you dont just buy things to play wow. like oh i need some game time so lets go and get a plasma tv so then i can have some game time... thats just noob, you do like ... your regular shopping and stuff and this card gives you some discount... thats it. if you use like $700ish they just give you half of your month free, thats the idea.

  • DiePlz

    Posted May 9, 2007 5:55 am PT

    So you have to spend $1,499.00 with your credit card to get 1 free month of WoW? Bastards.

  • TRH4469

    Posted May 8, 2007 11:36 pm PT

    WoW taking over the world one way at a time

  • KaotixGTX

    Posted May 8, 2007 5:47 pm PT

    Can I pay my WoW monthly subscription with my Wow Visa card? lol Will that count towards the payments?

  • F4ll3n_1

    Posted May 8, 2007 1:20 pm PT

    1 cent of time for every 1 dollar? Thats about 140 dollars to get a whole month aint it? or 1400? the maths aint accurate, but damn thats a LOT of purchase. Though, if it includes purchasing warcraft time itself, you might end up getting one month free for every 10 brought.

  • Lord_Nightmare1

    Posted May 8, 2007 12:40 pm PT

    Sounds like a good idea. Gives people who play the game a reward. I Don't play it so I won't be getting 1 but if this helps finance making a good game better than surely its a good idea. Online games are going to get more commercialized there is nothing you can do about it.

    As for the people who are bad mouthing it is anybody forcing you to get 1??? Whats the problem in giving people a choice to get a reward when they use it and help finance the producers to make a better game? If you don't like it don't get it.

    Great Idea about the card I can see it catching on.

  • frasierfreak666

    Posted May 8, 2007 12:34 pm PT

    This is pathetic...another money grabbing scheme. I played WoW for a month and got very bored VERY quickly...it's just for sad people with no life and who suck at other games. Learn to grow up and get out of this ridiculious phase. They are trying to suck you dry.

    My friend has played WoW for roughly a year now and it's completely taken over his life...the quicker everyone realises that WoW is a waste of life/money, the better.

    (And yes I am a TOOL fan)

  • horioricorious

    Posted May 8, 2007 12:23 pm PT

    BloodMist - just dont waste your energy man. dont resort to their level.

  • jhiguera2

    Posted May 8, 2007 12:14 pm PT

    Sounds like a great idea. I get to play online, order pizza with the card over the phone, and not worry about not having enough time to finish a quest.... But, really, I think it's a good idea. We as users get rewarded for using the card and Blizzard gets to generate more cash flow to improve the game and keep the company running. WOW!! (pun intended)

  • Romanticide

    Posted May 8, 2007 11:23 am PT

    Great Idea, but £900 for one months WoW time?

  • Sandlynx9

    Posted May 8, 2007 8:48 am PT

    I don't understand why there would be such criticism about this... there are many more idiotic credit cards which require to you spend thousands of dollars before receiving any significant reward (say, an electric toothbrush). This looks like a good idea for WoW players. I don't play WoW though so, I won't be getting one.

  • starstreak7

    Posted May 8, 2007 7:48 am PT

    Definitely Getting one.

  • BloodMist

    Posted May 8, 2007 7:07 am PT

    Sounds like a good idea to me, you could even use the card to pay your monthly fee, and get an automatic discount you can use later.Pretty cool actually.And for you tools trying to diss it, i know you're all console kiddies who've never played WoW in your life.If anyone needs a life, it'd be you, ok?Not everyone who plays WoW is hopelessely addicted, not everyone who plays it is a kid with no money, and not everyone who plays it would abuse the card(i myself have 4 credit cards).

    And also, it's a merchandising scheme as old as credit cards itself.The NFL has a card for every single team that allows you to save money on buying NFL merchandise.Universal Pictures used to have a card that did the same thing.Don't see anybody complaining about that eh?

  • Zutha

    Posted May 8, 2007 4:52 am PT

    This is getting really bad -.-

  • Payback7

    Posted May 8, 2007 3:51 am PT

    ??

  • Ultimate-Playa

    Posted May 8, 2007 12:41 am PT

    Awesome, maybe they'll skin a airplane with WoW theme! Thanks for flying Warcraft Airlines!

  • DaemonRacer

    Posted May 7, 2007 9:56 pm PT

    Could be interesting. Cards are different and cool designs. The rates are average and no annual fees.

  • MichaeltheCM

    Posted May 7, 2007 9:06 pm PT

    Thats really really cool. i hope Xbox live catches on to this and possibly make a better deal

  • Tranceplant

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:37 pm PT

    Jesus Christ, WoW and it's fans needs to get a LIFE. Not a credit card.

  • g8summit

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:22 pm PT

    WOW (no pun there) what a stupid idea, these guys must be very desperate for money. What will be next, the WOW Ford F-150 trim. The WOW portable game. The WOW trading cards. The WOW action figures. The WOW TV series. Sheesh.

  • aaronj0072

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:39 pm PT

    They should give away a free copy of WOW to anyone who opens an account. Offer 3 cents on the dollar towards game time, and an additional 2 cents on purchases with merchants who sell things that get you away from the computer, like bookstores, sporting goods stores, and so on.

  • BLaZe462

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:37 pm PT

    Guess they're apparel wasn't selling so they had to invest in banking. I guess no amount of money is enough for these bastards.

  • Agent_OO7

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:30 pm PT

    @ crazyralph023

    come on, having a wow visa gives you the bragging right for life! imagine this, when you travel on an airplane, there is always the risk of getting killed in a plane crash. It just not save. Traveling in azeroth world is the way to go!

  • AwD-15

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:21 pm PT

    If you get one of these you should really take a long hard look at your life.

  • crazyralph023

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:20 pm PT

    i'll keep the credit card i have now. i'd rather receive free airline mile points to explore the RL world instead of the Azeroth world

  • svenddv88

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:20 pm PT

    You'r all a bunch of over-hyped tards, this isnt anything more then a visa card with a nice print on it and saying stuff like " Next thing you know, Arthas is going to be drinking a Coke in WarCraft 4." is stupid. IMHO this is just another card.

  • Horus_Heresy

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:10 pm PT

    Stupid, plain stupid.

  • fjgamer

    Posted May 7, 2007 4:07 pm PT

    $1500 for a free month? At least if I buy a really nice TV I don't have to worry about WoW expenses. Seems like an ok idea. It's a shame it can't pan out to more money likes 10c for a dollar. I guess then the card wouldn't be coming out.

  • noirsake

    Posted May 7, 2007 3:23 pm PT

    whats next? WoW deodorant?

  • Moleculor

    Posted May 7, 2007 2:53 pm PT

    If the points could be redeemed for something beyond gametime, but WoW related, I'd definitely get one. As it is, I'm considering it.

  • light_blade

    Posted May 7, 2007 2:47 pm PT

    *puke*

  • craig828

    Posted May 7, 2007 1:42 pm PT

    Cool.

  • JeroenVS

    Posted May 7, 2007 1:27 pm PT

    I used to have great respect for Blizzard for being an apparantly humble company, churning out one AAA quality title after another. Now I feel that they've begun setting plans in motion to take over the world.

  • SemiMaster

    Posted May 7, 2007 1:17 pm PT

    Free game time for purchases? That's cool. Neat idea, I have to admit.

  • amaraklov

    Posted May 7, 2007 1:11 pm PT

    1-3% = Better Than Cash....

    Well not really, since storefronts etc... pay Via 3-6% depending on the bank for every purchase made, it's really you that's paying yourself... the only thing that's unfair is that regardless of weather you're paying cash or not you pay the extra that a store has built into their prices... so in the end you're just contributing to an exploitive system... but then again that's what good capitalisim is.... and I love it

  • Radiozo

    Posted May 7, 2007 1:07 pm PT

    Not all Visa has credit. There is a thing callet debit cards.
    I use my debit card for everything. Too bad someting like this isnt available in Sweden.

  • hoverboy

    Posted May 7, 2007 12:41 pm PT

    I don't see how this is at all related to the Pizza Hut thing in EQII. The only thing you got from the Pizza Hut deal in EQII was badonkabutt and a beerbelly. However with this offer, if this is your primary Visa, you could potentially be getting a big discount on your monthly WoW fee.

    The beating that people gave the EQII/Pizza Hut thing was that it played into the "lazy gamer" stereotype. Hey Gamespot, how are those two things even related or do you guys not get good satire?

  • kelsana

    Posted May 7, 2007 12:11 pm PT

    Yay! lets get kids buying things for free wow months when they cant afford what they are buying...I can understand why they made this deal but I think it is somewhat encouraging poor spending habits just to be able to play more wow.

  • Razaile

    Posted May 7, 2007 11:22 am PT

    This is strange for sure, but is it really that bad of an idea?

    I use an American Express with cash back rewards for just about everything I ever buy and just pay it off each month - I just use it instead of cash and sure, 1% (or sometimes 3%) isn't a lot, but it's 1-3% more than I'd get back if I used cash. I would be playing WoW for cheap if I used this card for all my regular expenses.

    Credit cards are not bad, it's misusing them can be very bad. Not all gamers are people who can't manage their credit, but yeah, some people should never even see a credit card.

  • FrankieLA

    Posted May 7, 2007 10:45 am PT

    Scandalous! This is just as bad as those credit card companies that used to loiter around my university giving out free t-shirts and towels to naive students because all you had to do was "sign up" for a credit card. They forget to tell you how to manage your credit so you can %$^$# it up.

    Fortunately the APR isn't that bad but the rewards program sucks. Stick with the 1% cashback, free miles, and other more obvious benefits.

  • da1n_br4m4g3d

    Posted May 7, 2007 10:36 am PT

    I think MMOs having their own credit card is just another move in the progression of online gaming. Especially as the costs associated with the game increase. Still it is kind of ironic to see Blizzard taking this route after the verbal lashing they gave SOE over the whole Pizza Hut ordering thing.

  • alabaster46

    Posted May 7, 2007 9:52 am PT

    I agree with what people are saying here. A) They are taking advantage of the people that are the hardcore gamers and making them poorer by giving them a credit card, knowing full well that there are quite a few of them that do not have jobs, or just part time jobs, that would have no way of paying that card back, especially with the interest that would accumulate on those things.

    B) This is a terrible marketing scheme. Blizzard did take it a step further with their WOW memorabilia (shirts, buttons, etc) but to have a credit card on top of that, it is almost like selling out the integrity of the game itself to make the 'Suits' of the company happy by putting MORE money in their pocket. This is truly the meaning of 'Milking it for all it's worth.'

    Next thing you know, Arthas is going to be drinking a Coke in WarCraft 4...

  • Konfusion

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:35 am PT

    Would have been quite a tech feat if you got a % of the money you spend in real life in the game. But of course, that would be silly...

  • natanku

    Posted May 7, 2007 8:30 am PT

    Id rather have a sane rate of return on my rewards and cash that in for plane tickets kthanxbai

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