Blizzard Entertainment & Bitcoins

[BitcoinPorn]

Jesus, so much hate for a simple idea that still makes sense.

The whole issue is going to be the crazy market prices and the next is of course security.

Two things have to be in place, a system where it goes based off of whatever market price they would be using on their end to exchange Bitcoin to cash or vice versa, maybe a deal worked out with Gox, Tradehill, who knows.   This also would benefit whatever exchange they work with, as with a name like Activision Blizzard, the security thing, as far as at least transactions just with them, will be secure.

Activision folks, if you let them know you have money for them, they are the bitches in the video game industry that will suck a mean dick to get it.  They pump survey's out just to see if people will do Call of Duty on a World of Warcraft like payment system.  They will charge big time for such a premium service as offering Bitcoin as payment, but rest assured if enough people want it, they will do it.

[joepie91]

Please pretend you're the Blizzard CFO and you're about to pitch to the board of directors and shareholders on how the company should accept this new internet currency.  What would the Blizzard explanation be for people who want to use bitcoins?

1.  Make an account at Dwolla.
2.  Transfer money into that account using a bank account.
3.  Wait 5-7 days.
4.  Once money is in Dwolla, create account at magic the gathering online exchange.
5.  Deposit money into mtgox.  Oh, is it a weekend?  Wait until Monday.
6.  Run bitcoin client, get 48 character long wallet address.  Whatever you do, do not lose this text file.
7.  Bid on $15 worth of bitcoins on mtgox, the price of which fluctuates every moment.  So you might need half a bitcoin or 3 bitcoins.
8.  Once your bid is accepted, you now own (0.5-3.0) bitcoin.  Transfer those to your wallet (we recommend using CTRL+C then CTRL+V unless you're very good at typing long strings of characters).
9.  Ok, now time to send us the bitcoin(s).  If it's the weekend, please wait until Monday.
10.  Launch the bitcoin client and make sure your text file wallet contains the bitcoin(s) you purchased from mtgox.
11.  Check the mtgox exchange and determine exactly how many bitcoins are required to cover your $15 monthly.  Remember that bitcoins are divisible to eight points beyond the decimal, so the correct amount to equal $15 might be 0.98776531 bitcoins.  
12.  Send it to this address xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.  Again be very very careful to type this in correctly.  
13.  Once you have confirmed that you sent it, log into your Battle.net account and navigate to the bitcoin payment option.  
14.  Enter in all your information, along with the blockchain reference link from Bitcoin Explorer that shows you sent the correct amount from your bitcoin wallet to ours.
15.  Click redeem and your account will be queued for verification.
16.  Bitcoin transaction verification can take minutes to days, depending on the processing power currently allocated to the bitcoin P2P network.
17.  Once verified, you will receive an email confirming that the transaction has been verified.
18.  You can now log in.  Have fun in Azeroth!

I then imagine the board of directors all rise from their seats and a slow clap spread around the room, but it then quickly gains in intensity and speed.  Men and women in business suits lift their arms and scream at the ceiling in exultation.

You are a titan of industry.

Now let's compare that to buying a prepaid timecard in a physical supermarket. Pretend you're the CFO going to pitch the adoption of a timecard system.

1. Turn off the monitor.
2. Grab your coat and put it on.
3. Walk out of the front door.
4. Walk to the supermarket, be very careful that you don't get hit by a car.
5. Arrive at the supermarket.
6. Supermarket is closed because in your area everything closes on sundays? Bummer, have to wait until monday.
7. Otherwise, walk into the store and walk to the counter.
8. Ask for a WoW timecard - be careful that you don't buy the wrong amount of timecards.
9. Take out your card out of your wallet.
10. Pay for the timecard(s).
11. Get handed over the timecard(s).
12. Walk out of the store.
13. Walk home carefully, again being careful to not get hit by a car - you could get hospitalized.
14. Search for your keys and open the door.
15. Hang up your coat.
16. Sit behind the computer and turn on your monitor.
17. Enter your timecard code to activate it.
18. You can now log in.  Have fun in Azeroth!

I then imagine the board of directors all rise from their seats and a slow clap spread around the room, but it then quickly gains in intensity and speed.  Men and women in business suits lift their arms and scream at the ceiling in exultation.

You are a titan of industry.

[joepie91]

@Jalum

why would they have to explain to people how to get and use bitcoins? do they do they same for credit cards or other payment methods?

they can just offer it as another payment method? people who already have bitcoins could pay in bitcoins. people who see bitcoin as a payment option and are interested could find out for themselves how to get them.

some big companies already accept payment in bitcoin. e.g. Wuala (part of LaCie)
http://www.wuala.com/en/bitcoin

from the merchant side, there are solutions already that automatically price the product/service in bitcoins at the going rate of USD and convert the bitcoins to USD so the seller has no fx risk of holding bitcoins if they don't want to. Essentially from the sellers point of view they price in USD and receive USD but the customer can pay in bitcoin. Why wouldn't a company want to allow their customers to pay in bitcoin if they want to?

I noticed that both Wuala and SmartFTP have pretty much an identical text on their Bitcoin page... are they part of the same company?
http://www.wuala.com/en/bitcoin vs. http://smartftp.com/bitcoin/

[k]

Two things have to be in place, a system where it goes based off of whatever market price they would be using on their end to exchange Bitcoin to cash or vice versa, maybe a deal worked out with Gox, Tradehill, who knows.  

see:
https://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=25665.msg319196#msg319196
https://bit-pay.com/

One of the big benefits is that we allow merchants to set their prices, or their shopping cart total, in their local currency (USD, EUR, etc).  This can insulate the merchants from the volatile bitcoin exchange rates.  After the buyer pays with the appropriate amount of bitcoins, the merchant has a choice.  They can either accept the bitcoins, or have us convert this for them and pay them in USD.  There’s a little delay and additional fee for USD payouts, but we think that’s probably ok.

granted it's still at an early stage and needs a lot of work but it shows the technical problems can be solved. I'm sure there will be many other such solutions

[Jalum]

Now let's compare that to buying a prepaid timecard in a physical supermarket. Pretend you're the CFO going to pitch the adoption of a timecard system.

Everyone knows what a timecard is.  No one knows what a bitcoin is.  See the difference?

[k]

I noticed that both Wuala and SmartFTP have pretty much an identical text on their Bitcoin page... are they part of the same company?
http://www.wuala.com/en/bitcoin vs. http://smartftp.com/bitcoin/

doesn't look like it. smartftp site http://smartftp.com/about/ makes no mention of any connection to Wuala or LaCie.

[molecular]

Please pretend you're the Blizzard CFO and you're about to pitch to the board of directors and shareholders on how the company should accept this new internet currency.  What would the Blizzard explanation be for people who want to use bitcoins?

How would I pitch it? As a marketing instrument.

"There's a marketing opportunity that will reliably reach 100.000 geeks who are committed to using this new internet currency. They basically buy anything that can be bought with it. It will cost us a meager $10.000 to setup bitcoin payment and take us a week or two to do it. So this is low-cost, high potential reward. I think we should do it."

I would _not_ explain to the board how bitcoins work or how they could be acquired.

In order to successfully convince a merchant to accept bitcoin, it is not necessary to assume customers would go through the hassle of acquiring bitcoins specifically to buy something from that merchant (this excludes silkroad obviously). That is - quite frankly - highly unlikely as long as other payment options that are already used by the customer are offered.

[joepie91]

Now let's compare that to buying a prepaid timecard in a physical supermarket. Pretend you're the CFO going to pitch the adoption of a timecard system.

Everyone knows what a timecard is.  No one knows what a bitcoin is.  See the difference?

I actually had to guess from the name (and then Google to verify) to find out what a timecard is. That you (and a bunch of friends) know what something is, does not mean the entire world knows.

[molecular]

Now let's compare that to buying a prepaid timecard in a physical supermarket. Pretend you're the CFO going to pitch the adoption of a timecard system.

Everyone knows what a timecard is.  No one knows what a bitcoin is.  See the difference?

Timecard? Never heard of that.

[Jalum]

Fine.  Spend your time calling their CS reps in Indonesia, hoping that someone will pass on your brilliant idea.  Attend Blizzcon wearing your "Who is John Galt?" shirt and fedora.  Just please update us on your progress as you do these things.

[k]

Now let's compare that to buying a prepaid timecard in a physical supermarket. Pretend you're the CFO going to pitch the adoption of a timecard system.

Everyone knows what a timecard is.  No one knows what a bitcoin is.  See the difference?

not being funny but I honestly don't know what a timecard is. Never heard of it. But I do know what a bitcoin is

As I and other posters have mentioned it doesn't matter that most of Blizzard customers don't know what a bitcoin is as long as bitcoins are not the only payment option. I often go to sites that have multiple payment options. Do I know what they all are? No. Do I care? No. I just use the one that suits me. If I go to a site and it accepts bitcoin as a payment method I'm actually more likely to buy something from that site.

The questions for the merchant should be:
If we add bitcoin as a payment method in addition to our current methods is it going to turn away our current customer base?
Is the cost of implementing a bitcoin payment solution more than additional profit/cost savings we'd generate from bitcoin paying customers?

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Fine.  Spend your time calling their CS reps in Indonesia, hoping that someone will pass on your brilliant idea.  Attend Blizzcon wearing your "Who is John Galt?" shirt and fedora.  Just please update us on your progress as you do these things.

I will. Spend your time complaining about people's attempts to broaden Bitcoins and look like a jackass on *the* bitcoin forum. Just keep that to yourself.

[Jalum]

I will. Spend your time complaining about people's attempts to broaden Bitcoins and look like a jackass on *the* bitcoin forum. Just keep that to yourself.

I only have to save one bitcoiner for it all to be worthwhile.  Are you brave enough to back away from this terrible idea?

[Alex-Z]

the price just isnt stable enough for them to accept it.

[fascistmuffin]

Anyone think of the policy effect this would have on World of Warcraft?

In the Terms of Service for WoW, it states selling/buying Gold (currency used in the game, for those who are not familiar) is not allowed. Basically, trading their virtual currency for government-backed money is not allowed.

What effect would accepting a virtual currency, bitcoin, to buy game time and other services have? It'd be such a double standard. They ban people for trading Gold, but on the other hand, accept Bitcoin to pay for services. It's not like WoW players are a small and quite community either, you'd never hear the end of it.

[error]

Oh, so much misinformation in this thread.

First, any $1k withdrawal limit applies only to parties who haven't identified themselves to comply with government anti-money-laundering regulations. Presumably Blizzard Entertainment would do this and thus not be subject to such limits.

Second, even with volatility, Bitcoin offers a company like Blizzard some significant advantages. Not having to pay credit card transaction fees is just the start. Not having to pay to manufacture, distribute and validate all those top-up cards is another. The expense of those alone is likely far more than the volatility of Bitcoin.

Finally, Blizzard could safely allow players into the game even after a 0 confirmation payment, since in the rare case of a double spend they can simply kick the player back out.

[d3wo]

Fine.  Spend your time calling their CS reps in Indonesia, hoping that someone will pass on your brilliant idea.  Attend Blizzcon wearing your "Who is John Galt?" shirt and fedora.  Just please update us on your progress as you do these things.

Blizzard in Indonesia ? really ? I didn't know that 

I will. Spend your time complaining about people's attempts to broaden Bitcoins and look like a jackass on *the* bitcoin forum. Just keep that to yourself.

Just do it Smokes, ignore the naysayers 

[molecular]

Finally, Blizzard could safely allow players into the game even after a 0 confirmation payment, since in the rare case of a double spend they can simply kick the player back out.

heh, now this I hadn't realized before.

Image following scene: insanely smart geek wanders into starbucks, buys a coffe for 0.1 mBTC (starbucks accepts 0 confirmation payments), sits down and fiddles with his handheld. He manages to facilitate a double-spend of the 0.1 mBTC. Something beeps. Clerk from behind counter wanders to geek's table, takes geek's coffe and gives it to next customer, points to following sign: "How would you like us double-selling your coffee?"

[SmokeAndMirrors]

Finally, Blizzard could safely allow players into the game even after a 0 confirmation payment, since in the rare case of a double spend they can simply kick the player back out.

heh, now this I hadn't realized before.

Image following scene: insanely smart geek wanders into starbucks, buys a coffe for 0.1 mBTC (starbucks accepts 0 confirmation payments), sits down and fiddles with his handheld. He manages to facilitate a double-spend of the 0.1 mBTC. Something beeps. Clerk from behind counter wanders to geek's table, takes geek's coffe and gives it to next customer, points to following sign: "How would you like us double-selling your coffee?"

This would be a frustrating scenario. The way I see it, if people do start accepting bitcoins as mentioned in this quote, 1 confirmation (in my experience) usually takes no longer than a fast-food order or similar. Regardless, I wouldn't mind waiting if I was able to pay in Bitcoins and save myself a whopping $1.50 transaction fee everytime I use my debit card.

[BTC-Joe]

The smarter approach here would be to get Blizzard to accept bitcoins in exchange for in-game items or gold rather than their service charge, perhaps by making a small section on their store webpage that lists in-game items and mounts available for purchase with bitcoins. If you could buy a unique mount, weapons, armor or gold with bitcoins it would certainly get a lot of people using them without being a losing proposition for Blizzard business-wise.