Blizzard: Diablo 3 Can ''Cannibalize'' WoW Players

[Travis Beane]

[citation][nom]K2N hater[/nom]WoW sucks and I bet D3 will be rather disappointing in terms of graphics.[/citation]
I was just playing Sacred Gold lately. Sure, looks like garbage, but damn it's fun.
To be honest, if they weren't so pissy about using the custom resolution hack, I'd probably still be playing Diablo 2 today.

 

[sykozis]

[citation][nom]dalauder[/nom]Some of these articles aren't exactly News. Wow is like 20 years old and, therefore, is on the decline. Of course Blizzard wants to keep its players. Titan should have targeted release summer 2012, not Q4, 2013. They're gonna lose a lot of players by then because Wow's graphics are only tolerable because of their cartoony look nowadays.[/citation]

Blizzard, as a company, is 20 years old. WoW is only 10 years old. If you pay any attention to the gaming industry, you'd have already known that WoW is in fact not on a "decline" as you claim. WoW recently recorded 12 million active subscriptions....that's an increase from the previous count of 11 million active subscriptions. I don't see where an increase in active subscriptions qualifies as declining...

 

[eddieroolz]

I don't think the players of WoW are going anywhere. Some may go to Diablo III, but I'd wager that many will take out dual subscriptions.

 

[tavix]

From the screens Diablo 3 looks like a 1999 game anyways...

 

[xyriin]

Every single MMO launched in the last five years has been dubbed a 'WoW Killer'. Quite frankly it's a dream that hasn't even been close to realized.

Since WoW launched only four other MMOs have even seen over a million subscribers. Those titles are Aion, Lineage, Lineage II, and Runsescape. Of those four the only with even moderate success was Aion. Aion peaked at 4 millions subscribers (only a marginal 25% of WoW) and has begun a decline. All those WoW Killers like Warhammer, Conan, Galaxies, and LotR? They didn't even hit the million subscriber mark.

As for the future of WoW? Subscriber rates dropped some at the end of WotLK but are right back up to the 12 million mark. I fully expect WoW to have dips in active subscribers until the end of its run but should maintain 10 million or more until the lights go out. So please, can we stop with the 'WoW Killer' nonsense until a game manages maybe even 50% of the subscriber base WoW has. 6 million wouldn't actually be that close, but at least it wouldn't be laughable.

 

[jrnyfan]

Guild Wars is awesome, still is and GW2 is going to blow socks off.

There is one simple reason: I refuse to pay for a game I already bought.

 

[StuMan]

WoW is definitely getting old and tired, however Blizzard will flog that horse until it has no blood left in it. It is just too much of a cash cow to be retired so eventually WoW as we know it will die a slow horrible death. Rift is similar enough to WoW to gain the most from the WoW customers and new enough to offer a shiny new gaming experience. Not that you can really blame Blizzard for keeping on pushing WoW, would you give up something that gave you mountains of money everyday?

 

[kaa0653]

[citation][nom]ikefu[/nom]The problem with all these "WoW Killers" is that they focus on gamer personalities. As someone who still leads a guild in WoW its amazing to me how many applicants we get who have never played another video game outside of their iPhone.Gamers probably make up something like 10-20% of WoW and the rest are non-gamers who got pulled in off the streets. Until a MMO comes along that can grab non-gamers and make them want to log in and group with others (make a gamer wanna-be out of them) then WoW is safe.[/citation]

Yes I agree that most other games are designed for gamers. The simplicity of WoW is why it has done so well. It is by far the easiest MMO I have ever played and that is exactly why I don't play it anymore. It did bring many "non-gamers" into the gaming world. You say that other games need to do the same but I have already seen many people on other games who have only played WoW. WoW introduced them to MMOs / gaming and now they are looking for better things. It won't happen overnight, but it will happen.

[citation][nom]sykozis[/nom]What's going to ultimately hurt Rift, is the lack of trial accounts. Most people aren't going to dump $50-60 into a subscription based game, without being able to try it out first...especially from a new company they've never heard of before. Trion Worlds, according to their own website, has 2 completed games and is working on a 3rd in conjunction with Syfy (Formerly Sci-Fi) yet they claim to be the "premier publisher and developer of connected video games".... Trion World's even got their Rift site directly from Blizzard's World of Warcraft site....lol.I'll give Rift a try, when the people are Trion Worlds finally pull their heads out of their asses and allow free trials.[/citation]

It is very, very rare for a pay to play MMO to have a trial at launch. WoW didn't and most of the other big MMOs didn't either. Like most MMOs they will probably introduce one later.

 

[flipt]

I hope Rift can steal enough players to remain viable for a good set of years. I am playing it now and it is very polished at this point. I am not sure of the end game material since I am not there yet. However, it has been a lot of fun and the customization is great. I liked WoW a lot when I played it, but the daily grind to be at par got too much for me. Rift is a nice change at this point.

 

[envymert]

I do not see D3 taking away from WoW players as I plan on playing both. many people can make arguments for other games but the fact is WoW is popular because of not only the social aspect but also how casual friendly it is. Granted I used to be in Death and Taxes (worlds #1 guild) in vanilla WoW. But I no longer have time (6 hours) a day to invest in a game. I love that its more casual, however I may try RIFT as the gameplay is too dumbed down from what it once was, everyone looks the same has the same gear and classes often are 2minute killers..... Warrior WW and DK spam. Guild wars didnt even come close to WoW so in NO WAY will it be a WoW killer. Id worry more about RIFT slowly leeching more and more people away as well as Star wars when it comes out but WoW will be around and thriving years from now.

 

[bender3000]

Frankly, I'm tired of the buzz surrounding Diablo 3. We've been waiting almost 11 years! Enough talk - release the game already!

 

[zak_mckraken]

"So it's better we cannibalize them ourselves than let someone else do that, because if we cannibalize them ourselves, they're still a Blizzard customer."

Yeah, except you're dumping loads of money in developpement to cannibalize you're own games, which also dumped a lot of money in. D3 will have to be damn impresive to ghet me off WoW (which I admit would be a good thing). I like dungeon crawlers, but I always find them to be quite repetitive after the first play-through.

 

[Renders]

Take a look a the playtime stats: Rift has climbed to #2 in just a couple weeks and people are leaving WoW in droves. Blizzard is blocking server transfers to try to mask the problem, but it's way too late. They milked the cow too long and now they're gonna die. Serves them right for taking 2 years to serve up an a month of new content and not releasing Diablo III because they didn't want lose any of their monthly revenue stream. I heard they're gonna start charging monthly fees for SC2 now as well. All they are is a bunch of crackheads now - lol.

Bye, Bye, Blizzard.

 

[envymert]

[citation][nom]Renders[/nom]Take a look a the playtime stats: Rift has climbed to #2 in just a couple weeks and people are leaving WoW in droves. Blizzard is blocking server transfers to try to mask the problem, but it's way too late. They milked the cow too long and now they're gonna die. Serves them right for taking 2 years to serve up an a month of new content and not releasing Diablo III because they didn't want lose any of their monthly revenue stream. I heard they're gonna start charging monthly fees for SC2 now as well. All they are is a bunch of crackheads now - lol.Bye, Bye, Blizzard.[/citation]

You show how dumb you are in a number of ways troll.....#1 Because people are playing RIFT doesnt mean they are leaving warcraft.
#2. Blizzard is blocking server transfers trying to mask the problem? So people are transfering WoW chars to RIFT (this is news to me)
#3. Diablo III is going to be on Bnet and not require a monthly sub
#4. Blizzard is not going to start charging monthly for SC2 a game that has been out for months ....

Conclusion ....a troll is a troll

 

[dark_lord69]

"may actually launch by the end of the year... if we're lucky."
Well, I certainly hope we are lucky!

 

[zak_mckraken]

@Renders : Can I buy some pot from you?
@ENVymert : Amen brother.

 

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

[citation][nom]aznguy0028[/nom]It's not going to be. Blizzard has already stated that "Titan" will be a brand new IP. So any existing franchise is out of the question.[/citation]They say alot of things don't they, don't be to sure... people lie...

 

[RADIO_ACTIVE]

[citation][nom]K2N hater[/nom]WoW sucks and I bet D3 will be rather disappointing in terms of graphics.[/citation]
I have played a few times at a couple of different Blizzcons and it looks great It aint no crysis but it looks really cool.

 

[n3ard3ath]

"Diablo 3.... when's that due, 2012, 2014? 2020? I mean i'm sure a 4billion a year company with over 2,000 employees could somehow produce sequels to their non Warcraft franchise every 10 years...


uggg, just think, imagine if Blizzard plans to announce a new Warcraft RTS expansion or sequel, like Warcraft IV... Hey, it'll only be 15 years."

So true. I wish people would pull their heads out of their ass and realize that. This company sucks. Bioware also do. Those were cool YEARS ago.

 

[jaygee02]

[citation][nom]AMW1011[/nom]A game doesn't rape every setup available with amazing graphics, and instead offers fun, refined, and addictive gameplay, and you have a problem with that?[/citation]

Hear hear! Too much emphasis these days on graphics, not enough on gameplay.

 

[bildo123]

"So it's better we cannibalize them ourselves than let someone else do that, because if we cannibalize them ourselves, they're still a Blizzard customer."

Yeah, except you're dumping loads of money in developpement to cannibalize you're own games, which also dumped a lot of money in. D3 will have to be damn impresive to ghet me off WoW (which I admit would be a good thing). I like dungeon crawlers, but I always find them to be quite repetitive after the first play-through.

That's kind of an oxymoron from your standpoint...

 

[davewolfgang]

I seriously read his comment twice, then looked at the comment box, found no ad, and wondered "...huh?" then realized I had Adblock installed!

No Script does the same thing. Sorry Tom's, but I'm not seeing any of your Ads and the pages work GREAT, even the Forums!

 

[zak_mckraken]

[citation][nom]bildo123[/nom]That's kind of an oxymoron from your standpoint...[/citation]
Not really, I game can be very different the second time you play it. Take Heavy Rain for example. Of course, if you're refering to my WoW addiction, then yeah, I'll admit it's a bit of a contradiction.

 

[psiboy]

socalboomer 03/21/2011 11:40 PM


Tried Guild Wars and just couldn't get into it. Very VERY pretty, but didn't really like the gameplay and the grind.

But yes, you're biased.

Get your facts straight! Guild wars didn't have a "grind" with a level cap of 20, it was about what skills you used... very strategic game... WoW has a massive grind... I play both!

 

[Raidur]

Too bad I'm not purchasing Diablo III, just like SC2.

No lan,
No fan
.