WoW Subscriptions Dipped Again, But Content Coming Soon

[Guest]

The biggest problem in WoW is the same as the biggest problem in Rift and in Conan and in ... every other MMO ever made. It's that whole "same as it ever was" thing. In other words, once you've reached the level cap/gold cap/whatever cap and seen all the zones, played all the quests -- what the heck else is left to do?

With WoW the devs tried to fill that gap by making grinds -- buy a flying mount for a ridiculous amount of gold. And, by the way, you can earn gold by doing this daily quest over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and over, and... until WoW starts to seem like your job, not a game. And then you get that mount (or whatever), and for a little while it's great, you have bragging rights, etc., but then you start to get bored again. Or worse, the devs give in to all the whiners complaining that THEY don't have the same shiny mount, so they change the game and basically just start GIVING it away, so the same thing you slaved six months for can now be had in a day. Turn that around to every damn aspect of the game -- gathering, crafting, gold, achievements, reputation, EVERYTHING -- and you see what WoW becomes "not fun" very quickly.

The payoff -- the addictive "kick" that keeps people coming back -- is new content. When they raise the level cap, you don't want to be left behind as everyone else progresses to 85, or whatever, but then you tear through to 85 and... now what? You've now seen all the NEW content, etc.

So there really are only a few choices for keeping the game alive.

One is just cater to the hardcore base whose life IS WoW; you know, the people who still raid every night after five years, the ones whose entire circle of friends is WoW players. These people will never quit, no matter what, so in one sense, if you keep them happy the game will continue. I mean heck, EverQuest 1 is still going, so why can't WoW?

The only other option -- the ONLY other option -- is more content. EverQuest got that one better than Blizzard, because they released a TON of patches and content updates, and they weren't years apart. Not only that, but the content was drastically different -- this one's the jungles, that one's the moon, this is the icy north. Also, EQ didn't foster the weaker players; when you died, you lost experience, and if you couldn't get back to your body, you could lose EVERYTHING. I'm not 100% sure that's a good design strategy, but it certainly made dying (losing) more risky.

In the end, content is what keeps us coming back to these games. If Blizzard can't release enough new content to keep players interested, WoW will eventually wither and die-- period. Time will tell.

 

[zak_mckraken]

I quit WoW 3 months ago after playing for 4 solid years. I don't miss it, but I can't say I hated the game at the end either. It was getting more of the same, and I agree that classes are too much alike. I understand the need to create efficent groups quickly (ie.: not having to wait hours to get a class with a specific buff and/or ability), but I think they pushed it too far. The buffs are all the same and practically any class can add that buff to the group.

Remember the time when shamans were horde-only and paladins were alliance-only? Back then, chosing a faction was a hard decision! But then, even chosing a race/class was a tough choice. Now, just take whatever the hell you want, name your char with a lot of k's, x's and y's and your good to go.

Still a great game, but a lot of people moved on.

BTW, "over optimization" is impossible. By definition, optimization is the act of maximizing efficiency with the ressources you have. If you augment performance to the detriment of functionnality, or vice versa, then it's no longer optimization.

 

[rantoc]

[citation][nom]prothe113[/nom]EQ didn't foster the weaker players; when you died, you lost experience, and if you couldn't get back to your body, you could lose EVERYTHING. I'm not 100% sure that's a good design strategy, but it certainly made dying (losing) more risky.[/citation]

It would be awesome of they actually added something like that on say a "hardcore" server, played EQ for years and didnt find the exp loss that bad. It keept the game clean from thoose that didnt belong in it. WoW allows everyone to advance no matter how suitable they are to the later game at the expence of their fellow players!

 

[rozz]

In my personal opinion, I couldn't stand WoW. It was too repetitive and end game wasn't really thrilling.

I found EVE online a much better quality and longer lasting game. There is no "End-Game" to EVE. There is no "Leveling". You will never be able to max out your character in the game. A player controlled universe is better than a static "good-vs-evil" one. Only downside - huge learning curve.

 

[bystander]

I personally left because they made the game too casual. When the made it casual, they attracted a lot of new players, but they took away it's longevity.

When you can just pop on, join a Que to get in a dungeon run, finish it in 5 mins with strangers on heroic mode without the need to communicate, it takes away any feeling of challenge and comradery with your groupmates.

The games attempt to make it accessible to the masses killed it for me.

 

[crewton]

I loved vanilla. I loved TBC. Then everything went to crap.

1. Cross server BGs, instances, etc. They forfeited server community.
2. Homogenization (sp I know) of classes/specs/attributes/abilities. I was a shadow priest. I loved pvp at 60 (also raided at 60 which made pvp even more fun ) At 70, I was the mana battery. I had a roll. I had a purpose. At 80 I was just another dps caster.
3. Changing race/server/sex/alligence What's the point.

could go on.

 

[bystander]

For games like these to be successful, they need ways to force the introverts to want to group up and work together with others and they need to be forced to communicate in order to achieve their goals. This creates bonds, the type of bonds required to get people playing their game for longer periods of time.

With all the changes they made, only raiding requires this, and raiding is very time consuming. If you want to be more casual, you don't get this experience.

 

[brett1042002]

[citation][nom]mandus[/nom]the game is boring, i cancelled my account a week ago.[/citation]

You'll be back... they always come back...

 

[michaeldgale]

I think a see a trend with the negative comments - the WoW players that concentrate on raids, battlegrounds &/or PVP are disatisfied with the content. My wife and I are on a PVE server. Our disatisfactions come from the emphasis, especially since Cata, on large raiding guilds. And upgrades to the game that obsolete where we haven't even gone yet. We only just bought Cata last month and that was before we finished less than half of the areas of WotLK. Because we like to take time to enjoy the environment we rarely group with strangers that want to rush through a dungeon so quickly we don't hardly get a chance to see what's there.

Some of the things we would like to see changed and that has us looking elsewhere:
1-We want to be able to build homes. A place where my hunter can put up a rack to show off all of the soulbound guns & fishing rods he has outgrown.
2-tailors need a sewing basket. The only profession without a custom bag!
3-XP for gathering needs to change. When grouped, those watching my back need to get a piece of the action when I'm mining. Or remove XP from gathering professions.

I am also more than a little bored with the "go get 10 of these" quests. At every level in every new location. I feel that in removing some of the minor annoyances of playing Blizzard has also removed some of the challenges that supported role playing. Not having to keep ammo, not having to keep the right food to feed your pet so that they'll stay happy. These little things could be annoying, but for us they were also part of the enjoyment of role-playing within the game.

We just ran 2 Worgen up to level 14 to try the new content. It felt as if Worgens had been designed to be included in WotLK and just ended up in Cata. Also, we really felt like we were watching more than playing, not really having much choice in action or direction. Had this been our first time playing WoW we would have been very disappointed.

A Dwarven Hunter/Miner/Engineer & his Dwarven Priestess/Tailor/Jewelcrafter.

 

[kartu]

Blizzard was shamelessly doing less and less as time passed by, even though WoW population quadrupled. Amount of content they release nowadays is laughable, considering how much money flows into their pockets.

And "pay for this", "pay for that", "oh and for that too". "Pay us monthly for playing with your friends from other servers", this isn't "free to play" game, you bastards!

[citation][nom]crewton[/nom] I was a shadow priest. I loved pvp at 60 (also raided at 60 which made pvp even more fun ) At 70, I was the mana battery. I had a roll. I had a purpose.[/citation]

You were "must have" guy with pathetic DPS. You could compete only with other pathetic dps-ers, shadow priests. Didn't have AOE. In short, you sucked, yet spot was reserved for you, for healers not to OOM.

 

[tmax]

Cancelled in Feb of 2011. Not coming back. Way to many new games to play this fall.

 

[bak0n]

[citation][nom]amk-aka-phantom[/nom]After playing for how many years? Though, seriously, agreed.[/citation]

I left after they hosed my guild by going from 40 man to 24 man raids. Best thing that's happened for my wallet!

 

[GNCD]

Why don't they make the game harder?

 

[wildkitten]

Blizzard also faces the problem of Bobby Kotick being over the Activision Blizzard games division. WoW will soon become the first pay-to-PAY-to-play game. The upcoming Real ID grouping was said when the feature was brought to players attention in the spring, that the person who created the group would have to pay a "premium".

So a subscription based game, which has a subscription because Blizzard wanted the game to be equal for everyone who plays it, will now have things different in the game based on someone paying more. Now they haven't been talking about the premium fee lately, because of the backlash they took, but neither have they come out and said the idea was gone. The premium ridiculousness was the final Real ID idea that led me to give up a game I had played since launch.

The attitude also led me to believe other games Blizzard will make will suffer from the same Kotick style greed that has destroyed many of Activisions titles. It didn't take long for my feelings to be confirmed with the announcement of a real life money auction house for Diablo 3.

Honestly, with some of these decisions it's actually a little diffucult to believe they have lost only 900k subs.

 

[Neverdyne]

The game is simply getting old, for a lot of people. I think it's really that simple.

 

[vidfreek]

I've been an on and off player since vanilla, its fun for a couple of months till you get back to the grind and nothing changes, you dont have to read anything to be able to finish quests, for me there is no incentive to get involved in my character or the world, sure when it was new everything was awesome and you had a blast finding new stuff and seeing new places and grouping up for the first time to beat that first dungeon, now its impossible to get that feeling back and the "game" has become a "job", you really have to spend too much time playing this game to keep up and that coupled with the fact that its fetch quest after fetch quest with no real reason to follow whats going on, made me quit yet again, I've bought all the expansions and played some out of each, I've never gotten to the higher levels (72 is my highest character) simply because it gets too repetitive and boring.

Star Wars The Old Republic looks to re-light the fire of the MMO, the videos for this thing look like what you love about WoW but with fully voiced characters, real reasons to group up with everyone being involved in conversations and just a feel (from the looks of it) that is straight up Star Wars with the best of the top MMOs, I simply cant wait to get this one, WoW will be a footnote to me when The Old Republic hits!

 

[rantoc]

[citation][nom]zak_mckraken[/nom]BTW, "over optimization" is impossible. By definition, optimization is the act of maximizing efficiency with the ressources you have. If you augment performance to the detriment of functionnality, or vice versa, then it's no longer optimization.[/citation]

I disagree, they put more and more players on the same servers by changing the game code to be more efficient - Isn't that maximizing the efficiency (ie optimizing) by adding additional players with the same server resources. I would call that optimization and if its pushed to hard so it starts to show detrimental effects thats would be over-optimization ie optimization over done.

 

[pocketdrummer]

[citation][nom]GreaseMonkey_62[/nom]I think everyone is waiting for Diablo 3.[/citation]

I used to be excited about Diablo III... until they turned it into a cash cow. The days of developers making games they were passionate about are over. All we have now are elaborate cash farms designed so suck as much money from the player as possible. I mean... real money for a digital item? I couldn't believe people actually fell for it with Battlefield Heroes, but now those same people are going to pay $60 for the game and shell out money here and there just to be able to keep up.

Once I've bought something, that's the last time I'm going to spend money on it (unless it's a car or something real-world). That's why I don't buy map packs (used to be free), DLC (used to be in the game at launch), or expansion packs (too short to enjoy).

As far as WoW is concerned, they've milked as much as they can from this game. It's time for something new. No more magic, swords, plate mail, bears, boars, spiders, blah. We've been there and done that for entirely too long.

 

[Guest]

You know, I honestly have never played WoW... is that a good thing or a bad thing?

 

[vidfreek]

As I said, Star Wars isnt any of the magic, swords, spiders or anything and with a fully voiced game you can be more invested in the characters and the story at hand, you can pick dark side and light side choices and it has planetary travel, space fights and so much more, gonna be worth playing IMO

Diablo 3 is also a must buy for me, the auction house deal is only if you want to use real money, there is a full in game auction house without real money as well, Blizzard is simply doing this to try and make money instead of a bunch of others playing the game and making money off of it instead, an in game, real money, economy is a perfect way to let people do everything they want without having to pay gold farmers or any of that crap and in doing so Blizzard can make a tad bit more money from implementing this feature, why let others make money off of selling virtual items in your own game when you can make a way to do it yourself? I see no problem with this and it doesnt take away at all from the game unless you let it

 

[amstech]

It's not going to last forever.

 

[zak_mckraken]

[citation][nom]rantoc[/nom]I disagree, they put more and more players on the same servers by changing the game code to be more efficient - Isn't that maximizing the efficiency (ie optimizing) by adding additional players with the same server resources. I would call that optimization and if its pushed to hard so it starts to show detrimental effects thats would be over-optimization ie optimization over done.[/citation]
I see your point, but adding population to a server is not optimization. Adding the right amount of people to a server so it's used at full capacity without showing detrimental effects is optimization. Adding too many people is simply overloading.

Then again, I'm just nitpicking on the choice of words. We're pretty much saying the same thing.

 

[bildo123]

Say it ain't so!

 

[MasterMace]

They crapped all over their core, and now the leaves and branches are falling off.

I cancelled over a year ago. They are making the game junk: easy mechanics in fights that cater to casual players who couldn't navigate their way out of an open paper bag. They made content available for everyone, i.e. they made versions of content for 25 people, 10 people, and 5 people. Then they made easy mode and normal mode. People are bored with easy content.

In addition, people are fed up with the bad playstyle. You create a character and are told: this is all you can do, deal with it. 4 of 10 choices can only deal damage, at a better rate than the other 5 mind you, and 1 of those is melee. That's not a lot of options if you want to deal damage. Of the other 5 classes, 4 of them can tank, 4 of them can heal, and 2 of them can do everything. You'd figure the do it all classes were innately worse than the others at everything, but they aren't. In fact, they are better than the other classes.

The unbalanced nature of having 10 choices right at the start before you learn anything is bad, and in addition, their implementation of it is bad. Then there's the fact that they are not making new ideas as the game goes on. They just take old ideas from other classes and spread it around. Lets say 1 class could deal damage over time as their main ability, but not so much at once. They take their d-o-t abilities and give it to the guy who does damage at once, and visaversa, slap a new expansion label on it and charge $50 for it. It's like having milk and chocolate, then mixing it together and trying to claim it's new. Then separating them to chocolate milk and milk chocolate and say that you've made it better. It's still chocolate and milk.

 

[wildkitten]

[citation][nom]neverdyne[/nom]The game is simply getting old, for a lot of people. I think it's really that simple.[/citation]
That would be something I would agree with IF the decline had been gradual.

Now Wrath subscriptions were stagnant, until the games release in China which added a net 500k subscribers to the 11.5 million WoW ended BC with. Cataclysm, which seemed like a half hearted attempt of an expansion, is where all the decrease comes from. they have lost nearly a million in just 6 months time. Losing subs that fast is not just a game getting old, it's players being discontent with what the devs are making and decisions Blizz is making.

Keep in mind a lot of players who left are dedicated Warcraft fans, like myself, who feel like the dedicated fanbase is no longer welcome in the game.