Blizzard Hopes Faster WoW Expansions Will Halt Sliding Subscriptions
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
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Your right, when i calculated i calculated the TOTAL money they spent on the game, they never released a sheet stating how much ONLY the servers cost them.Aeshi said:
So if you remove the development costs and support costs i would say maybe 1cent for 24 hours per person.
I agree. I stopped at the end of '09 mainly because I decided that not only was EVE Online so much better as an MMO and because, well WoW got boring. This may be due to my extremely short attention span, but I NEVER got a character to level cap. Flame me if you like, bla bla end game raids bla bla, but games and chores are two completely different things. I wasn't gonna pay $20 a month to grind levels, and then when i was done grinding levels, grind for equipment- games should not 'get better later' they should just be good all the way through. Any levelling past 20 is a chore. And anyone who says to me 'you can get 4 levels a day in XYZ dungeon' needs to look at their life if they want to grind the same dungeon all day for a few levels.
It was all a chore, grinding for levels, rep, gear, gold, and I got sick of it.
It's no surprise that some people are bored with it.
It was all a chore, grinding for levels, rep, gear, gold, and I got sick of it.
It's no surprise that some people are bored with it.
Am I the only person on the Escapist who still enjoys WoW, has been playing for several years, and has many rl friends who started in vanilla who are still greatly enjoying themselves?
Sure feels like it sometimes.
I'm interested in seeing what Blizzard will actually do in response. Morhaime might say 'faster content' but the word 'faster' doesn't really mean anything. We'll see, I guess.
edit - I think the playerbase is, in the end, killing the playerbase. Some of my greatest memories of WoW came from my own self discovery. With all the options out there to streamline stuff, and no self control to avoid it (sadly) it does become more of a grind. You look at the shiny carrot at the end, and you want it faster. The problem is that the carrot is not shiny at all once you have it.
WoW is full of wonder and joy when you first join it. After so much time though, the repetitiveness (especially if you're trying to do things quickly) kicks in and the sense of wonder disappears. . .unless you've got a solid group of guildmates/friends to rekindle that for you.
Sure feels like it sometimes.
I'm interested in seeing what Blizzard will actually do in response. Morhaime might say 'faster content' but the word 'faster' doesn't really mean anything. We'll see, I guess.
edit - I think the playerbase is, in the end, killing the playerbase. Some of my greatest memories of WoW came from my own self discovery. With all the options out there to streamline stuff, and no self control to avoid it (sadly) it does become more of a grind. You look at the shiny carrot at the end, and you want it faster. The problem is that the carrot is not shiny at all once you have it.
WoW is full of wonder and joy when you first join it. After so much time though, the repetitiveness (especially if you're trying to do things quickly) kicks in and the sense of wonder disappears. . .unless you've got a solid group of guildmates/friends to rekindle that for you.
Or.. just saying here.. they could have not completely ruined the game?
Everything unique and fun about any of the classes is gone. My class is a rogue, here are some of the things the class used to have that are now gone to cater for people who aren't interested in anything other then their top DPS and getting more shiny purples as fast as possible:
-Lockpicking. You used to have to do a quest to learn it, carry tools and level it up each time you got a level for your character.
-Poisons. Again, a really fun quest line was in place to learn these. You also had to make your own poisons from different reagents and level the skill as you went. Now you just buy the poisons from the vendor and use them.
-Blinding/Flash powder. Yes, it was annoying when it ran out, but you got more attachment to your characters by going out a farming these things. It was also a nice little gold maker if you wanted it to be.
-Other class specific quests. They were fun and unique. They're now gone because 'not everyone can do them'.
People called these things annoying, I found them fun. They also reduced the complexity of the class to the point that any retard can get top DPS on their character.. there is NO skill left in it. Go to a website, check out the spec and gear you need, then hit the 4 buttons that actually matter, instant DPS.
They hit big gear reset buttons every year, making everything you just spent 12 months getting together obtainable in 2 weeks.
The game that was WoW is gone and has been gone for a long time.. I dont really have much interest left in it myself.
Everything unique and fun about any of the classes is gone. My class is a rogue, here are some of the things the class used to have that are now gone to cater for people who aren't interested in anything other then their top DPS and getting more shiny purples as fast as possible:
-Lockpicking. You used to have to do a quest to learn it, carry tools and level it up each time you got a level for your character.
-Poisons. Again, a really fun quest line was in place to learn these. You also had to make your own poisons from different reagents and level the skill as you went. Now you just buy the poisons from the vendor and use them.
-Blinding/Flash powder. Yes, it was annoying when it ran out, but you got more attachment to your characters by going out a farming these things. It was also a nice little gold maker if you wanted it to be.
-Other class specific quests. They were fun and unique. They're now gone because 'not everyone can do them'.
People called these things annoying, I found them fun. They also reduced the complexity of the class to the point that any retard can get top DPS on their character.. there is NO skill left in it. Go to a website, check out the spec and gear you need, then hit the 4 buttons that actually matter, instant DPS.
They hit big gear reset buttons every year, making everything you just spent 12 months getting together obtainable in 2 weeks.
The game that was WoW is gone and has been gone for a long time.. I dont really have much interest left in it myself.
I don't understand the comment about engrossing content as cata has some of the most engrossing questing we have seen. As far mind-crushingly depressing stuff IMHO nothing beat vanilla dungeons back when the level cap was 60.Bobbity said:
Right now there are several problems:
1) leveling as it is now doesn't really prepare you for dungeons either normal or heroic
2) the gulf between normal and heroic is insane and there is nothing between the extremes.
3) the standards to get into heroic dungeons is not the same across the board (some are item based, other have rep requirements, still others are gear based, etc)
4) Thanks to guild perks any tank or healer that knows what they are doing is in a guild extending wait times for PUGs
5) Blizzard has developed this habit of hitting dungeons with nerf bats based on the number of people seeing them to the point it seems that last week's hard as diamond heroic becomes tomorrow's talcum power normal.
6) The DK which originally was a tanking class regardless of spec got two of its specs turned to DPS--effectively decreasing the number of tanks in dungeon finder.
7) People learned with TBC that the next expansion will provide gear that will be better then all but the highest epics.
Here's a thought. Instead of relying on developers to chip in, have players develop and use "infinite" content. As in conflict for areas which have certain high levelled secret quests. Conflicts alone would last several days and the quests would only be open for a few days. Highest rewards go to those who win the areas of course, as well as bonus items for military time (hey look I just stuck several different bits of game together!)
Ha! I've been saying WoW is slowly dying. Seriously though now.
Blizzard? You listening? Cut back on the stupid Shit. Add Content that is NOT merely Raid-related. The biggest Amount of Players left because the Endgame Content is nothing but Raiding for Items and then raiding for even more Items. Not cause its too hard or too easy.
Add Content that does not simply revolve around Items, or a new Dungeon, or the next World Boss. How about Server Events? Massive PvP Events, maybe with Prizes like Novelty Items, Pets, free Months of Playtime for the Winners? RP Content?
That may extend the Time you have, but fact is, WoW was a Mammoth in its Time. Now its slowly dying and there isnt much you can do. Perhaps offer a Free-to-play Service for Basegame Content? THat means everything pre-Burning Crusade. Players that want TBC/WotLK/Cataclysm have to pay for Subs and the Boxes. You can pad your Playernumbers, hell you can extend the running time of the Game, but eventually it will fail. No Game stays in its prime forever :3
Blizzard? You listening? Cut back on the stupid Shit. Add Content that is NOT merely Raid-related. The biggest Amount of Players left because the Endgame Content is nothing but Raiding for Items and then raiding for even more Items. Not cause its too hard or too easy.
Add Content that does not simply revolve around Items, or a new Dungeon, or the next World Boss. How about Server Events? Massive PvP Events, maybe with Prizes like Novelty Items, Pets, free Months of Playtime for the Winners? RP Content?
That may extend the Time you have, but fact is, WoW was a Mammoth in its Time. Now its slowly dying and there isnt much you can do. Perhaps offer a Free-to-play Service for Basegame Content? THat means everything pre-Burning Crusade. Players that want TBC/WotLK/Cataclysm have to pay for Subs and the Boxes. You can pad your Playernumbers, hell you can extend the running time of the Game, but eventually it will fail. No Game stays in its prime forever :3
WoW is a fairly old game. It is only reasonable that eventually some people will just get bored of it and want to move on to something else. They've learned all the idiosyncrasies and the basic flow of the design of the game such they can intuitively navigate any new content without much difficulty. Essentially, after years of playing, these players develop certain basic skills for playing the game that are independent of the content. At some point, you just have to say this era has passed, and it's time to move on to the next.
Bringing out more content more quickly is really nothing more than an escalation to an ever more potent and addictive narcotic experience. Let's face it, one of the things that makes WoW so addictive is that many people use it not for the purpose of having fun but to escape from life and reality. Once one takes that path, then it becomes the digital crack-cocaine that we often half-jokingly attribute it to being. And, just like the real substances, once you get used to one level of potency(i.e. complete the current content), you eventually need more and more to achieve the same high to escape.
In my opinion, the real solution is that people just need to moderate themselves more and have some self-control. There's no point in rushing through the content to reach end-game and top-end gear just so you can grind your ass off in boredom. The reason we end up doing that is because we let our egos get the better of us in that we have to match or out-do that no-lifer who has all the high-end stuff.
Bringing out more content more quickly is really nothing more than an escalation to an ever more potent and addictive narcotic experience. Let's face it, one of the things that makes WoW so addictive is that many people use it not for the purpose of having fun but to escape from life and reality. Once one takes that path, then it becomes the digital crack-cocaine that we often half-jokingly attribute it to being. And, just like the real substances, once you get used to one level of potency(i.e. complete the current content), you eventually need more and more to achieve the same high to escape.
In my opinion, the real solution is that people just need to moderate themselves more and have some self-control. There's no point in rushing through the content to reach end-game and top-end gear just so you can grind your ass off in boredom. The reason we end up doing that is because we let our egos get the better of us in that we have to match or out-do that no-lifer who has all the high-end stuff.
Well, to be honest, new content doesn't always mean a whole expansion. For instance, WoW just added a new raid (something about a fire guy?) and a few new quests and new gear. The players will have to get new gear to be able to run the raid and kill the fire guy.Keava said:
This was added for free and it will keep gamers interested for a while because WoW boss fights are ridiculous (at least Lich King was).
Also, if they do put out expansions faster, that's a good thing. Blizz's track record with putting out new content is pretty bad. It was 2 years between Cata and LK, in gaming time, that is FOREVER.
But in reality, WoW's been around for what, six years? Gamers want to move on to greener pastures anyways. Hopefully Star Wars: ToR won't suck.
What a moron. 'Faster expansions'? Maybe most other MMOs provide FAR more free content than you do, where you just provide 4-5 versions of the same instance every 6 months.
Now you just admitted you want to milk WoW for all you can by eliminating the majority of free content patches by shoving out a $40 expansion annually? Pathetic. This will lose you more players than gain, and WoW can't grow forever, the lazy developers get old after a while.
Now you just admitted you want to milk WoW for all you can by eliminating the majority of free content patches by shoving out a $40 expansion annually? Pathetic. This will lose you more players than gain, and WoW can't grow forever, the lazy developers get old after a while.
THIS. 1000x THIS.RanD00M said:
Unfortunately though, Blizz has the dubious advantage of writing their own cannon, and it's not like they're working off a script that they've written and released to the public and got public feedback on.
They can do whatever they want, and regardless of quality or entertaining story, or just plain making sense, it's accepted into the Warcraft universe because they say so (Space Goats and trans-sexual elves, REALLY!?!).
I'm pretty tired with Blizzard entirely at this point, and it's unlikely I'll end up going back to one of their games. Hell I didn't even buy Starcraft 2, and I LOVED SC1 when it released and bought it and Brood Wars
I left wow not because of not enough of content fast enough but lack of GOOD content for people who didn't want to raid and its near impossibilty to get into pvp. Its gets repetitive after awhile. All classes all "push button wait for cast" or push button and attack. I found no difference between my hunter and mage or DK and paladin. If blizz want to stop the amount of subscription start caring for more the the high denominator or the lowest. They are lsoing the middle ground i think.