Amnestic said:
But...level 10 takes like three hours to get to. If that. That's probably slow actually.
Jeebus ;/
Cataclysm will give them a jump in numbers. Completely revitalising the Azeroth will likely bring back old customers *coughlikemecough* as well.
When I first played the game in 2004, I got to level 10 inside of an hour and by the 60 hour mark was only at level 30. I stopped right about then - progress was too slow to keep my interest and playing as a warrior meant my interaction with the game was generally relegated to the same exact sequence of attacks again and again.
The second time I played, I got to level 20 inside of 5 hours but again lost interest.
The third time I played, after Wrath of the Lich king, I made it to level 50 inside of 40 hours of play. The most concerted effort I had ever made in the game stopped at level 71, when I was finally in spitting distance of playing the game with all of those people who pestered me to play for months. In a "perfect storm" style even, my account was hacked and regaining control took 2 weeks and many hours on the phone with Blizzard to resolve. By the time this had happened, all my friends had left. I was still looking at another few weeks of grinding to hit 80 and without any friends at the top to movtive my progress I lost interest quickly. When my account lapsed (the hacker had apparently used a short duration pre-paid card when he gained control) I couldn't be bothered to renew. Without other people to play with there was no reason to return.
That said, my least successful experience with an MMO to date has been Fallen Earth. I downloaded the free trial, and played for perhaps 3 hours. The 'shooter' portion of the game is marred by the fact that the gun mechanics are appalling and the "everying else" segement is damaged by a complete lack of direction. I finished the starter quest and a few others and then was thrust into the world without so much as a pat on the back. I could have tolerated miserable mechanics (those can be fixed) or an utter lack of direction (I can learn) but when the two combine I found nothing worthy of inconviencing electrons.