WoW Goes Free Forever (Except Not)

[Ickorus]

I think WoW is going to be forced to go free soon enough, I believe one of the higher ups in Blizzard actually once said that if he market changed enough and they got good competition they would likely go free to play.

In the next couple of years the game is going to be bombarded from several different directions by new and decent looking MMOs, I actually didn't even realise how many until a few days ago.

Incoming MMOs:

Star Wars: The Old Republic
Guild Wars 2
Archeage (this one looks very interesting, still not certain about it yet but definitely something i'll be keeping an eye on)
TERA

And of course Rift is already here and doing fairly well for itself.

 

[Twilight.falls]

I think WoW is going to be forced to go free soon enough, I believe one of the higher ups in Blizzard actually once said that if he market changed enough and they got good competition they would likely go free to play.

In the next couple of years the game is going to be bombarded from several different directions by new and decent looking MMOs, I actually didn't even realise how many until a few days ago.

Incoming MMOs:

Star Wars: The Old Republic
Guild Wars 2
Archeage (this one looks very interesting, still not certain about it yet but definitely something i'll be keeping an eye on)
TERA

And of course Rift is already here and doing fairly well for itself.

Gotta remember Blizzard's project Titan, their new MMO in the works. If Titan ends up popular enough, they can make WoW free and still make money. If Titan tanks... WoW can easily make up for that.

It's a win-win situation.

 

[Feriluce]

You forgot to mention GW2 in the article. Its quite possibly a much bigger competitor than TOR. Yes, TOR is going to have a billion SW fanboys playing it for a while, but from what I've seen its gameplay is just more of the same.
GW2 however has a fresh take on the genre, and it doesn't even require a sub to play it.

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

Get to Level 20

Realize because you dont own Wrath you have no BoA Gear

Be Assraped in PvPz
or
Realize Everyone is an Elitest Dbag

Leave This God Damn Game

Find Something Fun to Do

F2P:
(coming soon) Fallen Earth
(coming soon) City of Heroes
Lord of the Rings Online
Etc

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

You forgot to mention GW2 in the article. Its quite possibly a much bigger competitor than TOR. Yes, TOR is going to have a billion SW fanboys playing it for a while, but from what I've seen its gameplay is just more of the same.
GW2 however has a fresh take on the genre, and it doesn't even require a sub to play it.

I think since SWG is closing and the SW fans will move their....realize its not a sandbox style game...and that its basically World of Star Wars....that it will take a blow...


GW2 seems like it could very well take a lot of the cake in the aftermath of the TOR

Will GW2 be Free2Play?

I would assume so....but things change

 

[tehweave]

I WAS FREE! I WAS FREE YOU IMBECILES! I HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME SINCE JANUARY AND NOW I CAN GET TO 20 FOR FREE? NOOOOO!

(cries)

Alright... I'll start up my account again.

 

[linkvegeta]

Wow Blizzard is getting desperate doue to so many people nto playing anymore. But it seems to be working.

 

[Mister Benoit]

I think WoW is going to be forced to go free soon enough, I believe one of the higher ups in Blizzard actually once said that if he market changed enough and they got good competition they would likely go free to play.

In the next couple of years the game is going to be bombarded from several different directions by new and decent looking MMOs, I actually didn't even realise how many until a few days ago.

Incoming MMOs:

Star Wars: The Old Republic
Guild Wars 2
Archeage (this one looks very interesting, still not certain about it yet but definitely something i'll be keeping an eye on)
TERA

And of course Rift is already here and doing fairly well for itself.

I doubt it'll go F2P soon, although they'd probably make more money by doing so.

About 8 million of their subscribers are from China which still hasn't gotten the 3rd expansion yet.

The 3 million NA players are a chunk but certainly not the bulk. I think WoW will just slowly deteoriate then stabilize.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

F2P WoW... Granted not a reality yet but... just scary to think that I might soon have $30 more a month back in my pocket without having to quit again.
Probably would be F2P but pay for expansions/races/level caps and non-gameplay affecting gear (vanity).
Or even pay for premade toons... which would kill the game.

 

[-Dragmire-]

no can do. I fear digital crack cocaine.

 

[rsvp42]

Good job blizz, I hope this hastens the death of the subscription model. Just introduce microransactions and be done with it.

I think there's still plenty of support for subs if the game deserves it. I feel like the general perception is that being successful with a subscription indicates a better game than being successful without. This is not necessarily the case with every game, but when going F2P is basically a marketing gambit for games going downhill, it's hard not to see it as an inferior option. Personally, I just prefer making one small payment per month and getting the whole game instead of having to make a separate purchase decision for every game enhancement.

GW2 however has a fresh take on the genre, and it doesn't even require a sub to play it.

I think this goes several ways. In a sense GW2 is not competing because no-subscription means players don't necessarily need to drop a second game. So people can play TOR and GW2 and only pay one sub a month. Also, GW2 is high fantasy while TOR is sci-fi, so they may appeal to different groups. And of course, the IPs have different fanbases. Assuming both games are at least reasonably fun in their own ways, I'm not sure if we'll see a whole lot of direct competition, at least not any more than you see from any other game release.

But then I've never seen this as a zero-sum game. There's room for more than one game out there, as evidenced by what I see as a rather healthy assortment of options still surviving. With WoW on what appears to be a decline, I think we'll see an MMO market with several high-profile titles instead of one aging behemoth.

 

[starwarsgeek]

Well, that's neat...the article title got my hopes up for a free(ish)-to-play WoW, but oh well...maybe one day

 

[freaper]

I would honestly try WoW if it wasn't for the graphics. I was a big sucker for Aion before it was released because of the graphics and aesthetic. But when it came out, well, let's just say 15 euro a month is quite a bit.

 

[bob1052]

I'm guessing WoW goes free to play a month after TOR releases.

 

[diebane]

Definately will play WoW once again, the free trial I played 2 years ago was quite fun as long as it lasted.

mfG diebane

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

Even if the entire game were free, I still don't think I'd play it. I did buy WoW and I got to lvl. 37 on a hunter and then it really started to drag so I quit. My friends agreed.
Of course, I know I am in the minority. I always preferred City of Heroes to WoW.

 

[MajorDolphin]

Oooh! Level 20! That'll take about.. 5 hours at most. I guess without the auction house, mail system and player transactions it will take longer seeing how you wont be able to afford decent gear. 6 hours then. Good luck "exploring" the world with a level 20 character with vendor trash gear.

Blizz must be getting desperate.

 

[Sixcess]

If WoW goes F2P that's it - the P2P MMO market dies that day. Even if it doesn't yet, there's so much choice in the F2P market that new MMOs hoping to base their revenue on subs are going to have a hard time selling that to a substantial playerbase. There's just so much more competition now.

3 or 4 years ago, F2P meant the ubiquitous Korean grindfest. Now we've got Dungeons and Dragons Online, Lord of the Rings Online, Champions Online, Age of Conan, City of Heroes (soon), Fallen Earth (soon)... That's a sizeable chunk of the western MMO market.

Have to wonder what EA is making of all this. I seem to recall that a few months ago they were talking about TOR keeping 100K+ subscribers for ten years. The way things are going at the moment I don't think subscription based MMOs will exist in five years, let alone ten.

Time to rewrite that business plan I think...

 

[William MacKay]

aww monkeynertz, my trial ended last thursday. well, hooray for Bliz. one problem is level cap: in 10 days (although i only got in about 2 hours gameplay each day) i reached level 15. if i get unlimited freeness, i'll cap and be stuck there.

 

[GeorgW]

Wow, that's the first time I've even thought of trying WoW. Nicely done!
Really smart move considering the competition in its way!