'World of Warcraft' Still a $1B Powerhouse

CommanderFrank

CommanderFrank

Cat Can't Scratch It
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If you are thinking that the WoW franchise is way past its prime and a dying breed, think again. According to SuperData Research, not only is the subscription MMO kicking major butt financially, it leads all others by a mile without even breaking a sweat. :cool:

WoW has performed far better, for far longer than Activision or Blizzard ever anticipated, and if it’s still bringing in $1B in revenue as recently as last year, there’s not exactly a crisis at hand where it needs an imminent replacement.
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Blizzard knows what they are doing when it comes to WoW. But it's still stale and needs to get replaced.
 
Is WOD supposed to be good? I keep hearing mixed opinions. I like the character model updates but dont know much more about it other than that. I haven't played MoP. I played Vanilla, BC, WOTLK and Cata though.
 
According to Raptr, for the past few months the trend isn't looking too good..

Mar, 2014 - 9.36%
Apr, 2014 - 8.56%
May, 2014 - 7.74%
Jun, 2014 - 6.13%
 
Sorry.. this site doesn't like a link to Raptr.. just Google "raptr most" and it brings up the link for you.
 
No big surprise that numbers have been dropping the past few months - there's been no content released for almost an entire year.

If anything ends up killing WoW it'll be the lack of updates. With as much money as it pulls in you'd think they would dedicate more staff to generating content.
 
Exactly, with that type of revenue, you would think they would have a world larger than EQ or EQ2 by now but they don't. Very odd, but then again they didn't need to release a yearly expansion because people just keep playing it...
 
They should make a few servers dedicated to the vanilla experience and each expansion. No need to add addtional features, just make a server that's forever on patch x.x.xx. They don't think the effort vs reward scenario is worth it, but as declines keep happening, maybe it will become more practical to them.
 
Can't get into a game where you need time over ability, or one that requires a monthly fee. $15/mo = $180/year. That doesn't even include the game software! Thanks but no thanks.
 
The only people still playing WoW are people who've put so much time into their characters they can't bear to let them go and people who have "friends" who play that they don't get to play with in any other game. And every once in awhile Blizzard kicks out a bit of new content mostly geared to those exact folks and not much else. As far as new subs WoW isn't doing any better than most MMO's that still have the balls to charge a monthly fee.
 
Anyone with significant time playing MMO's can tell you, once new content has been out for a while the numbers start to decline until the next expansion, or something notable. Then there is the seasonal decline. As the weather improves fewer and fewer people are on for as long. There are far fewer players online in July and August than there are in Feb and March. Once School vacations are over, and people are back from summer vacations things improve again. Numbers will trend upward (maybe not to the point it was last year, but over the numbers seen for the summer)
 
Dwango said:
The only people still playing WoW are people who've put so much time into their characters they can't bear to let them go..
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I remember years ago (like 5 or more) reading about people who kept active their WoW account but never really played anymore only because they couldn't let go of their characters and didn't want all the effort it took to get to whatever level they obtained to just disappear.
 
Insula Gilliganis said:
I remember years ago (like 5 or more) reading about people who kept active their WoW account but never really played anymore only because they couldn't let go of their characters and didn't want all the effort it took to get to whatever level they obtained to just disappear.
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You don't lose everything when you unsub.
 
I still get monthly "Come back" emails and I quit in 2008....
Don't see a point to going back, my friends stopped playing which is the only reason I played as long as I did.
Grinding as a game mechanic just flat out sucks, to me, its just torture.
 
The only thing good about WoW for me all those years was it kept me from worse things.

3 years clean and counting :D
 
Insula Gilliganis said:
According to Raptr, for the past few months the trend isn't looking too good..

Mar, 2014 - 9.36%
Apr, 2014 - 8.56%
May, 2014 - 7.74%
Jun, 2014 - 6.13%
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Its because people are bored out of their minds waiting for the expansion. That's the problem. Blizzard promised more content with shorter waits but it totally backtracked on that. However it doesn't surprise me it does well. People love Blizzard , obsessively so and will dump hundreds of dollars into their products each year without hesitation. Every major developers dreams have having a hit like WoW. Its been out for over a decade and its still going damn strong.

Blizzard isnt the same company it once was and Activision is running it into the ground. Much of the original staff that really made WoW magical is almost completely gone. The lack of creativity rears its head constantly with uninspired content updates and features that often due nothing but either over complicate or over simplify. That "touch" Blizzard once had with WoW is now replaced with a closed fist that just pounds out requests. Much of the depth of class building talents is gone , the raids have been stripped down as well. Even PVP is basically a rinse and repeat experience.

But when WoD comes out people will flood back in on the hope that what is now old will hopefully be new or "fresh" again. It'll give the game some momentum and then people will grow bored.

At least this time its not about fucking Panda's...
 
Ducman69 said:
It still just boggles the mind. The gameplay is so mind numbingly boring, with graphics that feel a decade old, and lag up the ass half the time. I tried to get into it twice, and I just felt like a zombie doing repetitive tasks over and over... its akin to masturbation without the sexual pleasure.

Honestly, how do people play something this ugly, and pay out the nose for it to boot???
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Its the same complaint from people who play WoW and ask how people can play Runescape or other very aged MMOs. I look at Everquest even with its "upgraded" graphics and laugh and I use to play that game for years.

People who play WoW and Runescape and other rather aged looking games don't give a fuck about graphics frankly. They , in fact , find the art style "charming". Think of it as 8-bit art. You might hate it but to someone else its unthinkable to not enjoy it for its classic look.

But WoD has new player models , nothing dramatic mind you , but at least they look like characters now and not weird smoothed out polygons.
 
Ducman69 said:
It still just boggles the mind. The gameplay is so mind numbingly boring, with graphics that feel a decade old, and lag up the ass half the time. I tried to get into it twice, and I just felt like a zombie doing repetitive tasks over and over... its akin to masturbation without the sexual pleasure.

Honestly, how do people play something this ugly, and pay out the nose for it to boot???
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Blizzard teaches players to attach real sentiments of worth to fixtures in the game such as your character(s), your guild, or your status in the game as a raider (maybe in top guild on server), or holder of rare achievements etc. Why these people play has nothing to do with graphics or mechanics of the game. It has everything to do with not willing to drop a powerful sense of attachment to something that is ultimately worthless and unprofitable IRL. In the end, it's a game and will always be one.
 
I should say that these bonds of attachment exist in just about any MMO where you possess "things".
 
PornoSatan said:
Is WOD supposed to be good? I keep hearing mixed opinions. I like the character model updates but dont know much more about it other than that. I haven't played MoP. I played Vanilla, BC, WOTLK and Cata though.
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The problem with WOW is that it's been pretty bad after WOTLK. Even WOTLK wasn't all that great, but better then Cata or MoP. Used to release more content patches in the past and the content was worth a damn. The starting content has also been bad. Naxxramas was a joke in WOTLK, as well as starting dungeons in Cata and MoP. Class balance is still a massive issue, especially right now in the game. As for WoD I have a few grips with it.

#1 Increased price of expansion from $40 to $50, but monthly fee stays the same.
#2 Switching specs includes switching stats on gear. Sounds good unless you're a dps hybrid, then everyone will make you heal or tank. There's always 10x more dps than tanks or healers in this game.
#3 Lots of dead realms and Blizzard is extremely slow to merge them. BTW costs $25 to realm transfer. I shit you not.
#4 Instant level 90 for $60. That's a terrible thing to do to the game, no matter what you say.
#5 LFR. Do I need to say more?
#6 In WoD raids are being skewed a lot. Normal is now easier, and Heroic is what is now normal. Mystic is the new Heroic but requires 20 man, unlike Heroic or Normal which can be 10/25 man. Mystic raids are going to end up sitting 5 players, while Blizzard introduces more dungeons to grind through just to end up in Mystic content.
#7 Weekly lock out grinds. MoP was full of it, and I doubt WoD will be any different.

I decided not to purchase WoD cause I feel it would be another bad expansion. The problem with WoW is that once you're in it's hard to get out. You feel obligated to the people you meet in the game, even though you're grown tired of it. Plus paying that monthly fee kinda forces you to log in, even though I'd rather be doing something else. For me to come back would require the monthly fee to be dropped drastically. Probably won't happen unless WOW drops to 3 million subscribers.
 
Its a great game, i've been playing it for almost 10yrs now however people are correct in saying it is very stale, content is way to slow to be released. 2yrs is too long for the next expansion.
 
Content is way to slow.. I get the new expac, clear it get bored and turn off my account for the summer then when it's cold out again I'll turn it back on lol. It's just more of the same. I have been playing since day one. My wife has been playing on and off almost 7 years now. They need to take the buckets of money and invest more in the game.
 
Imagine if we spent all the time we've put into MMO games on something like body building. Things would be different. You would be ripped, and instead of online friends you've never met or seen you'd have a load of Hot Chicks standing in line to get with you. :D
 
Well it's no surprise that Blizzard would rather scrap project Titan and focus on releasing more content for WoW. I don't think even Blizzard themself are confident that they can produce a "WoW killer" MMO. Heck I don't think any MMO can do that. Might as well keep WoW around until it "dies out" rather than trying to make a "killer".
 
Any game series these days that's popular gets recooked for the next generation to eat up. Still very impression good job WoW
 
there's a lot of humour in the gripes posted. But you can't deny the facts:

WOW still generates a crap load of revenue.
There's whole order of magnitude more WOW subs than there are of any other MMO.

Myself, I still play WOW and am looking forward to WOD. :D
 
I quit playing a few months after Cata an just came about 3 weeks ago. they did a good job on panda and i am hooked again.
 
SpecTP said:
there's a lot of humour in the gripes posted. But you can't deny the facts:

WOW still generates a crap load of revenue.
There's whole order of magnitude more WOW subs than there are of any other MMO.

Myself, I still play WOW and am looking forward to WOD. :D
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I have no right to point fingers...I still play Diablo 3! :p
 
pcjunkie said:
I have no right to point fingers...I still play Diablo 3! :p
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Hopefully with the supposed "good" expansion pack and not the vanilla trash heap they call "Diablo 3". God that game was so bad. Blizzard instantly went from invincible to just a normal company in my eyes after that fraud. So many good games before, just didn't make sense how bad it was.
 
Why does every thread with the phrase "World of Warcraft" bring in all the people who want to tell you why they don't play it?

People complain that its stale and has no new content, then fire up CS:GO for another 6 hours.
People complain about the sub fee, when thats just common practice with MMOs.
People try to explain the the game is "dead"... just because they don't play it.
People act like the gaming Jesus, here to save the world this awful game because "it has bad graphics".

Every wow thread is almost as bad as listening to vegans tell you why they don't eat meat and why you shouldn't either.
 
lloose said:
Why does every thread with the phrase "World of Warcraft" bring in all the people who want to tell you why they don't play it?

People complain that its stale and has no new content, then fire up CS:GO for another 6 hours.
People complain about the sub fee, when thats just common practice with MMOs.
People try to explain the the game is "dead"... just because they don't play it.
People act like the gaming Jesus, here to save the world this awful game because "it has bad graphics".

Every wow thread is almost as bad as listening to vegans tell you why they don't eat meat and why you shouldn't either.
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WoW has stolen the time of many, the recovering addicts are fighting back!
 
PornoSatan said:
They should make a few servers dedicated to the vanilla experience and each expansion. No need to add addtional features, just make a server that's forever on patch x.x.xx. They don't think the effort vs reward scenario is worth it, but as declines keep happening, maybe it will become more practical to them.
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I would play again if the cap was 60 and the content was frozen at that point. The game was great then.
 
Gweenz said:
I would play again if the cap was 60 and the content was frozen at that point. The game was great then.
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That's the thing though, it wasn't. Go play on a private level 60 server and you probably wont last more than 10 minutes before all that nostalgia fades and you are left with all the crap you forgot about.
 
If you are still playing this same game since 2004 =) I bet your back is crooked and you have a stack of Pizza Hut boxes to the ceiling.
 
Comixbooks said:
If you are still playing this same game since 2004 =) I bet your back is crooked and you have a stack of Pizza Hut boxes to the ceiling.
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..and then you get this guy, who's every post on this forum has been about video games, but somehow he thinks his shit doesn't stink just because he doesn't play wow. :rolleyes:
 
lloose said:
That's the thing though, it wasn't. Go play on a private level 60 server and you probably wont last more than 10 minutes before all that nostalgia fades and you are left with all the crap you forgot about.
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The great part about Vanilla though was it requires like 512MB ram, a single core, a 128MB video card would fly on it etc. It didn't have many features but it ran nicely with really old hardware. It was terribly balanced though, the talents pretty much sucked and basic things like marking targets didn't come until the AQ patch. Do have to say though I would find it fun if I played it, even today. Briefly tested a private server and it was cool but didn't want to commit completely.

Most of the "basic" things as far as features go I think that make an MMO good BC and WOTLK got about right IMO. I really liked how linear BC was with progression. You'd do Kara/T4, then T5, then T6 and then Sunwell. Some guilds would have a decked out tank in full T4, and some tanks would have one in T6
 
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