you never played any mmorpg.. and started wow just before wotlk.. or still not playing..
25 lvl dk.. heh they start on 55.. balancing issues.. its not first time things gets imbalanced.. wow is one of most balanced games, wait for 3.1 its gona be fixed.. its already better.. go try lotro.. classes ruined, after pvp nerfs in pve game.. and etc..
as for wow numbers.. 5-6 mln.. is what.. .. aoc 150-70k subs.. eve 250k.. lotro 300k warhammer.. god knows whatnow.. probably around 200-300.. so by idea.. wow have atleast 20 times more suscribers. than any other western mmo ? oh wow..
saying that everyone in assia.. is from china is nonsense too.. 5 bucks for 60h = 2h for for 30 days.. 4h for 15 days.. so 2x cards = 10 bucks a month.. for those who play more not to mention korea/india/japan and whatnot.. there are tons of profesional gamers, from china/korea.. and hardcore raiders.. beating illidan 2 weeks after tbc released in china.. in greens/blues.. there was /is no better raiding guild than that..
from those millions there is probably atleast 1-2 mln..which sticks to paying full price for unrestricted game ( china/korea whatnot got 4h gaming limit a day.. or so.. even that means 10 bucks a month, probably different in korea/japan
so once again look up what is asia.. before you proclaim all of it as china.. not everyone in asia pays 5-10 bucks a month.. there are plenty paying full price.. 10 bucks isnt that much less than 15..
Most of the players are from Asia, by a wide margin. Read their financial report. They don't bring in much revenue, let alone any net profit. It's just a way to bolster up their sub numbers and to get into the Asian market for future potential profit ( I doubt there will ever be any due to the economic situation)
NOBODY pays full price in Asia. It's a different business model.
If this is this hard to understand, I see why you are a WoW fanboi.
Blizzard On Sales, StarCraft II Beta, Quality, New MMO (from Feb 2009) ve3d.ign.com/articles/news/44698/Blizzard-On-Sales-StarCraft-II-Beta-Quality-New-MMO For the year, the game grew by over 1.8 million subscribers, which is approximately 18% beyond where it was in December of 2007. This growth was proportional across all regions, keeping us at a 55-45 split between east and west.
no mmo in the western market comes close to even having 1 million for North America/Europe
but as others have said -- enjoy whatever mmo you prefer, dont need a game to be popular to be good
Bunch of people came back try the failed Xpac. There has not been any growth in the US & EU regions since the Southpark episode. RAF created more accounts, by the same players, not many new players joined up. So it's nothing more than a temporary boost till those same people leave as they have before after getting bored less than a year into an expansion.
Blizzard is very misleading with their subscriber numbers. They are using China as a crutch to keep their numbers up, it's just a marketing ploy. If you actually played through those periods and stuck with a few servers, you would notice the opposite trend.
Bunch of people came back try the failed Xpac. There has not been any growth in the US & EU regions since the Southpark episode. RAF created more accounts, by the same players, not many new players joined up. So it's nothing more than a temporary boost till those same people leave as they have before after getting bored less than a year into an expansion.
China aside
North America and Europe grew by 1 millon from 2007 to 2008
South Park was responsible for all that ?
Jan 2007 Press Release (my old link expired)
played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
recently passing 10 million worldwide. Interest in the game has remained high in all regions, with thousands of new and returning players signing up through the holiday season. World of Warcraft now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia.
for 2008,
I agree that RAF and other new regional markets, like Latin America impacts the Western counts
Bunch of people came back try the failed Xpac. There has not been any growth in the US & EU regions since the Southpark episode. RAF created more accounts, by the same players, not many new players joined up. So it's nothing more than a temporary boost till those same people leave as they have before after getting bored less than a year into an expansion.
China aside
North America and Europe grew by 1 millon from 2007 to 2008
South Park was responsible for all that ?
Jan 2007 Press Release (my old link expired)
played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
recently passing 10 million worldwide. Interest in the game has remained high in all regions, with thousands of new and returning players signing up through the holiday season. World of Warcraft now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia.
for 2008,
I agree that RAF and other new regional markets, like Latin America impacts the Western counts
I'll let you in on a little secret. Blizzard's financial reports speak the truth. Their PR releases are massaged and often conflict with the truth. US & Europe has been flat for years.
WoW had a big growth spurt from the Southpark episode. It obviously did not happen overnight, so put it in perspective. The RAF program was a sign of weakness, Blizzard could not attain sub growth. It was a temporary fix.
I experienced my server's growth post the Southpark episode and then the slow fall-off, as the "casuals" toward which Blizzard aims the game, do not stick around long. Being that I was playing from 2007-2008, I will tell you this much. I did not see growth, just a slow dwindling of players. I can see subs growing, many players started getting more than one account.
Comments
Most of the players are from Asia, by a wide margin. Read their financial report. They don't bring in much revenue, let alone any net profit. It's just a way to bolster up their sub numbers and to get into the Asian market for future potential profit ( I doubt there will ever be any due to the economic situation)
NOBODY pays full price in Asia. It's a different business model.
If this is this hard to understand, I see why you are a WoW fanboi.
Playing: EvE, Warhammer free unlimited trial, Allods Online
Played: Anarchy Online, WoW, Warhammer, AoC, Ryzom. Aion
Strongly Recommend: Ryzom, EvE, Allods Online
Bunch of people came back try the failed Xpac. There has not been any growth in the US & EU regions since the Southpark episode. RAF created more accounts, by the same players, not many new players joined up. So it's nothing more than a temporary boost till those same people leave as they have before after getting bored less than a year into an expansion.
Blizzard is very misleading with their subscriber numbers. They are using China as a crutch to keep their numbers up, it's just a marketing ploy. If you actually played through those periods and stuck with a few servers, you would notice the opposite trend.
Playing: EvE, Warhammer free unlimited trial, Allods Online
Played: Anarchy Online, WoW, Warhammer, AoC, Ryzom. Aion
Strongly Recommend: Ryzom, EvE, Allods Online
China aside
North America and Europe grew by 1 millon from 2007 to 2008
South Park was responsible for all that ?
Jan 2007 Press Release (my old link expired)
played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
Jan 2008 Press Release
eu.blizzard.com/en/press/080122.html
recently passing 10 million worldwide. Interest in the game has remained high in all regions, with thousands of new and returning players signing up through the holiday season. World of Warcraft now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia.
for 2008,
I agree that RAF and other new regional markets, like Latin America impacts the Western counts
EQ2 fan sites
China aside
North America and Europe grew by 1 millon from 2007 to 2008
South Park was responsible for all that ?
Jan 2007 Press Release (my old link expired)
played by more than 8 million gamers around the world.
World of Warcraft has also achieved new regional subscriber milestones, with more than 2 million players in North America, more than 1.5 million players in Europe, and more than 3.5 million players in China.
Jan 2008 Press Release
eu.blizzard.com/en/press/080122.html
recently passing 10 million worldwide. Interest in the game has remained high in all regions, with thousands of new and returning players signing up through the holiday season. World of Warcraft now hosts more than 2 million subscribers in Europe, more than 2.5 million in North America, and approximately 5.5 million in Asia.
for 2008,
I agree that RAF and other new regional markets, like Latin America impacts the Western counts
I'll let you in on a little secret. Blizzard's financial reports speak the truth. Their PR releases are massaged and often conflict with the truth. US & Europe has been flat for years.
WoW had a big growth spurt from the Southpark episode. It obviously did not happen overnight, so put it in perspective. The RAF program was a sign of weakness, Blizzard could not attain sub growth. It was a temporary fix.
I experienced my server's growth post the Southpark episode and then the slow fall-off, as the "casuals" toward which Blizzard aims the game, do not stick around long. Being that I was playing from 2007-2008, I will tell you this much. I did not see growth, just a slow dwindling of players. I can see subs growing, many players started getting more than one account.
Playing: EvE, Warhammer free unlimited trial, Allods Online
Played: Anarchy Online, WoW, Warhammer, AoC, Ryzom. Aion
Strongly Recommend: Ryzom, EvE, Allods Online