My personal gripe with World of Warcraft now is not that it isn't a good game, or that Cataclysm was a bad expansion, as neither of these statements are true based on actualy fact and evidence. My problem however comes when I consider the fact that Turbine, Cryptic, ArenaNet, SOE etc don't have $2 billion + a year in profits and yet managed to make games with more diveristy of content that Blizzard have managed to produce WITH that $2 billion a year and award winning development studio of theirs.
I mean, take this for example. Back when World of Warcraft was originally in development, the designers were talking about things like player housing, guild halls, gear customisation, and other such side-content. It's content like this that makes a lot of MMOs as compelling as they are, and Blizzard seemed very keen to get them into WoW. 6 years later there is none of this, and Blizzard have effectively said that player housing and guild halls will never make it into the game. Why? Why have they said that when the one thing World of Warcraft suffers from is a depserate lack of content diversity.
Sure, what World of Warcraft does, it does better than any other game on the market of its kind (or not of its kind), but in reality the game does very little at all. It seems to me like Blizzard think they can sit down with their hands under thier asses and fob me off with content that I've already played through three times. Every time they release an expansion, they hit the reset button and EVERYTHING I have accomplished up until that point goes away. They just add more levels, more grinding, more dailies and more ways for my life to suffer just so I can get the gear (and achievements). After 6 years of that, there's nothing fun their anymore. There's nothing interesting or nifty to go and do. Development is focused on making a game that you can't stop playing, and that has mechanics and content that keep you coming back over and over again because you are addicted, not because you are having fun to a large degree. There's compelling research in the UK now to suggest that Blizzard - despite their claims - and other developers of MMOs ACTIVELY pursue the development of addictive gameplay. That may well be total bullshit, but the fact that it is even being proposed is a scary thing indeed, and I don't think Universities and research institutes would waste endless amounts of money investigating something of this nature unless it were at least in part based in fact.
There really isn't any heart in World of Warcrafts development anymore, or in the game itself. It simply follows the proven formula, and Blizzard have become so obsessed with making more and more money that they now don't want to take any risks with it, and they now don't even prove why the game is the best. In truth - and even if you are a die hard fan you should realise this - there are games out there right now that deserve to be at the top of the genre far more than World of Warcraft does.
Funny to me they havent showed actve subs count yet because alot of people have quit because of how hard the game is now their selling point was anyone could pick up and play it and now they can't we lost baout 30 members in are guild that were casual players that raided sometimes but did 5-,mans and bgs but the heroics take to long now and are to hard.
That's not what the selling point was at all. If that were the selling point, vanilla and The Burning Crusade would not have been even vaguely as successful as they were. It wasn't until Wrath of the Lich King came out that players were able to do anything they wanted by rolling their face across their keybaord whilst they were playing with themselves. And a large portion of the player base were crying out for more challenge, and were talking with their mouths; You do know that Wrath of the Lich King saw the slowest period of growth in WoWs entire history AND the lowest retention ratio in WoWs history at exactly the same time, don't you?
Funny to me they havent showed actve subs count yet because alot of people have quit because of how hard the game is now their selling point was anyone could pick up and play it and now they can't we lost baout 30 members in are guild that were casual players that raided sometimes but did 5-,mans and bgs but the heroics take to long now and are to hard.
I don't know of anybody who quit because they ramped up the difficulty in the game. I do know quite a few people who quit due to boredom with the end game though.
Funny to me they havent showed actve subs count yet because alot of people have quit because of how hard the game is now their selling point was anyone could pick up and play it and now they can't we lost baout 30 members in are guild that were casual players that raided sometimes but did 5-,mans and bgs but the heroics take to long now and are to hard.
Well, I see we've come full circle..
You people are confusing Blizzard.. Who do they want to cater to? Their original fanbase who didn't mind a little challenge (Vanialla WoW when I played was not as easy as some would lead you to believe. It was in-line with many other MMO's at the time) or the "Iamnewtommo's" and "IprefertogetwhatIwantasfastaspossible" crowd?
It was too easy, and now it's too hard? Can you even please an MMO player these days?
Good game but is there a way to verify Blizzards claims ?
Unless you have the Blizzard books then no and retail stores don't give that kind of information to the public. It is all about keeping the mmo genre afloat and nobody who works in the industry wants to tear those numbers down because people would think the sky is falling for the mmo genre, so nobody calls them out on their numbers. Though in all honesty you do not have to go that far, you can simply tell by the lack of people on your server. Common sense rules all!
Deutsche Bank is one of the official banks that are responsible for the audited results of Blizzard. As can be seen from their audited financial reports and press meetings every quarter.
Every publicly traded company is subject to independant control of these audited reports and publishing any incorrect data for the share holders can be subject to prosecution and sentences up to life imprisonement.
Wotlk sold 4 million copies in its first month, Cata sold 4.7 million copies. As China software doesn't have seperate expansion sales: they only pay per hour, and don't need to buy expansions and Cata isn't launched yet in China mainland.
And remember these are just first month sales. Wotlk is still a top seller - after 2.2 years of launch.
Any new (noob) players - after all Cata hype - don't even need Cata as they can play all new quests with paying 5 dollars for the basic game. So expect a significant increase - more so than Wotlk had.
I bought Cata but stopped playing as soon as I got in Rift beta. I can't stand queueing for random dungeons over and over and over. Now that I've seen something new and refreshing I simply can't go back.
Rift DOES look like fun. If they can keep the world events and invasions going after launch, its going to be WILD! I suspect what we are looking at is what WoW would be if it had been created in 2010-2011 rather than 2004(but without Ghostcrawlers heavy hand). Once the Chinese finally catch up expansion wise, I suspect the numbers will firm up.
MMO Game of the year 2010 WOW cataclysm...IMO uldar and deepholm IMO are enough to give it that title.
It's not a "game" it's an expansion, so.....no. But I respect your opinion. There are assorted views on Cataclysm.
The statistics that I would find most interesting are:
1. How many players hit 85 in the first week?
2. How many players that BOUGHT Cataclysm have now already left the game due to disappointment or boredom? (I am one.)
Of course we will never see THESE statistics.
Difficult to say. At this point I have four 85's(Warrior, DK, Rogue, Hunter) an 80 pally(the class has been changed so much that its not worth playing any more(at least to me) and a 23 wogan druid(just wanted to see the new start area and some of the new content). Once one hits 85 its pretty much raid/instance PvP grinding. But thats true for many games at level cap.
I know I'm actively looking forward to Rift. Remember that Activision/Blizzard is a mega corp now, with all of the implications. I'd say that WoW is good for another expansion or two, but my sense of it is they'd better have their new one out by that time.
And still, it doesn't offer anything new at its core. Just a re-skin of old content.
Spoken like someone who hasn't actually played it.
Well at the end game he is absolutely correct. It is still a gear grind treadmill. Fine for those who like that but tiresome for those who want a different game experience.
Just a thought, but maybe if you want a new gaming experience it's time to FIND A DIFFERENT GAME? Honestly, don't you think it's a little self centered for them to change their whole game model, which is proven by their massive revenue and success, to appeal to you because you want a new gaming experience? Get real.
I always crack up seeing these "I played for X amount of years, but it's just this and that now blah blah". Well no duh, you've burned yourself out. It happens when you do anything for a long time.
Why do you think people cheat? Because they've burned out on the same person.
As a person that invests in shares, I always find 'they made up those numbers' type comments in these threads hilarious.
Yeah, its a giant conspiracy and everyone in the financial industry and the gaming industry are all in it together! /Sarcasm
Why can't we celebrate the fact an MMO (which I hope majority of the people here like to play) sold millions and those people are having a good time with a genre that we love?
Is it really 'cool' to put down a game's success cause it is the 'number 1'? Really?
Gdemami - Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
Sigh, people really should lighten up and not put every single wow argument in the " hate " departement. Stop making a foul of yourself and be open for diff point of ( valid ) views.... but maybe I can better talk to a wall, getting better results.... > _ <
What are the rest of the 12 mill they say thay have doing in the meantime?The rest after the 4 mill must be Hackers and botters since you see so many bots still at level 80.I am sure a huge chunk are chinese that have not got it yet,and that leaves all those that have left and not coming back.The numbers that would interest me more are the numbers of new accts from brand new players that have now subscribed to the game.This is not a wow is dieing post,on the contrary just pointing out what I see as flaws in the 12 mill reported by Blizz.
What are the rest of the 12 mill they say thay have doing in the meantime?The rest after the 4 mill must be Hackers and botters since you see so many bots still at level 80.I am sure a huge chunk are chinese that have not got it yet,and that leaves all those that have left and not coming back.The numbers that would interest me more are the numbers of new accts from brand new players that have now subscribed to the game.This is not a wow is dieing post,on the contrary just pointing out what I see as flaws in the 12 mill reported by Blizz.
What? They did not release CATA everywhere.
In fact China who is the country with most Wow players just released WotLK. 6 million Chinese players is not at all unlikely and if that is the case 78% of all western players bought the expansion. And for all we know it could be even higher, 6 millions is a guess based on an article from late '09 stating that half Wows playerbase live in China.
I don't know why anyone with sense even bothers trying to argue with these morons. They are for the most part talking out of there ass as cause they have no clue what they are saying. For example: How many times does someone have to say that CHINA DOESNT HAVE THE EXPANSION YET SO IT ISNT AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE YET. idiots
Love this new expansion, too anyone who says it doesnt offer anything new and its just a"re-skin" you are a complete idiot, WHAT DO YOU THINK AN EXPANSION DOES? It EXPANDS on to an already existing game.
Why fix something if it isnt broke?
The game obviously does well, it OBVIOUSLY does something right. It caters to its community, WoW has MANY aspects too which it can be played also. Theres no sense in doing the whole "WoW VS DAOC" or whatever because WoW is its own game, no sense in comparing it too ANY other game, thats just totally idiotic.
The game comes at you as you play it. Some say its just a gear grind, same say its not. Like in ANY game out there, you need to work for your gear. I don't understand why people bash WoW and only WoW because of this.
Blizzard tried to do there take on "Vanilla-extract". Everyone who has played Vanilla WoW LOVED it for the most part, and they tried to come back to their Vanilla ways with CATA and seem to be doing a damn good job.
And still, it doesn't offer anything new at its core. Just a re-skin of old content.
Are you saying 5 millions customers are wrong and that you are right ? Man a game selling 5 millions box in a month what a fail eh ? Righ !
Just because it sells 5 million doesn't mean its any good. For all we know 4 million of those people could have thought the exact same as iron and have stopped playing.
And still, it doesn't offer anything new at its core. Just a re-skin of old content.
Exactly - except that it is all new content and that no game in history has ever changed its 'core' with an expansion - in fact the only game that ever changed at the 'core' was SWG, and we all saw how well that went over.
I'm definitely glad it's not a faceroll anymore. =]
I'm one that has subscribed for 5 years and I still haven't reached ALL content. Why rush through it? I enjoy every aspect of it, obviously.. and it's sad that some of you don't. That's why you missed a great deal of it and still bitch about it when you really don't know how awesome it is. Eh, to each their own.
So for those who QQ over the game/xpacs not having enough content is FRIGGIN INSANE!
Comments
My personal gripe with World of Warcraft now is not that it isn't a good game, or that Cataclysm was a bad expansion, as neither of these statements are true based on actualy fact and evidence. My problem however comes when I consider the fact that Turbine, Cryptic, ArenaNet, SOE etc don't have $2 billion + a year in profits and yet managed to make games with more diveristy of content that Blizzard have managed to produce WITH that $2 billion a year and award winning development studio of theirs.
I mean, take this for example. Back when World of Warcraft was originally in development, the designers were talking about things like player housing, guild halls, gear customisation, and other such side-content. It's content like this that makes a lot of MMOs as compelling as they are, and Blizzard seemed very keen to get them into WoW. 6 years later there is none of this, and Blizzard have effectively said that player housing and guild halls will never make it into the game. Why? Why have they said that when the one thing World of Warcraft suffers from is a depserate lack of content diversity.
Sure, what World of Warcraft does, it does better than any other game on the market of its kind (or not of its kind), but in reality the game does very little at all. It seems to me like Blizzard think they can sit down with their hands under thier asses and fob me off with content that I've already played through three times. Every time they release an expansion, they hit the reset button and EVERYTHING I have accomplished up until that point goes away. They just add more levels, more grinding, more dailies and more ways for my life to suffer just so I can get the gear (and achievements). After 6 years of that, there's nothing fun their anymore. There's nothing interesting or nifty to go and do. Development is focused on making a game that you can't stop playing, and that has mechanics and content that keep you coming back over and over again because you are addicted, not because you are having fun to a large degree. There's compelling research in the UK now to suggest that Blizzard - despite their claims - and other developers of MMOs ACTIVELY pursue the development of addictive gameplay. That may well be total bullshit, but the fact that it is even being proposed is a scary thing indeed, and I don't think Universities and research institutes would waste endless amounts of money investigating something of this nature unless it were at least in part based in fact.
There really isn't any heart in World of Warcrafts development anymore, or in the game itself. It simply follows the proven formula, and Blizzard have become so obsessed with making more and more money that they now don't want to take any risks with it, and they now don't even prove why the game is the best. In truth - and even if you are a die hard fan you should realise this - there are games out there right now that deserve to be at the top of the genre far more than World of Warcraft does.
http://www.themmoquest.com - MMO commentary from an overly angry brit. OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!
That's not what the selling point was at all. If that were the selling point, vanilla and The Burning Crusade would not have been even vaguely as successful as they were. It wasn't until Wrath of the Lich King came out that players were able to do anything they wanted by rolling their face across their keybaord whilst they were playing with themselves. And a large portion of the player base were crying out for more challenge, and were talking with their mouths; You do know that Wrath of the Lich King saw the slowest period of growth in WoWs entire history AND the lowest retention ratio in WoWs history at exactly the same time, don't you?
http://www.themmoquest.com - MMO commentary from an overly angry brit. OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED!
I don't know of anybody who quit because they ramped up the difficulty in the game. I do know quite a few people who quit due to boredom with the end game though.
Well, I see we've come full circle..
You people are confusing Blizzard.. Who do they want to cater to? Their original fanbase who didn't mind a little challenge (Vanialla WoW when I played was not as easy as some would lead you to believe. It was in-line with many other MMO's at the time) or the "Iamnewtommo's" and "IprefertogetwhatIwantasfastaspossible" crowd?
It was too easy, and now it's too hard? Can you even please an MMO player these days?
I wasted too much of my life playing WoW. After a week of Cata i deleted all my toons, which included 3 80+ and some 70+. Now to get a job..
Deutsche Bank is one of the official banks that are responsible for the audited results of Blizzard. As can be seen from their audited financial reports and press meetings every quarter.
Every publicly traded company is subject to independant control of these audited reports and publishing any incorrect data for the share holders can be subject to prosecution and sentences up to life imprisonement.
Wotlk sold 4 million copies in its first month, Cata sold 4.7 million copies. As China software doesn't have seperate expansion sales: they only pay per hour, and don't need to buy expansions and Cata isn't launched yet in China mainland.
And remember these are just first month sales. Wotlk is still a top seller - after 2.2 years of launch.
Any new (noob) players - after all Cata hype - don't even need Cata as they can play all new quests with paying 5 dollars for the basic game. So expect a significant increase - more so than Wotlk had.
Rift DOES look like fun. If they can keep the world events and invasions going after launch, its going to be WILD! I suspect what we are looking at is what WoW would be if it had been created in 2010-2011 rather than 2004(but without Ghostcrawlers heavy hand). Once the Chinese finally catch up expansion wise, I suspect the numbers will firm up.
I bought 5 of them so I could play a MMO by myself
There is only one opinion that matters.
Difficult to say. At this point I have four 85's(Warrior, DK, Rogue, Hunter) an 80 pally(the class has been changed so much that its not worth playing any more(at least to me) and a 23 wogan druid(just wanted to see the new start area and some of the new content). Once one hits 85 its pretty much raid/instance PvP grinding. But thats true for many games at level cap.
I know I'm actively looking forward to Rift. Remember that Activision/Blizzard is a mega corp now, with all of the implications. I'd say that WoW is good for another expansion or two, but my sense of it is they'd better have their new one out by that time.
Just a thought, but maybe if you want a new gaming experience it's time to FIND A DIFFERENT GAME? Honestly, don't you think it's a little self centered for them to change their whole game model, which is proven by their massive revenue and success, to appeal to you because you want a new gaming experience? Get real.
I always crack up seeing these "I played for X amount of years, but it's just this and that now blah blah". Well no duh, you've burned yourself out. It happens when you do anything for a long time.
Why do you think people cheat? Because they've burned out on the same person.
As a person that invests in shares, I always find 'they made up those numbers' type comments in these threads hilarious.
Yeah, its a giant conspiracy and everyone in the financial industry and the gaming industry are all in it together! /Sarcasm
Why can't we celebrate the fact an MMO (which I hope majority of the people here like to play) sold millions and those people are having a good time with a genre that we love?
Is it really 'cool' to put down a game's success cause it is the 'number 1'? Really?
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
So could you say WoW does have 4.7 million subs in US/EU +- some who left again or some who didn´t buy the expansion yet?
Sigh, people really should lighten up and not put every single wow argument in the " hate " departement. Stop making a foul of yourself and be open for diff point of ( valid ) views.... but maybe I can better talk to a wall, getting better results.... > _ <
What are the rest of the 12 mill they say thay have doing in the meantime?The rest after the 4 mill must be Hackers and botters since you see so many bots still at level 80.I am sure a huge chunk are chinese that have not got it yet,and that leaves all those that have left and not coming back.The numbers that would interest me more are the numbers of new accts from brand new players that have now subscribed to the game.This is not a wow is dieing post,on the contrary just pointing out what I see as flaws in the 12 mill reported by Blizz.
What? They did not release CATA everywhere.
In fact China who is the country with most Wow players just released WotLK. 6 million Chinese players is not at all unlikely and if that is the case 78% of all western players bought the expansion. And for all we know it could be even higher, 6 millions is a guess based on an article from late '09 stating that half Wows playerbase live in China.
The sales number is really impressive.
The gaming community is the worst community.
I don't know why anyone with sense even bothers trying to argue with these morons. They are for the most part talking out of there ass as cause they have no clue what they are saying. For example: How many times does someone have to say that CHINA DOESNT HAVE THE EXPANSION YET SO IT ISNT AVAILABLE TO EVERYONE YET. idiots
Love this new expansion, too anyone who says it doesnt offer anything new and its just a"re-skin" you are a complete idiot, WHAT DO YOU THINK AN EXPANSION DOES? It EXPANDS on to an already existing game.
Why fix something if it isnt broke?
The game obviously does well, it OBVIOUSLY does something right. It caters to its community, WoW has MANY aspects too which it can be played also. Theres no sense in doing the whole "WoW VS DAOC" or whatever because WoW is its own game, no sense in comparing it too ANY other game, thats just totally idiotic.
The game comes at you as you play it. Some say its just a gear grind, same say its not. Like in ANY game out there, you need to work for your gear. I don't understand why people bash WoW and only WoW because of this.
Blizzard tried to do there take on "Vanilla-extract". Everyone who has played Vanilla WoW LOVED it for the most part, and they tried to come back to their Vanilla ways with CATA and seem to be doing a damn good job.
And for anyone who thinks the game is too hard, you just SUCK at playing mmorpgs.
Yeah, like me!
Exactly - except that it is all new content and that no game in history has ever changed its 'core' with an expansion - in fact the only game that ever changed at the 'core' was SWG, and we all saw how well that went over.
Expansions are to expand the game, not change it.
I'm definitely glad it's not a faceroll anymore. =]
I'm one that has subscribed for 5 years and I still haven't reached ALL content. Why rush through it? I enjoy every aspect of it, obviously.. and it's sad that some of you don't. That's why you missed a great deal of it and still bitch about it when you really don't know how awesome it is. Eh, to each their own.
So for those who QQ over the game/xpacs not having enough content is FRIGGIN INSANE!
Sheesh!
paying for subs and paying for expansions is a con. not surprised they make so much money, soon they will have an item mall lol.
WoW already has an item mall idiot, why do noob trolls flame if they suck at it
Hmm.. If you would have said that the MMO community is the most anal, I would have agreed.. But the whole gaming community def. is not the worst..