Originally posted by ceratop001 Ok I'm going to chime in here. It's obvious that Blizzard is going or is already in the process of making a new game. I believe there is no doubt . WoW will eventually go free to play. The market is ripe for a new game to take over. If Blizzard can make a new type of mmorpg then its game over and the saga continues.
I'm sure they are prototyping many new ideas behind the scene, with the money they have. But to be honest, the best thing for them would be to just port WOW to a new engine. They always say at Blizzcon, they want to expand and create new exciting content and features. But with a 15 year old engine you can only do so much. They updated the character models and some animations but it really didn't change much. That low poly count is still awful.They need a new engine to really see some change.
Plus if they want to add gameplay features, like dynamic events in GW2, destructable environments in Crowfall, they need a new engine. Eve online did it a few years back when they ported the game to a new graphics engine. Warcraft is a juggernaut of an IP, now with a big blockbuster movie coming out, making a new MMO wouldn't make sense.
That would be a monumental task that would take several years. It could be done, but they would be better off just starting from scratch and making a WoW 2.0 or something.
Nah. Blizzard have sensed the winds of change and they're canny businesspeople. That's why they scrapped their MMO plans and have developed a (very successful thus far) MOBA.
Their MOBA is shit, it's going to gain no ground over Dota or LoL
Yeah they took a full 12 months off with no new content to release an expansion everyone and their mother describes as rushed. Pray tell just how many years does Blizzard need to take off to produce an expansion that isn't half-assed?
You're really going to try an compare the rate of content release for a game that takes in a billion dollars a year to games that make a tiny fraction of that? Oh wait, SE just demonstrated they don't need to take off a year or more to get a decent expansion out the door unlike Blizzard.
Well if someone doesn't know WOW offers some of the fastest content release (if not the fastest) then certainly we should encourage they educate themselves (as I did in the earlier post.) But if they know WOW offers fast (or the fastest) content releases and still complain, then they're even whinier and (given that WOW basically charges the same as any other MMORPG) they're acting entitled without any good reason to be entitled.
13 months gap between free and PAID content patch quite many got rally quickly bored of due to much of the content being cut and rushed to meet Christmas sale in an unfinished and unpolished state.
8 months gap between PAID content patch and the next "normal" content patch many people got bored of after 2 days because it was mostly just a rehash and reycling of old content, with only some Twitter button and other usubstantial crap joke "patch" inbetween that not even most WoW fanboys try to sell you as a real content patch and even some WoW developer admitted hardly counts as one.
That same patch is already suggested to be the last patch before the next PAID patch and quite many player already fear another 12 - 16 months without content.
Blizzard is constantly making excuses why they skip out on content releases and produce poor value. Blaming it on training their new team or going on holidays after the release of the latest paid content patch or their need to "concentrate" on the next paid content patch. Basically admitting their poor performance.
Reality of the past 2 years of a full deal P2P game with second rate F2P quality and embarassing little and infrequent content releases.
> some of the fasted content release (if not the fastest)
> WOW offers fast (or the fastest) content releases
> educate yourself if you don't know!!!
Basic box price at $15. Excludes the latest $30 major content patch. $15 sub, paid $50 content patches every two years, expensive cash shop and game services, indirect gold selling in a game with best in slot gear purchaseable with gold trough a artifical auction house.
> WOW basically charges the same as any other MMORPG!!!!
Lol. Who are you trying to fool with your unreal act?
Don't waste your time Sukiyaki. Axehilt is perfect example of a brainwashed WOW fanboy. The funny thing is he actually believes what he says. He actually thinks Blizzard puts out the fastest content. It's a complete and utter brainwashing straight from the Church of Blizzology.
Did you track how many they gain each time they do an expansion along with those losses?
I would wonder if what they are experiencing are the people who surge for the expansions, content locust the heck out of them then move on to other things.
That's not the point. In MOP they didn't lose 3 million subs in one quarter. They lost a few hundred thousand, and we all know MOP was the worst expansion they ever released. I played it for 3 weeks and had to stop, it was just so bad. I didn't play WOD but from what I read it had some of the best questing to date. So why is it that 3 million people left. Wait one more quarter and let's see how many more subs they lose. That will put us in a better position to judge how much damage has really been done.
Well that bit is subjective I know a few people who loved it. And while "a few people" is insignificant I bet that there were quite a few people who did love it. So that means nothing in your argument.
How many subs did they lose before Mists of Panderia? Leading up to it. And can you show it please.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
Did you track how many they gain each time they do an expansion along with those losses?
I would wonder if what they are experiencing are the people who surge for the expansions, content locust the heck out of them then move on to other things.
That's not the point. In MOP they didn't lose 3 million subs in one quarter. They lost a few hundred thousand, and we all know MOP was the worst expansion they ever released. I played it for 3 weeks and had to stop, it was just so bad. I didn't play WOD but from what I read it had some of the best questing to date. So why is it that 3 million people left. Wait one more quarter and let's see how many more subs they lose. That will put us in a better position to judge how much damage has really been done.
Well that bit is subjective I know a few people who loved it. And while "a few people" is insignificant I bet that there were quite a few people who did love it. So that means nothing in your argument.
How many subs did they lose before Mists of Panderia? Leading up to it. And can you show it please.
of course it's subjective it's an opinion about tastes....even so it's a popular opinion. Pandaria has the lowest score among expansion packs as well on metacritic so it's already critic's least favorite one yet. i am not agreeing or disagreeing about the rest of the discussion.
as for WoW going free or not, if Blizzard plans to do another MMO, they will shut WoW down with dignity probably then try to lure their old crowd with rewards from their other games to their new MMO, if not then yea they will turn it into F2P at some point and add a 10 years life span to it.
my top MMOs: UO,DAOC,WoW,GW2
most of my posts are just my opinions they are not facts,it is the same for you too.
So with the massive loss in subs, the news that 6.2 will be the last major content patch for WOD, you can bet that something is going on at Blizzard headquarters. They apparently doubled their staff so that they could get more content out quicker. Then why is that there is less content being pushed out?
I think the game is finally going F2P. And Hearthstone is a big factor in that decision. If you look at that card game, it's production costs were minimal. I think the game was made with a team of 15 developers yet it's made over 500 million since launch and hasn't lost steam.
I think Blizz has finally seen the potential of F2P. Heroes of the Storm is F2P, and most likely Overwatch, their next online shooter coming out probably sometime next year.
They recently hired Stephan Frost who was lead designer on Wildstar, a game which is in the process of going F2P hmmm Coincidence?
I mean they already have a cash shop, selling character boosts, pets, mounts, etc... They introduced the WOW token so that players can exchange gold for in game time. hmmmm
I think they are just testing out different models to see which one nets them the most cash. Once they are satisfied with a model, I believe F2P is coming. Gold will probably be an option used to unlock content or purchase items in the cash shop, which is maybe why the WOW token was implemented in the first place , to flush out some of that excess gold people have saved up from years of playing. Mobs and quests will probably reward much less gold and the game will probably have a gold cap that needs to be unlocked through cash. Who knows?
What do you guys think?
Sorry but I think you are delusional. Way to many subs still exist for them to even consider f2p. Besides every expansion has an ending point somewhere, just because 6.2 ends WoD what makes you really think that will cause them to go f2p?
Nope sub will stay around for WoW for now and for quite a bit.
of course it's subjective it's an opinion about tastes....even so it's a popular opinion. Pandaria has the lowest score among expansion packs as well on metacritic so it's already critic's least favorite one yet. i am not agreeing or disagreeing about the rest of the discussion.
well, "pro" critics seemed to like it on meta critic regardless of whether it was the lowest. Players seemed to pan it more.
but that's the point, you can't really build that into anything as what is the sampling of those players? Several hundred vocal players who bothered to go to metacritic.
You can go either way: millions more despised it more or millions more loved it more. There's not much proof there of anything other than several hundred people really hated it.
How many people purchased the latest one? That could show whether or not mists of pandaria really affected anything. Well, possibly.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
of course it's subjective it's an opinion about tastes....even so it's a popular opinion. Pandaria has the lowest score among expansion packs as well on metacritic so it's already critic's least favorite one yet. i am not agreeing or disagreeing about the rest of the discussion.
well, "pro" critics seemed to like it on meta critic regardless of whether it was the lowest. Players seemed to pan it more.
but that's the point, you can't really build that into anything as what is the sampling of those players? Several hundred vocal players who bothered to go to metacritic.
You can go either way: millions more despised it more or millions more loved it more. There's not much proof there of anything other than several hundred people really hated it.
How many people purchased the latest one? That could show whether or not mists of pandaria really affected anything. Well, possibly.
I was under the impression Cataclysm was universally agreed upon as the worst expansion.
I'm probably in the minority, but I would find it favorable if WoW went some version of F2P. I used to be a subscriber long ago from shortly after launch till a bit after WotLK. I even have a Collector's Edition of all except Warlords of Draenor ... just couldn't reasonably justify it any longer. Since then I only used the free trials that Blizzard would occasionally send out, which were much appreciated, & I created another account for when they offered the free version to level 20 just to dabble & wet my whistle when I had that WoW itch. I still enjoy WoW even though it has lost some of it's luster. I just don't think it is worth resubscribing & going through all of that again especially since it is all meant for high level characters now & raiding. As far as I know Blizzard has never offered a "welcome back" package of any sort, but then again they don't need too being the behemoth they are. Even if some version of F2P was released pass the level 20 & it included some sort of item shop I'd be accepting. If would have to be balanced of course versus the subscribed players perks, but this is nothing new, other games have embraced it, & if Blizzard did it I'm sure they would deliver such a system very well.
So with the massive loss in subs, the news that 6.2 will be the last major content patch for WOD, you can bet that something is going on at Blizzard headquarters. They apparently doubled their staff so that they could get more content out quicker. Then why is that there is less content being pushed out?
I think the game is finally going F2P.
Despite is no longer my No.1 game still hope this F2P plague never come to Wow world.
And Hearthstone is a big factor in that decision. If you look at that card game, it's production costs were minimal. I think the game was made with a team of 15 developers yet it's made over 500 million since launch and hasn't lost steam.
I think Blizz has finally seen the potential of F2P.
Only potential there is to destroy quality and attract all undesirable kind of players among others. There are very rare exceptions with mixed models, i.e. Swtor.
Only plus to F2P is to have more players around for some group quest or alike.
7.1 million subs... I hope you guys realise that's still more than the population of Singapore or Hong Kong (and that's saying a lot) :P
$10 bucks a month off 7.1mil people is probably still probably many times the tax revenue of Greece, lol.
Don't think they will be going F2P anytime soon
Well, the Chinese players pay less but it is still a huge fortune. And since Wow already do sell stuff for real money going F2P would only mean they loose the monthly fees without much in return.
So, no. Wow won't go F2P in the next 12 years. It will most likely do so when the subs hit around 2 million players or less. They might sell a lot more stuff in the cashshop though while keeping the monthly fees since the players don't seem to mind what's in there now.
7.1 million subs... I hope you guys realise that's still more than the population of Singapore or Hong Kong (and that's saying a lot) :P
$10 bucks a month off 7.1mil people is probably still probably many times the tax revenue of Greece, lol.
Don't think they will be going F2P anytime soon
Well, the Chinese players pay less but it is still a huge fortune. And since Wow already do sell stuff for real money going F2P would only mean they loose the monthly fees without much in return.
So, no. Wow won't go F2P in the next 12 years. It will most likely do so when the subs hit around 2 million players or less. They might sell a lot more stuff in the cashshop though while keeping the monthly fees since the players don't seem to mind what's in there now.
If WOW went F2P the cash shop would have a plethora of items, ranging from , unlocking a bag slot or bank slot, unlocking features like the ability to use Transmog npcs, unlocking the ability to post more auction house items, unlocking unlimited arena matches or bgs, extra ui bars, and leveling scrolls, boosters, potions, etc... Even starter raid and pvp gear sets possibly. The list goes on an on. Your basing it on what they sell now. Which is just cosmetic fluff., and very very little compared to other cash shops in other mmos.
And I don't buy that 7.1 million people pay 15 a month crap. Probably 3/4 of their player base is in Asia and those guys don't pay monthly, it's pay while you play.
Put it this way subs are going to continue to decline, and even if it follows the same curb as previous expansions you are talking 4 million subs, with prob 1.5 in euro/na. Shareholders demand profit and it's clear another expansion is not going to light the works on fire so I would say they are developing FTP right now. It's common sense, other MMO are successfully turning a profit with FTP. Also consider the recent token model - do you think the developers who appear to be nothing simply stopped development when they released, very very unlikely,
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
So losing a large amount of subs each year really isn't all that alarming as it will just surge up again.
It kind of is tho, losing 1.3 and losing 3 mill is a massive difference. They essentially lost 1/3 of their playerbase in 3 months. Their loses are always gradual over time, and you can see that from the graph someone linked. It's an irregular pattern, the % of players they can lose has increased, they could lose up to 3mill by next quarter, they may or they may not, but they've open the door for that to be a possibility now. That's why it makes it not the same as before.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think F2P would be happening any time soon, Activi$ion won't allow that lol, but think it's wrong to say this is nothing new imho.
Hiring a design producer doesn't mean much. It's a huge project from a successful well-known company. If they were aiming to substantially change their business model with WOW they'd probably hire someone for that role specifically (or generally hire more analysts, product managers, or business intelligence people.) Admittedly we have a producer who does some PM work, but Frost is likely just a typical design producer that doesn't mess with that stuff much.
'Doubling staff but less content' sounds like bullshit. Maybe it's just because I looked up the rate of WOW's content a while back and they were pretty damn impressive with their rate of new stuff (when you considered the sheer size and challenge of bringing that content to bear.) But you're certainly free to try to show other games doing it faster and/or better.
Well, your challenge is clearly issued in poor faith, as made clear by the way you worded it. People have to show you another game that does it "better' - using 'and/or' basically means that it's a qualifier, regardless. So, that puts you in the cushy position of being able to simply dismiss any response given, because you can simply say "Nope. I said 'better'. That isn't 'better'. So, I still win". Someone could show you a developer who releases updates 5x as often, and you could still say "yeah, but their updates aren't better".
It's an obvious game of "this is my opinion - now prove me wrong". Only no answer will appease you, because you've already convinced yourself you're right.
You've played this game before, and it's plain as day what you're doing. You're not as shrewd as you seem to think, Axe.
I don think anyone thinks blizzards release rate had been impressive at anytime In It's history and WOD and MOP have extremely poor release rates considering the income. Passionate dev houses pump out content quickly, And many things kill that off, weak developers who have fallen behind the tech curve, poor management suppressing talent implicitly or otherwise, poor design that can not be extended safely without massive regression and yes men fiddling while Rome burns.
Developers who would look at this state and applaud it are very similar to those creating that state, weakness seeks out weakness.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
I suspect they'll announce a new expansion sooner than their usual release. If they indeed doubled the team, then they're working on something big.
And WoW players have already shown that they have no issue with buying a new x-pac. So who knows, maybe in six months they'll have the next one out the door.
I don't see them going F2P while so much guaranteed money is still flowing into their coffers.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
Well, your challenge is clearly issued in poor faith, as made clear by the way you worded it. People have to show you another game that does it "better' - using 'and/or' basically means that it's a qualifier, regardless. So, that puts you in the cushy position of being able to simply dismiss any response given, because you can simply say "Nope. I said 'better'. That isn't 'better'. So, I still win". Someone could show you a developer who releases updates 5x as often, and you could still say "yeah, but their updates aren't better".
It's an obvious game of "this is my opinion - now prove me wrong". Only no answer will appease you, because you've already convinced yourself you're right.
You've played this game before, and it's plain as day what you're doing. You're not as shrewd as you seem to think, Axe.
"Better" was mostly to weed out trash content. Games can easily shovel low quality content into a game, but it's not really the same as what WOW puts out with its raids and dungeons.
FFXIV is a reasonably good example of one game releasing content faster than WOW. And if this discussion was about whether WOW is the fastest, that would be that. But it's about whether "less content" released after they increased their staff, and given that raid releases in WoD have come in less than 92 days between one another for a while recently that was what I was disputing.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
i find it funny every few month or so i here about how WoW has lost 1-3 million subs, i want to know where people are getting these numbers, because if this happens every other month for the last few year , (since i have been seeing these post for several years now), why is it they still have several million subscribers.
personally i think yall are look at the tide move in and out and every time you see the tide move out you scream the world is running out of water.
i suggest ya get over it WoW isnt going anywhere any time soon. you just want it to go free to play so you can play without paying, well guess what not everything in life is free, if ya dont like it go play one of those poorly made F2P games
F2P may be the way of the future, but ya know they dont make them like they used to Proper Grammer & spelling are extra, corrections will be LOL at.
Comments
Their MOBA is shit, it's going to gain no ground over Dota or LoL
Don't waste your time Sukiyaki. Axehilt is perfect example of a brainwashed WOW fanboy. The funny thing is he actually believes what he says. He actually thinks Blizzard puts out the fastest content. It's a complete and utter brainwashing straight from the Church of Blizzology.
Well that bit is subjective I know a few people who loved it. And while "a few people" is insignificant I bet that there were quite a few people who did love it. So that means nothing in your argument.
How many subs did they lose before Mists of Panderia? Leading up to it. And can you show it please.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
of course it's subjective it's an opinion about tastes....even so it's a popular opinion. Pandaria has the lowest score among expansion packs as well on metacritic so it's already critic's least favorite one yet. i am not agreeing or disagreeing about the rest of the discussion.
as for WoW going free or not, if Blizzard plans to do another MMO, they will shut WoW down with dignity probably then try to lure their old crowd with rewards from their other games to their new MMO, if not then yea they will turn it into F2P at some point and add a 10 years life span to it.
my top MMOs: UO,DAOC,WoW,GW2
most of my posts are just my opinions they are not facts,it is the same for you too.
Sorry but I think you are delusional. Way to many subs still exist for them to even consider f2p. Besides every expansion has an ending point somewhere, just because 6.2 ends WoD what makes you really think that will cause them to go f2p?
Nope sub will stay around for WoW for now and for quite a bit.
So here's a bit from 2013 indicating that they lost 1.3 million over 3 months.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/5/8/4313268/world-of-warcraft-down-1-3-million-subscribers-over-three-months
And after they were at 8 million.
So here is 2012 which went down one million to 9.1 million subs.
http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/08/02/world-of-warcraft-loses-subscribers
So losing a large amount of subs each year really isn't all that alarming as it will just surge up again.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
well, "pro" critics seemed to like it on meta critic regardless of whether it was the lowest. Players seemed to pan it more.
but that's the point, you can't really build that into anything as what is the sampling of those players? Several hundred vocal players who bothered to go to metacritic.
You can go either way: millions more despised it more or millions more loved it more. There's not much proof there of anything other than several hundred people really hated it.
How many people purchased the latest one? That could show whether or not mists of pandaria really affected anything. Well, possibly.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
I was under the impression Cataclysm was universally agreed upon as the worst expansion.
Its 3 million in the first 3 months, that's massive.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
I'm probably in the minority, but I would find it favorable if WoW went some version of F2P. I used to be a subscriber long ago from shortly after launch till a bit after WotLK. I even have a Collector's Edition of all except Warlords of Draenor ... just couldn't reasonably justify it any longer. Since then I only used the free trials that Blizzard would occasionally send out, which were much appreciated, & I created another account for when they offered the free version to level 20 just to dabble & wet my whistle when I had that WoW itch. I still enjoy WoW even though it has lost some of it's luster. I just don't think it is worth resubscribing & going through all of that again especially since it is all meant for high level characters now & raiding. As far as I know Blizzard has never offered a "welcome back" package of any sort, but then again they don't need too being the behemoth they are. Even if some version of F2P was released pass the level 20 & it included some sort of item shop I'd be accepting. If would have to be balanced of course versus the subscribed players perks, but this is nothing new, other games have embraced it, & if Blizzard did it I'm sure they would deliver such a system very well.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cRJ7PzS7ls
Zybak pretty much sums it up.
Despite is no longer my No.1 game still hope this F2P plague never come to Wow world.
Only potential there is to destroy quality and attract all undesirable kind of players among others. There are very rare exceptions with mixed models, i.e. Swtor.
Only plus to F2P is to have more players around for some group quest or alike.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
7.1 million subs... I hope you guys realise that's still more than the population of Singapore or Hong Kong (and that's saying a lot) :P
$10 bucks a month off 7.1mil people is probably still probably many times the tax revenue of Greece, lol.
Don't think they will be going F2P anytime soon
Well, the Chinese players pay less but it is still a huge fortune. And since Wow already do sell stuff for real money going F2P would only mean they loose the monthly fees without much in return.
So, no. Wow won't go F2P in the next 12 years. It will most likely do so when the subs hit around 2 million players or less. They might sell a lot more stuff in the cashshop though while keeping the monthly fees since the players don't seem to mind what's in there now.
If WOW went F2P the cash shop would have a plethora of items, ranging from , unlocking a bag slot or bank slot, unlocking features like the ability to use Transmog npcs, unlocking the ability to post more auction house items, unlocking unlimited arena matches or bgs, extra ui bars, and leveling scrolls, boosters, potions, etc... Even starter raid and pvp gear sets possibly. The list goes on an on. Your basing it on what they sell now. Which is just cosmetic fluff., and very very little compared to other cash shops in other mmos.
And I don't buy that 7.1 million people pay 15 a month crap. Probably 3/4 of their player base is in Asia and those guys don't pay monthly, it's pay while you play.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
It kind of is tho, losing 1.3 and losing 3 mill is a massive difference. They essentially lost 1/3 of their playerbase in 3 months. Their loses are always gradual over time, and you can see that from the graph someone linked. It's an irregular pattern, the % of players they can lose has increased, they could lose up to 3mill by next quarter, they may or they may not, but they've open the door for that to be a possibility now. That's why it makes it not the same as before.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think F2P would be happening any time soon, Activi$ion won't allow that lol, but think it's wrong to say this is nothing new imho.
Well, your challenge is clearly issued in poor faith, as made clear by the way you worded it. People have to show you another game that does it "better' - using 'and/or' basically means that it's a qualifier, regardless. So, that puts you in the cushy position of being able to simply dismiss any response given, because you can simply say "Nope. I said 'better'. That isn't 'better'. So, I still win". Someone could show you a developer who releases updates 5x as often, and you could still say "yeah, but their updates aren't better".
It's an obvious game of "this is my opinion - now prove me wrong". Only no answer will appease you, because you've already convinced yourself you're right.
You've played this game before, and it's plain as day what you're doing. You're not as shrewd as you seem to think, Axe.
That said...
SE's been releasing major content updates every ~3 months, with little deviation. They'll have smaller updates in-between the major ones (2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc). Their updates are quite substantial.
I don think anyone thinks blizzards release rate had been impressive at anytime In It's history and WOD and MOP have extremely poor release rates considering the income. Passionate dev houses pump out content quickly, And many things kill that off, weak developers who have fallen behind the tech curve, poor management suppressing talent implicitly or otherwise, poor design that can not be extended safely without massive regression and yes men fiddling while Rome burns.
Developers who would look at this state and applaud it are very similar to those creating that state, weakness seeks out weakness.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
I suspect they'll announce a new expansion sooner than their usual release. If they indeed doubled the team, then they're working on something big.
And WoW players have already shown that they have no issue with buying a new x-pac. So who knows, maybe in six months they'll have the next one out the door.
I don't see them going F2P while so much guaranteed money is still flowing into their coffers.
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
"Better" was mostly to weed out trash content. Games can easily shovel low quality content into a game, but it's not really the same as what WOW puts out with its raids and dungeons.
FFXIV is a reasonably good example of one game releasing content faster than WOW. And if this discussion was about whether WOW is the fastest, that would be that. But it's about whether "less content" released after they increased their staff, and given that raid releases in WoD have come in less than 92 days between one another for a while recently that was what I was disputing.
"What is truly revealing is his implication that believing something to be true is the same as it being true. [continue]" -John Oliver
i find it funny every few month or so i here about how WoW has lost 1-3 million subs, i want to know where people are getting these numbers, because if this happens every other month for the last few year , (since i have been seeing these post for several years now), why is it they still have several million subscribers.
personally i think yall are look at the tide move in and out and every time you see the tide move out you scream the world is running out of water.
i suggest ya get over it WoW isnt going anywhere any time soon. you just want it to go free to play so you can play without paying, well guess what not everything in life is free, if ya dont like it go play one of those poorly made F2P games
F2P may be the way of the future, but ya know they dont make them like they used to
Proper Grammer & spelling are extra, corrections will be LOL at.
Most F2P mmorpg have 10% of the players paying most of the money. Which 90% pays very little(in comparison).
If Wow goes F2P it'll probably be very cash shop focused. Which will most likely scare more of their players away than helping.