Players Will Help Crowdfund World of Warcraft's Two Esports Championships - MMORPG.com

SBFord

Players Will Help Crowdfund World of Warcraft's Two Esports Championships - MMORPG.com

World of Warcraft esports is divided into two types: the PvP Arena Championship series and the "MDI" or Mythic Dungeon International. Blizzard has posted an overview of 2019's upcoming seasonal championship tournaments along with the news that it's taken a page from other successful esports tournaments. Starting this spring, World of Warcraft players will be able to purchase in-game toys to help crowdfund the prize pools for both tournament seasons.

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SBFord

With subs declining particularly over the past six months, one has to wonder how many in-game items they'll be able to sell and how much cash they can generate? When WoW had 10M subscribers, it could have been awesome. With many, many fewer subs AND with sooooooooo many toys already in the game, it just seems like it'll not be all that enthusiastically received or financially viable enough to support prize pools for two esports tournaments.

marcio519

Yeah... Keep going for esports Acti-Blizz...

Palebane

I’m starting to feel a little dizzy.

Rukushin

SBFord said:

With subs declining particularly over the past six months, one has to wonder how many in-game items they'll be able to sell and how much cash they can generate? When WoW had 10M subscribers, it could have been awesome. With many, many fewer subs AND with sooooooooo many toys already in the game, it just seems like it'll not be all that enthusiastically received or financially viable enough to support prize pools for two esports tournaments.

Not only that, but right now it is very highly trending to hate on Acti-Blizz atm. This is going to do them no favors as people are now actively boycotting every agenda they can possibly come up with. I mean look how badly the store mount went...now they want to try this?!

It will just been seen as one more cash-grab attempt or that Acti-Blizz is again trying to cut costs or that they don't have the confidence in their own endeavors to put up their own money. This could lead to more investors pulling out and stock dipping further if this initiative does poorly

All around just not a good time for a move like this.

Aeander

Blizzard has no right to crowdfund an esports scene after what they did to HotS esports players.

I said I was boycotting Blizzard until Diablo 4/Diablo 2 remastered and now I'm glad that I have and continue to do so. Fuck Blizzard for Diablo Immortal. Fuck Blizzard for scaling down HotS. Fuck Blizzard for a laugh.

gervaise1

This would further support that AB have/are undertaking a "root-and-branch" review of all their products.

Have to agree with @SBFord though. Just how much traction will this get? How many people who are a) WoW players b) interested in watching WoW e-sports and c) even want more toys will contribute? Factor in that a part of WoW's playerbase will be in e.g. China and you have to wonder.

Now maybe if AB said they will be putting up $X and any money raised will be over and above $X then it might get more traction. I get the impression though that the aim is for them to put up less - with an ultimate aim of putting up nothing.

Still desperate times require desperate measures as the saying goes. Or maybe that should be when needs must the devil drives.

gervaise1

I did say yesterday in the WTF thread that we needed an AB story to get people onto more awesomely serious topics!

SBFord

gervaise1 said:

I did say yesterday in the WTF thread that we needed an AB story to get people onto more awesomely serious topics!

WTF'd your post 'cause I you...but I agree 100%.

Spiider

Oh boy the greed is real. Someone pay my bills please. LOL!

alkarionlog

I wonder if will there are any fool who would really help then

MadFrenchie

Is the industry on the whole literally trying to evolve it into a matter of consumers funding projects completely and THEN being asked to buy things in that product, too?

What next?


"Crowdfunding campaign to fund our marketing campaign to convince you to spend money on the product you already crowdfunded!"

natpick

for so many years,skillfull gamers have used wow and other games as a way to make a living,now the esports seems to be getting less funding these gamers are panicking much like  many wow twitch streamers,i guess the idea is if you put money in and your good enough youll get your money back and some.at this point i guess i could say just get a proper job but im sure it will fall on deaf ears.

Aeander

MadFrenchie said:

Is the industry on the whole literally trying to evolve it into a matter of consumers funding projects completely and THEN being asked to buy things in that product, too?

What next?


"Crowdfunding campaign to fund our marketing campaign to convince you to spend money on the product you already crowdfunded!"

That's pretty much exactly what this is though. Esports are basically just a form of marketing for the game, so this is pretty much us being told to crowdfund their marketing.

Albatroes

Its always good to see people willing to come together and help crowdfund a small indie company like activision-blizzard....wait what?

SwampDragons

great idea

some-clueless-guy

This decision was vetted and approved by a board of directors. What does this tell us about the state of the company other than that they are desperate? I mean that these people know already that customers will see this as a desperate measure, and they went through with it anyway. So how bad are things at Blizzard actually?

Feels like something big (and bad for them) might happen soon™

Aeander

some-clueless-guy said:

This decision was vetted and approved by a board of directors. What does this tell us about the state of the company other than that they are desperate? I mean that these people know already that customers will see this as a desperate measure, and they went through with it anyway. So how bad are things at Blizzard actually?

Feels like something big (and bad for them) might happen soon™

They aren't exactly the first company to do so. Valve has been doing this with DotA2 esports for years.

The timing is truly awful though. Either they are tone deaf or desperate, and I can't help but wonder what could realistically happen that would be a larger blow to them than losing the Destiny IP.

Sovrath

some-clueless-guy said:

This decision was vetted and approved by a board of directors. What does this tell us about the state of the company other than that they are desperate? I mean that these people know already that customers will see this as a desperate measure, and they went through with it anyway. So how bad are things at Blizzard actually?

Feels like something big (and bad for them) might happen soon™

I don't think it has anything to do with being desperate.

They probably have numbers on how many people would support this type of thing, would prefer it if others ponied up the cash (they are a business after all) and want to do this.

"No" they don't know that customers will see this as a desperate measure. They know that there will be some blow back from this but they most likely know that x amount of people would be interested.

I don't think anything bad is going to happen soon.

SBFord

Pretty much these days.

AlmostLancelot

Yeah.....no. I'll take a hard pass.

Sorry Blizzard, it's time to throw in the towel. We had a good run but nothing lasts forever. 

PS: I know a lot of us are being lighthearted about this, but it truly is sad to watch the downfall of a gaming monolith due to nothing more than corporate greed.

Albatroes

SBFord said:

Pretty much these days.

Sums up most of the gaming industry these days tbh.

tawess

people i do hope you understand that this is most likely the last huzzah for WoW E-sport. Not enough return on investment to fund it all them self. So if this tanks i would give WoW e-sport about a year or so more...

Then again WoW e-sport was always a odd duckling As for the greed angle... It was corporate greed that gave them the leg up to begin with... kind of poetic, that the thing that birthed you, in the end kill you.

ananit

Aeander said:

some-clueless-guy said:

This decision was vetted and approved by a board of directors. What does this tell us about the state of the company other than that they are desperate? I mean that these people know already that customers will see this as a desperate measure, and they went through with it anyway. So how bad are things at Blizzard actually?

Feels like something big (and bad for them) might happen soon™

They aren't exactly the first company to do so. Valve has been doing this with DotA2 esports for years.

The timing is truly awful though. Either they are tone deaf or desperate, and I can't help but wonder what could realistically happen that would be a larger blow to them than losing the Destiny IP.

except that dota 2 (or smite) is a free to play game with a cosmetic only cash shop.

wow has :
-a box price (or used to)
-extensions that you have to buy
-a monthly sub
-a cash shop which offer level boosts among other things.

and on top of all those transactions they want to take a portion from the sales of another item to crowdfund their tourney.
can't exactly be surprised by the backlash but again it's the company that presented diablo immortal at blizzcon ...

Aeander

ananit said:

Aeander said:

some-clueless-guy said:

This decision was vetted and approved by a board of directors. What does this tell us about the state of the company other than that they are desperate? I mean that these people know already that customers will see this as a desperate measure, and they went through with it anyway. So how bad are things at Blizzard actually?

Feels like something big (and bad for them) might happen soon™

They aren't exactly the first company to do so. Valve has been doing this with DotA2 esports for years.

The timing is truly awful though. Either they are tone deaf or desperate, and I can't help but wonder what could realistically happen that would be a larger blow to them than losing the Destiny IP.

except that dota 2 (or smite) is a free to play game with a cosmetic only cash shop.

wow has :
-a box price (or used to)
-extensions that you have to buy
-a monthly sub
-a cash shop which offer level boosts among other things.

and on top of all those transactions they want to take a portion from the sales of another item to crowdfund their tourney.
can't exactly be surprised by the backlash but again it's the company that presented diablo immortal at blizzcon ...

I never said that DotA2 was unjustified in doing so. Only that it does so.

I personally think that WoW is one of the most consumer unfriendly games on the market because it uses damn near every monetization model at once. I laugh at people who support subscription fees on the grounds that they're better than cash shops, precisely because WoW shows that they aren't mutually exclusive if the company can get away with it.

sneakerz007

I wouldn't give this company anything. Let this e-sports backfire on them and make them look dumb.