If people actually felt strongly about this it would be on the official warcraft forums, nobody who posts here actually matters, can rant all you want but in the end, nobody will hear it.
Did Blizz post that info on thier official forum for the English speaking playerbase?
If people actually felt strongly about this it would be on the official warcraft forums, nobody who posts here actually matters, can rant all you want but in the end, nobody will hear it.
Oh there were several posts about it... they were all deleted. Do you really think they would leave posts about this. With a new expansion on the way... They want to sell product and this would certainly impact it. No Blizzard will do everything they can to cover this up without comment.
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
They might get it free (for a huge amount of money paid to blizzard from The9 no doubt) but they had to wait 8 months.
Western and Asia MMO markets are very different ...to get the Asia market to buy the original game and pay a type of subscription was a huge feat in its-self, Asian players expect free expansions unlike the western market where expansion are almost always sold (unless it a game struggling for subs such as EQ2 or DDO), if you want free expansions go live in china its that simple, but you need to wait much much longer to get them.
Now I know why they got 9 million customers. TBC was a complete flop and subscriber numbers dropped like flies so to keep the public convinced that their expansion was a sucess they give out free WoW games and subscriptions to China. That's actually a good move by Blizzard even though I don't like WoW. Those numbers help to keep WoW over hyped and people intrested in keeping up with its next expansion. But that is how all fad products work whether it is a MMORPG or something else. I think they should redo their customer count by monthly payed subscriptions and free subscriptions and see which one is more. Now the immediate response from Camp: Fanboy is "well duh the free subs got more numbers cuz itz teh free sauce". And I say well, where is it free? China! So China does account for at least 70+ % of WoW customer base. I bet WoW will become the most popular Asian grinding game.
No the immediate response from Camp: Fanboy is that Burning Crusade broke sales records, and despite being released over 6 months ago is still the number one selling PC game in the United Kingdom. Oh yeah, big flop there, outselling everything else after all this time? I bet Blizzard are about to go bankrupt.
The only truthful thing you said in your post is that you don't like WoW.
Like all of you, most of the stuff you guys are posting is so false it's pathetic. I'll let you get on with hating the game now, don't want to spoil your fun with reality :0
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
This has to be one of the saddest examples of ignorance of marketing I have every seen from people. Those of you crying about the fact that China is getting it free. Morons welcome to Capitalism. China has a lot of F2P games that a lot of people actually play there for WoW to keep up there they can not charge like they can here. US has F2P but they do not seem to have anywhere near the numbers. Blizzard and every other company knows if you put crap in a box and call it the newest hot thing idiots in America will pre-order it. I call that good business and I congradulate Blizzard for understanding their markets. Why do people put morality on businesses. They are there to make as much money as they can. I believe that is the American dream. Whiners just whine about it because they have not figured out how to make money.
even with WoW got like 6mil plus asian sub, its still not on the top of the mmo list. Some other game has like 15mil sub in China. So for Blizzard its more about sub bragging right nothing more.
Even if they only get $2 a sub in china that is a lot of cash to say does not matter
No the immediate response from Camp: Fanboy is that Burning Crusade broke sales records, and despite being released over 6 months ago is still the number one selling PC game in the United Kingdom. Oh yeah, big flop there, outselling everything else after all this time? I bet Blizzard are about to go bankrupt.
The only truthful thing you said in your post is that you don't like WoW. Like all of you, most of the stuff you guys are posting is so false it's pathetic. I'll let you get on with hating the game now, don't want to spoil your fun with reality :0
Most of the stuff you are posting is so biased it is pathetic.
So which side is right?
The issue is blizzard is doing something very questionable. While it may not be illegal it certainly calls into question their integrity. Now what you have to ask yourself is do you lack the integrity to realize what they are doing is wrong. Do you?
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
I agrre this is rly stupid. Blizzard basically forces u to buy an expansion when u r 60, which means literally everybody playing has to waste 40$ unless u just wanna b lame and stay 60... If they could sell the expansion to 4 million ppl in china they would make a load of cash, so y dont they just do that...
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
i gotta love wow fanbois trowing up numbers without any proves.
Lineage II Continues Global Success
NCsoft today announced Lineage® II, with more than 14 million customers worldwide, has reached 100,000 active players in North America and Europe. The title started as a cult favorite of many massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamers in North America and Europe and continues its success as the premiere player-versus-player (PvP) online role playing game for the elite PvP player.
Lineage II was launched in North America in 2004 as a modest success. The game has since built itself into one of the top MMOs in the western markets, with a 25 percent growth rate in 2006. NCsoft credits the growth of the game to regular updates and free expansions to the product, and delivering features requested by players. Additionally, NCsoft has implemented aggressive policies to eliminate activities like "botting" and "farming" which give some players unfair advantages over legitimate players.
"This is a great franchise that has dominated Asia and now we are seeing very positive growth in North America and Europe," said Robert Garriott, CEO for NCsoft North America. "This game took a little time to find its audience because it is such a rich, tough and complex world. It is not a game for the faint of heart, but we worked to adjust the game to fit our customers and we’re seeing more players view it as the pinnacle of MMO gaming. More and more players are joining in and staying with Lineage II, making it one of the top MMOs in North America and Europe, as well as in the world."
Lineage II - The Epic Collection is available at North American retailers and at the PlayNC® online store for an estimated street price of US$29.99.
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
i gotta love wow fanbois trowing up numbers without any proves.
Lineage II Continues Global Success
NCsoft today announced Lineage® II, with more than 14 million customers worldwide, has reached 100,000 active players in North America and Europe. The title started as a cult favorite of many massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamers in North America and Europe and continues its success as the premiere player-versus-player (PvP) online role playing game for the elite PvP player.
Lineage II was launched in North America in 2004 as a modest success. The game has since built itself into one of the top MMOs in the western markets, with a 25 percent growth rate in 2006. NCsoft credits the growth of the game to regular updates and free expansions to the product, and delivering features requested by players. Additionally, NCsoft has implemented aggressive policies to eliminate activities like "botting" and "farming" which give some players unfair advantages over legitimate players.
"This is a great franchise that has dominated Asia and now we are seeing very positive growth in North America and Europe," said Robert Garriott, CEO for NCsoft North America. "This game took a little time to find its audience because it is such a rich, tough and complex world. It is not a game for the faint of heart, but we worked to adjust the game to fit our customers and we’re seeing more players view it as the pinnacle of MMO gaming. More and more players are joining in and staying with Lineage II, making it one of the top MMOs in North America and Europe, as well as in the world."
Lineage II - The Epic Collection is available at North American retailers and at the PlayNC® online store for an estimated street price of US$29.99.
Gotta love people who can't be bothered to do real research.
Now look at this chart for Lineage's World wide subscribtion numbers. If you find the source unreliabe, look at NCsoft's latest Financial report, it says the same thing.
Unlike you, I back up my statement with actual numbers.
oh and by the way, I'll point out something interesting:
"his is a great franchise that has dominated Asia"
Hes right Lineage has dominated Asia...BEFORE World of Warcraft took the throne away from Lineage. Notice how he is not saying "This is a great franchise that is dominating Asia".
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.
Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil. So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide? L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west. I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
L2 is 12.5million accounts (including inactive accounts) ever made, WoW is 9million Active subscribers...in the case of china a subscriber is a player who has accessed (paid) the game in the last 30 days. I could of made an L2 account 6 months ago but not played for for 4 months yet I am still counted in L2 numbers.
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.
Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.
Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
You'll have to provide a source for that info.
I find it hard to believe that the game franchise that has been touted as one of the most successfull MMO"s in asia, that being L2, has only 1 mil. subs.
More then 1 mil. people are playing that game in Korea.
The servers that you see when you log in from the US and most of EU aren't the same ones the asian market plays on. They have thier own, and they have a LOT of them.
US and EU don't reperesent the world. I know that some people would like to think they do, but they don't. Between the US and most of EU there would be about a million subs.
I'm not sure were you're getting your info from.
Edit: In fact, the Asian market got most of the updates several months ahead of the US. And when NCsoft looks for feedback, they look toward the Asian market.
Funny thing about the Asian market and L2. Most of the people don't pay for subs.
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.
Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
You'll have to provide a source for that info.
I find it hard to believe that the game franchise that has been touted as one of the most successfull MMO"s in asia, that being L2, has only 1 mil. subs.
More then 1 mil. people are playing that game in Korea.
The servers that you see when you log in from the US and most of EU aren't the same ones the asian market plays on. They have thier own, and they have a LOT of them.
US and EU don't reperesent the world. I know that some people would like to think they do, but they don't. Between the US and most of EU there would be about a million subs.
I'm not sure were you're getting your info from.
Edit: In fact, the Asian market got most of the updates several months ahead of the US. And when NCsoft looks for feedback, they look toward the Asian market.
Other then that, you can read the financial reports of NCsoft, but it might be a bit hard to find nowadays, try the NCsoft website.and only 1 million? There are only 2 other MMO's that ever made it past 1 million subscribers, World of Warcraft and Lineage 1. I believe Lineage 1 peaked at 3 ~ 4 million subscribers? Not sure. Lineage 2 still having this amount of subsribers is amazing, but its pretty small compared to WoW.
You have to keep in mind that The Asian MMO market is currently flooded with MMO's, and NCsoft has A LOT of competition. having "only" 1 million subscribers isn't that surprising.
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.
Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
You'll have to provide a source for that info.
I find it hard to believe that the game franchise that has been touted as one of the most successfull MMO"s in asia, that being L2, has only 1 mil. subs.
More then 1 mil. people are playing that game in Korea.
The servers that you see when you log in from the US and most of EU aren't the same ones the asian market plays on. They have thier own, and they have a LOT of them.
US and EU don't reperesent the world. I know that some people would like to think they do, but they don't. Between the US and most of EU there would be about a million subs.
I'm not sure were you're getting your info from.
Edit: In fact, the Asian market got most of the updates several months ahead of the US. And when NCsoft looks for feedback, they look toward the Asian market.
Other then that, you can read the financial reports of NCsoft, but it might be a bit hard to find nowadays, try the NCsoft website.and only 1 million? There are only 2 other MMO's that ever made it past 1 million subscribers, World of Warcraft and Lineage 1. I believe Lineage 1 peaked at 3 ~ 4 million subscribers? Not sure. Lineage 2 still having this amount of subsribers is amazing, but its pretty small compared to WoW.
You have to keep in mind that The Asian MMO market is currently flooded with MMO's, and NCsoft has A LOT of competition. having "only" 1 million subscribers isn't that surprising.
I don't trust mmogchart.
I was actually looking at NCsofts finacial info, and server activity.
I've spent the last 2 hours hardcore arguing with my girl over some of the pettiest crap ever. Aparently I don't talk about wanting to get married as much as I used to and this is an apocolyptic thing for her. I've been doing this since the moment I walked through the door; after working 9 and a half hours. I'm increadibly pissed off and taking it out in the wrong place.
I'm gonna go take an herbal remedy and try and meditate some pain away.
I apologize. It's a stupid thing to argue over. (and yes I'm admitting that wow has more China subs. possibly.)
I do not think it's fair to the US and EU market that they had to pay for something other get for free just because thier share of the market is larger. And I do feel that a portion of it is strictly PR, and not just for the company.
They didn't get the game free, and it's only fair that if we're expected to pay for it then so should they.
I also don't believe that Blizz isn't making money off the deal.
I wonder were all the discs are made?
It's all about money, and no more true then with the sub rates. How many pay for a month, play for a day, and cancell. Over, and over, and over. I do. Constantly. I do the same thing with cigarettes. It's an addiction, and I think a lot of people can't help but to check in every now and then. I keep paying blizz for something I play about 24 hours a month, and I believe there are a LOT of those people. In fact every person I know does it. The ones in, and the ones out of game.
I think a lot of us keep paying and not really playing, because we hope it will be fun again. These boards are a pretty descent cross section of gamers, and the same sentiments everywhere.
(for the month of March, L2 Korean (33 just in Korea) servers had roughly 500k unique hits, with less then 200k unique accounts.)
Edit: Accourding to a market chart. NCsoft retains a little over 40% of the Asian market. Blizzard is the other large controller; second to NCsoft. Blizzard dominates the US and I think EU markets. If I read it right. I don't believe NCsoft charges for xpacs. I know they don't in L2, the other game I can't seem to totally kick.
Well I think it works like this. I'm not entirely sure, so don't quote me on it.
Blizzard Publishes World of Warcraft in the US and Europe (and ofcourse all other countries connected to those servers). But for China, Blizzard made a deal with The9. The9 basicly "Bought" the game from Blizzard and can do whatever they want with it. Now as you may know, The Burning Crusade has not been released in China for months after the release in other regions. This also includes every patch that has been released since TBC. The reason The9 did not release TBC yet is because they wanted to launch another game, Soul of the Ultimate Nation, a korean MMO from Webzen. So WoW fans got shafted. this is The9's way of trying to make up for it. It doesn't really affect blizzard since blizzard received the money from The9 anyway.
Well I think it works like this. I'm not entirely sure, so don't quote me on it. Blizzard Publishes World of Warcraft in the US and Europe (and ofcourse all other countries connected to those servers). But for China, Blizzard made a deal with The9. The9 basicly "Bought" the game from Blizzard and can do whatever they want with it. Now as you may know, The Burning Crusade has not been released in China for months after the release in other regions. This also includes every patch that has been released since TBC. The reason The9 did not release TBC yet is because they wanted to launch another game, Soul of the Ultimate Nation, a korean MMO from Webzen. So WoW fans got shafted. this is The9's way of trying to make up for it. It doesn't really affect blizzard since blizzard received the money from The9 anyway.
You are sort of right, except that the9 can not do what ever they want with the game. Blizzard made a deal to have them be the publisher and runner of the game in China. They have to clear anything they want to do with the game through Blizzard. It is more similar to a leasing program then a sale.
Overall though it is bs that Blizzard released the expansion as a paid expansion and then allowed another huge region to get it for free. It is bad customer service. It is pretty bad in the first place with the amount of income they have that the Expansion was a paid expansion at all. Many many game companies have released expansions equal to TBC and released them as free expansions. The amount of content and quality of TBC is not as high as you like to say GL. Sure a lot of the easily bought out companies rated TBC very highly. Look at the review on this site though, they are obviously not paid by Blizzard and yet TBC got an average review. PC Gamer and PC Gamer UK both gave the game reviews in the upper 80s as well, which for them is a pretty average review of a big game.
I think it is pretty easy to see that at this point all Blizzard cares about is keeping the status quo and making money off of WoW. They have had complaints for years asking for more solo content and they have the money to create solo content that could lead to equal rewards to raid content. Something similar to a long solo quest line that takes over 100 to 200 hours to complete. Which at the end will give you a full suit of raid gear. That would make the time investment similar to raiders time investment or PVPers time investment and would really do wonders for their "listening to the fan base" stats. Because currently they are out of touch with the majority of their players. According to their own numbers only a small % actually raids and yet that is where most of the content creation is geared at.
Currently playing: LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too: Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
If theres 4 million in China playing WoW.(possibly more) if each played 4 hours a day thats $6 a month (roughly) Thats $288,000,000 yearly income ( before taxes) _______________________________________________
If theres 800,000 in US or Europe playing WoW (possibly less) Paying $15 monthly and $50 each year for a new expansion. Thats $184,000,000 yearly income (before taxes)
________________________________________________
Now you figure out why they give away WoW and expansions for free in china.
EDIT FOR FUZZY MATH
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.
Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
so where is the source that says l2 only have one million accounts.
Just adding some info I found,since at one point people mention WoW bieng F2p in China.
"World of Warcraft is priced differently in different regions of the world. Usually, the pricing model is similar to that of MMORPGs previously released in the market.
In the United States and Canada, Blizzard distributes World of Warcraft via retail software packages that originally had a suggested retail price of US$50 at the time of release, but have since dropped to around $20. The software package includes 30 days of gameplay (worth $15) for no additional cost. After 30 days in order to continue playing additional play time must be purchased using a credit card or prepaid game card. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase is 30 days using a credit card, 60 using a prepaid game card. A player also has the option of purchasing three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight (6% to 15%) discount. A player pays about US$0.50 for one day of gameplay.[17]
In South Korea, there is no software package or CD key requirement to activate the account. In order to play the game, however, players need to purchase time credits online via credit card or the ARS billing system. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase via credit card is five hours. A player may also purchase game time by thirty hours or by increments of one week. A player also has the option of purchasing game time by one, three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight discount.[18] As of December 172006, 30 days of gameplay costs ?19,800 (US$21.46).
In China, because a large number of the players do not own the computer they use to play games (e.g. Internet cafes), the CD keys can be purchased independently of the software package. The CD key, which is required to activate an account, is sold for ¥30 (US$3.75) each. The software packages vary in price depending on the items they contain. In order to play the game, the player would need to purchase prepaid game cards in denominations of ¥30 each that can be played for 66 hours and 40 minutes.[19] This equates to exactly ¥0.45 (US$0.06) for one hour of gameplay. A monthly fee model is not available to players of this region.
In Australia, the United States and many European countries video game stores commonly stock the trial version of World of Warcraft in DVD form priced at A$2 or €2 including VAT, which include the game and 14 days of gameplay, after which the player would have to upgrade to a retail account by supplying a valid credit card, or purchasing a game card.
Just adding some info I found,since at one point people mention WoW bieng F2p in China. "World of Warcraft is priced differently in different regions of the world. Usually, the pricing model is similar to that of MMORPGs previously released in the market. In the United States and Canada, Blizzard distributes World of Warcraft via retail software packages that originally had a suggested retail price of US$50 at the time of release, but have since dropped to around $20. The software package includes 30 days of gameplay (worth $15) for no additional cost. After 30 days in order to continue playing additional play time must be purchased using a credit card or prepaid game card. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase is 30 days using a credit card, 60 using a prepaid game card. A player also has the option of purchasing three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight (6% to 15%) discount. A player pays about US$0.50 for one day of gameplay.[17] In South Korea, there is no software package or CD key requirement to activate the account. In order to play the game, however, players need to purchase time credits online via credit card or the ARS billing system. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase via credit card is five hours. A player may also purchase game time by thirty hours or by increments of one week. A player also has the option of purchasing game time by one, three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight discount.[18] As of December 172006, 30 days of gameplay costs ?19,800 (US$21.46). In China, because a large number of the players do not own the computer they use to play games (e.g. Internet cafes), the CD keys can be purchased independently of the software package. The CD key, which is required to activate an account, is sold for ¥30 (US$3.75) each. The software packages vary in price depending on the items they contain. In order to play the game, the player would need to purchase prepaid game cards in denominations of ¥30 each that can be played for 66 hours and 40 minutes.[19] This equates to exactly ¥0.45 (US$0.06) for one hour of gameplay. A monthly fee model is not available to players of this region. In Australia, the United States and many European countries video game stores commonly stock the trial version of World of Warcraft in DVD form priced at A$2 or €2 including VAT, which include the game and 14 days of gameplay, after which the player would have to upgrade to a retail account by supplying a valid credit card, or purchasing a game card. http://www.answers.com/topic/world-of-warcraft?cat=entertainment "
like i said before with this system its easy to have 9 mill subscribers, we can't compare WOW numbers with other games since in china where they have more subscribers the game is almost free.
'Lineage 2 reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years'
NCsoft celebrates Lineage II’s second anniversary with new game-time package, in-game events
Lineage II, which recently released Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny™, one of the largest free MMO expansions ever, continues to grow a very loyal and long-term playing customer base in North America. Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the most dominant titles in the MMO market, having reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years, and continues to grow as NCsoft takes the game into additional territories.
“This has been a terrific two-year run for Lineage II as we have seen the game find a strong audience in North America and Europe,” said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. “Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the giants and will continue to be so as NCsoft successfully establishes the game in new markets such as China, Japan and Thailand. Lineage II has been a great success story for everyone at NCsoft.”
Lineage II provides players a deep, rich environment where the elite PvP gamers gather to take on the challenges that the world of Lineage IIdelivers. Since the launch of the game, NCsoft has added more than 2.3 gigabytes of new content with massive updates delivered regularly for free to its active subscribers. "
And here is some info on the L2. "Quote 'Lineage 2 reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years'
NCsoft celebrates Lineage II’s second anniversary with new game-time package, in-game events
Lineage II, which recently released Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny™, one of the largest free MMO expansions ever, continues to grow a very loyal and long-term playing customer base in North America. Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the most dominant titles in the MMO market, having reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years, and continues to grow as NCsoft takes the game into additional territories.
“This has been a terrific two-year run for Lineage II as we have seen the game find a strong audience in North America and Europe,” said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. “Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the giants and will continue to be so as NCsoft successfully establishes the game in new markets such as China, Japan and Thailand. Lineage II has been a great success story for everyone at NCsoft.”
Lineage II provides players a deep, rich environment where the elite PvP gamers gather to take on the challenges that the world of Lineage IIdelivers. Since the launch of the game, NCsoft has added more than 2.3 gigabytes of new content with massive updates delivered regularly for free to its active subscribers. "
And here is some info on the L2. "Quote 'Lineage 2 reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years'
NCsoft celebrates Lineage II’s second anniversary with new game-time package, in-game events
Lineage II, which recently released Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny™, one of the largest free MMO expansions ever, continues to grow a very loyal and long-term playing customer base in North America. Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the most dominant titles in the MMO market, having reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years, and continues to grow as NCsoft takes the game into additional territories.
“This has been a terrific two-year run for Lineage II as we have seen the game find a strong audience in North America and Europe,” said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. “Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the giants and will continue to be so as NCsoft successfully establishes the game in new markets such as China, Japan and Thailand. Lineage II has been a great success story for everyone at NCsoft.”
Lineage II provides players a deep, rich environment where the elite PvP gamers gather to take on the challenges that the world of Lineage IIdelivers. Since the launch of the game, NCsoft has added more than 2.3 gigabytes of new content with massive updates delivered regularly for free to its active subscribers. "
Customers are not subscribers.
so they are what? i don't consider chinese wow players subscribers as well.
Comments
I think I'll look and see.
Wish Darkfall would release.
Oh there were several posts about it... they were all deleted. Do you really think they would leave posts about this. With a new expansion on the way... They want to sell product and this would certainly impact it. No Blizzard will do everything they can to cover this up without comment.
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
They might get it free (for a huge amount of money paid to blizzard from The9 no doubt) but they had to wait 8 months.
Western and Asia MMO markets are very different ...to get the Asia market to buy the original game and pay a type of subscription was a huge feat in its-self, Asian players expect free expansions unlike the western market where expansion are almost always sold (unless it a game struggling for subs such as EQ2 or DDO), if you want free expansions go live in china its that simple, but you need to wait much much longer to get them.
No the immediate response from Camp: Fanboy is that Burning Crusade broke sales records, and despite being released over 6 months ago is still the number one selling PC game in the United Kingdom. Oh yeah, big flop there, outselling everything else after all this time? I bet Blizzard are about to go bankrupt.
The only truthful thing you said in your post is that you don't like WoW.
Like all of you, most of the stuff you guys are posting is so false it's pathetic. I'll let you get on with hating the game now, don't want to spoil your fun with reality :0
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
even with WoW got like 6mil plus asian sub, its still not on the top of the mmo list. Some other game has like 15mil sub in China. So for Blizzard its more about sub bragging right nothing more.
Even if they only get $2 a sub in china that is a lot of cash to say does not matter
So which side is right?
The issue is blizzard is doing something very questionable. While it may not be illegal it certainly calls into question their integrity. Now what you have to ask yourself is do you lack the integrity to realize what they are doing is wrong. Do you?
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
I agrre this is rly stupid. Blizzard basically forces u to buy an expansion when u r 60, which means literally everybody playing has to waste 40$ unless u just wanna b lame and stay 60... If they could sell the expansion to 4 million ppl in china they would make a load of cash, so y dont they just do that...
hi
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
i gotta love wow fanbois trowing up numbers without any proves.
NCsoft today announced Lineage® II, with more than 14 million customers worldwide, has reached 100,000 active players in North America and Europe. The title started as a cult favorite of many massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamers in North America and Europe and continues its success as the premiere player-versus-player (PvP) online role playing game for the elite PvP player.
Lineage II was launched in North America in 2004 as a modest success. The game has since built itself into one of the top MMOs in the western markets, with a 25 percent growth rate in 2006. NCsoft credits the growth of the game to regular updates and free expansions to the product, and delivering features requested by players. Additionally, NCsoft has implemented aggressive policies to eliminate activities like "botting" and "farming" which give some players unfair advantages over legitimate players.
"This is a great franchise that has dominated Asia and now we are seeing very positive growth in North America and Europe," said Robert Garriott, CEO for NCsoft North America. "This game took a little time to find its audience because it is such a rich, tough and complex world. It is not a game for the faint of heart, but we worked to adjust the game to fit our customers and we’re seeing more players view it as the pinnacle of MMO gaming. More and more players are joining in and staying with Lineage II, making it one of the top MMOs in North America and Europe, as well as in the world."
Lineage II - The Epic Collection is available at North American retailers and at the PlayNC® online store for an estimated street price of US$29.99.
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
i gotta love wow fanbois trowing up numbers without any proves.
NCsoft today announced Lineage® II, with more than 14 million customers worldwide, has reached 100,000 active players in North America and Europe. The title started as a cult favorite of many massively multiplayer online (MMO) gamers in North America and Europe and continues its success as the premiere player-versus-player (PvP) online role playing game for the elite PvP player.
Lineage II was launched in North America in 2004 as a modest success. The game has since built itself into one of the top MMOs in the western markets, with a 25 percent growth rate in 2006. NCsoft credits the growth of the game to regular updates and free expansions to the product, and delivering features requested by players. Additionally, NCsoft has implemented aggressive policies to eliminate activities like "botting" and "farming" which give some players unfair advantages over legitimate players.
"This is a great franchise that has dominated Asia and now we are seeing very positive growth in North America and Europe," said Robert Garriott, CEO for NCsoft North America. "This game took a little time to find its audience because it is such a rich, tough and complex world. It is not a game for the faint of heart, but we worked to adjust the game to fit our customers and we’re seeing more players view it as the pinnacle of MMO gaming. More and more players are joining in and staying with Lineage II, making it one of the top MMOs in North America and Europe, as well as in the world."
Lineage II - The Epic Collection is available at North American retailers and at the PlayNC® online store for an estimated street price of US$29.99.
Gotta love people who can't be bothered to do real research.
http://www.blizzard.com/press/070111.shtml
"and more than 3.5 million players in China."
www.mmogchart.com
Now look at this chart for Lineage's World wide subscribtion numbers. If you find the source unreliabe, look at NCsoft's latest Financial report, it says the same thing.
Unlike you, I back up my statement with actual numbers.
oh and by the way, I'll point out something interesting:
"his is a great franchise that has dominated Asia"
Hes right Lineage has dominated Asia...BEFORE World of Warcraft took the throne away from Lineage. Notice how he is not saying "This is a great franchise that is dominating Asia".
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Wish Darkfall would release.
L2 is 12.5million accounts (including inactive accounts) ever made, WoW is 9million Active subscribers...in the case of china a subscriber is a player who has accessed (paid) the game in the last 30 days. I could of made an L2 account 6 months ago but not played for for 4 months yet I am still counted in L2 numbers.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
You'll have to provide a source for that info.
I find it hard to believe that the game franchise that has been touted as one of the most successfull MMO"s in asia, that being L2, has only 1 mil. subs.
More then 1 mil. people are playing that game in Korea.
The servers that you see when you log in from the US and most of EU aren't the same ones the asian market plays on. They have thier own, and they have a LOT of them.
US and EU don't reperesent the world. I know that some people would like to think they do, but they don't. Between the US and most of EU there would be about a million subs.
I'm not sure were you're getting your info from.
Edit: In fact, the Asian market got most of the updates several months ahead of the US. And when NCsoft looks for feedback, they look toward the Asian market.
Funny thing about the Asian market and L2. Most of the people don't pay for subs.
Wish Darkfall would release.
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
You'll have to provide a source for that info.
I find it hard to believe that the game franchise that has been touted as one of the most successfull MMO"s in asia, that being L2, has only 1 mil. subs.
More then 1 mil. people are playing that game in Korea.
The servers that you see when you log in from the US and most of EU aren't the same ones the asian market plays on. They have thier own, and they have a LOT of them.
US and EU don't reperesent the world. I know that some people would like to think they do, but they don't. Between the US and most of EU there would be about a million subs.
I'm not sure were you're getting your info from.
Edit: In fact, the Asian market got most of the updates several months ahead of the US. And when NCsoft looks for feedback, they look toward the Asian market.
There are different sources,for one:
http://www.mmogchart.com/
Other then that, you can read the financial reports of NCsoft, but it might be a bit hard to find nowadays, try the NCsoft website.and only 1 million? There are only 2 other MMO's that ever made it past 1 million subscribers, World of Warcraft and Lineage 1. I believe Lineage 1 peaked at 3 ~ 4 million subscribers? Not sure. Lineage 2 still having this amount of subsribers is amazing, but its pretty small compared to WoW.
You have to keep in mind that The Asian MMO market is currently flooded with MMO's, and NCsoft has A LOT of competition. having "only" 1 million subscribers isn't that surprising.
Because it was crap and they might be worried that the Chinese playerbase might not like having to pay for it, and turn around quit.I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
You'll have to provide a source for that info.
I find it hard to believe that the game franchise that has been touted as one of the most successfull MMO"s in asia, that being L2, has only 1 mil. subs.
More then 1 mil. people are playing that game in Korea.
The servers that you see when you log in from the US and most of EU aren't the same ones the asian market plays on. They have thier own, and they have a LOT of them.
US and EU don't reperesent the world. I know that some people would like to think they do, but they don't. Between the US and most of EU there would be about a million subs.
I'm not sure were you're getting your info from.
Edit: In fact, the Asian market got most of the updates several months ahead of the US. And when NCsoft looks for feedback, they look toward the Asian market.
There are different sources,for one:
http://www.mmogchart.com/
Other then that, you can read the financial reports of NCsoft, but it might be a bit hard to find nowadays, try the NCsoft website.and only 1 million? There are only 2 other MMO's that ever made it past 1 million subscribers, World of Warcraft and Lineage 1. I believe Lineage 1 peaked at 3 ~ 4 million subscribers? Not sure. Lineage 2 still having this amount of subsribers is amazing, but its pretty small compared to WoW.
You have to keep in mind that The Asian MMO market is currently flooded with MMO's, and NCsoft has A LOT of competition. having "only" 1 million subscribers isn't that surprising.
I don't trust mmogchart.
I was actually looking at NCsofts finacial info, and server activity.
I've spent the last 2 hours hardcore arguing with my girl over some of the pettiest crap ever. Aparently I don't talk about wanting to get married as much as I used to and this is an apocolyptic thing for her. I've been doing this since the moment I walked through the door; after working 9 and a half hours. I'm increadibly pissed off and taking it out in the wrong place.
I'm gonna go take an herbal remedy and try and meditate some pain away.
I apologize. It's a stupid thing to argue over. (and yes I'm admitting that wow has more China subs. possibly.)
I do not think it's fair to the US and EU market that they had to pay for something other get for free just because thier share of the market is larger. And I do feel that a portion of it is strictly PR, and not just for the company.
They didn't get the game free, and it's only fair that if we're expected to pay for it then so should they.
I also don't believe that Blizz isn't making money off the deal.
I wonder were all the discs are made?
It's all about money, and no more true then with the sub rates. How many pay for a month, play for a day, and cancell. Over, and over, and over. I do. Constantly. I do the same thing with cigarettes. It's an addiction, and I think a lot of people can't help but to check in every now and then. I keep paying blizz for something I play about 24 hours a month, and I believe there are a LOT of those people. In fact every person I know does it. The ones in, and the ones out of game.
I think a lot of us keep paying and not really playing, because we hope it will be fun again. These boards are a pretty descent cross section of gamers, and the same sentiments everywhere.
(for the month of March, L2 Korean (33 just in Korea) servers had roughly 500k unique hits, with less then 200k unique accounts.)
Edit: Accourding to a market chart. NCsoft retains a little over 40% of the Asian market. Blizzard is the other large controller; second to NCsoft. Blizzard dominates the US and I think EU markets. If I read it right. I don't believe NCsoft charges for xpacs. I know they don't in L2, the other game I can't seem to totally kick.
Wish Darkfall would release.
Well I think it works like this. I'm not entirely sure, so don't quote me on it.
Blizzard Publishes World of Warcraft in the US and Europe (and ofcourse all other countries connected to those servers). But for China, Blizzard made a deal with The9. The9 basicly "Bought" the game from Blizzard and can do whatever they want with it. Now as you may know, The Burning Crusade has not been released in China for months after the release in other regions. This also includes every patch that has been released since TBC. The reason The9 did not release TBC yet is because they wanted to launch another game, Soul of the Ultimate Nation, a korean MMO from Webzen. So WoW fans got shafted. this is The9's way of trying to make up for it. It doesn't really affect blizzard since blizzard received the money from The9 anyway.
i dont know how true this is but if it is man thats a load of bs..
Overall though it is bs that Blizzard released the expansion as a paid expansion and then allowed another huge region to get it for free. It is bad customer service. It is pretty bad in the first place with the amount of income they have that the Expansion was a paid expansion at all. Many many game companies have released expansions equal to TBC and released them as free expansions. The amount of content and quality of TBC is not as high as you like to say GL. Sure a lot of the easily bought out companies rated TBC very highly. Look at the review on this site though, they are obviously not paid by Blizzard and yet TBC got an average review. PC Gamer and PC Gamer UK both gave the game reviews in the upper 80s as well, which for them is a pretty average review of a big game.
I think it is pretty easy to see that at this point all Blizzard cares about is keeping the status quo and making money off of WoW. They have had complaints for years asking for more solo content and they have the money to create solo content that could lead to equal rewards to raid content. Something similar to a long solo quest line that takes over 100 to 200 hours to complete. Which at the end will give you a full suit of raid gear. That would make the time investment similar to raiders time investment or PVPers time investment and would really do wonders for their "listening to the fan base" stats. Because currently they are out of touch with the majority of their players. According to their own numbers only a small % actually raids and yet that is where most of the content creation is geared at.
Currently playing:
LOTRO & WoW (not much WoW though because Mines of Moria rocks!!!!)
Looking Foward too:
Bioware games (Dragon Age & Star Wars The Old Republic)
I'm sure it would be a big hit to Blizz's purse if a good chunk of the Chinese quit over a lack luster Xpac.
Because you know, more of them are playing L2 then WoW, and they don't have to pay for the updates in that game. Most of wich blow TBC out of the water as far as new content goes.
Was I close?
No, you were not even close.
1: The expansion pack was not crap. It sold a lot of copies and received very high reviews.
2: Your statement about L2 is incorrect. World of Warcraft has more subscribers in China then Lineage 2 has world wide. World wide, Lineage 2 has around 1 million subscribers, WoW has over 3 million subscribers in Asia alone.
Also, I have played L2 for quite a while, and none of the expansions L2 released come even close to the Burning Crusades content
Now anybody who thinks the reason that the Burning Crusade is given away for free because blizzard isn't confident in its quality, I strongly suggest a reality check.
- In China and Korea, Extra content always come for free. There is no such thing as an "Expansion pack" in Chinese and korean games which ruled the MMO scene in Asia for years.
- The9, the chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, pushed back the release date of the Burning Crusade in favor of the release of Webzen's Sould of the Ultimata Nation AKA SUN. This angered a lot of World of Warcraft players. This is a good way for the9 to say "Sorry".
Now in response to some of the comments in this post.
"...TBC was a flop..."
Maybe in your alternative reality science fiction story The Burning Crusade was a flop, but in reality, the Burning Crusade is a huge success. The game received very high scores from critics, its currently at 90% on gamerankings.com
The Burning Crusade broke sale records on launch day, selling 2,7 million copies on the first day of release alone. After release of the Burning Crusade, the subscriber base reached the 9 million active subscribers milepoint. oh, and for the poorly informed person who climed the BC release in Asia is the reason for the 9 million mark: Blizzard already reached 9 million subscribers BEFORE the BC was released in china.
if you think The Burning Crusade is a flop, then you're just being ignorant.
"... The Burning Crusade was a crap expansion"
No it wasn't. As pointed out above, it received high scores from critics.
Just compare the burning crusade to any Everquest or Final Fantasy XI expansion, and you'll notice that The Burning Crusade has a lot more content.
I'm sorry.Last I recalled 12.5 million is a larger number then 9 mil.
So if L2 has 12.5 mil. worldwide, how can WoW have more subs in China then L2 worldwide?
L2 is the largest MMO on the market. It's the biggest game in the Asian market, and that's were the magority of it's subs come from. It's just not a big game in the west.
I don't care how other people rate anything. When I pick up something and try it I formulate an opinion on my own. When I talk to the people around me and they all say the same thing I say then something must be up.
Thats accounts created, not active subscribers. as I pointed out above, Lineage 2 has around 1 million active subscribers world wide.
so where is the source that says l2 only have one million accounts.
Just adding some info I found,since at one point people mention WoW bieng F2p in China.
"World of Warcraft is priced differently in different regions of the world. Usually, the pricing model is similar to that of MMORPGs previously released in the market.
In the United States and Canada, Blizzard distributes World of Warcraft via retail software packages that originally had a suggested retail price of US$50 at the time of release, but have since dropped to around $20. The software package includes 30 days of gameplay (worth $15) for no additional cost. After 30 days in order to continue playing additional play time must be purchased using a credit card or prepaid game card. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase is 30 days using a credit card, 60 using a prepaid game card. A player also has the option of purchasing three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight (6% to 15%) discount. A player pays about US$0.50 for one day of gameplay.[17]
In South Korea, there is no software package or CD key requirement to activate the account. In order to play the game, however, players need to purchase time credits online via credit card or the ARS billing system. The minimum gameplay duration that a player can purchase via credit card is five hours. A player may also purchase game time by thirty hours or by increments of one week. A player also has the option of purchasing game time by one, three or six months of gameplay at once for a slight discount.[18] As of December 17 2006, 30 days of gameplay costs ?19,800 (US$21.46).
In China, because a large number of the players do not own the computer they use to play games (e.g. Internet cafes), the CD keys can be purchased independently of the software package. The CD key, which is required to activate an account, is sold for ¥30 (US$3.75) each. The software packages vary in price depending on the items they contain. In order to play the game, the player would need to purchase prepaid game cards in denominations of ¥30 each that can be played for 66 hours and 40 minutes.[19] This equates to exactly ¥0.45 (US$0.06) for one hour of gameplay. A monthly fee model is not available to players of this region.
In Australia, the United States and many European countries video game stores commonly stock the trial version of World of Warcraft in DVD form priced at A$2 or €2 including VAT, which include the game and 14 days of gameplay, after which the player would have to upgrade to a retail account by supplying a valid credit card, or purchasing a game card.
http://www.answers.com/topic/world-of-warcraft?cat=entertainment "
like i said before with this system its easy to have 9 mill subscribers, we can't compare WOW numbers with other games since in china where they have more subscribers the game is almost free.
And here is some info on the L2.
NCsoft celebrates Lineage II’s second anniversary with new game-time package, in-game events
Lineage II, which recently released Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny™, one of the largest free MMO expansions ever, continues to grow a very loyal and long-term playing customer base in North America. Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the most dominant titles in the MMO market, having reached more than 14-million customers in just over two years, and continues to grow as NCsoft takes the game into additional territories.
“This has been a terrific two-year run for Lineage II as we have seen the game find a strong audience in North America and Europe,” said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft North America. “Worldwide, Lineage II is one of the giants and will continue to be so as NCsoft successfully establishes the game in new markets such as China, Japan and Thailand. Lineage II has been a great success story for everyone at NCsoft.”
Lineage II provides players a deep, rich environment where the elite PvP gamers gather to take on the challenges that the world of Lineage IIdelivers. Since the launch of the game, NCsoft has added more than 2.3 gigabytes of new content with massive updates delivered regularly for free to its active subscribers. "
Customers are not subscribers.
Customers are not subscribers.
so they are what? i don't consider chinese wow players subscribers as well.