To bad the game world is designed in such a way that even with all these subscribers half the servers feel empty.
Whatever MMO they are making, I hope that unlike WoW the player base is encouraged to run into people more, go to old areas etc even if it is to just pass through. Would improve the community a lot, and make the servers not seem so empty even at peak times when most likely they are full to the brink. More social interaction basically.
Anyway, I wish these guys would stop bragging about their damn subscribers it just incourages more people to make WoW clones in a vain attempt to get similer numbers which will never happen. They have a strong fan base in Asia with Warcraft and Star craft I have not heard of a company who has a similer following.
Missread it, thought that was sold copies or something. None the less, I am surprised this EQ clone that gobbles other peoples ideas like a giant blob is still doing this well in the west.
This shows that executing well and polish is worth a LOT more than just new ideas.
Thats what makes me cry, and has made me lose hope in MMo's.
LOL. I love it whenever a new theory is introduced to explain WoW's success.
First it was that they count all subs, not just active ones (even though the game continues to be the number 1 best selling PC game for the last 3 years running). Blizzard counters with a statement of what exactly there subscription numbers are composed of.
Then it was that all the new growth was in Asia (you know because they gave away BC for free there). Blizzard counters with a statement that approximately 4.5m are from US & EU and 5.5m from Asia.
Now it's that all the new growth is MMO newbies (cuz they just don't know any better) and they have monumental turnover. Well at least this theory tries to explain the number 1 best selling PC game for the last 3 years running part. Check, you're move Blizzard.
Now it's that all the new growth is MMO newbies (cuz they just don't know any better) and they have monumental turnover. Well at least this theory tries to explain the number 1 best selling PC game for the last 3 years running part. Check, you're move Blizzard.
It does have a very high turn over rate for an MMo. One reason they have issues with keeping servers balanced with people. I gotta say their success is great for the industry as long as people don't try and copy this pos game play/graphics system. Gives them money to work on real projects like Starcraft 2 which I know all my buddies are looking forward too. Though if they would have had this success up front they may not of canceled SC Ghost =(
None the less turn over exists in any MMo, and WoW has a very high one simply due to the numbers. Now newbie influx does count for a large amount of accounts as people want to know what all the hub bub is about, but thats not all the numbers.
Missread it, thought that was sold copies or something. None the less, I am surprised this EQ clone that gobbles other peoples ideas like a giant blob is still doing this well in the west.
This shows that executing well and polish is worth a LOT more than just new ideas.
Thats what makes me cry, and has made me lose hope in MMo's.
Dark and Light, Vanguard and especially Auto Assault all had new ideas but look where they are now.
New ideas count for nothing if the game is crap.
Blizzard kept it simple and made WoW fun and easy to access and it paid off.
Oddly, I highly doubt this will end the "WoW is dying" threads.
Dark and Light, Vanguard and especially Auto Assault all had new ideas but look where they are now.
New ideas count for nothing if the game is crap. Blizzard kept it simple and made WoW fun and easy to access and it paid off. Oddly, I highly doubt this will end the "WoW is dying" threads.
Playing a game you're not having fun in and paying for it would be very stupid imo.
Nevertheless some people here think that's the path to true inovation. I doubt you can hate something into other people liking it.
Btw, I agree with you X, this just reminds me of some realy daft stuff you can read here.
Missread it, thought that was sold copies or something. None the less, I am surprised this EQ clone that gobbles other peoples ideas like a giant blob is still doing this well in the west.
This shows that executing well and polish is worth a LOT more than just new ideas.
Thats what makes me cry, and has made me lose hope in MMo's.
If you don't like it, you certainly don't have to play MMORPGs. There are plenty of other good entertainment. Personally, I think new ideas are way over rated. Put a few smart university grads in a room for an afternoon and you will have more ideas than you can implement in 10 years.
What counts is executing ideas and attention to details. That is the thankless hard work but makes a product polish and easy to use.
It is fairly obvious that people do not want radically new things. Just look at how Madden Football has sold year after year. People want something that are comfortable with and incremental improvement.
Even if you hate WoW, you can see this as good news. That's 10 million players, or 4.5 million Western Players that are potential customers for a GOOD MMO - if someone finally makes one.
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
And best of all we get a break down of subs, 4.5million in the west and 5.5 in china (asia)
A year ago in January 2007 http://www.blizzard.com/press/070111.shtml the West figures were 3.5 million ACTIVE subscribers.. thats an increase of 1 million in 12months.
Hate WoW/Blizzard all you like but thats impressive.
Please read the following before trolling:
World of Warcraft's Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.
I signed up 2 more accounts on monday night so I could run 4 accounts at once, maybe I'm number 10,000,000. I must say though knowing that I helped makes me kind of ill and makes me wish I wouldv'e never started playing again.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You? if I were to kill a titan tomorrow and no CCP employees showed up to say grats I would petition it. Waiting for: the next MMO that lets me make this macro if hp < 30 then CastSpell("heal") SpellTargetUnit("player") else CastSpell("smite") end
Congratulations Blizzard on the huge amount of money per month you generate. In all seriousness how many of these "10 Million Accounts" aren't duplicates from countries that have a limit on how long you may play World of Warcraft in a day.
Anyways, $15.00 x 100 000 00 = $150 000 000 monthly - server costs (I estimate $500 000 00 is profit) they're still making a huge amount of money each month most of which is probably not going back into the game but back into future games.
I sense another Ever Quest with a bijillion expansions until the game is milked dry.
Commence Flaming.
Sincerely, 3L1TE "I am in no way a Blizzard Fan Boy, Hater, Discriminator but I don't support a lot of what Blizzard has done to World of Warcraft"
Congratulations Blizzard on the huge amount of money per month you generate. In all seriousness how many of these "10 Million Accounts" aren't duplicates from countries that have a limit on how long you may play World of Warcraft in a day
At least the 4.5M accounts in the US and Europe and all the people who don't want to play more than 3 hours a day. So about half, at least.
So the other half is the rest of the world, *Cough* Asia has 4.5 Million I wouldn't be surprised how many accounts are duplicates .
Anyways World of Warcraft will continue to be successful because Blizzard has this business model that is basically geared towards keeping Casual and Hardcore gamers busy enough to realize that there are hundreds of alternatives to World of Warcraft. Take Planetside for example, that game is an MMOFPS and was one of the first MMOFPS yet its being ignored because its Sci-Fi not Fantasy.
Basically what I see is another generation of people who love Fantasy rather than the numerous other genres in games.
I could be wrong though this game could suffer when Guildwars 2 (one of the bigger MMO games that is competing with World of Warcraft) comes out.
Anyways good job Blizzard tell us how many of those 10 million subscriptions are currently banned. Remember someone who pays a year in advance and then cheats on the game or does something to get banned is still a "Subscriber". Another fact I would love to see is how old the Population of World of Warcraft is I have a feeling the average age is 15 - 19 and 12 - 14 rounding out the next age group.
So the other half is the rest of the world, *Cough* Asia has 4.5 Million I wouldn't be surprised how many accounts are duplicates . Anyways World of Warcraft will continue to be successful because Blizzard has this business model that is basically geared towards keeping Casual and Hardcore gamers busy enough to realize that there are hundreds of alternatives to World of Warcraft. Take Planetside for example, that game is an MMOFPS and was one of the first MMOFPS yet its being ignored because its Sci-Fi not Fantasy. Basically what I see is another generation of people who love Fantasy rather than the numerous other genres in games. I could be wrong though this game could suffer when Guildwars 2 (one of the bigger MMO games that is competing with World of Warcraft) comes out. Anyways good job Blizzard tell us how many of those 10 million subscriptions are currently banned. Remember someone who pays a year in advance and then cheats on the game or does something to get banned is still a "Subscriber". Another fact I would love to see is how old the Population of World of Warcraft is I have a feeling the average age is 15 - 19 and 12 - 14 rounding out the next age group. Note to self: Don't Trust Video Game Companies.
Note to self, people like to dig up numbers from thin air....
It is your own free choice to believe whatever you want to believe but blizzard's age rounding is possible alot higher than you would imagine, WoW has both oldies as it has youngsters, and an elitism attitude doesn't grant you a higher seat in the room.
however the WoW sales are somehow strangely always kinda high at the charts, i suppose many young people do find thier way to WoW at an early age, either through elder brothers/sisters in thier family or friends i would guess.
However elder people show themselves to be just as immature as a child nowadays and we see it often, we do however in our age call it , being stubborn, since being childish is mostly the same thing, not being able to go on a compromise to solve a conflict because of either your pride or your desire to have your way.
Anyways World of Warcraft will continue to be successful because Blizzard has this business model that is basically geared towards keeping Casual and Hardcore gamers busy enough to realize that there are hundreds of alternatives to World of Warcraft. Take Planetside for example, that game is an MMOFPS and was one of the first MMOFPS yet its being ignored because its Sci-Fi not Fantasy. Anyways good job Blizzard tell us how many of those 10 million subscriptions are currently banned.
I tried Planetside. It was horrible. That's why I'm ignoring it. Has nothing to do with it being Sci-Fi. I love Sci-fi. E&B is my 2nd favorite MMO and City of Heroes is my 3rd favorite so I feel I'm pretty open to the type of MMO. You're making assumptions about why people don't like a particular game without any basis for that assumption.
A banned account would not be counted unless the subscription is still being paid. I can't imagine that there's too many banned accounts where the subscription is still being paid.
So the other half is the rest of the world, *Cough* Asia has 4.5 Million I wouldn't be surprised how many accounts are duplicates . Anyways World of Warcraft will continue to be successful because Blizzard has this business model that is basically geared towards keeping Casual and Hardcore gamers busy enough to realize that there are hundreds of alternatives to World of Warcraft. Take Planetside for example, that game is an MMOFPS and was one of the first MMOFPS yet its being ignored because its Sci-Fi not Fantasy. Basically what I see is another generation of people who love Fantasy rather than the numerous other genres in games. I could be wrong though this game could suffer when Guildwars 2 (one of the bigger MMO games that is competing with World of Warcraft) comes out. Anyways good job Blizzard tell us how many of those 10 million subscriptions are currently banned. Remember someone who pays a year in advance and then cheats on the game or does something to get banned is still a "Subscriber". Another fact I would love to see is how old the Population of World of Warcraft is I have a feeling the average age is 15 - 19 and 12 - 14 rounding out the next age group. Note to self: Don't Trust Video Game Companies.
I realy cannot believe ppl still dont read the whole press release and importanly blizzard subscriber definition, unlike every other MMO they clearly state who a subcriber is... NUMBERS DO NOT INCLUDED BANNED ACCOUNTS.
Also maybe play WoW and find out the whole age thing.. I just got offline from a ZA raid (loving that place right now its gone midnight here in the UK 1am in france etc. 29 of my 67 guild mates were still online do you think they are 14 years old.. no they are ages 20-30... yes there are teens and pre-teens playing but not after the watersheed.. they are tucked up in bed and yet the World is still heaving with players. 1million more players (in the west) than last year BTW. =D
Grats Blizzard/Vivendi, Wow is a fun game and its worth the money .
I hope it keeps evolving with the same quality as the last expansion (BC).
Someone wrote about other coming mmropgs for the future, unfortunatly I believe we wont see a true revolutionary mmropg with quality untill the next 4- 5 years. So lets hope WoW keeps delivering
I enjoy WoW..always have, it easy to get into, doesn’t require a huge investment to have fun with, and gives the player a lot to do.
However I loathe the average wow player which is your whte-bred spoiled suburbanite with a sub 84 IQ who that thinks he is entitled and special. Blizzard fosters that attitude anyone that doubts this need only look at the sewer known as the WoW General Forum. Blizzard will never change it's do what you will community policy and I will never play WoW again for that reason.
Comments
To bad the game world is designed in such a way that even with all these subscribers half the servers feel empty.
Whatever MMO they are making, I hope that unlike WoW the player base is encouraged to run into people more, go to old areas etc even if it is to just pass through. Would improve the community a lot, and make the servers not seem so empty even at peak times when most likely they are full to the brink. More social interaction basically.
Anyway, I wish these guys would stop bragging about their damn subscribers it just incourages more people to make WoW clones in a vain attempt to get similer numbers which will never happen. They have a strong fan base in Asia with Warcraft and Star craft I have not heard of a company who has a similer following.
This shows that executing well and polish is worth a LOT more than just new ideas.
Thats what makes me cry, and has made me lose hope in MMo's.
LOL. I love it whenever a new theory is introduced to explain WoW's success.
First it was that they count all subs, not just active ones (even though the game continues to be the number 1 best selling PC game for the last 3 years running). Blizzard counters with a statement of what exactly there subscription numbers are composed of.
Then it was that all the new growth was in Asia (you know because they gave away BC for free there). Blizzard counters with a statement that approximately 4.5m are from US & EU and 5.5m from Asia.
Now it's that all the new growth is MMO newbies (cuz they just don't know any better) and they have monumental turnover. Well at least this theory tries to explain the number 1 best selling PC game for the last 3 years running part. Check, you're move Blizzard.
<modedit>
It does have a very high turn over rate for an MMo. One reason they have issues with keeping servers balanced with people. I gotta say their success is great for the industry as long as people don't try and copy this pos game play/graphics system. Gives them money to work on real projects like Starcraft 2 which I know all my buddies are looking forward too. Though if they would have had this success up front they may not of canceled SC Ghost =(
None the less turn over exists in any MMo, and WoW has a very high one simply due to the numbers. Now newbie influx does count for a large amount of accounts as people want to know what all the hub bub is about, but thats not all the numbers.
This shows that executing well and polish is worth a LOT more than just new ideas.
Thats what makes me cry, and has made me lose hope in MMo's.
Dark and Light, Vanguard and especially Auto Assault all had new ideas but look where they are now.New ideas count for nothing if the game is crap.
Blizzard kept it simple and made WoW fun and easy to access and it paid off.
Oddly, I highly doubt this will end the "WoW is dying" threads.
Nevertheless some people here think that's the path to true inovation. I doubt you can hate something into other people liking it.
Btw, I agree with you X, this just reminds me of some realy daft stuff you can read here.
This shows that executing well and polish is worth a LOT more than just new ideas.
Thats what makes me cry, and has made me lose hope in MMo's.
If you don't like it, you certainly don't have to play MMORPGs. There are plenty of other good entertainment. Personally, I think new ideas are way over rated. Put a few smart university grads in a room for an afternoon and you will have more ideas than you can implement in 10 years.
What counts is executing ideas and attention to details. That is the thankless hard work but makes a product polish and easy to use.
It is fairly obvious that people do not want radically new things. Just look at how Madden Football has sold year after year. People want something that are comfortable with and incremental improvement.
Even if you hate WoW, you can see this as good news. That's 10 million players, or 4.5 million Western Players that are potential customers for a GOOD MMO - if someone finally makes one.
Still waiting for your Holy Grail MMORPG? Interesting...
/sarcasm on
Omgsh this must mean WoW has the bestest mmo community evers!
/sarcasm off
now its starting to get a little bit iffy. 10 million? seems a bit much.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
Heres the offical press release http://www.blizzard.com/press/080122.shtml
And best of all we get a break down of subs, 4.5million in the west and 5.5 in china (asia)
A year ago in January 2007 http://www.blizzard.com/press/070111.shtml the West figures were 3.5 million ACTIVE subscribers.. thats an increase of 1 million in 12months.
Hate WoW/Blizzard all you like but thats impressive.
Please read the following before trolling:
World of Warcraft's Subscriber Definition
World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.
I would say going by the standard of your post it is ironic you are having a dig at WOW's mmo community :P.
I signed up 2 more accounts on monday night so I could run 4 accounts at once, maybe I'm number 10,000,000. I must say though knowing that I helped makes me kind of ill and makes me wish I wouldv'e never started playing again.
Which Final Fantasy Character Are You?
if I were to kill a titan tomorrow and no CCP employees showed up to say grats I would petition it.
Waiting for: the next MMO that lets me make this macro
if hp < 30 then CastSpell("heal") SpellTargetUnit("player") else CastSpell("smite") end
Congratulations Blizzard on the huge amount of money per month you generate. In all seriousness how many of these "10 Million Accounts" aren't duplicates from countries that have a limit on how long you may play World of Warcraft in a day.
Anyways, $15.00 x 100 000 00 = $150 000 000 monthly - server costs (I estimate $500 000 00 is profit) they're still making a huge amount of money each month most of which is probably not going back into the game but back into future games.
I sense another Ever Quest with a bijillion expansions until the game is milked dry.
Commence Flaming.
Sincerely,
3L1TE "I am in no way a Blizzard Fan Boy, Hater, Discriminator but I don't support a lot of what Blizzard has done to World of Warcraft"
/Sarcasm on
Omgsh and here I thought you were a "mature" player
/sarcasm off
/Sarcasm on
Omgsh and here I thought you were a "mature" player
/sarcasm off
I quite possibly am.
At least the 4.5M accounts in the US and Europe and all the people who don't want to play more than 3 hours a day. So about half, at least.
So the other half is the rest of the world, *Cough* Asia has 4.5 Million I wouldn't be surprised how many accounts are duplicates
.
Anyways World of Warcraft will continue to be successful because Blizzard has this business model that is basically geared towards keeping Casual and Hardcore gamers busy enough to realize that there are hundreds of alternatives to World of Warcraft. Take Planetside for example, that game is an MMOFPS and was one of the first MMOFPS yet its being ignored because its Sci-Fi not Fantasy.
Basically what I see is another generation of people who love Fantasy rather than the numerous other genres in games.
I could be wrong though this game could suffer when Guildwars 2 (one of the bigger MMO games that is competing with World of Warcraft) comes out.
Anyways good job Blizzard tell us how many of those 10 million subscriptions are currently banned. Remember someone who pays a year in advance and then cheats on the game or does something to get banned is still a "Subscriber". Another fact I would love to see is how old the Population of World of Warcraft is I have a feeling the average age is 15 - 19 and 12 - 14 rounding out the next age group.
Note to self: Don't Trust Video Game Companies.
Note to self, people like to dig up numbers from thin air....
It is your own free choice to believe whatever you want to believe but blizzard's age rounding is possible alot higher than you would imagine, WoW has both oldies as it has youngsters, and an elitism attitude doesn't grant you a higher seat in the room.
however the WoW sales are somehow strangely always kinda high at the charts, i suppose many young people do find thier way to WoW at an early age, either through elder brothers/sisters in thier family or friends i would guess.
However elder people show themselves to be just as immature as a child nowadays and we see it often, we do however in our age call it , being stubborn, since being childish is mostly the same thing, not being able to go on a compromise to solve a conflict because of either your pride or your desire to have your way.
Human nature.... perfected to be imperfect.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
A banned account would not be counted unless the subscription is still being paid. I can't imagine that there's too many banned accounts where the subscription is still being paid.
I realy cannot believe ppl still dont read the whole press release and importanly blizzard subscriber definition, unlike every other MMO they clearly state who a subcriber is... NUMBERS DO NOT INCLUDED BANNED ACCOUNTS.
Also maybe play WoW and find out the whole age thing.. I just got offline from a ZA raid (loving that place right now its gone midnight here in the UK 1am in france etc. 29 of my 67 guild mates were still online do you think they are 14 years old.. no they are ages 20-30... yes there are teens and pre-teens playing but not after the watersheed.. they are tucked up in bed and yet the World is still heaving with players. 1million more players (in the west) than last year BTW. =D
I hope it keeps evolving with the same quality as the last expansion (BC).
Someone wrote about other coming mmropgs for the future, unfortunatly I believe we wont see a true revolutionary mmropg with quality untill the next 4- 5 years. So lets hope WoW keeps delivering
As I read somewhere:
(Technically solid + Addictive Fun + Low System Specs + Great Mainstream Marketing) = 10 million subs
Fuck all the buggy, High System Spec, slow leveling, unfun pieces of shit coming out now and in the future. Enjoy your money hats Blizzard.
I enjoy WoW..always have, it easy to get into, doesn’t require a huge investment to have fun with, and gives the player a lot to do.
However I loathe the average wow player which is your whte-bred spoiled suburbanite with a sub 84 IQ who that thinks he is entitled and special. Blizzard fosters that attitude anyone that doubts this need only look at the sewer known as the WoW General Forum. Blizzard will never change it's do what you will community policy and I will never play WoW again for that reason.