WoW must really be starting to get desperate, I mean Mr. T mo-hawk grenades? seriously? FFXIV should be just fine as long as SE does what they do best. It doesnt matter what mmo is releasing or what expansion is coming out.
WoW must really be starting to get desperate, I mean Mr. T mo-hawk grenades? seriously? FFXIV should be just fine as long as SE does what they do best. It doesnt matter what mmo is releasing or what expansion is coming out.
Don't mistake silliness for desperation.
to have somthing funny in a game that kind of breaks the lores boundrys is fine, especialy if its not a serious tone to begin with. Desperation would be when they add in a cash shop...thats a game thats desprate.
WoW must really be starting to get desperate, I mean Mr. T mo-hawk grenades? seriously? FFXIV should be just fine as long as SE does what they do best. It doesnt matter what mmo is releasing or what expansion is coming out.
Don't mistake silliness for desperation.
to have somthing funny in a game that kind of breaks the lores boundrys is fine, especialy if its not a serious tone to begin with. Desperation would be when they add in a cash shop...thats a game thats desprate.
Adding a cash shop would be a bad idea at this point.
Blizzard already has plenty of RMT action going on right now. If they added a system where all of the current stuff was in one place then people would notice it more. Which would probably make more problems than it would solve...well...than it's worth.
Anyway...I may have commented in this thread already. But uhh....yeah FF14 is a different beast than WoW is or will be. Completely different actually. We'll see.
Final Fantasy has a very strong following. I don't think even Blizzard's monolithic WoW will deter someone from making a choice to play a FF game, even it is only for the first 30 days. I personally don't like FFXI, nor do I really enjoy any of the FF series, but they have a very large fanbase. Square's only goal should be to please the people that they have, and only hope to appeal to more players after that.
Bingo. I wish more developers would do that - cater to your core audience first and build a strong foundation (a la FFXI). Then look for ways to attract others who might not otherwise check it out. In some ways, I think that's the approach they're taking with XIV. They know what they did right with XI, and they know the areas that many people weren't happy with. I'm sure there are aspects of XI that even they're not happy with in the company as well. So that gives them a platform to build from. Ideally, they would want the game to be a no-brainer switch for anyone currently playing FFXI, because it has a very steady, probably the most steady, playerbase of any MMO. I don't see them being able to go wrong unless the game is not better than FFXI. I would even consider giving the game a shot if they don't use PlayOnline or at the very least create a new version of it. My major qualm with FFXI wasn't actually the game itself, it was the terrible interface for logging into the game. I hope the game does well, any competition is good competition.
They're doing away with PlayOnline for FFXIV. They've already setup a "Square Enix Account", which is what your security token ties into (if you have one) and it's what FFXIV will tie into. So it will most likely work like other MMOs.. you log in directly from a login screen. I like that they're going in that direction as well.
I think PlayOnline was a good idea that just never panned out and became, basically, superfluous; an unnecessary step to get into the game (or series of them, as the case be). This is some of the best news I've heard from the site in a month or two. I hated PO so much that it has actually kept me away from FFXI. From the music to all the hoops I had to jump through just to log on got under my skin for some reason. I'm normally pretty tolerable when it comes to things but PO just isn't one of them.
edit: Second thoughts: Initially, yes, the release of a WOW expansion will probably hinder and even sometimes crush the release of an MMO. I don't think a game like Final Fantasy which in name alone carries a ton of girth would be ruined because of an untimely release. That said, it is much better to wait for Blizzard to release Cataclysm. That way it gives the developers more time to polish and get the game ready for release and also lets the giant buzz around a new WoW expansion dwindle a bit. I'll say that the worst thing you can do in the MMO world is release an unfinished or buggy product. Many players have a one-shot sort of deal with these games and they'll turn their back on them for good. You don't want to cut out potential fans before they have a chance to play the game you intended to create.
Looking at the past...and considering how companies that tried to push their game out the door before a WoW expansion/the original WoW ended up...no. They need to take their time and do it right.
EQ2 and WAR are prime examples.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Guys! I'm hopelessly lost in a mountain of mole hills! Them damn moles!
Looking at the past...and considering how companies that tried to push their game out the door before a WoW expansion/the original WoW ended up...no. They need to take their time and do it right.
EQ2 and WAR are prime examples.
people are making the point that FF14 is a very diffrent game comming off a game before it that catered to the complete opposite crowd of WoW, EQ2 and WAR were very much like WoW. Its also hard to say that EQ2 was hindered by WoW, it was released before WoW and before it became what it is, it was more of the EQ community not either likeing the changes or not wanting to shift from EQ1 wich was still going strong.
It will only take 3 weeks for WoW players to experience everything the new expansion will give out of box. Then all those players that have quit over the year and came back just for this expansion will get pissed at Blizzard curse them out and vow never to play WoW again ... until patch 4.11. Then they will be back. Best time to "attack" would be about a month to 6 weeks after Cataclysm it will hit the MMO player at their biggest moment of weakness.
Most of us know WOW is the big giant out there in the MMO world, and many of us feel WOW is a bit too slow on the expansions, forcing players to repeat old content again and again and again. But WOW is coming out with a new expansion, "Cataclysm", that I predict will rock the charts just like all of their expansions. So, between now and when Cataclysm releases, is a window of opportunity for a new first rate MMO to step in and scoop up some bored WOW players. Is this not so? Therefore, I think FF XIV would be wise to release before Cataclysm comes out. Just my opinion. Thoughts?
I played WoW for 4 years and FFXI for 2 years before that. I loved both games while playing them, but looking back, ffxi has my heart. A lot of us in WoW hate the direction it's going. I personally believe Blizzard has become an RMT by any other name.
Cataclysm offers nothing for a player like me. No new classes, remodeling of old zones, just the same thing all over again. I do not want FFXI to think it is in direct competition with WoW, though that's the elephant in the room.
While WoW was at the height of its popularity, and still is, FFXI did not make fundamental changes to its game in order to attract the casual friendly crowd. Yeah they made some changes to the leveling grind, but they didn't sell out their vision of the game.
If any company is strong enough to resist the poor aspect of WoW in implementing it in their own game, it's SquareEnix. Yes, I know they said they're borrowing some concepts from WoW, but I bet that FFXIV will be far closer to FFXI than it will ever be to WoW.
SquareEnix, take your time, release when you think it's best. We have faith in you.
I Don't think they have much to worry about, Cataclysm will be boring like the other 2 expansions have been, and once people get over the new races and the new looking old zones, they will stand in whatever the new capital city is and talk to their friends til they get bored and eventually cancel their subscription again when they realize MSN is free.
Most of us know WOW is the big giant out there in the MMO world, and many of us feel WOW is a bit too slow on the expansions, forcing players to repeat old content again and again and again. But WOW is coming out with a new expansion, "Cataclysm", that I predict will rock the charts just like all of their expansions. So, between now and when Cataclysm releases, is a window of opportunity for a new first rate MMO to step in and scoop up some bored WOW players. Is this not so? Therefore, I think FF XIV would be wise to release before Cataclysm comes out. Just my opinion. Thoughts?
Actually no they don't need to launch before WoW's Cataclysm comes out. Sure WoW is a giant in the industry and a fairly popular giant at that, but most of us here waiting on FFXIV are old FFXI players. We already chose FFXI over WoW so not sure why you would worry about us not picking FFXIV over WoW as well.
In any case FFXIV like its predecessor will be multi-platform which is not something WoW can claim currently. PS3, 360 (Eventually) and PC players. Combine with the numerous means of playing this MMO, the popularity of the title and the fact that they've already had one very successful MMO with the same IP....... I think it's fairly safe to say they don't need to rush to compete with WoW, there best bet would be to take there time and launch a quality product. Rushing would only do harm as there is absolutely no need for them to rush it.
Like others have said, FFXIV will be able to hold its own in the wake of the WoW expansion.
Launching before the expansion would actually be more potentially harmful to the game. Any bored WoW players that join at that point likely have no intention of sticking with the game so as soon as the expansion does launch the server populations would suddenly become very destabilised. Not to mention the harm they'd do as the game is just starting to build a community.
I would have thought that ever since the failed launches of AoC, WAR and countless other MMOs that devs and players alike would realise that aiming for a high number of players at launch is a BAD thing. They need to aim FFXIV especially at FFXI fans, general FF fans and JRPG fans. After that they can work on drawing in the other audiences. Going about things this way has the game's sub numbers increase over time, rather than decrease, and allows them to polish the game a lot more for the audiences that are more likely to dismiss it. You have to admit that previous FF fans are likely to be more forgiving of bugs and other issues than burned out WoW players who will happily dismiss anything after a few hours of play time.
If they dont do something about the slow combat I have seen in all the videos for FF they aren't gonna make it in the wow times of mmos. Slow combat is a thing of the past and no matter how much you like FF if you have been playing wow you will not like the current state of combat in FF.
If they dont do something about the slow combat I have seen in all the videos for FF they aren't gonna make it in the wow times of mmos. Slow combat is a thing of the past and no matter how much you like FF if you have been playing wow you will not like the current state of combat in FF.
I left WoW for FFXI last summer, as did a number of my friends... so there definately IS a market for slower, more tactical combat. Not everyone likes just mashing hotkeys everytime the cooldown is up. The footage we've seen of combat so far is pre-alpha as well... it's missing almost all of the combat mechanics besides normal skills. They have yet to add in skill chains and bursts. We haven't even seen magic yet, and judging by the first trailer there's some interesting mechanics in there like that barrier spell.
There's no way FFXIV will rival WoW's numbers, but by now I hope most devs realise there's no point in trying. There never will be a WoW killer, so they have to aim for different audiences entirely. That's what FFXIV is doing.
If they dont do something about the slow combat I have seen in all the videos for FF they aren't gonna make it in the wow times of mmos. Slow combat is a thing of the past and no matter how much you like FF if you have been playing wow you will not like the current state of combat in FF.
well clearly you play WoW and just things like it. FFXI and likely FF14 are COMPLETELY diffrent games from WoW, so they will draw from very diffrent crowds, honestly me and many others dont mind slower combat that makes you think about your next action (and gives you time to talk). Ive tryed getting int WoW and EQ2 and LOTRO and such, but i cant stand contantly spamming the same few skills over and over every time they recharge (not to mention how easy it was to lvl up and solo)
Chess is a thing of the past guyz =( It's slow and slow is thing of the past. So glad this new world of chess is coming out which makes it a lot more fasterpaced for all the ADD kids!
By the way, I'd be more worried about this coming out before 2012 than Cataclysm. The game wouldn't be very successful I'm afraid, with world coming to an end and all =/.
Using LOL is like saying "my argument sucks but I still want to disagree".
Chess is a thing of the past guyz =( It's slow and slow is thing of the past. So glad this new world of chess is coming out which makes it a lot more fasterpaced for all the ADD kids!
If we could avoid spreading baseless insults on a segment of the population, that would be nice. Just because someone has ADD doesn't mean they need everything to be fast-paced, and just because some people like things fast-paced doesn't mean it isn't fun.
I don't care if it comes out before or after Cataclysm. As long as it's nearly bug free at launch with a good amount of content (meaning a little bit of everything right at the get go), I'll be a happy camper. There's no reason for S-E to rush their new MMO, and judging by the way they've talked about it...they don't intend. They'll obviously give it their all, but it doesn't seem like they want to cut any corners.
this game should be out after Cataclysm, the idea is that so the bored WoW or any other bored MMO players wont all jumped into the boat and left after the Cataclysm is released thus making an instant destabilize impact on the newly server
you wouldn't want those ( sorry i mean no offense here at all ) WoW community to ruin the community FFXI players have created and the so called best community of any MMO up to this point
ok not all are bad, many is matured, but you got to agree with me, most of the community at WoW is terribad in almost all servers
i was once the victim of WoW's superiority, i played 2 months of FFXI and enjoyed it so much, but only to be flattered by the existence of WoW thus im pulled away into it and loved it at 1st, but i quit as soon as i heard there will be FFXIV with the growing list of immatures and the ever growing content that becomes easier by every expansion
so my point is, SE should just stick with that they do best, and forget about any WoW expansion, because FFXIV itself is already a different game so far as we see it
yes, infact i agree with some poster here this game should be out after Cataclysm, the idea is that so the bored WoW or any other bored MMO players wont all jumped into the boat and left after the Cataclysm is released thus making an instant destabilize impact on the newly server you wouldn't want those ( sorry i mean no offense here at all ) WoW community to ruin the community FFXI players have created and the so called best community of any MMO up to this point ok not all are bad, many is matured, but you got to agree with me, most of the community at WoW is terribad in almost all servers i was once the victim of WoW's superiority, i played 2 months of FFXI and enjoyed it so much, but only to be flattered by the existence of WoW thus im pulled away into it and loved it at 1st, but i quit as soon as i heard there will be FFXIV with the growing list of immatures and the ever growing content that becomes easier by every expansion so my point is, SE should just stick with that they do best, and forget about any WoW expansion, because FFXIV itself is already a different game so far as we see it
There is absolutely nothing that should make us think that the FFXI community will magically transport to FXIV. This is what I was talking about in one of my earlier posts. FFXI has an existing community and with the release of FFXIV that community will still exist within the confines of XI. FFXIV will undoubtedly attract many folks from FFXI, but XIV is looking like it's going to be a different game in many ways. Being that it's a new Final Fantasy mmorpg this will also attract fans of FF who didn't like XI for whatever reason (I fall into that category).
EQ2 did not have the exact same community as EQ1, AC1's community pretty much flat-out refused AC2, and FFXIV will exist as a seperate entity than FFXI. The sooner people drop their preconceived notions, the better off they will be to accept the differences between FFXI and XIV.
Also, people need to really stop generalizing the WoW community as a whole. The very vocal minority of douchebags that plague that game will most likely stick to that game where they can have their superiority complex. However, those of us who are decent people and are simply looking for something different than WoW are being shunned by players from other communities based upon our gaming resume. To do that is to be no better than the idiots who give the WoW community a bad name.
The only way SE could screw themselves would be to try and release on the same day/same week, other then that I seriously doubt it will matter when they release in the long run.
Nah, what they need to do is to take their time. It does not matter when they release - as long the game is polished and great.
Aye. There's a hunger in many WoW players for other options. Just so happens that other games get rushed out the door, WoW players try them, find the suck, and go back to WoW. Rushing things just means you get a bad game that relatively few people want to play. (I don't want to get into a debate on the WoW community, but I'd only note it that it is reasonable to want to attract players to a new game and there are plenty of good, nice people who play WoW for what it is worth).
They have no need to rush this game. Their target audience isnt the WoW community, but those playing WoW and other MMOs that are looking for something new or are fans of the Final Fantasy series. The game is going to differ from WoW while still trying to maintain a different combat style. In the end my only opinion is simply the point of this thread: They should take there time, producing a crappy product before another isn't going to help them. However they have said they are gunning for end of Q2, early Quarter 3 I think they said. Which is before Cataclysm. In addition they have been working on this for sometime, they just waited to reveal it. I look forward to this title.
1. If they want to compete for some WoW players, rushing a game out will kill them because people don't like buggy and incomplete games. They won't get those players of a polished game to switch over.
2. If they don't want to compete for some WoW players, rushing the game out will kill them because people don't like buggy and incomplete games. They won't get other sorts of players to stay.
Yeah, they might hold on to some people if it is buggy and incomplete, but not as much as they could.
Anyhow, either way they go they should take their time to make a polished product.
Comments
Fixed.
Anyway, no reason for SE to be out before Cataclysm. In most cases, those looking forward to FFXIV don't play WoW in the first place.
lol
Don't mistake silliness for desperation.
Don't mistake silliness for desperation.
to have somthing funny in a game that kind of breaks the lores boundrys is fine, especialy if its not a serious tone to begin with. Desperation would be when they add in a cash shop...thats a game thats desprate.
Don't mistake silliness for desperation.
to have somthing funny in a game that kind of breaks the lores boundrys is fine, especialy if its not a serious tone to begin with. Desperation would be when they add in a cash shop...thats a game thats desprate.
Adding a cash shop would be a bad idea at this point.
Blizzard already has plenty of RMT action going on right now. If they added a system where all of the current stuff was in one place then people would notice it more. Which would probably make more problems than it would solve...well...than it's worth.
Anyway...I may have commented in this thread already. But uhh....yeah FF14 is a different beast than WoW is or will be. Completely different actually. We'll see.
Looking at the past...and considering how companies that tried to push their game out the door before a WoW expansion/the original WoW ended up...no. They need to take their time and do it right.
EQ2 and WAR are prime examples.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Guys! I'm hopelessly lost in a mountain of mole hills! Them damn moles!
people are making the point that FF14 is a very diffrent game comming off a game before it that catered to the complete opposite crowd of WoW, EQ2 and WAR were very much like WoW. Its also hard to say that EQ2 was hindered by WoW, it was released before WoW and before it became what it is, it was more of the EQ community not either likeing the changes or not wanting to shift from EQ1 wich was still going strong.
I played WoW for 4 years and FFXI for 2 years before that. I loved both games while playing them, but looking back, ffxi has my heart. A lot of us in WoW hate the direction it's going. I personally believe Blizzard has become an RMT by any other name.
Cataclysm offers nothing for a player like me. No new classes, remodeling of old zones, just the same thing all over again. I do not want FFXI to think it is in direct competition with WoW, though that's the elephant in the room.
While WoW was at the height of its popularity, and still is, FFXI did not make fundamental changes to its game in order to attract the casual friendly crowd. Yeah they made some changes to the leveling grind, but they didn't sell out their vision of the game.
If any company is strong enough to resist the poor aspect of WoW in implementing it in their own game, it's SquareEnix. Yes, I know they said they're borrowing some concepts from WoW, but I bet that FFXIV will be far closer to FFXI than it will ever be to WoW.
SquareEnix, take your time, release when you think it's best. We have faith in you.
I Don't think they have much to worry about, Cataclysm will be boring like the other 2 expansions have been, and once people get over the new races and the new looking old zones, they will stand in whatever the new capital city is and talk to their friends til they get bored and eventually cancel their subscription again when they realize MSN is free.
Actually no they don't need to launch before WoW's Cataclysm comes out. Sure WoW is a giant in the industry and a fairly popular giant at that, but most of us here waiting on FFXIV are old FFXI players. We already chose FFXI over WoW so not sure why you would worry about us not picking FFXIV over WoW as well.
In any case FFXIV like its predecessor will be multi-platform which is not something WoW can claim currently. PS3, 360 (Eventually) and PC players. Combine with the numerous means of playing this MMO, the popularity of the title and the fact that they've already had one very successful MMO with the same IP....... I think it's fairly safe to say they don't need to rush to compete with WoW, there best bet would be to take there time and launch a quality product. Rushing would only do harm as there is absolutely no need for them to rush it.
Like others have said, FFXIV will be able to hold its own in the wake of the WoW expansion.
Launching before the expansion would actually be more potentially harmful to the game. Any bored WoW players that join at that point likely have no intention of sticking with the game so as soon as the expansion does launch the server populations would suddenly become very destabilised. Not to mention the harm they'd do as the game is just starting to build a community.
I would have thought that ever since the failed launches of AoC, WAR and countless other MMOs that devs and players alike would realise that aiming for a high number of players at launch is a BAD thing. They need to aim FFXIV especially at FFXI fans, general FF fans and JRPG fans. After that they can work on drawing in the other audiences. Going about things this way has the game's sub numbers increase over time, rather than decrease, and allows them to polish the game a lot more for the audiences that are more likely to dismiss it. You have to admit that previous FF fans are likely to be more forgiving of bugs and other issues than burned out WoW players who will happily dismiss anything after a few hours of play time.
If they dont do something about the slow combat I have seen in all the videos for FF they aren't gonna make it in the wow times of mmos. Slow combat is a thing of the past and no matter how much you like FF if you have been playing wow you will not like the current state of combat in FF.
I left WoW for FFXI last summer, as did a number of my friends... so there definately IS a market for slower, more tactical combat. Not everyone likes just mashing hotkeys everytime the cooldown is up. The footage we've seen of combat so far is pre-alpha as well... it's missing almost all of the combat mechanics besides normal skills. They have yet to add in skill chains and bursts. We haven't even seen magic yet, and judging by the first trailer there's some interesting mechanics in there like that barrier spell.
There's no way FFXIV will rival WoW's numbers, but by now I hope most devs realise there's no point in trying. There never will be a WoW killer, so they have to aim for different audiences entirely. That's what FFXIV is doing.
well clearly you play WoW and just things like it. FFXI and likely FF14 are COMPLETELY diffrent games from WoW, so they will draw from very diffrent crowds, honestly me and many others dont mind slower combat that makes you think about your next action (and gives you time to talk). Ive tryed getting int WoW and EQ2 and LOTRO and such, but i cant stand contantly spamming the same few skills over and over every time they recharge (not to mention how easy it was to lvl up and solo)
Chess is a thing of the past guyz =( It's slow and slow is thing of the past. So glad this new world of chess is coming out which makes it a lot more fasterpaced for all the ADD kids!
By the way, I'd be more worried about this coming out before 2012 than Cataclysm. The game wouldn't be very successful I'm afraid, with world coming to an end and all =/.
If we could avoid spreading baseless insults on a segment of the population, that would be nice. Just because someone has ADD doesn't mean they need everything to be fast-paced, and just because some people like things fast-paced doesn't mean it isn't fun.
I don't care if it comes out before or after Cataclysm. As long as it's nearly bug free at launch with a good amount of content (meaning a little bit of everything right at the get go), I'll be a happy camper. There's no reason for S-E to rush their new MMO, and judging by the way they've talked about it...they don't intend. They'll obviously give it their all, but it doesn't seem like they want to cut any corners.
yes, infact i agree with some poster here
this game should be out after Cataclysm, the idea is that so the bored WoW or any other bored MMO players wont all jumped into the boat and left after the Cataclysm is released thus making an instant destabilize impact on the newly server
you wouldn't want those ( sorry i mean no offense here at all ) WoW community to ruin the community FFXI players have created and the so called best community of any MMO up to this point
ok not all are bad, many is matured, but you got to agree with me, most of the community at WoW is terribad in almost all servers
i was once the victim of WoW's superiority, i played 2 months of FFXI and enjoyed it so much, but only to be flattered by the existence of WoW thus im pulled away into it and loved it at 1st, but i quit as soon as i heard there will be FFXIV with the growing list of immatures and the ever growing content that becomes easier by every expansion
so my point is, SE should just stick with that they do best, and forget about any WoW expansion, because FFXIV itself is already a different game so far as we see it
So What Now?
There is absolutely nothing that should make us think that the FFXI community will magically transport to FXIV. This is what I was talking about in one of my earlier posts. FFXI has an existing community and with the release of FFXIV that community will still exist within the confines of XI. FFXIV will undoubtedly attract many folks from FFXI, but XIV is looking like it's going to be a different game in many ways. Being that it's a new Final Fantasy mmorpg this will also attract fans of FF who didn't like XI for whatever reason (I fall into that category).
EQ2 did not have the exact same community as EQ1, AC1's community pretty much flat-out refused AC2, and FFXIV will exist as a seperate entity than FFXI. The sooner people drop their preconceived notions, the better off they will be to accept the differences between FFXI and XIV.
Also, people need to really stop generalizing the WoW community as a whole. The very vocal minority of douchebags that plague that game will most likely stick to that game where they can have their superiority complex. However, those of us who are decent people and are simply looking for something different than WoW are being shunned by players from other communities based upon our gaming resume. To do that is to be no better than the idiots who give the WoW community a bad name.
The only way SE could screw themselves would be to try and release on the same day/same week, other then that I seriously doubt it will matter when they release in the long run.
Nah, what they need to do is to take their time. It does not matter when they release - as long the game is polished and great.
FFXIVCore.com - Final Fantasy XIV Fansite.
FFXIVCore.com on Facebook, Twitter, Square Enix Members, YouTube & RSS
Aye. There's a hunger in many WoW players for other options. Just so happens that other games get rushed out the door, WoW players try them, find the suck, and go back to WoW. Rushing things just means you get a bad game that relatively few people want to play. (I don't want to get into a debate on the WoW community, but I'd only note it that it is reasonable to want to attract players to a new game and there are plenty of good, nice people who play WoW for what it is worth).
They have no need to rush this game. Their target audience isnt the WoW community, but those playing WoW and other MMOs that are looking for something new or are fans of the Final Fantasy series. The game is going to differ from WoW while still trying to maintain a different combat style. In the end my only opinion is simply the point of this thread: They should take there time, producing a crappy product before another isn't going to help them. However they have said they are gunning for end of Q2, early Quarter 3 I think they said. Which is before Cataclysm. In addition they have been working on this for sometime, they just waited to reveal it. I look forward to this title.
-Maltos-
Hmm, to put my post above another way...
1. If they want to compete for some WoW players, rushing a game out will kill them because people don't like buggy and incomplete games. They won't get those players of a polished game to switch over.
2. If they don't want to compete for some WoW players, rushing the game out will kill them because people don't like buggy and incomplete games. They won't get other sorts of players to stay.
Yeah, they might hold on to some people if it is buggy and incomplete, but not as much as they could.
Anyhow, either way they go they should take their time to make a polished product.