World of Warcraft lost another 300,000 Subscribers last quarter, Patch 4.3 this year
Activision Blizzard latest earning call revealed that World of Warcraft lost another 300,000 subscribers last quarter, following the loss of 600k subscribers announced last quarter.

In this conference call we also learned that:


  • The next patch will include "major raid and dungeon content", we can most likely expect a raid and a 5-man from Patch 4.3
  • Patch 4.3 will be the "largest content update since Cataclysm"
  • It will be released later this year, which means that we can probably expect a PTR soon.

It's also worth noting that despite the loss of players, Mike Morhaime pointed out that the new trial system resulted in an increase in new account creations. For more details on the earning call, go check the coverage on sites such as Venturebeat or Gamasutra.


BlizzCon 2011 Virtual Ticket Now On Sale
The Blizzcon virtual ticket is now available, it seems that some people already got their Murkablo Companion Pet by buying the ticket early. (See this forum thread. However, this is most likely a bug and pets might be removed very soon.



Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Want to experience the panel discussions, tournaments, game-related announcements, and all the excitement of BlizzCon 2011 from the comfort of your own home? Then be sure to check out the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket!

The BlizzCon 2011 Virtual Ticket is now available for purchase around the world for $39.99 USD (pricing may vary by region). Virtual Ticket coverage will be available as a multi-channel Internet stream and also via Pay Per View on DIRECTV in the United States, granting viewers a front-row seat to all of the action on the show floor including exclusive interviews, demos, and more!

New DIRECTV subscribers in the United States who sign up for DIRECTV service between now and September 25 through www.directv.com/blizzcon will receive this year's BlizzCon Virtual Ticket coverage for free. Existing DIRECTV customers will be able to purchase the event on DIRECTV Pay Per View for $39.99 beginning Monday, October 10. Visit www.directv.com/blizzcon for more info.

DIRECTV customers who order the Pay Per View event through DIRECTV will receive the multi-channel Internet stream at no extra charge, and those who order the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket will also receive this year’s to-be-announced BlizzCon-exclusive World of Warcraft and StarCraft II in-game items.

Don't miss out! To learn more about the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket, head on over to our official BlizzCon 2011 Live Stream page or read the FAQ.

Cenarion Hatchling Raises More Than $1.9 Million for Japan Earthquake Relief
Originally Posted by Blizzard (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of World of Warcraft players around the world who purchased the Cenarion Hatchling pet, we’ve raised a total of more than $1.9 million USD to support the ongoing earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in Japan. In May, we announced that for every Cenarion Hatchling purchased by July 31, 2011, 100% of the $10 USD adoption fee would be going to assist victims of this disaster -- and the community responded by opening up their hearts and wallets wide. Thanks again for your support and for helping to make an impact on the lives of those affected by these events.

To learn more about the Pet Store, please visit the Pet Store FAQ.

Diablo III Beta Profile Update
Originally Posted by Zarhym (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)
The beta test approaches! We’ve just updated our System Check program and would like everyone to update their Battle.net Beta Profile information by running the new one. You should do this regardless of whether there have been hardware changes made to your system.

You can run the new System Check by visiting the Beta Profile settings of your Battle.net account:

https://www.battle.net/account/manag...a-profile.html

I don’t have a Beta Profile
If you haven’t yet created a Beta Profile on your Battle.net account you’ll be presented with two download options, PC and Mac, for our System Check program. Running the program will present you with the Beta Test Opt-In Agreement, and once you agree to that it will immediately query basic computer specification information such as your type of video card, processor, and RAM. Clicking the Send button will then upload the shown information to your account.

On your Beta Profile page, you’ll want to ensure you at least have “Diablo Universe” checked for future testing, if not StarCraft and Warcraft as well. That’s it! You’re now eligible for future beta test opportunities.

I have a Beta Profile
If you’ve previously uploaded your system info you should use the links to download the new System Check program for PC or Mac and update your system info. Run the program, read through the Beta Test Opt-In Agreement that appears, and once you agree to that the program will immediately query your basic computer specification information. Click Send and the program will automatically update your profile with your system specifications. You’ll remain opted in for whichever beta tests you’ve previously selected, and you can change these selections on your Beta Profile page at any time.

Having current system specifications and checking the franchise boxes to express interest in beta testing our future products does not guarantee your entry into the beta test. We will grant a very limited number of people entry from the entire pool of those interested, based on their system specifications and other factors. While having an official Battle.net Beta Profile is one way to potentially get in, we’ll have information on other ways to increase your chances as we draw closer to the beta test.

Blue Posts
Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment
Lack of Blue Posts / "Where are the Blues?"
The whole team is here today. We're actively reading the forums whenever we can while working on other tasks. :)(Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

Repair costs too expensive?
Repair costs have always scaled with item level. If anything, I'd say this game has a burden of too much gold out in the economy, rather than too little. 4 deaths in 1 5-player Heroic dungeon run is well above what you should expect as an average, and 100 gold is pretty easy to come by at level 85. (Blue Tracker / Official Forums)

New Warcraft Fan Art
The Blizzard Fan Art Section has been updated with five new pieces of fan artwork set within the Warcraft universe.




"The Raid" Livestream on August 6th @ 6:00PM PST
Blue Loon Films, the studio behind the upcoming World of Warcraft documentary, The Raid, has announced that the live stream of their film will take place on August 6th.

The Raid follows a guild over the course of a few months and features a host of content including in-game and at-home interviews with the players.

To celebrate the release of the film, TypeFrag will be giving away:


  • 1 desktop PC by Doghouse Systems
  • 5 high-end gaming headsets
  • 25, 25-person Ventrilo servers

The PC features an Intel i5 Quad-Core CPU, Windows 7 64-bit, 1TB HDD, 4GB RAM, 2 NVIDIA GTX 460 PCI-E video cards and more!

The live stream of The Raid will take place on August 6th at 6:00PM (PST) and is brought to you in part by TypeFrag, Gamebreaker.tv and Curse!

This article was originally published in forum thread: WoW Lost 300k Subscribers, Patch 4.3 this year, Blizzcon 2011 Tickets, Blue Posts started by Boubouille View original post
Comments 597 Comments
  1. Ranikotar's Avatar
    inb4 WoW is dieing...


    It's most likely 300k whiny people who can't get exactly what they want the way they want it.

    Edit: I do wonder what's going to be in 4.3 though =O!
  1. Ishamaell's Avatar
    sweet, cant wait
  1. Nilinor's Avatar
    I dont think this next raid after firelands will be the end raid for cataclysm, its probably going to be a second/last raid me thinks.
  1. Magellann's Avatar
    Sure hope 4.3 isn't the end already. Crossing my fingers for something Ulduar-like in greatness.
  1. Rensyk's Avatar
    Biggest content patch ever aye? I expect 2+ Raids from that personally.
  1. the9tail's Avatar
    That Blood Elf Warrior/Rogue is amazing.
  1. Melilithia's Avatar
    Nice job with the Japan Effort. :D

    Also, 4.3... woot!
  1. Imhullu's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ranikotar View Post
    inb4 WoW is dieing...


    It's most likely 300k whiny people who can't get exactly what they want the way they want it.

    Edit: I do wonder what's going to be in 4.3 though =O!
    Eh a loss in subscribers is still a loss.

    Thats almost a million in less than a year.
  1. Eduardomsc's Avatar
    hmm... 4.3 is looking pretty interesting. if it's gonna be as large as Cata, it's gonna keep players occupied for a while.
  1. The Moonkin's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Rensyk View Post
    Biggest content patch ever aye? I expect 2+ Raids from that personally.
    Forget two. They're going 3 or 4. Plus atleast 2 dungeons.

    Seriously though, I think that Blizzard will pull their weight in this patch, and for the 300k sub lost, in Q3, we have - WoW Brazil, Chinese Cata, 4.2 Resubs, so I think they game will stalemate there.
  1. CherubDown's Avatar
    I'd like to point out that the beta profile updater has changed - it now takes into account your connection speed. So if you want to get into the upcoming Diablo 3 beta, you'd NEED to update your specs, even if you did it recently.
  1. Dominating's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Ranikotar View Post
    inb4 WoW is dieing...


    It's most likely 300k whiny people who can't get exactly what they want the way they want it.

    Edit: I do wonder what's going to be in 4.3 though =O!
    that's like saying wow's playerbase of 12 million people is constituted solely of fat, greasy nerds living in their mom's basement

    i think 300k people leaving a 7-year-old game is justified considering the core gameplay is getting stale
  1. Deleo's Avatar
    So what happened to faster content updates? We've had one big patch after 4.0 (4.1 doesn't count) and that is not big enough to last for more than 2 months.
  1. Swizzle's Avatar
    Boub, please do my brain and the forums justice by explaining to people what time period Q2 refers to, since it seems people don't know the difference between a fiscal year and a calendar year.
  1. ohshift's Avatar
    Next week, they announce a drop in subscription prices and free wotlk, to go along with the new vanilla+bc pack.while, of course, keeping the game up with shitty updates
  1. Beyond2's Avatar
    It makes me happy to see more people leaving the game. As sick and twisted as that sounds, maybe blizzard will wake the fuck up and make tier accessible to non-raiders like it was in WotLK. Or at least give casuals something to do with rewards that aren't recolored rehashed shit, while raiders get all the new shinies. The new quest zone was a joke; I saw the rewards, I saw how little they value their casual players. "Just give em recolored rares, they'll eat it up. toss in a recolored mount too for kicks" No thank you blizzard, my money will go elsewhere. Make your game casual friendly like it was in WotLK and we'll talk about me re-subbing. If it takes another 1,100,000 people to leave to make a round two million, I hope blizzard it will get blizzard to fix their shit. I want to play WoW, but not in an environment where I have no hope for obtaining an armor set unless I'm a hardcore raider.
  1. DietzThought's Avatar
    Although I shouldn't be surprised about the loss in subs, it still makes me kind of sad because I think Blizzard does a great job and personally I enjoy this game more than ever. I hope the devs don't get all worked up about this and do something stupid, something that really will drive subscribers away.
  1. sicness's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by Deleo View Post
    So what happened to faster content updates? We've had one big patch after 4.0 (4.1 doesn't count) and that is not big enough to last for more than 2 months.
    You realize they announced releasing content faster just prior to releasing 4.1 don't you? So we really have nothing to judge the speed of their content release on yet until 4.3 is released. With it coming out by the end of the year it's at least within the typical 6 month time table of major patches.
  1. Melilithia's Avatar
    Quote Originally Posted by ohshift View Post
    Next week, they announce a drop in subscription prices and free wotlk, to go along with the new vanilla+bc pack.while, of course, keeping the game up with shitty updates
    I kinda wish that first part was true.
  1. Wow's Avatar
    Patch 4.3 will be the "largest content update since Cataclysm"
    This doesn't really mean much since we've just had baby patches so far. I would hope they could match up to the icc patch if 4.3 is deathwing, 3.3 came with 3 5mans and a raid.

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