WoW Lost 300k Subscribers, Patch 4.3 this year, Blizzcon 2011 Tickets, Blue Posts

[Indecision]

Doesn't anyone else think it's strange that we're now talking about patch 4.3 JUST when Mists of Pandaria has been trademarked? And if you think they don't trademark patches, they do, I've seen a trademark on Secrets of Ulduar.

Content patches don't come with mouse pads and manuals.

Who cares how many subs WoW has lost? I don't understand why there are so many doomsayers. No other MMO has the number of subs that WoW has, yet they still have players that enjoy the game. If you don't enjoy WoW anymore, then unsubscribe and move on with your life. Sitting in your computer chair, trolling these forums will prove to be fruitless.

[Diasteel]

they said biggest content release since the expansion came out..... either a ig raid with like 10 bosses and a five man or two or my favortie 2 smaller raids with like 5 bosses each Abyssal Maw and War of the Ancients

[Blooddeity]

As far as i can see Rome is still standing and has a population of 2.7 million residents. Its also the capital of Italy.

What i dont understand is how can you call a game with 10 million + gamers dead? I mean if you were talking about Guild Wars, AoC or WAR then yeah but WoW?

You might want to open a history book if you don't understand the "Rome" Kaeleena is talking about. The problem is people don't or refuse to see the inevitable happening untill the very moment when they find themselves in the ruins of what once was and then the first stages of grief still have to start. Other people see things coming from a distance and are just more sober about the situation.

The "Rome" Kaeleena was talking about is the Roman empire before our Christian time line. We all know what happened to the Roman empire. The beauty of Kaeleena's example is that it portrais the nature of people. Eventhough the inevitable decline has set in, people just don't want to see it and hide in denial. Even when the party is over they think that somehow it's just begun. All refusing to see that they were wrong. It's so much easier just to be awake, try it.

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 10:25 AM ----------

Fewer people playing during the summer? Who'd have thought. Its the same for every single game. I think such a small dip goes to show how well the game is holding up. Most games have ups and downs, WoW is no exception.

Hahaha so many people blaming summer. Yeah because the WoW population also declined during the 6 previous summers right? Oh wait, no it didn't!!!

[Deleted]

Looking at this I'm not surprised subscribers have dropped.

I'm a long term player (6 years plus) and have loved playing WoW in that time. I'm not a hard core raider, more of a hard core casual if there is such a thing. From my perspective Wrath was the start of the decline of the game. Wrath was produced to capture the younger player and over simplified some of the mechanics and gear to get the younger player interested and boost subscription numbers.

Cata was produced to re-invent the early game and graphics engine so WoW could continue to compete with newer MMO for the next couple of years. My issue here is that we have paid for Blizzard to upgrade the game engine with little new content in Cata. The Engine upgrade should have been a patch and Cata should have more new content to justify the original purchase price.

TBC had no obvious business objective other than to add additional quality end game content and expand the WoW universe.

The game is suffering from the obvious shift in development priorities within Activision/Blizzard. Look at how item stats have changed. Loss of MP5 , Hunters loosing Int, Spirit on gear, talents that gives spirt hit. This is all there to cut development time as less items now need to be in game to upgrade your Toon. End result cheaper development costs.

On top of this there are the the high charges for name changes, cross realm transfers etc. Which looks like an automated SQL script to update a database record. I know these premium services are optional but the price charged leaves a bit of bitter taste in the mouth.

We are still paying premium prices for a game that doesn't deliver as much as it used to for the established player base. People may be realising this now and going elsewhere.

P.S. Don't get me started on Panda's, Blizzard will be aiming at the 3-6 year old market with this one ! Rattle of Doom here we come.

[Masternewt]

Rome isn't burning. It's burnt.

WoW isn't dying. It's dead.

And if you can't smell the smoldering cinders anymore, it's because you've been inhaling for far too long.

And this will be confirmed with 4.3 patch notes. They're again making big annoncements, but saying it will be the biggest content patch since Cataclysm isn't saying much. We got what... 2 troll dungeons in 4.1 and a raid along with a modified progression daily grind hub in 4.2. That won't be hard to top so yeah, it'll be the biggest patch in 4.x expansion, but I honestly doubt it will bring anything new to the table. As reported on Gamasutra, it will bring "new raid and new instances". So it'll be 4.1 + 4.2 combined and we all know how that will go...

Blizzard had endless amount of good suggestions from players on what else they can offer in WoW. Yes, there are engine limitations, but honestly, there's good stuff we've seen before and never again. So 4.3 will be same old, same old... a couple of 5mans with outdated gear and a new raid that will make everything in 4.2 completely obsolete in 2 weeks. Oh, and maybe some new dailies, so you'll be jumping on that treadmill again. I expect Firelands to be hit with a severe nerfbat, cutting down damage done by 50% and health of bosses by 30% to welcome mouthbreathers who'll then still wipe by falling through holes and herpderping on tornados but... well, 'that's how the cookie crumbles.

Appearance tab, tabard storage, truly epic questlines (think Benediction or the current legendary, but for non raiders), world PvP, Tol Barad remade into something useful and fun, challenging 5mans, fun achievements (Ready for Raiding II RNG? Bombing elementals RNG? Stab me now!), PvP quests, whatever to break the mold would worth announcing as a big content patch. But with Blizzard's standards today and their continued desire to give us the absolute minimum while developing retarded stuff like paid guild chat through iPhone and Blizz store junk is showing that this old cow isn't only being milked for its last drops, but is being eaten while alive as well.

Can't wait for 4.3 patch notes. I bet they'll be revolutionary.

[Tang]

Looks like people are still in denial over the decline of WoW.Guys, it's okay to still love the game, and at the same time recognize that numbers wise, it is now past its peak. Six and a half years of growth was a very nice run, and I'm sure the game has another decade of life left in it.

[Gratlim]

The race for world firsts were hardly as major as it is now. For long time there was like 2-3 major guilds to compete of them.. What was it again? Sk gaming and nihlium and method? Those were the "zomg famous" people.

Now we got: Ensidia, stars, paragon, vodka, method, for the horde, blood legion.. well just go look at wowprogress who have 7/7 - those people have fans and they are involved and all that.. back in BC it seemed bit more of battle of 3s now its "10 possible guilds who can get it" so its more major as the scene has raised majorly

Very true. But on another hand, I and many others I am sure can't care less about top (payed and sponsored) guilds around the world and actually care about their own guild progression and their server's top guilds. 3 months after Cata started, I would say over 80% of raiding guilds exploded on my servers (4 big / medium servers) and towns like Stormwind or Orgrim became empty. Only the very top guild and a bunch of rerollers / non-raiding guilds are left. So yeah, game is pretty much dead to me, even though I still have best memories from BC raiding.

[Deleted]

Looks like people are still in denial over the decline of WoW.Guys, it's okay to still love the game, and at the same time recognize that numbers wise, it is now past its peak. Six and a half years of growth was a very nice run, and I'm sure the game has another decade of life left in it.

This, we know you still enjoy the game. No one ever said it'd be less enjoyable. Six and a half years of growth is nuts.

[Kaeleena]

We didn't give up on Blizzard. Blizzard gave up on us. After BC, focusing solely on simply attracting new players to the game to pad their subscriptions numbers and negate turn over, while simultaneously ignoring the root cause of that turnover and offering nothing of significance to long term and existing players is the reason we've reached this point today. Blizzard abandoned the core principle of any enjoyable story: substance.

[Ares42]

Hmm, how is "4.3 out this year" news ? Did anyone seriously expect them to go over 6 months before releasing the next patch ? =o

[Xilurm]

You might want to open a history book if you don't understand the "Rome" Kaeleena is talking about. The problem is people don't or refuse to see the inevitable happening untill the very moment when they find themselves in the ruins of what once was and then the first stages of grief still have to start. Other people see things coming from a distance and are just more sober about the situation.

The "Rome" Kaeleena was talking about is the Roman empire before our Christian time line. We all know what happened to the Roman empire. The beauty of Kaeleena's example is that it portrais the nature of people. Eventhough the inevitable decline has set in, people just don't want to see it and hide in denial. Even when the party is over they think that somehow it's just begun. All refusing to see that they were wrong. It's so much easier just to be awake, try it.

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 10:25 AM ----------

Hahaha so many people blaming summer. Yeah because the WoW population also declined during the 6 previous summers right? Oh wait, no it didn't!!!

I know exactly which "Rome" Kaeleena is talking about. Its just that you cannot say that WoW is dead when it has 10 million players even if they are "chinese farmers" they are the ones that make this game famous. You cant just say its "dead" because you dont like the game. Saying its dead youre also saying every other mmo is dead since WoW is (if you haven't realized) the best mmo out there, and im not saying that because i like... Im saying it because its the truth. Just because you hate a game doesnt mean others do too. Hating isnt a good thing...just saying.

[Kaeleena]

Normal modes should be easy. You bang your head against bosses long enough and epics should fall out, just like battlegrounds. You afk at mines long enough and epics fall out. Frankly, I can pull higher raid dps in 371 PvP gear than I can in any preraid gear that isn't a Firelands BoE.

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 10:39 AM ----------

I know exactly which "Rome" Kaeleena is talking about. Its just that you cannot say that WoW is dead when it has 10 million players even if they are "chinese farmers" they are the ones that make this game famous. You cant just say its "dead" because you dont like the game. Saying its dead youre also saying every other mmo is dead since WoW is (if you haven't realized) the best mmo out there, and im not saying that because i like... Im saying it because its the truth. Just because you hate a game doesnt mean others do too. Hating isnt a good thing...just saying.

You lost all credibility the moment you claimed WoW was the best. Largest =/= Best. Might want to learn the difference between the two.

And I don't hate it. I hate what it's become.

[Tang]

I know exactly which "Rome" Kaeleena is talking about. Its just that you cannot say that WoW is dead when it has 10 million players even if they are "chinese farmers" they are the ones that make this game famous. You cant just say its "dead" because you dont like the game. Saying its dead youre also saying every other mmo is dead since WoW is (if you haven't realized) the best mmo out there, and im not saying that because i like... Im saying it because its the truth. Just because you hate a game doesnt mean others do too. Hating isnt a good thing...just saying.

This is true. WoW is far from dead. I don't even think you can say it's dying. WoW is a middle aged game, past its prime and in decline, but with plenty of years left in it.

People are too quick to announce that something is "dead" when what they really mean is "it's no longer the hottest thing around."

[wiIdi]

people leave when they have nothing to do, raiders can raid, causals can't and they leave. end game content = long term motivation, wotlk for the win

[BenBos]

We didn't give up on Blizzard. Blizzard gave up on us. After BC, focusing solely on simply attracting new players to the game to pad their subscriptions numbers and negate turn over, while simultaneously ignoring the root cause of that turnover and offering nothing of significance to long term and existing players is the reason we've reached this point today.

Sorry, I think this is simply a personal focus.

I like the PVP as it is today and when I talk to other active players, most say the same things.

Fights last longer, so more tactical, more time to coordinate, more wargame like (certainly with rated Bg's and coms).

Dungeons are like mini Raids these days.

No long term goals? Titles, achievements : all extra prestigious goals to go for that didn't even exist in TBC...and that far surpass the temporarely geat sets.

TBC had its charm too, but so had Wotlk some elements (like Wintergrasp and ICC) but CATA's PvP is fantastic for me and a lot of friends I play with.

It is all personal perception of things like "how long you played" etc...

I see some people become burn out after 4-5 years. These things have nothing to do with a dungeon design or PVP or not even a world problem.

The lastest high end zones were not connected, yes, but actual gameplay and balance in the game was never better than now.

Technique wise CATA owns Vanilla and TBC and Wotlk WOW in every inch. Uldum stands miles above in programming MMO techniques than any zone in TBC.

Apparently personal life cycles interfere more than high technical programming methods.

[Eruanne]

Nooooobody is gonna mention how the new BlizzCon pet is a rehashed version of Deathy? =/

[planetchips]

LOL shifting focus aren't we?

I didn't bring up the news, you did, I simply replied to your inconsistency. Your first post was just insulting people and making yourself sound superior because you don't play a game anymore. I HAVE deviated from my point, but only because I thought you were an arrogant ass, now I realize that you're simply a fool.

\\ When i said "Yes i am arrogant and now to your point" then you facepalmed and quoted your reply to me again.

"Yes i am arrogant and now to your point"
"now to your point"
"Yes i am arrogant"
/facepalm

Journalism and media and communication are two major scientific fields that studys everything around news, communication, public communication including news values and why people are interested in news and such. If you are interested in more info about all this, there are probably courses you take at your closest University or just visit an academic library and ask for a book about news, journalism or something like that.

Behavioral Science. I don't think you know the definition of journalism and media. Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting events. Media(under communication) is the storage, dissemination, and broadcast of information. You can learn more at your local community college. While you're there, I advise you take a Critical Thinking and Logic class.

[phai]

Nooooobody is gonna mention how the new BlizzCon pet is a rehashed version of Deathy? =/

It isn't even worth the effort to say it.
Haven't we got used (and bored) to the recycling philosophy Blizzard shows since TBC?

[Puntar]

With Cata Blizz made leveling like clearing LK hc with 264 epics, while Cata 5m are a complete turnaround of that.

Not only that leveling is actually "superfast" even without heirlooms You can level from 1 - 85 in around 2 days played.

Combine both together and you have a really boring game during level up and annoying and frustrating at the end game with randoms LFG.

No wonder people leave!

No to mention that they completely "broke" healing from 80 to 85. In terms of gameplay consisteny and game rules by which people learn the game! (healers lose power in those 5 levels, a complete failure by blizz devs!!!)

[Xilurm]

Normal modes should be easy. You bang your head against bosses long enough and epics should fall out, just like battlegrounds. You afk at mines long enough and epics fall out. Frankly, I can pull higher raid dps in 371 PvP gear than I can in any preraid gear that isn't a Firelands BoE.

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 10:39 AM ----------

You lost all credibility the moment you claimed WoW was the best. Largest =/= Best. Might want to learn the difference between the two.

And I don't hate it. I hate what it's become.

That means you hate it. WoW IS what it has become and its not changing back. It will move forward. Nostalgia is meant to be what it is......Nostalgia.

If you dont like it dont play it simple as that.