February 7: Blizzard Conference Call

[Lilly32]

You make it sound like they MUST play an MMO, some people just stop playing, you know. I for one stopped playing WoW and have played more of other games with my free time, I've never thought that I must play an MMO every step of my life. But for me, personally, it will most likely always be WoW or nothing in terms of playing mmo's

Gotta agree with this. When I quit WoW for a few months during Cata, along with the other 3 million or so people, I tried other games. I never saw a noticeable increase in players in any of them so it wasnt like they were going to other games. Also SWToR I dont think gained many people by going F2play and I go back to GW2 a few days every now and then the cities are ghost towns. Also Diablo 3 is lucky if they still have 1/10th of their box sales as terrible as that game turned out. I just think people are getting tired of MMOs. Been playing them for almost 15 years now. Thats probably longer than a lot of WoW players have even been alive.

[Crashdummy]

Between 500K and 1M drop.

Dailies hurted more than people realize. Many people are still attached to annual pass though. If they keep the current direction with dailies, more will drop for the next one.

Overall revenue will be up. Several pets and mounts, and people now buy more pets because there is actually something to be done with them.

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 10:57 PM ----------

People expecting a dip in subs have no idea what they are talking about.

Dip in subs in Cata happened because of a clear content void. They've clearly given players something to do this expac, either subs stay still or rise up.

Dips in initial Cata were because of bad tuning. GC even made a blog about it. Lack of content wasnt an issue untill mid 4.1.

Dailies have made several hundres of thousands people unsub. CRZ made another part quit.

IMO oyu dont know what you are talking about.

[Karizee]

I go back to GW2 a few days every now and then the cities are ghost towns.

Lion's Arch is in overflow from 6 am to Midnight 7 days a week on just about every server. No one hangs out in the other cities.

[Chickat]

Lion's Arch is in overflow from 6 am to Midnight 7 days a week on just about every server. No one hangs out in the other cities.

Why is that?

[Karizee]

Why is that?

Portal hub & Dungeon token vendors.

[But I Hate You All]

Dec. 24th - just in time to save the 4th qtr numbers.

Yep the good old Fluff like SOR, AP, RAF discounts etc

[Lilly32]

Lion's Arch is in overflow from 6 am to Midnight 7 days a week on just about every server. No one hangs out in the other cities.

Didnt know that was wondering where everyone was lol. Gonna hop over there while waiting for my dungeon queue to pop and see whats what.

[ragnarokvr1]

Maybe they'll announce a goddamn expansion that actually continues in WOTLK's excellent footsteps that doesn't a: resurrect a dead boss killed in Warcarft 2 and revived in kanaak's terrible work b: build its lore on the most obscure and retarded 5 minute appearance in Warcraft history.

[kunah]

Down to 9 million subs. I think people underestimate the amount of folks that buy an expansion just for the leveling content.

^This.

Probably flat or a slight decline.

I ran into a alot of people(like me) who bought the xp and leveled up thier favorite toons and totally enjoyed it. Then the grind set in and we said don't think so. See ya next expansion.
But on a positive note. It was a really good expansion.

[JhanZ]

You make it sound like they MUST play an MMO, some people just stop playing, you know. I for one stopped playing WoW and have played more of other games with my free time, I've never thought that I must play an MMO every step of my life. But for me, personally, it will most likely always be WoW or nothing in terms of playing mmo's.

---------- Post added 2013-01-22 at 01:39 AM ----------



I'm also going to play "the game is getting old" card. Some people move on and that's just how it is. Whilst you can have your opinion, to literally say there is no chance at all for the sub's to decline is a little bit on the stupid side.

And to have an argument based on "the game is old" is stupid. Considering the game today isn't close at all to the game of 2004. It's constantly changing and they've improved the beginner experience. People leave due to being burned out, and then people also join due to discovering what an amazing game it is.

You're going to have to use a better argument then "this game is old" because I've clearly outlined why they aren't going to lose subs and WHY they lost them the first time.

[Meatboll]

Yep the good old Fluff like SOR, AP, RAF discounts etc

Let's not forget the lack of bots being banned. Blizzard is a great fluffer!

[TJ]

And to have an argument based on "the game is old" is stupid. Considering the game today isn't close at all to the game of 2004. It's constantly changing and they've improved the beginner experience. People leave due to being burned out, and then people also join due to discovering what an amazing game it is.

You're going to have to use a better argument then "this game is old" because I've clearly outlined why they aren't going to lose subs and WHY they lost them the first time.

No, it really isn't. Many people hop ships to another game (like GW2) because the graphics are much better, WoW is more than clearly dated in the current year, just compare it to other games. No, this isn't the reason everyone quits but it's a factor for some people. To call it an argument as well is funny, I'm just stating how this influences why some people leave and it most definitely does.

You've clearly outlined why you think they won't lose subs, just because you're having a good time doesn't mean everyone else is. Seems like you're basing it off personal experience which is quite ironic when you say my reason is stupid. You might like dailies, pet battles, or whatever else they've implemented to attempt to keep people busy, but other people won't, and that's why there's always a chance for them to lose players.

[Osmeric]

Interesting majority thinking decline.

Not too surprising, since a fraction of people will just play a bit after an expansion releases and leave until the next expansion. It would be remarkable if subs didn't decline. I also expect the grindy nature of MoP will have taken its toll.

The real test of the staying power of the game may be Q1 and Q2 of 2013.

[Ryme]

Fairly large drop in subs, Mists is a great expansion to me, but it's upset a hell of a lot of people.
Blizzcon
Lots of "oo, look at us, we're releasing things soon, people will love it" crap to flog to the stockholders as per.

[PriestRela]

2 Mil DROP

Reasons:

-Post xpac bump over.
-No Asia launch xpac bump to fail back on, first worldwide release.
-Last annual passes are up
-Content Drought, Daillies, CRZ, color of Jania's hair, color of the sky, pissed in your Wheaties this mourning, Ghostcrawler is a terrorist sleeper agent from Mars...you pick.
-I just got a feeling on this number.

[Doctor Amadeus]

I wouldnt be suprised if its around 6 million less now, the game has really gone down fast.

[Deleted]

I wouldnt be suprised if its around 6 million less now, the game has really gone down fast.

Definitely not.

10 million is my guess.

[Nerraw]

I wouldnt be suprised if its around 6 million less now, the game has really gone down fast.

You expect roughly the size of the entire playerbase of EU and US combined to have stopped playing over the course of 3 months?

[Doctor Amadeus]

You expect roughly the size of the entire playerbase of EU and US combined to have stopped playing over the course of 3 months?

Yeah, I don't know it seems pretty dead across the board, and since i came on in BC it seems more dead than that. So yeah I agree my estimate is high, but I am going by mostly what i am experiencing in game, I wouldnt be suprised 6 Million

[docterfreeze]

I'll play it safe and say around 9 mil.

Mainly due to all the complaints and "I QUIT!" threads I've seen lately.