World of Warcraft "alive and well", patch 5.2 is a statement of intent says dev

[Boogieknight]

Meh. If they continue to not add dungeons after the initial xpac release, this game won't survive past the next xpac.

Yeah because 5mans are really what makes or breaks an expansion.

They don't make it or break it, but in the grand scheme of things if we got tired running the same raid for over a year what makes you think we're fine with running the same 9 or so dungeons for 3? I stopped running randoms when for a week straight I only got 2 dungeons: Siege of Niuzao Temple and (to quote Landfill from Beerfest) "GOD %^&$ED BREWERY!". They're old already and one or two here and there would be nice to see.

[Arbs]

How about an interview with Tom Chilton? http://www.twizzcast.com/shows/2013/...m-chilton.html

"Part of the team has been split off to work on the odd number patches, Patch 5.1, 5.3, and maybe even Patch 5.5!
The rest of the team works on the even numbed patches with raids, Patch 5.0, 5.2, and Patch 5.4.
The team working on WoW has also been enlarged, and is now bigger than ever before. The team size will be increased as time goes on."

Of course Titan, must be coming along that the extra devs are now moved to WoW .

---------- Post added 2013-03-16 at 01:40 AM ----------

I think you're way off on the Rift numbers. The new "expansion" is really disappointing.

I know my thats what I heard from my friends before they came back to WoW. They were really disappointed with it.

[ringpriest]

Speaking with NowGamer, Blizzard’s Greg Street said of patch 5.2, “I really want players to get the message that this is a commitment of Blizzard and the World Of Warcraft team, and this is the type of content players can expect year after year.”

Now I know I don't need to waste my time hoping for significant changes in the next expansion. If Blizzard can actually go two expansions in a row without re-designing the game, kudos to them. Maybe they'll even approach BC-level numbers again if they can avoid alienating large chunks of their subscribers with change for the sake of change every single expansion.

He continued, making clear that WoW will be with us for some time yet, “Sometimes, there’s the risk that players say ‘gosh, this games been going on for nine years, certainly it’s winding down or it’s something Blizzard is putting out to pasture and isn’t really going to support much anymore.”

“But this huge patch is our example of no, World Of Warcraft is alive and well and as long as we keep having so many players, we will keep making the best content we can possibly make.”

I trust Blizzard's official PR so little at this point, I can't help but wonder if statements like this mean that they're going to do the exact opposite. It makes me think of a failing company that pushes out a huge dividend to 'prove' how profitable they are. But again, if Blizz can stick with it, and keep to this pledge, good for them. (Personally, I think vanilla was some of the best content they made, and would love to see them making that quality of product again, but se la vie.)

I hope they keep their promise, what do you guys think?

I think that if they don't, a lot of Blizz-worshippers will post saying "they never promised anything!"

Based on past experience, I'm skeptical. I think that Blizzard will find it very difficult to keep up the current patch schedule of releasing significant new content every 3 months. If they do, the real challenge is going to be avoiding the nearly year-long down-time between expansions. I will be very impressed if we seen a new expansion launch in a year from now or less, with two quality patches between now and then.

[Chickat]

You were lucky then. The PS2 was notoriously badly designed because it was cheaply made, but the fanboys kept buying it.

It reminds me of WoW now actually. It's a shame because the original Playstation was ahead of its time. Sony sold the console at a loss in order to make a better product.

That's how business works. You monopolize then no one has anywhere else to go so you can charge whatever you want.

My ps2 never broke and is still somewhere in my closet i believe. No one i knew had a ps2 that broke.

[Banzhe]

Says who? How are they milking it?

9 Million+ players seem to enjoy this claimed "Playstation of MMORPGs". That's simply your opinion.

There might be lots who are simply staying subbed because there is no competition to WoW (or no replacement game), Rift, SwToR, GW2 are all different types of mmo that people who play / played WoW might not enjoy.

I was subbed for almost a full year even though I didn't enjoy the game any longer (having spent 7 years with it n' stopped 5 days ago), the only times I logged on, was to for the daily routine with the farms / dailies, and then raid in the evening 4-5 times per week.
What keep't me subbed was the players I was with more then anything, but eventually they also vanished.., and with that, my interest in the game.
Game-wise, Patch 5.X raids was great, but it was to little to late for me sadly

Not that this is a doomsday proclamation, but I doubt anyone has a count on how many players are "unhappy" with where the game have gone for the past 2-3 years (Goes for all types of players), just because people are subbed at this moment, or isn't creating thread upon thread, does not mean they are happy and enjoying the game the slightest, it just means their still subscribed.

Opinions are great, their just not factual as you rightly stated to begin with, yet based it on your own opinion also.

[Deleted]

My ps2 never broke and is still somewhere in my closet i believe. No one i knew had a ps2 that broke.

Actually, first-generation PS2's had a lot of issues with the laser after a couple of years' use. Usually, they would either stop reading DVDs or stop reading CDs, but never both. This lead to a number of people being unable to play PSX games on their PS2, or only being able to play PSX games.
This was corrected within 6 months, though - and anyone who had their PS2 break on them had the option of returning it to the store for a replacement (Sony would reimburse the store without question).

For the most part though, Garian is just talking rubbish. As is his way.

[Millennía]

WoW will be alive and well for a long time to come. Especially if they keep the content coming out at this rate. It is just a pity that it took so long for them to release that fast content is necessary otherwise people will stop playing.

[Titan]

It's fairly clear Titan is being announced this year. The statement seems to be him reasuring World of Warcraft players.

Still, WoW remains at the top of the entire genre. What happens if WoW is surpassed by another game? WoW will be played and generate money for at least another 10 years, however what happens to the player base when Titan is announced, and WoW becomes the number 2 for Blizzard. What happens when ALL the top WoW developers, are working on Titan.

World of Warcraft may squeak out one more expansion. However be ready for a MASSIVE player drop when Titan is out.

[Black Rider]

Just posting here...
http://forums.station.sony.com/eq/in...as-begun.4559/

[Deleted]

Sorry to say I can't trust anything Blizzard says any more.

Do they intend to keep releasing content like this year after year? Maybe. Will they? That's another story entirely.

With Blizzard I always find there's some spin goes into everything they say just so when it doesn't happen, they have a way to backpedal. Sad really, but it seems to be the way mainstream gaming companies are going nowadays.

[Deleted]

You know MoP is succesful when the worst thing people can say about it is that there are daily quests to do, well, daily.

I don't think you've really been paying attention then.

[Deleted]

Your own fault if you are bored then, as there is other stuff to do in the game than what you just described.

---------- Post added 2013-03-15 at 06:32 PM ----------



Barely anyone did Halion. Most people seem to forget that the Ruby Sanctum even existed. And sure, ICC was good - but that doesn't change the fact that it lasted for about a year. And no, Wrath had less content than MoP.

Then your server was full of morons then. because Outland had Ruby running 24/7

[Gimlix]

It's fairly clear Titan is being announced this year. The statement seems to be him reasuring World of Warcraft players.

Still, WoW remains at the top of the entire genre. What happens if WoW is surpassed by another game? WoW will be played and generate money for at least another 10 years, however what happens to the player base when Titan is announced, and WoW becomes the number 2 for Blizzard. What happens when ALL the top WoW developers, are working on Titan.

World of Warcraft may squeak out one more expansion. However be ready for a MASSIVE player drop when Titan is out.

They said Titan wouldn't be the same kind of genre then WoW is or diablo or SC, so don't expect WoW just do die suddenly when titan comes out, it might drop a few million if its good, but it won't die of it.

Blizzard is good, but don't expect them to get another good game as good as WoW, WoW was just pure luck ;p

[Deleted]

Actually I believe it, i'm loving this patch and hating the fact that I don't have as much time to play as I would like (growing up sucks)

I love the new scenarios, the daily quests, the new tag system, the dino island, and the new raid (minus the nightmare mode trash, it was fun the 1st time, but once you figure it out it gets boring real quick)

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

5.2 is great for raiding. Bad for everything else, the game isn't fun anymore when gearing up because Blizz used scenarios to speed up the output of new patches.

[Magpai]

If a monopoly exists it dosent matter why it exists it is still bad for the consumer. Who said Blizzard are responsible for the competance of any other company?

An MMO is not some vital service you can't live without, so nothing Blizzard does can possibly be bad for the customer. They could charge you $5,000 for a turd on a platter and as long as you have the option to say not it wouldn't be "bad for the customer". If Blizz's monopoly is bad for you, unsubscribe and all the problems it causes go away.

Not that any such monopoly exists, of course. "Blizzard creates the product most people choose over the competition" is not remotely the same as "Blizzard has a monopoly".

[ringpriest]

An MMO is not some vital service you can't live without, so nothing Blizzard does can possibly be bad for the customer. They could charge you $5,000 for a turd on a platter and as long as you have the option to say not it wouldn't be "bad for the customer". If Blizz's monopoly is bad for you, unsubscribe and all the problems it causes go away.

Wow. Seriously?

Just because WoW is not the one and only MMO does not by any remotely rational stretch of the imagination mean that everything Blizzard does is good for their players.

[Mawnix]

so nothing Blizzard does can possibly be bad for the customer.

Eh?

They've done a few things that I, the customer, have not liked and still do not like the changes they've instilled on the game.

But any company can make a mistake. It just matters whether or not they rectify it and fix it, which is what Blizzard is quite good at.

They listen to feedback and after making said mistake, or making the customer unhappy, they listen to their plights and then make that said "mistake" into something most people enjoy.

[Transmigration]

And no, Wrath had less content than MoP.

This is true if buckets of shit are considered content. If the content isn't relative to or enjoyed by players, it may as well be a bucket of shit. Scenarios, hours and hours and hours of dailies most people don't like doing, and only 5 new 5man dungeons for the whole expansion?

I don't have a problem with WoW, I still play and I love pandas. I'll take wrath content over farming and dailies any day though.

[Cwimge]

WoW is finally dead to me. The pandas did not kill it, the motherfucking dailies did not kill it (though they made it possible) No, what did it is the way every new announcement and scrap of information is pulling away from anything rational..Swtor is dead in the water, but between this and the waste of guild wars I cannot wait to get my glowstick back on