Where is the returning player Hype?

[Dawon]

Me and the wife returned a month ago to level new alts... the mains are rotting in their garrisons but we'll probably revert to them once Legion hits... then the usual 6 months of leveling, gearing, raiding and finally dying out of boredom (same pattern since after Wrath) to finally unsub again and wait 1 year for next expansion.

So yeah, returning players like us are pretty useless anyway for WoW.... the returning-to-stay players are probably very rare, most are like us I'm afraid.. in for 6months and then gone again.. completely useless for the community and raid-recruiters! :/

[Srg56]

Where is the returning player Hype?

If you ask that question then you must not realize how utterly badly they screwed the pooch with WoD. They got back their 10+million players, and then proceeded to throw it all into the fire with lackluster content, cutting content left and right, pvp balance and ashran being disasters and much more.

My point is that WoD was the final nail in the coffin for allot of people. I'd be surprised to find out that the game has more than 2 million subs right now.

[Sylvaeres]

Usually when pre-patch is about to hit the hype train starts and people start flooding back to WoW. We have less than a week till pre-patch and I don't see any signs of people returning in droves like usual. Makes me wonder how big Legion will actually be.

Did WoD really turn people off this much? This is first time I've ever seen pre-patch not be super hyped up.

WoD certainly lost some players for good, but I think we'll start seeing the subs increase closer to Legion

[Synros]

I resubbed for the Pre-event, but really have no plans on buying Legion until I see the reaction of people after the first few months of launch. I'm not going to be fooled again, like I was with WoD.

[Seradi]

I've been playing Beta and have really enjoyed what I've experienced so far. Haven't felt this immersed in the story since Wrath.

[Demithio]

Me and the wife returned a month ago to level new alts... the mains are rotting in their garrisons but we'll probably revert to them once Legion hits... then the usual 6 months of leveling, gearing, raiding and finally dying out of boredom (same pattern since after Wrath) to finally unsub again and wait 1 year for next expansion.

So yeah, returning players like us are pretty useless anyway for WoW.... the returning-to-stay players are probably very rare, most are like us I'm afraid.. in for 6months and then gone again.. completely useless for the community and raid-recruiters! :/

This is really inline with their WoW business model these days. its all hype driven, fast money, with minimum development expenditure. Rinse / repeat every two years.

[Jessicka]

I resubbed, but I'm not actually playing yet, and certainly not to 'catch up', because there's nothing to catch up with. I did it all within 4 months of WoD's release, then again within a couple of weeks of HFC's.

I'll probably buy normal edition Legion nearer the time to see do it and see the world, but I'm just not sold on it. It's so much same old same old, but with different class design. And different =/= better or worse, it's just not the character you're used to. How can I be hyped about having to play a whole new character over the one I've played 10 years?

[Luxeley]

If you call 'mediocrity' MoP then so do I call shit TBC and WotLK. Cata was a bit bad but there were good reasons behind it, and it was nowhere near as bad as WoW. Take your nostalgia glasses off. MoP is right up there at the top along with WotLK.

The declining Sub#s during MOP supports my argument. What supports your argument?

[Deleted]

Seeing is believing.

Blizzard are taking their time with this and are actually listening to feedback. That's enough for me. The potential for greatness is there. I *know* they can make WoW great again.

[Louz]

Quit shortly after the BRF patch, resubbed last week along with a couple of friends.

Gotta say, from returning player's pov, this is the most unfriendly pre-expansion patch I've ever played, and I've played them all.

True, the actual event hasn't started yet, but if you want to finish some Draenor bussines before the Legion hits, well, bad luck.

The only highlight is the new instanced PvP system, even though that's starting to get ruined by the amounts of rogues and warlocks on each team, simply because of how stupidly OP these classes are compared to others.

No catchup for legendary, atleast not like in MoP, very unfriendly players in random groups, flying available only after pretty much completing the both old and current content making PvP servers virtually unplayable, gold being common currency, yet its income from garrisons cut completely...

So if anyone asked me if they should return right now, I would definitely say no.

[HappyCola]

I play zoomed out so I could care less about it

Not anymore you don't.

[Saiona]

The sad thing is that even blizzard knows Legion is going to be a massive flop due to not bringing in the hype previous expansions have, when you look at legion as a whole it really doesn't offer much that is why they've been pushing all these dev interviews that are just the same thing over and over again trying to bait people into coming back.

Huh? I've played beta and played since vanilla and Legion seems to be one of the most content rich expansions we will ever see. You are out of touch

[dyzz]

Huh? I've played beta and played since vanilla and Legion seems to be one of the most content rich expansions we will ever see. You are out of touch

People said the same thing during alpha, beta, and early WoD...

[Maudib]

Some things seem fairly obvious to me:

The hype doesn't exist because of how WoD was handled, cut, only 1 "real" content patch, flying almost removed then only allowed after the expansion was "over".

Pre-orders are WAY below projections, or we would have seen some hype about it. Nothing, nada.

The movie did diddly squat to renew people's interest in the game... instead it reminded them of what WoW used to be. The "free game" didn't work out because of the poor US performance and only one theater chain participation, and the Collector's Edition/PreOrder debacle. They have totally FusterClucked this release of the expansion.

Blizzard has too long relied on the devotion (read addiction) to the franchise believing they could do whatever the hell they wanted and people would eat it up.

WoD truly stabbed the backs of a HUGE part of it's fanbase... a base that is not preordering and waiting to see how Legion measures up... and some of which are just done period. Give an addicts enough time, and some of them will kick the habit or find another drug.

It doesn't help that during this time, they nerfed the Garrison gold... which was for MANY the only reason they still logged in.

So here they are, staring at the lowest subs in history since Vanilla... with market projections now showing they aren't going to skyrocket to some amazing number of subs/sales. And what are we seeing? A whole lot of very divisive changes... it's clear they are thinking.. "Now is the time to get all these things addressed... we've already lost 7-8 million players.. what's another 1/2 millon?"

The writing is on the wall for the beancounters... they've been told by the devs "Whatever we do will not be enough for the long time players... they are just tired of the game." So they believe the only way to continue milking the WoW cashcow is through console release.

I guarantee you that the next expansion will be made available for consoles. It's either that or shutdown WoW (or potentially go free to play for a few more years.

And it all comes down to one reason... inept devs. They all wanted to put their mark on WoW.. be "the one" that saves it. And instead, all they have done is innovated it too far from the amazing MMO it once was.

Legion, like WoD, looks amazing on... and will provide 2 months of entertainment due to the new zones, questlines and dungeons/raids. But there is nothing about the endgame compelling or rewarding... After a couple months of max level people will be right back in the same boat as WoD. Professions are dead ended, and endgame is nothing but level the weapon.

And it will turn out that that isn't compelling enough to continue playing.

[TheVaryag]

Usually when pre-patch is about to hit the hype train starts and people start flooding back to WoW. We have less than a week till pre-patch and I don't see any signs of people returning in droves like usual. Makes me wonder how big Legion will actually be.

Did WoD really turn people off this much? This is first time I've ever seen pre-patch not be super hyped up.

Allow me to enlighten you.

WoD has had a content gap for 13-14 months give or take, since patch 6.2, and that's the only patch and real content we had since 6.0 launched In late 2014, (6.1 will not count, as It was not a content patch, but simply a selfie/garrison mini patch with nothing useful).

We had and saw people trying to return to WoW which I take a personal Interest of documenting In a link I'll post below. The key word Is "tried" as more then half of these Vanila/TBC/Wrath players who were told "Oh WoW's great again, lets go play again" were not able to access their accounts for one reason or another.

Across these forums, WoW forums and even a few others I saw people complaining about one of a few things when trying to return to WoW and among those was:

1. Unable to access account, was hacked, please help.

2. Couldn't combine account with Battle.net (As before battle.net and WoW account was separate)

3. I was banned/suspended before, please release me It's been 7-10 years (This one being the least posted)

4. People had gotten their accounts, but not their characters... which was a big turn off for them.

Let me just jump on the 4th one to explain that like me, a 11 year long player of WoW we value our characters In a sense that we have Items, weapons, armors, trinkets or otherwise that no other player can have anymore, and that makes us feel awesome, we played the game before, we have these items, no body else could...

And most people who tried to return to WoW were denied their nostalgic character and items one way or another, even despite being offered to start a trial or a new account, and new freely boosted characters - you see that doesn't matter, most such players will not play WoW once they've realized Blizzard could not take care of their accounts In the 7-10 year long period of their account being Inactive or hacked without them knowing.

So yes, "Returning player hype" Is nonexistant due to Blizzard unable to keep their accounts Intact after such a long time. Which by now should tell people how badly Blizzard Is taking care of their playerbase, the hardcore or casual kind.

Now In my case, I play WoW but If you read my signature below you'll know I was delayed In that sense, my real account I had for 10 years was hacked, and banned, very obvious step and a good one on Blizzard's part. Yet... after proving I was the owner of the account they still refuse to give me back my account for no apparent reason at all, and I'm not the only one. For some reason since WoD they've banned so many people for such bizzare reasons It's no wonder players who either didn't play or play don't feel like Blizzard can help them properly anymore with Customer Support like this.

I made a secondary account, with like two characters... but I feel less then hyped for WoW now, why? My account Is gone, my favorite items, my rare items, my characters, I had side-characters now, they're less fun, they're new, It feels like I'm playing an Inferior version of WoW due to playing on a secondary account (Which I pay for WoW tokens only). It's bizzare. I miss my priest with the Benediction staff you cant get anymore, the Original Quel'Serrar sword (You can get It now but... mine was the original and much harder to get and more rewarding to get). Various armor pieces you can't get anymore, trinkets and other items, achivements of course, and just general progress on the first account you have.

http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/Th...?sort=3&page=1

Feel free to check the gallery of people mistreated, banned or unable to be serviced by Blizzard properly when they tried to return to WoW.

[PixelFox]

If you ask that question then you must not realize how utterly badly they screwed the pooch with WoD. They got back their 10+million players, and then proceeded to throw it all into the fire with lackluster content, cutting content left and right, pvp balance and ashran being disasters and much more.

My point is that WoD was the final nail in the coffin for [a lot] of people. I'd be surprised to find out that the game has more than 2 million subs right now.

I don't think it was the nail in the coffin, but what it did do is burn many of those ten million people who were eager and looking forward to an awesome WoW experience that didn't really materialize or didn't last very long.

So "once burned twice shy" and "fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me" etc.

People will be much less likely to pre-purchase based on hype this time around, but if Legion is actually fun then I think you'll see many people trickle back around the time it releases and for a while after that.

There has been a substantial uptick in activity since the pre-patch, and I see more old players coming back to poke around.

Many people have grown up and no longer have an interest in 2-3 night per week organized raiding though, and that was WoW for many of the long-time players, so we'll have to see whether Legion offers the right kind of content for the current generations.

[Donimic]

ill be nice
--Snip--

[Jewsco]

Allow me to enlighten you.

WoD has had a content gap for 13-14 months give or take, since patch 6.2, and that's the only patch and real content we had since 6.0 launched In late 2014, (6.1 will not count, as It was not a content patch, but simply a selfie/garrison mini patch with nothing useful).

We had and saw people trying to return to WoW which I take a personal Interest of documenting In a link I'll post below. The key word Is "tried" as more then half of these Vanila/TBC/Wrath players who were told "Oh WoW's great again, lets go play again" were not able to access their accounts for one reason or another.

Across these forums, WoW forums and even a few others I saw people complaining about one of a few things when trying to return to WoW and among those was:

1. Unable to access account, was hacked, please help.

2. Couldn't combine account with Battle.net (As before battle.net and WoW account was separate)

3. I was banned/suspended before, please release me It's been 7-10 years (This one being the least posted)

4. People had gotten their accounts, but not their characters... which was a big turn off for them.

Let me just jump on the 4th one to explain that like me, a 11 year long player of WoW we value our characters In a sense that we have Items, weapons, armors, trinkets or otherwise that no other player can have anymore, and that makes us feel awesome, we played the game before, we have these items, no body else could...

And most people who tried to return to WoW were denied their nostalgic character and items one way or another, even despite being offered to start a trial or a new account, and new freely boosted characters - you see that doesn't matter, most such players will not play WoW once they've realized Blizzard could not take care of their accounts In the 7-10 year long period of their account being Inactive or hacked without them knowing.

So yes, "Returning player hype" Is nonexistant due to Blizzard unable to keep their accounts Intact after such a long time. Which by now should tell people how badly Blizzard Is taking care of their playerbase, the hardcore or casual kind.

Now In my case, I play WoW but If you read my signature below you'll know I was delayed In that sense, my real account I had for 10 years was hacked, and banned, very obvious step and a good one on Blizzard's part. Yet... after proving I was the owner of the account they still refuse to give me back my account for no apparent reason at all, and I'm not the only one. For some reason since WoD they've banned so many people for such bizzare reasons It's no wonder players who either didn't play or play don't feel like Blizzard can help them properly anymore with Customer Support like this.

I made a secondary account, with like two characters... but I feel less then hyped for WoW now, why? My account Is gone, my favorite items, my rare items, my characters, I had side-characters now, they're less fun, they're new, It feels like I'm playing an Inferior version of WoW due to playing on a secondary account (Which I pay for WoW tokens only). It's bizzare. I miss my priest with the Benediction staff you cant get anymore, the Original Quel'Serrar sword (You can get It now but... mine was the original and much harder to get and more rewarding to get). Various armor pieces you can't get anymore, trinkets and other items, achivements of course, and just general progress on the first account you have.

http://s1077.photobucket.com/user/Th...?sort=3&page=1

Feel free to check the gallery of people mistreated, banned or unable to be serviced by Blizzard properly when they tried to return to WoW.

How many times are you going to tell his sob story of being banned? Near every post you have ever posted mentions it. Nevermind the fact you keep changing the story too. You weren't hacked. In your original telling of this "story" your brother did the deeds that got your account banned for harrassment. Even though you got multiple emails from blizz warning you, you did nothing and let the warnings pile up. Then you admittedly harassed blizz trying to get the banned overturned even though that ironically is what you were banned for. And now have harassed this site with your endless whining about it. I doubt your brother even did it as you have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have an obsessive personality and can easily see you harrassing a player in game as due by the fact you keep doing it here on this site.
Let it go already and quit changing the story to try to make you seem like a victim.

[Deleted]

I am sure that many people will re-enable their subscriptions for at least 2 to 3 months and see how it goes with the new expansion. At least this is what I am going to do as a returning player. But it will all come down to Blizzard delivering and showing that they still care about this game and the players that still play it instead of just prolonging the demise of the game. It is apparent that mmo-rpg market is facing rough times and is on decline because people do not have that much time anymore to devote on a single game. Statistics show that the majority of gamers nowadays prefer fast games with pvp elemnts and an established esports scene (e.g. League of Legends, CS:GO etc). But WoW is not one of these random/generic mmo games that come out, last for 1 to 2 years then they die. It is a game that has been out for so many years and the playerbase is still larger than any other mmo-rpg game out there currently.

All in all, it comes down to how Blizzard handles this expansion because this time I am sure that the players will be more unforgiving and will not grant Blizzard another last chance after that. But certainly, there are a lot of returning players that are going to play the new expansion for the first couple of months. After that, who knows?

[Deleted]

I am sure that many people will re-enable their subscriptions for at least 2 to 3 months and see how it goes with the new expansion.

Yeah no, not going to waste money on Legion before knowing it is better than WoD.