Scummiest Marketing Ploy Ever: 10.1 Million?

[Mirishka]

Cigarette companies used to claim doctors recommended their brand, yet this is the scummiest marketing ploy ever in your mind? It must be hard to be that dramatic.

Well said.

- - - Updated - - -

I see the OP is back for another delightful diatribe that she's so known for. Did you bother to make sure you had all the facts before making this thread? Judging by some of these responses I'd say no.

People around here seem to enjoy talking out of their asses, so I'd wager 'she' probably didn't.

[Cerus]

Cigarette companies used to claim doctors recommended their brand, yet this is the scummiest marketing ploy ever in your mind? It must be hard to be that dramatic.

They once did. They also used to smoke in hospitals - was extremely common up until the early to mid 80s.

[Ashkiman]

So if a person who works at Blizzard gets drunk and let's say rapes a girl, is it still Blizzard's fault?

[Underverse]

The number probably is 10.1 million. Blizzard just had to cover themselves because of their policy of not releasing subscription numbers. But Chilton is an insider - he knows, and he let it slip.

[Deleted]

Yes, clickbait is one of the scummiest marketing ploys ever.

But also; If you consider what you are talking about in the OP one of the scummiest marketing ploys ever, then my friend you need to open your eyes to the real world.

[klaps_05]

What would they gain from doing that?

Press, publicity. One of WoWs goals is to be a MASSIVE game. The way such "marketing" works is, one guy reads the 10.1 million and tells his friends, they spread the word, but very few actually followthrough with fact checking.

E.g. Magazine article - HUGE title "WOW IS BACK TO OVER 10 MILLION WOOT WOOT", I would probably take a quick look at the article, but wont really bother for sources, let alone see some small paragraph at the end of the article.

[Statix]

Bullshit. All of a sudden 5 million players came back? Yea right.

[Deleted]

Bullshit. All of a sudden 5 million players came back? Yea right.

"All of a sudden" implies nothing changing outside of time passing (A ceteris parabus situation).
This is clearly not the case when, you know; a new expansion drops in a MMO and said expansion was actually received well by most critics and users.

[Underverse]

Bullshit. All of a sudden 5 million players came back? Yea right.

It's not surprising when you look at past trends.

- - - Updated - - -

Press, publicity. One of WoWs goals is to be a MASSIVE game. The way such "marketing" works is, one guy reads the 10.1 million and tells his friends, they spread the word, but very few actually followthrough with fact checking.

E.g. Magazine article - HUGE title "WOW IS BACK TO OVER 10 MILLION WOOT WOOT", I would probably take a quick look at the article, but wont really bother for sources, let alone see some small paragraph at the end of the article.

I hope you're wearing your tinfoil hat.

[Ashkiman]

Bullshit. All of a sudden 5 million players came back? Yea right.

Considering how awesome and full of fan services Legion is and of course with the release of the movie, I wouldn't be surprised if at least 3-4 million people have came back to wow ever since Blizzard's last sub count report.

[Statix]

"All of a sudden" implies nothing changing outside of time passing (A ceteris parabus situation).
This is clearly not the case when, you know; a new expansion drops in a MMO and said expansion was actually received well by most critics and users.

It's not surprising when you look at past trends.

Considering how awesome and full of fan services Legion is and of course with the release of the movie, I wouldn't be surprised if at least 3-4 million people have came back to wow ever since Blizzard's last sub count report.

[Shadowferal]

Any sub number is speculation...Chilton said one thing, Blizz corrected him...

[Knyx]

Remember, when lives matter, always use asbestos fireproofing!

Ahh yes. Nothing like relaxing with a nice unfiltered Marlboro in an asbestos-filled room covered in lead-based paint. :P

[Deleted]

Bullshit. All of a sudden 5 million players came back? Yea right.

It's not unlikely, people unsub at the end of an expansion, especially when the patch lasts for ages like HFC did, with the plan of coming back in the expansion. People came back after seeing the movie, then when the expansion hit, you had people come that quit in WoD that quit in MoP all the way back. If they truely are at 10 mil they prolly hit higher in the first few days. But people lose interest

[Calfredd]

[IMG]https://s11.postimg.org/um4ybaygj/412632_1.jpg[IMG]

I find it funny you are having a hard time accepting that WoW may have over 10 million players again, I'm not. Initial players of an expansion don't matter anyway, it's how many are left after the initial rush dies down and at the end of the expansion (before the expansion gap).

[Deleted]

Do you enjoy the game?
Yes= keep playing.
No = unsub and uninstall.
Who cares about sub numbers?

[Vaelorian]

How much everyone should care about the numbers themselves? zero
How much everyone should care about how many people they see and are from their own server (to ensure a certain health of the server)? A lot. But ofcourse only if this matters to you if you want to see other people that matter.

To me a sub number just says how many subs there are. It doesn't mean if I enjoy the game more. I personally enjoy the game more if I see more people from my own server and interact with them. As because they are from the same server, it atleast could mean I would bump into them again at one point.

In a far away back of my mind, sub numbers are important because of how much money Blizzard is willing to spend perhaps on upcoming expansions. But I am not sure if this number actually has any effect on the amount or not. Could be a set amount of dollars, regardless of sub numbers.

[Louisa Bannon]

The way a company markets their product is actually a kind of property right which can be sued for in court. Chilton is a Blizzard insider. Journalists make reports. Blizzard denies the claim. What's the truth of it all? I have no idea, but as the Gamergate incident makes quite clear that the relationship between game companies and the supposed journalists that report on them is extremely chummy.

I thought it was an interesting thing to discuss. Yes, I have an opinion about the ethical practices of a game company in an increasingly unethical internet marketing culture.

Do I think WoW Legion has bumped numbers to 10.1 million? It's not impossible, but hell no. I figure WoW had about 4 million tops going into Legion. My understanding is that Legion sold something like 3 million copies - that's fewer than the number I am claiming as their current sub base going into Legion. But hell, let's just add 4+3 million because we have no fucks to give = 7 million. That would mean that every purchaser of Legion was not already a subscriber but actually a new customer - maybe that's starting to look like a ridiculous number, yeah? So if 7 million is nuts, 10 million is simply out of the question. In reality, I figure WoW is still hovering around 3-5 million tops. What is left are the most enthusiastic and forgiving of the current player base.

So yeah, that's my opinion. If you don't like it...

Dance, monkey, dance!

[Life-Binder]

WoD had 10M at launch and Legion >>> WoD, so yeah, they probably have 10+ right now

[Shadowferal]

Do you enjoy the game?
Yes= keep playing.
No = unsub and uninstall.
Who cares about sub numbers?

I should hope anyone that enjoys the game cares about available investment money going back into it.
Those that don't care are the simpleminded that actually think low sub numbers are a good thing.

- - - Updated - - -

WoD had 10M at launch and Legion >>> WoD, so yeah, they probably have 10+ right now

Wishful thinking...it's cute.
If Blizz did have such numbers then they'd gladly be parading that number around, instead of doing damage control from Chilton's interview.