Is WoW heading towards it's final years?

[Xirrohon]

Its either going to end or have to go in a completely different direction. They cant keep dangling that Sargeras carrot in front of us for much longer!

[callipygoustp]

Everything I hear from the friends I have that still play is for the most part very good. I'm not subbed and I don't have Legion so all my info is second hand but the outward impression I see is that the game is still pretty dammed healthy.

[chase_the_mofo]

Forget about it, they are making way2much $$$ from wow.

You can expect 100% confirmed xpansions:
1) wrath of the lich king 2
2) emerald nightmare/dream
3) qiraji/uldum like thing

[ComputerNerd]

The engine limit is a problem. Game looks pretty outdated to. Wich may keep kids used to super grafics away (and also its quite expensive to start, compared to other mmos).

They can keep adding lore and cut down content (wich from what i am reading is becoming less and less), but its noticable.

A fresh start would be a good idea. Tho i wana see what will happen with this:

It could kill wow population quite bad.

Less about the looks but more the performance.
Practically no utilising of multi-threading as a particular example.
While not unique to wow, it is something that it could benefit hugely from potentially.

A fresh start would do no such thing, given how that is exactly what ANY other MMO is offering.
But despite the so-called wow-killers they failed generally to achieve a whole lot.

[HordeFanboy]

They will not make another mmorpg.
They will write new Lore. As they did with void lords thing in chronicles.

[Eon Drache]

My guess is we'll lose on Argus. There needs to be a way to get rid of our artifacts when we leave the expansion. Maybe to escape Argus before we die we have to leave our armaments behind as an item to draw power from. When we get back we find that N'zoth was released when we used the pillars of creation. Il'gynoth said the 5 keys will break the prison.

[TheVaryag]

So, we've seen a ton of info today. We're most likely killing the Avatar and KJ in the Tomb and then we're going to Argus which there could only truly be one reason for, and that is to stop Sargeras. If you read a bit more into what Ion said about only buying ourselves a few years then you might come to realize that we're going there to stop them once and for all and we can only do so by destroying Sargeras, now, they said we'd meet Turalyon and Alleria this expansion, we now know how. There's also the remnants of thew Army of light there and we're likely to be going there in the Exodar as it is being repaired as we speak.

I mean, most of us have been speculating about Argus as a expansion for all these years, now that is cut into a patch which is fine by me, but then we'll return to Azeroth having to face Azshara, N'zoth and the remnants of the troll empire. Then there's only the void lords left, and they don't even have a proper background story yet, we don't know their names, we don't know jackshit about them except for them being stronger than the Legion.

WoW surely makes Blizzard a lot of money and it will continue to do so in the future, but did anyone else get the feeling they're gearing up for something big in the coming years?

They clearly had an insane success with Overwatch and now it's one of the most popular games out there and it is likely going to be just as popular as LoL within the next years. With that, I truly think Overwatch is the next IP we'll get a Blizzard mmo in, unless they're completely done with the genre after WoW.

But it just seems like they're building up story with Overwatch as they did with Warcraft.

To me It seems they're milking Legion and WoW for It's last money before they shut It down. That's It. If they -are- going In that route, and I highly doubt we'll be fighting Sargeras, or at least I hope he's not just a 10 man raid... that'd be the most fucking stupid thing they've done ever In WoW. I rather like... hold off waves and hordes of bosses and demonic minions while true heroes, Khadgar, Turalyon, Alleria, the Horde Leaders, the Alliance Leaders so on and so on actually fight Sargeras all together, and even then they'd barely be able to scratch him... I doubt we'll kill him. Perhaps wound him enough to go away for a while. I mean we -know- from the Anduin Comic that Anduin Is a very old man still aboard the Exodar and still fighting the fight. So who knows how long Blizzard wants to milk WoW before It finally dies off.

[NotFunny008]

Well I wouldn't be playing an overwatch MMO. They'd be stupid to kill WoW.

Just ignore that point of the OP. Blizzard is not going to make an Overwatch MMO or any MMO. The OP was high.

[Khuteh]

It feels more like with the quality of content and actually improving so much about this game that it's got a long time left. I don't see why the game couldn't do 5-10 years easily or more with the improvements being made to everything.

Legion is a much better game than WoD and Cata, has good things from the past but is improving and constantly evolving, also actually listening to the community, and embracing the community and why we play wow, friends, guild, ya know, the MMO experience we all invest in for fun.

[Cæli]

Of course not. Are hundreds of thousands of players willing to play (and pay lel) for a VERY long time still ? yeah right

I think some people just don't realize how much money the game makes, kind of like those who don't realize how our universe is huge

Also I assume server costs scale with the number of players playing, so if you were looking to get free from the game I think you're screwed

- - - Updated - - -

Yes...but very slowly. Think late 2030s or early 2040s.

I think they'll stop releasing content one day, but will eventually keep the store running forever, or allow players to make their own server and get donation, with Blizzard taking a fee on it, something like that

Finally, while players would pay for WoW, I think most of them just don't want the game touched in any way, they don't get mad because the game is not looking realistic, but looks artistically well done instead, which is someone great about the players (there's at least that), they just want content added, so why not keeping this running forever, any company chosing not to would be plain stupid

[Deleted]

As long as casuals are willing to pay for piss-easy content, Blizzard will oblige. I don't see WoW ending in the next 10 years.

[Eats Compost]

If WoW kicks the bucket, it'll only be under circumstances where they are effectively superseding it with another product. That could mean WoW 2, that could mean a different variety of MMO-ish thing, or it might be a more roundabout project designed to capture a similar audience.

I don't think that any of those will happen in the near future, but I give the whole "WoW 2" thing a higher chance than the others. From a "how can we sell it?" standpoint, they get the brand and the legacy. From the "what will it mean for the game?" standpoint, there's a LOT of stuff that they can build from the ground up, including a much-needed overhaul of how combat actually works.

The big question is timing, really. The game's player counts aren't exactly going to collapse overnight and it has many more years in it, but it's also the case that the game's days are numbered. It's hard to make calls on whether they'll stick with WoW to the bitter end or whether they'd try to put out another product instead, because those are the questions that executives within Blizzard will be struggling with too.

[Deleted]

The engine limit is a problem. Game looks pretty outdated to. Wich may keep kids used to super grafics away (and also its quite expensive to start, compared to other mmos).

They can keep adding lore and cut down content (wich from what i am reading is becoming less and less), but its noticable.

A fresh start would be a good idea. Tho i wana see what will happen with this:

It could kill wow population quite bad.

Oh look.. another wow killer..

There aren't a million of those already.

Also.. How the hell is it expensive.

You buy the vanilla game, which includes all expansions up to WoD, and you purchase legion.

[Yunru]

If WoW kicks the bucket, it'll only be under circumstances where they are effectively superseding it with another product. That could mean WoW 2, that could mean a different variety of MMO-ish thing, or it might be a more roundabout project designed to capture a similar audience.

I don't think that any of those will happen in the near future, but I give the whole "WoW 2" thing a higher chance than the others. From a "how can we sell it?" standpoint, they get the brand and the legacy. From the "what will it mean for the game?" standpoint, there's a LOT of stuff that they can build from the ground up, including a much-needed overhaul of how combat actually works.

The big question is timing, really. The game's player counts aren't exactly going to collapse overnight and it has many more years in it, but it's also the case that the game's days are numbered. It's hard to make calls on whether they'll stick with WoW to the bitter end or whether they'd try to put out another product instead, because those are the questions that executives within Blizzard will be struggling with too.

They wont realise it, till half life 3 is out .

[huth]

Just ignore that point of the OP. Blizzard is not going to make an Overwatch MMO or any MMO. The OP was high.

Well, they were making one. Then it became Overwatch. I very much doubt they're trying to make it an MMO again, though.

[InfiniteCharger]

WOW the game might not die, but at some point fighting against more powerful "elite" bad guys who don't really affect the world in general is going to get stale. It is the fact that world shattering epic events have occurred IN THE PAST that is keeping the lore going in the present day. But at some point the whole stage needs to be cleared with some new super powerful destructive force being unleashed that actually has a major impact on the world as we know it. That would give them a chance to reset everything.

Otherwise, I can't imagine how they can keep going where players are going up to level 130 and 140 but the old world is still stuck in a time warp. Argus makes sense because they can justify not touching the old world a bit longer. But at some point the old world has to be touched. And the idea that someone would want to play from level 1 to level 160 is mind boggling. Not to mention what sorts of spells and abilities will the players get at that level? Blizz still hasn't given players a lot of the abilities NPCs have....

[DoctorDoomkin]

To answer the question: No.

From a business perspective: If no other MMO has pulled subs off WoW, making another MMO is not a marketable idea. Subs is what makes money, not copies of the game. Keep the content rolling on the current MMO until the public simply has no interest anymore.

From a technical perspective: It is stupid to simply rebuild the entire world from the ground up on another game when they can do it on the current game. Though the graphics are on the low end compared to other MMOs, this actually helps keep the game accessible to a huge audience. Good visuals = / = a good game.


From a Lore perspective: Just because the Legion is gone does not mean there are others that are ignored. There are other things out there that put the Legion to shame, such as the Old Gods and the Void Lords themselves.



WoW is not going out anytime soon.

[Deleted]

No.
People have been saying this forever... as long as people still play the game, Blizzard will keep making expansions.

[Gnosk]

They won't be stopping until WoW stops being lucrative. That's still a long ways away.

Exactly! WoW will continue till the day it doesn't make financial sense to continue to run it. The warcraft universe is made up (of course!) so they will continue to make it up as they go. There is no "ending".

[anaxie]

Yes some people buy the WE WILL MAKE EXPANSIONS TILL THE WORLD ENDS!

Legion and Argus says otherwise

ENTIRE Villan cast after the Legion is destroyed is Azshara, N'zoth, and Prophet Zul.

and coincidenctaly Azshara, and N'zoth are directly link to the Final threat The Void Lords. None of which are named yet.

and then thats it!

The Entire major location setpiece and Villan backlog of their entire franchise will be exhausted.

WoW has at most 2 expansions left after Legion ending 2022/2023. Those who simply refuse to acknowledge it are in denial. An expansion has NEVER not had a major backlog headliner villan or one that hasnt taken 3 expansions to build up and STILL use one of the core evils. Garrosh+1 of the 4 Old Gods. But the difference this time. NO Villan is built up because they have been building up Azshara and N'zoth and #2 an Old God which was still a pre WoW backlog with their 4-5 number was used in the process also.

WoD was used!

Yup and the revelation of Demons came to pass aswell giving a modern complex encounter design to Archimonde a fight he deserved to have, Bringing Mannoroth and Ticondrius to the big scene as a result atleast once. and despit them being AU. Letting us Meet and hate Gul'dan and Blackhand outside the original WC1/Wc2

BUT it's still technically a backlog because of WHO these people are / were / could be.

When they suggested the idea of Gul'dan the shitlord in WoD opening. OHHH i knew we were in for a treat. people duped by GROM IS FINAL BOSS. had me laughing my ass off because they knew fuck all of warcraft lore and a very clear direction i saw this story going. the shitlord Gul'dan did not dissappoint as a villan.