We are being way too harsh and unreasonable

[Foj]

If they want to have a twitter, read the forums, do Q&A's then they are exposing themselves to criticism.

You can't realistically expect a company to have fans that demand interaction with developers, then have the developers ignore any abuse they get as a result?

I mean, if you're an asshole to someone for no reason, it is actually YOUR fault.

I agreed with you. It was totally uncalled for. It showed how greedy blizzard is, especially that blizzard as matter of fact did treat their customers like they are nothing, but a steaming pile of shit.

This may come as a shock to you, but the developers and CMs that you interact with on the web, do not decide the retail price of the game, nor do they have any particular impact on the retail strategy and pricing of the game overall.

[Dormie]

Give me a brake

Pandering to their own vanity with twitter accounts (which Blizzard doesn't even sanction) then throwing a hissy fit when people give them shit for the crap they produce, then they deserve it. Dont like the angry tweets? then don't fucking read twitter.

They goofed, they need to man up take the criticism and shut up. Crying because people don't understand the process doesn't change the fact it was still crap. It just makes you look like a twat.

No. It's just a playerbase full of twats.

- - - Updated - - -

Perhaps the poor thin skinned game developers whose paychecks are brought in by a few million people looking for entertainment should try a different job.

If they did the next Devs would have the same issue.

[Stonecloak]

It's pretty obvious that a generous portion of community is really uncivil, and unhappy with everything. Sometimes they don't realize people make games, and they're not just robots. Let's also not confuse constructive criticism with whining. Two very different things.

[Raugnaut]

Which put the sub decline back to its average after it started declining in Wrath.

Not a single expansion has seen sub losses as large as, in short a time as, and as low as WoD. Even the year-long SoO patch only went down to around 7 mil subs. Until WoD, there was an average of 15-30% sub loss per expansion past Wrath. We also are likely to see 6.2 last for 9 months. I am personally expecting to see subs down close to 4.8 million with the next quarter callings. When a product has failed to earn even 50% of the revenue of previous products, it is most definitely a failed product. In addition, the lower the number of people using a product becomes, the less likely it is for the company to recover customers on the release of their next product. I anticipate Legion starter subs being around 8 million. 9 million would be surprising. 10 million would make me eat my hats. And to date, not a single expansion failed to bring subs back over 10 million.

Of course, at the same time, I am not too concerned about the future of WoW. While I do not closely follow who owns stocks in Blizzard, I do recall that Acti-Blizz bought themselves back from Vivendi, who, if I am recalling correctly, owned 60% of the stock in the company. This means that Acti-Blizz owns the majorty of their own stock, meaning that there is significantly less pressure from shareholders to do well, allowing Acti-Blizz to be the ones calling the shots in their game making decisions, rather then having to cater to shareholders. When you own your own company, you do not have to worry about further lining the pockets of your share holders. You simply have to keep your company profitable for youself, with enough gross income to expand your company to acquire more profit. And both Activision AND Blizzard have been rapidly expanding since they purchased themselves from Vivendi. Now, I may be mistaken on this part in particular, and I would welcome someone to correct me on this. As I see it, Blizzard will continue to run World of Warcraft as long as it provides more income then it takes to support it, and World of Warcraft can subsist on a very small subscriber base as a subscription game, as can be seen from most other games. Will it be a game that a person WANTS to play? That is unknown. But it can subsist, and as long as it is active, it will posses the potential to return to its peak of glory.

[DenniZ]

They need to realise there are FREE games out there that, at the moment, are as good as or even better than WoW is.

[snuzzle]

I don't think anyone really honestly believes that it's okay to type death threats and personal insults about the Devs and WOW content creators. However, it would be dishonest to also say the community is behaving this way out of the blue and for no reason.

The community right now is feeling very angry indeed. We feel ripped off, led along, lied to, and spit on. And when we show that we're angry, we get blamed for lashing out. Yes, we should be voicing our concerns in a more constructive, calm manner and I like to think I most always do. But for those who don't and can't (and we mustn't forget that there are young teens and sometimes even children in this community, not all of whom have the parental supervision we may think they ought to) I honestly can't say I blame them for their passion and letting their anger show.

No one needs death threats. Those don't help anything and indeed, they're just not cool (and possibly illegal). But being harsh, blunt, angry, and raw with Blizzard? I understand. I sympathize. I don't blame the community for that attititude.

I blame Blizzard for the shit show that was wod and then they have the nerve, the goddamned nerve, to turn around and tell us not to be angry about it. Two tiers. One patch. Ten extra dollars. It's absurd to expect people to not feel cheated and not to be angry.

Plenty of us have voted with our wallets. And then the quarter call comes through and we hear profits are actually up? The game is hemmoraging subs, and they're making more money from it? I think that was the final straw for many people.

So what can we do? Clearly voting with our wallets isn't having the desired effect. Personally, I'm staying subbed because I want to support them because I know the game can be great again. But fuck, if losing almost half their subscribers in a six month period doesn't make them feel the burn, what in Earthmother's name will?

[ravenmoon]

No. It's just a playerbase full of twats.

- - - Updated - - -



If they did the next Devs would have the same issue.

hey, these are human beings you're talking about.. they are likely bringing out the worse in their behaviour because of the environment that has been fostered, discontent, complaining, and so when they do come a bit angry, they meet other people feeling the same way, it exaggerates their anger and frustration and there's a certain encouragment meeting people who feel the same way lends to your voice.

it's the environment that needs to change, and you'd often find that if it's the better qualities dominating, most people would adjust to that.