February 7: Blizzard Conference Call

[Crashdummy]

They are in 5.2 if you've read the Patch notes.

400k is barely anything.

It's not the mass exodus that was Cataclysm.

They are not changing enough, and this loss is a big one considering the context.

[Nihth]

How does this work, if they had >10m at 25 sept, and they have 9,6m Q4 (oct-des). Does this mean they lost 400k during 25th sept-30 sept? Im assuming if a sub expires at oct 1. it will still be counted in Q4, am I right by assuming this?

[Darsithis]

Wow, down over 400k in the span of a few months, WITH content and a NEW expansion? Doesn't bode well for WoW at all. If they are pumping out content and still hemorrhaging subs than they have a great deal to worry about, fanboy opinions withstanding.

That's not hemorrhaging subs. That's a slight loss.

[Justignoreme]

We know the subs lost and not those belonging to the legions of whining wastes of space complaining endlessly on the official forums about daily quests and "forced" rep grinding because you need an active sub to QQ on the forums.

[Destil]

Wow, down over 400k in the span of a few months, WITH content and a NEW expansion? Doesn't bode well for WoW at all. If they are pumping out content and still hemorrhaging subs than they have a great deal to worry about, fanboy opinions withstanding.

It's not that. It's the fact that looking as Cata and the downfall that it was, it's no surprise there's still a decrease.

I'll be honest: in my gut I thought it'd be bigger.

[Gurbz]

Now that we know that the number has declined I foresee several people claiming that WoW is dying.

I on the other hand am enjoying the game more than ever before.

For sure. And tons of people citing the sub loss as proof that whatever thing they personally hate is the cause of the drop because obviously the entire group of people who left agree with them.

The subscriber number is meaningless, regardless of if it goes up or down, because we do not get it with enough context. What was the breakdown by region? Of those that left, what were the listed reasons? Nobody can draw any conclusion from the number alone except that 400k fewer people worldwide are playing. But they will of course try to extrapolate a simple number into all kinds of crazy arguments from now until the Q1 2013 report.

[Rawcult]

Looks like adding boring ass dailies helped a lot. Lollol.

[Crashdummy]

As I've said in the last few posts I've made, I don't find that as big a substantial number as you'd think, but I do understand what you're saying and your PoV.

DS launch had 0 sub loss and was considered a failure, MoP launch quarter has over 400k, and its fine?

[Destil]

They are not changing enough, and this loss is a big one considering the context.

So what aren't they changing?

Dailies? Changing that.

PVP? Fixing that.

Raids? Huge new one.

Valor Points? Easier to get.

[dokhidamo]

Gentlemen, fasten your seat belts. It's about to get really scary in 5.3 and 5.4. A few changes I'm certain we'll see going forward into even 6.0.

1. Expansion of the LF system. This seems to be the future for getting people to see the content. Expect an LFBG update and extending LFR to at least normal mode.

2. Four tiers in MoP. If this is the fallout from just a few months without a new tier, imagine the damage a year would do. If Blizz wasn't already planning it, they're in the war room today planning out the tier between ToT and SoO.

3. More free gear. They tried VP, it didn't work. They tried dailies, it didn't work. Expect them to try something else entirely when it comes to gearing up your character. It may even be so easy as just farming heroic 5-mans. Or even doing solo questlines.

4. Expansion V will be big. MoP is at best stagnant, at worse it's failing. Blizz really will have one final saving throw later this year when they reveal Expansion V. If it fails to support the subscriber base, expect Blizz to start giving up on keeping WoW from losing players.

5. A lot more player interaction. SoE recently introduced a voting system for features in Planetside 2. Expect to see similar coming to WoW in the future.

I'm afraid WoW is officially entering it's decline. And nothing Blizzard can do will save the game. The community is too big, too greedy, and too against itself to possibly survive.

[Alastaircrawly]

more than 400k lost and it can only go down from here, very nice.

in my opinion For the Q1 2013 report we will see the subs dip below 9.1 million for the first time.

[JhanZ]

That's not hemorrhaging subs. That's a slight loss.

You're in denial if you don't think over 400k in just a few months with content is hemorrhaging subs and a troubling ordeal. But hey, this is #1 fanboy central. Can't ask you to actually be reasonable.

[Archdruid Dehydrate]

Ermah Gerd Wer Lerst 400k Serbs, everyone freak out. I'm gunna go on PTR & test out LFR anyone care to join me ??

[PrairieChicken]

Well just few points-

1. It's Dec sub number, so the current number might be slightly different(whether up or down)
2. It would be more like -500k, as last time it was 'more than 10mil' which I suspect it to be 10.1~10.2ish.

[masterman]

I really like this expansion, loads better than cata was. I was honestly expecting a rise in subs. Oh well, wasn't as bad as I expected if there WAS a drop. Either way it's better for us, they'll change things up for the better (hopefully).

Same here. MoP's been the best WoW expansion to date. Blizzard has learned a lot these past few years

[Alastaircrawly]

Matter of opinion then. I don't find 400k is that much in the slightest.

They said over 10 million. 9.6 million + 400k = 10 million so its a matter of fact the sub lost was over 400k

[Kangodo]

So a lower loss than most of the "fanboys" suspected? Good news

You're in denial if you don't think over 400k in just a few months with content is hemorrhaging subs and a troubling ordeal. But hey, this is #1 fanboy central. Can't ask you to actually be reasonable.

And the first infraction of the evening is in!

No really, that's not hemorrhaging at all.
Look up the freaking definition.

[Destil]

DS launch had 0 sub loss and was considered a failure, MoP launch quarter has over 400k, and its fine?

The gap between Firelands and DS was, what, 5 or 6 months?

People were still finishing up the first Tier, and moving into Firelands which was INSANELY difficult for most, along with the fact it stagnated progression.

When DS came along a lot of people were still wrapping of Firelands or enjoying Molten Front.

4.3 was looked at as an amazing patch for a few reasons:

1. Transmog.

2. New Raid that was made to sound epic.

3. 3 New Dungeons.

That enticed a lot of people.

But after DS and Cata, a lot of people felt betrayed and were just burnt out of the game.

It's to be expected that those people, while some of them tried out Mists and didn't like it, would leave again, or more would.

The game is 8+ years old.

Even I was expecting a loss at this point.

[Crashdummy]

So what aren't they changing?

Dailies? Changing that.

PVP? Fixing that.

Raids? Huge new one.

Valor Points? Easier to get.

They are not changing dailies, they are nto giving us more dungeons, they are not giving us a real way to earn rep outside of dailies (750 for a single faction a day is crap and you know it), they are not touching CRZ, and i dont know what you mean with valor points easier to get, but they arent even changing old valor gear to justice.

They keep making mistake over mistake.

[Alastaircrawly]

Well just few points-

1. It's Dec sub number, so the current number might be slightly different(whether up or down)
2. It would be more like -500k, as last time it was 'more than 10mil' which I suspect it to be 10.1~10.2ish.

Yeah people math seems to be off thinking it was just 400k