February 7: Blizzard Conference Call

[PBitt]

Pretty sure subs already were over 10 million again last quarter call, I could be wrong. Either way I expect them to be down to 9.5m or even a little lower, they definitely did not go up. Either way, I don't really care...they are pushing out quality content (IMO) on a regular basis and if this trend continues it will be the first time in the history of the game they do so successfully throughout.

There will be a Blizzcon this year for sure, lots of things I'm sure they will want to talk about....still not sure that Titan will be one of them, but another WoW xpac will be announced for sure and maybe a D3 xpac as well.

[mvaliz]

And 50% of the closest rival and more than double of the rest of the competition.

Don't turn this into an MMO vs MMO thing. I'm talking about profits and stock holders. They can care less about how well they're doing against their competition... they care if they themselves get a loss.

EDIT: I also don't believe D3 is doing that well. It's almost pure crickets at this point in the game's life cycle, especially considering how many have left after the first month... therefore the RMAH is probably underperforming very much to their expectations. Trust me... box sales don't matter this time around... Blizz isn't about box-sales anymore.

[Brash]

Don't turn this into an MMO vs MMO thing. I'm talking about profits and stock holders. They can care less about how well they're doing against their competition... they care if they themselves get a loss.

EDIT: I also don't believe D3 is doing that well. It's almost pure crickets at this point in the game's life cycle, especially considering how many have left after the first month... therefore the RMAH is probably underperforming very much to their expectations. Trust me... box sales don't matter this time around... Blizz isn't about box-sales anymore.

It's a little ridiculous that people think the RMAH was created with the sole purpose to earn Activision/Blizzard money. Sure they got maybe a few hundred thousand at the peak but that is hardly a dent in what they make with their flagships.

Also everyone here must have a lode of money invested in Activision/Blizzard stock.

[mitbrandir]

I think they're going to talk about Blizzcon 2013, as it has already been kind of "comfirmed" on twitter by Mike Morhaime. Other than that i guess the usuall sub talk

[Last Starfighter]

Pretty much any game with over 10 million players deserve to be treated like it's a big success XD

I don't necessarily agree with OP though, I don't believe the amount of subscriptions dropped that much. To me MoP is a success, much more than Cata. Just sad that dailies & pandas are making it a bit less good, but it's not enough to make it substantially drop.

Any game with over 1 million players is a success. 10 million is a flat out hit.

[JhanZ]

People expecting a dip in subs have no idea what they are talking about.

Dip in subs in Cata happened because of a clear content void. They've clearly given players something to do this expac, either subs stay still or rise up.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Any game with over 1 million players is a success. 10 million is a flat out hit.

Well with that logic we know for sure GW2 and WoW are kings right now, ToR may or may not be under 1M.

But WoW will be historic as /the/ MMO. It managed to not only unseat TWO Everquests, but beat both their peaks combined.

---------- Post added 2013-01-18 at 09:41 PM ----------

People expecting a dip in subs have no idea what they are talking about.

Dip in subs in Cata happened because of a clear content void. They've clearly given players something to do this expac, either subs stay still or rise up.

I think they're basing it on 2 things.

1. They have friends that have quit the game or guilds that have died post-5.0

A. The rage over dailies on these forums


Either way, the losses could be offset with new/returning players. I mean a lot of players who left in the runup to MoP said they left and would return.

[MoanaLisa]

I also don't believe D3 is doing that well. It's almost pure crickets at this point in the game's life cycle, especially considering how many have left after the first month... therefore the RMAH is probably underperforming very much to their expectations. Trust me... box sales don't matter this time around... Blizz isn't about box-sales anymore.

I'm sure they had some hopes and a forecast for the RMAH but little more. Basically, they had no clue at all how the RMAH was going to work out. I've thought from the beginning that the RMAH was a test run for future projects and I'm sure they've learned a lot from it.

I'll also politely disagree that box sales/downloads don't matter. D3 isn't an MMO (even though it has some aspects of one) and box sales and people purchasing through downloads are important. Half a billion plus dollars in sales matters a great deal (although not for Q4 so much although I'd be interested to know how many units did sell over the holidays...CoD was the big item for Activision this holiday season though so that's what will matter most on the call in a few weeks). As will sales of what is sure to be an eventual expansion.

[Alewen]

Dip in subs. How much remains to be seen.

I am going to predict a very sizable dip in subs due to forced dailies and CRZ most definitely made me and others unsubscribe.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

I am going to predict a very sizable dip in subs due to forced dailies and CRZ most definitely made me and others unsubscribe.

Yet there are no forced dailies that you speak of.

[Grumpy Old Man]

I am going to predict a very sizable dip in subs due to forced dailies and CRZ most definitely made me and others unsubscribe.

Half million players unsubscribe because of CRZ. Yeah, I can totally believe this.

[mvaliz]

Yet there are no forced dailies that you speak of.

Perspective is everything... you know what he/she means. And yes, I know what you mean too and I actually agree with you... but to somebody brought up with a min/max kinda mental pushing insanity - it's "forced" in their perspective, because they feel compelled to max everything or else they will consider themselves bad, or lacking, or some other nonsensical idea.

It's like that species of dog that doesn't stop eating unless you take its food dish away. It will keep eating until its stomach explodes... it's just a survival instinct. The min/maxers have a similar problem... they can't even fathom the idea of "optional" or the idea of not maximizing everything. To them, "optional" is another word for being a "lazy/bad player".

---------- Post added 2013-01-19 at 04:37 AM ----------

Half million players unsubscribe because of CRZ. Yeah, I can totally believe this.

I actually can believe it. It's still hotly debated today on the WoW general forums, possibly the hottest one since the original plan to implement real names on the forums. Definitely one of the longest living debates for certain! (next to PVP balances - of course :P)

A lot more than 500k left due to suck heroics and other minor changes during Cataclysm.

[Alewen]

Perspective is everything... you know what he/she means. And yes, I know what you mean too and I actually agree with you... but to somebody brought up with a min/max kinda mental pushing insanity - it's "forced" in their perspective, because they feel compelled to max everything or else they will consider themselves bad, or lacking, or some other nonsensical idea.

It's like that species of dog that doesn't stop eating unless you take its food dish away. It will keep eating until its stomach explodes... it's just a survival instinct. The min/maxers have a similar problem... they can't even fathom the idea of "optional" or the idea of not maximizing everything. To them, "optional" is another word for being a "lazy/bad player".

---------- Post added 2013-01-19 at 04:37 AM ----------



I actually can believe it. It's still hotly debated today on the WoW general forums, possibly the hottest one since the original plan to implement real names on the forums. Definitely one of the longest living debates for certain! (next to PVP balances - of course :P)

A lot more than 500k left due to suck heroics and other minor changes during Cataclysm.

Well the reason I say forced in my case, I'm no raider. Upon hitting 90 on my main I had 3 options: Endless dailies, Level and Alt, or Run Heroics. Of course before I got to the endless dailies, I finished up the questlines in each of pandaria's zones. For me, the main story was one of the driving force behind my gameplay. 5.1 had gated the main story behind yet more dailies.

CRZ made leveling an alt impossible through questing, as people from other servers did not like people not on their own server, and would verbally assault them. And since I had transfered to get away from certain people from a certain realm, I did not wish to continue questing under the forced CRZ. So I was limited to dungeon grinds, which got old real fast.

So couple my extreme dislike of CRZ with no way to opt out of it and the fact it broke my passenger mounts which I used for transporting guildmates for guild RP events, and then the endless wall of dailies at 90, and Blizzard gating the main story behind yet more dailies, it was what led me to unsubscribe. I liked the game, but as long as CRZ remains without a way to opt out so my passenger mounts work properly and I can avoid people I don't care to encounter, and the main storylines in WoW stop being gated behind a wall of dailies, I'm not sure if I can ever subscribe to the game again. Just giving an opt out option for CRZ would be enough to get me back to WoW I believe. That was the main force that drove me away, along with Ghostcrawler's responses in regards to CRZ.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

Well the reason I say forced in my case, I'm no raider. Upon hitting 90 on my main I had 3 options: Endless dailies, Level and Alt, or Run Heroics. Of course before I got to the endless dailies, I finished up the questlines in each of pandaria's zones. For me, the main story was one of the driving force behind my gameplay. 5.1 had gated the main story behind yet more dailies.

Read the bolded part. It can't be forced if you have options. Do I need to bring up a dictionary for the word forced?

[Count Zero]

Small shift in total current subscription for WoW -- 300k to 500k in either direction (impossible to tell, with so many factors at play). In effect stable.

Increase in profit.

[stumpy]

Have Blizzard's profits ever gone down in recent memory? Even during Cataclysm when the game was losing subscribers at what was then a pretty notable rate, profits kept increasing.

[mvaliz]

Well the reason I say forced in my case, I'm no raider. Upon hitting 90 on my main I had 3 options: Endless dailies, Level and Alt, or Run Heroics. Of course before I got to the endless dailies, I finished up the questlines in each of pandaria's zones. For me, the main story was one of the driving force behind my gameplay. 5.1 had gated the main story behind yet more dailies.

CRZ made leveling an alt impossible through questing, as people from other servers did not like people not on their own server, and would verbally assault them. And since I had transfered to get away from certain people from a certain realm, I did not wish to continue questing under the forced CRZ. So I was limited to dungeon grinds, which got old real fast.

So couple my extreme dislike of CRZ with no way to opt out of it and the fact it broke my passenger mounts which I used for transporting guildmates for guild RP events, and then the endless wall of dailies at 90, and Blizzard gating the main story behind yet more dailies, it was what led me to unsubscribe. I liked the game, but as long as CRZ remains without a way to opt out so my passenger mounts work properly and I can avoid people I don't care to encounter, and the main storylines in WoW stop being gated behind a wall of dailies, I'm not sure if I can ever subscribe to the game again. Just giving an opt out option for CRZ would be enough to get me back to WoW I believe. That was the main force that drove me away, along with Ghostcrawler's responses in regards to CRZ.

...I stand corrected on my assumption. My bad. :P

Well written... and thanks, because I think similarly to you how you are portrayed here - and this makes me even more wary of trying MoP.

[Count Zero]

...I stand corrected on my assumption. My bad. :P

Well written... and thanks, because I think similarly to you how you are portrayed here - and this makes me even more wary of trying MoP.

This opinion and experience are in the minority. Don't get me wrong, it's valid to feel that way if that is his/her and your experience.

But all the threads filled with people dissatisfied about dailies have large portions of people disagreeing with that portrayal of dailies, same with CRZ. Again, don't get me wrong -- I have my problems with CRZ but this is the first time I've heard of people being verbally assaulted by other-realm players (which of course isn't to say it never happens, but I honestly can't help but feel this is one bad experience that is being highlighted amongst dozens/hundreds/thousands of experiences where no such thing happened ... one bad experience standing out in memory over dozens/hundreds/thousands of neutral/positive ones)

[stumpy]

Well the reason I say forced in my case, I'm no raider. Upon hitting 90 on my main I had 3 options: Endless dailies, Level and Alt, or Run Heroics. Of course before I got to the endless dailies, I finished up the questlines in each of pandaria's zones. For me, the main story was one of the driving force behind my gameplay. 5.1 had gated the main story behind yet more dailies.

CRZ made leveling an alt impossible through questing, as people from other servers did not like people not on their own server, and would verbally assault them. And since I had transfered to get away from certain people from a certain realm, I did not wish to continue questing under the forced CRZ. So I was limited to dungeon grinds, which got old real fast.

So couple my extreme dislike of CRZ with no way to opt out of it and the fact it broke my passenger mounts which I used for transporting guildmates for guild RP events, and then the endless wall of dailies at 90, and Blizzard gating the main story behind yet more dailies, it was what led me to unsubscribe. I liked the game, but as long as CRZ remains without a way to opt out so my passenger mounts work properly and I can avoid people I don't care to encounter, and the main storylines in WoW stop being gated behind a wall of dailies, I'm not sure if I can ever subscribe to the game again. Just giving an opt out option for CRZ would be enough to get me back to WoW I believe. That was the main force that drove me away, along with Ghostcrawler's responses in regards to CRZ.

You lost me at the part where you claimed somebody went out of their way to talk to you while you were questing.

[Alewen]

Read the bolded part. It can't be forced if you have options. Do I need to bring up a dictionary for the word forced?

That's the thing though, I thought I had 3 options. First, too many dailies, and I would get frustrated. I thought I could handle it by focusing on 1 faction at a time, but it didn't help matters at all. Leveling an alt was out of the question with CRZ, and doing dungeons got just as repetitive as dailies, only with a crowd that is quite often as snotty as the people I was trying to get away from in CRZ. And heroic runs, again, more dungeons, and PuGs that with 1 wipe, disbanded. When you knock out leveling an alt and heroics, I was stuck with just the dailies. So the options were gone for me.

...I stand corrected on my assumption. My bad. :P

Well written... and thanks, because I think similarly to you how you are portrayed here - and this makes me even more wary of trying MoP.

Don't get me wrong, MoP is a good expansion. I had a lot of fun with the 85-90 content. But feeling restricted to dungeons for leveling alts, and having nothing but dailies at end game, is where the problems lied. I still believe if they added an opt out option for CRZ, I'd resubscribe.

This opinion and experience are in the minority. Don't get me wrong, it's valid to feel that way if that is his/her and your experience.

But all the threads filled with people dissatisfied about dailies have large portions of people disagreeing with that portrayal of dailies, same with CRZ. Again, don't get me wrong -- I have my problems with CRZ but this is the first time I've heard of people being verbally assaulted by other-realm players (which of course isn't to say it never happens, but I honestly can't help but feel this is one bad experience that is being highlighted amongst dozens/hundreds/thousands of experiences where no such thing happened ... one bad experience standing out in memory over dozens/hundreds/thousands of neutral/positive ones)

Well unfortunately the verbal harassment is actually pretty common. Even in the CRZ threads, some posters posted that they were being harassed through chat, usually through whispers, and being unable to ignore or report them, because CRZ broke that feature and would return a "That player does not exist" error, it was why I stopped trying to level in the pre-mop zones. Here's an example of what I encountered:

Was a guild event. My guild leader, myself and another member were joining the guild in-character. One of our in character tests was a battle with the guild leader in the gurubashi arena. Others from our realm that happened to be there, with their friends, saw we were RPing and left us alone and fought amongst themselves. All except 1 priest that was the same level as the other recruit, who thought she'd get an easy kill and started shooting our newbie. My guild leader 1 shot her, and we continued. She reappeared, tried attacking me, and I killed her along with the guild leader. We finish up and my guild leader and I leave the area, and the recruit says an 85 rogue just killed her.

The rogue turned out to be that priest, and started whispering some of the nastiest things at me. She was of course, from the server I paid transfered off of to begin with. Couldn't ignore her, was giving an error, couldn't even report, same problem. I ended up having to switch to my main to get the rude and vulgar messages to stop. And that is just 1 of a couple similar stories.

And seeing the general forums now, people saying their server populations have declined dramatically since MoP, I believe during this conference call, it will come out that the subs will have dropped by at; (and this is just a guess or hypothetical, no solid number proof) that the subs dropped from 10 million to around 8 or 7 million subscribers. One can only hope if the subscription numbers did indeed drop that dramatically, that they will start actually looking at what people are complaining about the most, and find a happy medium for everyone. Give everyone options.

Let people who hate CRZ, have an opt out, and those who love it, give incentives for opting in. Offer alternatives to dailies. One suggestion I saw today, actually sounds pretty unique. Daily storylines that are 100% different each day. If there was actual story behind the dailies instead of "go fetch my laundry", I think people like myself would be better entertained. Either way I am definitely interested in what comes out of the conference, and if Blizzard starts to change back to the way they used to be.