Titan project "reset", delayed until 2016

[Stahlfaust]

On the one hand I'm not sure WoW can go another 4 years while retaining subscriptions at a level anywhere close to current levels. On the other hand two more expansions should enable them to bring the story to its anticipated conclusion before development is largely being switched into mere maintenance mode.

[Duster505]

Not really... I'm calling WoW old simply because it is. Yes 1.3m in 3 months is a lot, but there is ALWAYS a drop shortly after an xpac as people come back - play for a while then leave again. These people do this every xpac. The number is larger than before because of its age (at least in main). I still maintain that WoW will be the top MMO for several years. Whatever Blizzard did to WoW it would never again have that "wow this is an awesome new game" feel. Its like buying a new car - it feels great. Several years later that car may still be reliable and you may still drive it everywhere but it has lost that "newness". That can NEVER come back.

Don't get me wrong... I'm NOT saying that everything Blizzard have done is great - I too miss several things from over the years and do not always agree with the direction they go. I also agree that they could do more. However I do not agree that they could "fix" the people leaving the game - or new people coming into it - as a lot of this is simply people moving on. Been there, done that, now onto something new.

Also there are ways to add new content without adding levels, but there are still a large number of people that actually enjoy the levelling up each expansion. If they added an xpac that was basically just content.... no levelling etc, then I believe that would anger even more people. That's why I say they cant please everyone and whatever they do, some will bitch and complain and leave.

You are talking as a veteran player. There are new players born into this world every day. Calling WOW old just because you have played it for 7+ year should not mean it has to be any less of an enjoyable experience for a new player that comes to the game today. Thats where BLizzard has failed. The core systems from 1-90 are not that great anymore and alot of the content is very unbalanced after so many talent system changes. Also having removed the talent tree system - they have devalued the leveling experience in many ways cause even tho it was just one talent point - it still gave ppl that little bit extra to work for and aim at. Most MMOs still do that system cause it keeps ppl going even tho the content no longer is fresh and exiting. Its part of RPG experience.

Comparing WOW to a car is not great. Computer game does not get ware and tare just because some1 played it before. It should be able to stand the test of time if the developers were dedicated to keep it up to date.

All these games you quote are nowhere near as popular as WoW. I am not saying they are no good - they are probably ALL graphically far superior to WoW but they have not captured the hearts of people in large enough numbers.

I think you very much underestimate these games if you think popularity is based on players playing it alone. OFC WOW will have big numbers simply because alot of players will not like to leave RPG character they have spent alot of time on. The danger is.. when it happens ... it will be in huge numbers at the time. We saw the start if this in last earning call and it seems like BLizzard is now reacting to prevent a mini meltdown of the game since those numbers came out.

I agree that having a changing world is great - and also that parts of WoW definitely don't do that. If you think about it, the whole nature of MMO's do not do this completely. You can kill the same boss several times for example. In a truly evolving world, the first time anyone kills a boss, that boss would be dead. Noone else could kill a dead boss. Of course, this would be totally ridiculous and noone is suggesting that. However having more world changing events would be quite good imo (but even then there will be a lot of people that complain - like the large numbers that complained when Blizzard changed the old world because they wanted the old old world back - I remember being quite sentimental when they trashed Auberdine tbh).

I agree that this kind of thing is quite natural progression, but too much of this would be a total change in what WoW is. I personally think this would be too drastic for this game and you wouldn't stop people leaving - but have more people do so.

Yes - I think BLizzard need to totally rethink how they develop their game now. They are now realising that creating content and just keeping it in does not work that great but just adds to grind in many ways. I think its very clear where the next expansion is heading and what will be revamped. TBC part 2 with probably few new zones but part of the highest level content will still happen in the old zones with phasing. Thats the only way they can now justify updated to old expansions.

I think it would be fair from a development perspective to see BLizzard aim for a more of a living world feel. Not saying it all will change on monthly basis or even per expansion. But if WOW WANTs to hold sub numbers stable... they should be aiming for content that ppl feel compelled to take part in on monthly basis. Not in a way that a player that loses out for 1 month can not return... but in a way that this person would maybe feel its worth paying those 15$ even tho he only plays for 2-3 hours per week.

Right now WOW is built around heavily gated grinding systems. And it has been getting worse rather than better. It doesn't have to be that way. We have seen good systems in other games that create great experience without relying on grind and double gated content.

[Deleted]

And Where's Tigole (Jeffrey Kaplan) gone now that Titan's reboot ???

[Duster505]

You just lost any credibility with the comparison between D3 and League of Legends, besides that the sub based model offered playability to its players since it started. I don't have a problem to pay every month for a game like World of Warcraft, its good, it always was, it offered what others games didnt have, it still does. And I'm currently not the only one with this mindset.

Guild Wars 2 maybe Buy to play but they have another way to gain income, its shitty Ingame Shop and tell me what you want, Item Shops are garbage.

Why did I loose credibility? D3 could not have launched F2P and gained their money with RMAH ? Just because it decided to cash in on former glory does not mean it can not be compared to how other games are doing things.

GW2 has other ways to gain revenues yes. But ANET has always done well in releasing expansion regularly for their GW and my bet they are not aiming for much more than year between them.

Lets not forget that ANET did something that not many developers do... they offered every player that didn't like GW2 to return their copy of the game if they didn't like it. Some ppl did... most didn't. So acting like ANET was and is all about money is simply false.

[Deleted]

Project Titanic

[Duster505]

And Where's Tigole (Jeffrey Kaplan) gone now that Titan's reboot ???

Im more concerned where Jay Wilson is gonna end up.

BUt its gonna be easy to see if Tigole comes back to WOW. Warriors will be buffed through the roof if he is.

[Greed001]

Bye bye Titan. Guess it's time for Blizz to take a long hard look at WoW because the cow certainly doesn't seem like it's going to make it that far (to 2016) or that much further in general actually. Can't imagine them squeezing much more than two more (serious) expansions out of WoW, not at the rate they're going anyways.

WoW's quarterly subscription fluctuations are greater in size than 99% of MMO's have had in their entire lifespan.

[Reyzzz]

Here is an interesting fact.. D3 has 1 million per day... 3 millions per month.

LOL has 3 millions CONCURRENT players EVERY DAY at peak hours,. 32 millions per month

Still think D3 is doing great ? ... lol

Here's a hint, they have different payment methods.

[Valort]

LOL! You have no idea what it even is yet.

Seems like Blizzard doesn't know what it even is yet either...

[Solidusbr]

Please understand.

[Osmeric]

or even Katamari Damacy gameplay, etc.. right..??

That could be awesome!

Is there a KD-like game for tablets, btw? Seems like it would be a natural.

[Kurz]

I was a bit sad when i read this, been waiting for some new MMORPG to play because I dont play wow anymore. But then again, I am happier waiting longer for a better game.

[Beev]

There is so much pathetic ignorance in this thread, all 20+ pages, that it's just completely staggering. Learn some facts before you post idiot drivel, morons.

Infracted

[Repefe]

Must be nice to be a developer at Blizzard 5 years of work on Titan ... just throw it in a trash bin and move on. PvP in D3 ... trash bin is that way. No pressure.

[ro9ue]

The EQ3 team 'restructured' as well. I think the MMO market changed quite a bit so I can't blame either of them. They probably started building the game off where the market was currently and they aren't sure it's going to last.

As Wayne Gretzky says 'A good hockey player plays where the puck is, a great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be."

[Duster505]

Here's a hint, they have different payment methods.

Yes - that must mean that one has outdated payment methods or simply isn't quality compared to the other. Put it this way... not every free game has 32 million players every month. It must tell you something - if not... then I can not help you.

---------- Post added 2013-05-29 at 11:51 AM ----------

Must be nice to be a developer at Blizzard 5 years of work on Titan ... just throw it in a trash bin and move on. PvP in D3 ... trash bin is that way. No pressure.

believe you me... there is pressure now. But they are trying to built some PR back for WOW and make it look like they are actually spending the money that ppl pay for WOW back into that title rather than spending WOW player money and manpower on Titan.

[Goretex]

Just means more time for WoW woot!

[Noomz]

Probably Jay Wilsons fault.

[Awe]

I hate free to play games. I want to
Pay 25-30f for game and 1 month sub in that price.
Then 5-10f a month if i want to play it.

They can go fuck themselves with all that so called 'optional' stuff.
Optional like :
Bag space
Action Bars
500% Xp boosts
Limited dungeons if u dont pay
Limited battlegrounds if u dont pay

All shit is limited in them f2p games. You end up paying 20f a month if you want to play without any limits !!!!

Not all games work like SWTOR. Some F2P games have more sensible models and you will end up paying much less than for a sub based MMO. Dont put out the most offending example to discredit the entire F2P or B2P market.

[Duster505]

Just means more time for WoW woot!

Thats what they are trying to get ppl to believe

I think they are probably seeing some total meltdown in WOW after the last earning calls and are trying to rebuild some faith from the playerbase. It might work for 1 expansion.