How much is the amount of subscribers important to you?

[Rafoel]

Several months ago I did quit WoW as the neccessity of doing various daily/weekly activities to maintain good raid performance began being really tiring. Recently I started rethinking my decision, recalling all funny and nice moments I experienced while playing. However, as the arguing inside my head went:

- hmm... so maybe give it a second try?
- dude, you left it cause it stopped being fun, you dont't remember?
- well, it was some time ago....
- yes, you stopped having fun. Why would you have it now?
- Maybe it wasn't the case of game... maybe it was cause of my real life situation... ( I indeed had some serious real-life problems in that time )
- Hey, but other people are also leaving, yes? This game has just gotten worse dude... that's why you stopped having fun!

Yes, that's it! I was stunned by the fact that this argument even CAME to my mind (I thought i never cared about subscription numbers ), but appearently, subconsiously, it was always an important factor. So, it seems that inside my brain the situation is as it follows:

1) Subscription numbers are dropping - the game is getting worse and worse and will be still getting worse - therefore, no point in returning.
2) But if the numbers were rising - hey, the game is getting better - I must return and at least try it for some time.


But, as only point 1 is real, it might be possible that people that think about returning are discouraged by the fact of dropping subs. Would the sudden sub rise have a huge psychological impact and cause further sub risings? And what about you? Is sub number important to you in any way?


P.S. Added poll to the thread.

[Vanisari]

I dont look at sub numbers when thinking if I should be playing or not. I look at if I'm having fun. Right now I am, 2 years ago, not so much so I took a break. WoW could have 1 million subs, if I still enjoy it I'm going to play it.

[Alvito]

Numbers on my server are much more important to me, in fact the only reason I really care about subs is the trickle down effect. I can say for the better part of 2+ years the server has become barren so much so that pretty much monthly a new top 10 raid leaves for another server as the talent pool gets smaller and worse day by day. There is a grass isn't always greener effect too many leave to only come back but the aftermath of them leaving sours their return most of the time.

[Zaelsino]

It means nothing to me, but I can't deny the impact the number has... especially with former players. If an ex player asked you whether or not WoW was still going strong, and you told them it has five million less subs than it did in WotLK, that might give them pause about coming back. They might feel their decision to quit to begin with was vindicated.

[MoanaLisa]

I don't know that dropping subscriptions means the game is getting worse. For me, MoP has been a clearly better expansion than Cataclysm. Yet less people. The quality of the game has little to do with how many subscribers there are. Granted, your social experience may change and that can have a big effect. That will vary from player to player.

Mostly player subscriber ups and downs means very little to me.

One last thing: Imagine WoW goes F2P next week and active players shoot up by five million. Is it a better game? I don't know.

[Thetruth1400]

It means nothing to me, but I can't deny the impact the number has... especially with former players. If an ex player asked you whether or not WoW was still going strong, and you told them it has five million less subs than it did in WotLK, that might give them pause about coming back. They might feel their decision to quit to begin with was vindicated.

This is really true for me too. I've been tempted to come back, then see the sub numbers are a fraction of what they used to be and say to myself, "What did they do wrong that made the numbers drop so much?" Sure, I might return and have fun, but the numbers don't reflect that people are enjoying and sticking with the game. That's the biggest turn off ever.

Additionally, as a former stock holder of ATVI, the sub number was one way to gauge the way the stock is going to move. Each time the game dropped in sub numbers, the stock dropped equally. The best time to sell the stock? Right near a launch because of the hype.

[Lord Blackmore]

I don't care at all. As long as there are enough people to be able to do things and still able to generate enough revenue for Blizzard to keep developing it, it's all good.

[Mawnix]

As long as I'm personally having fun why should I care?

[melodramocracy]

not in the slightest

[Gimlix]

Well it's not really a big of a deal, but when your favorite game is in decline it does make you a bit turned down, because blizzard will start thinking to stop making content after a while because the subscribers just keep dropping, and if that happens, i will be very sad =p

[Togarox]

I couldn't care less about subscribers. I play games because I enjoy it, not because others enjoy it.

[maulgryve]

As long as there is enough people for me to do arena and bgs - then the numbers don't affect me.

[wow2011]

But, as only point 1 is real, it might be possible that people that think about returning are discouraged by the fact of dropping subs. Would the sudden sub rise have a huge psychological impact and cause further sub risings? And what about you? Is sub number important to you in any way?

It is definitely possible for increase/decrease of sub to affect people's decision. A lot of people simply follow what's popular out there instead of making up their own mind about things.

Sub number is largely unimportant to me as long as I am able to find like minded people to form a guild and raid with. I had most fun in Vanilla, Cata, and MoP because I was able to find a group of like minded people to raid with. I didn't have fun in BC and Wrath because I couldn't. So yeah, sub number has very little to do with my enjoyment level of wow.

[Babylonius]

It doesn't matter to me in the slightest what the subscription amount is as long as I'm having fun.

Well it's not really a big of a deal, but when your favorite game is in decline it does make you a bit turned down, because blizzard will start thinking to stop making content after a while because the subscribers just keep dropping, and if that happens, i will be very sad =p

"In decline" is a relative term. Is the number of subscriptions declining? Yes. Is the quality of the game declining? In my opinion, no. Which is more important to me? How I view the quality of the game.

If subs keep dropping they will continue to merge servers and get rid of empty ones in order to save costs. They will direct their workforce elsewhere while keeping enough people on WoW to keep it running. They will continue making content until it is no longer financially intelligent. If they are paying for 1/4 of the servers the dedicated WoW Blizzard workers can still churn out content, they will be able to divert the huge GM/TS/PR departments into other games to save money. As long as it makes a profit, they will keep making content so people keep playing.

Did Blizzard shut down WCIII servers because numbers dropped so low? No

[Deleted]

I don't care very much. As long as I enjoy it (for whatever reason) I will play.

[Celarent]

For the most part, subscribers are relevant only in the abstract, since you'll not only never interact with the vast majority but will depend on in-game acquaintances and friends for your overall experience.

However, I understand your point about subscription gains caused by psychological ripples. Entertainment is culture and culture is social. It's not the same to watch a movie two weeks after general release as on opening night -- there's something about sharing an experience that's novel and popular that "everybody" is doing. Likewise, we can acknowledge a kind of "friend effect" that brings inactive players out of the woodwork at the start of new expansions or pivotal content patches, for the sake of enjoying the game with people they know, or perhaps new people they'll befriend.

I think there are limits to which subscriptions can be correlated with game quality. Look at this.



Obviously, poor design or uninteresting environments will drive players away, but I increasingly believe that Warcraft -- and perhaps MMOs overall -- have reached such cultural saturation that no significant source of Western players new to the genre exists, and Blizzard's prospects lie entirely in retaining as many extant players for as long as possible. That means ripples in subscription will continue to occur, and even at higher frequencies owing to faster content publication, but at lower and lower amplitudes.

Keep in mind that's irrespective of game quality, especially if Blizzard effectively consolidates populations to preserve the sense of in-game community. If you reminisce about the days when everyone seemed to be talking about MMOs, or when it seemed natural to trot out William Shatner for massively broad demographics as a "shaman"; or if you need to justify your leisure by imagining how influential it is among millions of others, you may be disappointed. Otherwise, the game remains the same.

[Deleted]

in terms of the game, it's pretty much irrelevant...
there will always be populated servers until the VERY END, like, further than 10 years in the future

but it terms of the overall company, sub numbers are a really interesting value to show if blizzard is hurting or not

[KCguy]

It doesn't mean much to me, as long as the game is still fun and the quality of the game is still good, which to me still is. On the other side though, subs dropping mean people are being disinterested. I still believe it has a lot to do with the theme and do believe that if they were to go back to the Burning Legion, that will create a fair amount of interest. JMO though.

[antonatsis]

subs mean a lot of things. To players it doesn't mean a thing but to the company its the world.
to most people that play there is no change in their game even if 1 or 2 million will stay but for the company, making money from 8 millions versus making money from 7 its a huge difference and as the subs drop the more actiblizz will try to find ways to equalize the loss, remember that most investors aren't players they only care about money

[vindicatorx]

Why on earth would anyone give 2 shits about how many people play the game? If you have fun with the people you play with then why would that ever matter?