Blizzard: 'We don't expect World of Warcraft to grow again'

[Galaddriel]

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/blizz...-again/0137155

[zolok2.0]

Never heard of that website and they had no source. Interesting

[Reyzzz]

Okay, who did expect it?

[Darsithis]

Doesn't really surprise me. World of Warcraft has been played by so many people that it's hard to get a reliable source of new players into the game. Add to that a toxic community that expects perfection out of people who have never played and you have a recipe for decline.

[Belize]

My sources on the website Granny-Trannies-Play-Videogames.org tell me than Ghostcrawler never left Blizzard and is now in the secret "Overlord" position of the company, which is one step above CEO. His shadowy figure now controls everything in the company.

My sources are about as credible as that website.

It's kinda dumb, no one in the right mind would ever say that bout their game...

Infracted.

[wych]

Every game has a life cycle, anybody who doesn't understand this is a fool.

It's why I laugh when you see Blizzdrones in quarterly threads saying they expect subs to go up to 10 million + in WoD

[Ghostile]

No source calls it bullshit.

Not that anyone should expect the game to grow again, but still sourceless.

[Archangel Tyrael]

Doesn't really surprise me. World of Warcraft has been played by so many people that it's hard to get a reliable source of new players into the game. Add to that a toxic community that expects perfection out of people who have never played and you have a recipe for decline.

DA COMUNITY BE TOXICCC!!!11

Fucking stupid shit that is thrown around every fucking time.

[Saxtorph]

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/blizz...-again/0137155

No source, but yet... good managers typically look at things as they are instead of how they wish them to be.

[Leih]

If Chilton did say this, he probably meant "grow" as in grow above the previous 12M subscriber peak and become a bigger game than it has been in the past. Even the biggest WoW-hater knows the sub-base will increase in the quarter where they release a new expansion, even if it drops off again afterwards. There will be periods where subs go up (grow) again.

But it's fair to say WoW will never climb above 12M again, so that could have been what he meant.

Or, well, with no source, could also just be made up :P

[Knough]

“We really don’t know if it will grow again,” said lead game designer Tom Chilton. “It is possible, but I wouldn’t say it’s something that we expect. Our goal is to make the most compelling content we can.”
Says the website.
So actually, he's being cautious. He's not even saying they wouldn't expect it, he's saying he wouldn't say they do.
That's him not sure that they'd say they might expect that it might happen.
Not as clear cut as "IT SHALL NEVER GROW!"

[Kelimbror]

Not sure why this has even been allowed to stay open. It's a source-less thread seeking to stir up controversy on false dialogue. Please close.

[wych]

“We really don’t know if it will grow again,” said lead game designer Tom Chilton. “It is possible, but I wouldn’t say it’s something that we expect. Our goal is to make the most compelling content we can.”
Says the website.
So actually, he's being cautious. He's not even saying they wouldn't expect it, he's saying he wouldn't say they do.
That's him not sure that they'd say they might expect that it might happen.
Not as clear cut as "IT SHALL NEVER GROW!"

Did anybody apart from you say it said "it shall never grow"?

[Kazlofski]

Well it's the true, you can never know if a surprise happens but yeah most likely not and it will never grow again, probably stay stable around 6-8M decreasing over time to around 6M I'd say.

[Wildtree]

Doesn't really surprise me. World of Warcraft has been played by so many people that it's hard to get a reliable source of new players into the game. Add to that a toxic community that expects perfection out of people who have never played and you have a recipe for decline.

The toxic community is my personal #1 cause of sub losses.
I know so many people who have played this game, and everyone of them mentions the asshole behavior of the present WoW community.
While I certainly think that this isn't the only reason for sub declines, it likely increases it's percentage with the age of the customer..
30+ yrs old players are simply too mature to put up with that immature dick head attitude that runs rampant in the game. I mean, in the adult world irl, people treat each other with respect and it's essentially expected to be polite and respectful. Why would one put up with the contrary, especially in their spare time, which is for most grown up people the most valuable time?

I don't even blame the community itself.... I blame Blizzard for it's ignorance on that aspect.
The realm system could have been monitored, and moderated in real time for very little financial efforts.
The financial investment into a real time moderation system would have been a tiny fraction compared to the subs it would have kept, and possibly gained in addition. Rather conservative thinking parents won't allow their off spring to play this game, for the community behavior alone.
If you got a kid, and let it play, all it learns there is to be an asshole.

[Knough]

Did anybody apart from you say it said "it shall never grow"?

Nope, never said they did, I was making the point that the article headline has cut away all the caution he used.

[Splub]

All Blizzard games have awesome runs.

[Amerissis]

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/blizz...-again/0137155

So, post a link, leave the thread, hope it goes up in flames. Right? Why don't you give your opinion and start an actual discussion, instead of this hit and run tactic?

OT: Of course they don't expect that. Who does? WoW has a normal product life cycle and it's reached the decline. All they can and will do now is try to slow the descent (and occasionally subs will bump up, due to expansions and stuff). I don't see the issue here.

[Kickbuttmario]

Why is this so hard to believe? The quotes from article aren't wrong either so yeah...

[Lemmiwink]

So, post a link, leave the thread, hope it goes up in flames. Right? Why don't you give your opinion and start an actual discussion, instead of this hit and run tactic?

OT: Of course they don't expect that. Who does? WoW has a normal product life cycle and it's reached the decline. All they can and will do now is try to slow the descent (and occasionally subs will bump up, due to expansions and stuff). I don't see the issue here.

For the product life cycle model to apply, you must first determine what the "product" here is. Are we talking about WoW, the brand or are we talking about WoW - Cataclysm, WoW - MoP, The MMO genre etc.

Warlords of Draenor and MoP can barely be called the same product, MoP and TBC is two entirely different products. What are the subsitutes, where is the general decline in other similar products etc? Some people just say stuff like product life cycle and claim it as a fact, when indeed the product life cycle theory has numerous weaknesses that could nullify it's validity in a products growth/decline cycle. It ain't science, it is a fairly accurate prediction/explanation of when it is most lucrative to enter a market, or when to pull out etc.

TL;DR
Before you start talking about the Product Life Cycle model, please use it correctly. Also, show us the same skewed bellshaped curve for the rest of the genre. Don't brand people idiots for having other opinions etc. than u