WoW Lost 300k Subscribers, Patch 4.3 this year, Blizzcon 2011 Tickets, Blue Posts

Now we'll just have to wait Trion to announce "we're happy to hear about the loss blaablaablaa we know exactly where those 300k players went."

Originally Posted by Kaeleena

No one quit because they blew through all the content the game had to offer in 3 days. It's because they completed the normal modes and didn't feel the heroic modes were worth the uptick in challenge or they weren't able to raid at all. They geared their toons up through heroics and hit a brick wall. That's what happened. That's why they nerfed all the content so hard. It was overtuned and tons of guilds that had killed H LK weren't able to see H Nef or Cho. They beat their heads against the wall for months and either ended T11 with uncompleted heroics, or were brick walled earlier than that.

Funny that you say no game company can sustain the Lich King model when the game peaked at the very end of Lich King and has only gone downhill everyday since Cataclysm launched.

A game system like Wotlk burns holes in the designers money pockets. Designers are scre we d when you need to support that ridiculous badge and content system.

CATA: sees MORE net revenue and profits. Because it is easier to sustain and so the gain/loss ratio is postive for Blizzard.

Sometimes LESS (content and progress) is far better than more content and faster progress for the company that runs the thing.

Makes you think twice.

Originally Posted by VanishO2

You mean, tons of guilds that killed Heroic LK at 85? There weren't "tons of guilds" clearing Heroic LK at 80...

There were a large portion of the player base that were able to kill heroic LK on 10 due to the 30% buff and if you ever paid attention to WoW Progress you would realize that the percentage of players that were able to down NORMAL Nefarion on 10 and 25 were roughly about the same numbers until the 4.2 nerfs were put in place.

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 12:07 PM ----------

Originally Posted by BenBos

A game system like Wotlk burns holes in the designers money pockets. Designers are scre we d when you need to support that ridiculous badge and content system.

CATA: sees MORE net revenue and profits. Because it is easier to sustain and so the gain/loss ratio is postive for Blizzard.

Sometimes LESS (content and progress) is far better than more content and faster progress for the company that runs the thing.

Makes you think twice.

Losing $13.5 million a month that they were making 9 months ago isn't sustainable.

The loss of 300.000 players after a major content was published, with so-proclaimed awsome new questing area and raid that will blow you away - yes, it's a small number, but I believe even more people will start leaving WoW, because if you'll have to wait half a year after new quests and smallER raid, it just becomes more boring.As of 4.3 - expect Abyss Maw and CoT: War of the Ancient. Abyss Maw shoul've come already, so it'll probably be in new patch. As of WotA, they already announced it'll be a new raid instance in Cataclysm and with new expansion coming in end of 2012 (we all know it'll come at that point :P) the timeline is simple - 4.3 at end of 2011, 4.4 at middle of 2012, new expansion at end of 2012.

Originally Posted by Dewote

Now we'll just have to wait Trion to announce "we're happy to hear about the loss blaablaablaa we know exactly where those 300k players went."

"To us..... oh wait no they didn't"

I left because after years of playing this game I hate the changes they made on my resto druid. Unless you were raiding there was nothing to do either... bleh I want a new mmo

Originally Posted by Fleshcrawl

The loss of 300.000 players after a major content was published, with so-proclaimed awsome new questing area and raid that will blow you away - yes, it's a small number, but I believe even more people will start leaving WoW, because if you'll have to wait half a year after new quests and smallER raid, it just becomes more boring.As of 4.3 - expect Abyss Maw and CoT: War of the Ancient. Abyss Maw shoul've come already, so it'll probably be in new patch. As of WotA, they already announced it'll be a new raid instance in Cataclysm and with new expansion coming in end of 2012 (we all know it'll come at that point :P) the timeline is simple - 4.3 at end of 2011, 4.4 at middle of 2012, new expansion at end of 2012.

Leaked product slate which has been all but confirmed at this point has Blizzard expecting to launch the next expansion during Q2 of next year. If they are still on track to make that release window, I wouldn't expect a 4.4 this expansion cycle. Not that I wouldn't love to see some new content but I expect 3.3 will likely be Deathwing for the holiday season to compete with other launching games and 6 months of that, just like we just went through 7 months Tier Fail.

ruh-roh blizzard your unllimited trial idea didnt work. now can you actually start making an effort again instead of doing have the work you used to do and still expecting full price for it.

A game system like Wotlk burns holes in the designers money pockets.

No it doesn't.

Originally Posted by Dewote

Now we'll just have to wait Trion to announce "we're happy to hear about the loss blaablaablaa we know exactly where those 300k players went."

If you think Rift's subscriptions are increasing, you are mistaken. They were literally merging servers because they were/are so deserted.

Originally Posted by Kaeleena

The game doesn't have to be what it's become. It's completely unoptimized, the current raiding tiers are totally uninspired. The Devs were seriously on heroin when they decided to reverse all the positive changes they made during Lich King in favor of a more exclusive raid environment. You know what exclusivity means? Not everyone can do it. It breeds contempt and locks people into playing with other people that may not want to play with or may not even like. It creates cliques within large guilds where those closest to the officers are rewarded for being pets and those that aren't willing to kiss ass long enough get nothing, and that's completely ignoring the fact that until 4.2 T11 normal modes were completely overtuned. It's called a normal mode for a reason. If a large percentage of normal players are unable to clear normal modes, clearly they are higher than normal difficulty. Save the heroic difficulty for the heroic modes. Let the heroic mode players go directly into the next heroic mode tiers, let the heroic mode gear be higher ilvl than the new normal mode tier, that way normal mode guilds still have reasons to go back and clear old heroic mode content, but don't make a game system in which normal players aren't compensated adequately for a reasonable investment of time.

And you're right, 1/2 way through 4.0 I knew Cataclysm was a bomb and quit playing til 4.1. During 4.1 T11 raids still weren't puggable even with Zandalari gear, and with 4.2, a new tier of gear, and lots of raiders with open IDs for Tier 11 content, it's actually finally in line with where it should've been all along, but guess what? For alot of people that's too little too late, and they won't be coming back. I spoke with my wallet, because that's the only thing Blizzard listens to anymore, and they made changes that directly effected my gameplay because of it.

No, just no. Wrath of the Lich King's raid model was exactly what the hell is wrong with this game and the player mentality it developed. Casuals and the non dedicated raiders think they should have the best gear spoon fed to them on a silver platter and that's why they went running for the hills crying foul when Cataclysm came out and all those scrubs and bads who never even set foot in a raid during Burning Crusade when content was actually hard, started complaining. Yes, the launch content for Cataclysm was not easy, not by any stretch as some of the normal mode encounters were reasonably difficult, but none of them were impossible unless you have down syndrome and are a mouth breathing brainless zombie. 10 man encounters were harder by a long shot and should have been tuned down within the first month or so of the expansion and even some of the 25 man fights were overbearing and still are on heroic mode. Tier 12 has improved a lot of things, though 10 man tuning might be considered too easy by many guilds as well. Melee got wrecked hard in Tier 11 and are still at a slight disadvantage on some fights in Firelands, but whatever, that's the way things go.

Sorry but the difficulty of raid encounters needs to be there, the easy factor that was Wrath is what killed the player mentality about end game raiding, only end game raiders deserve to be where they get to, if you don't want to put in the time and effort and develop the skill it takes to be a top tier player worthy of killing the upper echelon of boss fights when they are current, you don't deserve anything more then green drops.

Originally Posted by Rennadrel

No, just no. Wrath of the Lich King's raid model was exactly what the hell is wrong with this game and the player mentality it developed. Casuals and the non dedicated raiders think they should have the best gear spoon fed to them on a silver platter and that's why they went running for the hills crying foul when Cataclysm came out and all those scrubs and bads who never even set foot in a raid during Burning Crusade when content was actually hard, started complaining. Yes, the launch content for Cataclysm was not easy, not by any stretch as some of the normal mode encounters were reasonably difficult, but none of them were impossible unless you have down syndrome and are a mouth breathing brainless zombie. 10 man encounters were harder by a long shot and should have been tuned down within the first month or so of the expansion and even some of the 25 man fights were overbearing and still are on heroic mode. Tier 12 has improved a lot of things, though 10 man tuning might be considered too easy by many guilds as well. Melee got wrecked hard in Tier 11 and are still at a slight disadvantage on some fights in Firelands, but whatever, that's the way things go.

Sorry but the difficulty of raid encounters needs to be there, the easy factor that was Wrath is what killed the player mentality about end game raiding, only end game raiders deserve to be where they get to, if you don't want to put in the time and effort and develop the skill it takes to be a top tier player worthy of killing the upper echelon of boss fights when they are current, you don't deserve anything more then green drops.

I seem to recall only 30% of guilds downing Nomal Nef according to WoW Progress prior to 4.2. That means you're alienating 70% of raiders from being able to see any of the endgame content that they put their hard earned money up to see just like you do and in what universe do you live in where any normal mode gear was best in slot?

Only 30% of guilds killing him means that he was too hard for the majority of players. IE he was overtuned. That's why the nerfed him. The difficulty of normal mode raids did not and should not have been where it was and that's why it drove a large number of players away from the game.

Translation: 70% of players have downs syndrome or are mouth breathing brainless zombies.

And you wonder why the community is against you. I bet Epic PvP gear for honor has been a thorn that just digs in your side ever since BC too. lol

ahh yes, Finally...the blizzard...has come back to, err making patches to compete with other mmo releases? i was wondering what they would release to compete with SWTOR's launch, and now we know.

I feel like many of us could write about this topic for hours. It seems as if the majority of people responding have been playing the game for over a year, with many dating back to the beginning of Vanilla WoW (like myself!) so we all have very passionate opinions on the state of WoW. I'll try to keep mine succinct. WoW has always been about accomplishment. Many of us remember our first boss kills, our first raid epics, and our first raid clears. The gear we got was precious to us. I remember my first epic - Arcanist Gloves in MC, which I still hold onto in my mage's bank. However, for new and returning players, that feeling of accomplishment is completely void. I recently came back to the game, after leveling from 80-85 with the rest of you in December. My guild killed Halfus and Magmaw less than a week after Cataclysm was released, and there was no feeling of happiness or joy from the accomplishment. I quit raiding and took a break from the game shortly after that, returning during the release of Firelands. The majority of my gear was blue when I came back, but it was all instantly replaced with three pieces of T11, many offset Firelands-iLVL epics and even the T12 pants within two weeks. Not once did I stop to think about how awesome the new gear I got was, they were just a means to an end. It dawned on me there was no longer a sense of accomplishment in WoW, as everything was literally handed to me via persistence of dealing with randoms in the dungeon queue (and doing dailies). Why farm gear for months on end when that same gear (or comparable gear) will be available from a vendor the day the new patch hits? In the days of Vanilla, you needed the gear from the previous raiding tier to even come close to competing in the next tier. Now, you can literally come on the day of the patch, farm heroics for 24 straight hours, and get three pieces of the last tier without ever stepping inside of the instances. At the same time that you've accomplished literally nothing to get that gear but facerolling a nerfed heroic, you also belittle the people that have spent months trying to get the gear the hard way. Accomplishment is gone from World of Warcraft, replaced by achievements. Achievements are all well and good. You have titles that stick out miles after your name in cities that are too big for anyone to notice (due to flying mounts). At least in WotLK, Dalaran was so enclosed and bustling that people had to notice your shiny new title or mount. Speaking of mounts, the idea of progressing to get new, beautiful mounts is pretty enticing - they're a good way to show your status as a hardcore raider. However, wouldn't you rather have pieces of gear that you know you worked tirelessly for and are proud of, not a mount that will be farmable when the new expansion is released? I know I'm not alone in this sentiment, as many of my friends and colleagues that I've played this game with for six years are quitting for the same reasons. Sure, it's fun to gear out a new class as an alt or pick up the game every couple of days to do heroics or arenas. However, the game used to be about the accomplishment of succeeding, of uniting with other people to do something seemingly impossible, to explore the world and meet all the nooks and crannies Azeroth had to offer, and to most of all feel like your gear was worth the time and effort. At least one of those criteria is still obtainable, if you're a raider in Paragon or an equivalent guild. Outside of that, there's nothing to work for, you're just another character that looks the same as the character next to you. With the direction WoW is going, the homogenization of the game is going to dilute it so much that everything and everyone will just stagnate. New patches and expansions will come and go, and excitement may spark up again. However, once people realize its the game cat and mouse game, and there's literally nothing worth doing each expansion until the final patch, more and more people will start spending their money elsewhere. Without goals, the game just becomes a time sink, and people are beginning to realize that. TL;DR: I am Dave! Yognaught and I have the balls.

Originally Posted by lhehitman

ahh yes, Finally...the blizzard...has come back to, err making patches to compete with other mmo releases? i was wondering what they would release to compete with SWTOR's launch, and now we know.

Honestly they dont need a lot of thing to compete with SWOTR unless your a fan of Starwars, but it look pretty boring as a game. watching some preview of it and well not really like it

Why is "Patch 4.3 this year" a big deal? Surely Blizzard wasn't going to let Firelands last for 5 more months?

Originally Posted by Jivo

Why is "Patch 4.3 this year" a big deal? Surely Blizzard wasn't going to let Firelands last for 5 more months?

I agree, I'm looking forward to the new 5 man

Hopefully we get more then 1 new 5 man dungeon though

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 08:33 AM ----------

Originally Posted by lhehitman

ahh yes, Finally...the blizzard...has come back to, err making patches to compete with other mmo releases? i was wondering what they would release to compete with SWTOR's launch, and now we know.

Star Wars isn't even coming out this year...

Is there a way to contact the artwork artists?

Originally Posted by BenBos

A game system like Wotlk burns holes in the designers money pockets. Designers are scre we d when you need to support that ridiculous badge and content system.

CATA: sees MORE net revenue and profits. Because it is easier to sustain and so the gain/loss ratio is postive for Blizzard.

Sometimes LESS (content and progress) is far better than more content and faster progress for the company that runs the thing.

Makes you think twice.

Wow, you are offbase. In WoTLK the only people complaining about content were the high level, to mid-high level guilds that had crushed the content in weeks. The remaining player base was happily going in to ICC with guilds, pugs, GDKP runs and were having a blast. The game was fun for a lot of the player base.

The simple reality is that once something is easy making it harder again will alienate a portion of your player base. That's human nature, we look for the path of least resistance. Cata is hard, Im going to play Rift, or watch tv, or complain on MMO champ, but first I need to cancel my account.

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 12:39 PM ----------

Originally Posted by LethalAim

I agree, I'm looking forward to the new 5 man

Hopefully we get more then 1 new 5 man dungeon though

---------- Post added 2011-08-04 at 08:33 AM ----------



Star Wars isn't even coming out this year...

I suspect 4.3 will be released close to the release of SWTOR. Blizzard always has something up its sleeve to counter the launch of a competitor. If the release date rumors are true then 4.3 would hit Nov/Dec time frame.

4.3 Biggest patch yet? I dont care, i just want my dance studio