So, I've specifically registered just to post in here. I've got to admit that I did not read every single post in this thread, so a lot (if not all) of what I want to write might have already been posted. Still, I feel that there are some points that need to be made.
Let me preface this with a bit of stuff that (from what I've been reading) gets ignored a fair bit whenever WoW's "downfall" is concerned.
The market for MMOs has been changing. There's quite a number of new MMOs that launch every year and we've seen a lot of games rise and fall, all sharing the same basic audience that WoW has been targeting for the better part of a decade now. Why do I consider this to be an important point, you might ask. Simple. Back when WoW was in its prime, the MMO market was lacking competitors. The fact that WoW had its most customers back when The Burning Crusade was around isn't exactly testimony to how great TBC was in comparison to what the game is like today, it's the result of a number of factors - competition being one of them.
Being the biggest player in a market isn't exactly a taunting task if there's virtually no competition. With WoW's success, however, came the "impersonators". Back then, WoW had a fistful (literally) of semi-serious competitors - and now, there's more MMOs around than I can even remember the names of, including free to play ones. Even if we're assuming that the market for MMOs grew over the last few years, it would still be unreasonable to expect WoW to retain its peak number of players - or to grow further, even. Most of these MMOs that have been released in recent years have failed quite miserable, aside from some exceptions, though. However, due to their sheer number, they're bound to whittle WoW's player base down over time.
This is a nonsense calculation, but I just want to illustrate a point:
Total market for MMOs in '06: 15,000,000 players. WoW held 12,000,000 of those. The other three "big" MMOs held a million each, accounting for the remaining 3,000,000 of players.
Today, there might be a total market of 20,000,000 MMO players. WoW is currently holding about 8,000,000 of those - and the dozen of noteworthy competitors still only manages a million each, but that does account for a grand total of 12,000,000 million now.
Now, keep in mind that WoW is old. And when I say old, I mean ancient (in terms of video games, obviously). The fact that such an old game is doing as well as it does, despite a market that is being competed for more and more fiercely as time goes does show one thing: Blizzard does know damn well how to keep their biggest cash cow going. This is also why I do have to wonder why someone like Morello would be acting like the game isn't doing incredibly well. I seriously doubt Blizzard could do any better, given the current situation of both the market and the sheer age of the game (which, eventually, does allow competitors to finally catch up with WoW, somewhat).
With that said, I would also have to wonder why Morello would consider exclusive content as such an important part of games. Sure, some players need a goal they can aspire to, a goal that takes dedication and a bit of struggle to achieve. And even some goals they can never achieve because they'll keep following a carrot even though they actually know they can never get it. However, that doesn't account for all players. Not by far. The last generation of consoles and Nintendo's success with the Wii should have taught people that much. Personally, I would've expected game designers especially to remember that discovery of the more "casual" player. The impact that that "discovery" had was huge, so huge that Nintendo's competitors are actually mimicking Nintendo's strategy to a certain extend. Even LoL does it, to a degree, given that you could call it a more casual-friendly version of Dota. And still, Morello acts as if it was a bad idea to cater to a more casual audience that wants (easily) achievable goals. Why is that, I wonder? Everyone who's been following games for a few years has seen for themselves just how big, important and full of money that bit of the market is - and he, while designing the (arguably) most casual of MOBA games, is advising against that trend?
So, some folks will point out that he's a game designer and I am not, so I shouldn't be questioning his opinion, even though I'm basing mine on what I consider to be logic and common sense. To that, I'd answer that Blizzard also employs game designers - and they're evidently thinking that the more casual route without exclusive content is the way to go. So, I'm not just a commoner who's disagreeing with a game designer and out of my place due to that. I'm just picking a side, with both sides having their own game designers. My pick is based on what I consider to be the better decision, as far as the success of the game is concerned.
Let me get back to WoW's audience, though. Most of those who played the game back when it launched will probably have moved on in their lives and might or might not have quit the game. Let's be honest, eight years is a good bit of time to alter a life, isn't it? Me... Well, I was still in school when I started playing WoW back in early 2005. Back then, classic WoW was okay for me. I didn't mind incredible time-sinks and the carrot on a stick that forced me to invest huge amounts of time into the game in order to get a wee bit closer to it. With no other hobbies, school that didn't require much time and no girlfriend to speak of, there was little else that might have taken up that spare time - especially since my male friends were playing WoW, too. And TBC was similar.
Today, though, I wouldn't be playing vanilla WoW any more. And believe me, I tried playing vanilla not too long ago. With a full-time job and the wish to advance my career, body-building as my primary hobby and a girlfriend, I simply couldn't fit a game like vanilla WoW into my life - not without making some sacrifices I wouldn't be willing to make. Given that I am one of the people who do see both the carrot and the stick it's on, I wouldn't want to play. Knowing I'd never have a shot at what the game has to ever wouldn't make me keep playing, it would only remind me that it would be pointless to sink time into the game beyond leveling a character and maybe doing some five-man instances. Not exactly the sort of player retention Blizzard would want.
As you can see by the direction WoW is heading in, I'd be part of Blizzard's new target audience. People who can't or don't want to sink the time into a game like vanilla WoW or TBC (call it "not being up to the challenge", for all I care, even though it is solely about the time someone invests into the game) and want to be able to eventually get that carrot dangling in front of their face. The latter part of that sentence, though... I have to admit that I have yet to get to personally know someone who wants to play a game because they know they can never achieve much. They might play it despite that, but is that something to design a game around? I don't think so.
I have to apologise if the last few paragraphs come across like a "get a life" post. They're not meant to be. However, there's a distinct sort of people who fit the style of the current WoW who wouldn't fit the style of the old game. It's hard to tell which group is bigger, or what would've made the game more successful. However, from what I have seen on the gaming industry over the last few years indicates that Blizzards current approach is actually the one that is most likely to spawn a successful game.
One more thing to consider, by the way: The reason why WoW became "The Big MMO" in the first place wasn't because it was hardcore or anything. It was because it opened the MMO genre to the mainstream gamer. It's keeping that trend up by opening itself up to the casual gamer now. As such, I'd like to point out that anyone who sought a "hardcore" game has been going with the wrong one by playing WoW from the get-go.