Blizzard is not acting like BFA is failing

[justandulas]

Investor calls are still very good. Blizz is still having 30% operating margin. The Q4 2018 has been impressive numbers wise. 51% operating margin for Activision late 2018.

It’s a little more than that. Their numbers were up mostly because of timely BO4 release, and a ton of MTX being put into games including wow

Active user engagement (how many people bother to play) was down something insane like 40-60%

It isn’t all BfA, again I called out all the Bnet games. But the reality is people have left in droves

[Darillyn]

While I think BFA definitely has its issues (many of which have been said are being addressed in 8.2) I don't think the game is failing at all. Lets be real, BFA does a lot more right than Warlords or Cata. Id take a low-budget Legion over those any day.

[Eleccybubb]

It’s a little more than that. Their numbers were up mostly because of timely BO4 release, and a ton of MTX being put into games including wow

Active user engagement (how many people bother to play) was down something insane like 60%

It isn’t all BfA, again I called out all the Bnet games. But the reality is people have left in droves

This.

Problem is Blizzard are too focus on metrics and buzzwords.

Profit does not necessarily mean more people are playing. It means more people are paying.

[schwarzkopf]

1. BFA is not failing
2. Blizzard just announced what things they got wrong in BFA
3. Blizzard just announced what they plan on doing differently in 8.2 and then in 9.0

TLDR : Sky is not falling, just a few clouds up there is all.

[JustRob]

While I think BFA definitely has its issues (many of which have been said are being addressed in 8.2) I don't think the game is failing at all. Lets be real, BFA does a lot more right than Warlords or Cata. Id take a low-budget Legion over those any day.

Both WoD and Cata were better than BfA. BfA is just the same as WoD, a job. Except it's more annoying to do it this time.

Anyway, they're never gonna admit that BfA is failing or say that player numbers have gone down. Doing so is basically commercial suicide.

[justandulas]

While I think BFA definitely has its issues (many of which have been said are being addressed in 8.2) I don't think the game is failing at all. Lets be real, BFA does a lot more right than Warlords or Cata. Id take a low-budget Legion over those any day.

That’s debatable. Certain aspects of bfa are well done. Others, are worse than ever.

Take raid progression as a good example. Because of wf/tf and how easy it is to get gear in m+, we’ve seen heroic and low/mid tier mythic guilds just walk away from this expac like never before. The reward structure is almost copy/pasted from diablo 3 and turn wow into a slow paced mmo Arpg, rather than the mmo rpg it used to be. It’s more diablo 3 than Everquest today.

Positive to some, horrendous to others. Entirely subjective

As someone who likes progression raiding and nothing else (no alts) Bfa is by far the lowest point in wows history to me

[Muajin76]

Put it this way. FF14 was so bad originally it was shut down and an official apology was given..

I bought the CE version of that too for the launch, the game was beautiful graphic wise but it was a dumpster fire. It got shut down and reworked until it was ready to be launched.
Gotta love Japanese companies.

[Megitsune]

Even though BfA is awful right now, Blizz are not gonna say anything even remotely like "it's failing" to the general public. It's their current product. You won't get anything close to that kind of acknowledgement until the next expansion is close to release.

[towelliee]

Cause it is not.

[Darillyn]

That’s debatable. Certain aspects of bfa are well done. Others, are worse than ever.

Take raid progression as a good example. Because of wf/tf and how easy it is to get gear in m+, we’ve seen heroic and low/mid tier mythic guilds just walk away from this expac like never before. The reward structure is almost copy/pasted from diablo 3 and turn wow into a slow paced mmo Arpg, rather than the mmo rpg it used to be. It’s more diablo 3 than Everquest today.

Positive to some, horrendous to others. Entirely subjective

As someone who likes progression raiding and nothing else (no alts) Bfa is by far the lowest point in wows history to me

That is true. I am more of an alt/lore focused player. And aside from Sylv ive enjoyed what we have gotten. I have also enjoyed the dungeons and raids as well. From a gameplay systems perspective, however, I totally understand the frustration. There are a lot of aspects to the game right now that seem to exist solely to drag out monthly subscriptions. That is ridiculous. However, from an art/lore/solo player's perspective I do still think it is better than cata and warlords (referring to what another poster said)

[justandulas]

That is true. I am more of an alt/lore focused player. And aside from Sylv ive enjoyed what we have gotten. I have also enjoyed the dungeons and raids as well. From a gameplay systems perspective, however, I totally understand the frustration. There are a lot of aspects to the game right now that seem to exist solely to drag out monthly subscriptions. That is ridiculous. However, from an art/lore/solo player's perspective I do still think it is better than cata and warlords (referring to what another poster said)

Yeah. Different strokes and all that.

For gamers who like diablo 3, playing solo, arpg, and gear just kinda being there and everyone being equal I could totally get why bfa would be beloved

For players like me, who prefer to go from point A to B and climb the progression ladder, no alts at all, and slower mmo rpg design like vanilla wow or Everquest; then Bfa is the lowest point in wows history by a large margin.

Like I said, it’s more diablo 3 than Everquest today and while some may like and prefer that, I don’t. It’s an mmoARPG now, and I want a more old school mmo rpg version of wow

[Maudib]

Wrong. But I can see you're not interested in a discussion but to just fellate yourself on what you've already decided on. I can tell you aren't a very mature person and I hope you the best in the future.

Thank you. I wish you the best as well in whatever you play.

[trapmaster]

They are way way too far to focus bfa to bandage errors and shits (honestly let's stop this nonsense and just leave it alone and focus new xpac... (I assume they learnt plentiful mistakes, if not then well this is so fucked) Most of my friend list are completely offline for almost 2-3 fucking months cuz bfa happened, most of them playing osrs or other games which i regretted the most paying for this shitty bfa product, but good thing is i'm playing other game and checking wow news if any FUCKING great news that would make wow more relevant again but oh shit, well.. It's completely IRRELEVANT. How could blizzard not using their eyes to be able to see what's the fucking playerbase are right now at... I meant holy shit, MANY SIGNALS quitting/unsubbing from players yet blizzard ignoring signs. Well i guess monkeys do exist in their headquarter... oh better word... ACTIVISION control them like puppets

[rrayy]

Is it just me or is Blizzard just acting like everything is fine?

Outside of Classic forum communication is non existent, only info we have is directly from Ion with vague promises, 8.2 PTR is not up for a MAJORRRR game changing patch, Lore has been dead silent except insulting people on the forums, devs have been afraid to communicate bugs when reported/confirm them.

The list just keeps going. Every single thing I see Ion listing out was reported far prior to BFA even launching but how many had to quit and get fired before he decided to put his hubris aside and admit something is broken?

Nowhere in his interviews is he addressing the casino that is BFA right now and if anything has embraced it even further in dev Q&A's which are few and far between. Where in the hell are the class devs? People are beyond pissed right now about class design and the pruning but there is nothing. Who in the hell looks at prot warriors in MDI right now and does not thing that is just broken and crowding out other tanks that need buffs?

Guilds have been turned into glorified raid log communities as people are just disillusioned at what is going on right now. Where is the 8.2 hype on the PTR? Atleast then you could get people motivated to stay with the game and not just give up.

You thinknig it failed does not mean it actually failed.

AS it is, it didn't fail. It was profitable.

[Soon-TM]

Well guess what 8.2 better be the greatest patch in WoW's history the way they have acted right now. It better damn near be another expansions worth of content at this point because they act like 8.2 will make people forget about this current RNG fest.

Tbh, I could more or less forget this RNG fiesta if at least my preferred classes/specs were fun to play. Ion has talked a great deal about 8.2, and sounds good - but now it's time to deliver.

[kamuimac]

You thinknig it failed does not mean it actually failed.

AS it is, it didn't fail. It was profitable.

we are slowly reaching a point when people start opening their eyes

they start to realise that all those idiotic streamers who have been whining for past few months did it solely to make $$$ on fake outcry

and sheeps followed them on forums

while reality is BFA is making ton of money and is really popular among casual crowd.

people need to stop being muppets who follow streamer's opinions blindly - thats what is happening

- - - Updated - - -

Apparently the Bioware situation is common in all companies, so every AAA developer is probably in literal flames all the time. All the while they boast terrific result and superb working environment through their PR machines.


If the industry doesn't crash to shit games with terrible monetization, it will crash when the whole workforce has been burnt out.

sooo .. never ?

MTX are growing with each year , mobile games and mobile rpgs are now produced by every single big company , and workforce is workforce - they dont work for idea fix - they work to make a living - and current standards in industry are how they are.

dont worry one day you will realise the benefits of working for big companies like for example dental & healthcare benefits means a lot more then some stupid idea "lets make gaming great again"

[Freighter]

BfA does not need a "MAJORRRR" gamechanging patch though. It needs some (big, in some cases) changes to systems in order to be salvaged.

That said, how stupid do you have to believe that they'd openly say that BfA is failing under any circumstances? That any company would? That'd be like telling the players who remain that they shouldn't be playing until the issues are fixed.

There's major changes needed though. I enjoyed playing a holy priest in MoP, now they've fucked them up. It's not enjoyable now, the holy word based burst-healing is awful. I want my greater heal back. I want flash heal to burn your mana but have very good throughput. But no, fuck my fun, can't have that. Must use holy word for throughput so you are limited in throughput by a CD rather than by your mana.

I used to enjoy playing a mage. They fucked them up too.

I enjoyed playing enhancement shaman in WoD, then in the prepatch get a big FUCK YOU AND YOUR FUN in my face when they introduced maelstrom and it just made them not enjoyable as well.

[Onikaroshi]

Failed to me... WoD was a better expansion, at least there the classes were mostly fun. Now they're all 2-3 buttons with another 1-3 on cds, and they feel like ass to hit because they're on GCD now.

Half the time I think I hit a cd, I expect the cd to go off, but it doesn't because its still on GCD.

[Berndorf]

Because the smug satisfaction of being right on the internet is just too good of a feeling.

DAE BFA SUX?? (updoots to the left)

Does it even compare to the smug satisfaction some get from being snarky and edgy on the internet though? I'm not so sure..

[Abysal]

Yeah. Different strokes and all that.

For gamers who like diablo 3, playing solo, arpg, and gear just kinda being there and everyone being equal I could totally get why bfa would be beloved

For players like me, who prefer to go from point A to B and climb the progression ladder, no alts at all, and slower mmo rpg design like vanilla wow or Everquest; then Bfa is the lowest point in wows history by a large margin.

Like I said, it’s more diablo 3 than Everquest today and while some may like and prefer that, I don’t. It’s an mmoARPG now, and I want a more old school mmo rpg version of wow

Lucky for you, WoW Classic is coming out in a few months.