Opinion: Changes / compromises that must be made for WoW to survive

[Lime]

Blizzard needs to embrace a more single-player focused game with the multiplayer being optional. Allow all content to scale for dungeons and raids and NPC options for PVP. I would even be fine with renting a private server for that option. Keep all the multiplayer options there for people that enjoy that.

I'm not going to say that you're right or wrong, but seeing all of these people counter you with generic statements like "b-b-but it's an MMO" is hilarious, considering how many of them have praised WoW's singleplayer features in the past. Hell, one of the most loved features of Legion was the Mage Tower.

And there's at least two people in this thread who I've seen praise RuneScape on many occasions, which is an MMO with a singleplayer focus.

But hey, "those don't count" due to <insert arbitrary reason here>.

[Dch48]

Threads like this one ceasing to exist.

[sam86]

Games are measured by profitability. WoW is profitable no matter how you try to spin, discount, or stretch.

no, games - like movies - aren't solely measured by profit
games in fact are first and foremost by their IP value, more above game profit
hence why an IP like RE capcom keep making games even when it fell to sh8t category, because u know there is always a fan base for it
RE 5 for example had lot of sales, but it didn't make impact and was considered way worse than 4, hence why ppl were waiting to see if 6 was better or not, hence why 6 didn't make as much sales as 5

If u want to go wow, WoD had start as strong as TBC, but ended with least (back then) subs in entire wow history, Legion on reverse who had overall far better subs had a weaker start purely thanks to WoD reputation
By using ur terms, WoD is 'better' because it made fast sales, even if it damaged wow badly on long term
For a mmo game, ur plan should always be on long term, not under ur feet, however with activision amazing record of over 10 gaming studios bought and closed... i wonder how long blizz will stay alive

[Ielenia]

If u want to go wow, WoD had start as strong as TBC, but ended with least (back then) subs in entire wow history, Legion on reverse who had overall far better subs had a weaker start purely thanks to WoD reputation
By using ur terms, WoD is 'better' because it made fast sales, even if it damaged wow badly on long term

You'd have a point if the only profitability for WoW came from box sales. It's not. It has a monthly subscription. And WoD lost all the subscribers it gained, and then some, almost as fast as it made "fast sales".

[sam86]

You'd have a point if the only profitability for WoW came from box sales. It's not. It has a monthly subscription. And WoD lost all the subscribers it gained, and then some, almost as fast as it made "fast sales".

where did i say it is only profit ?
and it is still main profit however the exp box sale
and still in my example WoD harmed Legion even if Legion zero question is superior to WoD (also that wasn't a hard competition)

[Shakana]

To be clear and maybe over-precise Massive Multiplayer Online RPG does not necessarily mean that players, most complete strangers, need to be playing together. It only means an Online Gaming Platform of a suitable size in which multiple players can be on simultaneously. The assumption that "multiplayer" means grouped up is not really true. Like a large urban area somewhere in real life it's easy to imagine an MMO with 200,000 concurrent players who are going about their own business getting stuff done while ignoring everyone else.

I'm really only saying this because grouping up with total strangers to do something difficult is NOT something we do a lot in real life. It's unnatural in most circumstances where someone wants to relax. The best experience in any MMO is with friends or acquaintances in something like a guild. That is where the incentives should be. The anti-social experience that most receive at some point in the game where people, usually total strangers, are screaming insults at each other? Better to go solo. Probably better for business too.

That is not to say that multiplayer group activities shouldn't exist. They should but be more optional than they are at present. There have been studies and surveys of this. Anywhere from 60%-70% of players prefer to go about their business on their own. It does much to explain the huge crowds that come along for expansions, do their leveling and then leave.

Bias: I don't play with strangers any longer. I purely play with people I know and trust or else play solo stuff. I'm done with trying to do anything in this or any other game with strangers who stand an excellent chance of being at a different skill level which will either hold me back or hold them back or complete assholes who are more interested in ruining someone else's game.

Exactly. Just seeing people, by it's own on the world is multiplayer, not everyone should be forced to do things with strangers, and let's not forget, many people can be anti social, or shy and all that kind of stuff that not everyone has the ability to be with others but likes the game, and tries to be social at a certain point, to where it can be. Without further words, basically not everyone that loves the game, wants to feel forced to group up, and that's why many people enjoy singular player activities such as mage towers and visions, where you can decide if you want either to group up or not. And mage tower to test your OWN skills. Was like the best thing ever.

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See? You have 4 posts in this thread already, if I'm not mistaken, and you haven't addressed the actual subject at hand in ANY of them, and you chose instead to post useless 1-liners in your usual smug mood. So it looks you are either trolling, or VERY bored. Not that I care though, keep up the good work

I really don't know what kind of moral you have to tell other person that it has 4 posts. We are all able to reply as many times as we want, as you do as well.

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Why not? I see you coming into every thread where anyone has critique against Blizzard.

Why are you like this?

I would like to understand the statement as well. Suggestions are suggestions, period.
I personally, think some things blizzard does is quite lazy, which means, what they don't actually do. Feels sometimes it lacks many things, and probably it's true. I quit giving suggestions because it doesn't matter anymore. I will just see what blizzard has in their sleeves.

[Ashenhoof]

Gods, thankfully none of you have a fucking say in the development of WoW or games in general.

[Cosmic Janitor]

While i don't agree with the guy saying that it needs to be singleplayer, i do think they need to shore up their solo experience a bit. The way i see it, if we say there is an endpoint to gearing i believe that raiding, small group play, and solo should all be able to reach it (At differing speeds mind you). On top of this they needs to focus on side activities more as well. Other MMOs have vastly more stuff to do on the side, and better profession systems, then WoW does at this point.

For an mmoRPG WoW certainly has one of - if not the - poorest crafting system out there.

[Elias01]

The Sonic movie is hard proof that you HAVE to listen to your fans.

Except there is difference when fan base do not like something and devs look into it make some changes and release product and straight use fan ideas. I can easly tell you that if Blizz would inplement just half of stuff what playets want. WoW would instanly die becouse players are ok when comes to identifeing problems but horrible when comes to coming up with solutions.

[Zka]

/facepalm
WoW is COMPLETELY UNFIT for console gameplay. People have been reading every simplification of controls as "wow is gonna be a console game soon" since like LK, man. Stop this bs.
If WoW appears on consoles, that will be a spinoff game. The retail will never move to another platform.

[Elias01]

To be clear and maybe over-precise Massive Multiplayer Online RPG does not necessarily mean that players, most complete strangers, need to be playing together. It only means an Online Gaming Platform of a suitable size in which multiple players can be on simultaneously. The assumption that "multiplayer" means grouped up is not really true. Like a large urban area somewhere in real life it's easy to imagine an MMO with 200,000 concurrent players who are going about their own business getting stuff done while ignoring everyone else.

I'm really only saying this because grouping up with total strangers to do something difficult is NOT something we do a lot in real life. It's unnatural in most circumstances where someone wants to relax. The best experience in any MMO is with friends or acquaintances in something like a guild. That is where the incentives should be. The anti-social experience that most receive at some point in the game where people, usually total strangers, are screaming insults at each other? Better to go solo. Probably better for business too.

That is not to say that multiplayer group activities shouldn't exist. They should but be more optional than they are at present. There have been studies and surveys of this. Anywhere from 60%-70% of players prefer to go about their business on their own. It does much to explain the huge crowds that come along for expansions, do their leveling and then leave.

Bias: I don't play with strangers any longer. I purely play with people I know and trust or else play solo stuff. I'm done with trying to do anything in this or any other game with strangers who stand an excellent chance of being at a different skill level which will either hold me back or hold them back or complete assholes who are more interested in ruining someone else's game.

There is not such thing as optinal grouping. You group becouse you have to or you dont. Most people will not group up with players. No becouse they want to but becouse its just easyer to run it solo. There is plenty of single player rpg games go play those if you want solo gameplay.

[Ange]

What was the famous and fake quote from H.Ford?

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”?

Now read this thread with all this "horse"-suggestions and it should be clear to everyone why blizzard should never and under no circumstances listen to the customers for a better game. Its even more ridiculous if you picture the 16 years of SUCCESS STORY of WoW criticized by new BfA starting players.

The gaming community is not infinite and today gamers have more choices as in the past . Some of the most rising genres use highly addictive gambling mechanics, soon to be banned worldwide anyways. MMO's biggest competitors in gaming wont even exist in a few months with the current pace of new anti gambling laws.

All blizzard has to do, is smile and wave.

[Elias01]

What was the famous and fake quote from H.Ford?

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.”?

Now read this thread with all this "horse"-suggestions and it should be clear to everyone why blizzard should never and under no circumstances listen to the customers for a better game. Its even more ridiculous if you picture the 16 years of SUCCESS STORY of WoW criticized by new BfA starting players.

The gaming community is not infinite and today gamers have more choices as in the past . Some of the most rising genres use highly addictive gambling mechanics, soon to be banned worldwide anyways. MMO's biggest competitors in gaming wont even exist in a few months with the current pace of new anti gambling laws.

All blizzard has to do, is smile and wave.

100% this. I am not dev but i can look at all those amazing suggestions by players and instanly have 3-4 things how it would neggayivly impact game. And game devs would probaly come up with 20 more. People just look at it oh look it will make my life easyer and completly ignore or do not consider all neggative aspects of that change.

[FelPlague]

Alteraci Humans for the Horde. Please.

They were wiped out long ago my dude. And wernt that many to begin with.

[Kokolums]

Games are measured by profitability. WoW is profitable no matter how you try to spin, discount, or stretch.

The thing is, if WoW is around 2.5 million players, all its going to take is one large negative random event (like another Blitzchung) to drop it under 1 million from here. Or if subs fall under 2 million, big daddy Activision may finally step in and force Blizzard to start laying off a LARGE percentage of WoW staff including devs, artists, etc.

As I mentioned before, companies don't always just focus on being profitable. They may focus on profit MARGINS. As soon as the profit margin falls under a key threshhold, that is it, they start winding down operations and shutting down the company because below that profit margin %, the risk isn't worth staying in business.

Blizz desperately needs to do things to start growing the number of subs.

[Seranthor]

Why not? I see you coming into every thread where anyone has critique against Blizzard.

Why are you like this?

Because any worthwhile idea can be defended and explained, and should be. I'm asking them to do exactly that.

[rrayy]

The thing is, if WoW is around 2.5 million players, all its going to take is one large negative random event (like another Blitzchung) to drop it under 1 million from here. Or if subs fall under 2 million, big daddy Activision may finally step in and force Blizzard to start laying off a LARGE percentage of WoW staff including devs, artists, etc.

As I mentioned before, companies don't always just focus on being profitable. They may focus on profit MARGINS. As soon as the profit margin falls under a key threshhold, that is it, they start winding down operations and shutting down the company because below that profit margin %, the risk isn't worth staying in business.

Blizz desperately needs to do things to start growing the number of subs.

But you have no clue what the number of subs is. Hard to say they need to grow subs when you hvae no idea how many they have or how happy they are with what they have.

[Tommi]

Some classes (death knight and I believe monk) had a gcd of 1 second at some point. Don't remember when it was removed but it was fun to have the faster gameplay.

Still do as a monk.

[Orby]

But WoW is surviving... Sure its falling in numbers, the game is old as fuck of course its going to fall in numbers, old players are dropping off and new playing cannot invest in the old game.

Wanna see anyone here create a game that sustains 10 millions active subs for 15 years. Of course you're going to get a drop off but WoW.

Now if you want to title this post "How can WoW increase subs again' thats a whole barrel of fish, because I honestly don;t think they can, the game is old, there are also more options to people, Final Fantasy XIV and Elder Scroll Online are two of the runners up to WoW that have managed to gain a decent following, I honestly think WoW has settled on its comfortable core audience and they'll sail that wave for however long that last.

For WoW to gain these subs again they need to make drastic changes to the MMO genre, like they did when WoW came out, they need to revitalize it. Blizzard themselves ar enot as beloved as they were back in 2004 either. The first 20 years of Blizzard were the golden years,that Blizzard is gone.

But that doesn't mean that the current team cannot make a success out of it. I think the game is still fine enough even though I personally am burned out right now and not playing. Thats not WoW's fault thats just me being burned out lol.

[Soon-TM]

I really don't know what kind of moral you have to tell other person that it has 4 posts. We are all able to reply as many times as we wish.

Yes, we can reply as many times as we wish - ideally, by addressing the subject at hand, instead of trollish, smug 1-liners that contribute exactly nothing to the discussion.

More on topic, Blizzard seems to be realising, at long last, that while dungeons and raids may be WoW's bread and butter, they simply aren't enough to keep the interest of a significant part of the playerbase. I remember reading somewhere that only 60% or so of the players kill a raid boss - yes, that includes LFR. Visions look like an early draft of single player-oriented content, and looks like Tor'ghast in SL will iterate on it. They'd better not !@#& it up though, as they did with warfronts/islands.