No more subscriptions

[rhorle]

Have you ever think if the subscription model just gone away?It's a old system, new MMOs don't need this mercenary model. We have gw2, same generation, never have subscription (many others: BDO, ESO, SWTOR). The new generation is buy-to-play or free-to-play. In my opinion, blizzard must remove the pay-to-play (we already buy the game, is it reallly needs pay a "rent"?)

Could it go away? sure. But it is wrong to say that some of those other MMO's do not have subscriptions when they offer them. The subscription model isn't old or out dated otherwise they wouldn't all use subscriptions as part of their model.Lets be clear this is all about getting something for free. Everybody likes free things so why not right? Well it comes at a cost. And if there is just going to be a subscription anyways we might as well just keep it at what it is now.

[Architect Tonic]

Not necessarily. Look at Pokemon GO.

The most popular games are free to start ones, with optional buyable methods added on top.

WoW would be a fool not to adapt.

[Jastall]

The buy-to-play model is the perfect scenario. You bought the game, so, just play it without a sub.

No, because that either means much diminished support, the cash shop working overtime to try and compensate with limitations and microtransactions all over the place, or looking at buy to play games like ESO and GW2, probably both at the same time. No MMO delivers anywhere near as much content as WoW with anywhere near the regularity, the only one that is even close is FFIV, and guess what its business model is.

The sub is just fine. Services are deliberately overpriced as fuck, but they have been since Classic and so will not change. WoW still has a much better business model than any MMO I know of.

[Ghostile]

Look at the statistics, by 2022 ESO will have evened out on WoW if this keeps going on. Blizzard should switch to a free to play model before its too late.

The cash shop is future proof, since more and more people have pay subscriptions for other things and shift way from sub-based mmos

Also keep everything challenge based besides buyable, so both sides of the crowd are satisfied

You keep talking about numbers without posting anything that backs them up.

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Not necessarily. Look at Pokemon GO.

The most popular games are free to start ones, with optional buyable methods added on top.

WoW would be a fool not to adapt.

Mobile games you can fuck around with while on your way to work are hardly comparable to MMOs that require actual time put into them.

[rhorle]

Not necessarily. Look at Pokemon GO. The most popular games are free to start ones, with optional buyable methods added on top. WoW would be a fool not to adapt.

And look at Heroes of the Storm. Free to Play. Optional microtransaction methods added on top. The game is now on life support. Free to Play isn't some guaranteed cash cow. Nor would WoW necessarily be better off with free to play but fees existing to do certain stuff.

[lollerlaban]

I can see where people are coming from, but the subscription is behind every terrible decision Blizzard make.

Why all the time gating and godawful grinds? To keep us subscribed. An eternal fear of missing out. They've already crammed the store full of things you can't get any other way, so it's not like the subscription actually prevents that.

There's no easy answer. They'll still be greedy fucks with or without it. The community will always be shit with or without it, because you likely never see the same toxic players again anyway.

It's been like that since vanilla, why is this a problem now? Raids? Lockout. Dungeons? Lockout. Reputation in classic and TBC? Grind grind grind.

[Architect Tonic]

And look at Heroes of the Storm. Free to Play. Optional microtransaction methods added on top. The game is now on life support. Free to Play isn't some guaranteed cash cow. Nor would WoW necessarily be better off with free to play but fees existing to do certain stuff.

The problem is not the cash flow itself, but incentive to play. HoT failed because the crew got greedy. WoW is already established as a the foundation and guiding star which mmo's should follow. The sub is only there to incentivise spending time with it but that logic is fundamentally flawed.

Instead it shoudl offer the best experience . liek now with Shadowlands opening up never before seen possibilities like high elves, customization option and overall QoL improvements which have been unforeseen up to now.

WoW does not need a sub to rake in money. Money will flow from the great quality of its design and they are now walking on the right path.

[lollerlaban]

And look at Heroes of the Storm. Free to Play. Optional microtransaction methods added on top. The game is now on life support. Free to Play isn't some guaranteed cash cow. Nor would WoW necessarily be better off with free to play but fees existing to do certain stuff.

Ironically Heroes of the storm has gotten more work done on it's life support rather than when it had a full crew, same as with Overwatch.

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Look at the statistics, by 2022 ESO will have evened out on WoW if this keeps going on. Blizzard should switch to a free to play model before its too late.

The cash shop is future proof, since more and more people have pay subscriptions for other things and shift way from sub-based mmos

Also keep everything challenge based besides buyable, so both sides of the crowd are satisfied

ESO will always be a meme aslong as they think weaving between attacks is a feature, a feature they can't even fix because of their incompetence

[Bellamas]

Almost all the free to play games have a monthly "fee" you can pay to get all the stuff you get from WoW's subscription model. Companies have to make money. Plus, if you can't afford $15 a month you should be looking for a better job, or trying to live more cheaply.

[XDurionX]

Nope, you are one of those people who can't read apparently.
ESO has the highest concurrent userbase of any MMO right now.

Source for MoP??

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The game pretty much gets content patches every 3 months nowadays, and is constantly growing, also has one of the best communities, since no one is forced to rush the game to "get therir money's worth for the monthly sub they pay" because there isn't one outside of premium users.
ESO is actually close to dethroning WoW nowadays.

Just the sentiment alone makes ESO vastly more popular than WoW nowadays, which should shift the tide in facer of it in just a few years, especially seeing as how exponentially more and more players shift to ESO form WoW.

https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/wo...r-count/195398

[Argorwal]

So are you one of those people that confuse concurrent active subs with total people to ever buy/play?

Like how back in MoP WoW had over 100 million.

The Forbes article is about players who have played ESO. Not even close to concurrent subscriptions like WoW used to release.

And here is another one for WoWs 100 million back in 2014.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pol...ounts-lifetime

[Architect Tonic]

The problem is the shifting sentiment ESO is overall positive right now WoW is in the negative by far. It is on the path to downfall if it continues the sub model, while ESO is ranking steadily upwards, unlike ever before. Not long until it surpasses WoW at the current rate.

also wow only has 85 mil nowhere near to 100

mmo-population.com/r/elderscrollsonline

[crakerjack]

My worry about doing away with the subscription model is that I don't want to have to pay $10 for each content patch. The other scenario is that there's less content patches per expansion. I mean this is pure speculation, but I see less good coming from switching to a F2P model from subscription. I think the main reason WoW can have a subscription and other games can't is simply because they've sustained more players over the years.

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The problem is the shifting sentiment ESO is overall positive right now WoW is in the negative by far. It is on the path to downfall if it continues the sub model, while ESO is ranking steadily upwards, unlike ever before. Not long until it surpasses WoW at the current rate.

also wow only has 85 mil nowhere near to 100

mmo-population.com/r/elderscrollsonline

Where are you getting your figures from? Like what is the 85-100 mil coming from? And where are you getting the idea that people are happy with ESO? I'm looking at steam right now and Greymoor is sitting at a 54% review rate.

[Architect Tonic]

My worry about doing away with the subscription model is that I don't want to have to pay $10 for each content patch. The other scenario is that there's less content patches per expansion. I mean this is pure speculation, but I see less good coming from switching to a F2P model from subscription. I think the main reason WoW can have a subscription and other games can't is simply because they've sustained more players over the years.

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Where are you getting your figures from? Like what is the 85-100 mil coming from? And where are you getting the idea that people are happy with ESO? I'm looking at steam right now and Greymoor is sitting at a 54% review rate.

Look at the post above you ^ mmo-population.com/r/elderscrollsonline

Even Runescape can overtake WoW at any moment let alone ESO

[Architect Tonic]

And don't you get free trials in WoW as well?

Yep, this is exactly what needs to be expanded for new players to stick around and get them to spend money.

Like make the base zones free but pay a sub if you want to socialize and run instances and play what an mmo is about.

Wow's heart and soul is the community anyhow, so monetize that and the players will start and stay in WoW in droves.

[kugarm]

We have 3 MMOs comming:

- New World
- Blue Protocol
- Ashes of Creation

WoW needs a revamp in all sectors (old engine limits wow) to be relevant and the model how they profit is a sector to think about.

[dcc626]

We have 3 MMOs comming:

- New World
- Blue Protocol
- Ashes of Creation

WoW needs a revamp in all sectors (old engine limits wow) to be relevant and the model how they profit is a sector to think about.

or they will all fail like 99% of the last 15 years worth of mmos have. who the hell makes a new mmo in 2020. its silly.

[Seranthor]

WoW would secure its current #1 status for at least 10 more expansions if it went Free-To-start.

If Blizzard believed this for a second they'd do it. Yet, its clear they haven't, so its clear they dont agree with your assessment.

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ESO has 15 million active players and is still growing WoW has like 7?

I want waht's best for WoW, so it needs to adapt, needs to change. Look for my post below on how to accomplish this.

15 million you say, and how many of those are actually paying? How much money is it generating for its publisher?

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Look at the statistics, by 2022 ESO will have evened out on WoW if this keeps going on. Blizzard should switch to a free to play model before its too late.

The cash shop is future proof, since more and more people have pay subscriptions for other things and shift way from sub-based mmos

Also keep everything challenge based besides buyable, so both sides of the crowd are satisfied

You and your F2P advocates could always pool your allowances and buy Blizzard from Activision and decry that your game will now be F2P.

[XDurionX]

Look at the post above you ^ mmo-population.com/r/elderscrollsonline

Even Runescape can overtake WoW at any moment let alone ESO

Wut? Even by your own source, WoW has three times the players of ESO and Runescape combined. Not to mention the source is shit, WoW having 250k players in 2015? topkek. 12M Subscribers in '15 and 84M in 2020? Lel.

https://mmo-population.com/list

https://mmo-population.com/r/wow/stats

[callipygoustp]

Have you ever think if the subscription model just gone away?

It's a old system, new MMOs don't need this mercenary model. We have gw2, same generation, never have subscription (many others: BDO, ESO, SWTOR). The new generation is buy-to-play or free-to-play.

In my opinion, blizzard must remove the pay-to-play (we already buy the game, is it reallly needs pay a "rent"?)

No, those other systems are horrible. WoW subscription is fine as is.