Shadowlands: Rapidly Climbing the Ladder in Popularity

[Declaron]

I know it comes around every single time but this time it really is dying a death. Sure there will be (myself included) a resurgence when 9.1 comes out but ultimately it won’t last forever. 10.3 maybe?

Saying all this if (and when) “WoW2” comes out it’ll be johnny big balls

[Cazze]

I know it comes around every single time but this time it really is dying a death. Sure there will be (myself included) a resurgence when 9.1 comes out but ultimately it won’t last forever. 10.3 maybe?

Saying all this if (and when) “WoW2” comes out it’ll be johnny big balls

This has to be satire at this point...

[arkanon]

I know it comes around every single time but this time it really is dying a death. Sure there will be (myself included) a resurgence when 9.1 comes out but ultimately it won’t last forever. 10.3 maybe?

Saying all this if (and when) “WoW2” comes out it’ll be johnny big balls

Surely you dont genuinely believe Blizzard would EVER do WoW:2. Does anyone actually believe this is a genuine possiblity?

[crusadernero]

I can relate to this. I (guildless, mostly solo player) got excited about Thorgast because it sounded like they were aiming it precisely at my playstyle. However, it turned out flawed because:
(i) for my class/spec, most of a Thorgast run is bereft of challenge and thus extremely boring; and
(ii) the only challenge there is comes from the final boss, but reaching such boss requires a long time invested in the boring part and, on top of that, the fight itself often turns out to be an RNG fight instead of a challenge to overcome through planing and skill; and
(iii) after having upgraded my legendary of choice there is no meaningful reward to pursue in there. Not even 35 anima
Twisted Corridors is similar, but worse (boring part takes much, much longer, more punishing boss RNG). I made the mistake to waste 2.5 hours in there once, only to be crushed by the level 16 boss. I wasted one try getting crushed. Then I wasted two tries examining the boss's spells to figure out what was killing me. Then I spent two tries trying out combinations of "oh shit" buttons / dps cooldowns. Both failed, and although I had more ideas to try (and was prepared to wipe in there for a much longer time), there is no way whatsoever that I will spend another boring 2.5 hours of my time getting back to level 16.

It is in fact more fun to try my hand at some Legion hc/mythic bosses. If I wipe on them, I can change my tactic and try again as many times as I want without getting locked out for the week by RNG. If I manage to kill one, there's a chance of a transmog reward. In other words, Thorgast (in its current incarnation) is less fun and less rewarding than soloing old raids.

yeah I cant believe they have made Thorgast such a mundane and boring feature. Last night when I did it for last clue on Anduin, I knew it was a snorefest until last boss. I killed him fine to, but that was the only time I actually had to pay somewhat attention.

I liked Mage Tower cause it put my skills to the test. I would even level alts up just so I could try it with different classes. most of the time I failed, but I made it on some of them and did several when it became easier. The good thing about Mage Tower was that it didnt take forever to actually be challenged.

[Jonnusthegreat]

Surely you dont genuinely believe Blizzard would EVER do WoW:2. Does anyone actually believe this is a genuine possiblity?

I don't think it's going to happen, but I've been hoping for GoS (Galaxy of Starcraft) with proper ship builds and combat (like SWTOR, but Blizzard-quality).

[Cthulhu fhtagn]

WoW patch life has been the same for a long time now. Once those few months are up the game is always "dying" according to the people who stop playing cause there's nothing to do. The same drop on subs has happened since the dawn of time halfway through a patch.

People also like to attribute this to whatever they dont like about the game. Or another game that does not compete with what wow offers whatsover. I really disliked this season m+ but i still dont think thats the sole reason the thing that always happens happened again. There has always been shit parts of the game for almost all players, and having to do that does not seem to stop people playing en masse. It is when progression ends in the content you like doing.

[ParanoiD84]

Dont know anyone still subbed atm all got bored pretty fast, was a good launch though.

[arkanon]

I don't think it's going to happen, but I've been hoping for GoS (Galaxy of Starcraft) with proper ship builds and combat (like SWTOR, but Blizzard-quality).

They have looked into a couple of different concepts in the SC universe, ghost being one of them, and they just dont seem to be able to make it stick. They then had that idea for a mixed universe mmo, Titan or w/e they named, and again, they moved away from it and did HoTS instead.

I just dont see any logical reason to do WoW 2 - the only motivation for such a thing would be a complete departure from their current formula, and like it or not, that formula has worked for them for coming up 2 decades, and I just dont see them rocking the boat.

I think from a financial standpoint, they would be far better off having one patch, or even one expansion, that drastically changes the way the game plays, or the theme, or even visual style (of the world at least), and then if it is a flop, they have only lost 1 patch / 1 expansion worth of potential income.

If they killed off wow to create wow 2, they risk losing both.

[Scrat]

I really like this expansion so far. The key is to pace yourself and game play.

People do invest a lot of time and money in the game and rightfully expect to be entertained. If you're bored with the game or find yourself afk'ing after logging in it might be time to move on and find something else.

Simples.

[Dracullus]

WoW patch life has been the same for a long time now. Once those few months are up the game is always "dying" according to the people who stop playing cause there's nothing to do. The same drop on subs has happened since the dawn of time halfway through a patch.

People also like to attribute this to whatever they dont like about the game. Or another game that does not compete with what wow offers whatsover. I really disliked this season m+ but i still dont think thats the sole reason the thing that always happens happened again. There has always been shit parts of the game for almost all players, and having to do that does not seem to stop people playing en masse. It is when progression ends in the content you like doing.

Very likely this patch cycle existed before Cata/MoP, but only Blizzard can know this. Between 2005-2010 WoW was still fresh game and there was massive influx of new players that didn't try it before.

[ryanmahaffe]

If shadowlands is great why is your sig bashing on the expac?

Been doing it with blizzard titles since BFA. Not really my actual opinion

[Shaqthefat]

Been doing it with blizzard titles since BFA. Not really my actual opinion

Fair enough lol

[Kithelle]

It rapidly drops popularity as expected.

Gee, you mean people are taking a break as this raid tier is over and the next tier is starting testing?

[Izzyfurious]

And yet when i do things in the game and help others with. That more, rather than less players. Dislike and are vocal about often. I continue to hear they are a returning player or noob to the game. So if popularity was starting to fall again, then why do i continue to experience this.

Go ahead. Someone give their 2 cent on that.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

US forums shown nice data.

aparently when WoW was loosing its 50 % of playerbase due to SL being garbage , FF14 gained almost +1,5 mln active accounts in last 4 months.

accident ? dont think so.

Where are you getting the FF numbers from?

[huth]

Gee, you mean people are taking a break as this raid tier is over and the next tier is starting testing?

And doing so a good month later than with BfA, to boot. Certainly shows how terrible SL is.

[Soon-TM]

And yet when i do things in the game and help others with. That more, rather than less players. Dislike and are vocal about often. I continue to hear they are a returning player or noob to the game. So if popularity was starting to fall again, then why do i continue to experience this.

Go ahead. Someone give their 2 cent on that.

Anecdotal experience and what not. Because it is just that.

[Declaron]

Surely you dont genuinely believe Blizzard would EVER do WoW:2. Does anyone actually believe this is a genuine possiblity?

I dont see why not, Blizzard current strategy seems to be re-releasing stuff they have already made or essentially the same game all over again with minor tweaks (D4 looks exactly the same as D3, WoW Classic and the upcoming TBC, Shadowlands is essentially a reskinned Legion/BfA, Overwatch 2 seems to be literally DLC for Overwatch 1 in effect, I still cant believe they are even counting it as a new game, no wonder they didnt mention it at blizzconline.)

A WoW2 is certainly not as farfetched as people seem to make it out to be. They can do the 9th xpac, finish it up at 10.3, give it 6 months then release WoW2, which will coincidentally not be far after the release of Wrath Classic.

[arkanon]

I dont see why not, Blizzard current strategy seems to be re-releasing stuff they have already made or essentially the same game all over again with minor tweaks (D4 looks exactly the same as D3, WoW Classic and the upcoming TBC, Shadowlands is essentially a reskinned Legion/BfA, Overwatch 2 seems to be literally DLC for Overwatch 1 in effect, I still cant believe they are even counting it as a new game, no wonder they didnt mention it at blizzconline.)

A WoW2 is certainly not as farfetched as people seem to make it out to be. They can do the 9th xpac, finish it up at 10.3, give it 6 months then release WoW2, which will coincidentally not be far after the release of Wrath Classic.

No you are not addressing the core issue with it - they dont need to. They have an existing pipeline for releasing the equivalent product through expansions - they get a box price, just like they would with wow2, and they get a subscription. There is absolutely no reason to release wow2, it couldn't possibly introduce anything new that hasnt been introduced, or planned to be introduced into wow through an expansion.

Obviously they could drastically change the game - realistic new engine instead of stylized / cartoon graphics, no trinity, new classes, entirely new universe / world / character / setting etc etc etc, but then the problem comes up - is it even wow anymore? and the obvious answer is no, its not.

Its really that simple - what could they introduce to wow2 that A) couldnt simply be an expansion and B) isnt just an entirely new ip, which needs to drop the warcraft name.

[Kithelle]

And doing so a good month later than with BfA, to boot. Certainly shows how terrible SL is.

Oh wow...a whole month! It's almost like things are harder because work environments are disrupted because of some global event is ongoing!