Is the increasing amount of WoW expansions putting new players off?

[Deleted]

I know that new expansion hype is bread and butter to most of us, and indeed is a key marketing move to keep us invested in WoW, but what about new players who might be interested in the game?

Lets try to put this into perspective. Back in the day, pre TBC, there was just World of Warcraft. It was big, it was rapidly growing, it was acclaimed by critics, it had solid roots in WC2/3, and- despite the sub requirement, that did put a lot of people off - it was just one game. It was.. how should i say, manageable? Simple. A sub agreement and a one off purchase to play.

Nowadays, it's waaaaaay more than just that. Not only is the sub model still going strong, but now you have to fork out another chunk of cash for four or five expansion packs if you want to get into the game.

Do you think this puts some potential players off? I can't help but feel that this is the problem Everquest faced. As big as it once was, potential players simply jumped ship to other, new MMORPGs when they realized they'd need like 20 expansions to get anywhere in that one. It got to the point where they just stopped trying to attract new players, and their massive back catalogue of expansions instead catered solely to the ones they already had.

But thats the thing- online games - any online game - needs fresh blood to grow. You cant rely completely on existing customer loyalty in a business as fickle as the MMORPG.

And if so, what can Blizzard do to solve this?

[Edds]

i would think so
and the amount of levels increasing would put players off aswell

80 levels in gw2 put me off

[Courierrawr]

They should just release the expansions for free, they'd have far more players that way, having to pay $80+ dollars + $15 a month is absurd.

[Skytotem]

They should just release the expansions for free, they'd have far more players that way, having to pay $80+ dollars + $15 a month is absurd.

TBC is free nowadays I think.

[sebun]

They should just release the expansions for free, they'd have far more players that way, having to pay $80+ dollars + $15 a month is absurd.

You only pay for Cata and MoP, all the other expansions are included in the basic game purchase now.

[Sylf]

They already offer bc and wrath for free and cata is only like 10 euro or something. It's not really that expensive

[Madruga]

Honestly, I think it does makes sense.

I began in WOLK, and already felt the content ahead of me was almost too vast for me to handle. My math was something like that... Well, launch was 60, Burning Crusade was 70, now it is 80... Ok, I think I can handle it!

Would I have felt the same now? I don't know... 5 expansions seems a lot to digest for someone new.

[Turin]

I would say that subconsciously it does, but only if you're actually aware of the vastness of WoW.
I imagine that new people have a different view than us though (not sure if they would think it's bigger or smaller than it actually is).

On top of that, nowadays, you often buy the game + expansions all in one (except the latest one).
So, all in all, I don't think it makes much difference.

[Wishblade]

I'd imagine it might.

90 levels sound like hell of a lot and I could see why some would find that uncomforting to have to work their way through. At least now we got the Battle Chest with Vanilla, TBC and Wrath so you don't have to buy all five separately.

[Sand Person]

TBC is free nowadays I think.

yea. its usually packaged with vanilla now. and even that is usually around $15-20 US tops.

[Sills]

TBC is free nowadays I think.

The battlechest includes both TBC and Wrath, so people just need to buy that cata and Mists. It's really the only thing that Blizz can do to keep starting costs down is to bundle more expansions into the battlechest as we go along. Im sure when the next expac is released, cata will be found in the chest as well. It does get a little crazy.

Also starting off knowing you have 90 levels of content to get through is very daunting to a new player. Im sure some people would be like "OMG there's 90 levels of stuff for me to see! Awesome!" but a lot of people will tend to be more like "90 levels!? Ohhh hell no! Aint got time for that!". Not really sure how one would solve the latter...especially if you are new to the game and dont have the benefit of heirlooms or something to make things quicker.

[randomnamegenerator16]

They should just release the expansions for free, they'd have far more players that way, having to pay $80+ dollars + $15 a month is absurd.

80$ dolars? Seriously? In Poland you can buy cdkeys for WoW + all expansions for around 30 euros. In USA it should be even cheaper.

Also, more expansions is a good thing... You know that you will have big amount of content to see, so you know you will play this game for a long time, so it is worth buying.

[Courierrawr]

Also, more expansions is a good thing... You know that you will have big amount of content to see, so you know you will play this game for a long time, so it is worth buying.

Not really.. the only current you'll actually see is the most recent content, everything else will be dead because it's abandoned, a new player probably isn't going to be interested in soloing old raids.

[Slummish]

They should just release the expansions for free, they'd have far more players that way, having to pay $80+ dollars + $15 a month is absurd.

I can only imagine what kind of "content" we'd be seeing with free play...

[TJ]

Sort of, but also no. You can get the battlechest for a decent price and the offers they have on where the expacs are dirt cheap would be appealing for someone who wouldn't normally buy it.

[anothdae]

I think the difference is that in wow the expansions are sequential. It's not like other games where the expansion content was only applicable when it was launched, wow expansions build on each other, so vanilla is still vanilla, and you still have to do it / experience it.

Sure, TBC content isn't played anymore, but there is no confusion as to where you need to go / what you need to do at level 60, 70, 80, and 85. In other games, you can start characters in the new expansions for that content only, and it all gets muddled up. There is only one wow, and it's now wow 5.2, not wow mop.

I think that difference is important, and limits the impact of 5 expansions.

[Malkiah]

so, hang on a minute...

the argument here is that:
"you know, a game with no real progression roadblocks or catch-up difficulty would be a real turn-off to a new player because of how much game you get for one initial investment"

how does that make any sense whatsoever?

if you're brand new to MMOs in general, chances are good you don't even know what the concept of 'amount of content' really even means.
if you've been playing MMOs before and are just trying out WoW, the fact that WoW has no catch-up roadblocks means the amount of content is just window dressing and/or more game for your buck.

i find it nearly impossible to conceive of how the number of expansions in WoW could be a problem for anyone.

[Venziir]

Most likely yes.

[Courierrawr]

I can only imagine what kind of "content" we'd be seeing with free play...

Blizzard is getting more than enough money off subs to fund content development, people only buy the expansions once, that's $40 every two years, meanwhile they pay $360 in sub fees between those two years.

[randomnamegenerator16]

Not really.. the only current you'll actually see is the most recent content, everything else will be dead because it's abandoned, a new player probably isn't going to be interested in soloing old raids.

No it is not. With CRZ there are a lot people going through the world, you can experience all dungeons while leveling etc. Only old raids and dailies are abandoned.

And they fund content development from subs - you get free content every larger patch during expansions.