Originally Posted by
Callei
Someone doesn't know their MMO history. WoW was bashed, repeatedly, on release for being too casual-friendly by Everquest hardcores, and every step of the way through Wrath, they kept making it increasingly accessible and casual-friendly to go with shifts in the market. Then they listened to disgruntled hardcores and took a gamble with Cataclysm, which blew up in their faces in both the Eastern and Western markets--it wasn't hard enough for Eastern players, who would blast through the content and unsub, and casuals and raiders alike in the Western markets quit en masse over what amounted to a lack of endgame. Right now, the main sources of sub losses are from an unsustainable business model in the East, hence why they're restructuring WoW for China and Korea into a free-play-with-cash-shop game, to compete with the prolific free-play scene over there.