What's the main reason for the dropping WoW subs?

[hrugner]

Are you serious? Again with this argument? Has anyone seen minecraft? Blizzard has made wow in such a way that it could survive an infinite amount of years. Hell even if we get to a point where quantem computing is available to the consumer market and most games happen inside your head they could still keep the game afloat with the latest and greatest tech. The only reason blizzard doesnt always update shit. Is because people like it how it is for now. So they take things piece by piece.

The games age has nothing to do with its sub drop . Anyone who thinks that is ignorant to the fact that no one likes the Asian theme in a western fantasy mmo. Also the way the panderan were portrayed made the game feel more childish and immature. It felt like I was playing through a disney cartoon(ironic I know).

I don't want to take away from your point, but:
-minecraft isn't really timeless, it will inevitably shift to a voxel based engine sometime in the future. It's game play is improved by having a limited item size and shape. WoW's appearance, good or bad, isn't a gameplay decision so much as a market share decision. Their graphics are solutions to different problems.

-quantum computing removes the necessity for binary and allows certain types of functions to be skipped entirely since you can compute using that functions real world analogue. A program can't survive that transition; I don't see too much interest in binary emulators at that point.

but... that's all hyperbole, so I'll ignore that.


The game's age has a lot to do with the sub drop. People are leaving cause they always have, regardless of any other factors; and nobody is joining because they have tons of games to choose from that fit a variety of income levels and device ownerships. Also, WoW comes with a fairly negative cultural outlook, whether or not that's fair, and a 400$ per expansion price tag. Whether or not it's good value, it doesn't look like a good value to those who would rather not press themselves to get their money's worth.

There's a reason why buffets aren't the most expensive meal in town, nobody really wants to gorge themselves to get their moneys worth, and that's really how every subscription MMO is set up.

[Foxhoundn]

My personal opinion is that its PC gaming that is slowly dying for masses. It is being replaced by easy-to-plug and easy-to-play consoles, tablets, mobiles and etc.

[ravenmoon]

So true, & by 'bad decisions' this poster is referring I presume to things like LFR, RDF, or even cross-realm BGs or flying mounts/arenas(!) before that, all of which have contributed to some measure of playerbase social desensitization, reduced sense of belonging & actually caring about their gameplay. Even if Blizz wanted to remove those features, it's too late now. There'd be tons of players coming back, but waaay more actually quitting suddenly, this being the proverbial nail in the coffin on their late disenchantment with the state of the game. Indeed, for every sensible detractor to these accommodating, casual play convenience tools that make the gameworld 'smaller', there's a dozen people to be found who live & die by these features, that were born & raised spoiled w/ the game working this way, and taking that away from them would be catastrophic to their continued stay.

There are significant differences between a full sandbox or 'sandpark' game, & a sandboxy themepark - WoW would benefit enormously from becoming a lot more of the latter than the near-full themepark it is now, but ironically enough, would not benefit as much from trying to be an actual sandbox or nearly such. In fact the latter wouldn't even be feasible, from a technical, financial, even legal (shareholders etc) point of view - this is exactly what happened with Star Wars Galaxies several years ago, what they call the 'Pre-CU disaster' (in reverse, of course - they had basically a sandbox design, & because WoW's themepark got SO explosively successful in 2004-2005, recklessly turned their game around to be a cheapened themepark). If they did that with WoW, turn a full themepark and its millions of subscribers relatively content with the current state of affairs, into a complete sandbox, that'd be just as irresponsible and backstabby as the SW:G Pre-CU failed moneygrubbing gambit, no matter how gloriously more dynamic & engaging the non-static gameplay naturally emergent from sandbox content is.

See that's what I mean when I emphasize there are always ways to make emergent dynamic gameplay adjustments to a themepark design while not damaging/removing what is already existing, so fewer people complain, you didn't throw the baby w/ the bathwater to implement the sandboxy features. This touches upon what Ravenmoon said about 'raising an empire' etc, that type of play is absolutely engaging riotous fun and yet, just has a really hard time being realistically, holistically integrated into the aged systems of an old classic themepark like WoW. This may understandably seem terse of me to say or contradictory to what I'd always been advocating, but it's important because throughout the last decade in the reign of the themepark design in MMO space, time & again some very well-intentioned people have suggested that devs implement such radical sandbox features out & out, and it is unfortunately those outlandish suggestions that have emboldened dev teams to lump all dynamic, undirected, emergent content design into the same "unrealistic, out of touch with the 95% rest of themeparks' Halo/CoD-type playerbase" basket, thus leaving no room for more moderate steps in emergent sandbox gameplay to have any chance at the development table.

Actual empire-building & permanent or even mid-term temporary political power shifts/NPC disappearances just doesn't mesh with what the devs & executives have had in mind for the core design of this game, for a long time. So you have to find ways to implement some fun stuff to do, or different ways to do existing stuff, that won't clash, but to the contrary, that will harmoniously meshwith the existing core vision for how the game's themepark systems have always functioned.

For example, one of the ways I envisage dealing with the "..So I'm finally max-level.. what now? I mean, I was having so much stimulation, so much fun every level I was gaining, always a new spell/talent/glyph here, new items/power/feature there, and now, I'm just resigned to a much slower, repetitive gear treadmill till I gouge these eyes out to static boredom..?? =/" is the following :

~> XP costs when dying, but only under certain circumstances/in certain areas.
~> XP costs to do really engaging, designed-to-be-long-cooldowns things in the game, but mostly things that are cosmetic or affect world zones, not raid readiness or pvp advantage in any fashion or else it starts becoming a 'requirement', and thus giving an unfair, unreasonable incentive to play 24/7 in order to have as much recurring XP as possible to spend on say, more powerful flasks for a raid or a temporary speed boost in a BG.
~> An even more radical, sandboxy way to handle them would be the capacity to spend XP points, or HP, on the fly, in addition to the regular mana/class resource pool costs, when casting a spell in a world zone (so it leaves endgame PvP/PvE unaffected), to have a more spectacular (mechanical & cosmetic), on-cooldown (to prevent abuse) effect.

This would allow people a balanced, non-endgame-disrupting reason to do stuff that gives them XP even though they're already max-level (losing XP would never de-level you, that's cool-sounding but against Blizz core design..I know), perhaps even by having to use an item to give the buff that enables the acquisition of such post-max XP points, an item that only works in world zones, thus sending more players out there instead of staying in capitals to wait for their queue & troll tradechat 24/7.

always a fascinating read. The problem goes beyond the current gaemes to the boards and their investors. Investors want guarnatees, working models, ahte risky ventures, game developers therefore only pitch models that smash records, i.e. themepark WoW that smashed all previous records, and thus develop games accordingly to similar too we dub them wow clones.

Lack of courage, lack of imagination, they have no idea what made wow so successful, and fear any deviation would be consinged to failure, perhaps investors won't buy any ther pitch other htan the proven model - a failing of the current mindset of the itmes, unless an annonymous starter up or wildcard game company takes the plunge like blizzard did, and becomes a wild success, then you have the big guns like EA and Activision releasing funds to quickly make siilar games and eat into that market share, or simply acquire said new starter up company.

THis may explain why we have no such innovation in the upcoming mMO games, their to scared to deviate that much from the wow theme park model. And as you quite nicely put, Blizzard can't take wow in that direciton anymore, giving a static gameplay and feeling of boredom thatkeeps eating away at their subs.

also they are quite relecutant to make radical changes of any other sort fearing that too much change would lose them subscribers , they gamebled with Mop as good as it was, they got tons of compalints from people dropping subs that there was too much change.. interesting, the change wasn't near enough as radical as it needed to be, yet it appears, at least in their minds to have lost them tons of subs.

expect a very "traditional"expansion announcement next Friday.

XP losses system won't nearly be enough, becuas eit doesn't even solve the issue of what next to do, whiles on the one hand that in itself gives greater value to raids/BGs etc, yet it doesn't change what is there to actually do tha'ts different, you're still spamming the same raids/dungeons for 1.5 yearss, with something as little as 1 new raid every few months and little else.

Sadly I feel nothing but a new game will do at this point, and I've argued, while the franchise is still very much revered is when they should be building a new WOW and askiging all those questions.

They are powerful enough now, no longer the starter-up and have the resources themselves to fund a project in a direction they fel fit, they don't have to impress investors ofr shareholders with models based on wow, They made WoW, it was a huge success, the money spinners would back their judgement on new directions.

A run down of some of the things i'd love in a new WoW

Obvious:
Engine that can be updated easily, ofc bigger world, better models, better eerything graphically
They have to make generating quests a lot easier so they can add a lot of stuff quickly
Give players the ability to make their own quests - guilds send people on quests to join
expand the core from hey, i g out do stuff, get xp to level and do raids:
which may include political plays, wargames, dynamic territories that change
content - WoW does create curiousityabout the warcraft niverse, with no means to find that out in game, -
i'm fine with linear questing, as long as it's not the only type: multi-tiered questlines, not just faction based but class based even quests for spells/abilities, race based too, profession based too that show a lot, - if every npc was interactable and gave you some piece of iniformation about the area, it's history, it's bestiary, it's current status etc there'd be a treasure trove of info for people
aLl that level cap stuff i mentioned in the previous post, including the power plays, invasions, territory acquisitions etc.
Everything needs to be better, smarter - adaptive class system (RIFT), companions and legacy system (ToR)

okay.. i could go on for a while, the list is huge, and i'm not designing a game atm, so i'll leave it there for now

[Deleted]

A few things that have made the game less interesting :

1 - No community since LFR/wotlk. Community died after wotlk. Nowadays its just Empty friends list and guilds just for perks.

2 - Class homgeneralisarion. Classes play too similar, classes loose their niche spells.
Too many classes have stealth mechanics now for example.
Classes no longer have weaknesses: paladins have sprints for example and rogues have aoe. Back in the day, you'd have to work togther to cover each others weaknesses but now you can pretty much do it yourself.

3 - Progression is too quick with existing catch up mechanics, you can actually skip (old) content, and the game gets boring quicker. A much better system would :
~ have been to simple have more loot drop more oftern from lower level content after each patch to gear up quicker.
~ Introduce a damage buff to older raids
~ Lower the lock out period to lower level raids, so you can raid it more oftern.

4 - Items no longer feel epic.
Why bother to get a "heroic" version when it looks the exact same as the LFR version and you've already seen the content. LFR is like completing the game with cheat codes, sure its fun but there's no desire to replay something you've done - just to get better loot, to reraid what you've just done especially without a community (see point 1).

5 - Shared 25 and 10 man loot and lock outs = less PUGs (see point 1 and 4) and less time spent raiding.

6 - Poor class design or broken classes (see point 2). Some players feeling that their favourite class is no longer disersirable or compitant in pvp or pve and they do not wish to reroll.

7 - Transmodification has destroyed the incentive to get new gear that "looks good" primarily because it doesn't look good and youll want to transmod it anyway.

8 - Stat and damage inflation.
This makes getting new gear hugely unappealing as there is no longer any emotional connection with it or sense of power.
Numbers are now so high they lack meaning, both for damage output and for stats on gear. I couldnt tell you what the dps of my weapons say any more, I don't even look at the stats of my gear any more. I just look at the item level or tier and assume its an upgrade.

9 - Percentages instead of numbers
I liked the days back when blessing of might or battle shout gave you X amount of attack power, or hemo increased damage taken to the target by X per charge. It was more interesting than "kings buffs you 5%". Also see point 2.

10- Legandaries becoming "requirements" for raids
They're supposed to be rare and hard to get. I'm not saying legendaries are easy to get but the cloak isn't exactly rare amy more. I remember I'd see a person with warglavies and you'd tell your friends about him just so they'd fly to shattarath and inspect him - that doesn't happen any more because of point 1, 3, 4, 7, and 8 at least.

11 - Lack of healers and tanks available for a raid.
You cant just get 10 players togther for a raid, you've then got to find tanks and healers. Not necessarily a drawback, I can't suggest an alternative, but it is a complication and an obstruction into exploring new content.

I pretty much agree with all of these general points as being contributary to the sub drop. Except maybe point 7 which i cant see having much effect at all on the big picture.

Point 9 is an interesting observation... why did Blizzard lose the % stats on active effects?

[Deleted]

setting and gameplay of mists necked it for me.

[Celista]

It has nothing to do w/the age of the game, it does have to do with the fact that Blizzard has not been innovating as much as they should have. The game has changed since 2004, but things like the questing/raiding model is still the same. It makes the game stagnant for older players, and doesn't entice new players to try the game, when other quality games are offering more features and better graphics for a much lower start-up cost or for free.

[Deleted]

Actual empire-building & permanent or even mid-term temporary political power shifts/NPC disappearances just doesn't mesh with what the devs & executives have had in mind for the core design of this game, for a long time. So you have to find ways to implement some fun stuff to do, or different ways to do existing stuff, that won't clash, but to the contrary, that will harmoniously meshwith the existing core vision for how the game's themepark systems have always functioned.

One important point to add to this observation is that Wow doesnt have any meaningful difference between the 2 factions anymore. Basically speaking there is no part of the game which pits the 2 factions against each other directly in any form of competition.

The only place i can think of where ur up against the opposing faction is in Battlegrounds.

Because of this important point its almost impossible to suddenly make a massive game design change and introduce new concepts which put Alliance up against Horde for "temprary political power shifts". Gone are the days the factions actually mean anything outside of the story itself...

[Paladin885]

- The game is 10yrs old (since development)
- the engine has been tweaked but is dated
- players have invested 20 to 100 hours a week, every week each year, for 9yrs and are burnt out
- post-wrath players are not the same breed of gamers as vanilla players. "PW" players come and go more frequently (which is a millennial gen. issue that every business is struggling to deal with)
- 9yrs is plenty of time to understand blizzard's design mechanics and to be accustom to the raiding atmosphere. (which is why people complain about a challenge and miss the "new smell" wow used to have)
- people have been playing so long that they know how patches and different tiers work. So they unsub once they get their fill (aka gear) and come back when the new stuff is out.... or stay away until next expansion because QQ their class is now nerfed


^^all of this has been stated by blizzard before in, like, a half dozen blue posts

- - - Updated - - -

It has nothing to do w/the age of the game, it does have to do with the fact that Blizzard has not been innovating as much as they should have. The game has changed since 2004, but things like the questing/raiding model is still the same. It makes the game stagnant for older players, and doesn't entice new players to try the game, when other quality games are offering more features and better graphics for a much lower start-up cost or for free.

for me, after trying TERA, it was the monster mechanics and boss fights that made me really question blizzard's model. Thats why I love the Timless isle because those mobs are the closest things to TERA's combat that WoW has right now. After playing TERA I was watching MoP beta boss fights and I was like "....wow, it just doesn't feel the same anymore" and what really got me was this:
- large, unused room with stationary boss
- boss does nothing until a phase is reached, or certain percentile and then its just an animation or he/she/it moves tot he center of the room to strike a pose
- only movement players make it stacking/spreading or repositioning boss

Thats it.... for about 90% of all wow bosses and mobs, from the boars of elwynn forest to the depths of SoO. Boss fights in TERA feel like a Legend of zelda or god of war battle compared to this. But there is an exception (as i said, only 90%) with some bosses being active. Heroic Lich King is a good example imo.

[ringpriest]

- The game is 10yrs old (since development)
- the engine has been tweaked but is dated
- players have invested 20 to 100 hours a week, every week each year, for 9yrs and are burnt out
- post-wrath players are not the same breed of gamers as vanilla players. "PW" players come and go more frequently (which is a millennial gen. issue that every business is struggling to deal with)
- 9yrs is plenty of time to understand blizzard's design mechanics and to be accustom to the raiding atmosphere. (which is why people complain about a challenge and miss the "new smell" wow used to have)
- people have been playing so long that they know how patches and different tiers work. So they unsub once they get their fill (aka gear) and come back when the new stuff is out.... or stay away until next expansion because QQ their class is now nerfed


^^all of this has been stated by blizzard before in, like, a half dozen blue posts

And you'll notice what's completely missing from that list of possibilities: even the possibility of anything Blizzard has done being responsible for any sub-loss whatsoever. "Your investment portfolio lost half it's value? Well, with the market being what it is, that can happen. It's certainly not the fault of anyone here who's responsible for actually managing your money!"

[Deleted]

And you'll notice what's completely missing from that list of possibilities: even the possibility of anything Blizzard has done being responsible for any sub-loss whatsoever. "Your investment portfolio lost half it's value? Well, with the market being what it is, that can happen. It's certainly not the fault of anyone here who's responsible for actually managing your money!"

Completey agree... its VERY niave to believe the only reasons Wow subs r falling r the reasons Blizzard publicly state.

Fact is that game design and direction will definiteley have an impact... Blizzard would never discuss this in public... EVER!

[hrugner]

Completey agree... its VERY niave to believe the only reasons Wow subs r falling r the reasons Blizzard publicly state.

Fact is that game design and direction will definiteley have an impact... Blizzard would never discuss this in public... EVER!

I could just imagine the fury in fan forums if they did. Everyone who hates the game would feel fueled by it and rip into everything else about the game. I can't say I blame them.

Referring back the post your quoting: I'm a big fan of people who post the product life cycle image. They don't talk about what caused the rise to tip when it did, they don't talk about iterating on a product being a way to ameliorate some of those losses, they don't talk about the crest to crest changes in various expansions. They throw the thing up like it's a piece of information and not a tool for interpreting information. It's like people who talk about supply and demand and don't realize that it's a basic chart that's part of a system of charts that all interrelate and are derived with a few basic assumptions about the market that can't ever be perfectly true.

It's why google makes such a crummy teacher. you ask a question and it spits out the answer (hopefully) with none of the background of that information.

[hailey]

Generally speaking the trend towards short term instant gratification gameplay had long term player retention ramifications

[goblingirl]

I could just imagine the fury in fan forums if they did. Everyone who hates the game would feel fueled by it and rip into everything else about the game. I can't say I blame them.

Referring back the post your quoting: I'm a big fan of people who post the product life cycle image. They don't talk about what caused the rise to tip when it did, they don't talk about iterating on a product being a way to ameliorate some of those losses, they don't talk about the crest to crest changes in various expansions. They throw the thing up like it's a piece of information and not a tool for interpreting information. It's like people who talk about supply and demand and don't realize that it's a basic chart that's part of a system of charts that all interrelate and are derived with a few basic assumptions about the market that can't ever be perfectly true.

It's why google makes such a crummy teacher. you ask a question and it spits out the answer (hopefully) with none of the background of that information.

Very good observations re: life cycle.

And.. at the end of the day, there were a lot of people who simply didn't like Pandaria and/or pandas. There was unrest at the announcement, unease during the beta cycle, and finally on release, people gave it a chance... but they leveled to 90 and found themselves no happier about it than they had been upon announcement. Within 3 months post-release Pandaria was sinking hard and hasn't recovered. Blizzard has since tried to fix some of the problems they created in 5.0 (the terribad rep/daily grind, for example). But it was too late, a lot of people had already given up and moved on. A lot of people still look on Pandaria with a jaundiced eye and won't come back for a content patch, but perhaps can be lured back by a whole new 6.0 expansion that promises to reset things a bit.

This Blizzcon will be fascinating. A lot has changed since the last one. The last time we had a Blizzcon, the game had suffered some sub loss, but nothing like what has happened since then. And although the most hardcore of hardcore fanboys and girls attend Blizzcon and hence the local audience will be rapt and adoring, they have to be aware that every single word they say will be reproduced for the masses, and will either cement peoples' determination to stay away, or convince them to give WoW another shot.

[Repefe]

Generally speaking the trend towards short term instant gratification gameplay had long term player retention ramifications

Is that a roundabout way to say that WoW raiding is on the boring side

[Deleted]

This Blizzcon will be fascinating. A lot has changed since the last one. The last time we had a Blizzcon, the game had suffered some sub loss, but nothing like what has happened since then. And although the most hardcore of hardcore fanboys and girls attend Blizzcon and hence the local audience will be rapt and adoring, they have to be aware that every single word they say will be reproduced for the masses, and will either cement peoples' determination to stay away, or convince them to give WoW another shot.

I think its fair to say that alot of ex-Wow players keep an eye on what gets announced at Blizzcon... this gives them an excellent platform to advertise what their future plans are.... so it better be good!

[willowe]

My 2 Cents. I've been meaning to write something up about this (see site below) but have gotten side tracked actually PLAYING WoW.

Simply put, the MMO Market is Over Saturated. Let's break this down a bit to see what i mean. Keep in mind, this MMO list is by no means 'compete,' this is just a list of the 'bigger' MMOs of recent note.

World of Warcraft November 23, 2004

The Matrix Online March 22, 2005
Guild Wars April 26, 2005
MapleStory May 11, 2005
Club Penguin October 24, 2005
Fly For Fun December 25, 2005

Blood Wars January 8, 2006
Dungeons and Dragons Online February 28, 2006

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade January 16, 2007
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes January 30, 2007
Lord Of The Rings Online April 24, 2007
Tabula Rasa November 2, 2007
Fiesta Online November 7, 2007

Age of Conan: Unchained May 20, 2008
Wizard101 September 2, 2008
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning September 18, 2008
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King November 13, 2008

Runes of Magic March 19, 2009
Hello Kitty Online July 1, 2009
Champions Online September 1, 2009
Aion: The Tower of Eternity September 22, 2009
Fallen Earth Online September 22, 2009
Spiral Knights November 12, 2009
League of Legends October 27, 2009

Star Trek Online February 2, 2010
Heroes of Newerth May 12, 2010
All Points Bulletin June 29, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV September 22, 2010
Vindictus October 13, 2010
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm December 7, 2010

DC Universe Online January 11, 2011
Battlestar Glaacitca Online February 8, 2011
Rift March 1, 2011
World of Tanks April 12, 2011
Realm of the Mad God June 20, 2011
Minecraft November 18, 2011
Star Wars: The Old Republic December 20, 2011

The Exiled Realm of Arborea May 1, 2012
Blade & Soul June 30, 2012
The Secret World July 3, 2012
Phantasy Star Online II July 4, 2012
Guild Wars 2 August 28, 2012
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria September 25, 2012
Planetside 2 November 20, 2012
HAWKEN December 12, 2012

Path of Exile January 23, 2013
Wizardry Online January 30, 2013
Warframe March 25, 2013
Defiance April 2, 2013
Darkfall: Unholy Wars April 16, 2013
Scarlet Blade Online April 20th, 2013
Marvel Heroes June 4, 2013
Neverwinter June 20, 2013
Cube World July 2, 2013
Firefall July 9, 2013
DOTA II July 9, 2013
Age of Wushu July 18, 2013
*Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn August 27, 2013
*SMITE Quarter 3, 2013
*MechWarrior Online September 17, 2013

Now remember this isn't a complete list. It's just a list of the 'bigger' named MMOs. What's interesting?

Pre-BC MMOs Launched: 7
This was in 26 months, or 1 MMO every 3.7 months

Pre-Wrath MMOs Launched: 7
This was in 23 months, or 1 MMO every 3.3 months

Pre-Cata MMOs Launched: 12
This was in 25 months, or 1 MMO every 2.1 months.

Pre-Mists MMOs Launched: 12
This was in 22 months, or 1 MMO every 1.8 months.

Post-Mists MMOs Launched: 17+
This has been in (currently) 10 months (to the end of Aug), or 1 MMO every 0.6 months.

When the game was growing, there was less than 10 MMOs launched during those X-pacs. Every X-pac there has been more and more MMOs launched during it, and therefore, more and more people going off to play it. Yes, not everyone will go and play Scarlet Blade Online, but if every MMO took say 100k from WoW in MoP ALONE that's 1.7 Million and counting. That's a low estimate, as obviously more players play FFXIV and GW2 and SWtOR and Rift.

WoW's decline is simply because there's too much out there. In earlier years, it has to compete with DDO or LOTRO. That's a pretty short list.

[Monteverdi]

Age. Blizzard has a rather negative audience who consistently seem to look for a reason as to why subs drop, and these reasons typically boil down to a change that was made which the poster didn't like, but ultimately the reason for subscription drops is that this is a 10 year old game. Most people who played in vanilla now have family and career responsibilities that take away their time to play. Others just played for so long they were looking for something different. There is no magical reason that WoW is losing subscribers - and there is no magical solution to make it retain those subs - it simply is aging naturally.

[Itisamuh]

was never "ganked" ever on the isle of quel'thalas, nor did I ever say that I was, I was letting him know what the reason of it being added to WoW was in the first place, it was not meant to be a pvp zone, if it was it wouldn't have guards now would it? you retard.

And no you moron, I know what the type of realms there are, before you started playing and will long after you die in a ditch.

Infracted.

Every contested zone is meant to be a PvP zone on a PvP server. The guards are there for the sake of protecting people getting quests, providing a small safe zone. Perhaps you failed to notice, but the rest of the isle was guard free, and the PvP was amazing. Sorry you were unable to cut it.

[ProfessorTjc]

I honestly think some people just don't have time for MMOs anymore.

[Planetarism]

My 2 Cents. I've been meaning to write something up about this (see site below) but have gotten side tracked actually PLAYING WoW.

Simply put, the MMO Market is Over Saturated. Let's break this down a bit to see what i mean. Keep in mind, this MMO list is by no means 'compete,' this is just a list of the 'bigger' MMOs of recent note.

World of Warcraft November 23, 2004

The Matrix Online March 22, 2005
Guild Wars April 26, 2005
MapleStory May 11, 2005
Club Penguin October 24, 2005
Fly For Fun December 25, 2005

Blood Wars January 8, 2006
Dungeons and Dragons Online February 28, 2006

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade January 16, 2007
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes January 30, 2007
Lord Of The Rings Online April 24, 2007
Tabula Rasa November 2, 2007
Fiesta Online November 7, 2007

Age of Conan: Unchained May 20, 2008
Wizard101 September 2, 2008
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning September 18, 2008
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King November 13, 2008

Runes of Magic March 19, 2009
Hello Kitty Online July 1, 2009
Champions Online September 1, 2009
Aion: The Tower of Eternity September 22, 2009
Fallen Earth Online September 22, 2009
Spiral Knights November 12, 2009
League of Legends October 27, 2009

Star Trek Online February 2, 2010
Heroes of Newerth May 12, 2010
All Points Bulletin June 29, 2010
Final Fantasy XIV September 22, 2010
Vindictus October 13, 2010
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm December 7, 2010

DC Universe Online January 11, 2011
Battlestar Glaacitca Online February 8, 2011
Rift March 1, 2011
World of Tanks April 12, 2011
Realm of the Mad God June 20, 2011
Minecraft November 18, 2011
Star Wars: The Old Republic December 20, 2011

The Exiled Realm of Arborea May 1, 2012
Blade & Soul June 30, 2012
The Secret World July 3, 2012
Phantasy Star Online II July 4, 2012
Guild Wars 2 August 28, 2012
World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria September 25, 2012
Planetside 2 November 20, 2012
HAWKEN December 12, 2012

Path of Exile January 23, 2013
Wizardry Online January 30, 2013
Warframe March 25, 2013
Defiance April 2, 2013
Darkfall: Unholy Wars April 16, 2013
Scarlet Blade Online April 20th, 2013
Marvel Heroes June 4, 2013
Neverwinter June 20, 2013
Cube World July 2, 2013
Firefall July 9, 2013
DOTA II July 9, 2013
Age of Wushu July 18, 2013
*Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn August 27, 2013
*SMITE Quarter 3, 2013
*MechWarrior Online September 17, 2013

Now remember this isn't a complete list. It's just a list of the 'bigger' named MMOs. What's interesting?

Pre-BC MMOs Launched: 7
This was in 26 months, or 1 MMO every 3.7 months

Pre-Wrath MMOs Launched: 7
This was in 23 months, or 1 MMO every 3.3 months

Pre-Cata MMOs Launched: 12
This was in 25 months, or 1 MMO every 2.1 months.

Pre-Mists MMOs Launched: 12
This was in 22 months, or 1 MMO every 1.8 months.

Post-Mists MMOs Launched: 17+
This has been in (currently) 10 months (to the end of Aug), or 1 MMO every 0.6 months.

When the game was growing, there was less than 10 MMOs launched during those X-pacs. Every X-pac there has been more and more MMOs launched during it, and therefore, more and more people going off to play it. Yes, not everyone will go and play Scarlet Blade Online, but if every MMO took say 100k from WoW in MoP ALONE that's 1.7 Million and counting. That's a low estimate, as obviously more players play FFXIV and GW2 and SWtOR and Rift.

WoW's decline is simply because there's too much out there. In earlier years, it has to compete with DDO or LOTRO. That's a pretty short list.

This is beautiful, thank you. That was another important insight to keep in mind, how not only the game ages yet remains static in its ancient core systems/gameplay incentives, but also accumulates dozens of competitors, in accelerating fashion over time, that alone aren't all that, but together, pose a serious challenge to the possibility of the playerbase all staying glued to wow.

Of course as I reiterate, this in no way absolves Blizz of sub loss responsibility. It simply means there's 2 core 'groups of causes' ~ age & competition, and Blizz's unwillingness to take the moderate risk of making significant strives in adapting game systems towards emergent-gameplay-supporting dynamic content.