Are players from the original WoW community a minorty in WoW now?

[Deleted]

Just something I wondered lately.

I notice so many completely new players around me that I wonder if newer generations have taken over the torch from the "Original players" that started in the early years. And by new player I mean players that started in MoP and to a lesser extend in Cataclysm.

What do you guys think? Do you experience something simular?

P.s. please dont make this about what group is better etc., just focus on the main question

[Xargoth6634]

Not sure how old you consider "original." I played about 6 months of Vanilla on in, and although I still play now (albeit very sporadically) probably 80% of the people I started playing with have quit. So from my anecdotal experience, yes.

[fangless]

You can tell they are by the overwhelming mentality that exists nowadays.

[namelessone]

Yes, and Blizzard confirmed it at some point. Sorta. They said "More players have quit wow at some point than are playing it now".

[Paladin885]

its been nearly 10yra (9yr achievement just hit yesterday I think), so yes... the 1.5-2million players from vanilla are a minority.

[Akraen]

I'm still here.

And lordy it's a different game and culture entirely. For better and for worse.

[Terridon]

Most i know started in vanilla/tbc.
Some of from later on, but doesn't seem like that many.

[wych]

Definitely most have quit, in my experience anyway, I don't speak to a single person on my friend's list now, most of them have been logged out for months, it's quite sad really.

However don't let people feed the myth that the community hasn't always been full of trolls, whiners and ass holes, it was just as bad back in vanilla/TBC, so much so that they even removed LFG channel.

The one MAJOR difference I would say is the willingness to communicate, and this is the most depressing part of the game for me now.

Back in the day people were a lot more open, people would chat all day on trade/general, you'd make friends with people in your guild and people you ran into in the world (even though a lot were bell ends).

Now it really feels like most people keep to their tight knit groups, and don't like really communicating with others.

I find that really sad, and I don't know how it's gone like that, I guess you can blame Blizzard for allowing all content to be done without communication (outside proper raiding), but I think gaming community as a whole has become more isolated.

[Gozzu]

Judging from my friendslist, polls here on the forums, and talking to people ingame, yeah I'd say so.

[ComputerNerd]

Yes, and Blizzard confirmed it at some point. Sorta. They said "More players have quit wow at some point than are playing it now".

True, think they brought that up regarding the TBC subscription numbers.
The game has always lost more than it kept hold of.
The difference is that it isn't attracting new players as quickly.
The downright horrible community is part of it, the cost, increased competition.

[McNeil]

Definately. And its really hard to believe some people when they say they started in vanilla. I even made a joke to someone who said he played vanilla by saying ''at what % did you need bloodlust to kill C'thung?''. He answered the last 10% xDDDDD

(to those who don't get it, bloodlust wasn't avaialble in vanilla...)

[Lethey Alexandros]

I'm still here.

And lordy it's a different game and culture entirely. For better and for worse.

Could not have said it better my self.

I imagine this is what an immortal must feel like, to be a relic of an age long gone, to remember your friends and moments from the past and the fun times you had but then to look out at the world around you and see something that shares similarities but is vastly different from the world you grew up in.

kinda exciting in a way and at other times a bit lonely feeling. In the last few guilds I have been a part of, I have been the longest playing player and people even doubt me sometimes.

[MoanaLisa]

True, think they brought that up regarding the TBC subscription numbers.
The game has always lost more than it kept hold of.
The difference is that it isn't attracting new players as quickly.

It's more or less the nature of popular culture, including video games, that they're largely disposable and that people move on to something else after a while. Blizzard has done remarkably well to hang on to as many people as they have if you judge by the number of people posting who say there were here for vanilla or BC. Of course, posting here and actually playing are different things. I suspect there's a tremendous amount of BS posted regarding this subject.

I think the original community that played during vanilla has been the minority for a very long time. Probably since Wrath.

[Sturmbringe]

I started in December 2005 and I have quit since 2012. Everybody I have known from 2-3 guilds have quit too. I see some of them on Skype from time to time. Ad Memoriam:



Every single person from this 25 man raid guild of 2008 have quit too, most during Catafail. I sincerely doubt there's even 20% of the original fanbase left. What few veteran players were left probably quit during the course of World of Kung Fu Pandas/Pokemon.

[Arbs]

I'm still here.

And lordy it's a different game and culture entirely. For better and for worse.

Very True Akraen well said, their are alot of us still around, I know a bunch of old Vanilla / TBC players coming back for WoD as they are excited for the new systems changes & 20 man Mythic.

The culture of the game as changed alot like you said, we are all not all learning anymore. I still think its are duty as a community to help put those new players on the right track like players did for us back when we first started out.

[Babylonius]

It all depends on what you mean by "Original". If you mean those who played all of Vanilla, then yes definitely the minority. If you mean those why played any of Vanilla, probably still a minority. It would be interesting statistics for Blizzard to release, how many accounts have been created or closed (and not reopened) since the game began. I'm sure they have that data, but I can't blame them for not releasing it.

[Thetruth1400]

its been nearly 10yra (9yr achievement just hit yesterday I think), so yes... the 1.5-2million players from vanilla are a minority.

WoW had close to 8 million people at the end of Vanilla.

I do suspect they are the minority now though. I know most of the people I knew from Vanilla and TBC are long since gone. Of the two guilds I was in, one in Vanilla and one in TBC, I know a total of 6 people that still play regularly, and maybe another 4 or 5 that subscribe on and off. It's just not the game it used to be, and I think that's what drove most of them off.

[glowpipe]

i was in several 40 man raiding guilds in vanilla. Out of all those players. I know only one that still plays and i had many many friends in vanilla. People i talked to everyday. Many of the players in my guilds where old and had kids back then. Now. 8-9 years later. Well, they are older (mindblown) Focusing on families and whatnot.

People move on and new ones arrive. The peak of new ones that arrived is over And it will only go down from here. Wont ever be a giant leap of new players coming in. Some that left in mop and cata may come back for WoD. But the numbers are close to 500k. Not 5 mill

[MoanaLisa]

It's just not the game it used to be, and I think that's what drove most of them off.

I play a lot of older games. And I still enjoy them well enough. But after a while it seems that none of those games is quite what it used to be either. Even though they haven't changed at all. People change. Games with aspirations to have players play them for years have to change too. The point being that whether the game changes or not, playing the game changes it for you. You'll never see it the same way again. Sometimes that's good; as often as not--more often in fact--what was new becomes familiar and people move on looking for something new. WoW evolves through it's patches and expansions but it's never going to be new again.

[Elixr]

YES we are a minority now...
is that news?