World of Warcraft engagement is the highest in a decade at this point ahead of an exp

[dewd]

pretty sure its because of the corruption resistance increases and letting people go crazy with corruptions. they should have increased the legion legendary cap by 1 each month once the world first races are over

something to let people endure the content drought

[Aggrophobic]

So, this statement just came from the Activision Blizzard Q2 2020 Earnings Call. What do you guys think about this? Looking through this forum the last couple of months all you found were hate threads about BFA and the current corruption system.

What do you think is different now compared to Legion at this point in time? Why are players more engaged now than in the past? Was the expansion really as bad as people make it out to be?

You ever heared of this world-wide lockdown?

[Clozer]

You ever heared of this world-wide lockdown?

A lockdown that forces people to play a hated game? How cruel.

[Heartbreaker23]

There's a little itty bitty worldwide pandemic going on. I feel like that might have something to do with it.

And if you're using this forum as the barometer for anything -- much less whether the game is in a decent state -- you're doing it very, very wrong.

Corona is a hoax. There is no pandemic.

- - - Updated - - -

So, this statement just came from the Activision Blizzard Q2 2020 Earnings Call. What do you guys think about this? Looking through this forum the last couple of months all you found were hate threads about BFA and the current corruption system.

What do you think is different now compared to Legion at this point in time? Why are players more engaged now than in the past? Was the expansion really as bad as people make it out to be?

Yeah they're clearly bullshitting.

[Demithio]

This is all fluff for the investors. It really is meaningless as the numbers are artificially inflated. It's 'investor marketing', just as they use word play to market to end consumers.

[Queen of Hamsters]

They literally give the reason in the report.

Ya'll suffering from some really bad selective reading here. It's called the Corona pandemic, and remember: It's illegal to lie in these reports. If they (literally access to the numbers) are saying that player engagement is at its highest in a decade at this point in time, that's the case.

That means they're comparing to WOTLK or TBC, which is amazing, but not surprising considering current events. If they'd put out a better expansion with BfA, they could probably have broken records throughout rather than just on sales.

[Doffen]

They literally give the reason in the report.

Ya'll suffering from some really bad selective reading here. It's called the Corona pandemic, and remember: It's illegal to lie in these reports. If they (literally access to the numbers) are saying that player engagement is at its highest in a decade at this point in time, that's the case.

That means they're comparing to WOTLK or TBC, which is amazing, but not surprising considering current events. If they'd put out a better expansion with BfA, they could probably have broken records throughout rather than just on sales.

The game is alive and kicking, and I think that's what we can read from that report. Certainly Covid did boost activity, for every game out there, WoW included. Engagement is a term we all can discuss into oblivion I guess, but a quick read of the report itself, it's looking good for WoW^^

[Queen of Hamsters]

The game is alive and kicking, and I think that's what we can read from that report. Certainly Covid did boost activity, for every game out there, WoW included. Engagement is a term we all can discuss into oblivion I guess, but a quick read of the report itself, it's looking good for WoW^^

Yep, it's rather fantastic, almost 16 years beyond release.
And it's the same in so many other MMORPGs, Guild Wars 2 for example! It always had the Mega-server per region, but I don't remember it being this active even back in 2012... o.O

Whilst it's unfortunate as hell with a Pandemic, at least some people can still escape using entertainment. Always a silver lining.

[Unholyground]

My guess is they are including classic numbers in there which combined with a pandemic that has a ton of people working from home or not working at all...

Most people I know are working, actually everyone except my father in-law. Just wait until the late fall when everyone is starting to be indoors a lot and the numbers begin to rise again lol.

[Doffen]

Yep, it's rather fantastic, almost 16 years beyond release.
And it's the same in so many other MMORPGs, Guild Wars 2 for example! It always had the Mega-server per region, but I don't remember it being this active even back in 2012... o.O

Whilst it's unfortunate as hell with a Pandemic, at least some people can still escape using entertainment. Always a silver lining.

Yeah, I think the gaming companies have done pretty well during the Pandemic tbh. They have put out a lot of older, but still very good games for free or almost nothing, and I gotta say I think it's good that they have reacted this way. Sure, they have had a boost in sales and player activity across the board, but still, really cool.

Tried GW2 too since I am unsubbed from WoW now, but I think I just had to play other genre for a while after so much WoW, haha. So I stopped at low level, a guildie from WoW plays it now and he is having fun. Playing a bit of FFXIV too, but I think I just needed a break from the whole mmo thing.

Which will be good when I'll be back to no-life in Shadowlands :P

[DarkAmbient]

They literally give the reason in the report.

Ya'll suffering from some really bad selective reading here. It's called the Corona pandemic, and remember: It's illegal to lie in these reports. If they (literally access to the numbers) are saying that player engagement is at its highest in a decade at this point in time, that's the case.

That means they're comparing to WOTLK or TBC, which is amazing, but not surprising considering current events. If they'd put out a better expansion with BfA, they could probably have broken records throughout rather than just on sales.

What is their definition of player engagement?

[Queen of Hamsters]

What is their definition of player engagement?

MAUs, the business standard.

[DarkAmbient]

MAUs, the business standard.

That is just a guess. And it can't be that, because the MAU for 2nd quarter this year is 5 million fewer than in 2018, which does not tally with their statement that "Franchise engagement is the highest in a decade at this point ahead of an expansion". So it has to be something else.

[Queen of Hamsters]

That is just a guess. And it can't be that, because the MAU for 2nd quarter this year is 5 million fewer than in 2018, which does not tally with their statement that "Franchise engagement is the highest in a decade at this point ahead of an expansion". So it has to be something else.

No, it's literally MAUs.

https://www.wowhead.com/news=317240/...d-expectations

Blizzard Entertainment
- 32 million monthly active users (MAUs) in the second quarter.
- World of Warcraft engagement has increased sequentially since launch of Classic, specifically citing engagement with Ahn'Qiraj in July.
- Enthusiastic response from Shadowlands testing and increased pre-sales, with franchise engagement ahead of an expansion at its highest point in a decade.
- A significant number of returning players to Overwatch, with engagement growing year over year.
- Hearthstone continues to build on the success of Battlegrounds and live operations, with new expansions, engagement features, and a new game mode planned.
- Diablo: Immortal entry into mobile looks great with internal company play testing starting in the coming weeks.

All this "no but it has to be something else"-crap is tiring. It's ILLEGAL to try and pull the wool over the eyes of investors.
It's MAUs, and the total 32 million count is spread across their IPs. If they say that WoW has increased the size of its piece of the cake, that's how it is.

[Relapses]

Regardless of who is playing what - Blizzard is obviously going to consider retail, classic and any additional legacy servers as one game - because it looks much better. Plus it's a good thing for everyone, let's say only 5 million people play retail (a generous guess) - but you have 15 million players across classic, retail and tbc servers if they happen - classic and tbc and any other legacy servers won't cost near what retail costs to upkeep - so all that extra money will find its way to retail - it's really a win win

Although your example numbers are absolutely ludicrous (I'd be surprised if there were 5 million players across both Classic and retail at this point), this is mostly correct. It's a simple statement of fact to say Classic has undoubtedly helped WoW in general look better than it has in the past. However, since we cannot know the extent at which Classic is propping up retail or whether a majority of players (gasp) are playing both simultaneously, I caution against even mentioning it since there are factions of players on this forum so entrenched in trying to find any kind of win for their preferred version of the game that they take this information and blow it out of proportion to fit a narrative which conveniently aligns with whatever view they have.

[schwank05]

Well you have Kung Flu BS going on and then Blizz giving out EXP and REP Boosts so people are playing to kill time I am guessing.

[DarkAmbient]

No, it's literally MAUs.

https://www.wowhead.com/news=317240/...d-expectations

Blizzard Entertainment
- 32 million monthly active users (MAUs) in the second quarter.
- World of Warcraft engagement has increased sequentially since launch of Classic, specifically citing engagement with Ahn'Qiraj in July.
- Enthusiastic response from Shadowlands testing and increased pre-sales, with franchise engagement ahead of an expansion at its highest point in a decade.
- A significant number of returning players to Overwatch, with engagement growing year over year.
- Hearthstone continues to build on the success of Battlegrounds and live operations, with new expansions, engagement features, and a new game mode planned.
- Diablo: Immortal entry into mobile looks great with internal company play testing starting in the coming weeks.

All this "no but it has to be something else"-crap is tiring. It's ILLEGAL to try and pull the wool over the eyes of investors.
It's MAUs, and the total 32 million count is spread across their IPs. If they say that WoW has increased the size of its piece of the cake, that's how it is.

I am sorry but again you are just guessing. Nowhere do they explain exactly what "engagement" means. And as I already explained, it can't be MAUs because otherwise they would be lying when they say engagement is highest in ten years when the 2nd quarter MAUs for 2020 are down 5 million on 2018.

I'm not knocking Blizzard or bemoaning that they seem to be doing well. I'm just making a very specific point about their terminology.

[Dracowolf]

Personally, I think shadowlands will flop like all other recent expansions, but I think people will come back in record numbers for TBC Classic

[Queen of Hamsters]

I am sorry but again you are just guessing. Nowhere do they explain exactly what "engagement" means. And as I already explained, it can't be MAUs because otherwise they would be lying when they say engagement is highest in ten years when the 2nd quarter MAUs for 2020 are down 5 million on 2018.

I'm not knocking Blizzard or bemoaning that they seem to be doing well. I'm just making a very specific point about their terminology.

*SIGH*

Again, It's ILLEGAL to try and pull the wool over the eyes of investors.
It's MAUs, and the total 32 million count is spread across their IPs. If they say that WoW has increased the size of its piece of the cake EVEN IF THE CAKE HASN'T GROWN BIGGER, that's how it is.

Their terminology is clear as day, I am simply unable to see how anyone could not understand what it means. I am not guessing, I'm literally going by what it says in their OFFICIAL report.

I've had my fill of MMO-C's mental gymnastics for one day. Peace!

[rhorle]

Again, It's ILLEGAL to try and pull the wool over the eyes of investors.
It's MAUs, and the total 32 million count is spread across their IPs. If they say that WoW has increased the size of its piece of the cake EVEN IF THE CAKE HASN'T GROWN BIGGER, that's how it is.

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/65040...ent/index.html

This is an article from 2019. It seems to indicate that engagement, as used by Activision Blizzard, is much more then simply MAU. It encompasses how often people use everything related to the IP rather just "the number of individuals who accessed a particular game in a given month". While it is illegal to lie to investors there is no definition of engagement for investors. So there is no reason to think it means MAU when engagement can refer to more then playing one of their games.

Buying Merchandise. Forum discussions. Watching dev streams. Etc can all fall under engagement. If I log on once during the month I am counted as a MAU. But that Blizzard hasn't really engaged me as a player. If they add a XP% buff and I play for the entire month they have engaged me as a player.