Is WoW Classic/TBC Saving or hurting WoW Retail?

[|Dexter|]

Is WoW Classic/TBC Saving or hurting WoW Retail this is the question on my mind...

Because you can clearly see that the Investor Call uses the launch of Burning Crusade Classic as a shield for the lag of content releases for WoW Retail... for months.

It allows Ion and his WoW Teams to slow down and lag of content updates for retail to go completely unnoticed like the numbers are up.

So releasing years old content keeps those sub numbers stable the reports are merged together and things like this are being mentioned:

Subscriber numbers and hours played were higher following the release, demonstrating the importance of Classic in enabling more ways for players to engage.

World of Warcraft remains on track for much stronger engagement this year than is typical outside of a modern expansion year.

But how long can Blizzard Ion and his team hide behind WoW Classic? You got Lich King.... but after that it's Cata and we get much closer to current Retail ways...

[Queen of Hamsters]

We don't have exact figures for which has more active players, other than that Classic performs better in China than in the West being the one and only mention to that effect.

But, 1 sub, 1 version that's receiving development for new content and thus absorbing most of the profits, in theory.

So no, it's not hurting retail. Wouldn't go so far as to say it's saving it neither, considering SL's sales. Look to Classic when TBC came out. Same thing will repeat itself on TBC when WOTLK comes out. As long as they can put out old expansions but make absolute bank from them with additional value added from boosts/mounts like for TBC, it'd be foolish not to.

[MoanaLisa]

Neither. Revenue from both goes to the same place. People can play either or both of them.

[NihilSustinet]

Is WoW Classic/TBC Saving or hurting WoW Retail this is the question on my mind...

Because you can clearly see that the Investor Call uses the launch of Burning Crusade Classic as a shield for the lag of content releases for WoW Retail... for months.

It allows Ion and his WoW Teams to slow down and lag of content updates for retail to go completely unnoticed like the numbers are up.

So releasing years old content keeps those sub numbers stable the reports are merged together and things like this are being mentioned:





But how long can Blizzard Ion and his team hide behind WoW Classic? You got Lich King.... but after that it's Cata and we get much closer to current Retail ways...

Ion is killing retail wow

[Kithelle]

Honestly I'd say it's helping...it brings in revenue and doesn't cost a whole lot because there isn't much work to be put in it except some minor changes. They don't need to write major storylines and design new zones and dungeons.

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Ion is killing retail wow

While I do kinda agree with this ^ wish they'd dump Ion

[Afrospinach]

I think they have very little to do with each other, I am one of the very few I know of that play's both in any capacity.

I think that should come as little surprise, they are very very different games at this point with different appeal. Most wow classic players are likely "additional subs" if you want to think of it that way.

[Relapses]

The delusional Classic stans stoking negativity about retail while fully admitting to not having played the game in a decade certainly doesn't help the perception of the community; this was my main gripe about adding Classic before it was officially released so it's nice to see I wasn't wrong. But these players do pay for the same subscription as retail players so even though they'll perform weapons grade mental gymnastics to prevent having to admit they're supporting retail I can't say that I'm totally against its existence. I try to look at Classic as a self-contained repository for the worst parts of the WoW community.

[Nnyco]

Ion is killing retail wow

Hurdur leader bad. I bet you also complained about metzen, ghostcrawler, holinka and co when they had the lead. Its quite sad to constantly see this close minded thinking, but gotta jump on the hate bandwagon am i right?!

[Relapses]

Hurdur leader bad. I bet you also complained about metzen, ghostcrawler, holinka and co when they had the lead. Its quite sad to constantly see this close minded thinking, but gotta jump on the hate bandwagon am i right?!

While I agree with your post, Metzen was never in a lead developer role.

[Gaidax]

The way Retail/Classic is setup is pretty smart, when there is Retail downtime there is Classic patch and reverse.

Overall, Classic is an asset that helps Blizzard keep some of them players home.

Now, in my opinion - Classic did run out of air and hype, it most certainly is a small fraction of what Retail brings, but it still a decent mount so it helps out World of Warcraft numbers as a whole.

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Hurdur leader bad. I bet you also complained about metzen, ghostcrawler, holinka and co when they had the lead. Its quite sad to constantly see this close minded thinking, but gotta jump on the hate bandwagon am i right?!

It's the usual thing 17 years and counting. It's a WoW meme really at this point.

I do think Ion even said something along the lines that he does not mind taking one for the team, so that they can focus on the game instead of on ravenous trolls.

[Aucald]

"Game vs. Game" type threads don't tend to produce much in the way of constructive discussion or debate. Closing this.