Why do you kids insist on saying Blizzard is screwed?

[Minut]

Considering this is an MMO themed forum, and most of you (including myself) are gamers, we will all have at least a slight bias in our opinion of Blizzard. In order to get a non-biased opinion, just look at how Activision Blizzard Inc (ATVI:NASDAQ) is trading. Investors care about money, not if their class is OP or there's too many dailies to get faction rep. I'm no expert in trading but looking at their 5yr trading history, I'd say investors are pretty confident in this company.

[Nerevar]

They're saying that because blizzard didn't announce what they hoped for.

[Orby]

The internet community has an obsession with seeing the worst in things, especially wanting to see things "die" and "fail". Its never fun to talk about how great something is unfortunately. Sad state of internet society I'm afraid, best to just ignore it.

then again most are probably just trolls too

[Deventh]

Let the butthurt flow through you.

[m777]

this is all the new wow players that came to play kong fu pandas and are now confused

[Deleted]

Can someone please explain to me how they are "dying?"

Simple. One word. Shareholders. Another word. Capitalism. Look it up. Also, look up how this works. If you generate more and more revenue over a couple of years your shareholders are happy because they get more money. If your revenue drops tremendously during a short period of time, say 2 years, your shareholders get pissed. That is why they give away one free lvl 90 toon. To get more people into the game again. Those who left couple of years ago, owning a lvl 80 toon or so just dont want to level through content they are not interested in. I am one of these guys.

[Louis CK]

Why open a post by being ignorant?

Calling people "kids" isn't a way to start a discussion.

Wtf

[starcitygames]

Blizz is screwed because they refuse to change their game design. WOD is more of the exact same thing, and I am tired to death of it. As usual blizzard is only making superficial changes next expansion, and is afraid to make any real changes. Really blizz just wants to milk every last drop from wow before actually changing the design. If Blizz thinks that they can keep making expansions based on the exact same ideas they had seven plus years ago, then they are sorely mistaken. The world is always in a flux of changing ideas, and resisting that change just makes your ideas old and outdated.

[Vhalerius]

OP laying the mathematical smacketh down up in here.

[Callipygian]

Only subscribers in the US and EU pay anywhere near $15 a month.

[Shagaire]

American economics best economics.

TLDR: You are retarded.

[Deleted]

Do they include china in that 7.6m? because don't they pay differently?

[Deleted]

Blizz is screwed because they refuse to change their game design. WOD is more of the exact same thing, and I am tired to death of it. As usual blizzard is only making superficial changes next expansion, and is afraid to make any real changes. Really blizz just wants to milk every last drop from wow before actually changing the design. If Blizz thinks that they can keep making expansions based on the exact same ideas they had seven plus years ago, then they are sorely mistaken. The world is always in a flux of changing ideas, and resisting that change just makes your ideas old and outdated.

They refuse to change their game design? I am not a techno whiz kid and maybe talking out of my button but haven't they done that shed loads?

Phasing?
Scenarios?
Flexi raids?
Changing the talents ( i.e. game design)
Pets from being just pets to actually doing something?
Sexy water?
was 40 man raid now its 25 or 10?
heroic ? normals? LFR? Many different types of points and badges tested until we got to valour and justice which may change again?
Arenas brought in with teams and now you don't have teams?

I thought they where always changing things and trying different things but i maybe wrong?

[Layuth]

Does it matter how much money they make? The problem "I" currently have is that their WoW development is crap. They are doing nothing more now than stealing concepts from every other MMO out there and rehashing their glorious moments of the past. Decisions are now being made according to what the players have been stating for years. Their ignorance to those opinions is and will continue to haunt them. More money will not make their developers better.

Although their name game (no not the Hearthstone junk) Heroes of the Storm does look very promising.

[manniefaces]

Why open a post by being ignorant?

Calling people "kids" isn't a way to start a discussion.

Wtf

This post is many things ignorant is not one of them.

[Deleted]

I love how the people who defend Blizzard act angry and loud and make huge assumptions and claims about people, calling them kids and patting each other on the back for their weak putdowns, then claim that the people who don't like WoW are the immature ones.

[starcitygames]

They refuse to change their game design? I am not a techno whiz kid and maybe talking out of my button but haven't they done that shed loads?

Phasing?
Scenarios?
Flexi raids?
Changing the talents ( i.e. game design)
Pets from being just pets to actually doing something?
Sexy water?
was 40 man raid now its 25 or 10?
heroic ? normals? LFR? Many different types of points and badges tested until we got to valour and justice which may change again?
Arenas brought in with teams and now you don't have teams?

I thought they where always changing things and trying different things but i maybe wrong?

All of that you posted is just superficial junk that has been piled on top of old ideas. Yay we got LFR now, but did it really change raiding? No, it didn't it just opened it to the masses, but raiding largely stayed the exact same. Heroics are no longer heroic. I don't even know what phasing accomplished, and by the gods we have new water all is fixed. See its all just illusion of real change.

[Dundebuns]

And why do you refer to them as Kids?

Sure, you just did some very siomple arithemtic to show how much Blizzard is still making. However you have not factored in things like:

The massive amount of debt Acti Blizz are now in
The reduction of almost 50% of their player base
What Shareholders are thinking.
Dividends

Investors are less likely to keep their stock in a company that re paying less and less dividends, and will invest their money elsewhere, where they are getting more dividends. Blizz need to increase their share value to stop investors going elsewhere. And the only way to do that is to entice customers back (lets face it,t he MMO player base is not one that grows, it's pretty fixed) so they need to put out compelling stuff, and if people think they aren't doing that, then they have every right to think Blizz is screwed.

Sure Math is king, but Math without context is nothing.

[starcitygames]

I love how the people who defend Blizzard act angry and loud and make huge assumptions and claims about people, calling them kids and patting each other on the back for their weak putdowns, then claim that the people who don't like WoW are the immature ones.

We'll we are on a wow fansite. Of course it will largely exist of wow fanboys, and in a fanboys eyes blizzard can do no wrong. *rolls eyes*

[Wafffles]

Simple. One word. Shareholders. Another word. Capitalism. Look it up. Also, look up how this works. If you generate more and more revenue over a couple of years your shareholders are happy because they get more money. If your revenue drops tremendously during a short period of time, say 2 years, your shareholders get pissed. That is why they give away one free lvl 90 toon. To get more people into the game again. Those who left couple of years ago, owning a lvl 80 toon or so just dont want to level through content they are not interested in. I am one of these guys.

That's a valid rationale if this was World of Warcraft, Inc. If, however, you take the time to consider that Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Hearthstone, and soon Heroes of the Storm are all profitable projects, you realize Blizzard has nothing to worry about. It's true that WoW isn't the absurd cash cow it was 6 years ago, but I'd contend that Blizzard is in better shape with a number of different games each bringing in a fraction of their revenue. I'd be much more confident as an investor to see Hearthstone arena/packs, Legacy of the Void, Reaper of Souls, and w/e microtransactions Heroes of the Storm will have all bringing in steady cash flows, than to see another WotLK bring in oodles of money but wonder how poor the company would perform if the game loses popularity in a few years.