Just read it. Thanks for the link. Just been out of the loop for a bit so going here and there to pick things up that I may have missed. I'm sure there's a list of things I haven't thought of yet to check out.
________________________ Two atoms walk out of a bar. The first exclaims, "Damn, I forgot my electrons." The other replies, "You sure?". The first explains, "Yea, I'm positive."
I caved. Ordered the game last night. Resub'd on my lunch break. Tonight I'll log in and setup my addons n' such. Going to go with a boosted warrior. Though I'd like to go DPS, I can tank if it calls for it. Just trying to figure out a server right now. Illidan seems like it has quite the assortment of guilds so that's where I'm looking at.
Quick question though. Since I preordered and got that free boost, what level will he be? And does it come with boosted professions? I can't log in since the servers were down about 30m ago.
Thanks all.
NOO PLAY BOOMY. :-(
I tried once before. They have got to have the most screwed up spell rotation. 5 ,4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or something like that. Ugh, hated it.
Warrior has always been the class I felt right with.
________________________ Two atoms walk out of a bar. The first exclaims, "Damn, I forgot my electrons." The other replies, "You sure?". The first explains, "Yea, I'm positive."
I caved. Ordered the game last night. Resub'd on my lunch break. Tonight I'll log in and setup my addons n' such. Going to go with a boosted warrior. Though I'd like to go DPS, I can tank if it calls for it. Just trying to figure out a server right now. Illidan seems like it has quite the assortment of guilds so that's where I'm looking at.
Quick question though. Since I preordered and got that free boost, what level will he be? And does it come with boosted professions? I can't log in since the servers were down about 30m ago.
Thanks all.
NOO PLAY BOOMY. :-(
I tried once before. They have got to have the most screwed up spell rotation. 5 ,4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or something like that. Ugh, hated it.
Warrior has always been the class I felt right with.
Just leveled a warrior to 90... Arms. Rotation seems pretty simplistic. I think come WoD he's gonna suffer initially because self-healing isn't nearly as OP facing true unnerfed 90's as it is facing fake nerfed 90s. Just did the Blasted Lands stuff in early MoP gear. Lived and did it all, but that health bar didn't sit at 100%, more like 30-40%. MoP it never seems to drop below 100%. Hell, I could mow anything down with whirlwind, in the Blasted Lands, it was like it merely tickled them.
So in a nutshell, until WoD goes live, you won't have a true picture of what your warrior is going to be like.
Eh, I can adapt. Fighting mobs where my health doesn't go below 100% gets old quick for me. If its an issue, I'll roll prot. No biggie.
________________________ Two atoms walk out of a bar. The first exclaims, "Damn, I forgot my electrons." The other replies, "You sure?". The first explains, "Yea, I'm positive."
Return only if you fail to find alternative game that you can enjoy for far less. I've bought WOW's expansion every time on release until now. I'm just fortunate to find other games that I enjoy without costing me $30 monthly to play them (in the first 4 months)
Bro, you need less MMORPGs and more RL job if you sweat $60 that tough. Seriously, I see you posting how terrible the cost of WoWs x-pack is on here all the time. It's $60 which is a tank of gas for some people, you act like it's a mortgage payment for the x-pack.
Oh, now I'm sweating for $60 and it looks like it's too much for me....I act like it's a mortgage payment. Again, you compare apples vs oranges with the "a tank of a gas".
One day you'll be thanking me and others like me...years from now for being able to enjoy your WOW for far cheaper than you are paying today. This has nothing to do with affordability. The cost Blizzard demands for its product it doesn't worth for me, bottom line. If it does for you then good, but don't come here telling posters they need to get a real job when they choose not to pay for what you are paying.
How exactly are you going to make playing WoW cheaper for everyone? I must have missed that in your post... Wait, you mean by not playing? If so, that's moronic. I do agree with you though on paying only if it's worth it to you. That will differ from player to player.
For me, the 80 for the game and $15 a month is well worth the enjoyment I get from playing. To the Original poster, yes, the new models are in now. The only models that aren't live are the Blood Elves. As far as whether or not you should come back now, obviously that's up to you. If you think you can have fun again, come on back. If you need the new content right away, then wait until it launches next week.
Moronic? As others have posted above today WOW is the most expensive MMORPG on the market. This is because other MMORPG's who've tried to copy it's monetizing model realized it's better alternative to bring better offers/promos and prices that will be directly competitive to WOW to take some of its audience as well as create their own.
This is how DC Universe managed to take $ off me when WOW Cataclysm expansion came a month before that game. I enjoyed WOW, but I also played DC Universe online and in the process I've spent total of $100-130 on that MMORPG, which I would not do if they didn't have amazing IP, innovative combat, great graphics, fully voiced NPC's and all that cost me far cheaper than what WOW did.
Anyways, back to your post. Many MMORPG's in the past years that launched B2P+P2P went even F2P afterwards. They also stated thanks to the changes their revenue is far more significant and so is their audience. Blizzard has already lost A LOT of subs and once the expansion comes and when it sees the sales are not as they were hoped, it's natural to show more competitiveness sand change their monetizing strategy in near future.
As I've said it before, if WOW did not have expansion fee this year (especially after not delivering content on multiple expansions for year+) for the first time I wont be involved in it. If their expansion cost nothing and was considered as new patch/content update (that should come from the subs itself) I would somewhat consider it. I would still be spending more $ than I'm not on a single game, but with this strategy this will backfire to them (in my case at least) and lose potential $100-200 yearly just from me for not being subbed to the game. Sometimes it's wiser to scrap that $50 entry fee to get 2-4x more in return.
So, yes me not choosing to spend $ for the expansion as well as many others is going to help make WOW a lot cheaper for everyone in the long run, unless Blizzard is continuously happy and content bleeding subs until it hits rock bottom.
I quit two weeks pre Cata and just pre-ordered WoD a few minutes ago. Everyone i played with is long gone plus i have a life now. And i have no idea what to do first when i log in, so much has changed.
All this feels quite awkward to me, but i will try to make it fun somehow
Return only if you fail to find alternative game that you can enjoy for far less. I've bought WOW's expansion every time on release until now. I'm just fortunate to find other games that I enjoy without costing me $30 monthly to play them (in the first 4 months)
Bro, you need less MMORPGs and more RL job if you sweat $60 that tough. Seriously, I see you posting how terrible the cost of WoWs x-pack is on here all the time. It's $60 which is a tank of gas for some people, you act like it's a mortgage payment for the x-pack.
Oh, now I'm sweating for $60 and it looks like it's too much for me....I act like it's a mortgage payment. Again, you compare apples vs oranges with the "a tank of a gas".
One day you'll be thanking me and others like me...years from now for being able to enjoy your WOW for far cheaper than you are paying today. This has nothing to do with affordability. The cost Blizzard demands for its product it doesn't worth for me, bottom line. If it does for you then good, but don't come here telling posters they need to get a real job when they choose not to pay for what you are paying.
How exactly are you going to make playing WoW cheaper for everyone? I must have missed that in your post... Wait, you mean by not playing? If so, that's moronic. I do agree with you though on paying only if it's worth it to you. That will differ from player to player.
For me, the 80 for the game and $15 a month is well worth the enjoyment I get from playing. To the Original poster, yes, the new models are in now. The only models that aren't live are the Blood Elves. As far as whether or not you should come back now, obviously that's up to you. If you think you can have fun again, come on back. If you need the new content right away, then wait until it launches next week.
Moronic? As others have posted above today WOW is the most expensive MMORPG on the market. This is because other MMORPG's who've tried to copy it's monetizing model realized it's better alternative to bring better offers/promos and prices that will be directly competitive to WOW to take some of its audience as well as create their own.
This is how DC Universe managed to take $ off me when WOW Cataclysm expansion came a month before that game. I enjoyed WOW, but I also played DC Universe online and in the process I've spent total of $100-130 on that MMORPG, which I would not do if they didn't have amazing IP, innovative combat, great graphics, fully voiced NPC's and all that cost me far cheaper than what WOW did.
Anyways, back to your post. Many MMORPG's in the past years that launched B2P+P2P went even F2P afterwards. They also stated thanks to the changes their revenue is far more significant and so is their audience. Blizzard has already lost A LOT of subs and once the expansion comes and when it sees the sales are not as they were hoped, it's natural to show more competitiveness sand change their monetizing strategy in near future.
As I've said it before, if WOW did not have expansion fee this year (especially after not delivering content on multiple expansions for year+) for the first time I wont be involved in it. If their expansion cost nothing and was considered as new patch/content update (that should come from the subs itself) I would somewhat consider it. I would still be spending more $ than I'm not on a single game, but with this strategy this will backfire to them (in my case at least) and lose potential $100-200 yearly just from me for not being subbed to the game. Sometimes it's wiser to scrap that $50 entry fee to get 2-4x more in return.
So, yes me not choosing to spend $ for the expansion as well as many others is going to help make WOW a lot cheaper for everyone in the long run, unless Blizzard is continuously happy and content bleeding subs until it hits rock bottom.
I think the point you aren't getting is that it could be three times as expensive as the closest competitor but it is worth the price. Not just WoW, but all gaming is a very inexpensive form of entertainment. The money amount is very small and hardly worth the worry imho.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
You guys are comical really. Blizzard is making a load of cash on WoW. Superdata still lists them there on top and none of the new MMORPGs come close to it. It is 10 years old for heaven's sake ,of course it is going to lose players over the years but it has like 7 million. What do you expect you all talk like it's at death's door. It will be here for some time more and will continue to make money.
They do not care about people who think their game is too expensive because there are enough players still willing to spend and buy it. You do not think it is worth it well obviously you are not going to be part of the 7 million then. Enjoy whatever game you're playing but please don't come here and try to make WoW sound like some poor country cousin waiting for scraps.
Originally posted by laserit The TV commercials is where the big name theatre's lost me.
What do you mean tv commercials? do you mean the adds at the start or have they started putting adds randomly throughout the movie?
They're too subtle for that... you merely see an Apple computer on a desk, someone drinking a Coke, or pouring a bowl of Fruit Loops... then there's the Nike shirt and the Beats headphones, not to mention the song from some soundtrack. Hell some movies are purely meant to market toys and video games.
You guys are comical really. Blizzard is making a load of cash on WoW. Superdata still lists them there on top and none of the new MMORPGs come close to it. It is 10 years old for heaven's sake ,of course it is going to lose players over the years but it has like 7 million. What do you expect you all talk like it's at death's door. It will be here for some time more and will continue to make money.
They do not care about people who think their game is too expensive because there are enough players still willing to spend and buy it. You do not think it is worth it well obviously you are not going to be part of the 7 million then. Enjoy whatever game you're playing but please don't come here and try to make WoW sound like some poor country cousin waiting for scraps.
Let me guess, you also believe that those 7 mil of subs pay the same $ or similar with you? If you did some research you would be aware why the last time there has been data released on subs outside Asia was January 2008 on Wikipedia. I had hard time to find any other official source afterwards how many subs WOW has outside Asia.
The sub numbers for Asia are measured differently (because subs are illegal). They count any account that has logged during the month using a timecard as an active sub. Timecards are prepaid cards with minutes of game time. So, to be active sub, you only need to use one minute during the month.
China itself has only 1.37 billion population. Blizzard has been lobbying a lot to get into that market for many reasons and one is because China has a lot more restrictive rules so they can "claim these subs" you're mention as a means of advertisement, marketing and it's proven to be effective since posters as Cheyane are "buying it".
You come here and post me official sub numbers outside of Asia that are not 7 years dated and we can talk.
Originally posted by laserit The TV commercials is where the big name theatre's lost me.
What do you mean tv commercials? do you mean the adds at the start or have they started putting adds randomly throughout the movie?
They're too subtle for that... you merely see an Apple computer on a desk, someone drinking a Coke, or pouring a bowl of Fruit Loops... then there's the Nike shirt and the Beats headphones, not to mention the song from some soundtrack. Hell some movies are purely meant to market toys and video games.
It's an Ad world we live in...
The last new release movie I saw which was the Hobbit around 2 years ago. After the lights dimmed down at showtime I had to sit through 8 minutes of Toyota, Honda, Coke, Bank of Nova Scotia etc. etc. commercials. The same ones I see in my home while I watch TV. After which they showed another 10 minutes of Movie Trailers which I don't mind, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay that kind of money to watch TV commercials.
This is in Canada, I have no idea what it's like in other countries.
The only one with official sub numbers is Blizzard and they are not obligated to divulge them ever. They are only required to present earnings reports, and those don't need to be all that specific... and they usually aren't.
Doesn't really matter if only 1 American actually subscribes to the game or 7 million. It's the combined revenue that keeps them in business. The question, or point is, rather moot.
You guys are comical really. Blizzard is making a load of cash on WoW. Superdata still lists them there on top and none of the new MMORPGs come close to it. It is 10 years old for heaven's sake ,of course it is going to lose players over the years but it has like 7 million. What do you expect you all talk like it's at death's door. It will be here for some time more and will continue to make money.
They do not care about people who think their game is too expensive because there are enough players still willing to spend and buy it. You do not think it is worth it well obviously you are not going to be part of the 7 million then. Enjoy whatever game you're playing but please don't come here and try to make WoW sound like some poor country cousin waiting for scraps.
Let me guess, you also believe that those 7 mil of subs pay the same $ or similar with you? If you did some research you would be aware why the last time there has been data released on subs outside Asia was January 2008 on Wikipedia. I had hard time to find any other official source afterwards how many subs WOW has outside Asia.
The sub numbers for Asia are measured differently (because subs are illegal). They count any account that has logged during the month using a timecard as an active sub. Timecards are prepaid cards with minutes of game time. So, to be active sub, you only need to use one minute during the month.
China itself has only 1.37 billion population. Blizzard has been lobbying a lot to get into that market for many reasons and one is because China has a lot more restrictive rules so they can "claim these subs" you're mention as a means of advertisement, marketing and it's proven to be effective since posters as Cheyane are "buying it".
You come here and post me official sub numbers outside of Asia that are not 7 years dated and we can talk.
And? lets ignore asia completely and Cheyana still has a point. If you are waiting for WOW to hit rock bottom you must wait for many more years.
UO is still kicking around and it has a fraction of WOW playerbase.
Originally posted by laserit The TV commercials is where the big name theatre's lost me.
What do you mean tv commercials? do you mean the adds at the start or have they started putting adds randomly throughout the movie?
They're too subtle for that... you merely see an Apple computer on a desk, someone drinking a Coke, or pouring a bowl of Fruit Loops... then there's the Nike shirt and the Beats headphones, not to mention the song from some soundtrack. Hell some movies are purely meant to market toys and video games.
It's an Ad world we live in...
The last new release movie I saw which was the Hobbit around 2 years ago. After the lights dimmed down at showtime I had to sit through 8 minutes of Toyota, Honda, Coke, Bank of Nova Scotia etc. etc. commercials. The same ones I see in my home while I watch TV. After which they showed another 10 minutes of Movie Trailers which I don't mind, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay that kind of money to watch TV commercials.
This is in Canada, I have no idea what it's like in other countries.
I don't watch movies at the theatre although I would guess it's about 105% probable that they spam commercials before the movie in the US.
I suppose you would be diametrically opposed to Hulu Plus then... LOL. I personally find the commercials far less annoying than actual TV.
If you want to talk about sub numbers you can't only talk about WoW either, so SWTORs, ESOs, and all others can be lumped into the same category if they allow that market. So while you have places that pay differently, the non casual players are paying more than they would if it were monthly, same with the gold sellers, and other places paying more for xpacs, subscriptions and in-game store items like EU & Canadian players.
It's essentially a non argument because you couldn't list me how many players pay with minute game time cards, how much you're paying for 1 of those cards, how much is an hour of game time worth?
All you have is a game that's 10 years old making over/nearly $1 billion dollars in revenue annually, the # of subs and what amount is actually a subscriber and who pays what amount here at what time is beyond the point.
When all is said and done, more is always said than done.
@Pepeq, the fact they rather not share their sub numbers is all I need to know on the state of the game.
@Thestrain, where exactly did I say I'll be waiting for WOW to hit rock bottom? I'm happily enjoying alternative options as we speak and in the process saving far more and enjoying the fact that Blizzard is losing $ on me now (unlike the past 9 years).
If you read carefully again my post I said "Choices like mines are what will help everyone for WOW to be a lot cheaper in the long run". I never said I'm desperately in wait for it to become cheaper so I can afford to play it. Waiting is tedious and I never ever bother waiting on X game ever. I always enjoy gaming and only bother with released products where I can actually make my decisions if they are the best option for me to be involved with.
* You can access your character boost in-game on the character select screen. If you're upgrading from the Starter Edition, you'll have to wait for your trial restrictions to be removed first (up to 72 hours).
FYI if anyone is starting out from scratch scratch.
@Pepeq, the fact they rather not share their sub numbers is all I need to know on the state of the game.
@Thestrain, where exactly did I say I'll be waiting for WOW to hit rock bottom? I'm happily enjoying alternative options as we speak and in the process saving far more and enjoying the fact that Blizzard is losing $ on me now (unlike the past 9 years).
If you read carefully again my post I said "Choices like mines are what will help everyone for WOW to be a lot cheaper in the long run". I never said I'm desperately in wait for it to become cheaper so I can afford to play it. Waiting is tedious and I never ever bother waiting on X game ever. I always enjoy gaming and only bother with released products where I can actually make my decisions if they are the best option for me to be involved with.
I was talking about the point he was trying to make through his post. Asian sub numbers are irrelevant because with or without those numbers WOW is still the king and will stay there for a very long time to come. That is what he was trying to say.
For new players it is still very cheap when you consider that you can upgrade your trial account and get entire game + WOD + 30 days of game time for 64 bucks. I bought my brother new account and i don't know how much more cheaper it can get. That is 10 years worth of content for 64 bucks.
I would save lot more money if i stop drinking coffe everyday in comparison to what i spend on WOW on monthly basis. So you are not saving as much as you think you are saving.
If you want to talk about sub numbers you can't only talk about WoW either, so SWTORs, ESOs, and all others can be lumped into the same category if they allow that market. So while you have places that pay differently, the non casual players are paying more than they would if it were monthly, same with the gold sellers, and other places paying more for xpacs, subscriptions and in-game store items like EU & Canadian players.
It's essentially a non argument because you couldn't list me how many players pay with minute game time cards, how much you're paying for 1 of those cards, how much is an hour of game time worth?
All you have is a game that's 10 years old making over/nearly $1 billion dollars in revenue annually, the # of subs and what amount is actually a subscriber and who pays what amount here at what time is beyond the point.
Since it will cost me $21 CAD average per month annually to be subbed with the game (with the expansion fee) 1 billion annual revenue (if we decide to take as official, which again is not 100%) equals to 4.17 mil players spending $20 USD monthly for the game. But this is not the case since a huge amount of the revenue comes from the services (like name, race, faction, server changes amongst others) and the cash shop. Add the max level service and as you mentioned the fact players like me and you from Canada and EU cost us significantly more...to enjoy the game through the year the community can sum up their own opinion on the actual subs the game has lately.
If you want to talk about sub numbers you can't only talk about WoW either, so SWTORs, ESOs, and all others can be lumped into the same category if they allow that market. So while you have places that pay differently, the non casual players are paying more than they would if it were monthly, same with the gold sellers, and other places paying more for xpacs, subscriptions and in-game store items like EU & Canadian players.
It's essentially a non argument because you couldn't list me how many players pay with minute game time cards, how much you're paying for 1 of those cards, how much is an hour of game time worth?
All you have is a game that's 10 years old making over/nearly $1 billion dollars in revenue annually, the # of subs and what amount is actually a subscriber and who pays what amount here at what time is beyond the point.
Since it will cost me $20 average per month annually to be subbed with the game (with the expansion fee) 1 billion annual revenue (if we decide to take as official, which again is not 100%) equals to 4.17 mil players spending $20 monthly for the game. But this is not the case since a huge amount of the revenue comes from the services (like name, race, faction, server changes amongst others) and the cash shop. Add the max level service and as you mentioned the fact players like me and you from Canada and EU cost us significantly more than $20...to enjoy the game through the year the community can sum up their own opinion on the actual subs the game has lately.
I'm still waiting to hear about how much game time costs per minute/hour in Asia since you seem to know. And how many players do they have?
Blizzard cannot lie about how much they make or their number of players lol, but if they can we need some proof at least from somebody who knows what's going on, I'm actually curious how they've been getting away with making up all of these numbers for over 10 years.
And after you do that where's the proof that SWTOR, ESO and all of the other sub MMOs aren't making up their numbers?
And then how are we going to believe any company if they can make up numbers like that? You have a lot of work to do and a long list of things to answer before your theory becomes even remotely believable.
When all is said and done, more is always said than done.
If you want to talk about sub numbers you can't only talk about WoW either, so SWTORs, ESOs, and all others can be lumped into the same category if they allow that market. So while you have places that pay differently, the non casual players are paying more than they would if it were monthly, same with the gold sellers, and other places paying more for xpacs, subscriptions and in-game store items like EU & Canadian players.
It's essentially a non argument because you couldn't list me how many players pay with minute game time cards, how much you're paying for 1 of those cards, how much is an hour of game time worth?
All you have is a game that's 10 years old making over/nearly $1 billion dollars in revenue annually, the # of subs and what amount is actually a subscriber and who pays what amount here at what time is beyond the point.
Since it will cost me $21 CAD average per month annually to be subbed with the game (with the expansion fee) 1 billion annual revenue (if we decide to take as official, which again is not 100%) equals to 4.17 mil players spending $20 USD monthly for the game. But this is not the case since a huge amount of the revenue comes from the services (like name, race, faction, server changes amongst others) and the cash shop. Add the max level service and as you mentioned the fact players like me and you from Canada and EU cost us significantly more...to enjoy the game through the year the community can sum up their own opinion on the actual subs the game has lately.
You work in the accounting department at Blizzard is it ? How can you state that a huge amount of the revenue comes from services (like name,race,faction,server change amongst others) and the cash shop? Can we have your source for this please since you sound so sure.
sold 2.7 milllion copies in a week. I suppose they were all dummy accounts probably according to you since you are desperately trying to discount the numbers Blizzard puts out without producing any proof yourself.
Pathetic attempts at best but hey you go on imagining they are doing badly while they laugh all the way to the bank.
As long as we are explaining Activision profits using a magic eight ball and a ouija board we can also forget that irregardless of how the number of subscribers are counted profits are profits and they are a publicly traded company. I don't think any further discussion on this point is worth our time but since you are determined to be skeptical I shall withdraw.
Oh I might mention I play FFXIV ARR not WoW. I have not played longer than a couple of weeks since The Burning Crusade. Even if I react with incredulity it does not automatically mean I am a blind white knight. I do however continue to support SWTOR with 2 subscriptions even though I am not currently playing it because I believe in supporting the games I want to survive. I do not stinge on my hobby.
Long story short. Been away for eight months or so. Made a premade 90 on the PTR. Meh, what the hell. I'll give it a shot. Reroll on a new server and see about getting back into guilded raiding. Should I resub now, or wait for the new expansion to hit. Are the garrisons, new textures, ability to level up, and new instances out on Live yet? I don't mind waiting a week or so for WoD to arrive.
Thanks.
Wow is for me best game ever made. And have all alts. And it is usual for me to return at least month before to get used back and to experiment changes with all alts. There are always many changes. Only thing now disappoints me terribly are that changes to LOOK of avatars. I'm really pissed about. And yes, Wow has been dumbed down even further. But still it is on very top.
Comments
Just read it. Thanks for the link. Just been out of the loop for a bit so going here and there to pick things up that I may have missed. I'm sure there's a list of things I haven't thought of yet to check out.
________________________
Two atoms walk out of a bar. The first exclaims, "Damn, I forgot my electrons." The other replies, "You sure?". The first explains, "Yea, I'm positive."
I tried once before. They have got to have the most screwed up spell rotation. 5 ,4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or something like that. Ugh, hated it.
Warrior has always been the class I felt right with.
________________________
Two atoms walk out of a bar. The first exclaims, "Damn, I forgot my electrons." The other replies, "You sure?". The first explains, "Yea, I'm positive."
Just leveled a warrior to 90... Arms. Rotation seems pretty simplistic. I think come WoD he's gonna suffer initially because self-healing isn't nearly as OP facing true unnerfed 90's as it is facing fake nerfed 90s. Just did the Blasted Lands stuff in early MoP gear. Lived and did it all, but that health bar didn't sit at 100%, more like 30-40%. MoP it never seems to drop below 100%. Hell, I could mow anything down with whirlwind, in the Blasted Lands, it was like it merely tickled them.
So in a nutshell, until WoD goes live, you won't have a true picture of what your warrior is going to be like.
________________________
Two atoms walk out of a bar. The first exclaims, "Damn, I forgot my electrons." The other replies, "You sure?". The first explains, "Yea, I'm positive."
Moronic? As others have posted above today WOW is the most expensive MMORPG on the market. This is because other MMORPG's who've tried to copy it's monetizing model realized it's better alternative to bring better offers/promos and prices that will be directly competitive to WOW to take some of its audience as well as create their own.
This is how DC Universe managed to take $ off me when WOW Cataclysm expansion came a month before that game. I enjoyed WOW, but I also played DC Universe online and in the process I've spent total of $100-130 on that MMORPG, which I would not do if they didn't have amazing IP, innovative combat, great graphics, fully voiced NPC's and all that cost me far cheaper than what WOW did.
Anyways, back to your post. Many MMORPG's in the past years that launched B2P+P2P went even F2P afterwards. They also stated thanks to the changes their revenue is far more significant and so is their audience. Blizzard has already lost A LOT of subs and once the expansion comes and when it sees the sales are not as they were hoped, it's natural to show more competitiveness sand change their monetizing strategy in near future.
As I've said it before, if WOW did not have expansion fee this year (especially after not delivering content on multiple expansions for year+) for the first time I wont be involved in it. If their expansion cost nothing and was considered as new patch/content update (that should come from the subs itself) I would somewhat consider it. I would still be spending more $ than I'm not on a single game, but with this strategy this will backfire to them (in my case at least) and lose potential $100-200 yearly just from me for not being subbed to the game. Sometimes it's wiser to scrap that $50 entry fee to get 2-4x more in return.
So, yes me not choosing to spend $ for the expansion as well as many others is going to help make WOW a lot cheaper for everyone in the long run, unless Blizzard is continuously happy and content bleeding subs until it hits rock bottom.
I quit two weeks pre Cata and just pre-ordered WoD a few minutes ago. Everyone i played with is long gone plus i have a life now. And i have no idea what to do first when i log in, so much has changed.
All this feels quite awkward to me, but i will try to make it fun somehow
I think the point you aren't getting is that it could be three times as expensive as the closest competitor but it is worth the price. Not just WoW, but all gaming is a very inexpensive form of entertainment. The money amount is very small and hardly worth the worry imho.
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
You guys are comical really. Blizzard is making a load of cash on WoW. Superdata still lists them there on top and none of the new MMORPGs come close to it. It is 10 years old for heaven's sake ,of course it is going to lose players over the years but it has like 7 million. What do you expect you all talk like it's at death's door. It will be here for some time more and will continue to make money.
They do not care about people who think their game is too expensive because there are enough players still willing to spend and buy it. You do not think it is worth it well obviously you are not going to be part of the 7 million then. Enjoy whatever game you're playing but please don't come here and try to make WoW sound like some poor country cousin waiting for scraps.
What do you mean tv commercials? do you mean the adds at the start or have they started putting adds randomly throughout the movie?
TSW - AoC - Aion - WOW - EVE - Fallen Earth - Co - Rift - || XNA C# Java Development
They're too subtle for that... you merely see an Apple computer on a desk, someone drinking a Coke, or pouring a bowl of Fruit Loops... then there's the Nike shirt and the Beats headphones, not to mention the song from some soundtrack. Hell some movies are purely meant to market toys and video games.
It's an Ad world we live in...
Let me guess, you also believe that those 7 mil of subs pay the same $ or similar with you? If you did some research you would be aware why the last time there has been data released on subs outside Asia was January 2008 on Wikipedia. I had hard time to find any other official source afterwards how many subs WOW has outside Asia.
The sub numbers for Asia are measured differently (because subs are illegal). They count any account that has logged during the month using a timecard as an active sub. Timecards are prepaid cards with minutes of game time. So, to be active sub, you only need to use one minute during the month.
China itself has only 1.37 billion population. Blizzard has been lobbying a lot to get into that market for many reasons and one is because China has a lot more restrictive rules so they can "claim these subs" you're mention as a means of advertisement, marketing and it's proven to be effective since posters as Cheyane are "buying it".
You come here and post me official sub numbers outside of Asia that are not 7 years dated and we can talk.
The last new release movie I saw which was the Hobbit around 2 years ago. After the lights dimmed down at showtime I had to sit through 8 minutes of Toyota, Honda, Coke, Bank of Nova Scotia etc. etc. commercials. The same ones I see in my home while I watch TV. After which they showed another 10 minutes of Movie Trailers which I don't mind, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay that kind of money to watch TV commercials.
This is in Canada, I have no idea what it's like in other countries.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
The only one with official sub numbers is Blizzard and they are not obligated to divulge them ever. They are only required to present earnings reports, and those don't need to be all that specific... and they usually aren't.
Doesn't really matter if only 1 American actually subscribes to the game or 7 million. It's the combined revenue that keeps them in business. The question, or point is, rather moot.
And? lets ignore asia completely and Cheyana still has a point. If you are waiting for WOW to hit rock bottom you must wait for many more years.
UO is still kicking around and it has a fraction of WOW playerbase.
I don't watch movies at the theatre although I would guess it's about 105% probable that they spam commercials before the movie in the US.
I suppose you would be diametrically opposed to Hulu Plus then... LOL. I personally find the commercials far less annoying than actual TV.
http://www.wowwiki.com/WoW_population_by_country Are the closest numbers, those being lower with lower sub numbers but the ratios remain the same.
If you want to talk about sub numbers you can't only talk about WoW either, so SWTORs, ESOs, and all others can be lumped into the same category if they allow that market. So while you have places that pay differently, the non casual players are paying more than they would if it were monthly, same with the gold sellers, and other places paying more for xpacs, subscriptions and in-game store items like EU & Canadian players.
It's essentially a non argument because you couldn't list me how many players pay with minute game time cards, how much you're paying for 1 of those cards, how much is an hour of game time worth?
All you have is a game that's 10 years old making over/nearly $1 billion dollars in revenue annually, the # of subs and what amount is actually a subscriber and who pays what amount here at what time is beyond the point.
@Pepeq, the fact they rather not share their sub numbers is all I need to know on the state of the game.
@Thestrain, where exactly did I say I'll be waiting for WOW to hit rock bottom? I'm happily enjoying alternative options as we speak and in the process saving far more and enjoying the fact that Blizzard is losing $ on me now (unlike the past 9 years).
If you read carefully again my post I said "Choices like mines are what will help everyone for WOW to be a lot cheaper in the long run". I never said I'm desperately in wait for it to become cheaper so I can afford to play it. Waiting is tedious and I never ever bother waiting on X game ever. I always enjoy gaming and only bother with released products where I can actually make my decisions if they are the best option for me to be involved with.
Just saw this fine print about character boosts:
* You can access your character boost in-game on the character select screen. If you're upgrading from the Starter Edition, you'll have to wait for your trial restrictions to be removed first (up to 72 hours).
FYI if anyone is starting out from scratch scratch.
I was talking about the point he was trying to make through his post. Asian sub numbers are irrelevant because with or without those numbers WOW is still the king and will stay there for a very long time to come. That is what he was trying to say.
For new players it is still very cheap when you consider that you can upgrade your trial account and get entire game + WOD + 30 days of game time for 64 bucks. I bought my brother new account and i don't know how much more cheaper it can get. That is 10 years worth of content for 64 bucks.
I would save lot more money if i stop drinking coffe everyday in comparison to what i spend on WOW on monthly basis. So you are not saving as much as you think you are saving.
Since it will cost me $21 CAD average per month annually to be subbed with the game (with the expansion fee) 1 billion annual revenue (if we decide to take as official, which again is not 100%) equals to 4.17 mil players spending $20 USD monthly for the game. But this is not the case since a huge amount of the revenue comes from the services (like name, race, faction, server changes amongst others) and the cash shop. Add the max level service and as you mentioned the fact players like me and you from Canada and EU cost us significantly more...to enjoy the game through the year the community can sum up their own opinion on the actual subs the game has lately.
I'm still waiting to hear about how much game time costs per minute/hour in Asia since you seem to know. And how many players do they have?
Blizzard cannot lie about how much they make or their number of players lol, but if they can we need some proof at least from somebody who knows what's going on, I'm actually curious how they've been getting away with making up all of these numbers for over 10 years.
And after you do that where's the proof that SWTOR, ESO and all of the other sub MMOs aren't making up their numbers?
And then how are we going to believe any company if they can make up numbers like that? You have a lot of work to do and a long list of things to answer before your theory becomes even remotely believable.
You work in the accounting department at Blizzard is it ? How can you state that a huge amount of the revenue comes from services (like name,race,faction,server change amongst others) and the cash shop? Can we have your source for this please since you sound so sure.
Mist Of Pandaria according to this link
http://www.shacknews.com/article/76058/mists-of-pandaria-sales-down-from-that-of-last-wow
sold 2.7 milllion copies in a week. I suppose they were all dummy accounts probably according to you since you are desperately trying to discount the numbers Blizzard puts out without producing any proof yourself.
http://www.gamespot.com/articles/world-of-warcraft-loses-800-000-subscribers-in-thr/1100-6421529/
Pathetic attempts at best but hey you go on imagining they are doing badly while they laugh all the way to the bank.
As long as we are explaining Activision profits using a magic eight ball and a ouija board we can also forget that irregardless of how the number of subscribers are counted profits are profits and they are a publicly traded company. I don't think any further discussion on this point is worth our time but since you are determined to be skeptical I shall withdraw.
Oh I might mention I play FFXIV ARR not WoW. I have not played longer than a couple of weeks since The Burning Crusade. Even if I react with incredulity it does not automatically mean I am a blind white knight. I do however continue to support SWTOR with 2 subscriptions even though I am not currently playing it because I believe in supporting the games I want to survive. I do not stinge on my hobby.
Wow is for me best game ever made. And have all alts. And it is usual for me to return at least month before to get used back and to experiment changes with all alts. There are always many changes. Only thing now disappoints me terribly are that changes to LOOK of avatars. I'm really pissed about. And yes, Wow has been dumbed down even further. But still it is on very top.
Mission in life: Vanquish all MMORPG.com trolls - especially TESO, WOW and GW2 trolls.