Early Thoughts on my Return to WoW
Yeah, I returned to WoW. I've put in a few hours casually over the last 4 days and have to say I'm starting to really, really enjoy the leveling experience…
Yeah, I returned to WoW. I've put in a few hours casually over the last 4 days and have to say I'm starting to really, really enjoy the leveling experience…
... Before truly considering a return to WoW. Yeah, I was tempted when WoD came out. Yeah, I was tempted last week when Legion was announced. The temptation to return…
For a while, Blizzard followed a "bring the player not the class" mantra... or tried. Now whether or not they actually stick to this isn't really what I want to debate.…
Demon Hunters look neat, but the one class I'd be interested in playing if I returned to WoW is the Melee Hunter. Hunters have always been special to me. My first class…
I chuckled when I saw "WOW IS BACK!"Â being shouted in all caps in Twitch chat yesterday during Blizzard's big reveal of the next WoW expansion. WoW never left. Blizzard just…
Wow isn’t going F2P, but if Blizzard decides to be un-Blizzard-like then you can expect a few changes. WoW would still be the exact same game, only way, way more annoying to get into and far less accessible.
Subscriptions Would Stay
Yep, that’s right. The subscription wouldn’t go anywhere. Players would still be given the option to pay the same they always have and have the exact same experience they have always had in-game. This subscription would be Blizzard’s VIP pass and players would use this to gain access to locked parts of the game. Oh yes, there will be locked parts.
Gated Content Behind PaywallsÂ
Of course Blizzard would make their raids restricted to paying players. Want to raid? You’ll need to be a VIP. Even the newbie raid finder or whatever the heck they’re calling it these days would require you pay the subscription. Dungeons would be restricted. They’d limit the number of dungeons you can run in a week or cycle in “Dungeons of the Week” that are free for players. Want access to them all? Pay to unlock or become a VIP.
No Epics for Free People
Epic gear or maybe raid level gear (they would probably add a new color to signify “paid gear) would undoubtedly be restricted in some fashion, probably for VIPs or some cash shop validation only. You’re welcome to wear the blues you find in the Dungeons of the Week, though! (more…)
Tomorrow will bring some form of big announcement for Blizzard’s (and the industry’s) flagship title, World of Warcraft. We’re most likely to get news of some new expansion loaded with lots of new and rehashed features, but rampant speculation points toward the possibility of some F2P announcement. I’m pretty sure that one is still many years away.
The Change is Too Radical
Blizzard has made a business of keeping WoW’s course steady as she goes. WoW has been about raiding since 2005. They could have changed that model to try and attract more people, but they don’t. There’s no need to change a sure thing, even if your numbers are only making you 100M a month. The cash flow is still fantastic, and WoW’s subscription numbers will skyrocket once again. Even if the numbers grow to HALF of what they were in Q1, that represents ENORMOUS growth. When your product bounces back that well in the next iteration, you don’t change. You wait until it stops bouncing back — at least Blizzard can afford to wait when it still generates that much cash. Change of this magnitude is far too radical to make simply for the sake of change.
The changes to the game itself to accommodate F2P would alter the very essence of WoW, and that itself would ignite a loss in players. Players, especially WoW players, do not want change. They don’t. Again, that’s why WoW has stayed the same game and simply become easier over the years. You have the same game providing the same experience, and doing everything it can to continue to provide that same experience with the least amount of friction possible. (more…)
I completely disagree with Rob Pardo's recent statements to Develop. “If anything, I think people are even avoiding the term MMO. A really good example is Destiny. It clearly is…
World of Warcraft has once again lost more "subscribers" in a few months than most (close to all) MMOs could ever dream of having. They dropped something like 3 million…
Rumors are usually something best left alone, but when it comes to Blizzard rumors they might as well be true. The most recent rumors have made their way to Reddit…