Probably the best way to measure classic’s impact will be Blizzard’s financials when ActiBlizz releases its Q3 numbers in November. Right around Blizzcon (another reason why Blizzcon will have to be huge this year).
PR-wise it will probably be big but financially will classic be big enough to move the needle or will it just be a tiny blip?
See this is exactly the thing. It’s like when you come across something you used to like as a small child.
You probabaly get excited at 1st, some of the memories come flooding back “Wow it’s that thing! I used to love that thing! I can’t wait to try it!”…9 times out 10, you find yourself thinking “Huh…I actually don’t like thing. Bummer”.
Classic will be a bit like that. people will be running around a for a bit “Wow, I remember this! And that!”…once the nostaglia wears off (Which I give a few weeks…maybe a month, but that seems unlikely), people will quit and/or go back the current game.
(The other thing people never take into account with stuff like this, you’re going back to classic as you are NOW. Not the inexperienced, younger peep you were back then. You’ll never have the same experience for that very reason)
It is only safe to say that somewhere between 0 and 100% of the sub losses were caused by the flying debacle.
The lead up to the reported losses was during the time in which they announced no more flying, ever. This was before they backtracked and compromised on pathfinder.
How many people left over flying vs how many left over a lack of content? I don’t think anyone, even Blizzard, knows the precise numbers on that.
So if we lost 5 million subs, and you asked:
Then ask that question for every possible reason people might quit at that time. Flying almost certainly contributed to the dramatic free fall, but by how much is completely unknowable.
(Though I tend towards thinking it was probably in the ballpark of 5%, maybe 10%. The rest most likely being a combination of lack of stuff to do, loss of faith in the company as a whole, and poor handling of the game in general.)
To be fair, that’s a bold assertion.
I like FPS games but I really didn’t like the Halo series. I like Pokemon and Warcraft RTS, but typically despise turn based games overall.
A lot of people do make arguments like yours, overall. I just think it lacks the necessary understanding that every game is a different approach. What we won’t stand in one game might not be an issue in a different one. It seems hypocritical, but it’s more just incredibly nuanced preference that changes based on how we’re approaching things.
“People won’t like Classic because they don’t like grinding rep in modern.” It sounds good on paper, but it neglects to consider that we often like things in one game (because of how it’s handled, what it provides, ease or difficulty of completion, etc) and hate a nearly identical feature in a different game.
Because they’re two very different games at this point, it’s really a toss up as to what people may tolerate or accept. I would 100% quit Modern if they said no more flying ever, and I did in WoD. I have no issue with there being no flying in Classic because that’s a different game, different play style, different world engagement tactics, etc.
Just like how I play other games (like Runescape, ESO, and a slew of single player games) that do not have flying. It can be an issue in one game but not another. It can even be an issue in one iteration of a game but not another.
We will see what happens between Q3 and Q4 and if the numbers are going up than they have all the right to celebrate, but it all depends what happens between those 2 announcements.
What a lot of people just don’t seem to understand, including you, is that for the majority of those people looking forward to Classic, like myself, we know full well what the game is because we were there years ago. That game without the additions and QoL things added is exactly what we want back.
While I’m sure there’s some nostalgia there for many, for many people, we just see it as the better version of this game, simple as that. It was a very different game back then. All the QoL additions took away from the RPG aspects more and more and more over time. Not to mention Blizzard themselves took away so much.
I can’t wait to go back to doing quests to get my warlock’s minions, shamans totems, needing arrows for my hunter, feeding my hunter pet and keeping it happy, etc. Heck, I’m even looking forward to farming soul shards again and running until 40. I’m looking forward to that long run from Darnassus to Ironforge. The game was a journey, a true RPG adventure as opposed to what the game is today. I still like this game, but Vanilla is what I have been hoping to go back to for many, many years.
Now, if only that beta invite would come to me, lol. It seems they have been inviting people with accounts from 2004-2005 at the moment primarily. This is a 2005 account. Hoping!
In before the people who raced to level 60 start complaining about “no new content” in Classic.
Classic launches in August. So if classic does pull in a million or so returning subs as the fanatics have been saying, that will be $15 in August and $15 in September per new sub. At least $30 million in new sub revenue (assuming NA and EU subs) for the quarter. I doubt the fanatics have any good read on the Chinese subscribers but that would add to the $30 million.
WoW sub numbers have fallen after launch ever since Cata. Surely a remastered game won’t be bucking that trend. So Q3 financial results is where the biggest impact of classic should be. Since ActiBlizz usually releases Q3 financials in early November, that’s when we’ll know.
I’m looking forward to trying out classic again… I made my very first WoW account sometime in 2006 (obviously not this one) and I don’t really remember much about it other than the stuff pretty much everyone knows about already, like weapon skills, less classes, less race/class options, less races etc. I never raided or did much pvp outside of a battleground here and there. I was never very good at the game in those days (I’m still pretty bad at it if I’m being honest)… I died a lot by making stupid mistakes (usually by picking fights with more mobs than I could handle by myself)
I think I only managed to get to around level 40 or thereabouts before BC came out. So this will be an interesting trip down memory lane and may just be more of a rediscovering of what made me fall in love with this game in the first place… I don’t know. But I am looking forward to trying it out again.
The dream right there.
I was not one of them. NOthing could have been more boring. I’d rather do Apexis dailies to anytyhing involding Vanilla Deadmines.
First time I ever encountered patrols was in SM as I was learning to tank (sunder boiiiiii) while leveling and my buddy on vent kept saying “pats coming.” “I was like who tf is pat??” We wiped.
Sure, if you want to be oblique.
But Classic made guilds mandatory. Made server rep important. Made player skill paramount. Rewarded effort. Punished laziness. And then…you had a choice to make the game what you wanted it to be.
You wouldn’t know about that if you weren’t there so I don’t begrudge you. And I hope you’re happy with dominating this game which is effectively bowling with the bumpers up so you don’t get gutter balls.
Look, rosy glasses off…Friendless DPS will not have a good time. People that don’t like questing will not have a good time. People who think instances should be 15 min AOE fests will not have a good time. It’s not for everyone . I know I wont have the time to get into like most will and I’ll be way behind the curve levelling. But if it brings half the satisfaction it did back in the day, that will be 100% more compelling then BFA, for people like me. If BFA is your thing, I’m actually happy for you. That’s a blessing.
I wouldn’t call picking viable talents and not over pulling, “skill”. I think in current it takes more skill to do raids and such then it did back then. And it didn’t just punish laziness, it punished anyone who didn’t have all day to look for a dungeon group or farm/prepare for raid. Which is why i don’t think classic is going to grow past the people who really know what they’re getting into.
Still don’t get the alure of watching people play video games. Is it like just curiosity? I find it as fulfilling as being hungry and watching someone eat a sandwich but not eating one your self. So odd.
yep its not a mario speed run esport game like retail its.
If you’re not careful in the engineering room, wipes will happen. Remember, when you die in a dungeon, you’re running from the GY to the dungeon portal. It takes time.
An abundance of caution is typically wise. Vanilla isn’t a “go go go!” mindset like retail is like.
We could get separate servers with their own feature sets(see Pristine Realms). Blizzard pitched that concept at the absolute worst time though right when people were most upset about the state of the game(WoD) and wanting full legacy servers. So a lot of people reacted negatively.
But now? I’d love to play on a Pristine realm. I think it’s a great idea, and if enough people ask for it, it’ll happen. A realm with no LFD or phasing of any kind.
I don’t mind Asmongold but Esfand is great. An honest and fun personality.
I don’t get the allure of watching people play sports. Is it like just curiosity? Why don’t they just go out and play football? So odd.