I wouldn’t say they are crucial as other games do fine without them. But they are useful because they are free advertisement. Before twitch and streaming there was youtube videos, which helped spread the word of WOW and generated a lot of buzz for the game
Twitch and streaming was a natural biproduct of this.
Actually in some cases they are bad for the game.
Most content creators in WOW are bad for the game.
All they do is complain day in and day out about the most pointless issues of the game.
Like that day Preach had his interview and could ask any questions, but he spent like 40m getting slapped around by Ion on COV nonsense, while not realizing he was the Oliver Twist of the convo begging for more.
The market Blizzard is trying to market to is much different then the market they had at the start.
I get games need to evolve with the time and cultivate the most lucrative path. Most of the streamers are for the most part OG and want the game to stay true to it’s core values.
The game has changed to a fast paced season pass game with a cash store… a few steps removed from a p2w style game.
The fact is you hate mythic but run mythics and more then 50% run mythic… means mythic stays. You log in and hate system but do the systems that means more systems to come. It’s not an RPG anymore the fantasy died for the new market.
Enough people must like the direction of the game and great it’s evolving.
Asmon has done more to hype the game than Preach has, imo. Preach is all raid all the time. One minute he thinks a feature is the next best thing, then he does a total 180. If Preach never streamed WoW again, it would be no loss to WoW; Asmon, though, is a another story.
And how relevant are they to it’s success? Very little. You proved my point I guess.
You might not be aware of this but most people do not see game content creators as relevant. I know it seems that way to you cause they have followers but most of those people do not sell the game. What sells the game is word of mouth direct from real friends. Content creators and YouTube influencers are not as powerful as you think.
Sad but true.
Unfortunately anyone who doesn’t shill for blizzard is seen as a doomsayer here. People will defend blizzard still even if they are blatantly ripping you off because they’re too busy snorting that copium they so desperately need.
Isn’t Ion a gray parser?
Content creators are both good and bad for a game. It’s good to have them for advertising however it’s terrible to listen to them. Their goal is what is in their best interest which is to have more content to show which means less content that is open to the average player. So people come to watch them do things that they themselves can’t do.
I just like Drama Time.
Otherwise his opinions about WoW are that of a player who plays the game differently than I do, which doesn’t make him incorrect, but also doesn’t always line up with what I think.
Though to be honest, when someone like him starts making distress about the game, the problems usually trickle down through the entire thing and end up showing themselves as just as bad for the rest of us.
Pretty close
It’s not a dumpster fire. Becoz if it does, why are you even here still playing WoW?
As relevant as the content creators for wow are so what point? Cause what you said was factually wrong , I mean you just didn’t know and that ain’t a big deal I think a lot of you people forget FF14 has been going for years now it ain’t some new game.
This isn’t how it works anymore though. Streamers can make or break a game over night. Apex Legends, Phasmophobia, Among Us, all games which had been made into hundreds of thousands of dollars, even millions over night because high profile content creators began streaming them. Phasmophobia and Among Us especially became absolutely massive after Overwatch content creators began playing them because Overwatch had been dead without an update for months and months other than holiday events.
Content creators, high profile youtubers, high viewer count streamers - all of them can make or break a game instantly because watching those people highlights both the good, and the bad in any game.
Part of why people dismiss WoW and content creators working together as an idea though is because Blizzard does not treat content creators as well as other companies. They don’t invest in them or seek to make partners out of them. They’ll occasionally sponsor a video, or draft someone for a project (like KarQ’s one tip for every hero series earning him a Blizzard sponsored video involving 5 tips for ranked).
The Overwatch team is better about it than the WoW team cause at least the Overwatch team brings in content creators for streaming events so people have a reason to watch them and become more exposed to the game. WoW does nothing of the sort though.
Huh? No they’re not.
Having an active subscription means they could either just like the forums, be active in classic or playing out of habit in hopes that something will change.
This sentiment bothers me a little. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the work or charisma that goes into producing a show. I just have never been comfortable with there being solid dividing line between “content creator” and “player” in an MMO. It’s a role I feel should emerge naturally from being a part of the world, not be the dominion of a handful of professional celebrities (although, like any activity, inevitably there will be a curve of levels of effort and fame that emerges that will have its 1%). The coming and goings of individual creators should be considered a natural part of the turnover as people that will always happen - not cheered, but not the end of the world.
I think there are too many blind followers that take their word for everything they say, even though their goal is often to just be dramatic.
I think content creators are generally a waste of time and don’t help the game much.
Streamers are ok… but I mean there’s not exactly a shortage of them.
no there not, back in the beginning of wow there were no streamers blizzard had there own people giving out info. I totally hope they all leave… (streamers) we don’t need them if you dont know how to play this game by now well your in trouble.
I’m sorry Preach is the one who was vocal for the changes in gear. Feeling his so called male epeen was threated by the casual class getting close to him. This why we have the 
show we have now. Yes they have helped bring people in, but it has also ruined the game for many others.