FFXIV isn’t contributing to WoW’s lower retention in any way other than the fact that it exists. If WoW was designed well, far fewer people would be looking for alternatives.
Much like how Blizzard entered the MMO market at just the right time and grew to success because of it, other games are benefitting from Blizzard picking just the right time to churn out lazy garbage.
They’re chumming the waters for other games that have been standing in its shadow.
I mean, I don’t like large commitments in my games usually. WoW snagged me because my friends talked me into playing it back in 2005. Going to another MMO was not something I ever considered before these last few years. It took me a lot of attempts to truly give FFXIV attention, and that’s because a lot of my guild was also looking for other things to do in BFA and they talked me into it.
But it’s spreading like Covid. The longer this horrid design path continues the wider the wound in the game grows.
I’ve seen people claim the sky is falling for over a decade now. Turns out it literally took them tearing open the sky in game.
I mean one day it may. But I think even eq2 is still rolling. Hell even warhammer has a private server. Which is badass and often patched. Way more balanced out and smooth
It’s getting there. Maybe one day everyone can collect on the last few remaining servers and talk about how much better the game is with few people playing it.
How’s the classic community doing btw? You on one of the two busy servers?
I think we’re seeing the culmination of a few issues.
Age. The game is older so interest is waning.
Poor development. Developers seem to have issues with planning and being able to get work done in a timely manner. Another issue with development looks like creativity and innovation are in short supply at Blizzard. Developers seem to be at odds with their customer base.
Management. Blizzards poor decisions have lead to a working environment that’s not functional or conducive to quality.
Even if the servers permanently shutdown Private Servers are guaranteed to advantage of the situation. The only WoW goes extinct would be whenever the staff attack fan artists or private server developers.
Is WoW going extinct? Not as long as it makes money.
When it ceases to be a profitable venture, one of two things will happen: either a) it will “go extinct” (i.e. no further development, just leaving the servers on for the remnant player population) or b) it will undergo a radical revamp (a sequel game, perhaps) with the intent of jumpstarting Warcraft, bringing back old players and drawing in new ones.
The second actually strikes me as the more likely outcome, because there’s still a ton of value in the IP. But it only happens if revenue drops below the threshold of profitability. Subscriber numbers may be falling, but it seems like that’s being offset by store sales (tokens, mounts, services).
In fact, that may be the most compelling argument against WoW tokens: they could be delaying the eventual “reinvention” of World of Warcraft. After all, why would Blizzard feel compelled to change the status quo if they’re still making money?
