Longevity of World of Warcraft

Community General Discussion
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I’ve been thinking about why wow is bleeding numbers, and I came to the conclusion: WoW is now a seasonal game like Diablo. Every patch is a partial reset and progress is lost/erased.

I was thinking of the things that truly made me love wow, and realized I no longer cared about endgame content. I did however find leveling quite enjoyable where prior to BFA I loathed it. I came to one simple conclusion: Everything endgame is temporary, leveling a toon is permanent. Here are the permanent systems with their rough implementation dates:

Ground mounts : Implemented ~2004
Flying mount : Implemented Early 2007
Guild Achievement and reward system: Implemented late 2010
Transmogrification: Implemented late 2010
Battle Pets: Implemented mid 2013

Every system released after 2013 has been a throwaway system and offers no replay value. A simple fix to help retain players is make new systems designed to have longevity and evolve with the game such as the wildly popular ones above.

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2

Everquest is still a thing.

WoW ain’t going no where.

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3

I’d rather WoW die gracefully than have it kick and scream desperately clinging to life like some aging boomer.

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4

Welcome to the party, six years late.

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I never said it was. I said the systems are causing a sharp decline. I’d like to see systems that are still viable after 2 years.

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I guess you won’t like what you see then.

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7

Yeah, you’re probably right.

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I suppose the writing was on the wall when they starting focusing on M+ (e-sports).

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Yes, it was. Esports and MMORPGs are mutually exclusive.

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I don’t mind the Esport aspect of it, I just wish there was still a non-instanced content focus that isn’t over 7 years old.

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Except WoW has a sub cost. Diablo does not.

Dev cost for WoW is probably substantially higher than Diablo as well.

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Endgame achievements have always been seasonal. Even in Vanilla, your tier set BiS was negated by the next raid’s loot table.

BC sent every piece of Vanilla gear into obsolescence.

IMO, the impermanent/seasonal nature of WoW is not a detriment to its longevity or it wouldn’t have been around and still attracting millions of subs after 16 years online.

There ARE collectible things that stay relevant forever from the Carrot on a Stick to battle pets and mounts, to mog appearances. The rest has always been temporary and seasonal to a particular tier of endgame content.

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I agree with everything you said. It would be nice if they made more of those “carrot on a stick,” things like mogs and pet battles that lasted more than one xpac. Having content that is impactful long term matters.

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I 100% agree.

Why we haven’t gotten any permanent form of player housing is beyond me. Sure, it’s not important to all players, but neither is mogging or pet collecting or mount collecting. It’s a thing that a large % want and/or would use. It’s just one example, but it’s the kind of thing players want: achievements or items that will translate over multiple expansions instead of disappearing at the next content patch.

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15

This made me think about all the tanks that used thunderfury until naxx WOLK. Though thunderfury was an exception to the rule.

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Then what would you say is a detriment to WoWs longevity

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Honestly the one thing that’s harmed the longevity most is when they decided to design around instances only versus building the world first then the instances inside of that world.

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18

When pet battles came out, I absolutely hated it. Now I enjoy it. I think it has to do with the permanence attached to it.

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Correct. In fact, it’s doesn’t even register on the radar of things most players want.

Player housing is a unicorn: in abstract it’s wonderful, but in reality it’s just another stinky horse with a weird growth on its nose.

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So is Swtor. The game basically has no end game content whatsoever but it is still around also