Refuting basless WoW is dying claims

[Skarin-galakrond]

MMO’s are huge investments that typically attract niche audiences.

Single players were considered “Niche” God of War proved that wrong.

Turned based RPGs were considered “Niche” Octopath Travelers proved that wrong.

I believe there is a market for MMORPGs there just needs to be one that can compete with WoW

[Powerbottom-zuljin]

Single players were considered “Niche” God of War proved that wrong

Disagree. This was a notion that existed in the upper levels of AAA companies from people that don’t actually play games. God of War proved single player titles were never niche, but that the people at the head of these ships are out of touch bafoons. ahem dont you guys have fones?

I believe there is a market for MMORPGs there just needs to be one that can compete with WoW

Yes and no. I think there could be a market, but trying to compete with WoW is what killed that market. An original game that tries to just be a good game. That is what hasn’t been tried since 2004.

[Urakh-wyrmrest-accord]

WoW subs are dropping rapidly: While some people may have left I can assure you that this is not the case simply by the reactions of other game companies. If WoW was truly in such dire straits as the naysayers said multiple MMORPGs would be springing up as other companies, smelling the proverbial blood in the water, would be trying to catch up chunks of the leaving playerbase. This is not the case so it is safe to assume that, at least now WoW is still strong enough that trying compete against it is a bad investment.

I think this is the biggest point. I don’t think it is WoW, I think it is the genre. Were it just WoW we would have seen those players migrate to other MMORPGs, but that’s not what has happened.

Like you said, not saying BfA is perfect, but certain things are being blow out of proportion.

Investors/stockholders are cowards, that is why everybody copies WoW. It isn’t the designers it’s the guys with the money.
WoW has choked most of the life of of the MMO genre, not the other way around, and blood or not the only way there will be a big influx is if one small company manages to

1. make a game that is good
2. get WoW’s notoriously zealous fans to give it a fair chance rather than playing for a couple weeks and running back to their 120s and reserves of gold.
3. doesn’t get its main hook ripped off by Blizz and put into WoW’s next expansion.

Then there be an influx…

…of companies copying that game.

[Bellharth-moon-guard]

I wouldn’t say theya r emroe populated but i really can’t tell the differenc eof population nowadays which tbh i think is healthy to the market as a whole.

[Nightmove-ghostlands (Nightmove)]

I play WoW on almost a daily basis. I am very much aware of how BfA works - or doesn’t work as the case may be. What all of those things mention may or may not be right is irrelevant. What matters TO ME is how the game feels subjectively. And that’s the real concern. At this moment it feels…shallow. I don’t know how else to describe it. Nothing they are doing atm excites me. And that’s very sad because I love this game.

This is the metric I’ve used to tell how WoW is doing and do you what? It seems to works pretty darn well. Currently the main game play of BfA isn’t deeply engaging for me and from what I can tell a large number of other players feel the same way.

Now there might come a day, that I don’t like the latest expansion, and if I don’t see a fairly large number of players feeling the same way then I’ll know it’s time to stop playing WoW.

but let me tell you it is not the doom and gloom that some make it out to be

Well I respectfully disagree. If it things were wonderful I wouldn’t be here on the GD forums seeing so many others feeling like me. I would be lost in some part Azeroth.

But hey you might be right. Maybe BfA game hasn’t greatly missed the bullseye like I feel it has. But we’ll know soon enough when Blizzard gives their end of the year report. I might find that it’s time for me to move on from playing WoW.

[Kneeshooter-amanthul (Kneeshooter)]

There are a fair few MMOs out there that have been going for some time now, and some of them are pretty good. I think what keeps people coming back to WoW comes down to a few core reasons:

1. Loyalty. Many of us have been playing for years (for me its 9 years) and we have a great deal of nostalgic connection with this game. Its become like home; familiar, comfortable, known. There are few things we don’t know or understand. Its like stepping into a familiar place and feeling that sense of homecoming. That sort of connection is difficult to sever.

2. A number of the games out there are good but they have issues or aspects we don’t like, whatever that might be for each individual. I like ESO; its a beautiful game with an engaging lore, beautiful graphics, with lots of content. But there are parts of it that annoy me and when I don’t have the connection to it that I do to WoW, I’m not as forgiving.

3. Hope and optimism. We keep hoping that things will get better. That whatever it is that is frustrating us in WoW will be fixed. That there is some special, secret, new adventure for us just over the horizon where all the issues we have now will be corrected.

Those are the sort of things that its difficult for any company to really understand. Its not a metric; its subjective and personal. However, when gamers are involved in the decision-making, they will often get it. My main concern is that gamers are no longer in charge of WoW, and the people who are just don’t get it.

[Notagin-kul-tiras (Notagin)]

You say that but the auction house system in ESO is a horrible mess. You have to meet sales quotas for most guilds to even have access to sell things. Not to mention professions are time gated to an insane level.

You have to meet sales quotas because trading guilds had to bid against other trading guilds to put their auctions in the best locations. You could use the winning bid prices to keep track of the ebb and flow of players in the game.

The system kept things dynamic but it was hard to stay motivated week after week after week. Stop playing for the typical x number of weeks grace period and next time you login, you’re no longer in the guild.

[Allvoltage-dathremar (Allvoltage)]

well we know numbers are not good, they told investors that player interaction is down.

[Powerbottom-zuljin]

well we know numbers are not good, they told investors that player interaction is down.

Player interaction drops a few weeks after expansion launches every time since Wrath pretty much. The question is, how much are they down and do they think they can bring them back up…

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

Popular Youtubers and streamers are leaving in droves

By far the best thing to happen to the game since mounts were learned versus being carried around in your bags.

[Powerbottom-zuljin]

By far the best thing to happen to the game since mounts were learned versus being carried around in your bags.

Are you for real? Content creators moving on is good thing to you? Unreal, some people today…

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

Content creators moving on is good thing to you?

What content? They only create hype and give opinions.
That’s not content.

[Vihoh-borean-tundra (Vihoh)]

People are offering why they don’t like the game and OP just keeps offering, essentially, “but have you tried liking it?” That’s not how it works.

[Powerbottom-zuljin]

What content? They only create hype and give opinions.
That’s not content.

First off, hype actually has value. The number of people playing the game will almost certainly effect funding for the game.

Second, no. That is not all they do. Guides, tutorials, community engagement etc. Blizz even contracted Bellular to make videos for BFA’s launch geared towards catching newer players up to speed. Even the Devs see the value in content creators.

[anon2121503]

Well, they did just pay 100 employees to leave. That doesnt sound too good.

[Powerbottom-zuljin]

Well, they did just pay 100 employees to leave. That doesnt sound too good.

Apparently they offered them that pay off multiple time with increasingly higher amounts before they took it. That call center or office or w/e is about to get axed I bet.

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

Even the Devs see the value in content creators.

The only value is that in most cases, it’s free advertising for them.

[Powerbottom-zuljin]

The only value is that in most cases, it’s free advertising for them.

If that is all you see, then that is your failure. Might want to get those eyes checked =)

[Righteous-garrosh (Righteous)]

WoW is a 14yr old juggernaut in the PC gaming world.
It transcended the need for random players to show others how to play it years ago.

[Powerbottom-zuljin]

It transcended the need for random players to show others how to play it years ago.

Good thing Blizz paid for those videos to be made then =p