I don’t think Blizzard’s marketing is utilizing their resources enough to put WoW back into the minds of the millions, there’s no commercials anymore, there’s no teaser videos that just hype you up, there’s no camaraderie clips to touch you in the feels, there’s nothing to get you to gloriously clap and get that moment of “F—K YEAH!!!”
While Shadowlands and BfA might not have been as well received, their videos and commercials and clips certainly got you pumped up for more, but they’ve slowly fallen off a cliff since then.
I really want my TWW moment that got me hyped, Legion was full of these,
The intro movie, the attack on Broken shore shocker, the fight between Greymane and Sylvanas, the Illidan reveal, the time Illidan brought Argus to Azeroth, the I am my scars moment, stabbing the planet, like god damn, no wonder people remember it so much it was 80% shocking moments.
I work with a lot of 20-30 year olds and often times when the topic comes up of what do you play it’s either “oh that games is still a round?” to “What is that?”
Memes use to be their bread & butter, especially through advertising & references — but I feel these days people are too scared to do meme-like content out of worries that someone’s going to take offense to it.
I mean, I still see commercials on TV for WoW around expansion releases, but they’re usually targeted at returning to Azeroth. WoW is never going to reach 12 million players again. Doesn’t matter how much they advertise.
I think that’s because WoW is on “maintenance mode” now with bare-minimum dev resources/man-hours, bare-minimum content (example: we now get only 8 dungeons each expac versus 15+ in past), bugs/glitches no longer being fixed, a new focus on pushing microtransactions (such as WoW tokens/people buying boosts) and shop sales, etc
Back in the day WoW was on “growth mode” and it showed, but nowadays everything seems to be about squeezing as much $$$ as possible from a shrinking playerbase rather than actually growing the playerbase - if that makes sense
So say there is only 100 players in the playerbase, the dev’s focus seems to be “how do we squeeze as many WoW token sales and shop sales out of these 100 players as possible?” rather than “how do we increase these 100 players to 150 players?”. It’s subtle, but the differences are key
OP, what you state has been true increasingly over the past decade. It’s all just short-term cycles (Classic, Trading Post, Twitch Drops), but we’re lucky if we get one or two actual long-term system refinements per expansion, and that’s not even a consisted guarantee!
Our competitors advertise better, but actually deliver less right now IMO.
WoW STILL has technical and mechanical advantages that other MMOs have not even cracked (like the open world, reliance on successful previous serialized game lore and the intricacies of PvP gameplay).
The issue is that basically everyone who cares even a little about MMORPGs is already AWARE of WoW.
They either quit and don’t want to come back, don’t want to start a 20 year old game regardless of how well its updated over time, or their exposure to WoW is talking to ex-players who have a poor opinion of the game (because they quit for a reason).
That last one is kind of big, especially if they’ve poked at other MMOs or online communities. Too many people at least tried WoW, so a huge chunk of non-WoW MMO players basically hate the game. Otherwise they’d be here.
Advertising isn’t going to really shift anyone who’s already aware of the game and potentially has an existing bias toward it.
They could aim for the younger generations, but frankly, it won’t do what it did when the Mr T stuff was happening. MMORPGs are very much not “in” anymore. There was a decade or so where they were super common and kind of novel to a lot of people. That era has passed and it’s mostly people who got hooked during that period who are just going to stick to these games forever.
Younger generations don’t seem the least bit interested in MMOs from what I’ve seen. My nephew and his friends are all into Minecraft. My nieces and all their friends play Roblox and CoD. I wouldn’t be shocked to learn the average age of a MMO player is 30+
WoW, and MMOs in general, are never going to get back to that peak they hit. The online social experience they offer was a big deal back then, it was a new experience that created a fad as it caught on with regular people.
Online social experiences are a common norm in everyone’s life now, accessible at any time from our pockets. People move on from fads. Farmville on Facebook is never going to make a big comeback.
I just turned 25, and I have zero interest in making other genres my main gaming venue. In-fact, I entrench myself deeper in WoW even as I explore the alternatives. I guess it’s just habit and nostalgia for me, but IMO MMOs still have the potential to provide for many players the productive escapism they have been for me. I’ve learned my English in WoW, met people from all over the world, gained microcosmic organization, networking, leadership and even economic skills (from leading RBGs for a decade, a guild for 7 years), self-confidence from setting goals and achieving them, etc. To this day (just made my longest goal the other day, cathartic timing)… I fail to see how games like Minecraft or CoD can help anyone develop themselves to such an extent as MMOs did esp. WoW in the early-mid 2010’s. I think a lot of the shift has to do with general philosophical and technological trends, and from seeing even younger cousins on the tablet/phone 24/7 – I don’t think that’ll be good for them long-term. It’s why I push so hard on the “MMO aspects” that I see as having been on the decline since 2015 (esp. 2019). WoW has saved, improved, and filled many lives, and I think it has a bright future if it focuses its resources properly and remains loyal to its vision but adapts and advertises itself better.
Adding to what you said, I think a lot of kids are more interested in something they can pick up and drop on a whim instead of the time investments MMOs and RPGs offer. I suspect it goes hand in hand with the drop in reading, which has gone down 30% since 2004 in the USA and UK. I’m convinced technology has greatly reduced attention spans, which I have observed in adults as well. It’s kind of sad.
That is right on point. I’m also going back to the books! (Recently was given ‘a second chance’ at life, technically I was quite close… and my first thought was: “All the books I’ve wanted to read and haven’t gotten to”!) It 100% is educational trends. Adults can also be re-educated… and I’d say even indoctrinated by things like mass media AND escapist entertainment alike, if the values it promotes aren’t rational. I firmly hold that anti-human philosophies as cheap cult-like escapes from the woes of the world is the ONLY thing that has changed. Obv the same tech can do great or terrible things… It’s all in the values of the inventors, investors, and consumers. What you seek is what you get. And if you don’t get what you seek… You seek something else that will! IMO what WoW has largely lost is the sense of long-term investment and microcosmic social experience. Even new WoW players aren’t as likely to have the same experiences we did, because of things like how many versions the game is now split into, trading post, LFG and SoloQ, even M+, etc.
WoW will never have another “golden age.” You’re beyond delusional if you think Blizzard can do anything to generate millions of new players.
MMORPG is a dying genre. Period.
Most people playing MMOs are millennials and older. Most zoomers aren’t interested in the genre. Alphas will be even less interested. By the time GenA grows up - MMOs will be on life support.
with the current leadership, blizz will never be able to make wow as popular as it once was. period. but thats just how it is for most old games. some manage to retain the charm that made them popular to begin with, while others modernize and corporatize and lose it altogether
IMO what WoW has largely lost is the sense of long-term investment and microcosmic social experience. Even new WoW players aren’t as likely to have the same experiences we did, because of things like how many versions the game is now split into, trading post, LFG and SoloQ, even M+, etc.