Weird thought: What if shared subs & layering is Blizzard protecting Classic?

[Ogimirak-medivh]

I was thinking about this earlier. What if the reason we have shared subs and layering is because there are devs at Blizzard who want to “protect” Classic WOW and maintain its design purity?

Let me elaborate. Activision is a business whose sole purpose is to wring as much money as possible out of their paying custmers without driving them away. This is why Retail is in the state it’s in, with cash shop mounts, level boosts, wow tokens, and time-gated content.

But I suspect there are developers at Blizz who are gamers at heart and don’t like designing the game this way, but they are required to do so. To them, recreating WoW in its pure, uncorrupted-by-microtransactions form something they are excited to see.

But if Classic WOW is too successful, it will certainly draw the attention of the Activision bean counters and demands will come down to monetize it more efficiently. Baron’s mount in the cash shop? $50. That kind of stuff.

So how can these devs potentially HIDE the success of Classic WoW? For starters, they can hide the subscriber totals by created a combined subscription. This allows any Classic-only subs to be masked as old players returning to play retail.

But what about all of the servers needed to support a large Classic playerbase (if it manifests, of course)? Use layering to minimize the number of servers required. This would mean that layering could last past Phase 1.

None of this would work in the long term if Classic is hugely successful. But it would allow the financial impact of Classic to fly under the radar for a much longer time.

Anyway, I’m not saying that this is the case, but the current state of the release fits this weird theory.

[Eloraell-moon-guard]

I’ve been saying this for weeks.

Layering isn’t to cater to tourists, its to protect us from tourists.

[Heralf-aegwynn]

Layering isn’t to cater to tourists

I don’t think anyone ever thought that.

[Eloraell-moon-guard]

I don’t think anyone ever thought that.

Most advocates of no layering have repeated that ad nauseum

[Heralf-aegwynn]

All the “No Layering” threads I’ve seen (And I’m on this like all day: every day for the past few months) have said nothing of the sorts.

[Eloraell-moon-guard]

@Slendy-sargeras

Why is Blizzard even trying to cater to tourists? Trying to cater to people who aren’t your main audience and you expect to leave? Focus on the audience you made the game for

For instance.

[Heralf-aegwynn]

That is just one example. One or two people saying it does not prove many people have been saying it.

[Eloraell-moon-guard]

That is just one example.

I could keep going if you really want.

[Heralf-aegwynn]

Show me at least 5 forum threads that say layering caters tourists.

[Putin-ghostlands]

Oh snap, you did it now. Sick um, Eloraell

[Ogimirak-medivh]

I’ve been saying this for weeks.

Layering isn’t to cater to tourists, its to protect us from tourists.

But I’m not talking about tourists at all. I’m talking about protecting the game from Activision.

[Ohshiftson-area-52]

Gotta ruin Classic so it is less successful or else Activision will try to capitalize on its success and ruin it.

Definitely sounds like Blizzard. You might be on to something here.

[Nubling-jaedenar (Nubling)]

they didn’t add a cash shop to WoW until it peaked. only dying games get milked

[Eloraell-moon-guard]

From the start of the Forums:

@Cyberwins-aegwynn

So blizzard is choosing to change the dynamic of launch to appease LITERAL TOURISTS.

@Xjum-skullcrusher

Given that the basis for this decision is predicated on the larger crowd quitting the entire game, I’d say you’re wrong. Supposedly this “solution” is meant to alleviate the pressure of an onslaught of retail tourists that will eventually quit - but they’re the only ones who won’t mind this junk

@Fesz-cenarius

The question is should Blizzard cater to those tourists that they do not even expect to continue playing or should they focus on winning back and retaining those players who have been requesting that truer Classic experience and will likely be playing for the long haul if Blizzard actually provides that truer Classic experience?

@Chopspin-barthilas

You best believe blizzard will cater to casuals and tourists, it’s the only demographic they’ve catered to for the last 10 years.

@Fesz-cenarius

What has those of us that desire a truer classic experience are concerned is that Blizzard seems to want to cater to those “tourists” they expect to quit at the expense of those who have, for so long, advocated a return to the roots of WoW.

@Aryxymaraki-earthen-ring

They are tourists. Yes, tourists are going to temporarily outnumber actual players, no one has an argument about that. But there is no reason to cater to such people.

@Deathbonerz-frostmourne

Classic is going to be a streamlined, watered down vanilla with every convenience they can get away without starting a riot. This isnt a “authentic experience” its because they thought they could make alot of money from retails dwindling playerbase, not classic players. Look what blizzard did to diablo, you think they care?

@Xjum-skullcrusher

Well, that’s who it’s accommodating. If your mind is set on playing for months, are 1 hour queues for a few days really going to drive you away? Of course not - but if you’re just there to check the game out, then queues certainly would. Layering lets those people have their quick fun

@Gobbyjr-draka

que times on the other hand, are a shorter term issue, people may get upset for a little while that they can’t log in, but as more tourists begin to leave, it will taper down, it’s a shorter term issue of having to wait to log in that does not damage any essential aspect of the player experience as layering would, people may get angry and complain at blizzard, but i think they would be doing the right thing in not catering to them

@Tinytusk-darkspear

Anyways, who is gonna be discouraged by the queues and rough start? the tourists. Why make drastic changes to appease tourists of the game who are not interested enough in playing it to put up with the rough start? If they are not interested in the game enough to put up with the rough start then they can just wait 1-2 days for the starting zones to die down then play it. Why do the people who are not interested in the game enough to put up server crashes on launch day or a 20-30 minute queue for the first few hours of the server being catered too? They are being catered to in a way that drastically impacts the game for the coming months for Everyone. They are making drastic changes that will last for weeks (months?) so a few… people… wont be inconvenienced in the first few days of release? The “rough start” argument is one of the most asinine arguments ever.

@Hashnochange-thunderlord

You are exactly the tourist that this bloody layering is catering to. At least now you won’t have to ‘bore’ yourself with Classic in August.

We good?

[Heralf-aegwynn]

Dying franchises. Look at Naruto. It was good until they introduced literal gods for the cast to fight into the world. Then once that pretty much killed the franchise: They milked the series so hard: that they literally made a “second generation” “sequel” where it’s the kids of the main cast but their visual looks and powers are practically carbon copies of their parents.

[Sokajoo-chogall]

I doubt activision would fail to notice a dwindling subscription count suddenly turning around and growing for the first time in a decade, and not look to see what in game changes caused this.

[Ristra-suramar (Ristra)]

I don’t start threads but I certainly have been saying layering is to mitigate the damage from the tourist mass exodus.

[Heralf-aegwynn]

The MAJORITY of the thing you posted is mostly them saying that tourists wouldn’t mind layering, not in favor of tourists… Like only 1 or 2 of those are actually saying that layering it catered towards tourists.

[Eloraell-moon-guard]

Like only 1 or 2 of those are actually saying that layering it catered towards tourists.

Were you searching for the word “cater” or wanting opinions that state that layering is designed to make life easy for tourists?

[Heralf-aegwynn]

Yes and your point is? You aren’t saying Layering is catering towards tourists. You are saying what layering is ment for which is just to help the game survive against the tourists.