Most subscription mmo’s are lucky to maintain 1-1.5 million subs after 5 years, Blizzard is actually doing extremely well compared to it’s market.
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I would argue that such is the case because WoW started strong and was the only MMO on the market with enough brand equity to get that strong. That doesn’t undo the long process of decay that we’ve borne witness to, and that data exists to highight.
I don’t know about y’all, but I haven’t gone back to Azeroth, more specifically those low-rez dumpsters known as faction capitals in a very long time.
Laughs in Engineering.
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decay of subs is extremely common in the genre, no one is gonna maintain 6+ million subs for the… 12 years I think since WoW hit that point.
WoW has been on a steady decline since 2011 and yet has launched 5 separate expansions, that’s honestly something that impresses me more then concerns.
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Well the counter point there is players get very angry when there is ludonarrative synchronicity.
Take Ny’alotha. Turns out it’s a real terrible idea to try to fight the big mind control monster without the special cape that’s your only hope for resisting his power.
Of course some players thought otherwise. Turning the already chaotic LFR system into a disaster.
So I can see why they idiot proof a lot of features.
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I would argue that the example that you raised is more of them misfiring with the concept than it is a problem with the concept itself. If we are to take something away from that observation, I’d say it should be that these elements need to be designed in better harmony with each other to avoid such outcomes.
If they wrote the game the way you want it… the vast majority of the player base would quit en masse.
And you’re ignoring the story context. Hearthstones are a player device, not nearly the same thing as the ones referenced in story which are rare and are keyed into locations by the true owner, and apparantly passed around between the elites.
Now that you mention it… I’m going to have to try that with a dupe character on the PTR and see how much I mess up as a result.
Lets be real here… the “vast majority” of WoW players are not going to quit over quest text, dialog or even lore fallacies. The vast majority of players just care about hitting max level as fast as possible to move on to the next thing.
Almost every expansion starts off with leaders/key figures assuming their potential heroes (players) just picked up their first sword 5 minutes ago. With almost obliviousness to the fact that we’ve literally overthrown the former Lich King, banished Old Gods and defeated a dragon big enough to tear valleys into zones.
Just write some awareness into the dialog. I promise it won’t break the game.
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That’s far from the case, our past triumphs are more referenced in Shadowlands than ever before. IF your character has downed certain bosses that you meet in Shadowlands, they actually acknowledge that you did so.
There was at least one Wrath NPC that acknowledged my PVP title.
Those NPCs (assuming you’re referring to Lady Vashj, et all) have acknowledged all of my alts as having encountered/defeated them. I don’t think Bliz actually scripted them to check actual kill logs/achievements.
Do you have an example of one specifically in mind? Not saying I don’t believe you, but I’m running the campaign for the 5th time and would like to note it.
As much as bringing up XIV likely causes others to roll their eyes, I have to say that there you are have a far, far far better chance to be recognized than not, even if it is only a line or two of dialogue. Hell, Seasonal events from years ago will still net you at least something.
Well, that and how the amount of “Enoughs!” in the game is thankfully small. One amount that have happened over the years I’m shocked any major enemy has died.
That is literally not the case. As an example the siege of Lordearon/Broken Shore/Draenor invasion considers you a champion.
If anything some people have complained they hate how they keep being called champion/commander/hero and want to go back to being annonimous.
Draenor isn’t quite as bad as Shadowlands…since they literally opened portals directly to and from the Afterlife in this case. “Where are you off to honey?” “Just popping over to the afterlife, I think I’ve found the perfect corner in Oribos to open up my pastry stand!”
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Vashj and Kael’thas specifically do have different dialogue if you have their kill achievements on a given character versus if you don’t. My main, Vandraeda, has completed Serpentshrine Cavern several times while hunting for transmog and pets, and was acknowledged by Vashj for that achievement during the leveling story. My primary alt right now is a blood elf death knight who has only rarely set food inside Burning Crusade raids due to the lack of DK sets to collect for those instances, and he has never cleared Serpentshrine Cavern. Vashj had different dialogue for him as a result. Kael’thas also had different dialogue between the two of them for the same reason.
As for the opening Maw introduction, sure, we the player champions have hearthstones (and we’re also special enough to use the waystone for as of yet unexplained reasons), but the NPCs don’t, and sure enough we are the only character that makes it out of the Maw immediately after jumping into it at the beginning of the expansion. Out of all the death knights who accompanied us through the rift from Icecrown, only Darion has made it through to Oribos, and only after we rescued him well into the leveling campaign. Even then, he still had to attune to us in order to use the waystone, he couldn’t leave on his own. Every other death knight who came through the rift with us is currently presumed dead or captured. All the ones seen in Oribos arrived there after we established a link between Azeroth and Oribos, and therefore didn’t travel through the Maw first. Bolvar’s warning had merit, he just underestimated how rules-defying player characters are.
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Someone speculated on another thread that the intro scenario might have been modified along the way—that it might have started out with the PC leading or accompanying an army in a full-scale assault on the Maw. The large number of NPCs hanging around Oribos almost immediately after the PC arrives might be an artifact of that idea.
If that ever was the case, though, I can see why it was changed. It looks like they want to save the “armies taking the fight to the Maw” idea for a later patch.
That’s odd because I noticed a definite difference between her greetings and text to Drahliana who did do the Serpentshrine raid and Thelandrea, who didn’t.
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Hearthstones are canon, to a degree. I can think of two times they were mentioned - both involving Anduin. I don’t know how common they are. Anduin does have access to almost anything through his connections.
If I recall, Jaina had given him one. He uses it when he is captured by Moira, and he appears before Jaina.
Then it is mentioned that Anduin lent Tyrande a hearthstone when she encounters Saurfang on the cusp of killing Malfurion. She uses it to escape - I guess she was able to take a guest, since she lugs Malfurion to Stormwind as well.
Big time Alliance bias in the narrative. They not only get Hearthstones, they have Hearthstones that can bring friends along, too.
Since you can’t progress in the post 50 content without doing so, I can see why you’re still 50.
To a slight degree. In two occasions that I can think of, Tyrande borrows one, one from the Darnassian embassy in Stormwind and another from Anduin… in the first instance with great effort she retunes it’s destination. The one that she borrows from Anduin is the only one used by her in game.
The non-player canon describes objects with the same name and some of the same functionality as the player Hearthstones, but they are described as ancient and exceedingly rare.
I head cannoned it that interacting with the way gate revealed runes on my hearthstone that let it be used even in the Maw. Maybe hearthstones are copied from a First Ones relic and the reason we wake up in the game as one is marking our special connection with them. It could be a family heirloom.
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