A fierce debate has been raging within the WoWenomics team for the past few weeks. This debate has centered around the simple question, are we witnessing the decline of World of Warcraft?
The Opinions
It was initially an insightful article on Spinksville that got us talking about this subject. In that post, Spinks mentions the age of WoW and ponders if MMOs might suffer the same marked decline as the author observed with MUDs. The argument about the connection between MUDs and MMOs aside, it did serve to get us thinking of the life of WoW more in terms of an arc as opposed to a straight timeline. If we accept that the life of WoW is an arc we are then prompted to ask the question, just where in this arc are we currently? Is WoW in a state of increasing or decreasing popularity and success?
As we mentioned, the WoWenomics team is torn on the state WoW. One of our members insists that WoW will live on (with continual content patches and support) even if subscriber numbers dwindle. In this way, says he, the game will never die so long as the endeavor remains profitable. Others argue that the game has already passed the plateau of the lifespan arc and is now in a state of deterioration. A few of us are of the belief that WoW is at the very top of the arc of the game’s lifespan and Blizzard is at the top of their game. Of course, this implies that there is an inevitable decline ahead. Tellingly, none of our number took the stance that the game is still on the upswing.
For their own part, Blizzard states that there is no firm deadline upon which they will shut off WoW. As business people, however, we argue that there is. Certainly they’ve already decided upon a certain threshold where the business becomes unprofitable and will be discontinued.
The Evidence
So, about that arc… Is there some way to definitively identify where we are in the WoW lifecycle? The evidence of decline is easy to measure but, perhaps, difficult to quantify. Wolfshead presents a well-thought out and comprehensive analysis of the web statistics for the official WoW domain. In the same post, the author presents a graph, charting Blizzard’s announced subscriber statistics. Seeing the data presented in this visual format makes it easy to identify a flattening of the upward curve that previously represented player growth.
But there is other evidence of decreasing popularity as well:
- Many big-name WoW blogs have recently closed up shop.
- Players from all servers are reporting more trouble finding groups, declining interest in guild activities and friends leaving the game.
- Departure of key development personnel to other projects.
- An apparent shift in design philosophy.
What is most evocative about this culmination of data is that we have been in the money-making business long enough to know that it often takes several factors culminating in a cohesive timeframe to force cataclysmic change. Is this what we are seeing now?
The combination of decaying web stats, leveling off of subscriber numbers, anecdotal user experience reports on players taking extended breaks and closure of high-profile community sites all seem to point towards a shift in popularity. So if WoW is not in decline, it certainly seems to be at a plateau. Were this an investment we were trading, we’d argue that now’s the time to sell.
The Economy
Which brings us to the point of the in-game economy and WoW wealth-generation. We assert that the effects of a decline in the popularity the game will be felt very early in the economy. Perhaps just after players report exodus of friends and guildies to other games or non-gaming activities. We are split as to what that market activity will be, however. Will we see mass inflation as no one is farming anymore and prices are driven up by supply shortages? Or will it be the opposite and that the markets will deflate massively given a lack of demanding customers. Will Blizzard take any form of corrective market action to stabilize the game economy?
As traders in the various WoW markets we also have to ponder what we should do with our wealth and when to do it. Do we start selling our stockpiles of goods now, while we can still get maximum value? Or do we do it later when we may get less but can be surer of a state of decline. Should we be spending like crazy now just to have fun with it while we can? One thing we are fairly certain of is that, just like real life, you can’t take it with you.
The Future
Blizzard has already stated that their next MMO will not be WoW 2. That said, we do predict that they will pick up the WoW franchise again at some point (even if this is some years out) as they’d be mad not to.
We highly doubt that, regardless of the theme of Blizzard’s next MMO, you will be able to take any of your virtual property with you into the next game. This is understandable. Although we think it would be a pretty nice touch if you could reserve your character and perhaps even guild name, based on your WoW equivalent.
In the mean time, there will still be a few content patches and perhaps even another expansion cycle to go through before Blizzard pulls the plug. And even if they stop developing new content they may still keep the game going indefinitely so long as it is profitable.
The End
So if WoW is losing its appeal, we are forced to examine why we are amassing wealth in the game and if it is time to spend more than we save. Obviously, the answer to this question depends largely on your personal goals as a WoW player and trader so we can’t answer for you. When it comes down to it, whether or not the game is in a state of decline or growth is irrelevant if you’re still having fun playing it. So long as playing still feels like a fun way to spend your leisure time and building in-game wealth is part of that fun, by all means continue trading away even if the ship happens to be sinking around you.
That said, given recent events and the aforementioned data, perhaps it is time to- at the very least- start thinking about just what you mean to do with all that gold.
WoWenomics 
I completely disagree and believe that WoW is still in ascend, actually before a bigger jump. My guess: 20M subscribers before 2010Q2. I’ll write a post about why.
I agree with gevlon. you should read his post on it. While he is a little harsh, its acurate.
Wow isn’t dying its changing. Changing in favor of the socials. So the “hardcore”(us) need to change with it or move on.
I can add my own experience. I’ve been a rabid WoW player for years, with two mains and dozens of alts spread over many servers.
With my work schedule, I can’t find the time to raid or become proficient in the Arena, and it seems that all of Blizz’s resources have been focused recently into those two areas. I think it has impacted the Pve game negatively as a result.
I have to admit that I’m not the rabid player I used to be. It was hard enough keeping up with one main’s gear and gold, now there’s dual talent specs to worry about, along with other new bells and whistles. I would argue that WoW is in the beginning of it’s decline. I’m personally waiting for Star Trek: Online to come out, I’m looking for some new challenge.
“Many big-name WoW blogs have recently closed up shop.”
Linking to ONE blog? I thought “many” meant more than one.
We listed a single one as an example as this was not the focus of the post. Here are a few more:
A Rogue’s Eye View
Big Red Kitty
Lamthara
MMO Auctioneer
One Among Many
Out of Mana
The WoW Economist
Ten Days in Azeroth
But even this list, unfortunately, is not comprehensive.
Also phaelia from resto4life, some others. (like my best friend @ Doctors of Philosophy).
I agree the game is in decline, there isnt anything fundamentally new coming out, and everything is getting quite dull. The mount changes is just another way to promote retension, but those types of tweaks arent going to work for much longer. I think every product has a lifecycle, even if there is no wow-killer in sight. I think if there was such a beast i’d be all over it, but for now i’m scaling back and doing family things, playing offline games.
I think World of Warcraft leveled off, and I think it’s decline actually took root towards the end of BC when the severe boredom set in. Everyone came back for Wrath, but I think that quickly puttered out.
Right now I think we’ll see an extreme lull with summer in full swing and it will pick up a bit next fall / winter. Overall I’d say the game will decline, but I believe that the decline will be slow. I don’t think most people really understand how much Blizzard has made this game cater to casual individuals. There are many other “traditional” time sink MMOs, but none really approach WoW as far as how much there is to do aside from killing stuff and raiding.
Economically I think the impact will vary. If you are on a low population server, or your faction on the server is low population, you will be hit hard as things decline. A healthy economy usually goes hand in hand with a healthy server faction. If people are buying things, they are raiding or doing things. A bad economy usually indicates that the faction is struggling. Good hardcore players often transfer, which farther dilutes the pool of people pushing forward and it can lead a server going into a downward spiral. (I’ve seen this a few times)
“Will Blizzard take any form of corrective market action to stabilize the game economy?”
Yes!
http://wow.allakhazam.com/story.html?story=18390
wow. I’m so glad to have found this blog, and what a brilliant article. Well sourced and argued. Nice mix of anecdote and hard fact.
I think it has more to do with the economy. Some people don’t want to dish out $15 dollars a month when they just got laid off. Lets wait till we see the economy get better when people will be more willing to pay for the subscription. Just think about it some parents actually pay for their kids subscription. If they just got laid off they are looking for ways to save money cutting wow from their payments will save them money. Currently I’m playing wow but I had to stop for a month because I can’t afford it since I too have been laid off work. I only payed one month of wow. When I will have enough to pay for another month I do not know. One thing I can asure you is I will be back. Because wow is not just a game to me but a community in which I interact with other poeple. Just as I have friends at work, where I live, I also have friends in wow. And I still want to be able to talk to them. Not everyone plays the game to play some people just log on to socialize and I know plenty of people who do it. Ive even seen people at lvl 16 and the’ve been playing for over year. Because all they want to do is talk to their new friends. So just make sure to keep in mind that wow is not just a game to some poeple its also a place to socialize and make friends from all parts of the world.
I’m afraid I’ll have to kinda disagree that WoW is dying. It’s true that the growth curve has flattened out somewhat but it still has a ways to go before it can be called “dead”. Even when the devs will stop creating new expansions and even patches, Blizzard is probably gonna keep running its servers for a long time. If the player base declines massively they can always consolidate several servers into one. And even then, there will probably still be an occasional patch that fixes minor bugs or adds some new goodies. The best example for this is Diablo 2. Even now, after so many years, they are still working on a new patch. And D2 isn’t even a lucrative MMORPG.
My prediction is that Blizzard will put out another 2 expansions, maybe even 3 before it ceases development for WoW. There’s still so much lore left to explore. Imagine that at some point players will have to face the ultimate bad guy: Sargeras. After he’s defeated who knows what other baddies will rise? It’s a never-ending story. Of course, they might save all this unexplored lore for WoW2…
Another reason why I don’t think WoW is dead is the fact that WotLK was the best and most successful content patch so far. I’m sure they will have at least another expansion that will best WotLK.
As far as I’m concerned, I wish WoW lives for many more years. It’s true that sometimes I tire of the game and I take a month or two off, but in the meantime I can’t stop thinking about it and when I go back to it I am filled with joy.
Some people complain that WoW’s graphics are outdated but they have never bothered me. I fully understand Blizzard’s reasons for keeping “lower quality” graphics and I’m sure they will improve them gradually over time. There’s even talk of a major overhaul. Let’s face it: there have been plenty of WoW challengers out there with much better graphics but they failed big time because the gameplay and a myriad of other small details just weren’t up to WoW’s standards. And whether we like it or not, WoW has become a standard in the MMORPG genre.
Are people leaving WoW en masse? Don’t think so. Some are leaving, granted. People do get tired after playing the same game for months. They will try other games or other stuff but eventually most of them will come back to WoW. It’s hard to resist the pull. The fact is, there hasn’t been any game powerful enough to challenge WoW. I don’t think there will be, not in the next few years. The game that will trump WoW will be also made by Blizzard, that’s almost guaranteed. No other company has the resources, talent, dedication, experience and fame in the gaming world that Blizzard has. “Hey”, some of you will cry, “you’re a stinkin’ Blizzard fanboi!” Yes, I am. After playing Blizzard’s games it’s hard not to be.
The game that I think will kill wow is the new star wars mmo. It has a good story line a large fan base and a good company making it.
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it is pretty hard to determine if WoW is dying without seeing where those players might have gone off to?
There doesn’t really exist a replacement or competing mmo that comes close.
As for what effect this would have on the economy, I would think that less people playing would lower prices across the board of all items as people usually have tons of stuff clumped up in their banks, and there would be less demand for existing items.
I think people are moving onto other aspects of the game such as arena (a look at arenajunkies.com alexa ranking shows a huge rise in traffic from Jan to June)
Strange when I read about even the possibility of WOW ending I feel a little sad. There would definately be a sense of loss there.
I do believe there is still alot to be done in the game and yes perhaps RL economics and summer fever are slowing things down.
I hope that Blizzard will create some great stuff coming up in the patches that will keep the interest going. I have no where to store my Tundra Mammoth if things go to pot:)
Every summer the player amount drops, it’s natural.
People who call themselves unsocial, still go outside and enjoy the sun from time to time.
Their friends, family or partners will want to spend some time with them and so they will leave the game for what it is.
The new content is slowly becoming harder (though they nerfed it way too early already), which is making it more interesting for the more hardcore players.
The other people will want to see the new content too, but are still struggling with the older content and prefer to finish that.
Rewrite this post, about player growth/loss around October, because then people will ‘have more time’ to spend on a game like this.
Vacation is coming and I’m pretty sure even blog writers will skip their daily post every now and then and enjoy the sun.
Nice analysis though.
No new post in 6 days, the death of WoW or the death of WoWenomics?
I’ve seen more and more of my RL friends join the game, but it’s true that we are the casuals. The ones who love to play the game, play when we can, but don’t raid much, and instead enjoy exploring the game, seeing ALL of the old and hopefully some of the newer content, and just hanging out and having fun. I think WoW is getting better than ever. It may be that the hardcores, yes, are burning out or ready to move on, but for us casuals, the game has never looked so attractive.
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Well…I don’t speak a good english and I hope that u can understand anyway. I’m a hardcore player and i recive so much from wow. But I think that we give so much to wow too. I don’t understand why all people can do everything by a easyway, I really don’t understand. I think that everyone need a challenge…whithout it, is easy to be bored…I’ m absolutely not sure that wow will have more subscribers then now…whithout a real challenge people will find it in another game. This is the end of Warcraft and I hope that Blizzard will understand it in time. Bye, bye to all and have fun exploring Kalimdor ways…
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A little long…
Of course WoW is, and will continue to face declining numbers. It is not a new game. New customers are ushered into a world where almost everyone has a level 80. Old world dungeons are hardly ever run by a group of 5 (the same level). The prices for green gear at low levels is mind boggling. Ultimately, its a constant uphill battle till the player reaches around level 70. Of which, I’d say about 90% of that time the player is merely playing alone.
WoW is facing a rough time. In the initial release it was a new game. The dungeons were fun, and you could easily get into a Scarlet Monastery group (and just about any of the others). The raids, while not very lore related, still had decent back stories/quests involved (you felt like you took part of something getting keyed for Onyxia) — but as a new game it had more leniency on the matter. People were simply excited to be a part of the Warcraft universe.
With Burning Crusade — you had some heavy hitters brought into the mix. You had Magtheridon, Lady Vashj, Kael’thas, Archimonde, Illidan, and even Medivh step into the picture. Even Kil’Jaden, and Zuljin were pretty familiar. Warcraft 3 + Frozen Throne were still fresh on people’s minds. Every raid instance had a big Warcraft name attached to it with the exception of Gruul. Also, you had 2 new races, and effectively each faction got a new class to play (Paladin/Shaman). Blizzard did a smart move by not releasing the game with all these big names to begin with.
An interesting thing to note with the release of the Sunwell content — players who never saw Kael’thas were now able to face a lesser version of him. For many, apart from running into Medivh (and faction leaders), this was probably the only major name they would ever encounter in BC. This would be considered as catering to the casuals, but from a marketing perspective — it works. People like to feel like they’re taking part of something useful — be it in a game or otherwise.
Now, with the Wrath of the Lich King — we got a rehash of Naxx, but in a much better context. Kel’Thuzad is a big name, but a little bit too weak considering. We also got Death Knights — a “hero” class. Though, the only thing “heroic” about it is the requirement of having a level 55 character (balancing issues aside). Then we were introduced to the Titans and Yogg. Who the hell are these people/things? Sure, the hardcore lore/book readers might know, but the general Warcraft fan probably does not. And, I’d argue that the past 75+ levels of questing that very few read the entire quest dialogue anymore to catch their back-story. And, don’t even get me onto the topic of the coliseum? Seriously? I’d argue that the only true allure WotLK has is Arthas. When Icecrown is finally released — I expect numbers to go up a bit, but only for a few months.
You would often hear people wanting to play BC just to see/fight Illidan. Chances are people will do the same for Arthas. What no one tells these people is that the end game raiding is a dedicated venture. To help with this — 10/25 man versions were added. Now the casual player might actually fight the Lich King. But — if Ulduar is any indication…that still may not happen.
Also, unlike the release of BC — the gear in WotLK wasn’t nearly as astounding. You were leveling well into the 70’s with level 70 gear. It was still viable. While people complained about the massive difference between old world/outland gear — I believe it kept people’s interest to at least keep leveling. And, being that a lot of big names were associated with the expansion that helped as well.
What people usually overlook is the importance of loot in keeping people’s interest. While you will have those that like the challenge of raiding, the main driving force behind it is the gear. Very few people farm the same instance week after week for the fun of it. This is why badge items were added, and why it is further changing to make it more accommodating. Always keep in mind that it is the casuals with “delusions” of grandeur that are the true money making force for Blizzard. While they may be called “welfare epics” the truth is — it is making Blizzard money, and it in no way harms those who are already in the high end raiding guilds. Sure, they may have “good” gear, but do they have the guild/skills to support a 25 man clearing of Uld? Most likely not. I do not foresee that changing anytime soon either.
What I see happening — if Blizzard wants to keep WoW around for a while is the release of Warcraft 4. This affords them the ability to add to the Warcraft lore, and also able to mix elements of WoW (such as the Titans) into the game as well. This would rejuvenate the RTS side of the Warcraft franchise, and would allow an expansion for WoW about 6 months later. I guarantee this would boost WoW numbers considerably. The content would be new, and the added heroes and villains would be fresh in people’s minds again.
Blizzard talks about releasing a totally separate franchise for a new MMO. To my mind, this is a poor move, and will primarily be profitable for a while simply due to the name “Blizzard” being attached to it. What they have built within Warcraft is an actual world, with rich lore/history. No other Blizzard game comes anywhere near the lore of their Warcraft realm. Diablo is the only other franchise that comes close, and even that is severely lacking. As for StarCraft…I know it had heroes but the only one I can remember is Kerrigan. When creating a totally separate world — you’re left to what many others have been doing.
I know this is an overly long post, but to mention the decline of MUDs — it should be pointed out that it was at a turning point for the online community. Visual online games were starting to make more of a scene. Ultima Online offered most of what a MUD did, and it was graphical. It was funded by actual companies, and had a lot of technical support. MUDs often stagnated again into playing just for gear. Others would allow you to reach max level, and then “start over” but a little bit more powerful. Many veterans of that particular MUD had all the best gear, and played primarily because of how much time they had already put into it. I will also argue that EverQuest sealed the fate of MUDs. It was far more player friendly than UO, and had a great marketing team. Also, fantasy was on people’s minds with talk of the release of the Lord of the Rings movies (EQ released in 99, Fellowship released 01).
MUDs died due primarily to technology. That does not appear to be the case in this instance. It would be much easier to attribute the decline of EQ to that of WoW. However, I believe EQ primarily died due to the constant expansions without any clear direction for lore. Warcraft has it, and another platform to form the direction of the lore with playable backstories. Expansions may sell to those already in, but at attracting new customers — they are not always the greatest.
…in conclusion…WoW will face dwindling numbers until at least Icecrown’s release. A few months after that — it will decline again. I believe it will steadily decline until the release of Warcraft 4, and will majorly decline if a worthy MMO steps onto the scene. All the “WoW killers” have failed miserably. Star Trek might, but even that is a specific group. Star Wars had amazing promise, but poor direction. Lord of the Rings had amazing promise, but has dwindled catering to the “laid back.” You need good lore, and a very active team to accomplish, and sustain large numbers — WoW has had all that. What I believe they’re running into now is poor direction, and/or too many side projects to focus on (SC2, D3, unknown MMO). Examples — I have no clue where the idea for Ulduar, and the coliseum came from. Naxx was a re-hash, and the only true content that appears to have any definable relevance is Icecrown Citadel.
There are games you simply play, and there are those that make you feel like you’re truly a part of something. The ones you play — you play till you’re tired. The ones you feel like you’re truly part of something get you hooked for 4 years. When that feeling fades — you simply move on.
I hadn’t thought of the lore aspect as related to the decline of WoW but you’ve certainly presented a convincing argument. I further agree that comparing MUDs and MMOs is a bit of an apples/oranges situation but I think there may still be something valid to the ‘shelf life’ of any online game. It may not be four years but it is difficult to tell because it is really only WoW that can challenge that milestone in a meaningful way. I think it will be interesting to see over the next year or so if WoW’s subscriber numbers do, in fact, decline or if growth increases even if it is more modest progress. Personally, I stand by the WoWenomic team’s assessment that the game has peaked and decline, no matter how slow or long our drawn out, is in the future but also concede that there may be a key expansion or update that brings some players back.
I am not canceling my account and still playing but in different ways than I have previously. I understand that there is an old joke amongst MMO programmers that goes something like this: Were you to cancel all accounts of players that actively play, and with it end funding for continued development, you’d have an incredibly profitable game. I suspect these ‘inactive’ players make up a large part of the community at present so I don’t think they’ll cause a significant spike in accounts when/if the key content updates arrive. It certainly seemed that way with previous game updates anyway.
Thanks for your well-written and intuitive response. It will be interesting to see what the future of WoW holds.
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I dont believe wow is declining, like most big products (not just games and mmorpgs) what happens is that the product is released they get their ground under their feet and make a little money (actually done mostly in warcraft not WoW, then they amass enough money to launch a huge campaign and you see a huge number of new buyers, and then it slowly starts to decline, SLOWLY, WoW will not all of a sudden die over the course of a few months, no we are still gaining subscribers just at a slower rate, then we start to decline, blizz will see that, launch a big campaign again but not as affective as the first, we will see a rise everyone will be happy, for a year or so, it will go down again but alot slower than people imagine (unless some big wow killer comes along) probably just under a million a year, at the point of about 3 million blizz will most likely will say “ok sorry we cant make money on this, we’ll keep you playing but dont expect any big expansions or patches just bug fixes and the occasional stuff” the veterans will keep playing for another three or so years until blizz says “sorry we can no longer afford to keep the game alive we will be shutting all servers down for good on 0-00-0000, But people thats not gonna be in 3 or 4 years we are talking more like 2017-2020, also may i say about the lore, yes the lore in the last few patches has been less than satisfying, but i think blizzard has something planned past coliseum, can anyone think of something, i cant, 2.3 icecrow, /lol, also as a big fan of lore i know that their is a huge reserve of lore they can tip into, dragons are a popular subject that im sure would be very popular, emerald dream?, read up on the sundering and the murloc capital where queen verish whatever lives with her highborn, how bout that, grimbatol?, what about goblin playable races, or high elves?, so much they can do, but ultimately we know WoW will live on, because in case you haven’t noticed its pretty clear… Blizzard is going to take us to lv 100 get us to sargeras and then possibly make a new warcraft type game or wow2 or w/e. WoW is on an arc, but the arc that it is on is not the one most are thinking of.
Just found the blog and getting caught up on articles.
Excellent article!
As you say, predicting the plateau in RL and in in wow, and knowing when to ‘sell’ is far harder than it seems or, like the possibility of everyone being a scribe, everyone would do it. Your review of the factors that may predict it is, however, superb.
Whether wow is in decline ‘yet’ (as you say, it will eventually decline – whether that be 6 months from now or 60 years), is more tricky.
There have been a number of possible ‘wow-killers’ released, and all have fallen by the wayside. Subscriptions are still rising, albeit slower than previously, and despite the continual loss of players growing bored, moving to another game, or real life taking over. I hear rumors that the real wow-killer will be Diablo II. Will it have that impact? Who knows. We’ll see.
I’m personally nervous that Cataclysm will live up to its name and not the hype. I hope not, because the $15 I spend on the game monthly is indeed the most entertainment bang for my buck available.
I used to worry that my life span was not long enough to fully appreciate WOW. Yes when I started playing wow it was pure magic and rather silly but yes wow what an adventure it has been. Exploring new continents and places and mounts etc. and following my characters growth or levelling was like reading a very good novel. The problem is that after a year going down to two years I have pretty much been every where and I have levelled four main characters: Warrior, Paladin, Mage and DK.. with some new low level ones… The fun is gone and it seems to me all that is left is endless grinding for points and gold to get PVP gear and PVE gear. And once I get the PVP gear what do I actually do with it.. play more PVP sessions receptively again? And with PVE the same dungeons over and over just to get the best damage rating? I have seen so many complaints that Wow quests are too repetitive and too much grinding but it seems someone always knows better. Who wants to endlessly collect 20 samples of snot or 40 kills of jelly fish over and over.. the monsters just change shape but the game play follows the same pattern. I was very excited with the new changes of Eastern and Western Kingdoms where the quest line had some story line similar to Death Knights quests from level 55 to 58 and was really looking forward to Cataclysm as I thought that at last the design team has given something better…. unfortunately no.. that was it. The rest was just a bore and more grinding. Sometimes I play wow because I still have a few weeks left on my subscription but find myself board within an hour. Yes there are hardcore wow raiders who scream wow never die and noob at everyone else who dare contradict them. But if you ask me? The writing is in the game.. Most areas are deserted. Groups are hard to find and yes by the time something starts happening you lost interest. So my conclusion is congratulations Blizzard you spoiled it for a lot of us. Perhaps you should have read the forums or tickets of people you think were complaining.. they were giving you a hint. My subscription is up end of this month. I cant see any reason why I will be back. I had fun though and perhaps what I will do is remember wow for what it was.
ignore my spelling in previous post… hate these bloody auto spelling correction apps
Guild Wars 2.
I just stumbled upon this post and told all my ex-wow players (23) to read it.
Yes I played WOW since 2005 and made it through all expansions until CAT. Leveled Healers/ Tanks/ DPS on both Alliance and Horde. Like all of you, met and made alot of friends playing a game i enjoyed greatly. I looked forward to all the new expansions and patches (maybe not ALL patches) and made the best of them. Raided every chance I got, helped guildes as much as possible and was thrilled at each new piece of equipment i won or saved to buy with emblems.
Towards the end I saw great players and good WOW friends grow bored/ RL needed to be addressed/ or drama as we all have had to deal with.
Once these players left the ones replacing them tended (but not always) to be more in tune with “getting” gear no matter what the cost. The “find a party” allowed people to raid/ instance and forgo any of the base WOW experence, which helped leveled new alts faster than ever.
This is the point I believe is the “Death of Wow”. Players dont make the time to find a group of people or guildies to enjoy a run for gear….the enjoyment of getting through that tough quest when a guild member 20 levels higher helps give you a nudge forward. To share drops and frankly just have fun on vent chatting and questing til you realize its 3:00 am and need to be at work in a couple of hours.
I know many completely disagree with what I’m saying maybe alot of you are in agreement, but the ‘friendly’ seemed to be pulled out in the patches released before CAT.
BG’s or general chat and main city chat – you normally dealt with the standard “you’re and idoit”……”you f-in NOOB!”……”insert sexual conversation here”…….etc etc etc.
Simple questions from players normally were met with rude comments, non helpful statments, or any of the above from the previous paragraph.
Not that WOW will address any of these issues but i wish they would have. I have seen personally a character in Dalaran attempt to call out “any young players under 12 to come (you can guess) him in the main courtyard. This is one of many times ive seen this until i blocked general chat. The issue is I shouldnt have to block chat in a game FOR ALL AGES.
Anyway my post is way too long, but this seems to be a point of opinions to the possible end to WOW. Of course this is only my take and Im probably completely wrong in all of your opinions, but maybe not.
Honestly, WoW has had a good run but its days are numbered, like Everquest before it. I used to be a hardcore WoW addict, until I saw that the main point of the game once you hit max level was more of a pissing contest as to who had the best gear, who had more achievements, etc. In all fairness, WoW was limited in what you could do and what you couldn’t do and though the graphics were kind of cool, it was still a bit cartoony. New MMOs that will be launching and already have launched is what is contributing to the death of WoW and for good reason. These new MMOs have all sorts of new features that make WoW look like a childs game. Example, GuildWars 2. Several features that GW2 has is no subscription fees, a constantly changing world, no tanks, no DPS, no heals, your own personalized story arc, totally unique races and classes to play as, truly epic bosses, just to name a few. Another example is Star Wars; The Old Republic.The ability to become either Jedi or Sith is a huge appeal to a lot of people. On top of which, the storylines and story arcs will be well written, simply because SWTOR was created and designed by Bioware, the company responsible for game franchises like Dragon Age and Mass Effect. With all of this happening, its no wonder that WoW is already in decline. Mind you this is just my personal opinion here but many of my friends who are avid game players themselves, agree with me on this.