#0 - July 17, 2008, 2:24 a.m.
The common statements are that Blizzard in its arrogance feels that their game is so vastly superior to other MMO's that it can charge the same price as a NEW complete game and yet only have 1/2 at most of the same amount of new content.
I have been playing since Beta and I can tell you WoTLK is what was promised at launch. There is nothing new. Most of what has been announced is not even close to what it should be. There is still much that was talked about in beta that we haven't seen yet.
Another common theme is the age of WoW. In 5 years the price has remained the same where most other MMO's have either lowered their price or included some major upgrades... like sound/graphics, more detailed animations/voice acting, cut scenes and so on. Blizzard has provided none of that. yet we all pay over the course of 3 months what we would pay for a new game.
Blizzard has also been losing money, believe it or not over the last months WoW has been losing subs. Blizzards total server farms currently max out at about 8.4 million accounts of information. Ever wonder about Q-times? Those server's max out at 1 million active users online at one time. On avg the server load is just under 600k of online players at one time... World Wide.
Look to see free realm transfers after WoTLK and the shift of some servers to handle Diablo 3. The free will turn into mandatory on ultra low population realms.
WoW is a Giant... but the giant has gotten so big that it's tripping over it's self and becoming a very real danger to it's profits.
Another common consensus is Blizzard has just gotten lazy. It's the same recycled content over and over.
19.3 Million Pre-orders have been recorded in total for Diablo 3 (8 times that of WoTLK). These starts are combined from EBGames, Frys Eletronics, Best Buy, Game Stop and others.
WoTLK pre-orders have actually shrunk in past months by hundreds of thousands of copies... Most likely cancellations to Buy D3.
With the shifting of Dev's from both WoTLK (26 Devs) Development and Starcraft 2 to work on D3 it is obvious Blizzard is looking for a plug to fix their leaking ship.
Rob Pardo made a slip up at E3 that required a court ordered retraction. All media outlets at E3 were required NOT to show Rob Pardo's comments at E3 in regards to World af Warcraft: WoTLK.
"... but in all honesty we are coming up on the end of the world as it were in the World of Warcraft and as such. We have to start looking for other venues to go to and other directions to move; that is where Diablo 3 comes into play."
He continiues to say that as the population of WoW continues to decline so will the content that is provided and more resources will be spent on D3.
Having read the books, played the games I can't see where Rob's comments are really bad. Anyone who kept up on the Lore in the Original game will have realized after the Burning legion there is really nothing. Sure there are the original Titans and what not and other worlds the Legion has visited, but would that not then be more like Starcraft anyway?
No one is saying we should stop playing WoW. I myself feel it is a better game than most, though there are some upcoming MMO's that look to test the power of WoW. I however do not feel I should have to pay $60 (the cost of a new game) for little more content than we have gotten for free in the Sunwell Patch. (Patch 2.4.3)
Blizzard should realize we are not only gamers, we are people with jobs, or parents with jobs and that is how we get money for their games. Money has value, and we need to make sure we are getting that value. No one likes to pay for food that makes them sick, or clothes that do not fit. Why pay for an expansion that is not what it should be?
William Shatner has even dropped his endorsement of WoW stating he wont be playing WoTLK but will purchase and play D3... Now is this to further shift momentum to D3? Is Blizzard trying to quietly distract people from WoW so they can silently bring it to sunset as a 100% success? Blizzard has been making #1 games for 20 years. WoW was a big step, a big risk and it has paid off very generously... But there is still an Ego at Blizzard. WoW crashing to a halt would not only bruise that ego, but would also hurt future profits.
Help return Blizzard to it's old motto of "Games by Gamers for Gamers." Don't rush out and buy WoTLK. Let the game sit on the shelf and see what happens. If D3 is indeed the replacement to WoW and the world is nearing it's end why would you want to spend ANOTHER $60 for something that could be as short lived as next year? One year of playtime is all any RPG can expect, including replay time. Is WoTLK really going to keep you busy for a year? Not to mention the continued monthly sub...
The choice is really yours. The professional Gaming community has the information available for you to read. Go out and get the information yourself and see where the World of Warcraft is going. 6 years is a long time for any MMO. WoW has outlived more than 12 other big MMO titles in that time. Some have come and gone in a fraction of that time. The only MMO that has had ANY staying power has been Eve-Online, but it is unique in what it does and the only one of it's kind.
Can we expect to see sunset on WoW? Yes. When? I'd say within the next 2 years. I say 7 years is the goal Blizzard has set for WoW, and it may sc!%@% out 7, but I wouldn't expect there to be more than a handful of servers for the hardcore fans of WoW. I know, I will be one of them. But I have been a gamer for a long time and seen more than a few good MMO's sunset and know this is just the life cycle of any MMO.
I would fully expect Blizzard to not end their MMO success with WoW. I look forward to Starcraft Universe MMO to be announced. I also hope that Blizzard will in all it's earnings, keep a few WoW servers going for as long as there are people willing to play on them.
