Op Ed

[Aug 05, 2012, 3:54 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

Frictionless Insight - On the Drop in World of Warcraft Subscriber Numbers.
That leaves us assuming that World of Warcraft related GAAP Net revenues (including "subscriptions, boxed products, expansion packs, licensing royalties, and value-added services") were $181 million in the latest quarter compared to $359 million in the comparable quarter a year earlier. That's a 50% drop.

There are substantial assumptions in the above calculations, but there's no question that Activision Blizzard's cash WoW-cow is floundering. Clearly, the company hopes that Mists of Pandaria, coming out on September 25 will fix things. Can anthropomorphic pandas fix the problem?

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22 Replies. 2 pages. Viewing page 1.
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22.

Re: so dont twist ya eyes, i'll be the one ya saw

Aug 6, 2012, 12:18

HorrorScope

Dmitri_M wrote on Aug 6, 2012, 08:38: I haven't played it or any other MMO. Mostly because I think all users in those online only games are..space captains. That is why I don't have this Utopian MMO design of the way things "have to be". I'm looking for Coop RPG's and most were being created as mmo's. I didn't need 1000's of players, just my small little band. The rest I guess gives me the illusion of a rustling/bustling area.

21.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 6, 2012, 12:15

HorrorScope

eunichron wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 21:18: Yeah, this is so awful, they've only dropped to 9 times the amount of subscribers of the #2 subscription based MMO instead of only 10 times as many. Blizzard might as well declare chapter 11 before it's too late. I get it. You get it. They get. Who doesn't get it... "Wall Street" and they are running to the hills. Ohhh fucking Noes!

20.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 6, 2012, 10:16

avianflu

sorry -- meant for "worst voice acting" there was a forgettable jrpg for the 360 that had a guy clearly going "bzzzz bzzzz" into a microphone rather than sampling an actual bee sound. Best part of the crappy game actually.

19.

Re: so dont twist ya eyes, i'll be the one ya saw

Aug 6, 2012, 08:38

Dmitri_M

El Pit wrote on Aug 6, 2012, 04:11: space captain wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 22:38: eunichron wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 21:18: Just about every single gamer out there has played it beyond the free month, and a huge majority will continue to play it for the foreseeable future. ive never played it. not even for a free month. im so rare and unique! Same here. We must be a rare breed. I haven't played it or any other MMO. Mostly because I think all users in those online only games are..space captains.

18.

Re: so dont twist ya eyes, i'll be the one ya saw

Aug 6, 2012, 04:11

El Pit

space captain wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 22:38:
eunichron wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 21:18:
Just about every single gamer out there has played it beyond the free month, and a huge majority will continue to play it for the foreseeable future.

ive never played it. not even for a free month.

im so rare and unique!

Same here. We must be a rare breed.




Consoles? I owned two: a Pong clone and an Atari 2600. And that's it.

17.

Re: so dont twist ya eyes, i'll be the one ya saw

Aug 6, 2012, 01:00

space captain

Wowbagger_TIP wrote on Aug 6, 2012, 00:16:
I think I was put off them long ago after I watched a friend of mine get sucked into EQ. I watched him playing sometimes and could never understand the appeal of it. So I just kind of promised myself I wouldn't ever start playing one.

Yeh, while I quit after a month, a buddy of mine who got it at the same time kept playing for years.. like 8+ hours a day - and it was strangely disgusting. So that probably helped my view along as well.




Go forth, and kill!

16.

Re: so dont twist ya eyes, i'll be the one ya saw

Aug 6, 2012, 00:16

Wowbagger_TIP

space captain wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 22:38: eunichron wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 21:18: Just about every single gamer out there has played it beyond the free month, and a huge majority will continue to play it for the foreseeable future. ive never played it. not even for a free month. im so rare and unique! I've never played it at all, ever. Or any other MMORPG for that matter. I think I was put off them long ago after I watched a friend of mine get sucked into EQ. I watched him playing sometimes and could never understand the appeal of it. So I just kind of promised myself I wouldn't ever start playing one. Closest thing to playing one now would be Path of Exile. I guess that's for the Diablo fix that D3 just couldn't provide.

15.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 23:55

Beamer

Played the trial, though it was 2007 by the time I did.

Absolutely hated it. I didn't find being a FedEx employee to be good gameplay. I didn't find hitting 1,2,3,5,6 then sitting back and watching your guy attack a hornmonster praying it was one of the 10% that dropped a horn entertaining. I didn't find waiting for more hornmonsters to spawn and then hoping I get to it before someone else does, even though it was one of the more empty servers, entertaining.

I also despised Animal Crossing, which felt like similar concepts for a good chunk of gameplay.




------------- Music for the discerning: http://www.deathwishinc.com http://www.hydrahead.com http://www.painkillerrecords.com

14.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 23:43

Mordhaus

eunichron wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 21:18: Yeah, this is so awful, they've only dropped to 9 times the amount of subscribers of the #2 subscription based MMO instead of only 10 times as many. Blizzard might as well declare chapter 11 before it's too late. Seriously, the game has been #1 in MMOs for nearly 8 years running. Nothing has even come close to it in sales or subscriptions. Just about every single gamer out there has played it beyond the free month, and a huge majority will continue to play it for the foreseeable future. Players may be moving on to other things, and they'll continue to wane slowly until something better comes along, but to suggest that Blizzard is in any sort of trouble because of these numbers is flat out ridiculous. Actually, it does mean they are in trouble. Shareholders don't care if you are the #1 MMO in the World, they care if your profits increased or decreased. If they continue a negative trend, the shareholders will start calling for heads.

13.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 23:05

space captain

I suppose I was lucky in that I bought Everquest the day it was released, and played that for about a month. There was alot of tedium in that game that was probably dealt with by the time WoW came out. But back in that first month of EQ, it was in full effect. And I got my fill of it really quickly.

At the same time, I played long enough to recognize that the basic hamster-wheel formula of grinding mobs and collecting PHAT LOOT! was essentially unchanged in all the MMORPGS after that. And.. its just not fun.

They are like glorified chat rooms, or replacements for actual social life, or a way for people who feel inadequate to get some kind of personal satisfaction because they "raided the uberdragonlordkinglich 50 times" or managed to accumulate a full suit of fancy-pants dolly dress-up plate armor, and get recognized for it "publicly".




Go forth, and kill!

12.

Re: so dont twist ya eyes, i'll be the one ya saw

Aug 5, 2012, 22:48

Dev

space captain wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 22:38: eunichron wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 21:18: Just about every single gamer out there has played it beyond the free month, and a huge majority will continue to play it for the foreseeable future. ive never played it. not even for a free month. im so rare and unique! I played it, in the closed beta. And thats it. I saw what a massive time sink (plus monthly payments) it was going to become so I decided to avoid it. Incidentally, I got an extra beta code, I sold it for like $300 on an auction site. Even before the game came out people were nuts over it.

11.

so dont twist ya eyes, i'll be the one ya saw

Aug 5, 2012, 22:38

space captain

eunichron wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 21:18:
Just about every single gamer out there has played it beyond the free month, and a huge majority will continue to play it for the foreseeable future.

ive never played it. not even for a free month.

im so rare and unique!




Go forth, and kill!

10.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 21:59

Slashman

Dades wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 20:02: The MMORPG genre really needs fresh ideas though but no one will sink the money into it unless its a sure thing. Here's the irony: There is no 'sure thing' in the MMO space anymore. EQ clones, WoW clones...the market is saturated. I really have lost interest in MMOs because they [i]refuse[/i] to change. I'm no longer impressed by crappy skill-click-hotbar gameplay, held together by the 'thrill' of playing in a gameworld full of other people. I'm probably not the only one... I'm sick of MMOs that come close to doing something different and then stop short of actually doing it.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 21:57

Closed Betas

Negative posting FTW... Simply, post low numbers now, show high numbers later and MoP up the cash

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 21:18

eunichron

Yeah, this is so awful, they've only dropped to 9 times the amount of subscribers of the #2 subscription based MMO instead of only 10 times as many. Blizzard might as well declare chapter 11 before it's too late. Seriously, the game has been #1 in MMOs for nearly 8 years running. Nothing has even come close to it in sales or subscriptions. Just about every single gamer out there has played it beyond the free month, and a huge majority will continue to play it for the foreseeable future. Players may be moving on to other things, and they'll continue to wane slowly until something better comes along, but to suggest that Blizzard is in any sort of trouble because of these numbers is flat out ridiculous.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 20:02

Dades

I started up a scroll 'trial' today... With the massive let down GW2 is, I'm considering picking up MoP nearish launch... It was the opposite for me. MoP beta was boring as hell and a massive let down. Been there done that with most of the gameplay it had to offer and the only fun thing was playing with a monk for half an hour until you realize its the same ol' WOW combat system and theme park MMO styling. GW2 beta was at least somewhat fresh and the PVP was fun, they are trying new spins on things. The MMORPG genre really needs fresh ideas though but no one will sink the money into it unless its a sure thing.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 17:54

Kitkoan

Oops, posted in the completely wrong thread. Sorry




automatically refuses to place horse heads in anyone's bed

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 16:55

Alamar

I started up a scroll 'trial' today... With the massive let down GW2 is, I'm considering picking up MoP nearish launch... As someone that ran a guild without spam inviting, and even worse now with guild levels making my 'only' lvl 10 guild seem wothless, I'm thinking that LFR would be handy for 'pug'n the last few spots in a 10... We very often ended up with 8 or 9 even when most of the guild was active. -Alamar

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 16:55

NKD

No MMO lasts forever. Even something like EVE that doesn't really have any competition will probably drop a lot of subs whenever CCP comes out with their next MMO. A game like WoW where just about every game released in the last 7 years has tried to copy it? It's only because those games were utter disappointments that WoW didn't suffer drop offs sooner.

An aging MMO is a no-win situation at some point. If you keep things the same, some people will get bored and leave. If you change things, some people will get upset and leave. There's only a certain number of years in your game where the fans will want things to mostly stay the same, but are happy with some change. It just gets more and more polarized as time goes on until you can no longer find the middle ground.

Blizzard isn't exactly in dire financial straits. WoW could lose a hell of a lot more subscribers and they'd still be more profitable than almost any gaming studio out there. Provided they get their next MMO out in the next 2 and a half years, I think they'll be even better off.




If you don't like where gaming is heading, stop giving your money to the people who are taking it in that direction.

Re: Op Ed

Aug 5, 2012, 16:42

nin

Prez wrote on Aug 5, 2012, 16:05:
After so long is anyone surpirsed? Nothing lasts forever. Hopefully (for them) they can milk enough cash out of ~~World of Diablo~~ (no, that's not it) ~~Diablo Online~~, (hmm, that's not right either) ~~Online Scam Disguised as a half-assed MMO~~ (damn! So close though...) Diablo 3 to tide them over until World of Warcraft 2 is ready.

It's been a great run. Even if they go F2P a few years after Pandaland, they'll still be making money for years to come...




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

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