11.4 million is still pretty good... at least compared to DAoC


Currently defending the realms:

2,228North America

0 GOA Europe

2,228 Worldwide

 

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What exactly is are your definitions for 'backfire' and 'steady' Spooky?

I wouldn't categorize the loss of %5 of a subscriber base as being a backfire or putting WoW into having an unsteady population.

Back up your comments with some numbers. How many subscribers did EQ or UO or even DAoC have at their peak, and how many did they have after 6 yrs?

Go ahead and just use the North American and European numbers to make the comparison more accurate as well.

 

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EQ had 450k at it's peak. I am not sure where EQ was after 6 years, but if I recall correctly it was about 200k.

DAoC had 250k at it's peak I believe and after 6 years it was at like 75k.

Also as noted in other threads, the loss was more like 10% since Asia does not have Cataclysm.

 

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I have no idea how accurate the numbers are, but I was just looking at MMOData and found the following:

EQ Subscription Peak; 550,000. Lost 100,000 after 6 yrs and had gone down to approx 100,000 after 10 yrs.

UO Subscription Peak; 250,000. Lost 100,000 after 6 yrs and had gone down to approx 100,000 after 10 yrs.

DAoC Subscription Peak; 250,000. Lost 100,000 after 4 yrs and had gone down to approx 50,000 after 8 yrs.


So obviously the way they did things worked better than the Blizzard way of doing things, right?

 

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I don't think anyone is arguing that WoW's subscription numbers aren't dominant and unprecedented. (Especially for the genre.) But the fact remains that they have had a substantial hit to their subscriber base and one can look through the threads here and see that they have a real problem. Blizzard seems to either have misdiagnosed or is currently ignoring. If they don't change that quickly, this 10% dip is only the beginning.

 

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*shrug* I happen to like the way Blizzard does things for the most part. I do think they have been slacking in the content department the last year and a half though.

 

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I'm not trying to argue about who has the larger subscription numbers; I'm trying to find out Spooky's definition of 'BAckfire' and 'Steady' in regards to the other MMO's he referenced.

I think the subscription numbers that WoW has is Blizzard's greatest blessing and its greatest curse. Blessing because they can lose more subscribers than any other game has had and still be making money, curse because they just can't keep that many people happy.

I would also argue that time is a factor here as well, 6 yrs seems to be a point at where subscription numbers start to drop. Add in the fact that due to Blizzard's financial success with WoW, there is more competition now than there was in the past. It's only going to get harder for WoW to hold on to their subscriber base.

 

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I'm pretty happy myself. Still playing, still raiding, would love to see more content faster, but it is what it is.

The amount of entertainment I get from WoW is still worth the $13/month that I pay.

 

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The loss of 600k subs is actually a bigger deal than just a slight 5% fluctuation in sub numbers imo. If memory serves they reportedly sold 4.7 million copies of Cataclysm in the first month. 600k is ~12.8% of 4.7 million. When 1 in every 8 players who buys your expansion quits almost immediately you've got a problem that goes beyond the normal ebb and flow.

The rationale that the CEO gave was absolutely ridiculous too. First they told us that they were going to delay releasing Firelands with 4.1 because "We feel like the player base isn't really ready for the next raid yet." Now they're saying that we're unhappy because we're progressing too quickly? Which is it?

His explanation is even more ridiculous in light of the countless threads detailing all the things that are making the game less fun. In fact, the only mention I've seen anywhere about a lack of content is concerning 4.2 itself and that's not even out yet. Maybe when they add 7 raid bosses and they're still losing subs they'll revisit their theory.

Source of the quote regarding slow progression: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-03-04-firelands-raid-will-not-be-in-wow-patch-4-1