First of all lemme say that i do not play WoW.  I tried it,  capped my character and got bored.  But that's not what i'm writing about. 

WoW was released in Nov of 2004.  Its 2nd expansion is supposed to come out in Nov 2008.  Of course knowing Blizzard that most likely means Summer 2009.  The first expansion broke damn near every single pc game sales record and continues to sell very well along w/ the original game.  I think its safe to say that the next expansion will do very,  very,  very well too.  And most likely the one following that too.  Anywho the Kudos goes for not going for the quick cash grab by rushing out expansion after expansion that they absolutely know will sell millions upon millions of copies.

When Nov rolls around they could easily be releasing their fourth expansion.  Instead they're taking multiple years on each expansion making sure that they are happy w/ what they are selling.  Even though i dont really care for the endgame content of WoW,  knowing that they are that dedicated to releasing a quality product makes me want to play it just to say i support that kind of thinking.

What first got me thinking of this was the recent Smedly"interview that said they were "cutting down" to one expansion a year for EQ for quality purposes.  And no i'm not one of these SOE haters,  i've never played one of their games so i have no reasion to loathe the man like some of y'all do.

The burning Crusade sold 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours.  I think it takes a company commited to quality games not to milk the hell out of the game and cash in on numbers like that.

Originally posted by spineshank

First of all lemme say that i do not play WoW.  I tried it,  capped my character and got bored.  But that's not what i'm writing about. 

WoW was released in Nov of 2004.  Its 2nd expansion is supposed to come out in Nov 2008.  Of course knowing Blizzard that most likely means Summer 2009.  The first expansion broke damn near every single pc game sales record and continues to sell very well along w/ the original game.  I think its safe to say that the next expansion will do very,  very,  very well too.  And most likely the one following that too.  Anywho the Kudos goes for not going for the quick cash grab by rushing out expansion after expansion that they absolutely know will sell millions upon millions of copies.

When Nov rolls around they could easily be releasing their fourth expansion.  Instead they're taking multiple years on each expansion making sure that they are happy w/ what they are selling.  Even though i dont really care for the endgame content of WoW,  knowing that they are that dedicated to releasing a quality product makes me want to play it just to say i support that kind of thinking.

What first got me thinking of this was the recent Smedly"interview that said they were "cutting down" to one expansion a year for EQ for quality purposes.  And no i'm not one of these SOE haters,  i've never played one of their games so i have no reasion to loathe the man like some of y'all do.

The burning Crusade sold 2.4 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours.  I think it takes a company commited to quality games not to milk the hell out of the game and cash in on numbers like that.

This is a very respectable post.  I am not a fan of WoW either but what you've pointed out here is very true.

True, but they are making +100 milion euros every month gross. Might  give the expansions for free if they wanted to.

Originally posted by altairzq

True, but they are making +100 milion euros every month gross. Might  give the expansions for free if they wanted to.

Technically speaking, many of their "patches" are expansion sized material when compared to what many MMO's have released for x-packs.  Matter of fact...if you combined all of the added content from release until BC you'd have enough material for nearly 2 expansions anyway. 

New Zone, 6 new dungeons, the rise of the honor system AND 3 battleground, full class revamps with multiple followups, several new factions....complete with rewards, new skills, more new quests and quest lines than I can even remember,  

So, while I still agree they could more than afford to give em away for free....I also see them giving above and beyond what others do for free.  I don't suppose I can hate them for deciding to, on occasion, decide to charge for a few things like anyone else does.  Hell, most others charge for less.  Matter of fact, some charge for things they NEED to save failing servers.

The certainly know how to sell a game. Though I wish the expansions they made were more fun and less of a grind.

I totally agree. They could have probably been releasing expansions at the rate of 1 per year, yet they're only releasing the second sometime this year. The very fact that their patches are so large just strengthens the fact that they aren't trying to milk anyone. Though many may not like the game, it is high quality and run very well.

Originally posted by altairzq

True, but they are making +100 milion euros every month gross. Might  give the expansions for free if they wanted to.

If it works why change it? :P

Originally posted by altairzq

True, but they are making +100 milion euros every month gross. Might  give the expansions for free if they wanted to.

Final Fantasy XI has also put out extremely quality expansions, even though the game is an unadulterated grind. Each expansion adds large chunks of gameplay, new storyline missions, and new styles of endgame. They are also quite good at having well thought out and fun in game events for holidays, as well as balancing things in game. Square has put out a quality game, though it's not really for everyone.

EVE gets kudos for always having free expansions, more companies should follow their example, but once again companies exist to make a profit, and the way EVE's gameplay is set up, expansions really just ensure that they will continue getting subscriptions.

I'd also like to stab SOE for their love of trying to rake out every cent of their players' money through constant paid expansions. It's insane how often they release another expansion, to the point that if someone wanted to install EQ from scratch, using CDs, it would take them a damn week.

Free  > Quality > Quantity, in my honest opinion.