Originally posted by L0C0Man

Originally posted by Jackdog

Here is what I find interesting, supposidly according to Gamasutra  Mop sold 2.3 million copues and WoW is back to 10 million. Does that meant that over 7 1/2 million decided not to go Panda ? Says a lot of 2 out of every 3 players did not buy the expansion.

I have a lifetime sub but have not played LoTRO for 5 hours in the last year or so but I  still am considering purchasing the Rohan expansion just in case GW2 gets old to me

From what I remember reading, about half (maybe a bit more) of the WoW players are in China, so if there are 10 million active players now, that makes it about 2.3 million of copies sold out of a total of 5 million (since MoP isn't yet available in China). All we can get from that so far is that about 1 out of every 2 WoW players hasn't bought MoP yet.. but that doesn't mean they won't buy it, or that they will either.

Also you have to take into account that there are several players that bought 1 year of WoW time after October 2011 (so they still count as active players) to take advantage of the offer to get Diablo 3 for free and might not be interested in MoP, but we can't say how many are there or how big of an impact will be once it ends (it could be big, it could be nothing).

according to Gamespot it wa a global release

http://www.gamespot.com/news/mists-of-pandaria-approved-for-china-6394709

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria will be released globally on September 25.

In addition to the English version, Mists of Pandaria will be localised into Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, European Spanish, Russian, Korean, traditional Chinese, and Italian.

but the according to yahoo news the release was 2 days ago

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/world-warcraft-r-mists-pandaria-010000417.html

whatever I was expecting the initial sales to be a lot higher. Less than a year ago WoW was consistently breaking 100K XFire hours even on weekdays. I was in Vent this  morning with my old LoTRO/SWToR buddies and this one girl who still has one of those one year subs said she had not bought MoM so as you say it will be interesting to watch it's numbers for a couple of months. Their stock had a nice bump this morning but it still has a way to go to get back to it's average

WoW certainly is not dead but it is showing it''s age and does not look like this expansion will get the numbers back where they were a couple of years ago

It's down a lot compared ot Cata, but it isn't shocking. Cata recieved far more hate during the expansion than the previous and saw the first major declines for wow. Now if the number is about 3.7-4million in a month I will view MoP as an overall success, not a great success, but for a declining game following a hated expansion, it will be ok. If it goes higher then that I will honesty be surprised.

It should be noted, you don't need the expansion to play pandas or pet battles, I'm wondering if that would reduce the number of purchasers a lot? I personally haven't bought it yet, waiting to get my panda to 85 then if I still enjoy it I'll get mop and try out a monk.

That's 2.7 million people who decided to play MoP instead of a competing game.

That's the bottom line here.

Originally posted by Jackdog

 

according to Gamespot it wa a global release

http://www.gamespot.com/news/mists-of-pandaria-approved-for-china-6394709

It was not a global release. China got MOP on Oct. 2nd and the press release specifically states those numbers are for the first week (AKA before Oct. 2nd).

That's 2.7 million NONCHINESE people, since so many of you don't like to count the Chinese as people. Jesus.

I'm guessing you'll have to wait for the monthly figures as MoP isn't breaking any records so  far. If they were better than Cataclysm we'd have heard it by now. If the monthly numbers aren't there then you can expect any number that doesn't make it sound like a disaster. Remember the TOR-numbers? They might go for active subscriptions and other vague wording like that.

They already talk about "subscriber base" being back to 10M, you could read that as active subscriptions but with the way they work in China, there is no way that's even remotely accurate. And there could be a big difference between a base number of people that could pay the sub and the number that actually pay the sub (or part of it since then can pay as they play).

Spin doctors will be spin doctors. They'll come up with something.

Aside from the discussion about profits and paid subscriptions. The current MMORPGs have F2P,B2P, freemium like LotRO where you can sub or use points the bottom line is whether people are playing your game. If WoW manages as an eight year old game to attract that many to buy it it is still doing pretty darn well. I am not a shareholder just a gamer and as long as the game I am playing currently which is GW 2 and WoW is doing well enough I am content.

Seriously as long as someone somewhere is paying either hourly or buying and subbing they are still minting which is to them a revenue. It is us the pundits on  the tin can that are discussing whether the Chinese should be counted. Looks like that date does not include them so I guess more numbers will come.

Originally posted by JoeyMMO

I'm guessing you'll have to wait for the monthly figures as MoP isn't breaking any records so  far. If they were better than Cataclysm we'd have heard it by now. If the monthly numbers aren't there then you can expect any number that doesn't make it sound like a disaster. Remember the TOR-numbers? They might go for active subscriptions and other vague wording like that.

They already talk about "subscriber base" being back to 10M, you could read that as active subscriptions but with the way they work in China, there is no way that's even remotely accurate. And there could be a big difference between a base number of people that could pay the sub and the number that actually pay the sub (or part of it since then can pay as they play).

Spin doctors will be spin doctors. They'll come up with something.

Why do you care if they're playing off of a sub, or a game room account in China? A person playing is still a person playing. And besides, Blizzard goes into great detail describing what constitutes a "subscriber" included in those 10 million - I suggest you read their press release. They disclose everything, there's no deception or "spinning".

I don't get this obsession with China. Even Blizzard seems to have gone out of their way to exclude China for the first week (they got MoP on October 2nd), just so you wouldn't be crying over inflated sales numbers in the first week. Still, every post seems to mention China...

Originally posted by nsignific

Originally posted by Jackdog

 

according to Gamespot it wa a global release

http://www.gamespot.com/news/mists-of-pandaria-approved-for-china-6394709

It was not a global release. China got MOP on Oct. 2nd and the press release specifically states those numbers are for the first week (AKA before Oct. 2nd).

 

That's 2.7 million NONCHINESE people, since so many of you don't like to count the Chinese as people. Jesus.

No, we don't count the Chinese because:

A.) Chinese players get expansions free because of Blizz agreements with China's government ( the only way they were allowed to even operate the game there ), so there's noone in China buying MoP to count.

and

B.) Chinese players do not have subscriptions, they pay by the hour. So there are no subscriptions in China to count.

Originally posted by Nadia

i was giving contextual information

Blizzard is the best selling mmo but MOP seems to be the weakest selling expansion for Blizzard in the last 4 years

What it means is that Cataclysm really sucked and some people aren't coming back to see if MOP is better.

I wonder if it's better now than Cataclysm, but I won't go back when I only get one choice on how to "build" my character every 15 levels.   Can you imagine being a new player with no heirlooms?  How boring.

Successfull Blizzard PR spin.

Blizzard "Hey we only counted the first week when MOP was not released in China!!!!"

Fooled fanbois " OMG SEE NO CHINA IN THE NUMBERS!!!! ONLY WEST!!! WoW STRONG!!"

Reality: Blizzard always reported sales numbers before the Chinese release. They never released any other "sales" reports including China in first place. Its the same conditions as always, the same global Asian (inc. Russian), Oceanic, South-American, European and US release conditions as always

Except for subscriber. Which where likely already slightly inflated due to the fact the "first week" ended just two days before the rushed Chinese expansion release and user got active again shortly before, (as it happens with any games expansions or content pdates)  which are counted as full "subscriber" by Blizzard even if they leave the 25 cent MOP trial run after just a day of boredom.

*Yawns* , People that claim not to play nor care about wow constantly posting about WoW, people that claim not to play nor care about wow constantly posting about WoW everywhere.

Originally posted by Sukiyaki

Successfull Blizzard PR spin.

Blizzard "Hey we only counted the first week when MOP was not released in China!!!!"

Fooled fanbois " OMG SEE NO CHINA IN THE NUMBERS!!!! ONLY WEST!!! WoW STRONG!!"

Reality: Blizzard always reported sales numbers before the Chinese release. They never released any other "sales" reports including China in first place. Its the same conditions as always, the same global Asian (inc. Russian), Oceanic, South-American, European and US release conditions as always

Except for subscriber. Which where likely already slightly inflated due to the fact the "first week" ended just two days before the rushed Chinese expansion release and user got active again shortly before, (as it happens with any games expansions or content pdates)  which are counted as full "subscriber" by Blizzard even if they leave the 25 cent MOP trial run after just a day of boredom.

I tend to agree that it is a spin . The reason I thnk this is the figures given were an approximation . I know Blizzard cant give the exact figures but when they were describing every other expansion packs figures they used the word over ( as in over 3.3 million for MoP ) . Approximations give a lot of room for maneuvre .

It also suggests Blizzard may not be using thier own numbers but those of industry analysts that offer a more favourable view of them . Having said that I was expecting around 2- 2.5 million to be sold in the first month this slighly exceeds that .

But if a million people have come back to WoW that means of the roughly 5 million players outside of China only 30 percent brought the expansion in the first week . That also doesn't add up to me because the majority of WoW players will have at least one level 85 character . I would have thought more existing players would have brought the expansion in the first week .

Something is amiss here . If Blizzard are trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes with their approximation it will be noticed when the companys financial figures come out .

Have they exagerated or not ? Only time will tell .

Remember this figure is first week up to Oct 2nd, sure not as good as the previous expansion but mop is being reviewed well by critics, ignoring the zero scores on metacritic ofc.  Mop is still likely to sell over 3 million in the first month, chances are it already has.

I think these figures are good, when an expansion sells better than the last there is little reason to push the boat out, blizzard have already talked about what coming in the next content patch and that ptr will soon be up, this might have been the kick in butt blizz needed.

Originally posted by expresso

Remember this figure is first week up to Oct 2nd, sure not as good as the previous expansion but mop is being reviewed well by critics, ignoring the zero scores on metacritic ofc.  Mop is still likely to sell over 3 million in the first month, chances are it already has.

I think these figures are good, when an expansion sells better than the last there is little reason to push the boat out, blizzard have already talked about what coming in the next content patch and that ptr will soon be up, this might have been the kick in butt blizz needed.

I tend to agree metacritic is open to trolling . I do hope your right about Blizzard getting the kick up the butt they needed but I fear it will talke something more than figures being down on the previous expansion . If anything if the figures are real then all it will do is reinforce thier direction .

I would just like to see them remove the finder tools from pvp servers . Then it may return to something like it once was . Keep them on pve ones and allow people free migrations if they dont like it .

Not everyone wants to raid and raid and raid and raid .

imo sales are not that important with thise expac because alot of ppl i know and read through various forums are waiting atleast a month maybe 2 before purchasing to see how it goes. instead of getting depressed after buying cata from day 1 lol.

probably just a minority but just my opinion

Originally posted by Sukiyaki

Successfull Blizzard PR spin.

Blizzard "Hey we only counted the first week when MOP was not released in China!!!!"

Fooled fanbois " OMG SEE NO CHINA IN THE NUMBERS!!!! ONLY WEST!!! WoW STRONG!!"

Reality: Blizzard always reported sales numbers before the Chinese release. They never released any other "sales" reports including China in first place. Its the same conditions as always, the same global Asian (inc. Russian), Oceanic, South-American, European and US release conditions as always

Except for subscriber. Which where likely already slightly inflated due to the fact the "first week" ended just two days before the rushed Chinese expansion release and user got active again shortly before, (as it happens with any games expansions or content pdates)  which are counted as full "subscriber" by Blizzard even if they leave the 25 cent MOP trial run after just a day of boredom.

You again. Oh I see you updated your sig.

Yes, you are right. Altho this is a spin (if you can even call that), it does not change the fact that MoP numbers are only West and prove that WoW after 8 years of ruling is still going strong.

And I don't know why are you pulling China numbers into this. They were not counted as sales nor as subscribers.

Originally posted by roo67

Originally posted by Sukiyaki

Successfull Blizzard PR spin.

Blizzard "Hey we only counted the first week when MOP was not released in China!!!!"

Fooled fanbois " OMG SEE NO CHINA IN THE NUMBERS!!!! ONLY WEST!!! WoW STRONG!!"

Reality: Blizzard always reported sales numbers before the Chinese release. They never released any other "sales" reports including China in first place. Its the same conditions as always, the same global Asian (inc. Russian), Oceanic, South-American, European and US release conditions as always

Except for subscriber. Which where likely already slightly inflated due to the fact the "first week" ended just two days before the rushed Chinese expansion release and user got active again shortly before, (as it happens with any games expansions or content pdates)  which are counted as full "subscriber" by Blizzard even if they leave the 25 cent MOP trial run after just a day of boredom.

I tend to agree that it is a spin . The reason I thnk this is the figures given were an approximation . I know Blizzard cant give the exact figures but when they were describing every other expansion packs figures they used the word over ( as in over 3.3 million for MoP ) . Approximations give a lot of room for maneuvre .

It also suggests Blizzard may not be using thier own numbers but those of industry analysts that offer a more favourable view of them . Having said that I was expecting around 2- 2.5 million to be sold in the first month this slighly exceeds that .

But if a million people have come back to WoW that means of the roughly 5 million players outside of China only 30 percent brought the expansion in the first week . That also doesn't add up to me because the majority of WoW players will have at least one level 85 character . I would have thought more existing players would have brought the expansion in the first week .

Something is amiss here . If Blizzard are trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes with their approximation it will be noticed when the companys financial figures come out .

Have they exagerated or not ? Only time will tell .

I don't know what's not clear here. WoW peaked in WOTLK with 12 million subs yet "only" 3.3mil bought Cataclysm. Its the same thing now. 10mil subs, 2.7mil MoP sales. I am more interested in numbers after a month. I doubt MoP will come close to Cata's 4.7mil in the 1st month but just because theyv've lost too many with Cataclysm, not because MoP is bad. Word of mouth will spread and I can see sales rising. Especially around holidays.