Originally posted by Badaboom

Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

I think fans of WoW should actually thank Anet.  Question to everyone, "Do you think Blizz would have done this if Anet was not coming out with GW2?"

When your game still retains over 9 million subscribers after an eight year reign, which is about 800% more subscribers than any MMORPG that has ever existed, the last word I would ever use to describe the company is desperate.

GW2 is going to be amazing, I'm a massive fan, but grasping at straws just to try and make the competition appear to be something they are not is little more than a thinly veiled form of spite.

Wake up.

Originally posted by Nadia

Originally posted by eGumball

If this has nothing to do with Guild Wars 2, why is Blizzard doing somethings, that it had never done before, right before the Guild Wars 2 release ?!

when Blizzard offered Starter edition, last summer, they included Dranei and Blood Elf

without needing to own BC -- but you could only access the starting areas

 

patch 5.0.4 racial access is a natural progression

 

 

Yeah, so people in Blizzard were sitting to drink tea and suddenly they noticed '' oh, we didn´t announce our expansion release-date '' and without checking the market, they just went and put it, 1 month after the realese of Guild Wars 2. Also without even bothering to check other games, they thought '' what about putting a new patch on August 28th, this is a good idea '' and probably they didn´t notice that Guild Wars 2 was being released in the same day, becasue well, I guess Blizzard is Blizzard and a little game like Guild Wars 2 is something that they haven´t heard about and they aren´t willing to give attention to a korean grind-fest. 

Also, without any said reason, they decided to go with some new '' mechanics '' and that they have never talked about, just when Guild Wars 2 is released, and when someone asked '' hmmm, why do we post all that, right when Guild Wars 2 is releasing ?! '' .. they answer '' What is Guild Wars 2 ? ''

Good logic.

Originally posted by Badaboom

Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

I think fans of WoW should actually thank Anet.  Question to everyone, "Do you think Blizz would have done this if Anet was not coming out with GW2?"

Yeah they're down to 9 million subs. ENGAGE PANIC MODE!!!  

Originally posted by lotaparty

Originally posted by Jeleena

Originally posted by Badaboom

Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

I think fans of WoW should actually thank Anet.  Question to everyone, "Do you think Blizz would have done this if Anet was not coming out with GW2?"

I love GW2, even bought the CE. I stopped playing WOW one month after Cata and will not return for MOP.

But I have to say this: today I was at Gamescom and the Blizzrd booth for MOP was huge and absolutely PACKED with people. We tried to get to the booths behind it and it was almost impossible to get thru the crowds.....I cannot say the same for the smallish Guild Wars 2 booth.....

hmmmm.this post says alot about the ongoing battle .

It says nothing. Anet's booth this year is just a rest area. I don't believe they even have demo stations this time around. So It's not surprising that there aren't many people there.

Last year they had tonnes of demo stations and they were always packed. You could wait in line all day just to get to play for 40 minutes.

Originally posted by Jeleena

Originally posted by Badaboom

Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

I think fans of WoW should actually thank Anet.  Question to everyone, "Do you think Blizz would have done this if Anet was not coming out with GW2?"

I love GW2, even bought the CE. I stopped playing WOW one month after Cata and will not return for MOP.

But I have to say this: today I was at Gamescom and the Blizzrd booth for MOP was huge and absolutely PACKED with people. We tried to get to the booths behind it and it was almost impossible to get thru the crowds.....I cannot say the same for the smallish Guild Wars 2 booth.....

To be fair, the GW2 booth didnt even have the game playable.

Blizzards booth was not all about WoW, it was about their other games too (although I doubt that there are many people who went there for Diablo 3). Also Blizzard had contests, giveaways and the reveal of MoP cinematic.

Here's the whole schedule: http://eu.blizzard.com/en-gb/company/events/gamescom2012.html#gamescom:activities

Originally posted by Badaboom

Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

I think fans of WoW should actually thank Anet.  Question to everyone, "Do you think Blizz would have done this if Anet was not coming out with GW2?"

Actually there biggest competition to date was Swtor. It has two massive, well known, well loved companies behind it, and it had the biggest budget in the video game industry of all time. It was practically a Star Wars MMO catered to the WoW fanbase.

Vanguard was also considered a bigger threat than GW2. It was announced not long after WoW was released, and it was released around the same time as Burning Crusade. Many called it the new EverQuest and was probably the most hyped MMO of all time. It has Sony behind it and massive names in the MMO industry. 

Lotro was also a bigger threat than GW2. The films were amazing, made so much money and brought a whole new audience to Middle Earth. This game was even critically acclaimed by both players and critis. And the graphics are still probably the best in the MMO genre.

Warhammer was considered a major threat too, more so than GW2. It had very similar graphics to WoW, based on a huge franchise, and was a PvP game. The hype for this was crazy.

My point is, all the games above were considered competition to WoW, all more so than GW2, and look at them now. 

I don't want to jump on the bandwagon, or make false predictions, but if we look at the history of the MMO genre, no game has ever done as well as World of Warcraft, and most of those considered "massive competition" have failed misserably.

I don't think is the case with Guild Wars 2 though, because I don't think it's in competition with WoW, and it shouldn't be. GW2 won't beat WoW, and it doesn't need to. Both games can co-exist. 

But it's people like you that force them into competitions. Why not just face it, nothing will beat WoW for a long time, and even then it'll probably be Blizzards next game that does so. 

Originally posted by Valua

Lotro was also a bigger threat than GW2. The films were amazing, made so much money and brought a whole new audience to Middle Earth. This game was even critically acclaimed by both players and critis. And the graphics are still probably the best in the MMO genre.

Your entire post was wishful thinking, but this bit made me go "WTF?"

I played the game.  No they aren't.

As for the OP, that's great news for WoW players and a smart decision on Blizz's part.

Originally posted by Badaboom

Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

I think fans of WoW should actually thank Anet.  Question to everyone, "Do you think Blizz would have done this if Anet was not coming out with GW2?"

Thanks for the two cents. Arenanet will be doing the same type of things when some other big game comes around, nothing is untouchable. 

Originally posted by newbinator

Originally posted by Badaboom
Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

 

Riiiiight.

 

They're doing this because there will be a massive influx of new players when MoP launches. Many of which will probably be trials. Opening all races to those new players increases the odds they will get hooked and become a subscriber.

Man I hate all the 'wow killer' posts. If I wasn't actually going to play GW2 I would hope the game failed just to see all the tears, instead I'm praying it doesn't because I haven't logged into my WoW account since February and i want to keep it that way

WoW isn't going anywhere, if you've stopped playing and found something else you enjoy like myself, good, but stop being retarded and making the rest of the GW2 community look like morons please.

Originally posted by eGumball

If this has nothing to do with Guild Wars 2, why is Blizzard doing somethings, that it had never done before, right before the Guild Wars 2 release ?! 

I, fully, understand that WoW is still mighty and great, however, the game '' isn´t '' on the same quality level as Guild Wars 2 and if Blizzard bores the player-base, something that may cause them to check, just check, Guild Wars 2 .. they may never return to Blizzard anymore. Blizzard´s goal isn´t anylonger to gain new players, but to not lose the ones who they already have. WoW isn´t as mighty as before and it´s getting as much attention as before either. Many players who used to return, everytime, a new WoW expansion is out, aren´t returning this time because thery aren´t glad anylonger with the quality and the concepts WoW is offering.

Guild Wars 2 is bringing new rules to the genre and World of Warcraft is holding the old rules with all its strengh. This is the battle we are having right now. Personally, I am someone, like all the other millions in the mmo-community, who have tried WoW. I played there, lived in Azeroth, had fun with friends, did hundreds of raids and spent thousends of hours in game´s immersive world. However, everything has an end and the quality of WoW vanilla has kinda disappeared forever. Hopefully Blizzard can bring us back that amazing feeling that we had with WoW through Titan, though I don´t want to get my hopes too high :)

 

How many times have we heard these statements over the last six years from every big new MMO released?

I am not going to rubbish GW2 because i haven't played it and wouldn't know what i was talking about, but the measure of the game will not be how many boxes it shifts in the first day, week or month, it will be how many of those players it retains in the 1st, 3rd, 6th & 12th months after release. If it has expanded on it's original customer base or at the very least maintained it from launch then it may have a chance at being something special, but that remains to be seen.

Of course Blizzard targetted the launch dates of GW2, what company in it's right mind wouldn't have done so, they haven't stayed at the top this long allowing other games to get the jump on them. They have a significant patch due two days before GW2 launch which includes a special event and then they will have the Pandaria launch about a month after the GW2 launch to start drawing people back in.

It is a great thing to bring fresh ideas and new life to the MMO market, but never forget that the human condition is one that does like the comfortable and the familiar all too much, especially when it comes to casual players who are the financial life blood of pay monthly games like WOW. Like one of the other posters already said i believe that the two games can co-exist quite happily, but never for one minute underestimate Blizzard, many have in the past and have always been found wanting.

Originally posted by newbinator

Originally posted by Badaboom
Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

 

Riiiiight.

 

They're doing this because there will be a massive influx of new players when MoP launches. Many of which will probably be trials. Opening all races to those new players increases the odds they will get hooked and become a subscriber.

So, simple question : why didn't they do the same with Draeneis, Blood Elves, Goblins, and Worgens ... ?

I love how people tend to refuse to consider anything going wrong for WoW, just because it was the king for years. Stop brainwashing yourselves, stop being creatures of habit, nothing is set in stone, especially in entertainment.

Originally posted by Valua

Actually there biggest competition to date was Swtor. It has two massive, well known, well loved companies behind it, and it had the biggest budget in the video game industry of all time. It was practically a Star Wars MMO catered to the WoW fanbase.

Vanguard was also considered a bigger threat than GW2. It was announced not long after WoW was released, and it was released around the same time as Burning Crusade. Many called it the new EverQuest and was probably the most hyped MMO of all time. It has Sony behind it and massive names in the MMO industry.

Vanguard was never meant to be a WOW threat  - its targeted audience was EQ Classic players

post by Aradune

http://www.fohguild.org/forums/showthread.php?p=424297

Does our core gamer = WoW's casual gamer? I don't have their internal data, obviously, but I doubt it. Our core gamer is someone who plays 2-4 hours every night, occasionally spending a full day or so raiding, but who is normally focussed on challenging group oriented gameplay. The casual and raid gamer will indeed have content for them, but the core gamer is our focus. So also is creating a more challenging and longer term game -- a home.

I do know the average EQ player earlier on (launch->Velious) and it is their playstyle and time commitment whom we are targeting primarily. Those who raided full time were about 6-10% of the player base.

Originally posted by k-damage

So, simple question : why didn't they do the same with Draeneis, Blood Elves, Goblins, and Worgens ... ?

they did

Draenei and Bloodelves were made accessible last summer, but could only goto their starting areas

Never before did they release a new expansion's race for free, the day expansion has hit.

Never before ANY expansion content was free the day expansion hit (well arguably except Cataclysm but then again there was no content for levels already at cap, only for those who were leveling alts, plus, you lost access to old world so that could be argued as an exchange, not added value).

This time, they are giving free stuff even BEFORE expansion hits (you can play worgen/goblin for free before MOP hits)

Originally posted by Mephster

Originally posted by Badaboom

Another desperate attempt to retain subscribers in the face of blizzard's biggest competition yet in GW2.

I think fans of WoW should actually thank Anet.  Question to everyone, "Do you think Blizz would have done this if Anet was not coming out with GW2?"

Nine million plus and desperate, lol the irony.

yeah as opposed to 13mil that everyone was saying would never change. I hope GW2 projected sales are true because if they do I and many others like me will be inconsolable on these forums, we'll be LOLing our way all over the place pointing and dancing on the heads of the hypesters (haters who can't stop saying the word hype every five seconds). GW2 selling 10 mil and beating WoW out would be the best thing to happen to this industry in a long long time.

Originally posted by IstrebiteI
Giving part of content of expansion to those who didnt buy it? Sounds like desperation move to get subs :)

no one can visit Pandaria unless they own the expansion

no one can make a monk unless they own the expansion

no one can make a panda until Sept 25, when MOP launches

players w no MOP, who want pandas, will have access to starting area Mystic Isles - but not pandaria