I assume some guilds on each server have changed games for the time being.  But is there a noticable change in the number of people playing WOW on your server?

Nope.

It's really hard for people to throw away something they have been working on for years. I'm sure there are some that will dabble with TOR for the free month, but will eventually stay with WoW because that is their baby.

I don't see TOR pulling too many players away from WoW and if it does it won't be for long.

Originally posted by Danbacca

It's really hard for people to throw away something they have been working on for years.

Ah, the old sunk costs fallacy.  I think there are two types of World of Warcraft players:  those who realize that the time they "invested" into the game doesn't mean anything as all their characters will cease to exist the second Blizzard turns off the servers, and those who have not yet had that realization.  I call the first group "former WoW players" and the second group "current WoW players".

At some point, I realized that the progression of my characters was ultimately meaningless, as sooner or later they'll be gone.  What I get out of the game is the enjoyment of playing it; and when it's gone, I leave the game.  I don't think twice about how long or hard I have been working on it, when it really doesn't matter.

You're not going to notice it anymore then you already have. Consider that WoW lost 2-3 million players last year..and that rumours have TOR at about 1-2 million players.

TOR isn't going to cause any mass exodus from WoW, the numbers are just going to keep fading like they have (though to me 2 million in a year is a massive exodus, and unheard of losses in an MMO)

I expect you'll see a bump once the new xpac is released..then more steady decline until it stabilizes like Everquest (which peaked at 500k, and now sits at roughly 150k, on it's 13th..14th year ? I can't even remember anymore)

I still have both games active and yes, I have noticed a difference. And of course there are post on our fansite for the server about some saying their goodbyes as they have cancelled their accounts for ToR. But most have said 'See ya for the Mists' so there should be some pick up again down the road. Of course, in the end, there were losses before ToR even came out as reported by Blizz itself. So it's the nature of the beast and nothing to really be concerned about. Population still more than healthy...to say the least *laughs*

Originally posted by evianwater

You're not going to notice it anymore then you already have. Consider that WoW lost 2-3 million players last year..and that rumours have TOR at about 1-2 million players.

 

 

Most of that 2-3 million is from a region that ToR is unavailable in.  

Originally posted by evianwater

You're not going to notice it anymore then you already have. Consider that WoW lost 2-3 million players last year..and that rumours have TOR at about 1-2 million players.

 

TOR isn't going to cause any mass exodus from WoW, the numbers are just going to keep fading like they have (though to me 2 million in a year is a massive exodus, and unheard of losses in an MMO)

 

I expect you'll see a bump once the new xpac is released..then more steady decline until it stabilizes like Everquest (which peaked at 500k, and now sits at roughly 150k, on it's 13th..14th year ? I can't even remember anymore)

Don't classify EQ's age based on years.  I prefer to gauge EQ's lifespan based on how many expansions they have released (mostly because I still laugh at how absurd the number is).

18, Everquest is 18 expansions old.... holy shit.

Haven't noticed anything significant in terms of recent changes in population or activity.

Population on my server shows "high" in the realm selection tool most of the time.  Main population centers are Org and Stormwind.

The largest change from a few years back is that quest areas are sparsely populated.  In zones less than level 70, it's not uncommon to quest for 4 hours and see no more than 3 or 4 other players.  I think people skip the questing and just run randoms.

Originally posted by Gudrunix

Originally posted by Danbacca

It's really hard for people to throw away something they have been working on for years.

Ah, the old sunk costs fallacy.  I think there are two types of World of Warcraft players:  those who realize that the time they "invested" into the game doesn't mean anything as all their characters will cease to exist the second Blizzard turns off the servers, and those who have not yet had that realization.  I call the first group "former WoW players" and the second group "current WoW players".

At some point, I realized that the progression of my characters was ultimately meaningless, as sooner or later they'll be gone.  What I get out of the game is the enjoyment of playing it; and when it's gone, I leave the game.  I don't think twice about how long or hard I have been working on it, when it really doesn't matter.

Ah, you declare this as a fallacy? But yet you confirm it in your next little blurb by saying "I think there are two types of World of Warcraft players: those who realize that the time they "invested" into the game doesn't mean anything as all their characters will cease to exist the second Blizzard turns off the servers, and those who have not yet had that realization." They haven't realized what "you think" because they are still enjoying their game and the years they have invested into it.

What's meaningless to you is not meaningless to everyone else and therefore you may not declare what I said as fallacy.

I quit a year ago as a matter of fact because it was no longer enjoyable.

You didn't think I was referring to myself did you?

Originally posted by evianwater

TOR isn't going to cause any mass exodus from WoW, the numbers are just going to keep fading like they have (though to me 2 million in a year is a massive exodus, and unheard of losses in an MMO)

Yeah 2 million, from a game that had an "unheard of" 12 million subscribers. When you have a huge number of players inevitably your losses will be huge, temporary or otherwise. Most games wish they could say they had 2 million at all, losses or not.

Lol,  no noticeable change. SWotR plays like a game made in 2005 with outdated graphics and WoW mechanics from the Burning Crusade era. It has its strengths, like cinematic story-telling and roleplay and focus on small group stuff, but its not good enough to make a dent in WoW in its launched form. 

It's not TOR that's the main reason for people quitting wow. It's because the game isn't as good as it used to be, blizzard ruined it by listening to whines on the forums (the minority).  It's now a casual only MMO and the long term players are loosing interest.

Over the last few months some realms have pretty much become ghost towns and I've have seen 3 of my guilds split up due to lack of active players within the last year.  Soon they will have to merge some of the servers in EU/US regions.

Also most of their claimed 10 mil+ players (now about 8 mil) are in Asia and always were btw.  I'm pretty sure the kung-fu panda addon isn't going to win any players back either...