News Blizzard reclaiming unused Warcraft character name

Not played WoW since last year and some of my characters have been dormant for much longer however, the 13/11/08 cut-off date means they are all safe, not that think I am ever likely to play WoW again.

I believe it is time they stopped trying to teach an old dog new tricks and started work on Son-of-WoW, or whatever they decide to call it's successor. I assume there will be a follow-up, given that WoW has been such a massive money spinner.

 

You should maybe retitle this thread - it's names, not name

 

At least it wasn't like Diablo 2 where if you didn't log in for a few months they would wipe your account and all the characters on it.

 

I don't think there will be, once WoW's player numbers drop below the critical level or drop rapidly then the day of the huge subscription MMO will be well and truly over. Whilst, EVE, FFXI and XIV have made it work no subscription MMO has ever gotten close to WoW's numbers, it's safe to say most have died humiliating protracted deaths as they fail abjectly to retain players, then fail to gain income once the Free To Play conversion happens.

Except for WoW market interest in that type of game is more or less zero now, whatever Blizzard does next will have to be something markedly different.

 

Part of the problem seems to be a self-fullfilling prophecy of game reviewers saying "it's good, but it's not WoW" and thus people don't play it because they think it will fail because it's not WoW and therefore it fails... and get's blamed on it not being WoW...

Another part of the problem is that WoW may well have been a one-off success, never to be repeated. Gamers have wisened up to the genre and are a bit more hesitant to invest (ESO example; "£50 up front THEN £10 per month on a new IP that might not survive longterm?") thus preventing the game reaching the critical mass, whereas WoW already has the self-sustaining critical mass from already-invested players ("well I've paid this much towards this damn game I might as well continue playing it" either concious or unconcious thought)

That's how I see it, but I am strongly against MMO subscription models (specifically) anyway, so my view is probably distorted. (seriously, £50 up-front for only 30 calendar days of game for ESO?)

 

^^ $300 for STO lifetime membership......

 

ChaosDefinesOrder, you have to buy WoW plus pay a monthly sub as well, and yes it was cheaper to start but when it came out most games were cheaper than they are now. I'm in the US, so I don't know what $39.99 translates to, but up until Warlords of Draenor you have had to pay $39.99 per expansion to keep leveling your toon. Warlords is going to be $49.99. So, a new player for WoW would have to buy the base game plus all expansions. They have done a few packages over the years to make it cheaper, but the pricing model for ESO makes total sense when compared to WoW. Especially given that ESO is NOT a new IP and is in fact based on more than a decade of success with other Elder Scrolls games. Unfortunately for Elder Scrolls fans like me, ESO sucks donkey balls.

Part of the problem with "it's good but it's not WoW" is reviewers take a decade of expansions and content and compare it to a new game. Maybe we should be comparing new MMOs to other games that are not WoW to get a better idea. Or, just don't compare them at all.

 

Hi my name's blacko and i'm a tauren priest.

please help me quit.

 

That's actually entirely my point! WoW was a one-off success partly by being at the right place at the right time.

People will see those buy-in costs and for a new IP go "that's too much for the risk, just look at that Star Wars game", but for WoW they would think "that's a lot, but it's WoW so it's not likely to tank any time soon"

I would argue that the cost of ESO does not make any shred of sense for an existing IP when the release price of Skyrim on PC was one-off £35 to £40 for 200 hours and £15 DLC, and now they want £50 for only 30 days? PC download on amazon.com for ESO is $59.99 so even there it doesn't make sense compared to $40 to $50 for WoW as you say...

 

The base game allready includes up till cataclysm (15euro) and in WoD Mist will be included shorty after also they always done that. you really dont need to pay full price for all expansion.