WoW - 11 Million Subscribers

woges

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Blizzard have announced that WoW has passed the 11m sub mark.
IRVINE, Calif. - October 28, 2008 - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the subscribership for World of Warcraft®, its award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), now exceeds 11 million players worldwide. This milestone was reached as the beta test for Wrath of the Lich King®, World of Warcraft's second expansion, nears completion. Wrath of the Lich King will launch in several regions around the world starting on November 13.
"It's been very rewarding to see gamers around the world continue to show such strong support for World of Warcraft," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment®. “We remain fully committed to responding to that enthusiasm with a high-quality, constantly evolving game experience.
Since debuting in North America on November 23, 2004, World of Warcraft has become the most popular MMORPG around the world. It was the bestselling PC game of 2005 and 2006 worldwide, and finished behind only World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade®, the first expansion pack for the game, in 2007.* In addition to being the bestselling PC game of 2007 in both North America and Europe, The Burning Crusade holds the record for fastest-selling PC game of all time, with nearly 2.4 million copies sold in its first 24 hours of availability and approximately 3.5 million in its first month.
More information.
 
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I really thought that WAR would be able to snatch a few players from WoW, but it seems that there is nothing that can stop this phenomenon.
 
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I don't see how anyone can have much hope of competing directly with WoW right now. All the cards are stacked in its favor. It would be best to wait a while for the market to change.

Its customers don't seem willing to consider a direct alternative at the moment, but they don't seem completely satisfied, either. So I suspect many of them might be willing to consider something else, something attractive that didn't compete directly.

MMOs are limited by their client-server architecture, and designers of single-player games could take advantage of that. They could create and then offer access to RPGs that seem much more "alive" than anything MMO.

Instead of creating games that exist in single versions, they should create RPG universes that exist in huge varieties of versions, places that ignore the constraints of the real world and take advantage of the endless possibilities of imaginary ones.

Anyone willing to pay a monthly fee for access to an MMO might consider paying a fee for something even better, especially if it didn't have the headaches associated with multi-player gaming.
 
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Like their Action-RPGs, their impact on the whole RPG genre will be great, imho.
And "great" might even be an understatement.

Artistical, game mechanics etc. ...
 
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Like their Action-RPGs, their impact on the whole RPG genre will be great, imho.
And "great" might even be an understatement.

Artistical, game mechanics etc. ...

Their impact has already been huge, and not just on the computer and console gaming industry. They have basically ruined what was left of the D&D franchise as a partially sensible system (it was more logical and consistent using Unearthed Arcana's alternative combat and magic rules-eliminating the) Wizards has turned D&D into a tabletop pen and paper mini MMORPG with simplistic utterly boring content and mechanics. Why the **** would you want to play/impose a video game (which implies limitations of the medium) on a tabletop where your imagination may hold no bounds!

However at the other end of the spectrum, they most likely have introduced millions to RPGs in one form or another to newbies that would not have experienced them in any other way. Some/many of these newbies have and will go on to better more evocative settings/systems/worlds. It is similar in a way that Bethesda have introduced consolers, many of which are FPSers to the CRPG world.
 
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Their impact has already been huge, and not just on the computer and console gaming industry. They have basically ruined what was left of the D&D franchise as a partially sensible system (it was more logical and consistent using Unearthed Arcana's alternative combat and magic rules-eliminating the) Wizards has turned D&D into a tabletop pen and paper mini MMORPG with simplistic utterly boring content and mechanics. Why the **** would you want to play/impose a video game (which implies limitations of the medium) on a tabletop where your imagination may hold no bounds.

Blaming Blizzard personally for WotC's godawful stupidity is a marvelous leap of illogic. Blizz's not ruining D&D; WotC is.
 
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Client-server enables multi-player but limits the game to a single version. Compare that to what "hardcore" fans do with the single-player games they love: They mod them in order to enhance the experience.

Fans want variety, and they're getting that two different ways right now. World of Warcraft is using its enormous revenue to continuously develop additional content. They have only one version, but they keep making it more and more interesting. At the same time, single-player CRPG makers provide fans with modding tools, enabling then to create alternate versions for their enjoyment.

Wow is using its enormous cash flow to create more and more while single player-game makers are limited by their $60 price point. What's not happening is staring everyone right in the face: Developers of single-player CRPGs could abandon the concept of single version and switch to a subscription pricing model. They could create worlds instead of individual games. Theirs could work differently and better than WoW.

For perspective, consider what Morrowind fans do right now before they begin a new game. They give some thought to the kind of character they want to play and their approach to the game. Then they familiarize themselves with the various mods that are available. They do that to enhance their experience.

Now imagine a situation where a player installs a game shell and then goes online for access to the rest. Arriving at a Web destination, he considers descriptions and reputations of various Game Masters before choosing which lair to enter. Inside, the discussion he has results in collaboration about the game he’s choosing and the style and attitude he intends to take in the beginning.

Game on.

He downloads files to complete the installation but with no additional information provided. The Game Master helps him begin. Starting out and at every step throughout the game, he's required to indicate intent. The GM is keeping track. From time to time he pauses the game to ask for clarification. Those conversations, and the ones he has with NPCs, all seem to be enabled by, and even driven by, the choices he makes about his character's personality and style.

Periodically, he needs to revisit the online Game Master lair. At those times, at level-up for instance, the conversations he has always result in more downloads. He realizes his game is being changed but doesn't know how. He wonders about that and begins to consider his role-playing decisions more carefully.

If they abandoned the concept of single version, embraced the effort of creating alternative versions themselves, and implemented subscription pricing, single-player CRPG makers might be able to lure some of those WoW customers away.
 
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