It's becoming increasingly obvious that Mike Morhaime has sold his soul to the Devil: The Blizzard CEO announced yesterday that gamers who left World of Warcraft for the greener pastures of Age of Conan or Warhammer Online are already streaming back in droves.
Despite its age, despite the much-ballyhooed launch of competing MMOGs Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, despite a worldwide economic meltdown of epic proportions, Blizzard's venerable MMOG keeps marching along, seemingly oblivious to it all. The developer announced at the end of October that the game had reached 11 million subscribers, and that number will likely only increase after the launch of the game's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, just one week from today. Perhaps even more significantly, the launch of the two most likely candidates for "WoW-killer" appeared to have little lasting impact on the game's momentum.
"Even though the quarter was book-ended by competitors in the MMO space, the World of Warcraft subscriber base continued to grow," Morhaime said during Activision's quarterly earnings call. "Age of Conan launched toward the end of the June quarter, and Warhammer Online came out in mid-September. To date, 68% of the players who listed Age of Conan as their reason for cancellation and 46% of the players who listed Warhammer as their reason for cancellation have reactivated their subscriptions to World of Warcraft."
"World of Warcraft also managed to grow its subscribership, despite the Olympics and the summer vacation period," he added. "At the end of the quarter, World of Warcraft had 1.5 million more subscribers than during the same time last year."
Morhaime's numbers support similar comments made by Blizzard COO Paul Sams, who said in October that "well over half" of the people who cited Warhammer Online as their reason for leaving World of Warcraft had already returned to the game. In light of all this, only one question remains unanswered: How is Bobby Kotick going to feel when he finds out Morhaime signed a secret contract with Peter Moore?
Will the WoW monster never end? Will it still be growing by 2010, 2020, 2100? When nuclear war hits the world, all the earth is left toxic, will there still be mutants jumping there night elf around goldshire? Probley...
SomeBritishDude: Will the WoW monster never end? Will it still be growing by 2010, 2020, 2100? When nuclear war hits the world, all the earth is left toxic, will there still be mutants jumping there night elf around goldshire? Probley...
People will construct PCs out of electronic parts they can salvage and continue to play WoW. All while Blizzard relax in their nuclear-proof bunker and rake in the cash.
Number of subscribers grows. That includes both inactive accounts and insane people with multiple accounts? As for me, i quit MMORPGers all together. Need more time for my Real Life.
This just further proves that WoW is the best MMO out there right now. Any sort of imitator might get 5 minutes of fame, but in the end WoW will remain the best.
RedMenace: Number of subscribers grows. That includes both inactive accounts and insane people with multiple accounts? As for me, i quit MMORPGers all together. Need more time for my Real Life.
Yeah, that is what I assumed as well, until someone pointed out in the media alerts that it is active subscribers.
World of Warcraft's Subscriber Definition World of Warcraft subscribers include individuals who have paid a subscription fee or have an active prepaid card to play World of Warcraft, as well as those who have purchased the game and are within their free month of access. Internet Game Room players who have accessed the game over the last thirty days are also counted as subscribers. The above definition excludes all players under free promotional subscriptions, expired or cancelled subscriptions, and expired prepaid cards. Subscribers in licensees' territories are defined along the same rules.
I wont be going back to WoW I started playing warhammer mainly because of the pvp aspect, and I'm having a blast.
The only times I ever had fun with WoW was doing city raids, which most people deamed pointless, and never got a big turnout even though it was a PvP server.
back to the point, if Warhammer goes down the tube thats when I'll start playing Stargate Worlds :P
I have been playing WAR over the last month or two and I have no plans to go back to WOW. I guess it comes down to personal preference. I like the world, the RVR (pvp), and the class diversity that comes with a highly polished WAR. Will people run to WoW now that the WotLK is out? Sure, but I wonder how much of that number reflects people with mutiple WAR/WoW accounts? Personally, I'd rather beat myself on the head with an "Eloquent Sword of the Monkey" before having to listen to another fourteen year old explain a fight for an hour on vent.
Conan on the other hand was a huge mess. I think they should have held off on its release until they had worked out some endgame fun and fixed the bugs. I don't blame anyone for leaving it.
I'm loving WAR and memories of WoW still inspire revulsion. Not a single member of our clan has gone back to WoW.
Note that there is no evidence in this article these increasing numbers are coming from WAR.
Conjecture pretending to be journalism?
This isn't the first time Malygris has gone WAR-bashing. At least he's not taking forum posts grossly out of context. He's moved up to parroting media releases.
I m liking Warhammer so far... and I don't think I ll go back to WoW, like ever. Because even though Warhammer has problems, WoW has it much much worse. But I don't think I ll be a hardcore MMO player any more...
Bocaj2000: I want to migrate to Warhammer... *sigh so alone
i would do it to i just dont have enough money/good enough rig 2 play it
and wow seriously needs to end
For what reason and why?
it destroys peoples social life, gobbles up your money and turns you into a mindless..."thing" whose only concern is lvling up and getting epics
Another one of the pro-social life conformists!
Many WoW players have social lives, even hardcore ones. Plus social life to extreme is so overrated. You don't need 100000 "friends" to live a good life, just half-a-dozen is sufficient.
Bocaj2000: I want to migrate to Warhammer... *sigh so alone
i would do it to i just dont have enough money/good enough rig 2 play it
and wow seriously needs to end
For what reason and why?
it destroys peoples social life, gobbles up your money and turns you into a mindless..."thing" whose only concern is lvling up and getting epics
Another one of the pro-social life conformists!
Many WoW players have social lives, even hardcore ones. Plus social life to extreme is so overrated. You don't need 100000 "friends" to live a good life, just half-a-dozen is sufficient.
Okay you got me there. But i did play wow for three/four months and it wasn't a very good game i thought. All it was is grind. And i know you only need half-a-dozen that is all i have. However when i started playing wow they hung out with me less and were kinda mean 2 me just because i was playing wow. and i am just mad because of all the time i wasted playing that game
crazy-j: it destroys peoples social life, gobbles up your money and turns you into a mindless..."thing" whose only concern is lvling up and getting epics
Bocaj2000: I want to migrate to Warhammer... *sigh so alone
i would do it to i just dont have enough money/good enough rig 2 play it
and wow seriously needs to end
For what reason and why?
it destroys peoples social life, gobbles up your money and turns you into a mindless..."thing" whose only concern is lvling up and getting epics
Another one of the pro-social life conformists!
Many WoW players have social lives, even hardcore ones. Plus social life to extreme is so overrated. You don't need 100000 "friends" to live a good life, just half-a-dozen is sufficient.
Okay you got me there. But i did play wow for three/four months and it wasn't a very good game i thought. All it was is grind. And i know you only need half-a-dozen that is all i have. However when i started playing wow they hung out with me less and were kinda mean 2 me just because i was playing wow. and i am just mad because of all the time i wasted playing that game
So your points are: your 'friends' made fun of you when you played WoW (You should care...why?) And that you didn't like it. Therefore, via your logic, the game needs to end?
You know when people go Step 1: X->Step 2: ???-> Step 3: Profit, right? Your argument appears to have just added about a dozen Step 2's in there. Leap of Logic, awaaaaaay!
Okay you got me there. But i did play wow for three/four months and it wasn't a very good game i thought. All it was is grind. And i know you only need half-a-dozen that is all i have. However when i started playing wow they hung out with me less and were kinda mean 2 me just because i was playing wow. and i am just mad because of all the time i wasted playing that game
No offense, but your friends sound pretty lame
I've been resisting the urge to go back to WoW for a while-- I don't like a lot of the stuff WotLK is bringing, but I can't deny that I enjoyed playing the game back when I was really into it. I'm subscribed to Warhammer right now, but it just seems to lack that "something" that draws me in and makes me keep playing with every moment of spare time I get. I'm hoping that maybe one of the upcoming Superhero MMOs will be my answer to WoW.
Bocaj2000: I want to migrate to Warhammer... *sigh so alone
i would do it to i just dont have enough money/good enough rig 2 play it
and wow seriously needs to end
For what reason and why?
it destroys peoples social life, gobbles up your money and turns you into a mindless..."thing" whose only concern is lvling up and getting epics
Another one of the pro-social life conformists!
Many WoW players have social lives, even hardcore ones. Plus social life to extreme is so overrated. You don't need 100000 "friends" to live a good life, just half-a-dozen is sufficient.
Okay you got me there. But i did play wow for three/four months and it wasn't a very good game i thought. All it was is grind. And i know you only need half-a-dozen that is all i have. However when i started playing wow they hung out with me less and were kinda mean 2 me just because i was playing wow. and i am just mad because of all the time i wasted playing that game
So your points are: your 'friends' made fun of you when you played WoW (You should care...why?) And that you didn't like it. Therefore, via your logic, the game needs to end?
You know when people go Step 1: X->Step 2: ???-> Step 3: Profit, right? Your argument appears to have just added about a dozen Step 2's in there. Leap of Logic, awaaaaaay!
alright lol you win. i just dont like the game so i want to 2 end. i am not trying 2 piss wow fans of (not saying you are one) i just dont like it
Bocaj2000: I want to migrate to Warhammer... *sigh so alone
Come on over to the Makaisson server in WAR. I got there and it's pretty fun. They're a close-knit bunch but once you get acquainted with them they're fun to be around.
Ive been playing Warhammer and its a blast.I play it for the RVR aspect and easy access to fun instead of leveling for 3 months while arguing with 12 year olds about how is 70warlock can pwnzors my 52 hunter. I only know 2 people who left war to go back to wow and they came back the next month saying 'wow always seems like a good idea but honestly it just sucks' I personally dont hate wow. just the players who play it! and just because i dont like the game doesnt mean its bad (even though it is!) just if that's what you like cool. i rather play warhammer.
As Paul Barnett said 'we are like the led zepplin of mmos, the less popular but cool one'
And thats what i like in a mmo. also you can play warhammer without having to play 12 hours a day. but you can and it will still be fun if you do. Also you are always working for better gear because of the renown ranks you have to achieve in rvr unlike in wow all you do is sit their and show off (which you can also do in war but you have other choices too!) and don't forget. dec 2 they are adding player statues to the capital cities!
There's no conceivable way WoW can be challenged for it's market share in a day. Warhammer Online seems to have launched and retained a modest playerbase and thats a START. Give them 4 years like Blizzard has had (4 years exactly as of Nov. 23rd) and we'll see where they are.
cleverlymadeup: i'm not going back to them, just got kinda tiring, they keep making excuses as to why they "can't" get rid of gold spammers or make a linux port
I've got no issue with WINE... truth be told it runs quicker on the Linux box than it does on the Windows machine (two identical systems - surplus design machines from an older job).
Just a note, please continue your forum experience.
Maybe several users have finished their 'honeymoon' with Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, and are enticed by Wrath of the Lich King? I dunno, MMOs aren't really my thing.
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Warhammer Online Players Streaming Back To World Of Warcraft
It's becoming increasingly obvious that Mike Morhaime has sold his soul to the Devil: The Blizzard CEO announced yesterday that gamers who left World of Warcraft for the greener pastures of Age of Conan or Warhammer Online are already streaming back in droves.
Despite its age, despite the much-ballyhooed launch of competing MMOGs Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, despite a worldwide economic meltdown of epic proportions, Blizzard's venerable MMOG keeps marching along, seemingly oblivious to it all. The developer announced at the end of October that the game had reached 11 million subscribers, and that number will likely only increase after the launch of the game's second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, just one week from today. Perhaps even more significantly, the launch of the two most likely candidates for "WoW-killer" appeared to have little lasting impact on the game's momentum.
"Even though the quarter was book-ended by competitors in the MMO space, the World of Warcraft subscriber base continued to grow," Morhaime said during Activision's quarterly earnings call. "Age of Conan launched toward the end of the June quarter, and Warhammer Online came out in mid-September. To date, 68% of the players who listed Age of Conan as their reason for cancellation and 46% of the players who listed Warhammer as their reason for cancellation have reactivated their subscriptions to World of Warcraft."
"World of Warcraft also managed to grow its subscribership, despite the Olympics and the summer vacation period," he added. "At the end of the quarter, World of Warcraft had 1.5 million more subscribers than during the same time last year."
Morhaime's numbers support similar comments made by Blizzard COO Paul Sams, who said in October that "well over half" of the people who cited Warhammer Online as their reason for leaving World of Warcraft had already returned to the game. In light of all this, only one question remains unanswered: How is Bobby Kotick going to feel when he finds out Morhaime signed a secret contract with Peter Moore?
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