Are WOW's days numbered?

I don't think it can last much longer. To be honest, the beginning of the end occurred when they released WotLK. The game has just never been as good as BC since that happened. I mean yeah, they might just switch to a f2p model, but really WoW will likely never again see the glory it once did.

 

The second they brought out the pandas was the same as every other expansion. The subscriptions always drop before a new one comes out, then people say they won't buy it. It's not long before they do though and get hooked again. A free model would be the way to go.

 

You have a good point, but how long do you think they are going to continue to keep picking it back up? Clearly if you look at it's history the trend has gone down more and more over time.

 

I think it will last longer, just on a smaller scale. They don't need to make it f2p. They will just cut the budget, close some servers, and do some cleaning up. I agree with you that Wotlk was the beginning of the end. I was never really sure why though. The expansion was decent and the content good. I think that a lot of us, hardcore wow players that started in vanilla, just got bored. I don't know how some of my friends still manage to play it after all these years, but I do know they do it out of boredom, not excitement.

 

That's a very good point in reference to us original players just getting bored. I never thought of it that way. Me personally I just didn't like change. Haha

 

WoW is still the most popular MMORPG in many countries. An MMO can survive (albeit with less servers) with only a few hundred thousand players. WoW still has several million players, paying $15 every month. Blizzard has the resources to keep the game alive. It's all up to them.

 

WoW isn't going anywhere for a while. It still has subscription numbers that other developers can only dream of. I predict the numbers will continue to slowly decline but it's going to be years before WoW is shut down.

 

I agree there is not a whole lot that they can do for the game any more and with much better games (in my opinion) coming out online unless they change to a free to play format with some microtransaction options available I see the game suddenly becoming a very empty and lonely place.

 

The number of subscription drops is combated by the entrants into the game as well as the expansions themselves( thought it is more than likely the new players combating dwindling numbers). As long as the game team can manage a good marketing strategy, then there shouldn't be anything for WoW to worry about.

 

The short answer is : No.

The long answer : Blizzards subscriber numbers are far from dropping "like a led brick". They just hit 10 million subs again. If they include a free boost with this expansion, they most likely will do so with other expansions, to keep adding new players. I guess technically you are correct, all good things must come to an end. wow only has 7 more years left (which is assuming one year per expansion they have lined up), but it is far from exploding in our face any time soon.

 

WoW is still healthy and kicking - it's not going anywhere any time soon, that's for sure. It still has room to grow, and the numbers will sway back and forth like any other subscription service.

 

I seriously doubt it, even now, years after it's release, World of Warcraft is still getting a good influx of new players every day. I wouldn't be surprised if people are still playing it in 2020 as long as they keep the game updated.

 

I do believe that WOW days will come to an end within a couple of years. Even with expansion packs and such coming out, the fan base is dropping and will soon dissapear. The game play gets old and stale, and isn't something you can keep refreshing forever and ever. The good old days of WOW are over, unfortunately.

 

WoW is still sustaining itself for the moment but that's only because there aren't any MMOs for people to jump into that will really draw large guilds away from WoW. BUT compared to its height of like 15+ million players, its fallen to around 7mil and its deceasing daily, so soon enough people will leave it and or they'll have to release WOW 2.

 

I stopped playing about 3 years ago, not for any in-game reason, just life getting in the way, growing up and all that. I'd be interested to see what people think for WoW now, and if this post is still relevant a couple of years since it was started, as truth be told I wouldn't mind starting up again. That said, if it's dying a death there seems little point in putting money into it.

 

Yes, it's really sad for WoW but i think it has run its course? No, i don't really believe that. I think WoW could rise back up if the game developers would think of something like a really great update or to switch the game to free to play. Now that would be amazing!

 

WOW is not going to die for a very long time, if ever. Remember, Ultima Online which is like 18 years old and has less than 50k subscribers is still around. More than likely WOW will always be a game you can subscribe to, but they will just reduce developers as they lose subscribers so that it is always profitable.

Very few MMORPGs have actually shutdown,

 

They lost a big player base, that's for sure. But I don't think they'll be exiting the MMO game any soon, to be honest. A few million people... it's huge. But trust me, with enough promotion, they can make that amount quickly. I mean, who hasn't heard of Blizzard before? That's a seal of approval in itself.

 

As of right now they're still going strong and I don't see WoW becoming extinct anytime soon. It's a pretty big game, even though it lost a lot of players, it can come back.

 

No way, World of Warcraft will continue to live on, even through its worst expansions. Sure, Warlords was a pretty bad expansion pack, lacking content and all that, but the game still has millions of subscribers. WoW isn't going anywhere soon.