Before I begin, a reasonable and well thought out comment brought it to the table that Blizzard only does what every other company out there does. This is true. My feelings towards these actions may in part be skewed by my feelings as far as how businesses should conduct themselves; that their proprietors should look towards the common good of gamers and the gaming industry as a whole. I don’t it when companies try to undermine other, smaller companies. So, for the sake of insight, that’s where I’m coming from.
The last thing I want to do is turn this blog into a place to complain about Blizzard, since our primary focus is WAR and all the things we enjoy about it as enthusiasts. Given yesterday’s post though, I thought this a little too relevant to overlook.
Blizzard announced Monday that they’ll be offering a free content patch that will offer many of the highlights to Wrath of the Lich King. I was a little behind the game and didn’t come by this announcement until this morning. Some of the things they’ll be offering are:
New class spells and talents
Stormwind Harbor
Barbershops in capital cities
Zeppelin towers outside of Orgrimmar and Tirisfal Glades
Two brand-new Arenas featuring challenging new layouts, terrain hazards, and moving obstacles
Guild calendar
Hunter pet skill revamp
New profession: Inscription
You’ll never guess when this patch, presumably 3.0, is set to drop either. “In the coming weeks.” Funny, I seem to remember something else being released within the “coming weeks” too. Hmm… oh yeah! WoW’s next best competitor, Warhammer Online!
Coincidence? Unlikely.
Now, Tobold is of the opinion that this announcement is probably not related to WAR’s upcoming release. I disagree. Right now, Blizzard is under a lot of pressure to keep subscribers interested. Many are suffering from pre-expansion burnout and are looking for something new to satiate their gaming appetites. WAR is the answer for many people and Blizzard is trying to avoid the fallout.
We have to keep in mind, when Age of Conan launched, crashed, and burned, only 40% of those players came back. And that’s from a game that, by most accounts, sucked. WAR stands to do much better. Their content is of far higher quality and Mythic is delivering on their promises. Blizzard has shareholders to answer to and, as investors, they won’t be happy with big revenue drops. Hence, we get the pre-emptive patch release. Who wants to bet that they’ll release this patch within a week of WAR’s launch? Now, let me say that I know this happened for The Burning Crusade as well. The fact that there is a pre-expansion patch is not what’s telling here, it’s the timing of the announcement and in all likelihood the timing of the patch’s release.
This is just one more attempt to drown out the competition. As a company, it’s an understandable move; however, it just goes to show that Blizzard has grown away from where they should be as a company. Like I said before, at this point, it’s about money for Blizzard and not innovation. They’re acting defensively and holding the whole industry back as a result. WoW opened doors, sure. Now, it’s the bouncer keeping other people from moving forward.
Let’s hope Mythic sets a great example and helps push that bouncer to the side. More MMOs equals a better gaming market for us all.
Arenwino
Aug 29, 2008 @ 17:36:12
The biggest problem Blizzard and Mythic have right now is that they’re part of to big video game companys that are at war. It’s no secret that Activision has been trying to take over top spot in the world. And don’t expect EA to go down without a fight. I think that’s the reason that we are seeing Blizzard acting the way it does. It’s sad but Mythic will be going down the same road.
The only important for Activision and EA is money, not us.
Snafzg
Aug 29, 2008 @ 18:21:23
I don’t really think this patch will keep anyone around who was seriously considering giving WAR a try. Most people who are disgruntled or bored enough by WoW will see this patch for what it is – a content patch that was needed months ago but only delivered now as a stop-gap.
Blizzard is one of the slowest MMOs around when it comes to deliverying updated content for their players.
Arenwino
Aug 29, 2008 @ 18:37:36
Of course if somebody’s planning to leave, a patch wont make them stay. It’s true that they’re slow to put out content, but then again, most of the patches they release could be considered expansions for some mmos! I think the real competition isn’t between Blizzard and Mythic, it’s between WOW fans and WAR fans! Think about it, people that work for both Mythic and Blizzard are gamers. Do you think nobody form Mythic plays WOW and loves it and that nobody from Blizzard will love WAR.
It’s like sports, fans like to think that players from opposing teams hate each other. The truth is, once the game’s over, they’re all friends!
Larry-Steve
Sep 04, 2008 @ 12:31:53
A well put summary and I agree with you wholely, as a WoW player, DAoC player, and soon to be WAR player.
It seems before WoW there were all kinds of up and coming MMO’s, some making, some breaking. The market was new and fresh. Then comes WoW, with enormous success, especially in the markets that MMO’s usually didn’t market too; basically their key to success. But now its just a giant; WoW really hasn’t changed much since it came out, but its really keeping the rest of potential MMO’s in the dirt. Yeah, AoC might have flopped, but if the developers weren’t so worried about having to win over WoW’s population, would have they released it so soon and so incomplete? LotRO is a sound game, with deep lore, quests, and content, but it rarely gets half as much talk outside of its community as it should. EVE has also been highly successful and it incorporates away from the typical fantasy aspect of MMO’s.
I’m a realist, so I know WAR isn’t going to cripple WoW, but maybe it will show the giant that just because its there, it doesn’t mean every other creative idea for an MMO can’t flourish as well. Mythic’s aware they’re not going to bring the MMO market back into an equal playing field, but hey, its a start, and whatever fanbase they do develop is going to be a loyal one. Prime example being DAoC’s continued existence, even if its obviously behind the times.
Mike
Sep 19, 2008 @ 15:59:11
I agree with most of the summary. I’ve been playing Video games since the early 80′s. What I think everyone is missing is what Blizzard did to MMO’s.
Before WoW I never liked MMO’s because of what they were a never ending Game. Bilzzard’s Market is not the Hardcore MMO players, its Warcraft, Starcraft, Diablo players who said “Hey its a Blizzard Game” I’ll give it a try.
Now WAR has the same following with Warhammer’s board game. Some are WoW Players some are not. I love Games Workshop stuff I always have. Hopefully what will happen is both of these games will compete and force even more inovation to the MMO market.
Its all about the Player base of both games. BTW I bought both the exapnsion and WAR just to try them out.