Community Blog Topic: What's wrong with WoW?
We've talked a lot recently about what's right with WoW. Whether it's the metacommunity, making with the stabby, lore, friends, etc., World of Warcraft keeps us coming back for more. But at the same time, 1.3 million people have left the game since February of this year. WoW still has the most active accounts over all other MMOs at 8.3 million, but people are leaving. Why do you think that is?
Many people complain about the dailies. There are so many and if you are a completionist, your daily to-do list is overwhelming. Others complain about the people. The perceived preponderance of funsuckers in Azeroth can make you not want to log back in, particularly after an unpleasant experience.
Patches have been coming fast and furiously. Do players fall behind and feel like they can never catch up with the latest storylines and content? Or are the class changes so drastic that the character you fell in love with years ago just isn't the one you're playing now?
Some tout the age of the game as being a problem. While Blizzard is on the forefront of some gaming mechanics, other aspects of Azeroth are inherited from the early days of MMOs. The graphics for the vanilla races in particular are the most complained about. And rightly so. We get attached to the look of our characters, but upgrades to the classic races are long overdue.
For me, I am overwhelmed by the content that I can't keep up with, but I like the fact that there is too much to do rather than not enough. I remember just before the Burning Crusade was released doing nothing but grinding rep in Alterac Valley day after day because I had nothing better to do. Not that I didn't have fun, but a grind is a grind. And I can see the number of dailies seeming like too much of a grind.
I will also let funsuckers get to me more than I should. A bad PUG experience can make me not log in for a couple of days. I can see where people would quit the game over too many unpleasant encounters.
What about you? Why do you think WoW is losing subscribers? Is it a trend, or do you think it's a momentary lapse and the numbers will rise to eight digits again? What do you think Blizzard can do to keep players from canceling their accounts?
Answer in your blog and post a link in the comments below. Or, if you don't have a WoW blog, put your opinion in the comments. We will highlight some responses next week.
