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Calling it now: Legion will be the last WoW expansion

BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979

Definitely feels like the last major expansion for World of Warcraft.

Wrapping up/finishing many of the big storylines, and giving so many long-term fan wants:

-Burning Legion (conclusion?)

-Gul'Dan killed (again)

-Demon Hunters

-Illidan

-Naga

-Azshara

-Night Elf and High Elf stuff

-Titans

-Emerald Dream/Nightmare

And how do you introduce something like Relic weapons - making us literally as powerful as the hero/God-like characters in the game like Thrall, Arthas, Malfurion etc. - and NOT have this be the final expansion?

 

It's like they are literally throwing in EVERYTHING players want and finishing everything up.

I'm calling it now - this is the end of World of Warcraft.

After this, game will go F2P with very limited content updates (like re-made dungeons and such) and then either:

 

a) Blizzard will be "done" with MMOs and focus on its smaller games/series like Hearthstone, Heroes, Overwatch

b) new MMO - Something entirely new, or (finally!) a WoW 2 MMO

 

I honestly think a) is far, far more likely. Big games, and MMOs, just don't sell like they used to.

And remember, Starcraft is finishing too. Legacy of the Void is poised to be the final of the entire Starcraft story too.

Diablo is done. There have been 3 games. We can only resurrect and kill the same big bads so many times, for D3: RoS we had to kill a fallen good guy! I don't think we'll ever see another D3 major expansion, or a D4.

I'm telling you - Blizzard is ENDING their 3 major franchises - Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo are all done/ending!

Blizzard of the future will be Hearthstone (still technically Warcraft based, I know) Heroes of the Storm (all their worlds) and Overwatch - the big new IP.

 

I mean, seriously - Activision recently announced that Destiny and Hearthstone have made almost a BILLION dollars, combined. I'm sure most of that is Hearthstone too.

Diablo 3 has sold 30 million+ copies. Heroes of the Storm might not be making much, but it doesn't have to.

Overwatch will be the same.

I think Blizzard is DONE being a major AAA game company. All the "talent" has moved on from "big" games like Starcraft, Diablo, Warcraft.

The talent has moved on to smaller games like Hearthstone, Heroes, and Overwatch.

This is the end of an era!

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Comments

  • SpottyGekkoSpottyGekko Member EpicPosts: 6,916
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    ...

    I think Blizzard is DONE 

    ...

    This is the end of an era!

    I would be inclined to agree with you.

     

    Blizzard is a spent force. They have been living off the glory of 3 IP's they created 15 years ago. They've done nothing new in 15 years...

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by SpottyGekko
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    ...

    I think Blizzard is DONE 

    ...

    This is the end of an era!

    I would be inclined to agree with you.

    Blizzard is a spent force. They have been living off the glory of 3 IP's they created 15 years ago. They've done nothing new in 15 years...

    Well we'll have to see how Overwatch turns out.

    But having 3 major IPs that are so loved and have lasted this long is one hell of an accomplishment.

    I mean, only other company I can think of that has done that is Nintendo.

  • jesteralwaysjesteralways Member RarePosts: 2,560

    No it won't be, if anything they are making way for at least 2 more expansion  : one completely focused on emerald dream, one related to lich king, valkyrie, sylvanas and forsaken, if anything WoW will see a major face upgrade in coming years. And blizzard is not stupid enough to dump SC and Diablo which sells in millions on 1st day of release. Drop your theatrics.

    Boobs are LIFE, Boobs are LOVE, Boobs are JUSTICE, Boobs are mankind's HOPES and DREAMS. People who complain about boobs have lost their humanity.

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by jesteralways

    No it won't be, if anything they are making way for at least 2 more expansion  : one completely focused on emerald dream, one related to lich king, valkyrie, sylvanas and forsaken, if anything WoW will see a major face upgrade in coming years. And blizzard is not stupid enough to dump SC and Diablo which sells in millions on 1st day of release. Drop your theatrics.

    Sure they make millions, but they cost many, many millions and take years to make.

    Where as smaller games like Hearthstone have proven they can build them quickly and thus cheaper and still make tons of money.

    Nothing lasts forever.

     

    Besides, if you watched, the Emerald Dream arc is ending with this expansion in a raid.

    Also, Arthas is done, the Valkyrie are featured heavily, and if you check out the Legion website, they mention/allude to Sylvanas' fate - her story will be done in Legion too.

    Gotta do your research before coming here and spouting nonsense!

    They would not just slap a new engine and start everyone at 110 and call it WoW 2.

    They would completely start over, maybe even restarting the lore based on whatever happens in the new movie.

  • NanfoodleNanfoodle Member LegendaryPosts: 10,606
    I dont think so. Even if they lose all but 500k players it still worth updating and adding expansions. Even if the server merged and lost 20% of their players, that would still make it the biggest grossing MMO running. WoW still has many years left of expansions. 
  • DarLorkarDarLorkar Member UncommonPosts: 1,082

    It is not April 1 st so why the nonsense?

    They sold millions of copies of the expansion. They have millions of people paying subs.

    They are never going to go FTP if that sub number stays high. And yes it is still high even if they drop to 3-4 million subs.

    Why throw away that sure cash for a maybe?  There is no promises on FTP..they may do well or lose a lot. 

    No...they will ride this game into the ground before they go the FTP route. No need to do anything drastic for years i would say. 

    Why? They have WOW AND they have it funding all the other games you are talking about as well. Why do something so drastic?

  • scorpex-xscorpex-x Member RarePosts: 1,030

    They will keep making expansions as long as they sell millions of copies, why would they not?  They are just about ready to release a huge budget movie based on the game which will push massive interest back into it, you think they are winding down while they are still the biggest mmo in the world by a huge margin?

     

    WoW sells more expansions than every other mmo that makes expansions can manage to sell combined, yet they don't want money?  If you combined every single sub mmo together they would not even have 1/4 of the current sub numbers of WoW yet you think Blizzard would be like, guys we made enough money now it's time to stop.

     

    I mean the closest sub rival I can think of is FFXIV and that doesn't even have 500k subscribers, yet you think an mmo that has over 5 million is somehow less "worth it" than that? 

     

    WoW is a monster, a money machine and one that Blizzard is very proud of.  They have sub numbers that make every other mmo company drool over and it's about to have a massive injection of interest, now would not be the time to take a dislike to money.

     

    Nice idea but I think you need to go back to the drawing board, for making such an post you should not be allowed to have that avatar.  Logic is not something you seem to be any affinity with.

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle
    I dont think so. Even if they lose all but 500k players it still worth updating and adding expansions. Even if the server merged and lost 20% of their players, that would still make it the biggest grossing MMO running. WoW still have many years left of expansions. 

    F2P with a smaller team and more frequent, smaller scale upgrades like adding in new BGs or dungeons/raids and such has been proven as a very sustainable model for other MMOs.

    I don't think Blizzard WANTS to do "big" games like this anymore.

    They're enjoying massive success with their smaller titles, big $ success so that keeps the suits happy, I really think this is going to be the final chapter of WoW.

  • jesteralwaysjesteralways Member RarePosts: 2,560
    Originally posted by BadSpock
    Originally posted by jesteralways

    No it won't be, if anything they are making way for at least 2 more expansion  : one completely focused on emerald dream, one related to lich king, valkyrie, sylvanas and forsaken, if anything WoW will see a major face upgrade in coming years. And blizzard is not stupid enough to dump SC and Diablo which sells in millions on 1st day of release. Drop your theatrics.

    Sure they make millions, but they cost many, many millions and take years to make.

    Where as smaller games like Hearthstone have proven they can build them quickly and thus cheaper and still make tons of money.

    Nothing lasts forever.

     

    Besides, if you watched, the Emerald Dream arc is ending with this expansion in a raid.

    Also, Arthas is done, the Valkyrie are featured heavily, and if you check out the Legion website, they mention/allude to Sylvanas' fate - her story will be done in Legion too.

    Gotta do your research before coming here and spouting nonsense!

    They would not just slap a new engine and start everyone at 110 and call it WoW 2.

    They would completely start over, maybe even restarting the lore based on whatever happens in the new movie.

    Yeah i watched the full revealing and new site, nowhere says emerald dream is over and if you know WoW lore, emerald dream can't be OVER. And arthas is no longer lich king, there is a new one powered by the fire of alextrasza. ok i am gonna take your motto and say it :

     

    LOGIC BE DAMNED!!!

    Boobs are LIFE, Boobs are LOVE, Boobs are JUSTICE, Boobs are mankind's HOPES and DREAMS. People who complain about boobs have lost their humanity.

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979

    Every major story arc in the Warcraft/WoW universe is going to come to an end with this expansion.

    I'm calling it.

    If they do another one, it'll be something random like Pandaria or Warlords of Draenor were. I don't think they'll do that again.

     

    The movie is giving them the PERFECT opportunity to start over.

    To build a new game.

    To rebuild a new Warcraft universe from the ground up, from the beginning.

     

    In an era of reboots, and reboots of reboots, what does WoW really need?

    A reboot.

     

    Ya'll may not believe, and think I'm crazy, but come back next year, and we'll see!

  • NanfoodleNanfoodle Member LegendaryPosts: 10,606
    Originally posted by BadSpock
    Originally posted by jesteralways

    No it won't be, if anything they are making way for at least 2 more expansion  : one completely focused on emerald dream, one related to lich king, valkyrie, sylvanas and forsaken, if anything WoW will see a major face upgrade in coming years. And blizzard is not stupid enough to dump SC and Diablo which sells in millions on 1st day of release. Drop your theatrics.

    Sure they make millions, but they cost many, many millions and take years to make.

    Where as smaller games like Hearthstone have proven they can build them quickly and thus cheaper and still make tons of money.

    Nothing lasts forever.

     

    Besides, if you watched, the Emerald Dream arc is ending with this expansion in a raid.

    Also, Arthas is done, the Valkyrie are featured heavily, and if you check out the Legion website, they mention/allude to Sylvanas' fate - her story will be done in Legion too.

    Gotta do your research before coming here and spouting nonsense!

    They would not just slap a new engine and start everyone at 110 and call it WoW 2.

    They would completely start over, maybe even restarting the lore based on whatever happens in the new movie.

    What does that matter it still makes money. If I own two ways to make money and one gives 30 cents back for every buck I put into it and another gives me 50 cents back Im not gonna close the one that makes me less. I will take the money from both and be happy for doing so. 

  • NanfoodleNanfoodle Member LegendaryPosts: 10,606
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Every major story arc in the Warcraft/WoW universe is going to come to an end with this expansion.

    I'm calling it.

    If they do another one, it'll be something random like Pandaria or Warlords of Draenor were.

     

    Back peddle much? What is it, done or not?

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle
    Originally posted by BadSpock
    Originally posted by jesteralways

    No it won't be, if anything they are making way for at least 2 more expansion  : one completely focused on emerald dream, one related to lich king, valkyrie, sylvanas and forsaken, if anything WoW will see a major face upgrade in coming years. And blizzard is not stupid enough to dump SC and Diablo which sells in millions on 1st day of release. Drop your theatrics.

    Sure they make millions, but they cost many, many millions and take years to make.

    Where as smaller games like Hearthstone have proven they can build them quickly and thus cheaper and still make tons of money.

    Nothing lasts forever.

    Besides, if you watched, the Emerald Dream arc is ending with this expansion in a raid.

    Also, Arthas is done, the Valkyrie are featured heavily, and if you check out the Legion website, they mention/allude to Sylvanas' fate - her story will be done in Legion too.

    Gotta do your research before coming here and spouting nonsense!

    They would not just slap a new engine and start everyone at 110 and call it WoW 2.

    They would completely start over, maybe even restarting the lore based on whatever happens in the new movie.

    What does that matter it still makes money. If I own two ways to make money and one gives 30 cents back for every buck I put into it and another gives me 50 cents back Im not gonna close the one that makes me less. I will take the money from both and be happy for doing so. 

    Resources are finite.

    They'd rather their finite resource work on two games that are going to give back 50 cents.

  • monochrome19monochrome19 Member UncommonPosts: 723
    Doubt it. At the bare MINIMUM I see another 3 or 4 xpacs in WoWs future before people even begin to get tired of it, and by then the nostalgic dinosaurs that play will begin playing with their kids. So yeah, dont count on it.
  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Every major story arc in the Warcraft/WoW universe is going to come to an end with this expansion.

    I'm calling it.

    If they do another one, it'll be something random like Pandaria or Warlords of Draenor were.

     

    Back peddle much? What is it, done or not?

    I don't think they'll do that again. Little trigger happy on the reply there Nan!

  • JeroKaneJeroKane Member EpicPosts: 6,956
    Originally posted by jesteralways

    No it won't be, if anything they are making way for at least 2 more expansion  : one completely focused on emerald dream, one related to lich king, valkyrie, sylvanas and forsaken, if anything WoW will see a major face upgrade in coming years. And blizzard is not stupid enough to dump SC and Diablo which sells in millions on 1st day of release. Drop your theatrics.

    Well I am inclined to agree with the OP.

    WoD released last year. Garrisons was heralded as a great new "housing like" feature and that it was only the start and would greatly be expanded upon in the future.

    Now they suddenly rush out a new expansion announcement recently and now we have seen it, not a single mention anymore about Garrisons. Seems they basically just given up on it and dump something else on us in form of Class Halls.

    I mean..... either the dev team has gone completely nuts without any focus or they are indeed just wrapping up, throwing everything they have been working on in a last expac.

    Lets face it. The subscriptions are plummeting. They have a harder and harder time in getting people coming back and stay long enough.

    Sure people came back for WoD and it was fun for a few months. But people left in droves again much quicker than the previous expansions.

    And it's no secret that the vast majority of the 5,6 mil current subs are Asian accounts and don't bring in nearly has much money as the western accounts through subs.

     

    I will gladly be proven wrong, but some weird shit is going on right now at Blizzard and this whole sudden expac announcement and what it contains.

  • reeereeereeereee Member UncommonPosts: 1,636
    Originally posted by BadSpock
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle
    I dont think so. Even if they lose all but 500k players it still worth updating and adding expansions. Even if the server merged and lost 20% of their players, that would still make it the biggest grossing MMO running. WoW still have many years left of expansions. 

    F2P with a smaller team and more frequent, smaller scale upgrades like adding in new BGs or dungeons/raids and such has been proven as a very sustainable model for other MMOs.

    I don't think Blizzard WANTS to do "big" games like this anymore.

    They're enjoying massive success with their smaller titles, big $ success so that keeps the suits happy, I really think this is going to be the final chapter of WoW.

    turning off a game that was raking in a billion dollars a year while they put in mediocre efforts to update it?  Just because they're too lazy to pretend like they care anymore?  I'm suspicious of your logic.

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979

    First time not announced at Blizzcon too.

    Also, no major hype men/man doing the announcements like they did for Warlords.

    I mean, even the presenters seemed bored didn't they?

     

    I'm reading between the lines. Many of ya'll just aren't seeing it, and that's ok!

    That's why I'm calling it now!

     

    Prove me wrong in a year or so.

  • scorpex-xscorpex-x Member RarePosts: 1,030
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    Every major story arc in the Warcraft/WoW universe is going to come to an end with this expansion.

    I'm calling it.

    If they do another one, it'll be something random like Pandaria or Warlords of Draenor were. I don't think they'll do that again.

     

    The movie is giving them the PERFECT opportunity to start over.

    To build a new game.

    To rebuild a new Warcraft universe from the ground up, from the beginning.

     

    In an era of reboots, and reboots of reboots, what does WoW really need?

    A reboot.

     

    Ya'll may not believe, and think I'm crazy, but come back next year, and we'll see!

     

    You aren't crazy, you just have no idea about what you're talking about at all.

     

    No company with any sense would ever destroy something that is the market leader and that makes massive profits to take a chance on making another to "start over".

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979
    Originally posted by reeereee
    Originally posted by BadSpock
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle
    I dont think so. Even if they lose all but 500k players it still worth updating and adding expansions. Even if the server merged and lost 20% of their players, that would still make it the biggest grossing MMO running. WoW still have many years left of expansions. 

    F2P with a smaller team and more frequent, smaller scale upgrades like adding in new BGs or dungeons/raids and such has been proven as a very sustainable model for other MMOs.

    I don't think Blizzard WANTS to do "big" games like this anymore.

    They're enjoying massive success with their smaller titles, big $ success so that keeps the suits happy, I really think this is going to be the final chapter of WoW.

    turning off a game that was raking in a billion dollars a year while they put in mediocre efforts to update it?  Just because they're too lazy to pretend like they care anymore?  I'm suspicious of your logic.

    I don't think WoW makes quite what you people think it does.

  • NanfoodleNanfoodle Member LegendaryPosts: 10,606
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    First time not announced at Blizzcon too.

    Also, no major hype men/man doing the announcements like they did for Warlords.

    I mean, even the presenters seemed bored didn't they?

     

    I'm reading between the lines. Many of ya'll just aren't seeing it, and that's ok!

    That's why I'm calling it now!

     

    Prove me wrong in a year or so.

    Reason for this is not what you think, its because they are stepping up production. Once a year at Blizz Com is not fast enough. You calling it stopping, Im calling it once every 4-6 months we will see new content and every 6-8 months a new expansion. 

  • BadSpockBadSpock Member UncommonPosts: 7,979

    They aren't stepping up production.. they are whittling it down.

    Smaller, more frequent updates.

    More re-used assets.

    Leaner, more agile groups with faster work flows.

     

    Blizzard is trimming the fat.

    They've proved that small, focused teams can make the company a billion dollars - Hearthstone.

     

    Why the hell would they be dumping all of their eggs into WoW, a 10+ year old game on a MAJOR decline over the past 5 years?

     

    It doesn't make business sense.

    Titan turned into Overwatch because they KNOW that such big endeavours don't make as much sense anymore when they can pull more players and more $ in with smaller games!

  • MendelMendel Member LegendaryPosts: 5,609

    In general, I agree with BadSpock -- this appears to be the last major WoW expansion.

    But I disagree with those that think that Blizzard is simply going to exit the gaming marketplace.  I think they want to move on from the Warcraft / Diablo / Starcraft IPs and find something new.  Yes, they have made untold millions with this trio, but I think that the old guard driving these older IPs are just giving away to younger, fresh ideas.

    Can they build a new IP with the fan base of any of these three?  I think they can.  Blizzard can attract the talent, with fresh ideas -- no problems there.  They should have a massive war chest, so funding shouldn't be an issue.  I believe that Blizzard is willing to freak new ground and take a risk on moving away from older, tired titles.  This will unblock that young talent to make their own worlds with new game play, mechanics and stories.  Think of the situation as being similar to an aging first baseman being moved out, either through a trade or retirement, in order to make a place for the next generation's eager, young first baseman.

    Will there be a WoW 2?  There's plenty of room for it.  But somehow, I do not think Blizzard is interested in another game using the same IP.

    Logic, my dear, merely enables one to be wrong with great authority.

  • BruceYeeBruceYee Member EpicPosts: 2,556
    Originally posted by BadSpock

    First time not announced at Blizzcon too.

    Also, no major hype men/man doing the announcements like they did for Warlords.

    I mean, even the presenters seemed bored didn't they?

     

    I'm reading between the lines. Many of ya'll just aren't seeing it, and that's ok!

    That's why I'm calling it now!

     

    Prove me wrong in a year or so.

    I got that vibe too but considering how long those guys said they've been working on WoW it might just be that they are sick of the game.

    Also their other games like Hearthstone rakes in hundreds of millions with like a 15 man dev team so why spend more money on a game that has already aged 10 years with a shrinking playerbase.

  • JeroKaneJeroKane Member EpicPosts: 6,956
    Originally posted by reeereee
    Originally posted by BadSpock
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle
    I dont think so. Even if they lose all but 500k players it still worth updating and adding expansions. Even if the server merged and lost 20% of their players, that would still make it the biggest grossing MMO running. WoW still have many years left of expansions. 

    F2P with a smaller team and more frequent, smaller scale upgrades like adding in new BGs or dungeons/raids and such has been proven as a very sustainable model for other MMOs.

    I don't think Blizzard WANTS to do "big" games like this anymore.

    They're enjoying massive success with their smaller titles, big $ success so that keeps the suits happy, I really think this is going to be the final chapter of WoW.

    turning off a game that was raking in a billion dollars a year while they put in mediocre efforts to update it?  Just because they're too lazy to pretend like they care anymore?  I'm suspicious of your logic.

    They aren't making a billion a year anymore. That was back when they had over 10 mil subs with at least half of them being US/EU accounts.

    Now they mostly have Asian accounts, which don't pay a monthly sub. They only have like 1 mil or so Western (US/EU) accounts left that are actually paying a monthly subscription.

    I mean ..... just look at all the US and EU server status lists. The vast majority of servers are dead!

     

    The OP has a point!  This whole rushed expansion announcement stinks and almost reeks desperation.

    Every expac has been accounced at Blizzcon before. With great fanfare and fantastic CGI intros!

    Now we just got some rushed ingame like rendered trailer, some quick feature announcements with some regular blizzard staff sitting there at Gamescon, not even remotely exited. Where were the big Blizzard guys?

    I mean... the Warlords of Draenor expansion announcement was Epic. It made a lot of people exited, me included (for first time since years).

    This new expansion announcement was just really uninspiring! A huge anti-climax!

This discussion has been closed.