Have You Been Noticing A Change?
I have been noticing an overall lack of players and less competition across multiple markets on the auction house. It seems that players are quitting playing World of Warcraft or are just not playing as much. Maybe its the heroics being too hard for some or the loss of players to new games, like Rift. Many of the gold bloggers have stopped posting as well. Some bigger bloggers haven't posted in weeks, if not months. I know a handful of them are busy playing Rift.
Are times changing? Is WoW on the decline? Are players finding the current version of WoW too hard, too easy, or too repetitive. Maybe they are planning on returning after everything gets nerfed and is way easier. Regardless, something just feels different within the game. Wes and I talked a little bit about the current changes in the player base during Auction House Junkies Episode #4.
Less competition is always nice when dealing with undercutters on the auction house.
Pro-Tip: Take a peek back into some old markets that you may have abandoned. You may not have any competitors there anymore.
Have you noticed any changes to the player base?
Bloggers: Don't forget to submit your entries for the March Gold Blogging Carnival that will air on the 11th of March. March Gold Blogging Topic is on your breakout moment. Review the link for specifics.
"Maybe its the heroics being too hard for some or the loss of players to new games, like Rift."
ReplyDeleteFor me, it's the heroics becoming too easy, too quickly. Sure, 4.1 will bring 2 new dungeons, but how long will they remain a challenge? A month at best? And then its back to the mindless grind - facerolling dungeon after dungeon for rep and points. No thanks.
Even gold-making, long a passion of mine has lost its spark - it's more of the same, there is no innovation, with perhaps the exception of MFC. I've been playing some EVE since January, and the market in that is leaps and bounds ahead of WoW. Sell orders, localisation of the economy (i.e. different prices in Undercity when compared to Org), cooperative crafting, crafting effficiency, passive income streams and so on could all be great additions to the WoW ecomony, which to be now feels overly simple.
I think the same can be said of the whole of the game right now - more of the exactly the same game mechanics which I've been playing for 5 years, and others even longer.
The only part of the game I still have an interest in has been raiding and even this has been diminished somewhat through some guild drama arising from member's "raid spot entitlement" when frankly they don't cut the mustard.
I believe the game is in decline, yeah - at least from the point of view of veteran players. 5 or 6 years of the same is enough to make anyone question why they are doing it.
I do however, believe that there is a new playerbase ready to take over from the jaded vets, people for whom the game is fresh, enticing and exciting. People who want nothing more than to get home from work or school and boot up WoW.
For me that feeling is gone. My sub has lapsed and I am officially on hiatus. In the meantime, I'll be found in a wormhole somewhere in New Eden, or sealing dimensional tears in RIFT.
I have noticed this aswell, and yeah lots of people are playing less I purely think its because of teh current state of pvp in the game, the game is so insanely inbalanced atm and everyone in my guild that pves (my guild used to be mainly pve but with a bunch of pvpers and ppl that do both)
ReplyDeleteeveryone that pves has stopped pvping completely and all the hardcore pvpers have quit, gone alliance (instant ques) or rerolled due to classdestruction in uppcomming patches.
They seem to completely ruin or uberbuff classes in the major aptches nowadays, changes that make no sense at all.
also in the uppcomming patch tonnes of priests (shadow pvp) are quitting the game due to the huge nerfs, they are infact leveling new chars or moving to rift (this could resoult in a increased demand in the glyph market, especially lock and dk since a is easy to lvl and b is simular in gameplay but better). Also many warrs and ferals ahve quit or changed class afer being godmode and ten made into kitedummies.
My point isnt to discuss classbalance, its that The current state of pvp in the game is seriously flawed and classes get buffed and nerfed like on a rollercoaster now in each patch.
I haven't noticed a huge decline in activity. Probably due to being on a med pop server I guess. Always lags behind the big boys.
ReplyDeleteI agree that PvP is basically broken. Wish we would get away from class tweaks. If there is a disparity or someone is OP now, I wouldn't know who it is. Hell, as fast as talents get tweaked who has had time to figure out they are OP anyway?
I don't think there has been a diminution of player numbers, but I do notice that there are less traders around. I think this is simply down to the fact that there is still a lot to do in Cataclysm: gear to be acquired, raid bosses to be downed, and so on. Also, as the world has changed so much, many players are levelling new alts to see the new world and its new quests. There simply isn't as much time for trading, and frankly, it's something many people only do when they've nothing better to do. Expect your competition to increase later in the expansion!
ReplyDelete"Bigger Bloggers" ? Who are you referring to exactly? Markco seems to play infrequently (I see youtube videos coming from him every week or so) and Gevlon is still pve'ing.
ReplyDeleteThe playerbase has shifted from level 85's to a lot of people leveling toons. Your competition will be back soon enough.
While I still enjoy playing WoW I think that Rift is slowly going to eclipse it. Trion seems to have a better system in place for updating and when you play Rift much of general chat is people badmouthing WoW. In addition I keep seeing Rift appear on WoW related web sites such as http://www.wowhead.com/ and http://www.reddit.com/r/wow/
ReplyDeleteWhile I am by no means a prophet or a skilled fortune teller I don't think WoW's future is as bright as it once was.
Great discussion gang! Keep it going.
ReplyDelete@Anon
"Bigger Bloggers" I am referring to bloggers that used to post daily and are now scraping in a post ever few weeks or once a month. Sykes, Moravec, Etc.
There definitely is a change. In my guild that is 6 years old...there are fewer and fewer online on a regular basis. We still get lots for certain events..raids etc...but I see lots changing. The nightly heroic runs are harder to have happen with all guild even if there are 15-20 on.
ReplyDeleteMyself...lots of gold..and nothing to spend it on. My sons play and have the same issues. We watch the gold we have...which is well over 1 million. Gold making is losing its fun as my goal of 1 million was easily hit. Lots have left the selling market. The names from vanilla wow are gone. Many constant sellers from wrath are very infrequent sellers.
In My view the real issue is the game has evolved into being too much of the same for everyone. The unique classes are not so unique. Rogues heal themselves? Mage and lock can play very much the same. Warrior Paladin DK Druid all tank. All comparisons with the tanks are the players desire that everyone has the same capability. The bring the player not the character does have a part to play here with all of this. I liked wow for being an mmo and then for the uniqueness of characters. I think the evolution of patches really means at some point it all feels the same even if the content is changing. The fights we do now are way more complex than the first days of MC yet they are not challenging enough. The idea of constant nerf throughout means...why play every day. I can kill the mobs after a few months of nerfs. Challenge is hard and is not where wow is heading.
I'm not sure what "pvp being imbalanced" means. Every class has at least one spec that is doing well in arenas, and the classes that were doing *too* well have been brought back into the pack to some extent. Shamans are a little weak, but other than that you are seeing a VERY wide variety in terms of class representation right now.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a common slump seen in the last weeks of a content cycle; when 4.1 hits you'll see a resurgence. Eventually everyone will get bored of 4.1 and it will decline, then 4.2 will come out. I've noticed a constant ebb and flow of players usually tracking around content patches.
ReplyDeleteAlso Spring Break is coming up for most schools in a few weeks, then summer break. I have a feeling players will start crawling out of the woodwork again.
Well, something has definitely changed. There is a different "feel" than there used to be. The people that are still around don't have the same enthusiasm they used to...
ReplyDeleteThe only thing I've really noticed is that the "vets" are complaining more. Population doesn't seem to be in decline. Market demands and competition are both as strong as ever. There's just more negativity and bitterness. Negativity is contagious, and that trend is probably what people are noticing as much as anything. I almost wish they would just quit and move on, rather than continue to troll their bitterness with what I presume is their boredom.
ReplyDeleteAs for bloggers, there's a good number of great writers out there that have decreased their posting. It makes me sad; I miss them. However, I would prefer no posts to bitter or negative posts.
To those of you still posting regularly like clockwork... it's appreciated. Keep up the great work!
I have not really noticed a decline on my server. As for Rift, My daughter and I both tried it and hated it. Still a hard core Wow fan here. Maybe it is just time for a lot of fresh blood in both the game and blogging.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed a decline in both the number of people in my guild that still play regularly, as well as the number of postings on the auction house. Having said that, gold making is still going strong for me and if it wasn't for that I might not be paying every month. I can't explain why I really like making gold, I just like seeing the numbers go up. Hell, even archaeology, as boring as it can be, feels fresh because we've never done it before.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just veteran players like me that are tired of the same old grinds. I've even seen some friends leave our guild for "greener grass", but the grass they find isn't greener after all.
From my perspective it's pretty natural what's happening right now.
ReplyDeleteCata's been out for over 3 months. Enough time even for the most casual players to level up their main and alt to 85, do some heroics and go raiding.
Personally I'm not feeling bored by WoW, it just has taken a lot of time the last months and I feel that I wanna cut back a little.
This results in logging in only for raids and therefore not playing the AH as regularly as we used to.
Hello Cold, nice blog you have here, first time visitor, shame on me not coming here sooner.
ReplyDeleteI play alliance in an EU server Auchidon, or how the Hell is the name of that Outlands town.
I started playing December 2009, whit a Human warrior protection since level 1 up until now 85.
This game was different from all I ever had played so I became totally involve to no to say addicted. My main goal was eventually raid at higher levels, thing that occurred eventually wend I reach 80, and spend most of my day raiding.
But even I left the game at august 2010, because killing the Lord Marrowgar in ICC for the 500 time wasn’t fun any more.
I spend a few months in other games, some single player and some MMO also, but I eventually came back in January 2011, this game has an almost infinite thing to do, since I am those type o player that focus solely in on character and one class, I still have lots of content to cover and things to do. One thing I never did was to have an alt so now I came back and made one, a warlock and loving it so far.
My main focus for now is not raiding ,but the gold making aspect of the game ,it’s a all new experience to me and so far I am having a lot of fun.
And then I found out all this excellent Gems in Blogging, the gold WOW making blogs, and now I am addicted.
So to stop this long post, this game as yet so much to offer to every one, even all you veteran out there might found new ways to enjoy it.
But all things eventually came to a end in 5 years is a long time so maybe this game is starting to became “old” in gaming terms and losing its charme.
And I am waiting for the Warhammer 40K MMO, that is still a long way far and I hope it is good.
I've noticed a market shift, though I wouldn't say there is less competition. Like, my main staple for months was cycling Silk Cloth into Bolts, but now silk cloth has become a premium so just farming and selling it raw seems to be the way to do it... no explanation why this is, it is just what the market demands. Also, it seems NO ONE uses Potions of Free Action anymore! I've had 9 that i used to sell for 18g or more EACH, that i've had for 3 weeks now.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I do hear a lot of grumbling in the blog world about less enthusiasm to play the game, and all I can say is, I'm sure ANYTHING gets old after 5 solid years of playing it. I'm really surprised the game has held my attention for nearly 2 years, let alone 5 or 6! So, I imagine things will calm down, there will be a shift change but that's all... those who still love it will continue
ehh, I see it and feel it... its all the ebb and flow... WOW still has the huge player base. The player base means that many will always have friends to come back to here. We have all been bored with it, ran circles in Dal, Shat, Org, SW, take you pick... if you have not ever run circles, imo you are a rare Gem.
ReplyDeleteThere is also mention of the new and fresh and complexity or other title.. yeah, its new and fresh and challenging... that will wear off, the challenges will be mounted to exceptional player who will dominate.. and the majority of casualy just wont want to or try to get it. and will come back in may cases, to WOW. Really for many current generation MMO players... WOW is "HOME" and "HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS" that will be a huge hurdle to mount by any competition. Most people separated IRL from friends and family look forward to and work towards going back. In this case, IMO it is an easier transition to come back.. just pay your $15 and your good to go for the next month to test the waters out...
Yeah, it has changed, the excitement is over, the content is seen, the content is hard and not seen in the case of many for raiding, but its not easy enough to do for welfare players... the big numbers from many markets has crashed, you used to be able to be a casual player and farm for an hour and sell mats for 3-6K.. now you might get 1K or something like that.
hitting 30K with casual toon leveling and buying that one thing you always wanted... then being broke and back to the grind, yeah rough for many players... now that the reality is set in that they "can't" raid, and they can't buy gear, and they can't make gold, and won't learn how to play, and won't learn how to make gold and wont invest the time and effort into being what they say the want to be.. Most, and by most, i mean not the majority of those reading this, for i think if you are here you are a rare breed in the fact that you do something in the WOW comunity, outside of the game.
Do you have guild website? what is the participation there? 10-20%ish? everyone else, just have to get them in game... How many have you have played for months and are "raider" but still ask "is that an UG for me?" or "what gems for this UG?" or "what enchant for this UG?" or "is 'purplz epix one' or 'purple epicness two better'"
Part of the ebb and flow.. the hard core take a break as the casuals fade out.. content is hard... hard core plays... casuals fade... content is easier, a few core stick around and take the lead on running the casuals in the content as many core now having completed content take a break...
Yeah, wall of text here.. stopping NOW!!!