It’s been a heady couple of days in the MMO world, as we’re seeing the up-and-coming juggernaut clash with the existing one. Depending on which game you side with — WoW or SWTOR (or, y’know, neither cause you’re cool and edgy like that) — the other side is making a terrific blunder and has failed to capture the attention of the majority.
As I said on twitter yesterday, there’s just no way that it’s a coincidence that BioWare dropped the press embargo on The Old Republic 24 hours before BlizzCon. SWTOR’s got immense momentum going for it right now, but it needs to retain as much of it as possible, and if that means a not-so-sneaky move to keep the title at the top of headlines for the news cycle, why not?
It was a move that cost BioWare next to nothing. The studio didn’t have to prepare anything huge to announce, and the risk factor was minimal. If it grabbed headlines, great; if not, then there’s plenty left to announce and do.
Counter-strike, today. After one of the most boring Blizzcons ever last year, Blizzard actually has something substantial to announce: a new WoW expansion and a DOTA title. The expansion is the expected Mists of Pandara, featuring our lovable Panda Monks and their starlight backup dancers. I would have loved to be at that boardroom meeting: “CRAP. Ending the world didn’t get players back and keep them. What will? I know! PANDAS! Cute, cuddly pandas!” “Uh, sir, for years we’ve maintained that the Pandaren are just a joke race and would never make it into the game…” “Shut it, Jenkins! We’ve changed our mind once, we’ll do it again! Pandas for all!”
It’s an interesting move, is what I’m saying.
I actually applaud the idea of having a race that starts out neutral and can join either of the factions, although at this point WoW’s factions are more buddy-buddy than the Parent Trap twins.
But we’re definitely seeing a new side of Blizzard, one in line with my earlier prediction that we’ve left the WoW era. This is a Blizzard that’s seen its subscriber base bleed publicly this past year, an expansion that failed to retain mass interest, and a competitive game that took a nice bite out of its side. This is a Blizzard that has got to be sweating December’s Star Wars launch and is looking to mitigate the inevitable losses any way possible.
Their plan? (1) Announce an expansion featuring a race that fans have clamored for for years, and (2) bribe players into purchasing a one-year subscription package in exchange for a free copy of Diablo III and access into the expansion beta. It’s not a stupid plan, since it’s giving players a choice between a known and unknown factor. Will it work? Eh. Hard to say.
I don’t think BioWare has to do anything more to react to this right now. It’s crushing pre-orders with SWTOR and has plenty left to reveal, the NDA to lift, more beta weekends to run, and so on.
Really, I think we’re well past the stage where there can only be one king of the MMOs and everything else is a loser. Players can like as many games as they want, and attractive payment options, bonuses and choices have become far more popular than ever before. Blizzard and BioWare are in direct competition for the mindshare of WoWites, and that competition is going to push both companies to try their hardest, provide the best incentives, and be afraid that if they slip, the other guy is going to profit from it. That’s a solid win for us.
It’s an interesting move, is what I’m saying.
Yeah, “interesting”. I made a youtube video about me deleting all my WoW chars. Pandas are one step too far.
kkthxbb
I’m with Nils.
How much of the player base has been clamoring for pandas? Really?
You never know with WoW, of course – it wouldn’t be the first time Blizzard pulled off something nobody believed in, but… wow. I’m having a hard time coming up with anything else they could have done to make their game look sillier than this.
If they’d done it a few years ago, meh, MAYBE it would have had a chance. But now? After two Kung Fu Panda movies? How do they expect to be anything but a laughingstock over this? And how do they possibly expect it to do anything to compete with Star Wars? Anyone who would consider lore of the two worlds in their decision – even the TINIEST bit – wouldn’t be drawn back to WoW by walking pandas, right?
I’m still not convinced this isn’t the most meta April Fools joke ever.
I was hoping for a poll along the lines of Pirates versus Ninjas.
I dunno but I think Panda’s could give the Jedi a run for their money being so cuddly wuddly and all. .
This news has me seriously considering re-subbing to WoW. Pandarens are pure Blizzard flavor and epitomize the general Blizzard attitude and goofy-ness that runs through their games. It was inevitable that they would eventually be added to WoW. I see complaining about Pandas in WoW akin to complaining about the steampunk or sci-fi elements (e.g. Gnomes, Goblins, Draenei, etc.) in WoW: while they may not fit into everyones’ ideas of the lore, they are quintessentially WoW.
What has me interested in this x-pack is the new class. Monks are the class that I’ve always wanted in WoW. I play a I play a Cleric with three different *icar roles in Rift, played a Bear Shaman in AoC, and Warrior Priest in WAR. I’ve been waiting for Paladins to be repurposed into a melee healer but a new class works just as well. WoW finally will have a melee healer; that, at least, is something that I should check out.
Arguably, Po may well be based roughly on older Pandaren designs. Blizzard has had these guys in the pipe for a long time now. Dreamworks just beat them to it.
Blizzard is making a play for the Asian markets. And despite all the predictions of doom for WoW, it STILL has 11 million subscribers. And that “failure” Cataclysm sold nearly 4 million copies. We should all fail so badly.
I am not particularly enthused about Pandaria, either, but I rarely play WoW anymore, anyway. Still, I will be very surprised indeed if TOR comes close to WoW’s 11million subs. I think it will do well, but don’t forget. TOR is not the Star Wars most film fans know and love. It is entirely a creature of Bioware’s KOTOR games and affiliated books. That’s a large fan base, to be sure, but I know lots of Star Wars movie fans out there (myself included) who have zero interest in TOR.
Me – I’m waiting for GW2.
Oh, and if Bioware was hoping to steal some of Blizzcon’s thunder by dropping (partially) the NDA, I am not so sure that strategy worked too well for them. Most of the reviews I have read have been pretty lukewarm.
Either Blizzard is sucking up and catering to China, or they are purposely trying to kill of WoW.
Either way, this is just the next step in the death of WoW that Cataclysm began.
I’m with Nils…
Blizzard can take those pandas and shove them right up their ass.
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Every xpac has people saying it’s the end for WOW and they are leaving for the next big mmo. 2 months later they’re right back to playing wow when they realize their new mmo is more hype than substance. Then we get to hear their same complaints come the next xpac.
Frankly, as someone who stopped playing WoW awhile ago, I’m still excited for the Monk class. I can take or leave the Pandas – don’t care – but I can see where they’ll appeal to the younger crowd. The pet battles will also appeal to that same crowd, as well as collector-types and even people mildly interested in PvP.
This isn’t going to kill WoW. The focus shift might kill off the elite element that remains in WoW, but that might be what Blizzard is after anyhow.
I’m going to buy SW: TOR and I don’t even own a Windows PC, just so I can annoy Activision: Blizzard execs.
Epic Failure is right. Panda race is absurd. WoW has become dry and dull, no one likes long boring quests or expending absurd amount of hours to get purple loots. I used to like the professions, but now they force you to spend far too long to excel in that. I don’t delete my classes of half a dozen level 85s, but then I am not excited to log on or play no matter how many gimics.
I think SW MMO is a welcome change in style and place, and sounds engaging, a lot of role-play and action combined for different audiences.
PS – Since I quit WOW, I learned 6 languages.