Is WoW on its way out?

[Pawnless Endgame]

This article said that subscription figures have fallen back to Vanilla levels - 5.6 million. It's still an impressive figure for an MMO though, and has remained unbeaten during its 10-year run.

I played 2005-9, so Vanilla and TBC. Then I had a 3-month "relapse" last year. I liked the Chinese themeing for Mists, but it wasn't the same game any more. Too easy - was full epic after 2 days, and got to ilvl 542 without touching a single dungeon. I PUGged a few world bosses and e.g. frogs on Timeless Isle, but it's now a younger crowd than in Vanilla, so lots of attitude and ninja looting. Then Warlords made the game inaccessible due to 4200+ server queues despite earlier expansions having reasonable queues (same server).

Where/when did it go wrong?

On the plus side, I have great memories playing the game during Vanilla, was in a BWL guild, met several guildies IRL who I still meet up with to this very day. So I have gained friends in the game who I still see now even though none of us play WoW any more. Also loved South Park's "Make Love, Not Warcraft" which was also from Vanilla

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Granted, WoW is an easier alternative to Everquest, but what I meant is the difference between achieving full epic during Vanilla and achieving full epic during Mists. In Vanilla, it took me 5 months to level 1-60. Then I joined a social guild that raided 3 nights a week. No previous raiding experience - we did everything from the ground up. Another 5 months later, we were all in tier 2. 2006 was a great year in my WoW career because it took some degree of effort while keeping it fun. Going back to WoW briefly in 2014 wasn't the same as I was able to solo/PUG my way to ilvl 542 relatively quickly.