Quote Originally Posted by LittleImp View Post
They must be doing something right, their subscriber count continues to make this game look like an indie game by comparison.
Not really, there's a site that uses a number of internet scouring algorithms to try gauge the population and sentiment of each mmo, WoW is top but the sub count fluctuates a lot during xpac launches which is why many players see their friends list die, ff14 is the 2nd biggest mmo in that list with 2.2m subs but it doesnt have the extreme flactuations WoW has and has a constant increase of players which is far better. Site is mmo population and is using the same algorithms for all games so even if it isnt completely accurate, the approximation and comparisons are decently fair.

More importantly WoW profits heavily from addicts and whales who might hate the game yet still play because they are too invested from years of "exclusive" "time limited" rewards, the overall blizzard product Maus have dropped in an expansion launch quarter yet non sub service profit has increased, something to do with WoW token gold price remaining low for so long after launch meaning there's a ton of whales buying tokens(and thus keeping the supply strong keeping the price low) to fund carries because that is the only way for casuals to get decent gear in shadowlands.

The way things are going, WoW is surviving on whales, extreme addicts and returning players who keep giving it a chance and then leave after a few months which leads to those crazy fluctuations, long term that isnt a good strategy because it is so new player/casual unfriendly while ff14 keeps a slow but steady rise throughout the years and that is a sign of a healthy and rising game that I wouldnt be surprised if it topples WoW in a few years, probably sooner if you remember how fast WoW pop drops a few months after a new xpac launches.