Think we are about to see another wave.

[GeminiReed]

Blizzard has lost record numbers of players but WOW is more profitable than ever due to microtransactions.

Being hyper-focused on short-term profits is not a viable business strategy.

Here's the thing, the psychology behind those purchases are to show them off, specifically to show them off to the have-nots. The problem is the non-whale audience is bleeding out hard. It's not all that fun showing off to another whale so the whales eventually get bored and quit. While things look rosy now the cash shop revenue over the next few quarters is going to tank hard as the whales abandon ship.

[Lunalepsy]

See below but looking around the especially after their tone deaf statement, WoW forums, WoW reddit and multiple other sites there is very serious right now the calls to boycott any Blizzard/Activision game until there is real change is loud.

Given the release soon and hype of New World and Final Fantasy 14 in the news everywhere I think a lot of new players will be looking for a new home soon. Square Enix better get ready.

Once this breaks on Twitch and Youtube tomorrow as people wake up I expect to see a lot of departures. I could be wrong but there is very serious rage here.

Breaking news tonight:
Jason Schreier

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has filed an explosive lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for discrimination. Some of the details in the complaint are horrifying

Source:

https://twitter.com/jasonschreier/st...03549133361156

https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-...at-boy-culture

https://aboutblaw.com/YJw

Sit tight and enjoy the ride!

[BunnyChain]

This "frat boy" culture was there all the time. Yes, very shocking, I know.

Blizzcon 2010 player question on female characters sexist provocative clothing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi5dQzZp3f0&t=263s

[TeraRamis]

This "frat boy" culture was there all the time. Yes, very shocking, I know.

Blizzcon 2010 player question on female characters sexist provocative clothing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi5dQzZp3f0&t=263s

I was actually talking with my wife about that clip earlier. We concluded that an honest response would have been something along these lines:

"The simple fact here is twofold. First, this is what the fantasy genre looks like - women are skimpily dressed. This crosses all segments of the industry, from superheroines in leotards to water nymphs in gauze dresses and mermaids wearing seashell bras. In this regard, we're neither more nor less guilty than anyone else in this industry - our women are scantily clad, but they aren't more scantily clad than women in the majority of other media.

Second - and this is in no way intended to reduce you as an individual - we know that our audience is mostly male, and we have a lot of metrics that show what they respond to. As a business, please understand that we have to design content that is catered to our largest demographics. So while that may - at face - seem sexist, it's kind of the brutal reality of competing for dollars in a world where attention spans are short, and sex sells.

Neither of those things are ideal answers (few honest answers in this world are) - they're just the hard reality of where the rubber meets the road. We know that you're not the only person who takes issue with this, and we're not trying to casually dismiss your views. But the kind of changes you're asking for need to occur on a bigger level than we can, even as a large company, control."

Instead, they chortled, made jokes about 'magazines,' and visibly diminished her with a series of blow-off replies. THAT'S what makes it sexist... not that the content is in the game (because it is in almost all games), but that, when confronted about it, they couldn't treat her like a human being asking a legitimate question in front of a crowd that, in all likelihood, was hostile towards her interests (deep down, I doubt too many of those guys present really wanted the plate bikinis to vanish). She was brave, and they handled it like cowardly imbeciles.

[ksuyen]

Sounds like a very woke culture company, which is actually pretty common. Gender abuse, mistreatment, sexual harassment, even rape, happen within a co-operate and nobody ever found out because everyone keeping their lips shut.

Edit: I just watched The Morning Show. Same story. Great acting though both Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.

[Pirana1]

This game recently lowered its pricing again, something like $25.00 for the complete game, which ends sometime in August if I remember right. With everything happening with Activision/Blizz, this was a smart business decision, kick them while they're down, so to speak. The influx of players should continue to increase.

[Puremallace]

This "frat boy" culture was there all the time. Yes, very shocking, I know.

Blizzcon 2010 player question on female characters sexist provocative clothing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi5dQzZp3f0&t=263s

As an FF14 player in a game that has playboy bunny's holding up this example is not exactly a good idea. Personally I am fine with the stuff I see in the game since it is a fantasy world and should have its own culture/world. There are also a lot of moments where they handle female empowerment in a very good way.

There seems to be a little confirmation here going by Twitch viewership in the WoW category that has completely tanked and is consistently lower then FF14.

[Shinxwildflower]

Being hyper-focused on short-term profits is not a viable business strategy.

Here's the thing, the psychology behind those purchases are to show them off, specifically to show them off to the have-nots. The problem is the non-whale audience is bleeding out hard. It's not all that fun showing off to another whale so the whales eventually get bored and quit. While things look rosy now the cash shop revenue over the next few quarters is going to tank hard as the whales abandon ship.

To be fair, FF14 isn't all that different - all those fancy looking clothing, weird mounts you can't get anyway else in game (like the 8 person mount), with the random emotes in the store. Like really, why is a snap emote like $2? Why nit just give it for folks in game from doing a quest?

[Derio]

Watching the Blizzcon vid was hard. Then finding out a female coworker commited suicide on a company trip due to harrasment is just not acceptable. I couldnt play WoW after that.

[GeminiReed]

To be fair, FF14 isn't all that different - all those fancy looking clothing, weird mounts you can't get anyway else in game (like the 8 person mount), with the random emotes in the store. Like really, why is a snap emote like $2? Why nit just give it for folks in game from doing a quest?

Or the seasonal event FOMO items. Yes I find XIV's cash shop particularly irksome especially since this is a sub-required game. I won't claim to be innocent either as I've bought stuff (Cloud cycle and Whale bus) and the only reason I haven't thrown down for more is because Square doesn't offer account-wide items.

But there was context to my reply. An MMO consists of multiple populations which are heavily inter-dependent. Neglect or abuse a niche to the point that people start leaving can have an affect other niches especially if the related activities depend on high population. Claiming that WoW has nothing to worry about because they're currently reporting great numbers is naive. The shrinking PCU/MAU is far more telling how things will shake out over the next several months.

While I'm happy people have discovered FF:XIV I expected it to be temporary. However the various stories about how shocked people were that they did not get abused over silly mistakes has me revising that opinion. Blizzard made a fundamental error by adopting Wildstar's failed "Gold or Bust" style of dungeon running. IMO they have chased off their casual component and it's going to take a major overhaul in thinking to bring them back.

And now... now there's a lawsuit that they've already screwed up. The ActiBlizz of the future is going to look significantly different than today's after the suit is resolved.