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Blizzard's next-gen MMO unlikely to be subscription-based

Cofounder Mike Morhaime says Titan likely won't carry a subscription fee when it does launch; project going through "re-envisioning."

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Blizzard Entertainment's next-generation MMORPG--codenamed Titan--may not carry a subscription fee or even be an MMORPG when it releases, cofounder Mike Morhaime said today during an Activision Blizzard earnings call.

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"We're in the process of selecting a new direction for the project and re-envisioning what we want the game to be," Morhaime said. "While we can't talk about the details yet, it is unlikely to be a subscription-based MMORPG."

At the end of May, Blizzard confirmed "large design and technology changes" for Titan. He also made clear today that no official release date for the game has been announced so far.

The executive also pointed out that several developers on Titan have been shifted to the World of Warcraft and Diablo development teams.

Blizzard Entertainment's current MMO, World of Warcraft, is the biggest subscription-based MMO on the market. It launched in 2004 and had 7.7 million subscribers as of June 30.

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Fatbeaverlol

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I rather got sub

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shingui5

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good. I just can't justify paying a subscription to play a game any more.

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alenth

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@shingui5 Depends, is good when you have access to all the content and tons of things to do with only your skill as restriction, some F2P games only let you play until you find gigantic paywalls on them.

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Salt_AU

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Edited By Salt_AU

@shingui5 yeah cash shops where you spend real life money just to respec (like Neverwinter) your character or unique mounts 'only' available with cash for the low price of $50 are much better!

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shingui5

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Edited By shingui5

@Salt_AU

there are good ways to do a F2P model, and there are bad ways.

DOTA 2: Good way.

Every iOS game: Bad way.

we can only hope it's the good way.

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Daian

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@shingui5 True, in Dota 2 everything you pay for is visual only, nothing that affects your abilities.

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Poison-tooth

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They dont want Titan to compete with WoW, plain and simple.

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Salt_AU

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@Poison-tooth By the time Titan releases, I'd be surprised if WoW has more than 2m subs left.

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yourdem1ze

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@Salt_AU @Poison-tooth WoW has lived for 10 years next year. You don't see it live to 2015?

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atopp399

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@yourdem1ze @Salt_AU @Poison-tooth How many are gold sellers?

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rawkstar007

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@Poison-tooth Oh like they haven't squeezed enough juice from that lemon?

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mezati4

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@Poison-tooth WHAT?????

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adambrinsmead

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Warcraft 4 would be a great idea. have it follow on from events that happen in the final wow expansion (maybe like a doomsday event) that way all the current heroes of the series are now in the history books and a completely new story is achievable.

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404FredNotFound

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Edited By 404FredNotFound

To be honest I dislike Subscription models and F2P models, so far the best model I'v seen was GW2 you buy it once and that it, if you wan't you can buy stuff on the store, mostly aesthetic or useful but not OP, its the best of both worlds, buying the game helps paying for the development while the market store helps keeping the servers and give profit.

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deactivated-5b797108c254e

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@404FredNotFound I'm still playing GW2 and it's actually the first "F2P" I've ever spent money on, and it was more of a "thank you" to the devs than out of necessity. They a few months later they sent me 3 pets as a thank you for using their store. Pretty nice of them ^_^

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Slade968

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@Korvus85 @404FredNotFound Dota 2, Tribes: Ascend, and Team Fortress 2 did a good job of it too. Naturally both Valve games would nail it.

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deactivated-5b797108c254e

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@404FredNotFound Maybe I didn't play it enough then, I was just content skidding around and shooting people, never felt like I needed to spend money,

True, I wasn't on top of the charts but that never took away from my enjoyment.

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404FredNotFound

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@Slade968 @Korvus85 @404FredNotFound

Problem with tribes was the grinding, played it for a while but the grinding is just to big if you are not willingly to spend money, to me an F2P mostly should focus cosmetic items for markets not exp boosts and what not.

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deactivated-5b797108c254e

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@Slade968 @Korvus85 Never played Dota or TF but Tribes: Ascend is quite fun =)

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deactivated-5b797108c254e

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"Titan; we've been throwing the name around for years but the truth is, we still have no clue what kind of game it's going to be."

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wdma

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Edited By wdma

good?

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Warful

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Yeeeah... I played WoW once - When I was an ignorant no-life teenager.
Titan will probably be a Pay To Win instead of Pay To Play, it'll be even worse.

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udubdawgz

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Edited By udubdawgz

maybe, next year, you'll realize that mmo's and single player don't mix.

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mr_tootsie

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@udubdawgz er what? Though most of them do cater to people wanting a single player experience; why are you complaining about single player in a genre called Massively MULTIPLAYER online.

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udubdawgz

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why am i complaining about single player in a mmo?

lol, as a single player only guy, i'll rip you mmo idiots a new one everyday.


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mr_tootsie

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Edited By mr_tootsie

@udubdawgz The fact that you think they aren't. Again Massively MULTIPLAYER online, why would you expect anything other then that. If you want only a SP experience what's stopping you from enjoying games like Fallout (judging from your avatar) Not like MMO is becoming the standard for all RPG's.

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udubdawgz

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@mr_tootsie @udubdawgz

what's loose about wanting devs/pubs to keep em separated?

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mr_tootsie

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@udubdawgz If you don't like MMO and perfer SP rpg's that all well and good I actually agree with that. But your comment has loose logic.

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mr_tootsie

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@udubdawgz Did you delete your comment cause you realized it didn't make any sense? The shoe didn't fit at all, you're wearing flip flops. Why would I require ballz from the developers? What the hell are you talking about!?!

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udubdawgz

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@mr_tootsie @udubdawgz

no. i expect your mmo crap to stay away from my sp.

got it?

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mr_tootsie

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Edited By mr_tootsie

@udubdawgz the fact that you expect SP in a MMO like my first comment said

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udubdawgz

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@mr_tootsie @udubdawgz

i don't want multi anything touching my singleplayer.

what, exactly, don't you understand?

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udubdawgz

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@mr_tootsie @udubdawgz

not at all.


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Warful

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@udubdawgz Actually Guild Wars did okay on that front, of course it weren't over epic campaigns, but it was rather solid and fun, even going solo. BUT if one tries to create a truly immersive SP campaign for an MMO, then I agree, it just won't mix and match.

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4le_breVVer

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You mean Titan the mmo that won't be released for another 3-5 years? That mmo? Thanks for the story, I can rest easy now -_-

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willzihang

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Is it just me or does it seem painfully obvious the only reason for its delay was so they could re-imagine it for release on next-gen consoles as well as PC?

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Pirate700

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Edited By Pirate700

So then what the hell have they been working on these days? Just xpacks for their games that have been out for ages? I can't imagine this "re-envisioning" is as massive as it may seem. If they were really starting from square one, this game would be 5-6 years off probably. Eventually Blizz needs to come out with a new game.

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frylock1987

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So....Going Pay 2 Win like everybody else?


Thank God. Now MMO's just need to die out for a few years and come back.

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jinzo9988

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@frylock1987 There's nothing pay to win about some free to play games out there. Sure, the overwhelming majority -are- pay to win but it doesn't have to be that way.

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Poison-tooth

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@jinzo9988 @frylock1987 Free to play is aweful! Its pay-to-win, pay-to-have-semi-essential-game-features or pay-to-not-look-like-a-pile-of-shit. One time fee is the best model imo.

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rawkstar007

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@Poison-tooth @jinzo9988 @frylock1987 GW2 and DotA 2 say hi.

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ggregd

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@jinzo9988 @frylock1987 No subscription doesn't mean Free to Play. There's also buy to play like Guild Wars. Blizzard makes buckets of money off Starcraft without charging a subscription.

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Geminon

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Edited By Geminon

so sick of hearing about titan with absolutely NO REAL INFORMATION..... just fucking abandon it at this point blizzard. nobody cares anymore. the game has been in development for over 5 years with absolutely no sign of releasing in the next 5. if you cant get a game out the door in over 5 years.... just dont bother.

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chibi-acer

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@Geminon They did abandon it a few months ago. Now it's a new project with (I guess) the same code name and a different development team.

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jinzo9988

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@Geminon They can't even decide on a -genre- 5 years after announcing it. For me, that's pretty mind-blowing.

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greendude123

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Edited By greendude123

So tired of all these F2P games. Just give me a good new MMO i can pay a sub for, without having to pay real money for bag/bank/char slots


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rawkstar007

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Edited By rawkstar007

Please. For the love of GOD, Blizzard: If you make it a micro transaction based game, make them PURELY cosmetic like GW2. or DotA 2.

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Kashmiro

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That is obviously the best choice, as a standard MMO will not sell anymore. Maybe if they dropped the price to a more reasonable $5, but not at anything over $10. I still play WoW and enjoy it, but I think they need to drop the price to about $5 or so, if not go F2P. I would never consider unsubscribing at that price, whereas now, I consider it off an on, because even if I enjoy the game, I still don't know if it is worth that price.

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