How long do you think WoW's popularity can continue?

I wonder if in 5 years or so will WoW still be popular or will people think of it as having outdated graphics and gameplay etc. Also I wonder if a better MMO will come a long and offer a better experience. I've heard news about Blizzard making a new MMO of some kind maybe Diablo or starcraft or something totally new. This could possibly take people away from WoW especially if it offers a better expereince with more up to date graphics, not that WoW graphics are bad or anything but eventually they will begin to look poor compared to other games like they already do in some ways. If I was in charge of Blizzard I would bring WoW again, everything the same but with an updated graphics engine, somehow making it that you can keep your old characters..im not sure how it would work or the costs involved..but considering how much money WoW is making Blizzard you would think they would be doing everything they could to keep WoW looking and playing its best. i guess thats what the patches are for bt they can only do so much..a major make over may eventually be needed and my guess is there will be one. Services need to be updated. Your thoughts.

P.S Im currently taking a break from WoW it was causing some problems, plus I wanted to experience other games, will probably play again when WotLk comes out

The MMORPG genre hasn't changed much in at least the last ten years, and probably longer. I don't know if WoW's gameplay will ever be considered outdated.

As for the visuals, they can overhaul pretty much everything through expansions, and make them optional - meaning that people will better computers will get better visuals, while not also alienating the low end users. EverQuest did it to an extent, so it definitely can be done.

Really, I think WoW is big enough now that it's self-sustaining. It needs only to be popular to remain popular, and it is popular, so it will remain popular.

Ten million (and rising) subscribers don't just go away. Blizzard can release expansion after expansion and if they keep hitting the pve casual, pve hardcore and pvp trifecta, they can't lose.

I only see two ways WoW can go downhill. One is Blizzard pulling the plug. That won't happen.

The other is a large number of very good MMORPGs being released. The MMO playerbase is ultimately finite, and the more good MMORPGs there are out there, the harder it'll be for WoW. I think it's doubtful that enough good MMOs will come out to topple WoW, but I think it's our last, best hope.

Five years from now, people will still be asking this same question. I'd bet money on it.

Five years from now, people will still be asking this same question. I'd bet money on it.

mfsa

Ya I would too.

Depends, WoTLK is the last major "WArcraft Fan" Expansion as far as I can see, most future expansions will be purely fictional like most of Vanilla ... which isnt bad.

But WOTLK will be the games "Climax" for most Warcraft fans, though they would probably be a Minority anyway now :P

As long as there is still morons, there will still be people to pay WoWteebeenz

Guild Wars Avatar, :lol: what can I say?

I played until recently since retail, so about 3 years. I have played the other big MMO titles. I woke up one day and WoW didn't appeal to me anymore. They made levels 1-60 a dead game and focused everything on 60-70 and post 70 game play. TBC was not an expansion it was a new game dependant on you having a level 58 toon. One would think that with all the money they make they could offer more regular adding of content and better incorporating the two games into one instead of having two separate games. If it were not for the AH no one would ever go back to azeroth. Once you play every class to 70 on a couple of servers what's left? Rep grinding and 3-6 hour raids. Real life is so much more realistic, better graphics too. Maybe when AoC comes out that will change lol

As long as there is still morons, there will still be people to pay WoWteebeenz

Just so you know not everyone pays the monthly fees... There are plenty of rivaling servers for free.

[QUOTE="teebeenz"]As long as there is still morons, there will still be people to pay WoWChrisJ2004

Just so you know not everyone pays the monthly fees... There are plenty of rivaling servers for free.