Warning, you might suddenly combust from the stupidity contained in that blog.
Let's dissect his claims and see if there is any truth to them.
1.
Also, there has been many changes in the OS and hardware since Vanilla. Vanilla software was not designed to run on today’s hardware. The type of people who would go to a private WoW server are the more savvy type of consumer. But when you are a company offering this type of product, you will get the unsavvy types. There will be people who do not understand why Vanilla WoW is not 64 bit. Because of this, you are going to have more headaches and increase the cost of support. The support cost of Vanilla is likely going to be more expensive in a commercial setting today.
Guy obviously has no idea what he is talking about. As we all know, the vanilla client runs on 64-bit Win 10 with no problems at all. Even the most modern graphics and sound cards support it. The only problem would be fixing the vanilla Mac client issues, and this should be relatively easy to do, seeing that Blizzard fixed them for the TBC client if I remember correctly. Some Mac user please correct me if I'm wrong, I've never had one. The PC client only needs a bit polish for the micro-stutter issue which happens with extremely high FPS rates. This is a one time thing, not something that requires multiple programmers for months and months. So no, offering legacy servers would not be a major customer support headache.
2.
Another big issue is splitting up the brand. Instead of World of Warcraft, you have multiple World of Warcrafts. You end up with marketing issues.
No, because Blizzard would still market World of Warcraft. Completely new players would purchase the latest version of WoW and play that. There is no need to market legacy servers as something separate - just offer them through Battle.Net client to players with active WoW subscription. Problem solved.
3.
Blizzard is many things, but they are not fools. The changes to WoW have been many, but have they been ‘stupid’ decisions in light to them continuing to make money?
Human history is full of mistakes done by governments and corporations. Being big, having lot of money or access to experts is no guarantee that the senior leadership would become infallible. Claiming (especially without any proof) that Blizzard must have done accurate market research is a logical fallacy.
4.
Let me tell you about a kid I just talked to. He is 19. I finally convinced him to ditch his consoles and go buy a big boy PC. He told me he wants to play WoW again. He grew up, as a child, playing Everquest. He began WoW in Cataclysm. He loves WoW. I inquired how he plays the game. “I mostly play the game solo, and I prefer it that way.”
Good for him. Legacy servers will not prevent him from doing that. It's a completely pointless anecdote. Sean might even have made up it - but whether he did or not doesn't matter. One player is not sufficient enough statistical evidence to draw general conclusions from. This is the kind of wishy-washy bullshit that permeates the social media groups of all quackery and snake-oil salesmen.
5.
Market research for video games is looking at the young pipleline of teenagers, not old farts in their thirties and forties who no longer have the time to play. Don’t like it? Well, you liked it when you were the bratty teenager thinking the SNES or Genesis were ‘so cool’ because of their ‘edginess’. Older adults who liked the sports games of the NES or the puzzle games like Tetris were turned off by the ‘extreme’ attitude of the 16 bit era.
I don't even know what he is going on about now. The largest segment of gamers are not teenagers but people in their 30s. Yes, this is why Candy Crush and Farmville are making a killing - these sort of 5-minute Facebook games have more players than any other game AND their players have sufficient disposable income to drop impressive amounts of money through micro-transactions. But seriously, who the hell though SNES or Genesis were 'edgy' systems? I'm old enough that I remember when 16-bit consoles started supplanting 8-bit consoles and I don't remember any sort of generational war between them.
6.
There is a market of people who do want Vanilla WoW. These people will be older, more experienced gamers. The question is whether or not it is worthwhile to bother investing in these gamers anymore. Video game companies want to snag the YOUNG people, not the OLD. Young people have the energy and time to play the games, not old people. Young people are also easier to manipulate to buy the stupid DLC and mounts.
Yes and no. From all the mistakes in this blog it is obvious that the author has not actually looked into the issue at all. My Nost guild had players ranging from people in their late teens to people in their late 30s. I believe that this pretty well mirrors the general population we had on Nostalrius. It's not only old WoW-hands who want to relive their glory days - but also all the players who missed out on vanilla back in the day. And as I stated above, more gamers are now in the 25-35 age segment than in the 15-25 segment - but even that is irrelevant because vanilla WoW can appeal to both.
7.
“But Malstrom,” says the hardcore Vanilla WoW player, “I don’t like getting old. I think game companies should make games for everyone, including older people.” Then where were you when they were attacking the Wii? It’s all related. Nintendo tries to make games for all people which you hate they include older people. You hate Brain Age. You hate girl friendly games like Nintendogs and Animal Crossing.
Aaaaaaand what the fuck has this to do with anything? I bought Nintendogs for my niece. It's an awesome game. I literally have never heard anyone complain about it or Brain Age. Considering how Nintendo has always been family-friendly and tried to cater to as wide market as possible, I find it extremely unlikely that any sizeable number of gamers would have been complaining about the Wii or the DS.
TL:DR a washed-out industry analysts has no clue about this specific case and is still butthurt over online abuse he received in 2006 when he correctly predicted that Wii will be a major success, so he rambles nonsense.
