If you want to know the reason for Diablo's delay, you really don't have to look much further than the 2011Q4 numbers across the video game industry. Down like 20% from 2010. Blizzard has already lost like 2 million subs from WoW, I imagine on their next call, they'll be down another 400-600k in subs simply based upon this (completely ignoring any SWTOR effect). So, if this is the case, imagine them putting extra resources into a known profit maker and taking a little away from one that can be put on hold for a few weeks/months. Also, look at all the other titles from other game companies that have been delayed already this year. Seems like there might be a little bit of soft panic in the industry with the poor showing. (I think the pandas in wow are a desperate gamble to rekindle interest in something they see as reaching the end of its life cycle)
If you remember the Blizzard release schedule that was leaked last year, they are already behind on like 2 or 3 other releases (SC2 expansion, most notably), so it's not hard to imagine that everything has fallen behind. Again. I'd possibly point to the big drop in WoW subscriptions as a contributing factor. They don't release a lot of games, so they rely on that constant revenue stream. If it dries up a little, imagine the impact it'd have.
You can also look at some of the blue posts. The follower system is being totally revamped (survivable after normal) - imagine the issues that creates with the latter difficulties. You'd have to reduce the player effectiveness and/or up the monster effectiveness to compensate. It's a decent sized change to make.
And the retooling of the socket system. That has to be a lenghty process. Some of the runestones make no sense or are just dumb. The demon hunter one that are all various on shadow beasts? Get a little creative would you. Some of the damage numbers seem way off on a few of them too.
The "balance" issue is a bunch of hooey. WoW has been out for, what, 6 years and it still isn't balanced in their eyes. Look at some of the previous builds of this game. Upping damage 1% here, lowering it 1% there - that's not balancing, that's just minor tinkering (ie wasting time). There will be tons of patches post release - there is no real need to hold up anything for a balance reason, when that is easily patched every tuesday until they are happy with it.
Blizzard surrenders after six bitter months, gives up RMAH in smallest asian market
There, fixed the headline.
biggest asian market? troll much?
china...japan...india...indonesia... geography much either?
lol
Please, wished, enlighten us once again with your superior knowledge and illuminate why india, indonesia and japan are more important than korea, despite SK having over 10x the blizzard players of all of those countries combined.
Feel free to share how blizz can circumvent the need to have a partner in the PRC and can run the RMAH there while you're at it.
Blizzard surrenders after six bitter months, gives up RMAH in smallest asian market
There, fixed the headline.
biggest asian market? troll much?
china...japan...india...indonesia... geography much either?
lol
Please, wished, enlighten us once again with your superior knowledge and illuminate why india, indonesia and japan are more important than korea, despite SK having over 10x the blizzard players of all of those countries combined.
Feel free to share how blizz can circumvent the need to have a partner in the PRC and can run the RMAH there while you're at it.
link of more blizz players in SK then japan? or of course it didnt happen
and more blizz players in SK then CHINA? really? you seriously need to have your brain examined if you think that buddy.
SK is the 3rd largest blizz player zone in asia. china and japan both have more people playing blizzard games. so sayings its the largest is laughable when china is worth at least 10 korea's.
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
You definitely could be right about there being more players in Japan or China, but imho it wouldn't be a crazy mistake to make because the level of fanaticism they have in SK for Blizzard products is insane.
I heard the divergence in the SK and Japanese gaming scenes was a result of a trade embargo that for years prevented any Japanese consoles from hitting the SK market, thus allowing PC gaming to thrive. But I don't know if that is true either.
Pretty sure WoW isn't even in the top three of mmo's in China, but the sheer number of people there is also pretty insane.
You definitely could be right about there being more players in Japan or China, but imho it wouldn't be a crazy mistake to make because the level of fanaticism they have in SK for Blizzard products is insane.
I heard the divergence in the SK and Japanese gaming scenes was a result of a trade embargo that for years prevented any Japanese consoles from hitting the SK market, thus allowing PC gaming to thrive. But I don't know if that is true either.
Pretty sure WoW isn't even in the top three of mmo's in China, but the sheer number of people there is also pretty insane.
regardless of SK being higher then japan, china has always been the top leader in blizz gaming since they got access to WoW so saying SK beats china is an oxymoron in gaming.
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
Uh... by a truly huge multiple, whether or not you know how to google.
You're just embarassing yourself. Please, educate yourself a little on the fact that Blizzard products have been a significant part of Korean culture for the past dozen years, and try to learn about the fact that Blizzard needs to work with a partner by law in China before digging even deeper.
protip: mongolia is a much "bigger" asian country than SK, but still not much of a market for blizzard. you're welcome.
Uh... by a truly huge multiple, whether or not you know how to google.
You're just embarassing yourself. Please, educate yourself a little on the fact that Blizzard products have been a significant part of Korean culture for the past dozen years, and try to learn about the fact that Blizzard needs to work with a partner by law in China before digging even deeper.
protip: mongolia is a much "bigger" asian country than SK, but still not much of a market for blizzard. you're welcome.
just when i thought you couldnt be any more of a tool you go and say "protip" lmfao
but seriously you said "biggest asian market" which its not even close to china. china is an asian market yes? and the worlds biggest asian market. so please stop embarrassing yourself by doing your usual steps of replying and only commenting on one specific thing out of context. you made an incorrect statement bud, i corrected you, move on man and get over yourself.
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
Wished, if you had even the smallest business experience with the PRC, you would know that no foreign company can own an outpost there outright. You would also know that Bliz has had plenty of drama with regulators, has moved on from their old partner, only makes pennies relative to dollars on WoW timecards, hasn't really monetized the other titles like SC, while they have made hundreds of millions in SK and have a 100% owned office there... But you don't. Because you don't know your ass from your elbow about any of the above subjects.
Wished, if you had even the smallest business experience with the PRC, you would know that no foreign company can own an outpost there outright. You would also know that Bliz has had plenty of drama with regulators, has moved on from their old partner, only makes pennies relative to dollars on WoW timecards, hasn't really monetized the other titles like SC, while they have made hundreds of millions in SK and have a 100% owned office there... But you don't. Because you don't know your ass from your elbow about any of the above subjects.
your beating around the bush like a politician and not talking directly answering anything ive said. let me break it down REAL simple
you said south korea is the biggest, CHINA is in fact the biggest. ergo YOU ARE WRONG. get over it dude, stop getting so butt hurt about being wrong and trying to compensate for your severe lack of masculinity through beating a dead horse about something your wrong about on a video game forum. jesus man you need a girl friend or some social interaction.
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
Wished, I'm feeling charitable, so I'll try one last time, please read slowly.
There is no way to monetize a non-subscription game in the PRC in china, and even when you do have a hit MMO, like WoW, you need to work with a partner - you can't own a majority stake in a PRC company. So that means your upside, despite many potential players, means much, much less cash than south korea - a country where Blizzard made tons of cash going back to Starcraft in the 90s.
Hence, any normal person whose business experience went beyond yours - as an fetal-oxygen-deprived teenager - would call the market where you could potentially sell a hundred million bucks worth of d3 instead of maybe, hopefully a few million a bigger market.
The fact that I'm bothering to educate you despite your confident assertion that SK was a smaller asian market for bliz than indonesia speaks to my deeply humanitarian and truly magnanimous nature. Have a good weekend.
Wished, I'm feeling charitable, so I'll try one last time, please read slowly.
There is no way to monetize a non-subscription game in the PRC in china, and even when you do have a hit MMO, like WoW, you need to work with a partner - you can't own a majority stake in a PRC company. So that means your upside, despite many potential players, means much, much less cash than south korea - a country where Blizzard made tons of cash going back to Starcraft in the 90s.
Hence, any normal person whose business experience went beyond yours - as an fetal-oxygen-deprived teenager - would call the market where you could potentially sell a hundred million bucks worth of d3 instead of maybe, hopefully a few million a bigger market.
The fact that I'm bothering to educate you despite your confident assertion that SK was a smaller asian market for bliz than indonesia speaks to my deeply humanitarian and truly magnanimous nature. Have a good weekend.
i was simply naming the other markets in asia because you acted like SK was the only one. and its not even close to the biggest one as we all know.
you have zero evidence to back up ANYTHING you are saying as far as blizzard making more money in south korea VS china. its common knowledge that china is THE biggest consumer/user of blizzard products as a whole so for you to even TRY to argue otherwise is hilarious without any proof at all. come back with specific TRUE statistics proving your insane theory of blizz making more money in SK than china and then you can act all high n mighty, until then your STILL wrong buddy. soz. gl with that whole overly eccentric douche bag attitude you got going on, im sure your a big hoot in person
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
rofl... an article about the partners in china PROVES they make more money in south korea? i see nothing in their stating "the earnings in south korea are more then the earnings in china" which is exactly what you would need to prove your retarded theory. are you trying to sound retarded gheed?
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
Could you 2 maybe argue via PM? Not to sound like an ass... I actually find it quite funny to read how you both go all out nerdrage on each other... but well it doesnt contribute to the topic.
Oh and to add some oil to the fire... SK is the biggest market for Blizz in Asia by far.
lol i know we shouldnt of said anyt of this on a thread, most likely will get deleted. BUT again, need a link to prove that blizz makes more in SK than china, otherwise its just like randomly saying america spends the most on toilet paper, without any link to prove it. considering how many millions of subs are in china alone for WoW it just isnt possible that SK is bigger.
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
From the business perspective, China market is not essential to Blizzard. (the above teamliquid link)
LMFAO. i didnt read the whole first article at first, just skimmed it. then at the very end this shiny gem of a quote:
"Let's say Korean and Taiwanese (two major independent servers in Asia other than Chinese) count 2%, China is the rest 5%"
making china over 2.5 times the subs of WoW than korea which paying monthly for something adds up to millions more then one time fees for SC2. now this is just more speculation from the person who wrote the article but your OWN article link condemns your theory of korea making them more money. lolol
again you have yet to PROVE anything. go google until you find "korea earnings make more for blizzard than china" and proof that goes with it or else your -still wrong sir-
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"once the pretty hardcore gamers we had testing inferno found it fairly difficult, we then we doubled it" -trolololol jay wilson
There, fixed the headline.
biggest asian market? troll much?
china...japan...india...indonesia... geography much either?
lol
This makes a bit of sense.
Please, wished, enlighten us once again with your superior knowledge and illuminate why india, indonesia and japan are more important than korea, despite SK having over 10x the blizzard players of all of those countries combined.
Feel free to share how blizz can circumvent the need to have a partner in the PRC and can run the RMAH there while you're at it.
link of more blizz players in SK then japan? or of course it didnt happen
and more blizz players in SK then CHINA? really? you seriously need to have your brain examined if you think that buddy.
SK is the 3rd largest blizz player zone in asia. china and japan both have more people playing blizzard games. so sayings its the largest is laughable when china is worth at least 10 korea's.
http://www.bloomberg...id=a2JvzciDnpB4
You definitely could be right about there being more players in Japan or China, but imho it wouldn't be a crazy mistake to make because the level of fanaticism they have in SK for Blizzard products is insane.
I heard the divergence in the SK and Japanese gaming scenes was a result of a trade embargo that for years prevented any Japanese consoles from hitting the SK market, thus allowing PC gaming to thrive. But I don't know if that is true either.
Pretty sure WoW isn't even in the top three of mmo's in China, but the sheer number of people there is also pretty insane.
regardless of SK being higher then japan, china has always been the top leader in blizz gaming since they got access to WoW so saying SK beats china is an oxymoron in gaming.
Uh... by a truly huge multiple, whether or not you know how to google.
You're just embarassing yourself. Please, educate yourself a little on the fact that Blizzard products have been a significant part of Korean culture for the past dozen years, and try to learn about the fact that Blizzard needs to work with a partner by law in China before digging even deeper.
protip: mongolia is a much "bigger" asian country than SK, but still not much of a market for blizzard. you're welcome.
just when i thought you couldnt be any more of a tool you go and say "protip" lmfao
but seriously you said "biggest asian market" which its not even close to china. china is an asian market yes? and the worlds biggest asian market. so please stop embarrassing yourself by doing your usual steps of replying and only commenting on one specific thing out of context. you made an incorrect statement bud, i corrected you, move on man and get over yourself.
your beating around the bush like a politician and not talking directly answering anything ive said. let me break it down REAL simple
you said south korea is the biggest, CHINA is in fact the biggest. ergo YOU ARE WRONG. get over it dude, stop getting so butt hurt about being wrong and trying to compensate for your severe lack of masculinity through beating a dead horse about something your wrong about on a video game forum. jesus man you need a girl friend or some social interaction.
There is no way to monetize a non-subscription game in the PRC in china, and even when you do have a hit MMO, like WoW, you need to work with a partner - you can't own a majority stake in a PRC company. So that means your upside, despite many potential players, means much, much less cash than south korea - a country where Blizzard made tons of cash going back to Starcraft in the 90s.
Hence, any normal person whose business experience went beyond yours - as an fetal-oxygen-deprived teenager - would call the market where you could potentially sell a hundred million bucks worth of d3 instead of maybe, hopefully a few million a bigger market.
The fact that I'm bothering to educate you despite your confident assertion that SK was a smaller asian market for bliz than indonesia speaks to my deeply humanitarian and truly magnanimous nature. Have a good weekend.
i was simply naming the other markets in asia because you acted like SK was the only one. and its not even close to the biggest one as we all know.
you have zero evidence to back up ANYTHING you are saying as far as blizzard making more money in south korea VS china. its common knowledge that china is THE biggest consumer/user of blizzard products as a whole so for you to even TRY to argue otherwise is hilarious without any proof at all. come back with specific TRUE statistics proving your insane theory of blizz making more money in SK than china and then you can act all high n mighty, until then your STILL wrong buddy. soz. gl with that whole overly eccentric douche bag attitude you got going on, im sure your a big hoot in person
http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=98273
rofl... an article about the partners in china PROVES they make more money in south korea? i see nothing in their stating "the earnings in south korea are more then the earnings in china" which is exactly what you would need to prove your retarded theory. are you trying to sound retarded gheed?
lol i know we shouldnt of said anyt of this on a thread, most likely will get deleted. BUT again, need a link to prove that blizz makes more in SK than china, otherwise its just like randomly saying america spends the most on toilet paper, without any link to prove it. considering how many millions of subs are in china alone for WoW it just isnt possible that SK is bigger.
http://askakorean.blogspot.com/2010/02/why-is-starcraft-popular-in-korea.html
From the business perspective, China market is not essential to Blizzard. (the above teamliquid link)
LMFAO. i didnt read the whole first article at first, just skimmed it. then at the very end this shiny gem of a quote:
"Let's say Korean and Taiwanese (two major independent servers in Asia other than Chinese) count 2%, China is the rest 5%"
making china over 2.5 times the subs of WoW than korea which paying monthly for something adds up to millions more then one time fees for SC2. now this is just more speculation from the person who wrote the article but your OWN article link condemns your theory of korea making them more money. lolol
again you have yet to PROVE anything. go google until you find "korea earnings make more for blizzard than china" and proof that goes with it or else your -still wrong sir-
special bonus english-as-first-language protip: you're