Over the weekend, MOP reader Joey tipped us off to the news that the last major German World of Warcraft fansite has put a halt to publishing. Vanion.de had been running for over 11 years; the current editor cites both the current scandal and the design philosophies of the game and studio in recent months, though the latter are more prominent. With apologies for the Google translate:
“[A]ll that has happened in the last few weeks and months has led me to the decision that I have the time that apparently has to pass so that Blizzard itself notices that something is not going right and manages to return to old values, does not want to spend negatively reporting the game, which I have really loved for a long time. […] What made World of Warcraft to me and what World of Warcraft was to me barely exists anymore. Either it’s me or just because Blizzard has to/wants/should go other ways in order to keep the game running for many years to come. Old people leave, new people come, the game is developing in one direction and if you disagree with it, then you have to live with it. I’ve lived with the current state of the game long enough to know that after almost 15 years I don’t seem to belong to the primary audience anymore. What a shame!”
That last line leaped out at me because it’s so close to how I feel about WoW: that over the course of several years, it made clear to me that I’m not the audience it wants, and so years ago I left for other MMOs that do want me (and my money). It’s a weirdly freeing feeling, even before the scandals made everything so much worse, and I’m not sure it happened all at once. I didn’t wake up one morning and have an epiphany; I just deactivated during a drought as usual, and then just… didn’t ever go back. And now it’s been years, and I can see more clearly why.
How do you know when it’s time to throw in the towel on your favorite MMO?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
