Subs isn't the whole picture, they've added a number of new services that do not undermine the legitimacy of the subscription model.
Most notably, and somewhat controversially, you can purchase a Level 90 boost for a fresh level 1 toon for $60 right now - and you get a complimentary boost by purchasing the expac. Some would say that's P2W, but as long as you don't get any endgame advantage whatsoever I think this will be a successful addition to the game. WoW is not going anywhere anytime soon. So long as they retain any semblance of stability in subs at all, they're going to keep coming up with optional paid services that will pad the coffers for years to come.
In terms of quality, this expac's pve content has been very strong. The raids as a whole far surpassed what we saw in Cata, both in terms of quantity and quality. The intro of CM dungeons was a huge step in the right direction to restoring challenging 5Man content to the game, and we saw lots of other good things like them finally merging dead realms to restore some community to those servers.
There were issues though. The "Legendary" cloak quest chain, was tedious and unnecessary. It makes alt toons very hard to maintain, and it's cumbersome for players returning late to the party to raid - not to mention the fundamental flaw in the concept of 'legendary' being compromised if everyone both can and is expected to get it. Class balance was really bad throughout the expac.
Warlocks were just way too good for both Tiers 15 and 16. I've never seen one dps class enjoy such sustained dominance since I started in early Wotlk - Top or near-top sustained singletarget/aoe, burst, single/aoe, survivability, and excellent utility. No weaknesses to speak of at all for this class, like the hard-hitting Mage's lack of survivability/utility. Why even play a Mage if Locks can do everything a Mage can, except more and better?
Finally, and this is the real kicker, we're six months into Siege of Orgrimmar already, and the tentative release date they mentioned is 'before Dec 20, 2014'. They bled a frustratingly high number of subs when ICC dragged on for an entire year. Why they would repeat that, is just beyond me.
WOD looks very good, just because they didn't add a new race or class there's still going to be a lot to do I reckon. But this wait is brutal, as a new GM of a 13/14h raiding guild, I'll be challenged to retain my playerbase for that long after we down Garrosh. These kinds of waits are just guild killers.
Subs isn't the whole picture, they've added a number of new services that do not undermine the legitimacy of the subscription model.
Most notably, and somewhat controversially, you can purchase a Level 90 boost for a fresh level 1 toon for $60 right now - and you get a complimentary boost by purchasing the expac. Some would say that's P2W, but as long as you don't get any endgame advantage whatsoever I think this will be a successful addition to the game. WoW is not going anywhere anytime soon. So long as they retain any semblance of stability in subs at all, they're going to keep coming up with optional paid services that will pad the coffers for years to come.
In terms of quality, this expac's pve content has been very strong. The raids as a whole far surpassed what we saw in Cata, both in terms of quantity and quality. The intro of CM dungeons was a huge step in the right direction to restoring challenging 5Man content to the game, and we saw lots of other good things like them finally merging dead realms to restore some community to those servers.
There were issues though. The "Legendary" cloak quest chain, was tedious and unnecessary. It makes alt toons very hard to maintain, and it's cumbersome for players returning late to the party to raid - not to mention the fundamental flaw in the concept of 'legendary' being compromised if everyone both can and is expected to get it. Class balance was really bad throughout the expac.
Warlocks were just way too good for both Tiers 15 and 16. I've never seen one dps class enjoy such sustained dominance since I started in early Wotlk - Top or near-top sustained singletarget/aoe, burst, single/aoe, survivability, and excellent utility. No weaknesses to speak of at all for this class, like the hard-hitting Mage's lack of survivability/utility. Why even play a Mage if Locks can do everything a Mage can, except more and better?
Finally, and this is the real kicker, we're six months into Siege of Orgrimmar already, and the tentative release date they mentioned is 'before Dec 20, 2014'. They bled a frustratingly high number of subs when ICC dragged on for an entire year. Why they would repeat that, is just beyond me.
WOD looks very good, just because they didn't add a new race or class there's still going to be a lot to do I reckon. But this wait is brutal, as a new GM of a 13/14h raiding guild, I'll be challenged to retain my playerbase for that long after we down Garrosh. These kinds of waits are just guild killers.