Losing subs is still a bad sign. Eventually they'll lose more and more until they can no longer justify keeping it open. Or they run ads in-game, or whatever last minute solution they come up with. It won't happen this year but it'll happen.

As for new blood IMO we just need another dev to sign a good license and make a good MMO out of it. If Blizz can anyone can with enough effort. And also imo WoW's graphics stink....too cartoony for my tastes....or too childish looking/etc....or at least what I saw of it looked that way. When they come out with graphics as good as or more akin to their ads then call me.

Titan scares me... Just look at what they've achieved with WoW. And that was their first game in the MMO genre! They were "inexperienced" when they made that thing. And everything they've learned from WoW in the past six years will be applied to Titan... *shudders*

I wouldn't be surprised if they did exactly that with the next expansion. With Cataclysm they re-did the entire original game and added an expansion's worth of new content... They're not afraid of making these expansions into HUGE projects, and people have been complaining about the graphics for years now, so that would be the next logical step.

Dude, they still offer 24/7 email / phone support for Diablo 2 and Starcraft!

Yes, eventually World of Warcraft will shut down. Eventually Everquest, Ultima Online, and Meridian 59 will shut down, too. I don't see why we should expect WoW to disappear any time soon.

Fuk theyll never upgrade that pixelated dull cartooney crap. Sorry but the graphics are always shite in that game. Look at the ads, then look at the game, then back at the ads. Heck even the damn front menus are better looking. Well lich king's was anyways.
Because everything overplayed eventually loses it's interesting quality and dies?

No offense, but that statement doesn't make any sense. They're not gonna update it because the graphics have always been crap?...

I don't see why it wouldn't be possible for them to do a graphical overhaul, and I think it'll happen sooner rather than later. Also, gameplay > graphics. This is why so many people keep playing WoW -- dated graphics are something you can take in stride when the gameplay is polished and smooth, and the game is as content/feature rich as WoW is.

It's not the quality but the style of graphics.....too cartoony imo. And even with a new style, sometimes people like a bit better graphics now and then. Yes story is best but graphics to an extent are important as well.

And if their userbase continues to fall what would make them want to upgrade the graphics?

But you like the art style of their ads? I don't think they look [url=http://media.mmo-champion.com/images/news/2011/june/bosses-shade-of-aran-full.jpg]realistic... But I've heard the "too cartoony" compaint before, and yeah, that is not gonna change. I do think though, that the art style was a huge factor in the game's longevity. They're not gonna lose 11 million players in a couple of months. Or years, for that matter. And a graphics overhaul would bring in new players as well as bring back retired players, just like Cataclysm did. They'll be hovering around the multi-million mark for years to come.

Yes, clearly now is the time to proclaim the impending death of a game with an eight-figure subscriber base. Despite that a number of MMOs have been running comfortably for considerably longer periods of time, none of which have ever come close to Warcraft's level of market penetration, brand recognition, or peak subscriber base, this one is about to crater so hard the dust will block out the sun. We know this because the game's subscription numbers were a few percentage points higher at some arbitrary date in the past.

Those random forum trolls in November 2004 who were screeching "this game is dying" at the tops of their virtual lungs? They were right, man. THEY WERE RIGHT.

By ads I meant the tv ads.

Also I didn't say they'd lose them all right away, but given time it will happen, and not in 5+ years but sooner.

Yea, aesthetics are more important than realistic graphics, especially for MMOs.

The Search for More Money, I see?

I activated the free 7 days a day or two ago, haven't played since January. Checking out the world right now. Looking nice! :)