Curse

therangereminem · Jun 08, 2009, 06:32 PM // 18:32

Blizzard has walked over a mine in China. They broke of the deal with The9, which is the company that handles the localized version of WoW in China and now The9 have sued Blizzard in the Chinese courts. According to Chinese media all WoW servers have been shut down for transfer of hardware to another company, but that is going to take a couple of weeks. But that?s only a small part of Blizzards problem. Servers going down for 3-4 weeks, making Blizzard loose many customers over to its rivals, especially the newly released Aion, which at the end of May reached a staggering 3,3 million subscribers only after 2 months of its release in China. Blizzard's other headache is that The9 is keeping its 5 million subscribers hostage until the matter is solved. No one really knows when that will happen. The9 and Blizzard are set to meet in Shanghai Pudong's Supreme Court on June 18th, 2009. If matters are not solved and things drags on there is a chance that Blizzard will pull out from China and consequently loose 5 million of its player base.

Link: http://news.mmosite.com/content/2009...524231,1.shtml

Titled Edited to hurt the eyes less.

haggus71 · Jun 08, 2009, 11:20 PM // 23:20

Don't eff with the PRC. China can afford to lose Blizzard. Blizzard can't afford to lose China. Once again, a bunch of white guys thinking it's just like America. GG.

Abedeus · Jun 09, 2009, 04:54 AM // 04:54

I wouldn't be surprised if 5 mln of these people, even in 25%, go to Aion. Would be kinda funny.

Ghost Omel · Jun 09, 2009, 03:33 PM // 15:33

If what above poster said comes true then we wont have WoW vs GW anymore....we will have Aion vs GW =)

pumpkin pie · Jun 09, 2009, 04:02 PM // 16:02

WoW server closed in China, Aion Launch its beta, all the disappointed Chinese goes to play Aion, and tada, WoW dies. and Guild Wars rules.

headlesshobbs · Jun 09, 2009, 09:28 PM // 21:28

Strange irony this is...

Winterclaw · Jun 09, 2009, 10:06 PM // 22:06

If WoW loses all of its china accounts, would that make GW the most popular MMO?

Qing Guang · Jun 09, 2009, 10:21 PM // 22:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winterclaw

If WoW loses all of its china accounts, would that make GW the most popular MMO?

No, because WoW will still have 6.5 mil to our 6 mil... and where their current 11.5 mil is active accounts (IIRC), our 6 mil is total copies sold... including campaigns added to existing accounts, copies bought for alt accounts, and copies bought by people who no longer play.

I don't think this will take WoW down at all; that's wishful thinking. For one thing, I'm sure Blizz has great lawyers and is smart enough to settle where necessary. For another, while a lot of people might go over to Aion, it's highly unlikely that all of them (or even the majority) will. Lastly, even IF all that happened, WoW'd still have over half its playerbase left and would still have plenty of funding. In short, WoW ain't gonna die until something that takes its formula and markedly improves on it comes along.

Kumu Honua · Jun 09, 2009, 11:41 PM // 23:41

How will anyone play WoW without the gold farmers?

fenix · Jun 10, 2009, 12:35 AM // 00:35

WoW losing China is like Usain Bolt losing his legs.

Gogo Aion.

headlesshobbs · Jun 10, 2009, 01:18 AM // 01:18

Screw Aion, GO GW!

haggus71 · Jun 10, 2009, 01:25 AM // 01:25

re Blizzard's lawyers:

You know what an American lawyer means in the PRC? Diddly. The Chinese courts always side with the indigenous company. That's why MOST companies do their best to keep GOOD relations with the companies they work with there. Besides, the PRC now have the largest internet market, shoving us into second. We are a static market. They are a growth market.

I do agree that, ten to one, Blizz kisses some major ass so that 9 comes out of this much the richer, and their deal goes through. To do anything else would mean their heads are REALLY where the sun don't shine!

therangereminem · Jun 10, 2009, 03:42 PM // 15:42

even if this didnt happen aionis startig to rule the mmo scene. with almost4 million china accounts and the 2 million korean acounts in less then a year aion is coming strong and now that japon aaussies and eu and n/a coming out within the next 4 months i woudl say a good 14 million+ world wide in less then a year so not that bad

Buster · Jun 11, 2009, 12:07 AM // 00:07

I dunno Blizzard always seems to be able to dodge the bullets but perhaps this time is different. Don't matter to me because I'll be playing Aion.

Zahr Dalsk · Jun 11, 2009, 04:48 AM // 04:48

Well this is interesting.

Personally I'm hoping that when it comes out, TOR crushes them all and brings in everyone, but that's just because I love BioWare.

Ghost Dog · Jun 12, 2009, 12:01 AM // 00:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by haggus71

Don't eff with the PRC. China can afford to lose Blizzard. Blizzard can't afford to lose China. Once again, a bunch of white guys thinking it's just like America. GG.

Yeah don't eff with them, they will undercut you and counterfeit your national currency (sponsored by the government) then try to force you to accept a cheap deal.

Blizzard didn't feel like being ripped off like many others were.Just a bunch of Chinese thinking they can rip off someone else.

I don't even want to know how many of the "players" on those servers are making slave wage farming gold.

MMSDome · Jun 12, 2009, 02:58 AM // 02:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost Dog

Yeah don't eff with them, they will undercut you and counterfeit your national currency (sponsored by the government) then try to force you to accept a cheap deal.

Blizzard didn't feel like being ripped off like many others were.Just a bunch of Chinese thinking they can rip off someone else.

I don't even want to know how many of the "players" on those servers are making slave wage farming gold.

You can call it a cheap deal but the simple fact is that they can do it.

Ghost Dog · Jun 12, 2009, 07:51 PM // 19:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMSDome

You can call it a cheap deal but the simple fact is that they can do it.

That is the truth.

Red Sonya · Jun 13, 2009, 09:24 AM // 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by pumpkin pie

WoW server closed in China, Aion Launch its beta, all the disappointed Chinese goes to play Aion, and tada, WoW dies. and Guild Wars rules.

Lol you wish! Even if WOW lost 5 million subscribers it would STILL BE THE NUMBER ONE MMORPG IN THE WORLD with SIX MILLION SUBSCRIBERS and GW would still be crutching along with its less than a million players. Selling 6 million copies and have 6 million SUBSCRIBERS A MONTH is a MAJOR difference in PROFITS dude. TOTALLY MAJOR and WOW has all that profit in spades for now an always.

daraaksii · Jun 13, 2009, 11:17 AM // 11:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red Sonya

Lol you wish! Even if WOW lost 5 million subscribers it would STILL BE THE NUMBER ONE MMORPG IN THE WORLD with SIX MILLION SUBSCRIBERS and GW would still be crutching along with its less than a million players. Selling 6 million copies and have 6 million SUBSCRIBERS A MONTH is a MAJOR difference in PROFITS dude. TOTALLY MAJOR and WOW has all that profit in spades for now an always.

Aion has 3,5 million subscribers ONLY in China, and they opened 2 months ago.

EU/NA servers to be opened on the 30th of september.

Also there is a Korean server too.

Way to go