WoW Loses 600K Subscribers in the 2013 Second Quarter

In the latest earnings release, World of Warcraft is down to 7.7 Mio subscribers. This means a total loss of 600,000 subscribers from 8.3 Mio last quarter. WoW has definitely seen better days, as at one point they had over 12 million subscribers, and since then that number is rapidly dwindling.

Activision Blizzard Purchases Shares From Vivendi

Activision Blizzard is purchasing 429 Mio shares from Vivendi for $5.8 billion. The purchase is financed with $1.2 billion of cash that was on hand and $4.6 billion of debt proceeds, leaving them with a $1.4 billion of net debt at the end of the deal in September 2013. With huge subscriber drops each quarter, it was not the best time to completely separate from Vivendi.

Countermeasures

The launch of an in-game store by Blizzard in 5.4 which is supposed to offer convenience items, such as the Elixir increasing XP in Asian regions.

Transmog items added to theBlizzard Store. Earlier this month, helmets were added to the online store for $15 each.

It’s time to introduce another AnnualPass, if Blizzard wants to lose less subscribers next quarter. Things look grim for Blizzard. Despite the vastly improved game quality in Mists of Pandaria they still arent able to counter their subscriber drops as more and more players stop playing the game, growing tired of the same content. We know that Titan development was restarted from scratch, this means WoW will need to endure a bit longer.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to WoW’s subscriber rate once Blizzard implements in-game microtransactions. After all, it’s very possible that they could end up driving the subscriber numbers down faster, but at the same time if the people who stay start buying items in-game then it’s possible that those transactions could offset the loss of revenue from the subscribers. Only time will tell. For more information you can visit the official site.

2013 Dragon Slayer Awards Voting now is beginning Blizzard community has been nominated

The Dragon Slayer Awards are 100% user nominated and user voted. They focus on community managers, community builders and, most importantly, the community members of gaming. The Dragon Slayer Awards 2013 opened up voting polls to choose the winners of several notable gaming categories such as:

Most Passionate Fan Base

Top Community Management team

Community Manager of the Year

Notable Gaming Personality

World of Warcraft is among the Most Passionate Fan Base category, Several Blizzard Entertainment community managers have been nominated to the 2013 Dragon Slayer Awards. And the category for Community Managers of the Year contains: Netahera, Bashiok, Zarhym, Vaeflare, Rygarius, Daxxari, and Nakatoir.

Notable Gaming Personality — Sha of Happiness is up there against Felicia Day, Wil Wheaton, HuskyStarcraft and Totalbiscuit.

In the Machinima category is WoWCrendor and The Guild and the most notable gaming comic features WTF Comics, The Daily Brink and Penny Arcade.

Voting runs from early July, 2013 through September 2nd, 2013.For more information about game you can visit the official site.

Blizzard releases the activities Schedule for 2013 San Diego Comic-Con

Why almost all the game players that are interested in Blizzard’s latest trends? The reason maybe Blizzard Entertainment is the creators of Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft. Earlier they announced that they were going to be attending/exhibiting at the San Diego Comic-Con, if you’re headed to the San Diego Comic Con this year, make sure to take time for Blizzard! The official blog has just posted the schedule of events for SDCC 2013. Blizzard will be located at booth #115 this year, and will have plenty of books for sale right along with the merchandise we saw previewed last week. Along with the Blizzard booth, the Funko Booth (#5343) will have the Shadow Illidan figure for sale, Sideshow (#1929) will have a fully painted Diablo statue on display as well as a first look at Deathwing, and Insight Editions (#1134) will be holding a daily random drawing to give away a copy of The Art of Blizzard, as well as showing off spreads from the upcoming Diablo: Book of Tyrael.

Thursday, July 18

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Art of Blizzard Signing

Wei Wang and Glenn Rane will be signing copies of “Art of Blizzard,” which you can buy at the booth. The Art of Blizzard details some of the most iconic artwork Blizzard has produced over the years in this full-color compilation.

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m – World of Warcraft Tribute Signings (UDON booth #4529)

A selection of top-flight artists will be on hand to sign and maybe even sketch in your copy of World of Warcraft Tribute. Tribute artists scheduled to appear include Justin Bechtold, Kevin Cameron, Sean Galloway, Matt Grigsby, Dax Gordine, Gregory Higerd, Don Ho, Edwin Huang, Arun Naina, AJ Nazzaro, Laura Rivera, Emmanuel Fuentes, Patrick Scullin, and Arnold Tsang. (Subject to change)

2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. – Blizzard Licensing Panel (Hall 6BCF)

Chris Metzen (Blizzard Entertainment SVP Story and Franchise Development) and a team of esteemed guests reveal never-before-seen licensed products and plans for 2013/2014. Talk to the designers, writers and artists as we dig into toys, novels, comics, statues, and more. Panel and extended game Q&A session moderated by Kat Hunter (host of BlizzCon coverage on DIRECTV).

4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – UDON World of Warcraft Tribute Art Book Signings

Come by the Blizzard booth to meet artists Justin Bechtold, Ginny Higerd, and Arun Naina, whose art is featured in the World of Warcraft Tribute fanart book, curated by UDON.

Friday, July 19

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – World of Warcraft: Dark Riders Signing

Writer Mike Costa will be signing your World of Warcraft: Dark Riders comics at the Blizzard booth.

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m – World of Warcraft Tribute Signings (UDON booth #4529)

A selection of top-flight artists will be on hand to sign and maybe even sketch in your copy of World of Warcraft Tribute. Tribute artists scheduled to appear include Justin Bechtold, Kevin Cameron, Sean Galloway, Matt Grigsby, Dax Gordine, Gregory Higerd, Don Ho, Edwin Huang, Arun Naina, AJ Nazzaro, Laura Rivera, Emmanuel Fuentes, Patrick Scullin, and Arnold Tsang. (Subject to change)

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde Signing

Give us your best troll impression when you pick up your copy of this newly released book and have it signed by author Mike Stackpole. Ya, mon!

4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – Pearl of Pandaria Signing

Blizzard’s Micky Neilson and artist Sean Galloway join forces to sign their NY Times Bestselling original graphic novel, featuring the Pandarian adventures of Li Li Stormstout.

Saturday, July 20

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. – Art of Blizzard Signing

Chris Metzen, Bill Petras, and Roman Kenney will be pleased to sign their name in your book!

1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m – World of Warcraft Tribute Signings (UDON booth #4529)

A selection of top-flight artists will be on hand to sign and maybe even sketch in your copy of World of Warcraft Tribute. Tribute artists scheduled to appear include Justin Bechtold, Kevin Cameron, Sean Galloway, Matt Grigsby, Dax Gordine, Gregory Higerd, Don Ho, Edwin Huang, Arun Naina, AJ Nazzaro, Laura Rivera, Emmanuel Fuentes, Patrick Scullin, and Arnold Tsang. (Subject to change)

2:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. – Vol’jin: Shadows of the Horde Signing

Author Mike Stackpole will be signing his newly released book for attendees.For more information about online game you can visit the official site.

Blizzard is running a 50% off sale Only this week for all of WOW services

Are you still looking to do any World of Warcraft race changes, name changes, appearance changes, or server transfers, there’s no time like the present. More specifically Blizzard Entertainment announced the discount yesterday but it will only be available for a limited time. Character Transfers, Faction Changes, Races Changes, Appearance Changes, and Name Changes are all 50 percent off until June 10, 2013. Normal and discounted prices are as follows:

Character Transfers, the movement of one character to a different realm normally costs $25. Discounted this service should be about $12.50.

Faction Changes, the switching of factions from either Horde to Alliance or Alliance to Horde normally costs $30. Discounted this service should be $15.

Race Changes, the transformation from one race to another available to the original character’s faction normally costs $25. Discounted this service should cost $12.50.

Appearance Changes, the ability to re-customize the player character normally costs $15. Discounted the service should cost about $7.50.

Name Changes, the opportunity to change a character’s name normally costs $10. Discounted the service should cost $5.

Denizens of Azeroth from on US or EU region can enjoy the 50 percent discount. Sale ends June 10th 2013! Buy Seize the Time！Click read more for all the details! 

Top 10 best Movies of All Time suitable for MMO fans

Every year thousands of new movies are released, old favourites are replayed, obscure indies capture our hearts, movies that we once knew are updated until they’re unrecognisable. We’re fickle but we believe Classics never go out of style. MMOs haven’t quite gotten popular enough to spawn their own sub-genre of films, apart from the odd fan project or the long-rumored World of Warcraft flick. That doesn’t mean that we’re lacking good movie role models for our hobby, however. I think that there are plenty of films that are perfectly suited for the MMO fan, even if they’ve never been thought of as such.

So here are 10 films that speak to us as gamers. To make things interesting, I excluded any movie that shares the same IP as an MMO. Read this list and let me know what you would pick!

1. Tron Legacy

Tron Legacy and its forefather Tron are good-looking if somewhat below-average films that explore a secret world that lives inside computers. Hey, this started back in 1982 when computers were barely understood by the public, so for all anyone knew, little people could have actually formed a society inside the gigantic metal boxes that perched on our desks.

2. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

You might be thinking that I picked this film because of how prevalent Asian MMOs are in the genre. And sure, you’d have a point, but I like to think of this as a multi-layered selection. CTHD shows off the fluid beauty of physics-defying movement and fighting, both of which are staples of MMOs.

3. Weird Science

At first glance, John Hughes’ wacky sci-fi/teen comedy Weird Science may not seem appropriate for this list, but it’s the character of Lisa I think merits inclusion. The creation of a virtual persona — our character, our toon, or our avatar — reflects our personal wants, desires, and fantasies.

4. In the Mouth of Madness

MMOs have an interesting relationship with horror that I’d like to explore more in depth at a later juncture. Suffice it to say, I’m including this particular Lovecraft-esque flick because it does the same thing that scary games attempt to do: draw us in, blur the lines of reality, and then mess with our heads.

5. Battle Royale

Battle Royale takes a class full of teens, puts them on an island, and makes them fight to the death.

6. The Princess Bride

The Princess Bride nominally a fantasy, and not only does it poke great fun at romantic tropes ,but it also injects a lot of humor into its setting.

7. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World represents a complete blurring of games with reality.

8. Cube

This might be the least-known film on this list, but it’s definitely worth your time. Cube is an interesting sci-fi/thriller in which strangers wake up in a prison made of interlocking cubes. Some of the cubes contain deadly traps, and there’s an urgency to find the exit before one starves or dies of thirst.

9. The Wizard of Oz

If I had to point to a movie to be a complete representation of all that is MMOs, it would have to be the Wizard of Oz.

10. The Care Bears Movie

You know, the term “care bear” gets thrown around as if it’s a pejorative in MMOs, but have you watched this movie? They’re hardcore, yo. They will care you to death if you don’t watch out, and their stares are the stuff of legends.Click read more for all the game details!

Top ten Popular Games in Korea– May 2013

So what are the Top Korean Games? According to the statistics from Korean search website Gametrics, here is the list with the most popular games in Korea for the week that just passed.

The first game I will not comment, It’s first in all the world, League of Legends has been keeping the NO.1 seat for 42 weeks and the occupancy reaches almost 40%,it doesn’t surprise me being first in Korea too. Surprisingly ArcheAge has been out of the list and taken place by Diablo III. Sudden Attack, FIFA OL 3, Aion, Blade & Soul, Star Craft II, Lineage, Warcraft, Cyphers in second to ninth places.

The beast of the west, know also as World of Warcraft doesn’t seem to be doing so well in the Korean Game, we can’t find it at the top ten list.
If you are looking for a full guide on all professions and a complete leveling guide for online game then check out

How to think about the future of WoW animations

I’ve been a big supporter of wow due to they have so many moves with so wonderful animations Now the game animations market competition is extremely intense so WoW needs new animations?

The argument could be made that WoW’s animations are pretty good. Making a change simply for change’s sake would be a diversion of resources. But it seems to me that, with all the talk about updating character models, there’s at least some room to discuss updating our attacks as well. Most classes use the chosen race’s special attacks (you can see what they are by using a model viewer program, or Wowhead’s model viewer) with specific ones like Dragon Stomp, Special1h, Special2h, and so on.

Each race has a directed spell case, a omnidirectional spell cast, reactions to various effects like drowning, being strangled. These animations have been expanded over the years as new abilities have been added – it would be a mistake to think World of Warcraft is using the exact same animations it had when the game launched. A great deal of work has already gone into the art assets for character animations, especially as new races and classes have expanded the game.

These animations are often made more distinctive by the addition of spell effects – for example, a paladin using Divine Storm and a warrior using Whirlwind use the same basic attack animation, but the paladin’s attack incorporates spell elements of the Holy Light and glowing hammers whirling around him to make his attack distinct from the warrior. The question becomes, is that enough? And do we need class specific animations, or simply more animations across the board?

Honestly, I advocate a mix of the two approaches. I think we should probably have each class get at least one animation only that class uses, potentially for a new ability that will help up the class distinctiveness, but I also feel a couple of new specials per race would help as well. I’m not heedless of how animations have expanded over the years, so I don’t think the system needs a total revamp the way some argue for character models. Visual flair is surprisingly important to players, and it extends past how they look in their gear, it also includes how they look in play.  They should add some new elements in whatever the next expansion turns out to be could definitely benefit the game, especially if it provided some individuality per class or racial choice.

I think it’s great to see that Blizzard realizes that the same old animations aren’t going to cut it as we move further along with this game and it’s great to see some new moves while fighting.If you are looking for a full guide on all professions and a complete leveling guide for wow then check out

What’s your favorite death in World of Warcraft

When people hear the death will very likely be depressed and might feel horribly isolated. But death is everywhere in games, death produces focus and causes change. Without death a game has no purpose, no reason to pick up the gun and no sense of motion. Without death there are no wins. There is only activity. So what’s your favorite ways to die in World of Warcraft? We consulted the WoW Insider team as well as some of our extended network of friends and compiled the best answers into this list.

WoW can be so beautiful that sometimes we forget it’s a game. A game that can kill you so sometimes we find ourselves exploring, wandering, or accidentally autorunning to our doom. Oops. Many — most, in fact — of our so-called “favorite” deaths seem to involve untimely falls.

Sarah Pine: My favorite way of having died was when I first made it to Hellfire Peninsula at 60, running around on my mount exploring (flying was at 70 at that time!), I leaped over a little hill only to find that there was no more land on the other side, because that was the edge of the continent. You fall for a while off of Hellfire before you actually die, I found out.

Anne Stickney: Once I decided to see if Outland had invisible walls around the edges. Um, for the record, it does NOT.

Matthew Rossi: I like dying by pulling just a little too much trash in an old raid. Like the time I tried to pull every single mob in the Harem section ofBlackTempleup to Mother and they stunlocked me to death. Now I know!

Kristin Marshall: My favorite WoW deaths usually involve epic rocket boot powered pulls gone wrong.

Olivia Grace: My favorite WoW death was actually several deaths, which weren’t funny at all at the time, but are hilarious to look back on…. tanking magmaw, before the fixed his aggro, you had to hit his head a little, and then when he lifted back up get aggro on his reset body as fast as you possibly could.

Allison Robert: I watched a warlock jump a warrior in PvP and die to his/her own spell after the warrior cannily Spell Reflected it. It was glorious.

A game with no negative consequence is also a game that cannot meaningfully change. Its storysense is empty and the whole thing feels easy. It’s not just that winning needs the sensation of losing to counterbalance it. It’s that the situation of the game itself is without purpose. So bring death into your game if it is not there. Challenge your players. Give them something to live for and some ways to die. Let them feel that Zen, and make a world for them that lets them sense motion, reincarnation and change. Maybe your own deaths don’t seem quite so bad in comparison to ours. Have any favorite deaths of your own?If you are looking for a full guide on all professions and a complete leveling guide for wow then check out