http://games.tom.com/2007-01-10/00A6/04944238.html

Anyone can please check this article out and tell us how real it is ???

THX in advance

source reliable....
found alternate sources confirming same declaration.
so: latest May 1st.....
my guess, they will go for a holiday sale. so hopefully they'll make it for chinese new year. ^^

gratz everybody.
this also means i have enough time to level my little hunter and gear him for TBC ^^
and nak might even get his hands on at least 1 T3.... woho... ^^

i don't think so...

today , you can go on www.worldofwacraft.com and you will see official press statement by blizzard (8M wow players) saying that the date for china is to be realesed later and that the number of chinese player is 3.5M... They were supposed to be 5.5M before LOL...

Either the chinese wow players are massively leaving the game because no expansion or blizzard is trying to make their involvment in China looks smaller... Either case, it's bad news...

deadanus wrote:

Either the chinese wow players are massively leaving the game because no expansion or blizzard is trying to make their involvment in China looks smaller... Either case, it's bad news...

Frankly speaking, from a strictly commercial point of view, wow china should not be a juicy fruit: the average player fee earns far less that his world neighbors and the9 takes its commission. So I believe that a damn hard job for blizzard project management to coordinate its work with the 3 markets... and if it should be late here, its less important than in 欧洲 and 美国 (plus wow doesnt really fit the chinese customer demand, wow is too western for them)

I think spanish servers is a much smarter move: they can easily expand to south america.

I agree with you on the fact that chinese market is not as profitable as EU or US. The other problem is that the9 only pays a fee of 25% of their benefits to blizzard (25% is the number given by the9 official report and might be even less in reality).

The point were i disagree is when you say that WOW doesn't fit the cihnese gamer. In my opinion, WOW doesn't fit the US and EU majority of gamers. WOW is end game oriented. The only way to gain power and to have fun after getting 60 is to go for hardcore raiding. I know that 85% of US and EU players didn't even get to MC, which is considered to be a basical noob instance for chinese.

WOW is a wonderfull game for hardcore gamers and China is really the place to be to enjoy it.

When you see that a young server like server7 has people who downed cthun in less that 2 months, you can realize that WOW is complitly dominated by chinese gamers

i dunno the rates of chinese players who got to MC but i do know some who play a little while and considered after that it was too big time consumer. Anyway, thats not the reason for what I believe wow doesnt fit chinese players at best. The universe is really western style, the mobs like trolls or goblin cant be translated properly. Japanese have onis, chinese ghost are totally different of our conception of ghosts, even their dragons have different shapes and are usually good whereas ours are usually hostile. Churchs, paladins and priest are radically different of their monks and warriors. Plate armors were worn by european knights. We have a long history of engineering while wow engineer crafts ring no bell to them, they have directly been cast from middleage technologies to 20th century.

Its more than just my point of view, a lot of chinese with whom i talked say they dont like macdonalds or pizza because its too far from their culture. Even on TV, I saw some talk shows where chinese gives their opinion and say no to the tide of western culture.

I dont say its a commercial failure, I just say MMORPG should be more asian style to get more players and ensure their durability. This conception works because wow isnt a real RPG, its an arcade game; and being massive multiplayer, of course everybody likes especially chinese.

Still, and this is nothing but my two cents, Im among the people who likes leveling in peace, I dont think there is a life after lvl 60; raid instances are ugly and waste too much time to get everybody ready for an instance; why there isnt lvl 60 5p instances? when I connect, I can gather 4 others players in only 3mins (on average, sometimes faster). For MC and others, I must wait according to my guild schedule or wait for gold raid. I like the Dire Maul and LBRS but thats too few considering the many low lvl dungeons. And I do agree that playing BWL during 6 months in order to have 40 or 50 characters full T2, that is what we call hardcore... The only true feeling after lvl 60 is wild pvp, i admit thats great; but formatted BG and hardcore raid instances... damn, life is too short...

I played MMORPGs in China since 1998...
they ALWAYS have been either local chinese or Korean.

WoW is the first time exception in this. and hard ot believe or not, WoW DOES appeal them somehow. The gameplay is good, the translation was not a fluke and it was/is a success.

Blizzard makes less money per player in China than in the west, but it's a matter of notoriety. you talk from a commercial point of view without any apparent long term marketing in mind.
(sorry for the flame)

China is a country of which we all know that long term notoriety is worth half your business deal and your sales. One popular game in china, and a rather good Trademark here, even at a lower profit margin than in the west, can and will ensure market share for future game relases in the chinese market.
Blizzard has succeeded in what other western gaming companies have failed. To have a long term hit in China and taking market share off the korean / local games.

I can go on about this and give some sources later, but I am at work now, so i just dropped by for a quick post for deadanus to teach him to READ!

"The expansion will be available in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and Thailand the same week, with availability in mainland China and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau to be announced at a later date."

We all of a sudden are in the same bucket than TWN, MACAU and HKG. 2 Weeks ago we were not yet and we were excluded form statements that included those regions as it was already settled for them. we are now mentioned in one breath, to have alltogether one release date announced (please note, all these regions will have CHN as language, so i guess it's a common translation thingie ongoing as well).

In my eyes? thx, move on, nothing to see here, kick back, play, stay entertaine3d and wait for the expansion, it'll come.

Jesus Christ, and stop that doomsday calling, it's a game, no matter how much i love it, and no matter if they tell me a date today or in 2 weeks, it won't make the release of TBC here earlier.

my 2 cents

On the cultural ghost & dragons point, even though it is not from their cultural background, i have the feeling that they don't give a fuck Chinese players are not intrested into background or game lore... I was amazed to see that most people i know on my server don't even know that nef is ony's big bro...

"wow isnt a real RPG, its an arcade game"
--> I think we don't talk about the same game I don't
remember using a pad...

"raid instances are ugly"
--> You obviously never ventured into the depth of the temple of Ahn Qiraj, you have never look the old forgoten god Cthun in the eye, i am pretty sure you never dared to visit the mysterious flying necropolis of naxxramas... The 40men instances are truely stunning in this game. Blizzard have always been very talented to create epic environement and daring big baddies. If you don't believe me, go DL a video of the NEF fight

"and waste too much time to get everybody ready for an instance"
I usually log on at 19H00 and we start the first pull always before 19H30. You should maybe try to join a real guild...

"why there isnt lvl 60 5p instances"
TL
LBRS
UBRS
BRD
MLD
STSM
STDK
those are all lvl60 5p instances... I am now pretty sure we don't talk about the same game

"And I do agree that playing BWL during 6 months in order to have 40 or 50 characters full T2, that is what we call hardcore"
--> server 7 people downed Cthun after only 3 months of playing and they started with lvl1 chars... Thats what i call hardcore. BWL is a cool instance but there is no real challenge there except maybe vael and nef...

"The only true feeling after lvl 60 is wild pvp"
Do you enjoy ganking blue noobs at WPL ? If you talk about uniting several raids to unleash the fury on the other faction major cities, then yes, it is a wonderfull fun time, i like it too. Unfortunatly, if i understand correctly, the realm you are playing in is PVE

On a general matter, many people think like you and say that raids are bad and all. I would have a suggestion:

Try it before talking...

deadanus wrote:

"wow isnt a real RPG, its an arcade game"
--> I think we don't talk about the same game I don't remember using a pad...

my bad, i meant adventure game, the point is wow isnt RPG

Quote :

"raid instances are ugly"
--> You obviously never ventured into the depth of the temple of Ahn Qiraj, you have never look the old forgoten god Cthun in the eye, i am pretty sure you never dared to visit the mysterious flying necropolis of naxxramas...

well i have seen MC and BWL and that is enough; they are uninterrupted chain of boss fights; the few non boss left are even given the really appropriate name of "trash mobs"; its my very personal opinion but i dont like that, its not really interresting. Besides I still find they are ugly instances. Dire Maul or Maraudon are much nicer.

Quote :

"and waste too much time to get everybody ready for an instance"
I usually log on at 19H00 and we start the first pull always before 19H30

So I do mean it, I havent got 1/2h to spend waiting the others. I connect and I like to begin immediately. I have a job and like to spend time irl, I cant afford to spend 30mins doing nothing else that waiting at instance portals. Once again its personal, if some ppl enjoy their time spent in raids enough for that, I dont really understand but its not my business after all, I just wont do it myself.

Quote :

You should maybe try to join a real guild...

You arent flaming the guild on whose forum you are spamming now, are you
I used to belong to guilds before that meets at 19h to have first pull at 19h30. Doesnt suit me...

Quote :

TL
LBRS
UBRS
BRD
MLD
STSM
STDK
those are all lvl60 5p instances...

They are only 4 group instances for lvl 60: Dire Maul which is the best instance in the game, Strat and Scholo which I find so-so(Scholo is too linear), and BRS. Maraudon, the Temple and BRD are not designed for lvl 60, they are too easy, especially after getting a few pieces of any sets. If some players still farm them its only to stuff themselves in +nr or +fr

Quote :

I am now pretty sure we don't talk about the same game

Stop with that immediately, will you. Its unpleasing and inappropriate for this is only social guild forum; if you head on, you are putting yourself into trouble.

Quote :

Do you enjoy ganking blue noobs at WPL

omg... you cant express your point of view without having sweet words to others?? If I say I like wild pvp, Id like you, no matter you agree or not, to use another way to express yourself. So yeah I like wild pvp, I like to walk my way for my own stuff and take a minute challenging my counterpart when I see this can be some match. To get on a rogue stealth assault while slaping mobs, turned him down and taunted. To get off track to avoid an outnumbered enemy. That is, I dont camp, I dont greykill.

Quote :

Unfortunatly, if i understand correctly, the realm you are playing in is PVE

Well, I was playing on French realm Cho'gall which is one of the most popular french pvp server. Then coming to China I first chose to get to pvp realm on shanghai 5 then moving to here since I dont care my characters, its wont replace the pleasure to play with european fellows (choice that you obviously didnt do...) So what was your quote up to? to remind here we cant have that fun? is it worth anything stating it?

Quote :

Try it before talking...

I have played MC and BWL and you keep saying that I didnt, underlined you did?

ok lets go on in private

I enjoy many aspects of WOW. But, the part i love the most is raiding. I must admit that MC and BWL can become boring after the third month, but there are still many ways to enjoy these instances. Personally, i dont go there anymore but i enjoy a casual run there to go for a narcisic DPS meter pwnage

I still think that basing the whole raiding experience on 2 low level instances is not good. I enjoy a lot to run instances like TAQ and NAXX because they represent a real challenge. The fun is the battle between all the raids to be the ones that get first downs on servers. When an instance is on farm, it is time for you to move on after a few runs to help your guildies.

I have a very busy job and i don't have time to "waste" waiting in a game. But, i am a proud member of lvzhou, a well organized guild, with dedicated leaders and motivated members. Sometimes, they will ask me to help in some part of the game i don't wanna go, but it is always the ocasion to have a fun voice chat with the raid... Leading guilds do also have a cool social interaction. There is drama, there is political plans and so on, but the result is that most members have a great fun experience.

I do understand that a huge majority of players have fun in the first part of the game. Leveling, getting into small instances, developing their skilss and so on. Personally, i don't think it is fun, but i respect such players. I don't go to carebear forums saying that gnomergan is ugly or Zul farrak is stupid...

I don't know why casual players have such hate for the raiders...

Blizzard designed a game where people who don't have a lot of time and a lot of skills can still have fun in the beginers content while more "no life" players can enjoy hardcore material. I think this is a great idea, but , the casual players have to understand that the end game rewards will always be better.

On the "go to a real guild" part, i was not attacking "cow eaters", i was just implying that raiding is a hard thing to manage and can only be plainly enjoyed in a strong experienced guild.

on the "its wont replace the pleasure to play with european fellows (choice that you obviously didnt do...)" part: I live in China and i truely love this country. As a long time gamer, the next step was to try to get involved into the chinese gaming community and i must say that i was truely amazed on how cool my guildmates were IRL. We have many dinners and we go out a lot. It is always a pleasure to meet these people, use our common intrest in WOW to start friendship and talk about totally different topics, sharing and enjoying our difference.

You might go and menace me with the ban stick only because we desagree, but i don't get why you want to play only with "western" people in a chinese server...

Now, i enjoy coming on this forum from time to time and im glad i can find some help about technical issues. I also tried to offer my help with tips or technical topics on the game mechanics even taugh i figured out that people are not much intrested here. But i think that there are many type of gamers who enjoy WOW and it would be cool that the hardcore ones like me or nak could be eared too. At the end, the forum title is "Foreign community at Chinese World of Warcraft". And this community is not only reprented by casuals

KTHX

peace and love

and a gnome sandwich for breakfest.... with a glass of elf juice

Dead if you can share you interest for gaming thats cool man; thats what we did in France. Thats a way another aspect of the game, especially when its that intense that aiming the last instances of the game.

However, most of players are not that dedicated to the game, we have to deal with everyone; besides, we are open to chinese players, which now reprensents the biggest subcommunity of our guild.

Id pmed you, you know it that you will never be banned if there is nothing smug or arrogant in your post;more than that, you are welcome to share your experience of the game, its pleasure, its problems.

If you want to flame The9, some instances or any other parts of the game, no problem; when I did so on after lvl 60 life, it wasnt aiming the raiders but the raid aspect, dont take it as personal, thats why I quoted it as my very two cents, nothing more than my own point of view. Everyone is welcome to share its feeling and emotions here, as long as its not flaming other players.

For I wont meet the Naxx final boss, please send him my respectful greetings like only rogues know how to do