World of Warcraft is an extremely long-lived online game. Under the current operation of NetEase, although the number of players is gradually losing due to the plot of version 8.0, it can still outlast many domestic online games. It is no exaggeration to say that the success of the national server of World of Warcraft has created a myth in the history of domestic online game operations. But do you know what kind of dilemma this popular online game faced 14 years ago? How is the scenery of Azeroth more than ten years ago different from what it is now, and has it gone through the five major events that almost destroyed the national server of Warcraft?
Fifth: Turn on anti-addiction
Here is a common sense for all new World of Warcraft players. The agency rights for the Chinese version of Warcraft were originally obtained by "The Ninth City", and at that time, being an agent for European and American online games was still a very risky business. As a result, World of Warcraft One year after the opening of the national server, it actually created a profit myth in the history of domestic online games, accounting for 90% of The9's profits. This naturally aroused the jealousy and petty actions of many peers.
Therefore, an epoch-making creative "anti-addiction system" was proposed, and the original World of Warcraft national server was promoted as a pilot game. Moreover, due to the imperfection of the anti-addiction system in ancient times, not only did it dissuade a group of minor players , and also shut out a large number of adult players, which eventually caused a large number of World of Warcraft players to abandon the game and switch to other games that did not prevent addiction. Even players who did not know the truth regarded World of Warcraft as a "licking dog" to promote official policies. slander.
Fourth: Ten Thousand Years TBC
It is not unreasonable that The Burning Crusade is the version that is fondest in the memories of some old players, because the content of Wrath of the Lich King cannot pass the review of relevant domestic departments, and there are a large number of dark elements such as "death", "skeletons" and "zombies" in the game. The existence of the game aroused the dissatisfaction of a large number of cultural people, so the national server ushered in the era of Ten Thousand Years TBC: updates were stagnant, the story was completely spoiled by foreign servers, all players were dominated by all professions, and both pvp and pve were taken care of...
This also spawned the emergence of a large number of studios, black groups, trolls and violent players. At that time, nearly half of the players were cursing this version, and the other half of the players were teasing "Wrath of the Lich King" and forgetting about it. Open, "Take care of the Lich King, save Warcraft." During this period, a large number of players stood in Stormwind City, listening to the sound of the harbor waves, imagining how cold the weather was in Northrend, and then chose out of helplessness and boredom. Quit the pit and abandon the tour. It can be said that if Wrath of the Lich King were released another year later, the game World of Warcraft might not exist in the Chinese server.
Third: Being rushed to a retrial in the middle of the game
After many World of Warcraft players experienced the never-online crisis caused by The9's update on May 13, 2009 (The9 deleted their accounts), some players who had not been hacked finally recognized the company that wanted to play due to the change in agency rights. Ruining the true face of the national server agent of Warcraft, Ninetowns failed to provide detailed explanations of the remaining time of player points and account transfers at the last moment of exiting the agent, which also caused many old Warcraft players to treat June 7th as a day. It was the last moment you played the Chinese version of World of Warcraft. Did you stay up all night for it?
After that, the era of card review for the national server Warcraft was officially launched. One and a half months later, NetEase's World of Warcraft was belatedly launched and failed to obtain approval for new user registration. This caused a large number of players to switch to other similar MMORPG online games, and Jianwang III Slogans such as "The door of a world is closed, a door of martial arts is opened" and the Tower of Aion operated by Shanda Network, "When the world closes the door, we still have eternity" have divided up a large number of core users. During this period, the ashes of those who love Warcraft Fans also launched the famous "Internet Addiction War" to call for the launch of World of Warcraft and the review of Wrath of the Lich King.
Finally, on July 30, World of Warcraft finally passed the review, and new user registration was opened in September, and rumors of Wrath of the Lich King being launched were released. As a result, World of Warcraft was judged to have failed the review in November of the same year. It was not until the review in February 2010 that it was officially approved by the relevant departments. This incident was jokingly called by players as "being rushed to review in the middle of playing." While World of Warcraft is in turmoil, it has also supported the prosperity of a large number of domestic MMORPG games such as Jian Wang III and Aion.
Second: Professor Yang’s Tongxumen
The prosperity of World of Warcraft has also created a large number of adverse phenomena. Yang Yongxin, director of the Internet Detoxification Center, firmly believes that using electrical stimulation as a treatment method can help many players who are addicted to World of Warcraft to kick their Internet addiction. This has also set off a debate about online game addiction among the majority of online game players and the older generation who boycott computer games. World of Warcraft was once defined by major domestic media as a "scourge" similar to pornography, gambling and drugs.
The subsequent exposure of Warcraft’s “Bronzebeard Gate” (a one-night stand occurred while playing games), “Transaction Gate” (a long-distance gift after playing games), and “Breakup Gate” (the first time in history to break up after account deletion) made headlines in major gaming media Even CCTV's report almost caused World of Warcraft to be submerged in the war of words among the general public.
First: Cancel the point card and activate the monthly card
After the launch of World of Warcraft 7.0, NetEase launched a monthly card service based on the "point card system that affects the player's gaming experience". After the launch of World of Warcraft 8.0, it officially announced the suspension of the card service in the Chinese server, which also led to the withdrawal of a large number of old World of Warcraft players. , after all, in the eyes of some players, relying on the remaining point cards in the game, they can still go online from time to time to see the scenery of Azeroth and do new plots and new tasks, but they really do not have the time and energy to play World of Warcraft for a month.
The arrival of the mandatory monthly card not only shows the ugly appearance of Blizzard's fast-food routine, but also destroys the only memories of Azeroth that many casual players have. It's not that they can't afford 75 yuan a month, but they don't want to enter. The charging mechanism that I initially disdained. Since the original world has become a game, it is better to never see it again. The world that originally shouted to players to "don't lose the fish" ended up losing the fish themselves? At that time, only a group of sentimental old players were persuaded to quit. Now, after the point card crisis, there are still a large number of new players shouting "really fragrant" to join the bizarre world of 8.0.