We will see, but I highly doubt it. There is no excitement for this expansion, and the last expansion did little to bring back old players. I don´t think it will sell 2M copies the first week, and the subs will never hit 6M again. You can see it on forums, there is just no excitement for anything that is coming.
I think you're right. It's difficult for a game like this to transition into free to play unless it has really lost that much steam I think. As long as it's still running like any other game I think it will remain as it is.
IT seems like most people really doubt it, but I would still like to hold out hope for all the fellow cheap people out there. Anytime things are free I tend to like them more, if they are good.
If it isn't in a position where it needs to be F2P (business wise) then I doubt they will do that. If in the future, it does become F2P then it will still be pay to win in one way or the other.
I think it will go free to play (especially now that it basically has in a way, since you can pay your sub with gold by buying a token). I think that was the first step. Of course, it won't really be "free." If they continue to add expansions, I'm sure they will charge for those, but I can see them removing the sub fee at some point as they expand the cash shop.
Belovedad makes a pretty good point, and it seems that if there is any sort of profit in there than it is not likely, although maybe it is possible to monetize ftp from their side, but I am not sure there.
I think they have realized that they can make games faster, simpler, and with few resources than the big old MMORPG games like World of Warcraft and still make a boat load of money. Since that's the case, I expect them to put less time, effort, and resources into WoW. Thus, at some point, it makes sense to go f2p and make bank off the cash shop. Of course, I have nothing to do with the business dealings of World of Warcraft, so this is just an observation. The way things have been going it just makes sense to me. It's easier to make items to fill the cash shop than it is to produce actual content.
To be honest, I once have dreamt about it going F2P. I bought a battle chest at the store and played for several months until I have released I must pay monthly for a subscription. Now, I simply don't care anymore. Making it F2P wouldn't attract me to play it anymore. :c
I'm not sure would they be able to sustain themselves if it ever went f2p. That's indeed a difficult decision.
I actually think if Blizzard were to make WoW f2p, it would make up for the shitty ecpansions they have been releasing over the last couple of years. This way they can focus in expanding and improving the in-game store so as to make more money this way.
I don't think that will ever happen but we may have to see how that ends up for the game though. We just wait and see.
I don't think World of Warcraft will ever go F2P or Free to Play to be honest. Blizzard is making too much money off this game. It's been around since 2004 and it's still going strong. They even brought back classic servers starting August 27th, so I don't see it going Free to Play, plus the fact they shut down any private server they find. The blizz shop makes them a bit of money too with pets and mounts, So I doubt Blizzard has any plans on making World of Warcraft F2P any time soon. Just my two cents.
Right now I'm playing recently released WOW classic. This is the offshoot of the game before it went down the drain and no wonder it's extremely popular, it's WOW without the bullshit. You can level to 20 without paying a dime and there's quite a bit of gameplay there till then. I do plan to buy membership and then stack up on some wow classic gold for decent equipment.
11 years?? Is that long? Wow... I haven't notice it. But I think Blizzard is still making a lot. So why the rush. Let the damn game alone.
WoW going F2P? That will never happen. The developers are going to ride those wheels till they wear off.
