Quote Originally Posted by Ughmahedhurtz View Post
Well, if they make the game play/progress more or less like it did in WotLK, I might just resub. I have no interest in more Cata dynamics.
My guess is that this is the way a lot of people felt. Blizzard has been moving away from the classic MMORPG crowd and more towards casual players since (IMO) mid-BC. They've gone back and forth on it, but I think they finally decided that they'll ride WOW down to the end of its life by catering to the less hardcore crowd. Next expansion, they will allow you to earn JP and VP via solo content, and they said they want people to be able to progress (gear-wise) regardless of what they are doing.

I think they realize that they have gotten more out of WOW than they ever thought possible, and now they can pretty much ride the wave the rest of the way. Even if the subscriber numbers continue to dip, I am thinking that 2012 will be a huge year for them, mostly driven by D3 but also by MoP. Lots of dedicated players and old-schoolers will hate what WOW is becoming, but they're no longer the target audience, is my belief.