Blizzard’s loyalty to the fans–what does it mean for WoW players?

Those of you busy fragging or earning honor points probably failed to notice that Blizzard actually patched its now six year-old title, Warcraft III. Unless you’re a pro-gamer or love to casually play Warcraft III, this information is of little use to you. However, this will actually yield great value to those of us in Azeroth.

Most Blizzard fanboys (and girls) already know that one of the greatest things about Blizzard games is the support they continue to offer, even many years down the road. And the latest Warcraft III patch is continued evidence of this loyalty.

Let’s recall some of Blizzard’s other past games, such as Diablo II and Warcraft II (re-released to include battle.net). Those games came and went, and maintained the best replay value known in the industry. What made those games retain such longevity is how Blizzard was never actually finished with them.

But what does this all mean to a World of Warcraft player? WoW is actually generating revenue from all kinds of sources, unlike Blizzard’s previous installments. The life span of World of Warcraft—when you put it into this perspective—seems almost infinite.

This is even more evident after the announcements of Diablo III and Starcraft II. Blizzard has implied that these games will be played on Battle.net, which is exclusively free. Blizzard could very well intend to allow World of Warcraft to reign as the supreme MMO in the market, and it is anyone’s guess as to how long it will stick around. Level 80 cap? Try level ∞.