First off, I don't think Blizzard is seeing a net loss of subscribers right now. Sure they are losing people, but they are gaining people as well. What I think is happening though is that they are almost getting to the point where they are losing as many people as they gain. When this happens things will start to go downhill. Frankly, the ads smack of desperation to me. First was the 'scroll of ressurection' campaign to get people who quit back into the game, and now this. While I have to give the game credit for lasting as long as it did without the need for such ads and campaigns, the reality is that the vast majority of players don't raid, and that means once they reach 70 things get old really fast.

The bigger issue is that the more money they pour into ads, the less money they have for profits and progression. As most companies put profits first, the millions they put out for ads will undoubtedly mean fewer resources for developers and ultimately the customers. (IOW, don't expect new servers anytime soon) Blizzard has missed their last two targets for subscriber growth, and I expect them to miss their next target as well.

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