NetEase loses WoW director, Li Riqiang
by Basil Berntsen 
Mar 3rd 2010 at 11:00AM
World of Warcraft in China continues to walk a rocky path. NetEase, the company currently licensed to operate WoW's The Burning Crusade expansion in China, lost Li Riqiang, a senior director for the WoW business unit on the 24th of February, 2010. There is no word on why he left, and the company is keeping mum on details about the departure and his replacement.
This comes on the heels of a 62% jump in revenue in the fourth quarter of 2009 generated since NetEase was able to light up the TBC servers after resolving their disputes with the government, which had prevented them from launching the service in China until September 2009. That revenue increase was accompanied by lower profit margins, however, as NetEase must pay hefty licensing fees to Activision Blizzard.
The fact that there are still Chinese players who are willing to play an obsolete and no longer maintained version of the game is a little strange to me-- many Chinese players simply started over on Taiwanese servers. Judging by the amount of red tape that's being wrapped around anything to do with Blizzard, I suspect we'll see Cataclysm released before Chinese players can play Wrath of the Lich King without connecting to a server in Taiwan.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, News items, The Burning Crusade
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Wowcoholic Mar 3rd 2010 11:10AM
It's times like these that I'm glad I'm an American.....thankful that I can play WoW without government interruption.
Faulken S Wulf Mar 3rd 2010 7:18PM
Frankly, I'm surprised with all this drama Blizz even still bothers trying to push the game out there. Surely all the legal costs and hassles aren't worth the profits they might get?
Chilblain Mar 3rd 2010 11:13AM
Very interesting, but what does this mean for tanking Death Knights and Balance Druids? Could you break it down for me in 14 different posts?
Reuben Mar 3rd 2010 11:14AM
I hate to admit it, but I lol'd.
Hakker Mar 3rd 2010 11:28AM
QFT
omedon666 Mar 3rd 2010 12:00PM
I love WoW.com, but this almost made me squirt coffee out my nose.
You win, sir.
Rich Mar 3rd 2010 12:38PM
Hehe -
Well played, sire. Well played.
vincekunk Mar 3rd 2010 11:36AM
OH NOES!!! Not Li Riqiang!!!
Tomatketchup Mar 3rd 2010 11:40AM
"There is no word on why he left, and the company is keeping mum on details about the departure and his replacement."
Well, I think we can all figure out why though.
Sane Mar 3rd 2010 12:37PM
He got distracted by kittens?
Tomatketchup Mar 3rd 2010 1:13PM
It's being distracted by puppies, stu-*distracted by kitties*
Lupius Mar 3rd 2010 1:32PM
Well, judging by the atmosphere common to Chinese WoW boards, it's highly plausible that Li left his post for personal safety. Disgruntled gamers need to place their blame, so I wouldn't be surprised if Li received numerous threats on his life.
Felix_rew Mar 3rd 2010 11:58AM
Unfunny.
Phil Mar 3rd 2010 11:59AM
Whenever I look at that guys name, in my head it says "Liu Kang" from Mortal Kombat.
PeeWee Mar 3rd 2010 12:10PM
FINISH HIM!
Reuben Mar 3rd 2010 1:05PM
FRIENDSHIP!
Basil Berntsen Mar 3rd 2010 1:50PM
Babality!
tonyunreal Mar 3rd 2010 1:55PM
I hope he didn't get FATALITY.
busuan Mar 3rd 2010 12:28PM
"...willing to play an obsolete and no longer maintained version of the game is a little strange to me"
It's no surprises at all.
I believe an MMORPG's success relies on its rich social content, meaning how much it allows and encourages players to interact and how much a player gains from such activities. Content is important, but not everything.
If vanilla Naxx40 is reinstated, a lot people will be there too.
Besides, although Traditional Chinese characters are easily readable by mainlanders, they still don't look quite the same as Simplified ones (The9 got fined for) which all mainlanders learned starting at kindergarten.
Keri Mar 3rd 2010 11:43PM
You are right. Now the connections among friends and guildmates is the most important reason why there are people who still play on mainland realms. Sure they don't have access to T10 gears or Shadowmourne, never seen TOC or ICC, but they still have fun raiding SWP, excited about getting an Apolyn, because the feeling of working together makes the process still nice to experience.
I'v been playing on a Taiwan realm since Wrath launched, but I also come back to do some stuff with my friends and old guildmates sometimes, like running heroics or Karazhan to gear up their new toons. It feels good.
As to the language, most mainlanders have no problem reading Traditional Chinese characters (we do have trouble writing them, though). What often makes us confused is some usage by Taiwan players (and ours confuses them, too). It'll be all right when you get used to it.