I have been playing WoW since 2007. Since then never ever have I got anything from Blizzard for being a loyal member. There are always promotions like “Bring your friend and you get a free month” or “Buy 6-Months of sub for discounted price” etc. everyone can benefit from. What about rewarding players who really have passion for the game for years? I understand the game needs to attract newer players but not losing current players is equally important, and I say that from a marketing perspective.
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To be honest, I think that’s what comprises the majority of their playerbase.
Wow doesn’t draw in a huge number of new players and many of the ones that do sub drop out due to the disjointed, confusing questing experience and outrageous economy.
I do agee though. It would be nice to see some kind of acknowledgement apart from the anniversary mail, that you’ve invested so many years in to their product.
It is hard for new players to pick up WoW. Both due to it being hard to get into the story this late as well as how the game gets more and more stuff that the ones who will come after will see others have but never be able to get themselves.
The gameplay philosophy might also feel archaic to younger people.
They are better off giving incentives to the new players to come and STAY than doubling down on reinforcing the sunk cost fallacy of us older players
I don’t think this is going to happen. Companies in general don’t appreciate their loyal customers. Loyal customers are “safe” money, so they often get neglected over the not-so-loyal or the new customers other companies fight over as well. I’ve been with my mobile phone carrier for over 20 years, and I still need to renegotiate and basically threaten to leave every 2 years so I’m not worse off than a new customer. My car insurance rate gets more expensive each year, unless I tell them I’ll leave if they don’t give me the same rate as a new customer.
Weirdly enough, every company that depends on loyal customers for their business still takes those loyal customers for granted and often milks them worse than new customers. As much as I hope for you that they’re an exception, I don’t believe Blizzard is any different here…
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This is so relevant in entertainment franchises.
How often do we hear their sales pitch to be about how they adjust the franchise for the “modern audience”?
They take their current and older audience for granted, assuming they are hooked forever and then only try to attract what is perceived as the new generation of consumers
Rewarding long time players with unique items is as much of a promotion as is offering free game time for a month to a new or returning player. I agree there should be some reward system for playing the game for x number of years. 5 years a unique mount etc. might even bring back some prestige to the game.
Just to clarify. This would be measured by the number of months you have been actively subscribed.
This is a completely different scenario though. Traditional companies like phone carriers or insurance companies still need customers, while the entertainment industry is approaching a post-audience state, where companies are being bankrolled by investment companies rather than sales.
Edit:
Coming to think of it, you have a point there, seeing as Blizzard’s products are also adapted to meet the demands of a modern audience.
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Good point
This reminds me about how our Internet provider was trying to sell us an increase in internet speed from 50Mbps to 100Mbps by giving us calls about it like 10 times.
My father insisted that we always answer to them that “we do not have money for that”. Eventually they gave us 100Mbps without any extra charge.
PS: Yeah, we see that more every year with Blizzard.
How do you feel about the Trading Post? That’s more or less a loyalty reward for those who play continuously.
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They want new/More money.
Why would they care about people who are already subscribed?
They already have your money
Yeah that’s a reward for continuity. Not for longevity though. I mean you have year tokens for CS: GO for example. 10 years veteran etc. Just reward us veterans 
A few years ago I had a technical issue that I made a ticket for; I got a reply and the GM who helped me at the end of the conversation, when my issue was solved, said: Oh I see you’ve been playing for a long time. And then proceeded to give me a free pet from the store that I didn’t have.
It was a small gesture, but it felt nice and I felt like an appreciated customer.
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