Comment Free to play (Score 1) 413
Not WoW it is free to play but with quite crippling limits, I think what's really hitting WoW numbers most is the rise of the free to play model amongst other MMO's none of which have anywhere near as crippling limitations as WoW take a look at the free to play on steam section and there are 4 MMO style games all of which are free with microtransaction support that offers a substantial boost but is not required to actually participate even at high levels with no problems.
Compare that to WoW where you can get to level 20 and have severe limitations on your character and i'm going to gravitate my time and effort towards the free to play game that for sure.
The one i've been spending most time with is Spiral Knights, very simple persistant world game that's remarkably fun and you can do excpetionally well in without spending a single cent.