My Opinion on Cataclysm and 2016
Greetings,
I'd like to talk and hopefully inform you about why I think moving Cataclysm to Mists of Pandaria is the safest bet this realm can take.
First off, I'd like to say that I've been an avid player on Cataclysm for many years, was one of very few hundred players to play on Greymane then onwards towards Sargeras then onto Neltharion following the events of Moltdown; now, in no way I'm stating that my experience should gather some weight, but rather, some experience as an avid player for Cataclysm and Molten/Warmane in general; suffice to say, I've played this Cataclysm religiously for years on end, not because of the amount of coins I put in towards my characters and server, but towards the friendships and experiences I've had playing in the server. However, as pleasant as that seems, I'd like to put forth a notion that I do wholeheartedly agree that Warmane should move Neltharion towards Mists of Pandaria, based on the experiences and accounts of the actions done by both the staff and population of the realm, it will not only be financially successful but also successful towards the playerbase, knowing that Warmane's profits have been slowly dwindling down.
Now, you can begin to flame me after reading that, but understand this: Kaer did explicitly say that the developer team is spread thin and cannot maintain all three expansions together, let alone maintain them, along with the growing concern for profit loss, and the dwindling population on the Cataclysm realm, (have you seen Cataclysm realms now? From 3000 players towards 900 players in less than a year). More importantly, you have to consider the realms in a more economical position, is Cataclysm still profitable? Out of the 2100 players (at peak time, 1500 midpeak, 900 lowest) that play this realm, how many actually donate on a realm that's underdeveloped and lowly maintained? Secondly, I have to, again, reiterate what Kaer said, their developing staff is spread thin in terms of development, would you rather see a broken expansion, with only possibly 5-6 month fixes (and a chance of another bug to happen) then waiting another 5-6 months? Third, is the growing concern of profit loss and upkeep on Cataclysm realms.. does that really need much explaining, rather than continuing development in hopes to attain an increase in population, it would be simply more profitable for Warmane to cut off Cataclysm, rather not take the risk and continue towards the most safest route.
Then again, what becomes of the Cataclysm players that have donated or have gear they wish to keep? Though, technical and storage capabilities are not in my suit, what I suggest is a backup or permanent storage for the Cataclysm playerbase for those who wish to keep their players in hopes that Cataclysm would soon open again one day. Aside from that, the least profitable option would be a mass refund of coins, which would cause a huge spike in populations on Wrath of the Lich King and Mists of Pandaria realms, but, however, would garner the least amount of profit and a mildly sizeable investment towards the playerbase that are in the hopes to donate. Similarly as well, Warmane could utilize moving the entirety of Cataclysm to MOP, creating a new server by itself, which it has done before, but yet, would remain (in my opinion) to be less popular considering how badly received the Cata -> MOP seemed to be and population wise. However, the safest bet for players; a way to attract and maintain players while maintaining profits would be to create a program or a tool that allows players to utilize a system in which players can transfer their gear over towards other realms for the same amount they would cost on the said-other realm. (An example, a Season 11 Elite PVP Sword to be traded in for a Season 13 Elite PVP Sword, and so forth..)
Mainly, aside from what I've been rambling on about, some may seem ridiculous and stupid, but any idea can work, people can post their own opinions on this, criticize some points, but note the state of Cataclysm, is it worth it to cater towards a dying population?
tl;dr: in order to maximize profits, cut off cata, move towards development mop and wotlk.