VanLord: Dark age of Ever Final Lineage Wars in Dungeons 2, starring Conan in Rome in the Chronicles of Heros
Yeah I been really keeping an eye on that game, sounds like it is going to be great. You forgot to mention thats a twentieth generation MMORPG btw! Compare that to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd generations we have now...twentieth has to be atleast 10 times better! So you know what that means don't you? No more "get 10 rat tails" limited quests. Now they are going to give us more player freedom and not stop us at 10 tails...we get to get 100 tails! Wooohooo!!!!
Regardless of the differences in opinion regarding what is going to be the next smash hit. I think we are all pretty much in agreement that WoW is not going anywhere for years and years to come.
I Definately agree with that. After reading everything so far, I just have one question for everyone...
What do you think AoC being on the 360 will do? Will we see another group of new mmorpgers or just movers from other games?
One of WoW's big draws is the fact that it is playable on lots of systems. There are currently over 10 million 360s sold. Even saying that 8 million of those users already have pcs/play mmos (very generous numbers i know) That gives a potential base of 2mill new users. do you think AoC can bring in another 500k new mmo players?
I am kind of disturbed to read a column like this. I will explain why I feel this way. First, I have played MMOs since the days of Ruby on AOL and Meridian59. I have seen the games like EQ and AC and DAOC and others come and go. True, there hasn't been a game which has taken the market by storm like WOW but there have been ones I believe are better. Everyone continues to compare WOW like it was the first game to come up with the interface and quests and other things ad nauseum. We can certainly put this to rest just by looking at EQ and Ultima Online, let alone DAOC and Horizons and a few others. Wow will certainly be surpassed because every dog has his day. In the early days of MMOs when EQ was running rampant, it was THEE game to play before that it was UO before that it was M59 after that it was AC then DAOC then finally games like Horizons and WW2O, AC2, EQ2 hit the market.
We are going to soon be hit by LOTRO it is awesome. I have been playing since August in Alpha and now Beta and love it. Then there is Warhammer Online. It is going to rule the gaming world. I predict. Even LOTRO has the potential to slay the WOW monster. I guess we shall see.
The one question I would pose to the legions of XXX will kill WOW posters is why?
Seriously...Why must a title kill WOW? If you think about it, WOW is the perfect vehicle for those new to MMO's to cut their teeth on? In time some of those millions will be ready for the next level you know something a bit more demanding.
So there's plenty of opportunity out there if developers & publishers do their homework..
If you release a polished title ala LOTRO sky's the limit to what's possible.
Honestly, Developers and MMO players should at least give a wee bit of props to Blizz for setting the table.
WoW - 2.5 million + subs "IF" they lose any subs at all. AoC - 1 Million WAR - 1 million "I'm seeing AoC and WAR getting about equal shares of the current Hype" LOTRO - .5 Million "Maybe more maybe less. No mater how you slice it it just doesn't have the following/Hype."
Not going to happen.
Where are these subscribers going to come from? Outside of WoW there are currently around 1 million paid monthly subscriptions for all MMO’s combined. Thus far, the new MMO players WoW has brought in have not move to any other game in any serious numbers.
Unless something changes and WoW [players show a willingness to play other MMO’s expecting any game to get more then 200K subscribers is a pipe dream because there just isn’t enough subscribers in the genre to allow it to happen. The only possible exception to this is LoTR that may have the recognition and playstyle to attract people who do not currently play some other game.
As for when WoW will decline? No one can really say, but when it does I don’t expect it will have anything to do with another MMO unless it’s made by Blizzard. Another possibility is people moving to the PS3/360 once they gain sufficient traction.
I have to go with miller here. This is the reason I'm not buying the "War is going to get 1m subs! AoC is going to get 1m subs!" hype. I see it more as a wishfull thought then an actual realistic look at the mmorpg genre and its size.
I think a big contender to wow will be Perfect World this year. Even if nearly noone yet knows anything about this chinese game (NO, its not a korean/japanese grind game!), I am sure that in some months, many will talk about it. And from the gameplay and possibilities it will be a hard time for wow.
Kind regards,
LD
Currently playing: Archeage Waiting for: Black Desert
Nothing will knock WoW off it's throne anytime soon. They'll be the top dog for many years to come as more and more people find this genre of gaming.
WoW will be the 800 lb gorilla here as long as the minimum requirements are so low that they are met by 99% of the computers in people's houses. Any PC bought in the last 5 years will run WoW and it just keeps growing in numbers as people get their friends to try it.
WoW just keeps spreading like a virus:) 2 of my daughter's friends just bought WoW in the last week for the first time and they are so in love LOL!! Both of the boys are getting like 2 hours of sleep now every night LOL!!
But I think WoW will take a lil dip in numbers by the end of the year. I honestly think LOTR and WAR and AoC will pull a good 2 million subs from WoW but with how WoW keeps growing- they could recoup that 2 mill during 2008 pretty easily:) Both LOTR and War are predicted to hit a million in subs and the buzz for AoC is big- so WoW will take a lil hurting this year. But hell- going from 8 mill to 6 mill in subs isn't gonna make anyone at Blizzard lose sleep:)
Before anyone thinks about what impact other games might have on WoW they need to consider these numbers.
8 million subscribers worldwide
4 million of those subscribers were b.net / Blizzard fans prior to WoW
So, do you think WoW can live with 4 million subscribers? Cause those 4 million stuck with Blizzard playing Diablo, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3 and Starcraft, long after those games came out and were surpased by other titles.
You don't beat a game made by Blizzard, you just move on and hope that whatever you make can take a big chunk out of the rest of the pie, cause you ain't getting any of Blizzard pie! Ever.
Wow just hit 8.5 million subs, i predict 9 million by end of this year as it contiunes to climb in subs. How did you come to the conclusion of wow being killed this year?
This thread is dumb, these games wont effect WoW at all.
AoC - Niche GAME, will be doing well to see 50-100k subs
WAR - No demand for this game really, major flop INC. I dont trust EA and never liked mythic's DAOCrap.
LOTR - Very high potential due to universal popularity of tolkein's novels and the movie's. If the game is marketed well it hits 500k right out the gate, then grows/shrinks from there depending on quality.
In any case average wow player wont care or even notice. In much the same way guild wars, ddo and vanguard were non factors to blizzard.
The post might be stupid, but so is your reply. So i guess you win the "I just made a jackass out of myself award for posting my crappy opinion." Stick to your WoW and leave the real upcoming MMO games to the true MMOers. Oh and by the way, my crappy opinion on all of this is that the games you don't think will be noticed, will. WAR is one of them. Now, I know you need to get back to eating your prunes. Enjoy!
Lord of the Rings Online: Let's face it, one of the biggest reasons WoW became so popular is because it came out at the peak of the Lord of the Ring's movies success.
I stopped reading right there.. Seriously thats just a retarded statement to make.
LOTR movies had something to do with WOW's success? /laff
And all this time I was thinking it was the best selling Diablo series, Warhammer series, or Starcraft games that blizzard had under its belt. Damn I was way off...
------------------------------ You see, every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You spread to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.-Mr.Smith
WOW is nothing more than one big huge grind to level 70. Wow at first was good because it gave new people who didnt play mmo's a chance to be a part of something new. I tried WoW and it wasnt too bad but I really got tired of my character looking like mickey mouse with heavy armor on it, too cartoony for me. I also bought TBC supposedly called expansion which is nothing more than an extra 10 levels of content and some new dungeons and weapons to have. So if you consider 10 levels of content and new looking dungeons but the same ole idea an expansion then you are probably just a loyal fan of WOW and if thats what you like then by all means but the rest of us who have played better expansions and mmo's we know better.
As far as WOW being down in 2007 there is that chance it might. Alot of new mmo's are coming out this year and well TBC doesn't offer tons of content to keep you busy for a year , infact in less than a month we saw lvl 70 blood elves and draeni running around the towns. Also Blizzard announced they are making a new MMO, either World of Diablo or World of Starcraft, sooo where does that leave World of Warcrft ? To me that would leave me to believe that Blizzard has no major plans in attempting to keep WOW alive and well why say you are coming out with a new MMO ? I mean, basically you are telling your current players to stop playing WOW and come play our new MMO. Sorry but it seems like the WOW days are fading away.
I believe Conan, if of course is as good as they say it is, may infact take many WOW players. Even if it doesnt it will still be an amazing mmo. As for WoW's expansions the game may fall apart if the expansion becoms the CoV of CoH.
As far as WOW being down in 2007 there is that chance it might. Alot of new mmo's are coming out this year and well TBC doesn't offer tons of content to keep you busy for a year , infact in less than a month we saw lvl 70 blood elves and draeni running around the towns. Also Blizzard announced they are making a new MMO, either World of Diablo or World of Starcraft, sooo where does that leave World of Warcrft ? To me that would leave me to believe that Blizzard has no major plans in attempting to keep WOW alive and well why say you are coming out with a new MMO ? I mean, basically you are telling your current players to stop playing WOW and come play our new MMO. Sorry but it seems like the WOW days are fading away.
Generally agree with you but as to Blizzard keeping WoW alive, it will be in their interests. The longer it is alive=the more money and profit. So yeah I'm thinking they will milk it for as much as they can get. This I think will become more clear next expansion. Next expansion at a hunch will be quite major.
Also Blizzard announced they are making a new MMO, either World of Diablo or World of Starcraft, sooo where does that leave World of Warcrft ? To me that would leave me to believe that Blizzard has no major plans in attempting to keep WOW alive and well why say you are coming out with a new MMO ? I mean, basically you are telling your current players to stop playing WOW and come play our new MMO.
Eh, no Blizzard has "said" no such thing. In fact, when asked about plans to make another MMO, Blizzard has been very equivocal -- not ruling it out, but certainly not saying :oh yeah, we're working on another MMO now. It is rumoured that they hired some RTS developers in the past six months, so if anything another RTS may be in the works, or perhaps just on the drawing board, but Blizzard certainly has not said it is working on another MMO at this time.
Nah, don't think those game will have major impact to WoW's population, considering the fact that the majority of people there are kids and younger teenagers, who don't want a complex or difficult game. Of course, there's definitely gonna be some changes in numbers, but not so crucial for WoW to go down.
I think all MMO games will see a population increase. Even games like NC2 will probably look less anemic on their bottom lines this year. Why? Because faster computers are getting cheaper. That means more market share for all computer games. Which means a larger pie to slice from. That means WoW is going no where, it's here to stay. Get use to it. Enjoy the fact that WoW has brought one good thing to the computer game market: MONEY.
Actually, you've got a really great point there. You look at places like South Korea which have a gigantic per capita dollar value on their MMORPG market, much higher than the US, and what do you find? There's a huge penetration rate for broadband connections there, way higher than the US.
One can't deny that there's at least a partial correlation between access to broadband and online gaming.
LotRO: in my eyes, no, LotRO will not lay a single finger on WoW's userbase. WoW has lost alot of players too (but they don't announce that ofc) and a large PvE oriented group that already has quit WoW will start playing LotRO.
AoC: again, no, just because it's 18+ rated and aims for the more adult alike players instead of the teens with too much money players.
Warhammer: this one could do it. what's the main concern of WoW? Endless raids for gear that is. It's just plain boring to just sign up and get in line for gear. How about conquering a city of the other faction and actualy have fun while getting gear? PvP and RvR + some PvE is what Warhammer is about, WAR is EVERYWHERE so I kill a mob and it will contribute to the war! How cool is that? Not getinline instanced raid PvE + some PvP just added because people wanted it.
My conclusion is than that Warhammer might attract the most players from WoW (the PvP orriented people that is). The rest won't even lay a finger on WoW's playerbase
"It's no good coming to our game if you are trying to grow weed, It's no good coming to our game if you want to make pants. It's only worth coming to our game if you want to burn things to the ground." -Paul Barnett, WAR is coming
I swore I heard something on Gamespot in some inteview about the possibility of another MMO just not what exactly it is going to be. You might be right though but not 100% sure. Either way, TBC so called expansion was far from any success no matter what blizzard's numbers say. I am surely not saying Wow is a bad game and its not but does it deserve the hype it gets ? Probably not. The 40 dollars people paid for TBC didnt't have enough content and plus the content they added was more of the same they had before. It just looked a little different. When i was playing WOW before TBC it was ok. It got worse when TBC came out cause now Kalimdor and Azeroth are empty with people struggling to get to 58 to get to the Outlands. I don't know but common sense tells me that for 40 bucks and only 10 more levels of content isn't exactly what I call a successful expansion. You also get a flying mount that you can't take to Azeroth or Kalimdor, completely makes no sense at all. If you make a Draeni or Blood Elf you get some new areas which were ok, nothing WOW people haven't seen before either. WOW will definitely lose people to Warhammer, LOTR,Guild Wars and Age of Conan.
Comments
I Definately agree with that. After reading everything so far, I just have one question for everyone...
What do you think AoC being on the 360 will do? Will we see another group of new mmorpgers or just movers from other games?
One of WoW's big draws is the fact that it is playable on lots of systems. There are currently over 10 million 360s sold. Even saying that 8 million of those users already have pcs/play mmos (very generous numbers i know) That gives a potential base of 2mill new users. do you think AoC can bring in another 500k new mmo players?
discuss
and that game will be WoW.
Even then WoW will always have a loyal fan base, but it may not be the giant it is now.
I am kind of disturbed to read a column like this. I will explain why I feel this way. First, I have played MMOs since the days of Ruby on AOL and Meridian59. I have seen the games like EQ and AC and DAOC and others come and go. True, there hasn't been a game which has taken the market by storm like WOW but there have been ones I believe are better. Everyone continues to compare WOW like it was the first game to come up with the interface and quests and other things ad nauseum. We can certainly put this to rest just by looking at EQ and Ultima Online, let alone DAOC and Horizons and a few others. Wow will certainly be surpassed because every dog has his day. In the early days of MMOs when EQ was running rampant, it was THEE game to play before that it was UO before that it was M59 after that it was AC then DAOC then finally games like Horizons and WW2O, AC2, EQ2 hit the market.
We are going to soon be hit by LOTRO it is awesome. I have been playing since August in Alpha and now Beta and love it. Then there is Warhammer Online. It is going to rule the gaming world. I predict. Even LOTRO has the potential to slay the WOW monster. I guess we shall see.
Seriously...Why must a title kill WOW? If you think about it, WOW is the perfect vehicle for those new to MMO's to cut their teeth on? In time some of those millions will be ready for the next level you know something a bit more demanding.
So there's plenty of opportunity out there if developers & publishers do their homework..
If you release a polished title ala LOTRO sky's the limit to what's possible.
Honestly, Developers and MMO players should at least give a wee bit of props to Blizz for setting the table.
The future of MMO's has never been so bright.
Dutchess Zarraa Voltayre
Reborn/Zero Sum/Ancient Legacy/Jagged Legion/Feared/Nuke & Pave.
I have to go with miller here. This is the reason I'm not buying the "War is going to get 1m subs! AoC is going to get 1m subs!" hype. I see it more as a wishfull thought then an actual realistic look at the mmorpg genre and its size.
Maybe this would be true 3 years ago..
"What are we doing tonight Brain.
The same thing we do everynight Pinky,
TRY AND TAKE OVER THE WORLD (of warcraft)"
I think a big contender to wow will be Perfect World this year. Even if nearly noone yet knows anything about this chinese game (NO, its not a korean/japanese grind game!), I am sure that in some months, many will talk about it. And from the gameplay and possibilities it will be a hard time for wow.
Kind regards,
LD
Currently playing: Archeage
Waiting for: Black Desert
Nothing will knock WoW off it's throne anytime soon. They'll be the top dog for many years to come as more and more people find this genre of gaming.
WoW will be the 800 lb gorilla here as long as the minimum requirements are so low that they are met by 99% of the computers in people's houses. Any PC bought in the last 5 years will run WoW and it just keeps growing in numbers as people get their friends to try it.
WoW just keeps spreading like a virus:) 2 of my daughter's friends just bought WoW in the last week for the first time and they are so in love LOL!! Both of the boys are getting like 2 hours of sleep now every night LOL!!
But I think WoW will take a lil dip in numbers by the end of the year. I honestly think LOTR and WAR and AoC will pull a good 2 million subs from WoW but with how WoW keeps growing- they could recoup that 2 mill during 2008 pretty easily:) Both LOTR and War are predicted to hit a million in subs and the buzz for AoC is big- so WoW will take a lil hurting this year. But hell- going from 8 mill to 6 mill in subs isn't gonna make anyone at Blizzard lose sleep:)
I can think of two games that might kill WoW.
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Starcraft, and Diablo MMOs.
8 million subscribers worldwide
4 million of those subscribers were b.net / Blizzard fans prior to WoW
So, do you think WoW can live with 4 million subscribers? Cause those 4 million stuck with Blizzard playing Diablo, Diablo 2, Warcraft 3 and Starcraft, long after those games came out and were surpased by other titles.
You don't beat a game made by Blizzard, you just move on and hope that whatever you make can take a big chunk out of the rest of the pie, cause you ain't getting any of Blizzard pie! Ever.
AoC - Niche GAME, will be doing well to see 50-100k subs
WAR - No demand for this game really, major flop INC. I dont trust EA and never liked mythic's DAOCrap.
LOTR - Very high potential due to universal popularity of tolkein's novels and the movie's. If the game is marketed well it hits 500k right out the gate, then grows/shrinks from there depending on quality.
In any case average wow player wont care or even notice. In much the same way guild wars, ddo and vanguard were non factors to blizzard.
LOTR movies had something to do with WOW's success? /laff
And all this time I was thinking it was the best selling Diablo series, Warhammer series, or Starcraft games that blizzard had under its belt. Damn I was way off...
------------------------------
You see, every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with their surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You spread to an area, and you multiply, and you multiply, until every natural resource is consumed. The only way you can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet.-Mr.Smith
WOW is nothing more than one big huge grind to level 70. Wow at first was good because it gave new people who didnt play mmo's a chance to be a part of something new. I tried WoW and it wasnt too bad but I really got tired of my character looking like mickey mouse with heavy armor on it, too cartoony for me. I also bought TBC supposedly called expansion which is nothing more than an extra 10 levels of content and some new dungeons and weapons to have. So if you consider 10 levels of content and new looking dungeons but the same ole idea an expansion then you are probably just a loyal fan of WOW and if thats what you like then by all means but the rest of us who have played better expansions and mmo's we know better.
As far as WOW being down in 2007 there is that chance it might. Alot of new mmo's are coming out this year and well TBC doesn't offer tons of content to keep you busy for a year , infact in less than a month we saw lvl 70 blood elves and draeni running around the towns. Also Blizzard announced they are making a new MMO, either World of Diablo or World of Starcraft, sooo where does that leave World of Warcrft ? To me that would leave me to believe that Blizzard has no major plans in attempting to keep WOW alive and well why say you are coming out with a new MMO ? I mean, basically you are telling your current players to stop playing WOW and come play our new MMO. Sorry but it seems like the WOW days are fading away.
Eh, no Blizzard has "said" no such thing. In fact, when asked about plans to make another MMO, Blizzard has been very equivocal -- not ruling it out, but certainly not saying :oh yeah, we're working on another MMO now. It is rumoured that they hired some RTS developers in the past six months, so if anything another RTS may be in the works, or perhaps just on the drawing board, but Blizzard certainly has not said it is working on another MMO at this time.
T.R.
I think all MMO games will see a population increase. Even games like NC2 will probably look less anemic on their bottom lines this year. Why? Because faster computers are getting cheaper. That means more market share for all computer games. Which means a larger pie to slice from. That means WoW is going no where, it's here to stay. Get use to it. Enjoy the fact that WoW has brought one good thing to the computer game market: MONEY.
-- Bridget
One can't deny that there's at least a partial correlation between access to broadband and online gaming.
AoC: again, no, just because it's 18+ rated and aims for the more adult alike players instead of the teens with too much money players.
Warhammer: this one could do it. what's the main concern of WoW? Endless raids for gear that is. It's just plain boring to just sign up and get in line for gear. How about conquering a city of the other faction and actualy have fun while getting gear? PvP and RvR + some PvE is what Warhammer is about, WAR is EVERYWHERE so I kill a mob and it will contribute to the war! How cool is that? Not getinline instanced raid PvE + some PvP just added because people wanted it.
My conclusion is than that Warhammer might attract the most players from WoW (the PvP orriented people that is). The rest won't even lay a finger on WoW's playerbase
"It's no good coming to our game if you are trying to grow weed, It's no good coming to our game if you want to make pants. It's only worth coming to our game if you want to burn things to the ground."
-Paul Barnett, WAR is coming
I swore I heard something on Gamespot in some inteview about the possibility of another MMO just not what exactly it is going to be. You might be right though but not 100% sure. Either way, TBC so called expansion was far from any success no matter what blizzard's numbers say. I am surely not saying Wow is a bad game and its not but does it deserve the hype it gets ? Probably not. The 40 dollars people paid for TBC didnt't have enough content and plus the content they added was more of the same they had before. It just looked a little different. When i was playing WOW before TBC it was ok. It got worse when TBC came out cause now Kalimdor and Azeroth are empty with people struggling to get to 58 to get to the Outlands. I don't know but common sense tells me that for 40 bucks and only 10 more levels of content isn't exactly what I call a successful expansion. You also get a flying mount that you can't take to Azeroth or Kalimdor, completely makes no sense at all. If you make a Draeni or Blood Elf you get some new areas which were ok, nothing WOW people haven't seen before either. WOW will definitely lose people to Warhammer, LOTR,Guild Wars and Age of Conan.