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What does EA expect from WAR?
Kshahdoo
Member Posts: 553
Well, I heard from alotta mor... hmm... people here they didnt want to see all those wowers in WAR. Great. They got a right to think this way. But what about Electronic Arts?
WoW got a developing budget close to $50M. And I've heard EA is gonna spend around $30M for promotional purposes only. So we can asume the whole WAR budget will be even more than a WoW one. And now the question - how many subscribers will WAR need to cover all those expenses? My estimation - a few millions (purhaps 3-4 millions would be ok). Will EA be able to get all these millions w/o attracting wowers? I highly doubt. So WAR will have to meet somewhen wow players' expectation. And it looks like so far it's not gonna happen...
What will EA do if its WAR expectation wont come true? God knows... But not any good for the game that's for sure...
Comments
I'm sure WAR will do fine. I doubt it will do as good as WoW, but I highly doubt it will be hurting. It's inevitable war will attract people from all the other MMOs, WoW included. Also, I'm sure EA doesn't care if WoW players are playing their game, it's all money.
It's 1AM and EA is closed, I'll ask in the morning ...
WoW players isn't worse than any other really. Its just that the game promote selfish acts. You need to join a huge guild to get gear for [b]yourself/b]. In many of these guilds there is people that hate each others or doesn't really care for the others as long as they get what they need to be a higher ranked player.
This is the result of a Gear reward system.
In WAR you will get awarded with RRs as the main reward. You gain RRs most effective through team play, but you dont need 40+ people but can do with 6 so you can create your own small guilds that only have your Friends in it.
MMO's Played: 20 , Closed Beta: 9 , Open Beta: 3 , Currently:Warhammer Beta
Guild: Futilez
Let's add this up.
Mythic has an extremely enthusiastic team of developers.
EA has a lot of money.
500,000+ beta sign-ups.
What is it, nine million people playing WoW? A good portion of those players (and I know because I played for two years) are really into PvP, and believe me, are looking for something different.
Mythic has been so good to the community, I don't think there's any developer out there currently which matches Mythic's level of dedication to their fans.
Overall I'm not too worried about whether or not this game will succeed.
As for people bitching about ex-WoW players playing Warhammer... When you stick a thousand+ people into a digital world, no matter how hard you try, there will always be douche bags, I don't care what game you're playing. WoW just happens to have a lot more people playing it, meaning the douche bags are more plentiful.
Well, I'm sure none of WoW pvpers will change WoW for WAR just because the later will have a great PvP system (and yes, it's great, I liked it while playing DAoC). It's gameplay that will make everything. And WAR gameplay doesnt look that attractive to wowers so far. You may not believe me, but it's true...
I dont doubt War will do well to begine with there are the Games Workshop fans. Then you get the Mythic fans. Then you get the WoW fans [becasue this game does resemble Wow].
"Kill one man, and you are a murderer. Kill millions of men, and you are a conqueror. Kill them all, and you are a god."
-- Jean Rostand
Saying "WAR resembles WoW" is the same as saying "Lineage 2 resembles UT because both games use the same engine"...
Saying "WAR resembles WoW" is the same as saying "Lineage 2 resembles UT because both games use the same engine"...
I would have to say thats a safe comment then. Yes, WAR resembles WoW, but heres the kicker, WAR is using Gamebryo. well, the updated one from DAoC.Things WAR and WoW have in common:
Graphics, that in a certain light, have some simularities.
Things they don't:
1. IP
2. History
3. Guild
4. PvP
5. PvE
6. End Game
I don't know about crafting, so I can not comment on it, but theres just a short list.
I find it kinda funny, I find it kinda sad, The dreams in which I'm dieing are the best I've ever had.
Well, I'm sure none of WoW pvpers will change WoW for WAR just because the later will have a great PvP system (and yes, it's great, I liked it while playing DAoC). It's gameplay that will make everything. And WAR gameplay doesnt look that attractive to wowers so far. You may not believe me, but it's true...
Actually, I'm a WoW pvper. I just quit about a month or 2 ago, and I'm waiting for WAR to come out. My cousin, who is also a WoW pvper, is also waiting for WAR. A bunch of people from our pvp guild is waiting for WAR to come out too. Either way, I could care less if WoW players switch.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h48yRo255fU looks fine to me...
I think when people say they don't want WoW players here they are referring to the bastardized common community that WoW has developed. For the most part regardless of age players in WoW (as said before) tend to have purple eyes...(want the epics) and will do anything to get that gear. This has resulted in many players who usually don't get along well...just barely tolerating other players in order to get better gear from raids. This results in many guilds disbanding/reforming/merging over and over due to no good leadership and a focus on gear instead of focusing on having fun/teamplay.
PvP guilds that strictly PvP tend to be mesh together better because they are more focused on winning a match because winning is their main goal...the rewards that come from winning are merely a nice little door prize and does nothing but to give them a slightly larger margin of error while PvPing. PvE guilds tend to have to force players to show up...sometimes demanding that certain players/classes show up just to "proceed in content" and content that is already easy/offers nothing to older/already geared players has no way of enforcing those people to show up. PvE in MMO's is all fine and dandy as long as the gear scales correctly without imbalancing either later PvE or PvP, when it does that's when PvE turns games bad...as such is the case with WoW. If you feel my assertations on this are wrong please correct me but I'm fairly certain I hit the money on the spot.
~~Internet gaming is not for the faint of heart or the dumb of mind.~~
I wouldnt worry too much about WoW players coming over b/c most of them cant pvp without INSTANTS. Those that can see WoW pvp just plain sucks and willing to switch will be good pvpers anyway.
I know for sure EA wants money, and then they want more money. Then more subscribers to get even more money.
I'm sure it's all about money.
______________________________________
You Are Not Tifa, Cloud, Aeris, Barret, Red XIII, Vincent, Yuffie, Cait Sith, Sephiroth or even Cid.
Not Any Other FF Character.
Yeah, they're gonna do their best effort to cater to everyone. Mythic uses charm and personality to woo all of the "I hate WoW" crowd and great promotion via information releases that makes everyone else just waiting for a good MMO to keep up with it, as well as catering to the PvP community also thanks to their rather excellent reputation from DAoC. EA will drop many a promotional and expensive bomb to woo everyone who isn't part of one of the cases above, and, you'll see, especially WoW players. In my opinion everyone's doing their job and it's all good as long as the game delivers on its promises, regardless of the hype.
I think they're expecting it to be the proverbial 800 pound gorilla with $100 bills proc'ing out of it's ass. I believe that they are not making the next DAoC or trying to attract their former or current customers. They are going off the path somewhat and they want to try something different. I hope it works out for them. I'll give it a shot when it's released.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
Why leave WoW PvP for a game that is unproven? WAR looks like a clone copy of WoW anyway.
Because WoW is not a pvp game, and only has poorly implemented pvp in it because a large enough ammount of the community asked for it. If you are playing mmo's for pvp you might as well go for a game that is centered around meaningfull pvp wich affects everybody insted of just you.
No required quests! And if I decide I want to be an assassin-cartographer-dancer-pastry chef who lives only to stalk and kill interior decorators, then that's who I want to be, even if it takes me four years to max all the skills and everyone else thinks I'm freaking nuts. -Madimorga-
I believe EA can expect a lot from War, perhaps even to the extent of of surpassing WOW's fame, and I'll explain why;
When Blizzard released WOW, it was still rocking from the fame of Starcraft, Warcraft, and Diablo, which gave blizzard a cult following and expectation of product quality. I doubt you'd find many PC gamers who didn't know one of these titles. Also, the market was not offering an exceptional competition at the time.
WAR is around a decade older, and also as a large cult following, but has access to non PC gamers. It is comparable to WOW's situation at its release, but it also has the fact that this is not EA's first MMO like WOW was for Blizzard. What this equates to is a chance to surpass all others, especially with the hype already shown. You can also check the forums and see the far less negative has been said about WAR than has been said about AoC, its leading contender in the upcoming category.
If release looks anything like what we've seen of its development i believe that WAR may not only have a huge release but a large migration from the other mmorpg's in the months following. Lets face it, most people have become bored with the past supreme ranking mmorpg's and have been waiting and hoping for something better for quite some time. If nothing else, i believe EA's expectations will be surpassed.
I understand where you are coming from, and enjoyed reading your well-thought opinion, but I respectfully disagree regarding WAR surpassing WoW.
First of all, I am a diehard WAR fan and it is going to be my next MMORPG - I have been waiting for it since it was announced in 2005. I am also a former WoW player, but have no longer have any love for the game, though I do recognize it is a massive achievement and masterpiece.
All that being said, so you know where I am coming from, WAR will not achieve subscription numbers in the ballpark of WoW. I do feel WAR will be a fantastic game, but it simply will not "dethrone" WoW in pure popularity.
You first mention cult following, and I agree Blizzard has one and that the Warhammer IP has one, too, but you fail to consider the magnitude. Blizzard and its franchises are far and away more well known than Warhammer is - by far. This is especially true in Asia which is where WoW gets around half of its subscriptions - WAR is going to have a tough time in that market, to be honest. More importantly, Blizzard's following is composed solely of computer gamers, which is a better cult to have than one composed partially of those who are not.
In short, Blizzard's fan-base before WoW blows away Warhammer's fan-base before WAR.
As for migration, there will, of course, be some. However, WoW has major mass-market appeal and targets the most casual to the most hardcore gamers. It is polished, addictive, and in a commercial sweet spot that brings many demographics together. WAR is a little less mainstream since it is focused heavily on PvP/RvR, something much of the less vocal, more populous community is not overly keen on. I think that while WAR will capture a lot of WoW players, some will go back to WoW after they discover WAR is not WoW 2.0 and thus not what they want. Also, snatching millions of players away from an institution like WoW, a fairly young, thriving game, is hard when it means breaking up guilds, friendships, and other ties such as those people have with their characters.
Do not let forums fool you - the vocal minority who hates WoW and has quit, or is playing but yearns for something more, is not representative of the majority. The majority is happy and loves their game, and is not necessarily the market WAR is shooting for.
WoW is not ready to bleed its players and begin to die - it is not even ready to lose its crown as the most successful MMOG. WAR will be very successful, of that I am quite sure, but it is not trying to fool us or itself and success will be 500K subscriptions, with the rest being gravy.
If EA is involved, any MMO is doomed from the start. Just look at how many MMO's they've killed. At the very best, they will grab all the money they can and then can it. Time will tell.
I understand where you are coming from, and enjoyed reading your well-thought opinion, but I respectfully disagree regarding WAR surpassing WoW.
First of all, I am a diehard WAR fan and it is going to be my next MMORPG - I have been waiting for it since it was announced in 2005. I am also a former WoW player, but have no longer have any love for the game, though I do recognize it is a massive achievement and masterpiece.
All that being said, so you know where I am coming from, WAR will not achieve subscription numbers in the ballpark of WoW. I do feel WAR will be a fantastic game, but it simply will not "dethrone" WoW in pure popularity.
You first mention cult following, and I agree Blizzard has one and that the Warhammer IP has one, too, but you fail to consider the magnitude. Blizzard and its franchises are far and away more well known than Warhammer is - by far. This is especially true in Asia which is where WoW gets around half of its subscriptions - WAR is going to have a tough time in that market, to be honest. More importantly, Blizzard's following is composed solely of computer gamers, which is a better cult to have than one composed partially of those who are not.
In short, Blizzard's fan-base before WoW blows away Warhammer's fan-base before WAR.
As for migration, there will, of course, be some. However, WoW has major mass-market appeal and targets the most casual to the most hardcore gamers. It is polished, addictive, and in a commercial sweet spot that brings many demographics together. WAR is a little less mainstream since it is focused heavily on PvP/RvR, something much of the less vocal, more populous community is not overly keen on. I think that while WAR will capture a lot of WoW players, some will go back to WoW after they discover WAR is not WoW 2.0 and thus not what they want. Also, snatching millions of players away from an institution like WoW, a fairly young, thriving game, is hard when it means breaking up guilds, friendships, and other ties such as those people have with their characters.
Do not let forums fool you - the vocal minority who hates WoW and has quit, or is playing but yearns for something more, is not representative of the majority. The majority is happy and loves their game, and is not necessarily the market WAR is shooting for.
WoW is not ready to bleed its players and begin to die - it is not even ready to lose its crown as the most successful MMOG. WAR will be very successful, of that I am quite sure, but it is not trying to fool us or itself and success will be 500K subscriptions, with the rest being gravy.
I understand the point your making as well, but I do think you're over glorifying WOW. Personally i was one of the cult followers of blizzard back in the day, I was disheartened by what i saw with WOW's release. Years later, I couldn't understand how it had gained such an audience. Its opponents are not a minority, they are just spread among all the other mmo's. Just as WOW gained its initial jump start primarily from players tired of their current mmo, so to wil the new up and coming. All games get dethroned eventually, I've been around long enough to see the signs, 2008 should prove my point, and WAR has about as good a chance as any. If 2009 comes and i'm proven wrong, you have have every right to give me an "I told you so." All i can say is don't down play us anti-WOW'ers.
I hear alot of trash about the WoW community, but I'm guessing most people just mention those players that hang around the forums...
The Anti Social Gamer
I've found that sadly a lot of people use WoW as a chatroom. I knew a few people at work that played and I was going to join them only to find out that they play on a PVE server, do low level dungeons with high level toons, get drunk and talk over some VOIP software, and then emote dance around the whole time. I think Wow has a lot of social aspects to it more than just being an MMO.
For the record, I am perfectly fine with leaving these people in WoW while we can play a PVP title like WAR without them.
I understand where you are coming from, and enjoyed reading your well-thought opinion, but I respectfully disagree regarding WAR surpassing WoW.
First of all, I am a diehard WAR fan and it is going to be my next MMORPG - I have been waiting for it since it was announced in 2005. I am also a former WoW player, but have no longer have any love for the game, though I do recognize it is a massive achievement and masterpiece.
All that being said, so you know where I am coming from, WAR will not achieve subscription numbers in the ballpark of WoW. I do feel WAR will be a fantastic game, but it simply will not "dethrone" WoW in pure popularity.
You first mention cult following, and I agree Blizzard has one and that the Warhammer IP has one, too, but you fail to consider the magnitude. Blizzard and its franchises are far and away more well known than Warhammer is - by far. This is especially true in Asia which is where WoW gets around half of its subscriptions - WAR is going to have a tough time in that market, to be honest. More importantly, Blizzard's following is composed solely of computer gamers, which is a better cult to have than one composed partially of those who are not.
In short, Blizzard's fan-base before WoW blows away Warhammer's fan-base before WAR.
As for migration, there will, of course, be some. However, WoW has major mass-market appeal and targets the most casual to the most hardcore gamers. It is polished, addictive, and in a commercial sweet spot that brings many demographics together. WAR is a little less mainstream since it is focused heavily on PvP/RvR, something much of the less vocal, more populous community is not overly keen on. I think that while WAR will capture a lot of WoW players, some will go back to WoW after they discover WAR is not WoW 2.0 and thus not what they want. Also, snatching millions of players away from an institution like WoW, a fairly young, thriving game, is hard when it means breaking up guilds, friendships, and other ties such as those people have with their characters.
Do not let forums fool you - the vocal minority who hates WoW and has quit, or is playing but yearns for something more, is not representative of the majority. The majority is happy and loves their game, and is not necessarily the market WAR is shooting for.
WoW is not ready to bleed its players and begin to die - it is not even ready to lose its crown as the most successful MMOG. WAR will be very successful, of that I am quite sure, but it is not trying to fool us or itself and success will be 500K subscriptions, with the rest being gravy.
Sornin, I hate to say it buddy. I have to agree with the other guy who responded to your post. I think that Blizzard did a fantastic job with Starcraft 2. They did a fantastic job with WC3. They made the MMO community more outspoken and mainstream. Unfortunately they abused their fan-following from their success with RTS games and encouraged them to come to MMO's. That's fine. But their development with WoW has been less then successful at points. Thier implemnentation of certain features is good while other features are just down-right watered down. My point is Blizzard is a good company...at making RTS games, as Starcraft 2 well proves. I think that WoW WILL not die...but it's already on the decline. Blizzard needs to focus on what it does best, and that is RTS games.Besides, can we stop comparing these two to each other? One is succesful in the number of subscriptions it has. The other is in devopment still. Let's at least save the comparing till AFTER release ok? For all our sakes let the comparisions between WAR and WoW stop.
~~Internet gaming is not for the faint of heart or the dumb of mind.~~
You really want to know what will happen come Q1 of 2008 assuming all scheduled mmo's come out?
WoW will just be getting patch 2.3 out that introduces some 5-10 man and STILL has another 4 month patch after that before even considering an expansion launch. Raiders will be bored, PvPers will be PvPed out from the mind numbingly pointless arenas.
MMO players will be looking for something new or to keep them busy. WAR, AoC, PotBS, TR, and a bunch of other MMO's will have released and the mmo community will be fractured into different groups. Many that played EQ/EQ2/WoW will be playing AoC or WAR. PvE'rs mostly going to AoC since I do believe they will have 25 man raids(correct me if I am wrong).
WAR will get somewhere in the range of 500,000 players in the first few months between EU and NA. Asssuming that WAR delivers on what they have promised (unlike WoW), people will follow their friends and try it out. 4-8 months down the line AoC and WAR have a decline in population due to WotLK fanbois returning to try it out. Weeks later they return to AoC and WAR. Assuming also at this point that no one has an expansion out yet, hey these companies aren't blizzard! They don't take 2 years to make one small expansion.
During this time there will be a large battle between AoC and WAR like EQ2 and WoW. The winner at this time will be hard to determine simply because it is too soon. If WAR releases EARLY Q1, has a stable game that is polished it will have a big advantage over AoC. Many will buy WAR to pass the time and possilby get hooked or won't be able to justify spending another $60 for AoC +computer upgrades should they be neccessary. Hardware reqs will be another factor so AoC better make sure that it will run on some average PC's. AoC does have the PvE advantage though and it will draw people, as well as the kids that want SEX OMG SEX!
WoW players will migrate to EVERY newly released game since the largest population of gamers have collected there. I will venture a guess to say that most MMO players didn't join WoW because they were Warcraft fans, but rather that it was the next big mmo. This will again happen with WAR and AoC. The big winner will be the big loser because of WoW players infiltrating the ranks! Hopefully though the wow fanbois will return for the expansion. Numbers for both games will grow and I could see WAR and AoC both breating WoW for player numbers in NA/EU but not in Asia....yet. The biggest draw I think is peer pressure from friends, guilds, hype, etc. So let the games begin!
Personally I will be getting Hellgate London on Oct 31 and playing that until WAR comes out. Assuming that in between I don't get into any betas (AoC or WAR) to get an advanced look at things that will have a big impact on my judgement.
"Unfortunately they abused their fan-following from their success with RTS games and encouraged them to come to MMO's."
How did they abuse them? This is a rather large claim to make without explanation.
"But their development with WoW has been less then successful at points."
Other games are then even less successful at more points. The argument is not about whether WoW is perfect, but that it is good enough to be the top dog, by several million, domestically.
"My point is Blizzard is a good company...at making RTS games, as Starcraft 2 well proves."
They are, indeed, good RTS makers...but clearly good MMORPG makers, too. Can they not do both? In fact, they are more successful with WoW than with any other game.
"Blizzard needs to focus on what it does best, and that is RTS games. "
Right, because WoW and the hundreds of millions it has made points to a bad decision.
At any rate, these are bold claims to make considering that World of Warcraft is the most internationally successful MMORPG of all time.
Are you telling me that, even though they made a game with subscription numbers in excess of 1000% greater than other MMORPGs, that they are only good at making RTS games and should stick to that? This makes no sense. You may not like WoW, but clearly Blizzard did something right and, if popularity is any guide (and what else is there that is unbiased?), they are the best MMORPG company there is right now.
Anyway, I think people are a tad biased against Blizzard and WoW and refuse to recognize their success and dominance in the market - people tend to pick on the big guy, for whatever reason. You do not have to like WoW, but you should at least be able to admit they did a lot right and are making billions of dollars off of it.
P.S. You are speaking like StarCraft 2 has been released...it is not even close to release yet! Quite odd...