The answer is time, and time alone. Blizzard has learned to not change a winning consept. You will not see groundbreaking changes to the game that will make the gamers leave.
WoW is the fist Mass MMO heading for the 10 million mark. Everyone have heard of WoW. Most people know someone that playes or have played the game. It is mention almost in every news that relates to playing MMO. This gives a lot of free marketing and marketing makes you(as in the masses) want to buy/play/use whatever.
WoW is the fist MMO for a lot of persons. The fist MMO holds a special place in a MMOers heart. It is something they will fall back on when MMOOfTheMonth grows boring. Also the second subscription goes to your first MMO.
It is also a matter of resources. They earn shitloads of money each month. They can develop the game as much as they want. If they wanted they could have a new expanstion every month, if the marked had been there for that. Instead they give tiny bits of new things to do and explore.
WoW, due to its success, have been the new standard for MMO. Every new game will get compared to WoW in the near future. Everything in the MMO world will be compared to WoW. People likes things to be familirar. WoW is familiar to "every" MMO gamer.
Originally posted by tillamookOriginally posted by Bane82 Originally posted by tillamook The WoW killer is gonna be BioWare's MMO. You'll see why in a few days.
You seem to say it very confidently... do you happen to know something you'd like to share? any tasty inside information you'd like to share? The information will be shared Soon Nuuuuu! I can't wait that long! lol!
If by "WoW killer" you mean - "mainstream MMO that will pull in over 1 million subscribers directly from WoW population" I think the only game with the potential to do that is going to be Warhammer Online. Why? WAR is familiar to WoW players: fantasy setting, similar controls and features, similar appearance, focus on delivering polish, etc. WAR is offering what WoW can't: impact on the world, meaningful PVP, in ADDITION to WAR having everything that WoW already has. More "depth" with the Tome of Knowledge, renown, traits, momentum, more then double the classes, etc. I think what is going to happen is this: AoC will be released, won't be as good as people hope for. WoW expansion will be released, will be more of the same, won't do as well as Burning Crusade because so many got burned out after BC. Then finally WAR will be released, and will be new and "fresh" enough yet still familiar and comfortable enough that it will grab all of the disillusioned and burnt out WoW players.
For the record, I don't plan on playing WAR as it looks like more of the same old, but I can see that game bringing in a pretty healthy chunk of subs. All of the elements are there for a big, mainstream, casual MMO and the timing is almost perfect. They're even pushing the release back, again, so you almost have to expect a smooth, polished launch. Really, I can't imagine any scenario where WAR won't be BIG.
The question should be "What will kill WoW?" The answer is time, and time alone. Blizzard has learned to not change a winning consept. You will not see groundbreaking changes to the game that will make the gamers leave. WoW is the fist Mass MMO heading for the 10 million mark. Everyone have heard of WoW. Most people know someone that playes or have played the game. It is mention almost in every news that relates to playing MMO. This gives a lot of free marketing and marketing makes you(as in the masses) want to buy/play/use whatever. WoW is the fist MMO for a lot of persons. The fist MMO holds a special place in a MMOers heart. It is something they will fall back on when MMOOfTheMonth grows boring. Also the second subscription goes to your first MMO. It is also a matter of resources. They earn shitloads of money each month. They can develop the game as much as they want. If they wanted they could have a new expanstion every month, if the marked had been there for that. Instead they give tiny bits of new things to do and explore. WoW, due to its success, have been the new standard for MMO. Every new game will get compared to WoW in the near future. Everything in the MMO world will be compared to WoW. People likes things to be familirar. WoW is familiar to "every" MMO gamer. 'Thats my thoughts about it anyway. My conclution again. Only time will kill WoW.
This is pretty much it.
The game will run its course. But it will be a long course.
Once again, people don't seem to understand why WoW is so popular. It is for casual players. Casual players don't care about uber gear or raiding ad infinitum (for all the people who raid every night and are tired of it) or anything else but having fun.
That is why the game is popular. You can log on, have some fun and log off. There doesn't need to be a WoW killer. That is just thinking of people who (for some reason) want/need it to fail.
But a game of WoW's subscription numbers will not just "go away" with another game.
War will not be a WoW killer as it seems to have very specific gameplay elements. AoC the same.
You will not see a game that has WoW's subscription numbers for an extremely long time. But it's not really needed if game companies just make games for appropriate groups. Or just good games.
Like Skyrim? Need more content? Try my Skyrim mod "Godfred's Tomb."
WAR wont kill WoW like most people think. WAR is a heavy PvP game and WoW is a heavy PvE game. I've experienced both and prefer PvP quite a bit more but some will disagree. The thing is that DAoC was an incredibly successful game and even still has a moderate amount of people playing it 6 years later. The fact that they are releasing a "DAoC #2" which has up-to-date graphics and lessons have been learned shows that it will most likely be stellar.
The only reason WoW is looked at as such a remarkable game is because people have made it so. Anyone who played the game when it first came out knows this. There was only Molten Core and it was very buggy and rather boring besides the above average boss fights. The PvP was open-ended which helped it but there were no rewards for quite some time. The one thing it did do right was game mechanics. The game was cohesive and smooth. The graphics were bearable on rather low-end computers (very important for a HUGE game, see Counter-Strike 1.6). Also, there were lots of quests to keep leveling rather fun.
Other than that, the game was dry and lacking content. I don't see what's so hard about imagining a game in which the developers know the game can make hundreds of millions in profit and pour time, effort and money into a polished game. Of course, a good MMO takes time as in my recollection, MMO's are some of the hardest game to design due to how big they are. Give it 2 years and the market should be way different than it is right now.
My money is on Warhammer Online and Age of Conan like everyone else. They look polished, have great devs, interesting lore (if not the MOST interesting) and bring new things to the genre.
Why is WoW so popular? Because it can be run on the most shitty computers you can think of...and even Macs(which should be put in the shitty category). Being able to run a game will almost guarantee sales.
This is such a simple point...yet most MMORPG developers have not grasped it. To get WOW sub numbers your game has to play well on a sub-standard computer.... my Dell 600 laptop from work with integrated graphics card can play it..... heck, even EVE won't do that....
Designing your game to run well on a $3K rig is not a forumula for financial success....
Not pushing the envolope isn't either..WOW's popularity has whole allot more to do with it being fun than system recs. Besides if you can afford something less than 4 years old you shouldn't be playing MMO's anyway. That's why they make platform consoles. Simply put If Vanguard was fun people would play it. If D& L was well made people would be playing it.
There isn't nor will there ever be a WOW killer just like there wasn't an EQI killer or UO before that. The idea that somehow a well made title has to be killed is just plain silly anyway.
I seriously doubt any7 of these will 'Kill' WOW. WOW was a mix of a good, polished game, with just the right timing. It came out at a time when SWG subscriptions were faltering, EQ2 was a big bomb at launch, taking a rediculous machine to get it looking even decent, and the other games were just really old. Only way we'll see another runaway hit like WOW is if the cards all land just right, yet again.
As for which has the best chance? I'd say it would have to be AOC. It brings a big name MMO with a huge liscence to the people who can't afford a gaming rig, but have the cash for a 360. Once they launch it for it that is.
Pushing the envelope is all fine and dandy, but you forget the average joe with his 1200.00 machine that he finally talked the missus into letting him buy for himself, or the college kid with a cheapo system from Dell and you're automatically targeting a niche audience- the hardcore that have the money and interest to get a powerful enough system. If you then cut THAT audience into a specific group- say for sake of arguement Pokemon fans, then you're making that market even smaller. Then decide it's PVP Only, or PVE only, and yet another cut in who will buy it... and it quickly gets to where there is no market left except for Bob Michelin in Wisconsin who has rich parents and loves all things Pokemon. These games cost a small fortune to make (ok, a large one) now, and investors are going to want a big sure-fire hit. And making a niche game for a niche crowd within a niche isn't going to do that. Pushing the envelope just isn't financially sound anymore.
As for dismissing Mac gamers, that's just silly. That is a captive audience right there for Blizzard. What other company is giving them a MMO anytime soon? Mac gamers have finally seen MMOs and they're hooked- want the next WOW killer? It won't be on a PC- too much choice there for them to all decide they love it.
3) The fan base. There are LOTS and LOTS of gamers out there that started with WoW and will swear by it. You know the types "Well I've been playing WoW for a year so I know MMO's" or any time they play something new "It's a WoW clone" or my favorite " Eleventy billion (or whatever number it is) subscriptions can't be wrong" McDonalds serves billions each day, does that make it fine dining or good marketing?
I knew someone had to bring up the McDonalds cliche. To be the devils advocate i say YES: McDonalds IS fine dining and good marketing, because to me, fine dining means:
- fast serving;
- reasonable pricing;
- geographic availability;
You will never win (or loose) an argument whether McDonalds is good or bad, because each person has ones own criteria. In order to be completely objective, you HAVE to go by the numbers. If million people say McDonalds is a great place to dine, and only 10 say their local pub is, then believe it or not, McDonalds is the winner in the "Best place to dine" category, however unhealthy their food might be. Its just is.
To answer OP, a lot of people answering here have the right idea about the next WoW killer - there wont be any time soon. In order to beat WoW, you gotta think generally and be less specific. You dont want to please just one crowd, because one crowd doesnt make an army. You have to please 10, 20 or 100 crowds. That would make for an army, a large subscription, and, ultimately, a WoW killer. In order to satsify 10 or more crowds, you gotta have a bit of everything in your game, PvP, PvE, quests, skills, spells, exploration, trade skills, pets, mounts, solo content, group content, raid content, gnomes, humor, graphics quality and style, story.
Its the specifics that makes a game "niche". If some game is GREAT at PvP but sux at everything else, it will be a niche game. If its great at raiding, but lacks solo content, it will be a niche game. If the game doesnt cover all the bases, it becomes a niche game - a game that is suited best for those people who like just a few aspects of the game, and dont care about the rest. So far, repeating mindless work satisfies (for the most part) monkey at best, drones at worst.
This brings up a new point, why hasn't anyone made a game that covers all the bases mentioned above? I doubt there is a definite answer there. I mean, in order to beat a game that covered most aspects of the gamestyle you have to :
a) cover them better, but NOT at expense of other aspects;
b) cover all those aspects more or less at the same level, BUT create a whole new category of aspect(s) that would encourage players to quit their current game, AND cover those new aspects well enough to keep those players from saying "PHEH" and switching back.
Its an incredible task (if not impossible) to balance all aspects of a game. You gotta hit them all just right in order to be a WoW killer. So far, no games has done it. Not even close.
Take a look at the WoW Census' that are floating about, they have a lot of accounts, but as of actual players, I do remember the count is up around 600,000, and that was a max as of a few months ago, this is only active US accounts. You can see WoW is in the decline, it's just a matter of time for developers to whisk those players away.
When people start upgrading there computers, and start playing the more advanced games, then there won't be a WoW killer, it'll just die.
The WoW killer is inevitable WoW. Eventually the game will lose popularity. All games do. WoW for many was their first MMO, and when new things start coming out and WoW is just the same ol' same ol' they'll want to try something different. The market isn't going to be one big powerhouse, everyone will be split into different MMO's.
Thats just how it is, some may stay with WoW while playing AoC, or TCOS players will want to try Aion, it's going to happen, it's just a matter of time.
man, 600k, thats hard to believe. They trully are up in the millions. Just check out the servers, the US servers, they have dozens of servers with thousands of ppl in them.
600k is like EQ2 or maybe eq1.
As far as a WoW killer, i m putting some money on AoC, and crossing my fingers. if not man, maybe i will decide to quit MMOs for good and try to get a life :>)
Honestly, i think you guys are right. All things eventually die of old age and weariness... You never now, maybe Blizzard will eventually get tired of WoW.... Though it does bring in a profitable revenue..... I personally think that WoW is the marjuana (spelling?) of MMOGs. It's THE gateway game for so many out there, but it's just that, a gateway. You wil get hooked, but will move on to better things...
I'm a Kickass Russian... Btw, the strange symbols on one Userbar are in Russian... It means "For the Purity of the Russian Language!"
I think it is too speculative to state that the wow killer will or will not come - that it will be made for one reason or another - or whether blizzard will make it. Or even, whether WoW will last forever.
If you can tell the future you might as well be making millions on stocks rather than fucking around in these forums.
Waiting for a game that will beat WoW is not the answer, since then that will be "the game" and after some time we will once again look for a game that will beat this new one, and hence the cycle continues. We should look at what we really want.
We want 2 or 3 games out at the same time that are as high in quality, or has whatever Wow has, so that we can make a choice, get bored with one and go to the other and vice versa.
Mario RPG is not a modern game, and still has not been cycled out. A player could pick it up today and have a blast.
Video games do not always have to have a lifespan.
I thought V:SoH was supposed to be the WoW killer! lol! or was it LOTR:O? Just kidding you guys. In all honesty, as it was stated here, just play the game you like and don't worry as to whether it will beat WoW or not. You're having fun after all right? so why worry about another game you're not playing?
3) The fan base. There are LOTS and LOTS of gamers out there that started with WoW and will swear by it. You know the types "Well I've been playing WoW for a year so I know MMO's" or any time they play something new "It's a WoW clone" or my favorite " Eleventy billion (or whatever number it is) subscriptions can't be wrong" McDonalds serves billions each day, does that make it fine dining or good marketing?
I knew someone had to bring up the McDonalds cliche. To be the devils advocate i say YES: McDonalds IS fine dining and good marketing, because to me, fine dining means:
- fast serving;
- reasonable pricing;
- geographic availability;
You will never win (or loose) an argument whether McDonalds is good or bad, because each person has ones own criteria. In order to be completely objective, you HAVE to go by the numbers. If million people say McDonalds is a great place to dine, and only 10 say their local pub is, then believe it or not, McDonalds is the winner in the "Best place to dine" category, however unhealthy their food might be. Its just is.
To answer OP, a lot of people answering here have the right idea about the next WoW killer - there wont be any time soon. In order to beat WoW, you gotta think generally and be less specific. You dont want to please just one crowd, because one crowd doesnt make an army. You have to please 10, 20 or 100 crowds. That would make for an army, a large subscription, and, ultimately, a WoW killer. In order to satsify 10 or more crowds, you gotta have a bit of everything in your game, PvP, PvE, quests, skills, spells, exploration, trade skills, pets, mounts, solo content, group content, raid content, gnomes, humor, graphics quality and style, story.
Its the specifics that makes a game "niche". If some game is GREAT at PvP but sux at everything else, it will be a niche game. If its great at raiding, but lacks solo content, it will be a niche game. If the game doesnt cover all the bases, it becomes a niche game - a game that is suited best for those people who like just a few aspects of the game, and dont care about the rest. So far, repeating mindless work satisfies (for the most part) monkey at best, drones at worst.
This brings up a new point, why hasn't anyone made a game that covers all the bases mentioned above? I doubt there is a definite answer there. I mean, in order to beat a game that covered most aspects of the gamestyle you have to :
a) cover them better, but NOT at expense of other aspects;
b) cover all those aspects more or less at the same level, BUT create a whole new category of aspect(s) that would encourage players to quit their current game, AND cover those new aspects well enough to keep those players from saying "PHEH" and switching back.
Its an incredible task (if not impossible) to balance all aspects of a game. You gotta hit them all just right in order to be a WoW killer. So far, no games has done it. Not even close.
Excellent post.
Mc.Donald's and WoW both fulfill a desire that consumers need. I praise Blizzard and Mc.Donald's for this.
I differ somewhat on point A:. A Game can be entirely different, yet still be a complete success. Perhaps what I am talking about here is a game that will revolutionize MMORPGs, not improve them. Goldeneye was an excellent game that began the FPS market on the N64.
I agree that no games are even coming close to succeeding in the sense that WoW has.
Many people are posting here that WoW is going strong; This is true, they still have millions of subscribers. They are, however, in a retention crises - and are on a massive marketing campaign to replace some of the players who are leaving. The next expansion will probably draw back alot of their old players.
The MMORPG crowd (which has been increased substantially by Blizzard) tends to migrate to 'the next big thing'. Having mastered the current classification of what an MMORPG is - the only way to ignite this migration will be to supply a revolutionary MMORPG.
You mentioned that 'all the crowds must be pleased' in order to create a new MMORPG that draws 10 million players. The Pve, PvP, raid, and whatever crowd. I disagree completely. Most of the players that player WoW are people who had no idea what pvp and pve stood for before they played WoW. WoW delivered fun concepts, and the players came.
Nobody predicted that WoW could become what it is.
Nobody can predict what new concepts and features could appear - the possibilities are limitless. Arguing against the possibilities is fallacious, considering that the possibility of an online game in general is not something that would have been considered in the 70s.
The MMORPG is not completely defined - it is in it's infancy. There is no law of physics stating that there should be a 'cycle' where games are abandoned in favor of new ones - unless gaming is evolving.
The WoW killer is in my head, give me $10 million and I will make it happen. World, classes, lore, magic system, factions, weaponry, mobs...the works. Life is unfair. Here everyone is complaining about how much MMOs suck, I have a solution, but can't do anything about it.
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The question should be "What will kill WoW?"
The answer is time, and time alone. Blizzard has learned to not change a winning consept. You will not see groundbreaking changes to the game that will make the gamers leave.
WoW is the fist Mass MMO heading for the 10 million mark. Everyone have heard of WoW. Most people know someone that playes or have played the game. It is mention almost in every news that relates to playing MMO. This gives a lot of free marketing and marketing makes you(as in the masses) want to buy/play/use whatever.
WoW is the fist MMO for a lot of persons. The fist MMO holds a special place in a MMOers heart. It is something they will fall back on when MMOOfTheMonth grows boring. Also the second subscription goes to your first MMO.
It is also a matter of resources. They earn shitloads of money each month. They can develop the game as much as they want. If they wanted they could have a new expanstion every month, if the marked had been there for that. Instead they give tiny bits of new things to do and explore.
WoW, due to its success, have been the new standard for MMO. Every new game will get compared to WoW in the near future. Everything in the MMO world will be compared to WoW. People likes things to be familirar. WoW is familiar to "every" MMO gamer.
'Thats my thoughts about it anyway.
My conclution again. Only time will kill WoW.
The information will be shared Soon
Nuuuuu! I can't wait that long!
For the record, I don't plan on playing WAR as it looks like more of the same old, but I can see that game bringing in a pretty healthy chunk of subs. All of the elements are there for a big, mainstream, casual MMO and the timing is almost perfect. They're even pushing the release back, again, so you almost have to expect a smooth, polished launch. Really, I can't imagine any scenario where WAR won't be BIG.
This is pretty much it.
The game will run its course. But it will be a long course.
Once again, people don't seem to understand why WoW is so popular. It is for casual players. Casual players don't care about uber gear or raiding ad infinitum (for all the people who raid every night and are tired of it) or anything else but having fun.
That is why the game is popular. You can log on, have some fun and log off. There doesn't need to be a WoW killer. That is just thinking of people who (for some reason) want/need it to fail.
But a game of WoW's subscription numbers will not just "go away" with another game.
War will not be a WoW killer as it seems to have very specific gameplay elements. AoC the same.
You will not see a game that has WoW's subscription numbers for an extremely long time. But it's not really needed if game companies just make games for appropriate groups. Or just good games.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
WAR wont kill WoW like most people think. WAR is a heavy PvP game and WoW is a heavy PvE game. I've experienced both and prefer PvP quite a bit more but some will disagree. The thing is that DAoC was an incredibly successful game and even still has a moderate amount of people playing it 6 years later. The fact that they are releasing a "DAoC #2" which has up-to-date graphics and lessons have been learned shows that it will most likely be stellar.
The only reason WoW is looked at as such a remarkable game is because people have made it so. Anyone who played the game when it first came out knows this. There was only Molten Core and it was very buggy and rather boring besides the above average boss fights. The PvP was open-ended which helped it but there were no rewards for quite some time. The one thing it did do right was game mechanics. The game was cohesive and smooth. The graphics were bearable on rather low-end computers (very important for a HUGE game, see Counter-Strike 1.6). Also, there were lots of quests to keep leveling rather fun.
Other than that, the game was dry and lacking content. I don't see what's so hard about imagining a game in which the developers know the game can make hundreds of millions in profit and pour time, effort and money into a polished game. Of course, a good MMO takes time as in my recollection, MMO's are some of the hardest game to design due to how big they are. Give it 2 years and the market should be way different than it is right now.
My money is on Warhammer Online and Age of Conan like everyone else. They look polished, have great devs, interesting lore (if not the MOST interesting) and bring new things to the genre.
This is such a simple point...yet most MMORPG developers have not grasped it. To get WOW sub numbers your game has to play well on a sub-standard computer.... my Dell 600 laptop from work with integrated graphics card can play it..... heck, even EVE won't do that....
Designing your game to run well on a $3K rig is not a forumula for financial success....
Not pushing the envolope isn't either..WOW's popularity has whole allot more to do with it being fun than system recs. Besides if you can afford something less than 4 years old you shouldn't be playing MMO's anyway. That's why they make platform consoles. Simply put If Vanguard was fun people would play it. If D& L was well made people would be playing it.
There isn't nor will there ever be a WOW killer just like there wasn't an EQI killer or UO before that. The idea that somehow a well made title has to be killed is just plain silly anyway.
Dutchess Zarraa Voltayre
Reborn/Zero Sum/Ancient Legacy/Jagged Legion/Feared/Nuke & Pave.
I seriously doubt any7 of these will 'Kill' WOW. WOW was a mix of a good, polished game, with just the right timing. It came out at a time when SWG subscriptions were faltering, EQ2 was a big bomb at launch, taking a rediculous machine to get it looking even decent, and the other games were just really old. Only way we'll see another runaway hit like WOW is if the cards all land just right, yet again.
As for which has the best chance? I'd say it would have to be AOC. It brings a big name MMO with a huge liscence to the people who can't afford a gaming rig, but have the cash for a 360. Once they launch it for it that is.
Pushing the envelope is all fine and dandy, but you forget the average joe with his 1200.00 machine that he finally talked the missus into letting him buy for himself, or the college kid with a cheapo system from Dell and you're automatically targeting a niche audience- the hardcore that have the money and interest to get a powerful enough system. If you then cut THAT audience into a specific group- say for sake of arguement Pokemon fans, then you're making that market even smaller. Then decide it's PVP Only, or PVE only, and yet another cut in who will buy it... and it quickly gets to where there is no market left except for Bob Michelin in Wisconsin who has rich parents and loves all things Pokemon. These games cost a small fortune to make (ok, a large one) now, and investors are going to want a big sure-fire hit. And making a niche game for a niche crowd within a niche isn't going to do that. Pushing the envelope just isn't financially sound anymore.
As for dismissing Mac gamers, that's just silly. That is a captive audience right there for Blizzard. What other company is giving them a MMO anytime soon? Mac gamers have finally seen MMOs and they're hooked- want the next WOW killer? It won't be on a PC- too much choice there for them to all decide they love it.
it will strike when WoW is dying, mercifully removing WoW's last drops.
The WoW killer is in my pants.
I knew someone had to bring up the McDonalds cliche. To be the devils advocate i say YES: McDonalds IS fine dining and good marketing, because to me, fine dining means:
- fast serving;
- reasonable pricing;
- geographic availability;
You will never win (or loose) an argument whether McDonalds is good or bad, because each person has ones own criteria. In order to be completely objective, you HAVE to go by the numbers. If million people say McDonalds is a great place to dine, and only 10 say their local pub is, then believe it or not, McDonalds is the winner in the "Best place to dine" category, however unhealthy their food might be. Its just is.
To answer OP, a lot of people answering here have the right idea about the next WoW killer - there wont be any time soon. In order to beat WoW, you gotta think generally and be less specific. You dont want to please just one crowd, because one crowd doesnt make an army. You have to please 10, 20 or 100 crowds. That would make for an army, a large subscription, and, ultimately, a WoW killer. In order to satsify 10 or more crowds, you gotta have a bit of everything in your game, PvP, PvE, quests, skills, spells, exploration, trade skills, pets, mounts, solo content, group content, raid content, gnomes, humor, graphics quality and style, story.
Its the specifics that makes a game "niche". If some game is GREAT at PvP but sux at everything else, it will be a niche game. If its great at raiding, but lacks solo content, it will be a niche game. If the game doesnt cover all the bases, it becomes a niche game - a game that is suited best for those people who like just a few aspects of the game, and dont care about the rest. So far, repeating mindless work satisfies (for the most part) monkey at best, drones at worst.
This brings up a new point, why hasn't anyone made a game that covers all the bases mentioned above? I doubt there is a definite answer there. I mean, in order to beat a game that covered most aspects of the gamestyle you have to :
a) cover them better, but NOT at expense of other aspects;
b) cover all those aspects more or less at the same level, BUT create a whole new category of aspect(s) that would encourage players to quit their current game, AND cover those new aspects well enough to keep those players from saying "PHEH" and switching back.
Its an incredible task (if not impossible) to balance all aspects of a game. You gotta hit them all just right in order to be a WoW killer. So far, no games has done it. Not even close.
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
When the warcraft online gamers grow up, it ends. Because then they will realize what they have been doing with their pre-teen lives.
"Don't hold breath about another KOTOR game coming from Bioware" - Chris Preistly
"Bioware is more intrested in pursueing development of it's own Intellectual properties"
- James Henly
Take a look at the WoW Census' that are floating about, they have a lot of accounts, but as of actual players, I do remember the count is up around 600,000, and that was a max as of a few months ago, this is only active US accounts. You can see WoW is in the decline, it's just a matter of time for developers to whisk those players away.
When people start upgrading there computers, and start playing the more advanced games, then there won't be a WoW killer, it'll just die.
The WoW killer is inevitable WoW. Eventually the game will lose popularity. All games do. WoW for many was their first MMO, and when new things start coming out and WoW is just the same ol' same ol' they'll want to try something different. The market isn't going to be one big powerhouse, everyone will be split into different MMO's.
Thats just how it is, some may stay with WoW while playing AoC, or TCOS players will want to try Aion, it's going to happen, it's just a matter of time.
man, 600k, thats hard to believe. They trully are up in the millions. Just check out the servers, the US servers, they have dozens of servers with thousands of ppl in them.
600k is like EQ2 or maybe eq1.
As far as a WoW killer, i m putting some money on AoC, and crossing my fingers. if not man, maybe i will decide to quit MMOs for good and try to get a life :>)
Honestly, i think you guys are right. All things eventually die of old age and weariness... You never now, maybe Blizzard will eventually get tired of WoW.... Though it does bring in a profitable revenue..... I personally think that WoW is the marjuana (spelling?) of MMOGs. It's THE gateway game for so many out there, but it's just that, a gateway. You wil get hooked, but will move on to better things...
I'm a Kickass Russian...
Btw, the strange symbols on one Userbar are in Russian... It means "For the Purity of the Russian Language!"
I think it is too speculative to state that the wow killer will or will not come - that it will be made for one reason or another - or whether blizzard will make it. Or even, whether WoW will last forever.
If you can tell the future you might as well be making millions on stocks rather than fucking around in these forums.
Video games do not always have to have a lifespan.
There is only a consensus amongst malcontent forum posters. Most of the rest of the population (the majority) is happy playing their games.
I see no reason to hunt a World of Warcraft "killer". There's a lot of room for games of all kinds in this grand marketplace of consumerism.
Sorry, consensus among veteran gamers who have seen more shit than you have.
Its in the hearts of all WoW players.
Now this of my above sentence real hard, you'll understand what I mean.
Why not? :P
I knew someone had to bring up the McDonalds cliche. To be the devils advocate i say YES: McDonalds IS fine dining and good marketing, because to me, fine dining means:
- fast serving;
- reasonable pricing;
- geographic availability;
You will never win (or loose) an argument whether McDonalds is good or bad, because each person has ones own criteria. In order to be completely objective, you HAVE to go by the numbers. If million people say McDonalds is a great place to dine, and only 10 say their local pub is, then believe it or not, McDonalds is the winner in the "Best place to dine" category, however unhealthy their food might be. Its just is.
To answer OP, a lot of people answering here have the right idea about the next WoW killer - there wont be any time soon. In order to beat WoW, you gotta think generally and be less specific. You dont want to please just one crowd, because one crowd doesnt make an army. You have to please 10, 20 or 100 crowds. That would make for an army, a large subscription, and, ultimately, a WoW killer. In order to satsify 10 or more crowds, you gotta have a bit of everything in your game, PvP, PvE, quests, skills, spells, exploration, trade skills, pets, mounts, solo content, group content, raid content, gnomes, humor, graphics quality and style, story.
Its the specifics that makes a game "niche". If some game is GREAT at PvP but sux at everything else, it will be a niche game. If its great at raiding, but lacks solo content, it will be a niche game. If the game doesnt cover all the bases, it becomes a niche game - a game that is suited best for those people who like just a few aspects of the game, and dont care about the rest. So far, repeating mindless work satisfies (for the most part) monkey at best, drones at worst.
This brings up a new point, why hasn't anyone made a game that covers all the bases mentioned above? I doubt there is a definite answer there. I mean, in order to beat a game that covered most aspects of the gamestyle you have to :
a) cover them better, but NOT at expense of other aspects;
b) cover all those aspects more or less at the same level, BUT create a whole new category of aspect(s) that would encourage players to quit their current game, AND cover those new aspects well enough to keep those players from saying "PHEH" and switching back.
Its an incredible task (if not impossible) to balance all aspects of a game. You gotta hit them all just right in order to be a WoW killer. So far, no games has done it. Not even close.
Excellent post.
Mc.Donald's and WoW both fulfill a desire that consumers need. I praise Blizzard and Mc.Donald's for this.
I differ somewhat on point A:. A Game can be entirely different, yet still be a complete success. Perhaps what I am talking about here is a game that will revolutionize MMORPGs, not improve them. Goldeneye was an excellent game that began the FPS market on the N64.
I agree that no games are even coming close to succeeding in the sense that WoW has.
Many people are posting here that WoW is going strong; This is true, they still have millions of subscribers. They are, however, in a retention crises - and are on a massive marketing campaign to replace some of the players who are leaving. The next expansion will probably draw back alot of their old players.
The MMORPG crowd (which has been increased substantially by Blizzard) tends to migrate to 'the next big thing'. Having mastered the current classification of what an MMORPG is - the only way to ignite this migration will be to supply a revolutionary MMORPG.
You mentioned that 'all the crowds must be pleased' in order to create a new MMORPG that draws 10 million players. The Pve, PvP, raid, and whatever crowd. I disagree completely. Most of the players that player WoW are people who had no idea what pvp and pve stood for before they played WoW. WoW delivered fun concepts, and the players came.
Nobody predicted that WoW could become what it is.
Nobody can predict what new concepts and features could appear - the possibilities are limitless. Arguing against the possibilities is fallacious, considering that the possibility of an online game in general is not something that would have been considered in the 70s.
The MMORPG is not completely defined - it is in it's infancy. There is no law of physics stating that there should be a 'cycle' where games are abandoned in favor of new ones - unless gaming is evolving.
The WoW killer is in my head, give me $10 million and I will make it happen. World, classes, lore, magic system, factions, weaponry, mobs...the works. Life is unfair. Here everyone is complaining about how much MMOs suck, I have a solution, but can't do anything about it.
like you I always sucuumb to the unresistable urge to play a Blizzard game even though I know it will be a soul sucker just like WoW turned out to be