What amuses me the most is that SOE took so much heat for trying to do just that: Pandering to customers they don't have instead of making the game better the one the they do.
CCP continues to succeed in a time where MMOs are costantly being cancelled for being innovative and not going for the casual/ lowest common denominator/ walk-me -through-your-content crowd.
That is probably their greatest sign of sucess beyond simple sub numbers.
I voted for Funcom, because they have tried the impossible, and came out with not a completely bad product, which deserves applause, no other MMO development studio is trying anything new, hence why Funcom should be applauded, not matter how the MMO itself turned out, we need more companies to start trying to new things, instead of being conservative and saturating the MMO scene.
funcom, WORST WORST customer support i have seen in my LIFE. it's not even f2p type of mmo, its p2p mmos they make yet no possible way of contacting them via phone, only email with one week replys, heh. and they usually reply with some sort of BS. ==/
thanx, they wouldnt have been my 1st choice anyway but i actually respect them keeping conan up, running and improving with probably low numbers atm while nc soft just shafts their games when things get rough. ps.: i hope there will be a "newcomer" category so i can promote spellborne nl a bit more
Does funcom have anywhere to go with AOC but up?
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Hmmm no SOE on the list? Not saying they will be a favorite but they are a major studio with several MMO's.
SOE isn't meeting any of the criteria they don't have any new products out unless you count expansions for EQ and even if they did get a nomination trust me they would get so few votes it would only serve to make it more obvious how backwards a company they are
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Wow, what a thoughtless list of nominees. I've played a lot of MMOs from a wide range of developers, and I'm sorry to the haters out there, but EQ2 offers the best fantasy-genre gameplay I've yet found. And SOE is a vastly more active developer overall than Blizzard - The Agency looks awesome, and DCUO has some buzz behind it. Free Realms for the kiddies? SOE gets my vote, with Cryptic (omgzIwannaplayChampions) in 2nd place.
Don't forgt the S in SOE stands for SONY which is the only reason these guys are able to work on so many products without being a true force in this industry (anyone who disagrees with me let's simply look at the performance of sony's other game division playstation and then compare it's place in the video game world to SOEs) honestly I have nothing against anyone personally favoring soe games but I can hardly see any reason to waste space or even take a chance at letting them think they couldn't do better by puting them in this list
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Umm Square Enix and there Final Fantasy series is the 4th best selling series of all time and they are not in the voting list? lol.Bested by ONLY non MMORPG genres such as SIMS/mario.
Wow brags about there 10 millions subs lol and most of them are cafes/gaming pubs and RMT farmers.The Final Fantasy series only has 85+ Million copies sold.To top that off,there are MANY who have claimed it is very hard to purchase/ find a final fantasy game at times.Square does not market nor push there game to the public at all,they rely on QUALITY over marketing.
Funcom=weak,Turbine until LOTR =very weak...Blizzard =WOW success,size of there staff and money spent is an embarrasement to there final product.I see better results from the two Teenagers who made crash Banicoot.Sure WOW is a large game but each individual piece is very weak and would take nothing for a small time developer to easily top.
CCP=??? you kidding me?very weak developer,they are far behind even some small developers.
NCSOFT=RMT/RMT/botters/botters and a staff that couldn't care less to clean up there games.You can bet your ass they have staff involved in RMT or paid off by the RMT sites to turn the cheek.I have ZERO respect for NCSOFT,well there staff/managers.I guess there coders/artists/mappers deserve some credit,it's not there fault there heirarchy is so lame.
How SOE is not also in the list is too funny to mention.They have the most contraversy surrounding them in the whole world.There Everquest was the cornerstone of this whole MMORPG market.So much so that Blizzard chose to copy Everquest when designing there game,and MANY others still follow/use the exact same template.SOE also set the COST standards when charging for online services.Nobody charges more than the 15.99,witch has become standard.SOE is also the first to incoporate MANY new ideas to the MMORPG genre and the first to have there own RMT activity,keeping it safe for users and taking it out of the hands of the ILLEGAL sites that have no business making money off there hard work.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I don't think i've ever posted on these forums, but Turbine is most definitely worth the time to post and vote! I've played SOE, NCSoft, Mythic, and Turbine games primarily - and Turbine's customer involvement and constant listening and high-quality delivery are second to none. They're the messiah of MMO gaming.. okay, maybe that went a little too far
X
Thats right boys and girls get ready to give it up for my boys at turbine who also got my vote, but I am seeing so many posts about people asking for soe to be included I'm starting to wonder if they shouldn't put them in just to gauge how the communnity votes for them even though I still think they are too out of touch and shady to get a nod it looks like enough of you guys want to see them there that maybe they should be in (even though Turbine will smash all comers anyway
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
I don't think i've ever posted on these forums, but Turbine is most definitely worth the time to post and vote! I've played SOE, NCSoft, Mythic, and Turbine games primarily - and Turbine's customer involvement and constant listening and high-quality delivery are second to none. They're the messiah of MMO gaming.. okay, maybe that went a little too far
X
Thats right boys and girls get ready to give it up for my boys at turbine who also got my vote, but I am seeing so many posts about people asking for soe to be included I'm starting to wonder if they shouldn't put them in just to gauge how the communnity votes for them even though I still think they are too out of touch and shady to get a nod it looks like enough of you guys want to see them there that maybe they should be in (even though Turbine will smash all comers anyway
Turbine for sure. The make a great engine and use it to make very different games. I just wish AC2 had been saved and AC1 killed
Also they are very much invested in their games delivering content and polish along the way for free. Anyone who played DDO or LotRO at launch and now can atest that as good as they were then, its not even funny how much has been added in content and look/feel.
Ya know, its really kinda sad how SOE didn't get on this list. While I am am not a huge SOE fan as I have had my good and bad times with that company I can at least appreciate them for what they do not only with all their MMO's but for the entire industry.
How do you not include the company that has the second longest running MMO in history? Everquest 1 still pulls a ton of subs for SoE moreso than any NCsoft title, and EQ2 is even bigger. Not to mention they still have SWG moving along, Planetside is still up and running after going on what? 8 years? And Tabula Rasa is being shut down. They also have a slew of other MMO's and are developing at least 2 more and Im pretty sure there is a third one.
And to say "Well all they have had is expansions" Uhm, sorry but I didnt see any new MMOs coming outa Blizzard this year, nor NCsoft, or Turbine? So that argument is null and void.
Also while back in the day I did like SoE because I loved Everquest 1 and I still like SoE because of Everquest 2 I knew they had issues with the customer service. Then again there was no other company out there to judge "Good" customer service by so I guess you cant really fault them for being the first.
Go play an SoE game now, I GUARANTEE they have the BEST Customer service out of any MMO company. I know this because I currently subscribe to LOTRO, Sony All Access, Warhammer and until fairly recently I was a subscriber of Age of Conan and WoW. I can say without a shred of doubt that Sony's customer service completely blows all the competition out of the water. Dont believe me? GO put a petition in EQ2 or better yet, Vanguard and see how awesome the GM's are for helping your issues.
Now, getting to the end of this, I want to say that It is a disgrace to call yourselves "MMORPG" and be so clueless about what MMO's are truly out there and what different companies have done.
And to justify it by saying you only wanted 6 nominees? lawl, Thats the lamest thing I ever heard. If you only wanted 6 nominees you shoulda dropped NCsoft from the list or Funcom and added in the bigger companies of SoE and Square-Enix.
You should have included the top 8 and added in SOE and Square-Enix just to be fair.
My Vote would have been SoE
As it is I will go with Mythic followed very closely by Turbine.
Umm Square Enix and there Final Fantasy series is the 4th best selling series of all time and they are not in the voting list? lol.Bested by ONLY non MMORPG genres such as SIMS/mario. Wow brags about there 10 millions subs lol and most of them are cafes/gaming pubs and RMT farmers.The Final Fantasy series only has 85+ Million copies sold.To top that off,there are MANY who have claimed it is very hard to purchase/ find a final fantasy game at times.Square does not market nor push there game to the public at all,they rely on QUALITY over marketing. Funcom=weak,Turbine until LOTR =very weak...Blizzard =WOW success,size of there staff and money spent is an embarrasement to there final product.I see better results from the two Teenagers who made crash Banicoot.Sure WOW is a large game but each individual piece is very weak and would take nothing for a small time developer to easily top. CCP=??? you kidding me?very weak developer,they are far behind even some small developers. NCSOFT=RMT/RMT/botters/botters and a staff that couldn't care less to clean up there games.You can bet your ass they have staff involved in RMT or paid off by the RMT sites to turn the cheek.I have ZERO respect for NCSOFT,well there staff/managers.I guess there coders/artists/mappers deserve some credit,it's not there fault there heirarchy is so lame. How SOE is not also in the list is too funny to mention.They have the most contraversy surrounding them in the whole world.There Everquest was the cornerstone of this whole MMORPG market.So much so that Blizzard chose to copy Everquest when designing there game,and MANY others still follow/use the exact same template.SOE also set the COST standards when charging for online services.Nobody charges more than the 15.99,witch has become standard.SOE is also the first to incoporate MANY new ideas to the MMORPG genre and the first to have there own RMT activity,keeping it safe for users and taking it out of the hands of the ILLEGAL sites that have no business making money off there hard work.
I love Square Enix as well but they have one mmo if I'm not mistaken so all those facts you point out mean moot since you are obviously adding in non mmo figures. And though you do differentiate between second party rmts and in house rmts what difference does it really make when they are asking you (in cheap ways I might add) to pay more money for a lame ass product you already bought I speak mostly on this subject in regards to that awesome TCG that has been incorporated into SWG what a joke. I think you just set back the argument that SOE should be included in this poll btw what exactly has SOE done this year to deserve a nod? And it's also questionable what SOE had to do wih the creation of Everquest anyway if I'm not mistaken the game was near release before they outright bought the company developing it. Read carefully this is a poll for mmo studio of 2008 not 1999 wasn't SOEs last release Vanguard? I rest my case.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
1) SoE did not release Vanguard, Sigil did - SoE only ran their servers for them.
SoE bought Vanguard after Sigil tanked and since then Vanguard has slowly risen in subscriptions and is actually a very good game now.
2) 989 Studios who developed EQ1, was a subsidiary company of SoE from the start. It was created as a fall company in case Everquest tanked. Once EQ took off as it did, Sony just disolved 989 back into SoE and dropped the studio name.
3) SoE has released Expansions for EQ2 and EQ1 within the last year. Which is just as much as say, Turbine and Blizzard has done -- Oh wait SoE released 2 xpacs and Turbine only 1 and Blizzard only 1. Seems SoE is doing more this year than both those games.
Im sorry, I dont want to sit here and sound like a raving lunatic, but it really is sad that SoE didnt at least get a nod.
You cannot buy WoW and suddenly be an expert on MMO's. How about going out and playing pretty much every MMO on the market atm (Which I have) and then come back and tell us what ya think.
Ya know, its really kinda sad how SOE didn't get on this list. While I am am not a huge SOE fan as I have had my good and bad times with that company I can at least appreciate them for what they do not only with all their MMO's but for the entire industry. How do you not include the company that has the second longest running MMO in history? Everquest 1 still pulls a ton of subs for SoE moreso than any NCsoft title, and EQ2 is even bigger. Not to mention they still have SWG moving along, Planetside is still up and running after going on what? 8 years? And Tabula Rasa is being shut down. They also have a slew of other MMO's and are developing at least 2 more and Im pretty sure there is a third one. And to say "Well all they have had is expansions" Uhm, sorry but I didnt see any new MMOs coming outa Blizzard this year, nor NCsoft, or Turbine? So that argument is null and void. Also while back in the day I did like SoE because I loved Everquest 1 and I still like SoE because of Everquest 2 I knew they had issues with the customer service. Then again there was no other company out there to judge "Good" customer service by so I guess you cant really fault them for being the first. Go play an SoE game now, I GUARANTEE they have the BEST Customer service out of any MMO company. I know this because I currently subscribe to LOTRO, Sony All Access, Warhammer and until fairly recently I was a subscriber of Age of Conan and WoW. I can say without a shred of doubt that Sony's customer service completely blows all the competition out of the water. Dont believe me? GO put a petition in EQ2 or better yet, Vanguard and see how awesome the GM's are for helping your issues. Now, getting to the end of this, I want to say that It is a disgrace to call yourselves "MMORPG" and be so clueless about what MMO's are truly out there and what different companies have done. And to justify it by saying you only wanted 6 nominees? lawl, Thats the lamest thing I ever heard. If you only wanted 6 nominees you shoulda dropped NCsoft from the list or Funcom and added in the bigger companies of SoE and Square-Enix. You should have included the top 8 and added in SOE and Square-Enix just to be fair.
My Vote would have been SoE As it is I will go with Mythic followed very closely by Turbine.
SOEs games are so dead now they don't have much choice but to have good customer service, but even if the games were highly populated and they had good customer service it's mostly a moot point because most of what you guys praise SOE for can be summed up simply by the S before the OE Sony is one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world people movies,music and console games included they have a much greater chance of keeping dead games running than anyone else they don't have to turn a huge profit like say NCsoft who only makes mmos. I for one respect and applaude NC for dropping games that aren't going in the right direction they are better off using those resources on products that are pulling an audience in instead of dead games that even the creator dropped. I find that funny how people rail against nc for dropping a game alot of the player base had a problem with and the creator himself who's name was all over it left but I mosltly hear people sympathizing with Garriott the spaceman which is pretty funny. And it's a simle answer to your opening line what soe did for the entire industry was back in 1999 not 2008 this is not for all time favorite mmo studio it's best of this year which sony barely made a blip in oh wait I forgot they did launch the sloth instance for SWG and that awesome trading card game. I'm not sure did they release any EQ1 or EQ2 expansions this year? I can for one say I'd still vote for SOE over Funcon but really guys you want to give soe a lifetime achievment award fine but keep it out of the "mmo studio of 2008 category because none of you have pointed out a single reason why in 2008 they should recieve any credit for advancement of the industry
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Well they ahve released 2 expansions packs this year. Thats more than Blizzard and Turbine has done, so that alone is reason for them to be on there just as much as those games.
There thats your reason, and you cannot argue that logic either. 2 games, 2 xpacs is doing more in the industry than 1 game and 1 expac.
Oh and btw do you even play Everquest and EQ2? EQ2 EASILY has more active players than LOTRO does, EASY its very obvious if you actually play both games - in fact its pretty obvious that EQ2 has more subs than LOTRO, City of Heroes, and Eve.
So EQ2 is bigger than those 3 games which are the cornerstones of 3 of the companies on this list (Besides GW for NCsoft, but Guild Wars isnt even a true MMO. ITs as much an MMO as freaking DDO was.)
1) SoE did not release Vanguard, Sigil did - SoE only ran their servers for them. SoE bought Vanguard after Sigil tanked and since then Vanguard has slowly risen in subscriptions and is actually a very good game now. 2) 989 Studios who developed EQ1, was a subsidiary company of SoE from the start. It was created as a fall company in case Everquest tanked. Once EQ took off as it did, Sony just disolved 989 back into SoE and dropped the studio name. 3) SoE has released Expansions for EQ2 and EQ1 within the last year. Which is just as much as say, Turbine and Blizzard has done -- Oh wait SoE released 2 xpacs and Turbine only 1 and Blizzard only 1. Seems SoE is doing more this year than both those games.
Im sorry, I dont want to sit here and sound like a raving lunatic, but it really is sad that SoE didnt at least get a nod. You cannot buy WoW and suddenly be an expert on MMO's. How about going out and playing pretty much every MMO on the market atm (Which I have) and then come back and tell us what ya think.
Thanks for clearing up a few points I was not totally clear on (who developed EQ) but once again sony is the reason soe can do any of what you named not SOE .
1)I only credit them because they actually stil exist and considering that half the people working on Vanguard worked on EQ does it really matter if they actually had SOE on the checks they cashed? I don't think so but at the same time I actually do give them credit for fixing the game up but let's be honest who else out there can buy every crappy mmo and throw it on a station pass if not the mighty sony?
2)989 studios was not "created as a fall company in case EQ1 tanked" it existed as a developer of sports titles long before EQ was thought up the division of 989 working on EQ broke off to create Verant interactive which then was indeed disolved back into SOE so they could take credit for something they had lttile hand in depending on who you ask.
3) SOE is going to release games keep running dead games etc. they are after all backed by Sony.
I'm not sure if I am supposed to be the one who "bought wow and thought I was an expert on mmos' but I can say I have played alot of mmos up till now (wow was one that btw I don't play) but I am straining hard to see these waves that you guys keep acting like soe is making ripples yeah waves nah.
Heck I could use the fact that 2 exp packs launched and an avid player and reader like me didn't even notice to show that soe isn't doing all that great
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Even though I currently play EQ2, I voted for Turbine. I may be biased because the stepson of the comptuer teacher at my high school is one of the graphic designers there, and he's a pretty awesome guy. He helped design the Shire areas in LOTRO.
Originally posted by Trevalon00
Well they ahve released 2 expansions packs this year. Thats more than Blizzard and Turbine has done, so that alone is reason for them to be on there just as much as those games.
There thats your reason, and you cannot argue that logic either. 2 games, 2 xpacs is doing more in the industry than 1 game and 1 expac.
Oh and btw do you even play Everquest and EQ2? EQ2 EASILY has more active players than LOTRO does, EASY its very obvious if you actually play both games - in fact its pretty obvious that EQ2 has more subs than LOTRO, City of Heroes, and Eve.
So EQ2 is bigger than those 3 games which are the cornerstones of 3 of the companies on this list (Besides GW for NCsoft, but Guild Wars isnt even a true MMO. ITs as much an MMO as freaking DDO was.)
(italicized because I am editing and don't know how to use quote from an already-existing post)
EQ2's population is smaller than LOTRO's, about the same size as EVE's, and larger than CoH's.
Currently playing: EverQuest II
Tried: EVE Online (will return someday), Final Fantasy XI (didn't like, sorry)
If your an avid reader of MMORPG.com then I would understand why you wouldn't be informed as this is a scrub site (Only made this account to say my distaste for this one poll).
Secondly, Thank you very much for correcting my 989 comment, It was Verant and I have absolutely no idea why I said 989. It is still true though that Verants paychecks did come from SoE and SoE was involved from the get-go with EQ1. When they dissolved Verant they didnt change the staff so the same people working for verant were working for SoE who were working already working for SoE Anyways...they just got rid of the Verant name. Nothing changed, except the loss of Verant.
Either way, You dont have to like SoE to at least be able to say they SHOULD have been on this list. They HAVE contributed to 2008 and they still have at least 2 VERY successful MMOs alive right now and slew of "Mediocre" MMO's that are on par with City of Heroes success -- Heck SWG was the biggest MMO in the world at one point -- Even though granted, SoE did mess that game up and lost them alot of subs, but that doesnt change the fact SWG wasnt a major player and still is actually (SWG is just as active CoH is).
Well they ahve released 2 expansions packs this year. Thats more than Blizzard and Turbine has done, so that alone is reason for them to be on there just as much as those games.
There thats your reason, and you cannot argue that logic either. 2 games, 2 xpacs is doing more in the industry than 1 game and 1 expac.
Oh and btw do you even play Everquest and EQ2? EQ2 EASILY has more active players than LOTRO does, EASY its very obvious if you actually play both games - in fact its pretty obvious that EQ2 has more subs than LOTRO, City of Heroes, and Eve. So EQ2 is bigger than those 3 games which are the cornerstones of 3 of the companies on this list (Besides GW for NCsoft, but Guild Wars isnt even a true MMO. ITs as much an MMO as freaking DDO was.)
I'm not sure I agree here my posts have constantly pointed out that with Sony behind them they have the man power to relase games "shrug" but are they making noise?
This post is exactly why mmo development moves so slow I can think of lots of companies that released lots of crappy games and have never seen anyone wanting to give them credit for it until I started to play mmos'.
I personally don't get into sub numbers too much besides to see if a game is dying or not which eq1 or 2 is obviously not but as has been pointed out on forums before if you buy a station pass you can play any soe game so please guys stop using sub numbers to prove a point that can't be proven simply because you can play any soe game with a station pass that doesn't mean anyone is actually subscribing to that particular game.
I constantly hear eq2 players moan about low pops so as with your statement it's all based on what you see not what you know. I had actually said I thought sony did deserve a nod because so many people on the forums asked for it doesn't mean I would change my vote (I wouldn't) nor that my opinion of soe has changed that much the bottom line for me is SOE in comparison to sonys other divisions has problems and always underperform wether it's from the bad rep they themselves created or not is irrelevant I just would think that if they were the mmo studio of the year it would be a sad state for mmos
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
EQ2 has less subs than LOTRO? What makes you think that? Now I could say that personally I play both games very actively and my LOTRO server is Silverlode (Which is a pretty active LOTRO server) and my EQ2 server is Mistmoore (Which is a pretty mediocre sever for EQ2) and my EQ2 always has more people than my LOTRO server on at max times (I have done /who tests on level ranges just out of curiosity on multiple occasions to test this theory .. Sure its not scientific but its a good indication).
So Assuming both games can house about the same players per server (And guarantee they can, I would even go as far as to say EQ2's can hold MORE players than LOTRO's can) then you could jus tlook at how many servers each game has as a good indication of playerbase.
LOTRO has 11 servers
Everquest 2 has 22 servers.
At least 3 of LOTRO's servers are almost completely dead and should have been merged years ago.
At least 6 of EQ2's servers are dead and should be merged.
Now that is not scientific in any way shape or form, but it is a VERY good indicator.
So I don't see where you could even logically THINK that LOTRO had a larger subscriber base than EQ2.
I will say in the negatives for SoE. This is mostly their fault. They have all but completely stopped advertising for EQ and EQ2. Which is a shame because both games are great and still have very active communities.
It seems as if SoE is just waiting for their next 2 MMO's which is a true shame cause alot of people are missing out on some great games (Vanguard included).
Turbine is the best studio. They have been and always will be dedicated to the PLAYER. If you have yet to play a Turbine game, what are you waiting for?
T U R B I N E, is the only name that belongs in the MMO industry.
Oh and btw, I love Turbine, but the ONLY reason Turbine has so much support for these low-grade contests is because Turbine is the ONLY company that actually sprays these things all over their main website page and their forums. I went to the other developers and did not see any advertisement for this on ANY of them except Turbine.
Well they ahve released 2 expansions packs this year. Thats more than Blizzard and Turbine has done, so that alone is reason for them to be on there just as much as those games.
There thats your reason, and you cannot argue that logic either. 2 games, 2 xpacs is doing more in the industry than 1 game and 1 expac.
Oh and btw do you even play Everquest and EQ2? EQ2 EASILY has more active players than LOTRO does, EASY its very obvious if you actually play both games - in fact its pretty obvious that EQ2 has more subs than LOTRO, City of Heroes, and Eve. So EQ2 is bigger than those 3 games which are the cornerstones of 3 of the companies on this list (Besides GW for NCsoft, but Guild Wars isnt even a true MMO. ITs as much an MMO as freaking DDO was.)
The ONLY reason I could think of that SOE would be on the list for, is for the worst developer . They don't have a major MMO in any category. All they have left is a bunch of small niche games struggling to exist. Even their flagship, EQ2, is not competitive any more, even though it does still have a small, but dedicated following.
Yeah they still release expansions, does not mean they listen to their playerbase at all. Probably the most out of touch developer in the market right now.
Comments
What amuses me the most is that SOE took so much heat for trying to do just that: Pandering to customers they don't have instead of making the game better the one the they do.
CCP continues to succeed in a time where MMOs are costantly being cancelled for being innovative and not going for the casual/ lowest common denominator/ walk-me -through-your-content crowd.
That is probably their greatest sign of sucess beyond simple sub numbers.
I vote for Sony Online Entertainment
You claim some of them have lost our trust, but then add NCSoft and Funcom and leave out SOE. Double standard much?
I voted for Funcom, because they have tried the impossible, and came out with not a completely bad product, which deserves applause, no other MMO development studio is trying anything new, hence why Funcom should be applauded, not matter how the MMO itself turned out, we need more companies to start trying to new things, instead of being conservative and saturating the MMO scene.
Best Fricking Company = SQUARE ENIX
SoE aswell.
soe has very good costumer support regardless...
funcom, WORST WORST customer support i have seen in my LIFE. it's not even f2p type of mmo, its p2p mmos they make yet no possible way of contacting them via phone, only email with one week replys, heh. and they usually reply with some sort of BS. ==/
Does funcom have anywhere to go with AOC but up?
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
SOE isn't meeting any of the criteria they don't have any new products out unless you count expansions for EQ and even if they did get a nomination trust me they would get so few votes it would only serve to make it more obvious how backwards a company they are
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Don't forgt the S in SOE stands for SONY which is the only reason these guys are able to work on so many products without being a true force in this industry (anyone who disagrees with me let's simply look at the performance of sony's other game division playstation and then compare it's place in the video game world to SOEs) honestly I have nothing against anyone personally favoring soe games but I can hardly see any reason to waste space or even take a chance at letting them think they couldn't do better by puting them in this list
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Umm Square Enix and there Final Fantasy series is the 4th best selling series of all time and they are not in the voting list? lol.Bested by ONLY non MMORPG genres such as SIMS/mario.
Wow brags about there 10 millions subs lol and most of them are cafes/gaming pubs and RMT farmers.The Final Fantasy series only has 85+ Million copies sold.To top that off,there are MANY who have claimed it is very hard to purchase/ find a final fantasy game at times.Square does not market nor push there game to the public at all,they rely on QUALITY over marketing.
Funcom=weak,Turbine until LOTR =very weak...Blizzard =WOW success,size of there staff and money spent is an embarrasement to there final product.I see better results from the two Teenagers who made crash Banicoot.Sure WOW is a large game but each individual piece is very weak and would take nothing for a small time developer to easily top.
CCP=??? you kidding me?very weak developer,they are far behind even some small developers.
NCSOFT=RMT/RMT/botters/botters and a staff that couldn't care less to clean up there games.You can bet your ass they have staff involved in RMT or paid off by the RMT sites to turn the cheek.I have ZERO respect for NCSOFT,well there staff/managers.I guess there coders/artists/mappers deserve some credit,it's not there fault there heirarchy is so lame.
How SOE is not also in the list is too funny to mention.They have the most contraversy surrounding them in the whole world.There Everquest was the cornerstone of this whole MMORPG market.So much so that Blizzard chose to copy Everquest when designing there game,and MANY others still follow/use the exact same template.SOE also set the COST standards when charging for online services.Nobody charges more than the 15.99,witch has become standard.SOE is also the first to incoporate MANY new ideas to the MMORPG genre and the first to have there own RMT activity,keeping it safe for users and taking it out of the hands of the ILLEGAL sites that have no business making money off there hard work.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Thats right boys and girls get ready to give it up for my boys at turbine who also got my vote
, but I am seeing so many posts about people asking for soe to be included I'm starting to wonder if they shouldn't put them in just to gauge how the communnity votes for them even though I still think they are too out of touch and shady to get a nod it looks like enough of you guys want to see them there that maybe they should be in (even though Turbine will smash all comers anyway
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Thats right boys and girls get ready to give it up for my boys at turbine who also got my vote
, but I am seeing so many posts about people asking for soe to be included I'm starting to wonder if they shouldn't put them in just to gauge how the communnity votes for them even though I still think they are too out of touch and shady to get a nod it looks like enough of you guys want to see them there that maybe they should be in (even though Turbine will smash all comers anyway
Agreed!
Turbine for sure. The make a great engine and use it to make very different games. I just wish AC2 had been saved and AC1 killed
Also they are very much invested in their games delivering content and polish along the way for free. Anyone who played DDO or LotRO at launch and now can atest that as good as they were then, its not even funny how much has been added in content and look/feel.
Ya know, its really kinda sad how SOE didn't get on this list. While I am am not a huge SOE fan as I have had my good and bad times with that company I can at least appreciate them for what they do not only with all their MMO's but for the entire industry.
How do you not include the company that has the second longest running MMO in history? Everquest 1 still pulls a ton of subs for SoE moreso than any NCsoft title, and EQ2 is even bigger. Not to mention they still have SWG moving along, Planetside is still up and running after going on what? 8 years? And Tabula Rasa is being shut down. They also have a slew of other MMO's and are developing at least 2 more and Im pretty sure there is a third one.
And to say "Well all they have had is expansions" Uhm, sorry but I didnt see any new MMOs coming outa Blizzard this year, nor NCsoft, or Turbine? So that argument is null and void.
Also while back in the day I did like SoE because I loved Everquest 1 and I still like SoE because of Everquest 2 I knew they had issues with the customer service. Then again there was no other company out there to judge "Good" customer service by so I guess you cant really fault them for being the first.
Go play an SoE game now, I GUARANTEE they have the BEST Customer service out of any MMO company. I know this because I currently subscribe to LOTRO, Sony All Access, Warhammer and until fairly recently I was a subscriber of Age of Conan and WoW. I can say without a shred of doubt that Sony's customer service completely blows all the competition out of the water. Dont believe me? GO put a petition in EQ2 or better yet, Vanguard and see how awesome the GM's are for helping your issues.
Now, getting to the end of this, I want to say that It is a disgrace to call yourselves "MMORPG" and be so clueless about what MMO's are truly out there and what different companies have done.
And to justify it by saying you only wanted 6 nominees? lawl, Thats the lamest thing I ever heard. If you only wanted 6 nominees you shoulda dropped NCsoft from the list or Funcom and added in the bigger companies of SoE and Square-Enix.
You should have included the top 8 and added in SOE and Square-Enix just to be fair.
My Vote would have been SoE
As it is I will go with Mythic followed very closely by Turbine.
I love Square Enix as well but they have one mmo if I'm not mistaken so all those facts you point out mean moot since you are obviously adding in non mmo figures. And though you do differentiate between second party rmts and in house rmts what difference does it really make when they are asking you (in cheap ways I might add) to pay more money for a lame ass product you already bought I speak mostly on this subject in regards to that awesome TCG that has been incorporated into SWG what a joke. I think you just set back the argument that SOE should be included in this poll btw what exactly has SOE done this year to deserve a nod? And it's also questionable what SOE had to do wih the creation of Everquest anyway if I'm not mistaken the game was near release before they outright bought the company developing it. Read carefully this is a poll for mmo studio of 2008 not 1999 wasn't SOEs last release Vanguard? I rest my case.
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
1) SoE did not release Vanguard, Sigil did - SoE only ran their servers for them.
SoE bought Vanguard after Sigil tanked and since then Vanguard has slowly risen in subscriptions and is actually a very good game now.
2) 989 Studios who developed EQ1, was a subsidiary company of SoE from the start. It was created as a fall company in case Everquest tanked. Once EQ took off as it did, Sony just disolved 989 back into SoE and dropped the studio name.
3) SoE has released Expansions for EQ2 and EQ1 within the last year. Which is just as much as say, Turbine and Blizzard has done -- Oh wait SoE released 2 xpacs and Turbine only 1 and Blizzard only 1. Seems SoE is doing more this year than both those games.
Im sorry, I dont want to sit here and sound like a raving lunatic, but it really is sad that SoE didnt at least get a nod.
You cannot buy WoW and suddenly be an expert on MMO's. How about going out and playing pretty much every MMO on the market atm (Which I have) and then come back and tell us what ya think.
SOEs games are so dead now they don't have much choice but to have good customer service, but even if the games were highly populated and they had good customer service it's mostly a moot point because most of what you guys praise SOE for can be summed up simply by the S before the OE Sony is one of the biggest entertainment companies in the world people movies,music and console games included they have a much greater chance of keeping dead games running than anyone else they don't have to turn a huge profit like say NCsoft who only makes mmos. I for one respect and applaude NC for dropping games that aren't going in the right direction they are better off using those resources on products that are pulling an audience in instead of dead games that even the creator dropped. I find that funny how people rail against nc for dropping a game alot of the player base had a problem with and the creator himself who's name was all over it left but I mosltly hear people sympathizing with Garriott the spaceman which is pretty funny. And it's a simle answer to your opening line what soe did for the entire industry was back in 1999 not 2008 this is not for all time favorite mmo studio it's best of this year which sony barely made a blip in oh wait I forgot they did launch the sloth instance for SWG and that awesome trading card game
. I'm not sure did they release any EQ1 or EQ2 expansions this year? I can for one say I'd still vote for SOE over Funcon but really guys you want to give soe a lifetime achievment award fine but keep it out of the "mmo studio of 2008 category because none of you have pointed out a single reason why in 2008 they should recieve any credit for advancement of the industry
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Well they ahve released 2 expansions packs this year. Thats more than Blizzard and Turbine has done, so that alone is reason for them to be on there just as much as those games.
There thats your reason, and you cannot argue that logic either. 2 games, 2 xpacs is doing more in the industry than 1 game and 1 expac.
Oh and btw do you even play Everquest and EQ2? EQ2 EASILY has more active players than LOTRO does, EASY its very obvious if you actually play both games - in fact its pretty obvious that EQ2 has more subs than LOTRO, City of Heroes, and Eve.
So EQ2 is bigger than those 3 games which are the cornerstones of 3 of the companies on this list (Besides GW for NCsoft, but Guild Wars isnt even a true MMO. ITs as much an MMO as freaking DDO was.)
Thanks for clearing up a few points I was not totally clear on (who developed EQ) but once again sony is the reason soe can do any of what you named not SOE .
1)I only credit them because they actually stil exist and considering that half the people working on Vanguard worked on EQ does it really matter if they actually had SOE on the checks they cashed? I don't think so but at the same time I actually do give them credit for fixing the game up but let's be honest who else out there can buy every crappy mmo and throw it on a station pass if not the mighty sony?
2)989 studios was not "created as a fall company in case EQ1 tanked" it existed as a developer of sports titles long before EQ was thought up the division of 989 working on EQ broke off to create Verant interactive which then was indeed disolved back into SOE so they could take credit for something they had lttile hand in depending on who you ask.
3) SOE is going to release games keep running dead games etc. they are after all backed by Sony.
I'm not sure if I am supposed to be the one who "bought wow and thought I was an expert on mmos' but I can say I have played alot of mmos up till now (wow was one that btw I don't play) but I am straining hard to see these waves that you guys keep acting like soe is making ripples yeah waves nah.
Heck I could use the fact that 2 exp packs launched and an avid player and reader like me didn't even notice to show that soe isn't doing all that great
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
Even though I currently play EQ2, I voted for Turbine. I may be biased because the stepson of the comptuer teacher at my high school is one of the graphic designers there, and he's a pretty awesome guy. He helped design the Shire areas in LOTRO.
Originally posted by Trevalon00
Well they ahve released 2 expansions packs this year. Thats more than Blizzard and Turbine has done, so that alone is reason for them to be on there just as much as those games.
There thats your reason, and you cannot argue that logic either. 2 games, 2 xpacs is doing more in the industry than 1 game and 1 expac.
Oh and btw do you even play Everquest and EQ2? EQ2 EASILY has more active players than LOTRO does, EASY its very obvious if you actually play both games - in fact its pretty obvious that EQ2 has more subs than LOTRO, City of Heroes, and Eve.
So EQ2 is bigger than those 3 games which are the cornerstones of 3 of the companies on this list (Besides GW for NCsoft, but Guild Wars isnt even a true MMO. ITs as much an MMO as freaking DDO was.)
(italicized because I am editing and don't know how to use quote from an already-existing post)
EQ2's population is smaller than LOTRO's, about the same size as EVE's, and larger than CoH's.
Currently playing: EverQuest II
Tried: EVE Online (will return someday), Final Fantasy XI (didn't like, sorry)
If your an avid reader of MMORPG.com then I would understand why you wouldn't be informed as this is a scrub site (Only made this account to say my distaste for this one poll).
Secondly, Thank you very much for correcting my 989 comment, It was Verant and I have absolutely no idea why I said 989. It is still true though that Verants paychecks did come from SoE and SoE was involved from the get-go with EQ1. When they dissolved Verant they didnt change the staff so the same people working for verant were working for SoE who were working already working for SoE Anyways...they just got rid of the Verant name. Nothing changed, except the loss of Verant.
Either way, You dont have to like SoE to at least be able to say they SHOULD have been on this list. They HAVE contributed to 2008 and they still have at least 2 VERY successful MMOs alive right now and slew of "Mediocre" MMO's that are on par with City of Heroes success -- Heck SWG was the biggest MMO in the world at one point -- Even though granted, SoE did mess that game up and lost them alot of subs, but that doesnt change the fact SWG wasnt a major player and still is actually (SWG is just as active CoH is).
I'm not sure I agree here my posts have constantly pointed out that with Sony behind them they have the man power to relase games "shrug" but are they making noise?
This post is exactly why mmo development moves so slow I can think of lots of companies that released lots of crappy games and have never seen anyone wanting to give them credit for it until I started to play mmos'.
I personally don't get into sub numbers too much besides to see if a game is dying or not which eq1 or 2 is obviously not but as has been pointed out on forums before if you buy a station pass you can play any soe game so please guys stop using sub numbers to prove a point that can't be proven simply because you can play any soe game with a station pass that doesn't mean anyone is actually subscribing to that particular game.
I constantly hear eq2 players moan about low pops so as with your statement it's all based on what you see not what you know. I had actually said I thought sony did deserve a nod because so many people on the forums asked for it doesn't mean I would change my vote (I wouldn't) nor that my opinion of soe has changed that much the bottom line for me is SOE in comparison to sonys other divisions has problems and always underperform wether it's from the bad rep they themselves created or not is irrelevant I just would think that if they were the mmo studio of the year it would be a sad state for mmos
but yeah, to call this game Fantastic is like calling Twilight the Godfather of vampire movies....
EQ2 has less subs than LOTRO? What makes you think that? Now I could say that personally I play both games very actively and my LOTRO server is Silverlode (Which is a pretty active LOTRO server) and my EQ2 server is Mistmoore (Which is a pretty mediocre sever for EQ2) and my EQ2 always has more people than my LOTRO server on at max times (I have done /who tests on level ranges just out of curiosity on multiple occasions to test this theory .. Sure its not scientific but its a good indication).
So Assuming both games can house about the same players per server (And guarantee they can, I would even go as far as to say EQ2's can hold MORE players than LOTRO's can) then you could jus tlook at how many servers each game has as a good indication of playerbase.
LOTRO has 11 servers
Everquest 2 has 22 servers.
At least 3 of LOTRO's servers are almost completely dead and should have been merged years ago.
At least 6 of EQ2's servers are dead and should be merged.
Now that is not scientific in any way shape or form, but it is a VERY good indicator.
So I don't see where you could even logically THINK that LOTRO had a larger subscriber base than EQ2.
I will say in the negatives for SoE. This is mostly their fault. They have all but completely stopped advertising for EQ and EQ2. Which is a shame because both games are great and still have very active communities.
It seems as if SoE is just waiting for their next 2 MMO's which is a true shame cause alot of people are missing out on some great games (Vanguard included).
Turbine is the best studio. They have been and always will be dedicated to the PLAYER. If you have yet to play a Turbine game, what are you waiting for?
T U R B I N E, is the only name that belongs in the MMO industry.
Oh and btw, I love Turbine, but the ONLY reason Turbine has so much support for these low-grade contests is because Turbine is the ONLY company that actually sprays these things all over their main website page and their forums. I went to the other developers and did not see any advertisement for this on ANY of them except Turbine.
The ONLY reason I could think of that SOE would be on the list for, is for the worst developer . They don't have a major MMO in any category. All they have left is a bunch of small niche games struggling to exist. Even their flagship, EQ2, is not competitive any more, even though it does still have a small, but dedicated following.
Yeah they still release expansions, does not mean they listen to their playerbase at all. Probably the most out of touch developer in the market right now.