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2014 ................. MMO Hits and Misses
ste2000
Member EpicPosts: 6,194
Ok it's time to get my (and your) crystal ball out of the drawer................ here's my predictions for 2014
BIGGEST HIT: WoW - Warlords of Draenor
Yes Blizzard again. This new expansion promises to bring back the old WoW World the one I like the most, full of Orcs, Orcs and even more Orcs. No fluffy silly fat Panda in sight . Many veterans that skipped MOP because of the WWF mascotte (more than you think) will come back to try WoD.
But is it not just about aesthetics of course, as usual Blizzard offers a solid expansion with a new big Zone, several new Dungeons with different difficult modes and few great Raid zones.
There will be also some housing (finally) which is something WoW always lacked.
Some might argue that it is still the same old same old, but then again looking at how many developers are trying to copy this format (and failing) I would say that is still a very popular format, and it is safe to say that WoW is still the best..........WoW clone (we really do not need the others)
BIGGEST MISS: Wildstar
Once I read somewhere that Wildstar was going to be a sort of Sandbox......... I really fail to see any sandbox feature in the design............. anyway
In short the reason why Wildstar will fail is because it looks like a Steampunk WoW expansion, but as I just said regarding WoD ................. "it is safe to say that WoW is still the best..........WoW clone", and that applies to Wildstar more than any other WoW copycat released before.
The game will sell decently at the beginning , but it will loose paying customers pretty fast.
BIGGEST SURPRISE: EQN Landmarks
Minecraft + better graphics + EQ theme + Adventuring......... where do I sign?
Lots of MMO players like to build and craft stuff in their MMO, having a MMO which exclusively focuses on that will make a ton of people happy (me included). I am not sure about the longevity though, that will depend how much non crafting content the game will offer.
But I will go as far as saying that Landmark will be a bigger Hit than EQN itself, because it will reach audiences outside of the MMO market.
BIGGEST MEH: ESO
Everyone knows how disappointed I am on how ESO is coming along, but I am sure there are plenty of TES fans that are in the same boat.
Quest hubbing, Phasing, Story driven...... this reminds me too much of SWTOR and doesn't suit well the TES IP, if you add the huge PvP focus (PvP is difficult to balance), I can say that it won't be a huge hit.
It won't be a big flop, just a bit meh, it will all depend on how good the PvP will turn out to be, because the PvE is definetly not interesting as it stands.
It will sell well, between 3-4 Million copies, then it will retain only the PvP crowd, and only if the PvP is original and meaningful.
My regret is that this game could have been the next big thing after WoW, instead it will be another average MMO, not too bad but not too good either.
OTHER MMOs
-The Repopulation: It will do well. It is a blend between SWG and DAOC so it is really promising. There is a decent market for that sort of game. In time it could follow the success of EVE.
- Archeage: I don't think it will release in 2014. Trion didn't even started working on the title, mainly because XL Games was focusing on the Russian launch.
Anyway at the moment I am on the fence on this game, I used to be excited about AA but some of the features I noticed recently and the fact that Trion is publishing it (I doubt Trion could manage a Sandbox without watering it down for the masses), made me lose some enthusiasm.
- Shrowd of the Avatar: It look interesting though I am not super excited about the instancing abuse and the selling of the best plots to the higher bidder. Anyway it is too early to form an opinion, this game definetly won't be released in 2014
- Star Citizen: Very excited about this one, great concept supported by a huge Kickstarter campaign backup. Still too early to attempt any guesses. This game is not due in 2014.
So these are my predictions................ tell us yours!!!
Comments
Step in the arena and break the wall down
Disagree with this. Many (most) WoW players, past and present, will agree that WoW isn't what it once was. It's still the most polished, well-made MMO out there, but as the years have gone by, the game has degraded into a linear, lobby-like casual's wet dream. Not much in the way of challenge anymore. Not that WoW ever was difficult, but there was a time when it was at least challenging. The WoW golden era was undoubtedly Vanilla. Most would agree with this.
Wildstar is bringing that back. They've basically taken all the great things about Vanilla WoW...things, btw, that you can no longer get outside of a private server in today's WoW, and has put them in their game: big, expansive 40 man raids, interesting boss fights and mechanics (with trinity and CC playing a pivotal role), unique mobs with their own strengths/weaknesses, and special attacks that aren't just re-skinned from zone to zone, seamless zones within the continents, true faction vs. faction warfare in the way of warplots and PvP-specific servers, and a brand new world that will bring back that sense of wonderment many felt while making their first trip through Azeroth. Add to that a very deep player housing system, action-oriented combat, the player path system to customize your content, a very rich and engaging storyline, and a Sci-Fi setting, and you've got a game that will appeal to casuals and content locusts alike.
Is it a sandbox? No, it's a pure themepark. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If you are dead-set against playing any themeparks, and are dead-set against playing a quest-driven game, then this game will NOT appeal to you. But it's going to appeal to an awful lot of players because it will not only hearken back to, but improve upon, the Vanilla WoW glory days. And there are still enough of those kinds of players who want that type of game.
BIGGEST MEH: The Entire Genre
I will admit that I am pretty much ready to move on from the genre entirely. I believe that with the complete stagnation of the genre we will see a big decline in new mmorpgs. The oldies will still do what they have always done. The new games on the block will deliver nothing new and simply be forced into maintenance mode much like Vanguard, Warhammer, and the countless games before them.
BIGGEST MISS: Anything SOE is Involved With.
Landmark will be interesting for a bit but will not really capture Minecraft's audience. EQ Next will suffer the opposite fate as EQ 2, where EQ 2 is about absurd scaling through levels and AA with dumbed down character statistics, SOE will embrace the dumbed down aspects of EQ 2 and the game will feel overly simplistic. Just as Vanguard was over-reaching for its developers, EQ Next will reach so far that every aspect of the game when viewed by itself will feel overly simplistic.
Let the flaming begin...
Biggest Hit:
D3 expansion
Destiny, and many almost but not quite MMOs with good action & combat
Its hard not to get bored of WoW after playing so many years, everything will feel a lot easier than when you first played vanilla WoW, as it should - a lot of people got hang of combat, questing, etc, which means that leveling will take 50% less time, you will know where to look for help etc, but just imagine if you forgot everything you know about WoW - I think it would still be challenging enough to have some fun. For me - the fun ended when there were no people to group with, so much areas/quest lost because of the new expansions, its bad when they release a new expansion and forget about old ones (Outland anyone?), most people do dungeons than actually quests in Outland.. because its... faster...
The main problem with WoW in my opinion is that there are no groups question together as it was when WoW came out and it has become end-game oriented MMO, where until max level basically is SP game with some grouping.
Because of that, I will move to WildStar where I hope to find great community and the magic which is lost to WoW (because almost everyone is max level, with all possible classes and the community is aging and is getting bored)
That are my thoughts of WoW after playing for many years.
WoW exp. - I agree that it will be good... for several months, but it will fall off again as always as with every expansion, the one thing I am interested is housing, but my concern is that it will be a huge gold sink (goldsellers again anyone?), I think it was wrong to upgrade buildings with gold, could be some very hard quest chain or achievement, etc - but that's my opinion again.
ESO - I completely agree with first post, it could be THE game, but the decisions to baby feed and please everyone are too well known.
AA - after I saw cars on wheels in one screenshot, that was it for me ^^
Other games mentioned - not interested except space citizen
P.S. Remember, that's only my opinion
Lol I didn't want to mention that on my OP but one of the few features I didn't like about AA was exactly that............... stuff like that kills completely my immersion, that's why my Hype about AA is going down the drain............
And don't forget the summer bikini!!!!!................. good Lord.