Nearly every game I see in the shops is "game of the year". There are eleventy one bajillion publications of various sorts who have their own game of the year competition... I think most of them are based on who pays them the most subscriber money. So sure... why not? Game of the Year for everyone!
No biggie if it came out last year... give them another! Make it Game of the Decade. "Game of the Year" is about as meaningful as nipples on men.
Its not a trend, or a fad. You personally might not like it, but there at 5 million people out there who are paying monthly/hourly to play it.
LOL, that 5mil is sales numbers NOT how many players are playing with active accounts. Its has alot of players yes, but not 5mil.
nope. 5 mil is the number of active subsctiption, not the sales that are pretty higher than that.
Whoever thinks that WoW is a "fake" after 1 YEAR of succesful operation should think again.
Surely subscribers are not rising MUCH in the EU and NA market BUT the fact they WERE and ARE still in the top ten of best sold game for BOTH markets (just check out the data will ya?) should tell you something. People are STILL, now, buying wow from the stores! more than a year after release!
And not in Taiwan or Honk Kong, nope. here in the EU and USA.
The second fact of continuos server increase (just yesterday they announced the creation of new servers in the NA) should also tell you something.
WoW is a phenomenon. We can discuss on why it happened like that, but there is no denying that is the biggest thing to happens in the MMorpg market since Everquest and will be the product to beat for all then newcomers, be them hollywood-like production like Vanguard or more modest ones like Trials of Ascension or Roma Victor.
Have a nice day
As for game of the year, it can't have it. It was released in 2004. Still, both gamespy and Gamespot, 2 of the most famous Net-magazines gave WoW accolades. Gamespy with an honorable mention and Gamespot by having the people in the Movies associated with "Best rpg" and "Game of the Year" mentioning it.
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"
They don't need awards or spin, the only mmorpg advertising I have seen is SOE scrambling trying to get people to stagger into SWG on Scifi and Spike tv.
Warcraft is a well done game and has a large following, the haters are "mostly" loners who never had a friend online or a good guild.
For those that are waiting for WoW to come crashing down so you can say see I told you so, you will die very dissapointed.
I can take it or leave it but I can't deny the fact that Blizzard did a hell of a job and made a game thats fun to be in.
WoW is the game of the year to those that play it.
Originally posted by scaramoosh WOW has fun PVP and Raids. Does them better than any mmorpg tbh.
Only problem is you get bored :
Wrong DAOC's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's AO's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's EVE's PVP is FAR superior to WoW's Lineage II PVP is FAR superior to WOW's. UO's PVP is, was, and always will be superior to WoW's. EQ2's PVP is on par with WoW's.
That's just 6 off the top of my head that are as good at PVP or better. All of them are older than WoW too. (Though EQ2 by only like a month).
Raids: EQ does RAIDS far superior to WOW's EQ2 does RAIDS far superior to WoW's. DAOC does raids slightly better than WoW.
Graphics: EQ2, DAOC Catacombs client, Ryzom, Lineage, SWG and several other games have graphics on par or better than WoW's.
Sound: Again, multiple other MMORPG's are on par with WoW.
Crafting: Every game I listed above except Lineage does crafting better than WoW.
Housing: Every game I listed above, except Lineage, has player housing... WoW does not.
Quests: EQ2 and DAOC have questing on par with WoW's. Personally I like DAOC's the best because it's got the deepest storyline but that's personal preference.
Now, all that said:
WoW is the most popular because it is a) Very easy to learn b) Piggybacking off one of the most well-known fantasy CRPG franchises in history (Warcraft) c) Made by Blizzard which is a gaming company everyone in the world knows and trusts
WOW is a good game. It's a great game even. But to say it does PVP or Raids better than known kings in those areas is just silly. What WoW does is present MMO's to people new to the genre in a way that's easy and fast to learn. DAOC has a pretty steep learning curve. EQ2 could have competed with WoW but SOE made the same classic mistake they have since SWG and released it too early trying to beat WoW to market (mistake). At this point EQ2 is a better game than WoW but it'll take a while for folks to realize it because the damage, as they say, has been done. And tanking SWG the way they did will alienate even more people from the SOE name. EQ2 has to fight against SOE's reputation. WOW has a solid reputation of Blizzard backing it.
Game of the year? Yah, I could see it. Except that it was released in 2004, not 2005.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
Originally posted by scaramoosh WOW has fun PVP and Raids. Does them better than any mmorpg tbh.
Only problem is you get bored :
Wrong DAOC's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's AO's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's EVE's PVP is FAR superior to WoW's Lineage II PVP is FAR superior to WOW's. UO's PVP is, was, and always will be superior to WoW's. EQ2's PVP is on par with WoW's.
That's just 6 off the top of my head that are as good at PVP or better. All of them are older than WoW too. (Though EQ2 by only like a month).
Raids: EQ does RAIDS far superior to WOW's EQ2 does RAIDS far superior to WoW's. DAOC does raids slightly better than WoW.
Graphics: EQ2, DAOC Catacombs client, Ryzom, Lineage, SWG and several other games have graphics on par or better than WoW's.
Sound: Again, multiple other MMORPG's are on par with WoW.
Crafting: Every game I listed above except Lineage does crafting better than WoW.
Housing: Every game I listed above, except Lineage, has player housing... WoW does not.
Quests: EQ2 and DAOC have questing on par with WoW's. Personally I like DAOC's the best because it's got the deepest storyline but that's personal preference.
Now, all that said:
WoW is the most popular because it is a) Very easy to learn b) Piggybacking off one of the most well-known fantasy CRPG franchises in history (Warcraft) c) Made by Blizzard which is a gaming company everyone in the world knows and trusts
WOW is a good game. It's a great game even. But to say it does PVP or Raids better than known kings in those areas is just silly. What WoW does is present MMO's to people new to the genre in a way that's easy and fast to learn. DAOC has a pretty steep learning curve. EQ2 could have competed with WoW but SOE made the same classic mistake they have since SWG and released it too early trying to beat WoW to market (mistake). At this point EQ2 is a better game than WoW but it'll take a while for folks to realize it because the damage, as they say, has been done. And tanking SWG the way they did will alienate even more people from the SOE name. EQ2 has to fight against SOE's reputation. WOW has a solid reputation of Blizzard backing it.
Game of the year? Yah, I could see it. Except that it was released in 2004, not 2005.
Perfectly said and my thoughts exactly. About the only thing I would add would be about the graphics.
WoW certainly does not have the best graphics in the world but what they are is accesible. Anyone with a half decent computer can enjoy it's lush world which in turn means that just because your friend has a super duper next gen killer machine, he or she is seeing basically the same thing you are and that makes a big difference for many people that were affraid to get into mmo's.
DAOC's PVP - Overrated, has a great system in place but it punishes you for moving. AO's PVP - pure crap EVE's PVP - For more of the PVP who likes punishment Lineage II PVP - Boring boring game tho UO's PVP - Old dead game. EQ2's PVP - You got to be kidding right? How can you call dueling and empty arenas better than WOW? Tbh you've lost the plot. It's terribly unbalance and not fun at all.
Raids:
DAOC - sound EQ - great raids but with the graphics it feels like ur in more of a box with textures EQ2 - Not epice enough
WOW - Amazing epic 40 man raids! You just can't beat them and no other game has come close.
Graphics:
EQ2 - More powerful engine but no art style. Bland and boring. SWG - bad performance with a bad engine : Ryzom - Outdated DAOC - Outdated and horrible UI and controls WOW - Outdated but a great Art style that makes them so they wont go old. Also there are great touches like bloom etc.
Sound:
Agree they're all on Par
Crafting:
Agree WOW has a shallow crafting system. It doesnt really matter tho as everything is loot bases.
Housing:
WOW has no housing.
Quests:
WOW has a great quest system with great quests. Just as good as any other mmorpg tbh.
WOW is popular because:
- Blizzard - Warcraft - Hype - It's fun - PVP is fun - Easy system to understand but a lifetime to master. You can always get better. - No bugs - High polish like a single player game
etc etc.
Sorry but all these other mmorpgs just rnt polish enough. The developers feel that they can give us a second rate game because it's on the PC. Blizzard did not think like this.
WOW is the best PVP game and it's the most balanced ive played
Tbh death penalty is overrated, people think they're hardcore because of it. No it's no fun anymore and it's outdated, obviously numbers tell you this.
Now i don't play WOW and i think it's boring. I think all mmorpgs are boring tbh though. WOW deserves it's place.
Scar... I'm not going to comment on the rest of what you wrote, because it's just beyond me but if your going to say that Ryzom's graphics are outdated, you've absolutely no idea what your talking about. And you know full well I'd be the last person on these forums to say anything like that.
I sincerely believe that anyone who spends more then five minutes in SoR would quite obviously see that they have amazing graphics, some of the most amazing terrain design ever, extremely detailed environments and quite possibly the best weather effects ever brought to an MMO.
Don't get me wrong, SoR has it's fair shair of issues but graphics are absolutely last on that list and if anyone gave it a fair look, they'd see some of the top graphics in this genre, hands down.
Are they next gen ? Of course not, it's 2 years old but outdated ??? You'd have to be crazy to think so.
Originally posted by scaramoosh Elnator your very very wrong. DAOC's PVP - Overrated, has a great system in place but it punishes you for moving.AO's PVP - pure crapEVE's PVP - For more of the PVP who likes punishment Lineage II PVP - Boring boring game thoUO's PVP - Old dead game.EQ2's PVP - You got to be kidding right? How can you call dueling and empty arenas better than WOW? Tbh you've lost the plot. It's terribly unbalance and not fun at all. Raids: DAOC - soundEQ - great raids but with the graphics it feels like ur in more of a box with texturesEQ2 - Not epice enough WOW - Amazing epic 40 man raids! You just can't beat them and no other game has come close. Graphics: EQ2 - More powerful engine but no art style. Bland and boring.SWG - bad performance with a bad engine :Ryzom - OutdatedDAOC - Outdated and horrible UI and controlsWOW - Outdated but a great Art style that makes them so they wont go old. Also there are great touches like bloom etc. Sound: Agree they're all on Par Crafting: Agree WOW has a shallow crafting system. It doesnt really matter tho as everything is loot bases. Housing: WOW has no housing. Quests: WOW has a great quest system with great quests. Just as good as any other mmorpg tbh.
WOW is popular because: - Blizzard- Warcraft- Hype- It's fun- PVP is fun- Easy system to understand but a lifetime to master. You can always get better.- No bugs- High polish like a single player game etc etc.
Sorry but all these other mmorpgs just rnt polish enough. The developers feel that they can give us a second rate game because it's on the PC. Blizzard did not think like this. WOW is the best PVP game and it's the most balanced ive played Tbh death penalty is overrated, people think they're hardcore because of it. No it's no fun anymore and it's outdated, obviously numbers tell you this.
Now i don't play WOW and i think it's boring. I think all mmorpgs are boring tbh though. WOW deserves it's place.
Sorry you are WRONG about DAOC's graphics and I dispute your statements about PVP in those other games. What you're arguing is 'personal preference'. I'm saying that DAOC and the other games are superior PVP SYSTEMS to WoW's..... which system you PREFER is totally personal preference. But the overall system and feel of PVP is better in those other games. I've played to max level in every game I listed, have you? I specifically said the graphics with the catacombs expansion. Obviously you have NOT played with the catacombs engine installed and enabled. (note, you can have it installed but not active). If you had you would not have said it's graphics are outdated. As far as 'style' that's debatable as to which style of graphics one would prefer. But the graphics in DAOC are top notch if you use the upgraded catacombs engine (which is a free download by the way).
As far as Raiding if you played to 60 in EQ2 you would not say that the top end raids aren't 'epic' enough. Especially with the latest expansions. EQ2 is far superior to WoW on the raiding front now (and has been for a while). And DAOC has raiding that's on par with it if you do TOA (I personally don't since I'm not into raiding myself).
And saying Ryzom's graphics are outdated is just plain idiotic. They are, by far, the BEST environmental graphics on the market. And their character graphics are on par with just about any other game as well.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
Originally posted by AlexAmore I think why this game is so popular (I loved playing it till I was 60) is because when you are playing you REALLY feel like you are there. It just sucks you into the story like a good book. The graphics/art is amazing and same with the monsters and instances...ect. Places like Iron Forge and Orgrimmar are just jaw dropping.I played a human warrior to 60 and whenever I was riding through Stormwind on my horse it really felt like I was a knight in shining armor. Just the eye candy alone is enough for me to play. I think more games need to put more emphasis on art, because WoW did it right and they are raking in the cash.
I've only played WoW for a short time, but it did give me the same feel as well. Its world is quite immersive, excluding some instanced areas that I find poorly designed.
Currently playing: * City of Heroes: Deggial, Assault Rifle/Devices Blaster. Server: Defiant. * City of Villains: Snakeroot, Plant/Thorns Dominator. Server: Defiant.
I only played SoR for about a month after I beta tested it and I found I didn't much care for the game. I have to agree that the graphics are very well done, even though I prefer a more muted pallet such as EQ2 or SWG. The SoR art work is very good and has a style peculiar to the game, which makes it rather interesting to explore. I'm sure Scaramoosh must have been thinking of some other game when he posted that.
WoW should definitely be best MMORPG game of the year.. How many other MMO's have 2 million people currently subscribed to their game? None.... Lets remember a year ago you could not find WoW in the stores,every manufactured copy was sold out within a couple weeks after release..
I tried purchasing the game for my cousin as a Christmas gift and went to every known store in New Jersey,finally I found 1 copy in a Walmart..The only reason I found that copy was because the game was placed next to movies lol..
WoW kept my interest for almost a year but after doing the same raids repetitively,I quit for a couple months..I just reactivated my account yesterday because of the new patch coming out filled with new and exciting content..
WoW is a very addictive game,alot of fun,easy,and such a great success compared to every other MMO currently out.... EQ2 is no where neaqr as fun as WoW..I got to level 30 and couldnt take the crazy grind anymore.. I hope EQ2 doesn't get best MMO of the year..It definitely does not deserve it.. WoW does
Rallithon Oakthornn (Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
Originally posted by scaramoosh Elnator your very very wrong. DAOC's PVP - Overrated, has a great system in place but it punishes you for moving.AO's PVP - pure crapEVE's PVP - For more of the PVP who likes punishment Lineage II PVP - Boring boring game thoUO's PVP - Old dead game.EQ2's PVP - You got to be kidding right? How can you call dueling and empty arenas better than WOW? Tbh you've lost the plot. It's terribly unbalance and not fun at all. Raids: DAOC - soundEQ - great raids but with the graphics it feels like ur in more of a box with texturesEQ2 - Not epice enough WOW - Amazing epic 40 man raids! You just can't beat them and no other game has come close. Graphics: EQ2 - More powerful engine but no art style. Bland and boring.SWG - bad performance with a bad engine :Ryzom - OutdatedDAOC - Outdated and horrible UI and controlsWOW - Outdated but a great Art style that makes them so they wont go old. Also there are great touches like bloom etc. Sound: Agree they're all on Par Crafting: Agree WOW has a shallow crafting system. It doesnt really matter tho as everything is loot bases. Housing: WOW has no housing. Quests: WOW has a great quest system with great quests. Just as good as any other mmorpg tbh.
WOW is popular because: - Blizzard- Warcraft- Hype- It's fun- PVP is fun- Easy system to understand but a lifetime to master. You can always get better.- No bugs- High polish like a single player game etc etc.
Sorry but all these other mmorpgs just rnt polish enough. The developers feel that they can give us a second rate game because it's on the PC. Blizzard did not think like this. WOW is the best PVP game and it's the most balanced ive played Tbh death penalty is overrated, people think they're hardcore because of it. No it's no fun anymore and it's outdated, obviously numbers tell you this.
Now i don't play WOW and i think it's boring. I think all mmorpgs are boring tbh though. WOW deserves it's place.
Sorry you are WRONG about DAOC's graphics and I dispute your statements about PVP in those other games. What you're arguing is 'personal preference'. I'm saying that DAOC and the other games are superior PVP SYSTEMS to WoW's..... which system you PREFER is totally personal preference. But the overall system and feel of PVP is better in those other games. I've played to max level in every game I listed, have you? I specifically said the graphics with the catacombs expansion. Obviously you have NOT played with the catacombs engine installed and enabled. (note, you can have it installed but not active). If you had you would not have said it's graphics are outdated. As far as 'style' that's debatable as to which style of graphics one would prefer. But the graphics in DAOC are top notch if you use the upgraded catacombs engine (which is a free download by the way).
As far as Raiding if you played to 60 in EQ2 you would not say that the top end raids aren't 'epic' enough. Especially with the latest expansions. EQ2 is far superior to WoW on the raiding front now (and has been for a while). And DAOC has raiding that's on par with it if you do TOA (I personally don't since I'm not into raiding myself).
And saying Ryzom's graphics are outdated is just plain idiotic. They are, by far, the BEST environmental graphics on the market. And their character graphics are on par with just about any other game as well.
all the comments in this thread are personal preferences, so stfu about it
Originally posted by oakthornn WoW should definitely be best MMORPG game of the year.. How many other MMO's have 2 million people currently subscribed to their game? None.... Lets remember a year ago you could not find WoW in the stores,every manufactured copy was sold out within a couple weeks after release.. I tried purchasing the game for my cousin as a Christmas gift and went to every known store in New Jersey,finally I found 1 copy in a Walmart..The only reason I found that copy was because the game was placed next to movies lol.. WoW kept my interest for almost a year but after doing the same raids repetitively,I quit for a couple months..I just reactivated my account yesterday because of the new patch coming out filled with new and exciting content.. WoW is a very addictive game,alot of fun,easy,and such a great success compared to every other MMO currently out.... EQ2 is no where neaqr as fun as WoW..I got to level 30 and couldnt take the crazy grind anymore.. I hope EQ2 doesn't get best MMO of the year..It definitely does not deserve it.. WoW does
1) I agree but: WOW was released in 2004, not 2005. Wrong year. 2) WoW has 5 million subscribers, not 2. But to answer your question both Lineage I and Lineage II have over 2.5 million subscribers and I believe that there's a japanese MMO that boasts 3mil as well. 3) WoW is easy to find. Best Buy always has multiple boxes on the shelf in our area. But yes, it's popular. 4) WoW is ok and addictive but at the 'end game' it is repetitive and boring. There's not much 'end game' content and the PVP is pretty pathetic when all is said and done. 5) Neither EQ2 or WoW should be considered for game of the year as they were released in 2004, not 2005.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online. Sig image Pending Still in: A couple Betas
"Originally posted by Elnator Graphics: EQ2, DAOC Catacombs client, Ryzom, Lineage, SWG and several other games have graphics on par or better than WoW's."
Lineage 2 and Everquest 2 graphics are BORING as hell compared to WoW. I played them both and maybe technically they had better graphics (I don't think so) but the art is so generic and rehashed. I can't comment on the others because I have not played them.
______________________________ "When Saddam flew that plane into those buildings, I knew it was time to kick some Iranian ass!" -cheer leading, flag waving American
Originally posted by scaramoosh Elnator your very very wrong. DAOC's PVP - Overrated, has a great system in place but it punishes you for moving. - DAoC is BETTER imho because you affect the persistant world and not doing a no inpact instance AO's PVP - pure crap EVE's PVP - For more of the PVP who likes punishment Lineage II PVP - Boring boring game tho -Disagree, its difficult if you do not understand how it works UO's PVP - Old dead game. EQ2's PVP - You got to be kidding right? How can you call dueling and empty arenas better than WOW? Tbh you've lost the plot. It's terribly unbalance and not fun at all. Graphics: EQ2 - More powerful engine but no art style. Bland and boring. -agree SWG - bad performance with a bad engine : - You left out bad game Ryzom - Outdated -? don't think so, game is dull but it has preety good graphics DAOC - Outdated and horrible UI and controls -what makes you say this? DAoC has done an excellent job of keeping up with graphics and the interface is pretty standard of MMO's. It has about the same interface as WoW. I have both loaded right now and can switch back and forth without missing a step. WOW - Outdated but a great Art style that makes them so they wont go old. Also there are great touches like bloom etc.-Right now WoW is hot but it will get old simply because everything does. It is not timeless or classic. There is no such animal in PC games the technology changes to much to fast. As far as the actual "style" imho its ok if you like cartoony not that it is bad, you just have to like/not mind that sort of thing. Quests: WOW has a great quest system with great quests. Just as good as any other mmorpg tbh. Kill task mainly, nothing like Asherons Call content. WoW just makes you feel good about doing them because they are fast and have decent rewards and good xp. Unlike L2, which are the same task but they are very long, kill 50 wolves for example, and have crap rewards. WOW is popular because: - Blizzard - Warcraft - Hype (so a marketing company did a good job and everyone bought it yay) - It's fun (true, for a short while, until you realize there is no meat in the game) - PVP is fun (sort of, in a FPS sort of way in that you hop in blast way and then the battle is over and the "map" resets) - Easy system to understand but a lifetime to master. You can always get better. (Hmmm..."lifetime"? its simple and will stay simple to keep it accessable) - No bugs (has bugs like all games, nothing game crashing though. Blizzard does an outstanding job fixing them when tthey do pop up unlike a game like say....SWG that leaves crap broken for years) - High polish like a single player game Tbh death penalty is overrated, people think they're hardcore because of it. No it's no fun anymore and it's outdated, obviously numbers tell you this. Well, if you go with what Bliz puts out for numbers its 5 mil BUT that is a worldwide number no just NA and Europe. In comparison L2 is next in line for numbers coming in around 2 and half million - worldwide. The harshest Death penalty game out there right now. So maybe no DP is more popular then a harsh one but DP are not an "outdated" idea. You will probably continue to see DP in some way, shape or form. Again WoW avoids this to keep it accessable and easy, not that there is anything wrong with that. WoW works to unhinder the player as much as possible with any sort of penalty. Personally I find the DP in Lineage 2 to be a big pain in the ars. Especially when you drop something. But in the large scope of things PvP has a dramatic effect on the persistant world. I still find games like L2 and DAoC to much more rewarding and entertaining to play. WoW is like a "beer and pretzles hack and slash" vs a good RPG game. Now i don't play WOW and i think it's boring. I think all mmorpgs are boring tbh though. WOW deserves it's place.
World of Warcraft deserves the MMORPG award of the year, not the game of the year.
Some of the reasons I quit Lineage 2 were the open PvP- Not in WoW, the l33t kiddies- In WoW, but less on PvE servers and very few on RP servers, and the harsh death penalty- Not in WoW. I don't want to have to go AFK and then come back, realise I've been PKed and have dropped by Brigadine gaiters, and lost quite a large amount of experience.
--------------------------------------- No Userbar here, sorry to disappoint.
all the comments in this thread are personal preferences, so stfu about it
The best part about this is that it's in what again... ? Oh right... A DISCUSSION forum. So if everyone with a personal preference would, like you so elegantly put it, stfu we'd all be doing what exactly ???
I doubt Scar will take it personally that El dissagrees with him, or that I do for that matter. So the question begs asking, why are you taking so personally ?
nope. 5 mil is the number of active subsctiption, not the sales that are pretty higher than that.
Whoever thinks that WoW is a "fake" after 1 YEAR of succesful operation should think again.
Surely subscribers are not rising MUCH in the EU and NA market BUT the fact they WERE and ARE still in the top ten of best sold game for BOTH markets (just check out the data will ya?) should tell you something. People are STILL, now, buying wow from the stores! more than a year after release!
The second fact of continuos server increase (just yesterday they announced the creation of new servers in the NA) should also tell you something.
Firstly I do not claim that WoW does not continue to sell. I said it had PEAKED, in terms of subscriber numbers. WoW may still be selling but is it still growing in the US and EU?
Ok, EU.
As for where we are in the process: it's always ongoing. We continually track the realm population numbers and consider opening new realms. Usually these decisions are made early in the week (looking at the weekend numbers) and new realms opened Wednesday or Friday.
Holiday numbers are notoriously difficult to handle though. Sometimes people play more, sometimes people play less. It even varies per realm. If the numbers are very clear on new realms being needed after this weekend I'm sure we'll open a couple. However, I doubt there's such a clear need and we might settle for waiting a week to get some more reliable numbers to work with. I can't really say anything for sure until early or mid next week when we've had the chance to catch up with everyone and have a good look at the numbers.
That was Thundgots non committal post on the opening of new servers in the EU. If ALL the servers were busting open with players new realms would not be debated they would be opened without delay. Certain servers might have been overloaded, with players joining friends on certain realms, but there is no indication that the sub base as a whole is growing.
Ok, US. True, some new servers have opened. Surely WoW is expanding in the US, right? Each server is built to hold 6000 players concurrently. When more try to play you get problems. Of course, a server might have more accounts linked to it, than it could hold if all of the account owners tried to log in. A realm might have 8000 accounts from which a % of the players will be online at any time, but not all due to differing lifestyles. So long as the number of players is less than 6000 the server is ok. However, often, at certain peak times, weekends and holidays, a much higher % of those accounts try to log in concurrently, creating queues and lag, and hassle. Imagine if every server had 8000 accounts linked to it, 2000 too many, or 30% over-subscribed, what would happen during the holidays when the online numbers surge. Mayhem.
Now. Even if ALL the US servers are currently 30% oversubcribed, meaning no low pop realms, 8000, accounts per server, 122 servers, would give you 976,000 active subs. In July Blizzard claimed they had 1 million US subs. However, the only a few realms are over populated, needing to be thinned out, most are normal or even low pop. And what about accounts about to expire, free trials, and mutliserver account holders.
So why have NEW servers? 2 reasons. Some want to move from the realm but don't want to move to an established server, with an old economy, set foes in BG etc. and so don't take up the free realm transfer offers. Secondly, many players like to start completely afresh. Moving to an old, used realm is not the same as a completely fresh one where everyone starts at level one again. This keeps players in the gaem even longer. EQ did, this whilst its numbers remained more or less the same.
Finally. Blizzard are my best witness. They use growing sub numbers as a marketing tool to draw hesitant players into the game. Many people think, "it has 5 million subs" it must be good. Nothing wrong with this, I just do not choose to blindly believe numbers quoted in a press release. My government massaged it's unemployment figured for years, giving the impression that less people were out of work, when actually less people were COUNTED as being out of work.
I suggest that US and EU peaked some time ago, otherwise Blizzard would continue to broadcast it's success, to keep the sales going. I suggest that pretty much ALL figures quoted from the far east should be taken with a pinch of salt.
WoW is a great game, until 60, then it falls behind many of it's predecessors. Bull S*&t, I mean, Burning Crusade MAY have something new to offer, but it is months from release. This year WoW may actually see some real competition, then we'll know for sure. I expect it to keep going in the far east for some time though.
Originally posted by Maca0716 I think some of you ignorant people need to get off your high horse and admit WoW is a good game.. sure it gets boring 6+ months playing it but those 6 months were the best ive had in an MMORPG. The game is so polished and pretty much bug free.Its filled with 100s of quests for each side.Even when you get bored of one side you can switch to another for a whole different setting and new quests.WoW is the best MMORPG out atm those that say otherwise are just trying to be different but look like idiots at the same time.
I'm not going to admit that WoW is a good game because it didn't hold my interest past the 2nd farking day on my trial. It was just stand there, autohit, loot, run, stand there, autohit, loot, run. Over and over again on nearly clone-like identical enemies (if they were the same species). I'm sorry but, I don't know how in the hell so many people can like that game when all you do is run slower than a golf cart while autohitting things to death with crafting and loot implemented. I guess if you like Diablo 2 it might be your thing, because to me this was Diablo 2-turned-MMO...only with Warcraft pasted on the game for sells and less fun.
I'm sorry if I think differently than you. But for me, I would have more fun having paint-drying races with a friend than WoW.
Content updates come thick and fast every 2-3 months there is a huge content update can you name any MMORPG that does this?
CoH and CoV have been doing this since launch. Do some research before putting yourself in a rut.
Originally posted by shaeOriginally posted by Ashkent all the comments in this thread are personal preferences, so stfu about itThe best part about this is that it's in what again... ? Oh right... A DISCUSSION forum. So if everyone with a personal preference would, like you so elegantly put it, stfu we'd all be doing what exactly...
Ashkent, this is your big chance to get all game philosophical and fire off a decisive reply, thus proving once again that you are a force to reckoned with at MMORPG.com.
WoW DEFIANTLY isn't the best game of '05 or is it '04??? Wait why the hell are you/other people saying it's the best game of THIS year?! Ok so...let's just say it did come out THIS year. Nope...still isn't but it probably is the best MMO of this year/'04.
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WoW was released in Nov. 2004 and won several computer game of the year awards. For 2005 I'd vote for Civilization 4 or F.E.A.R.
Nearly every game I see in the shops is "game of the year". There are eleventy one bajillion publications of various sorts who have their own game of the year competition... I think most of them are based on who pays them the most subscriber money. So sure... why not? Game of the Year for everyone!
No biggie if it came out last year... give them another! Make it Game of the Decade. "Game of the Year" is about as meaningful as nipples on men.
doesnt deserve the game of the year but no doubt all the fanbois will vote and it will win.
Its not a trend, or a fad. You personally might not like it, but there at 5 million people out there who are paying monthly/hourly to play it.
LOL, that 5mil is sales numbers NOT how many players are playing with active accounts. Its has alot of players yes, but not 5mil.
nope. 5 mil is the number of active subsctiption, not the sales that are pretty higher than that.
Whoever thinks that WoW is a "fake" after 1 YEAR of succesful operation should think again.
Surely subscribers are not rising MUCH in the EU and NA market BUT the fact they WERE and ARE still in the top ten of best sold game for BOTH markets (just check out the data will ya?) should tell you something. People are STILL, now, buying wow from the stores! more than a year after release!
And not in Taiwan or Honk Kong, nope. here in the EU and USA.
The second fact of continuos server increase (just yesterday they announced the creation of new servers in the NA) should also tell you something.
WoW is a phenomenon. We can discuss on why it happened like that, but there is no denying that is the biggest thing to happens in the MMorpg market since Everquest and will be the product to beat for all then newcomers, be them hollywood-like production like Vanguard or more modest ones like Trials of Ascension or Roma Victor.
Have a nice day
As for game of the year, it can't have it. It was released in 2004. Still, both gamespy and Gamespot, 2 of the most famous Net-magazines gave WoW accolades. Gamespy with an honorable mention and Gamespot by having the people in the Movies associated with "Best rpg" and "Game of the Year" mentioning it.
"If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"
They don't need awards or spin, the only mmorpg advertising I have seen is SOE scrambling trying to get people to stagger into SWG on Scifi and Spike tv.
Warcraft is a well done game and has a large following, the haters are "mostly" loners who never had a friend online or a good guild.
For those that are waiting for WoW to come crashing down so you can say see I told you so, you will die very dissapointed.
I can take it or leave it but I can't deny the fact that Blizzard did a hell of a job and made a game thats fun to be in.
WoW is the game of the year to those that play it.
Wrong
DAOC's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's
AO's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's
EVE's PVP is FAR superior to WoW's
Lineage II PVP is FAR superior to WOW's.
UO's PVP is, was, and always will be superior to WoW's.
EQ2's PVP is on par with WoW's.
That's just 6 off the top of my head that are as good at PVP or better. All of them are older than WoW too. (Though EQ2 by only like a month).
Raids:
EQ does RAIDS far superior to WOW's
EQ2 does RAIDS far superior to WoW's.
DAOC does raids slightly better than WoW.
Graphics:
EQ2, DAOC Catacombs client, Ryzom, Lineage, SWG and several other games have graphics on par or better than WoW's.
Sound:
Again, multiple other MMORPG's are on par with WoW.
Crafting:
Every game I listed above except Lineage does crafting better than WoW.
Housing:
Every game I listed above, except Lineage, has player housing... WoW does not.
Quests:
EQ2 and DAOC have questing on par with WoW's. Personally I like DAOC's the best because it's got the deepest storyline but that's personal preference.
Now, all that said:
WoW is the most popular because it is
a) Very easy to learn
b) Piggybacking off one of the most well-known fantasy CRPG franchises in history (Warcraft)
c) Made by Blizzard which is a gaming company everyone in the world knows and trusts
WOW is a good game. It's a great game even. But to say it does PVP or Raids better than known kings in those areas is just silly. What WoW does is present MMO's to people new to the genre in a way that's easy and fast to learn. DAOC has a pretty steep learning curve. EQ2 could have competed with WoW but SOE made the same classic mistake they have since SWG and released it too early trying to beat WoW to market (mistake). At this point EQ2 is a better game than WoW but it'll take a while for folks to realize it because the damage, as they say, has been done. And tanking SWG the way they did will alienate even more people from the SOE name. EQ2 has to fight against SOE's reputation. WOW has a solid reputation of Blizzard backing it.
Game of the year? Yah, I could see it. Except that it was released in 2004, not 2005.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
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Wrong
DAOC's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's
AO's PVP is FAR superior to WOW's
EVE's PVP is FAR superior to WoW's
Lineage II PVP is FAR superior to WOW's.
UO's PVP is, was, and always will be superior to WoW's.
EQ2's PVP is on par with WoW's.
That's just 6 off the top of my head that are as good at PVP or better. All of them are older than WoW too. (Though EQ2 by only like a month).
Raids:
EQ does RAIDS far superior to WOW's
EQ2 does RAIDS far superior to WoW's.
DAOC does raids slightly better than WoW.
Graphics:
EQ2, DAOC Catacombs client, Ryzom, Lineage, SWG and several other games have graphics on par or better than WoW's.
Sound:
Again, multiple other MMORPG's are on par with WoW.
Crafting:
Every game I listed above except Lineage does crafting better than WoW.
Housing:
Every game I listed above, except Lineage, has player housing... WoW does not.
Quests:
EQ2 and DAOC have questing on par with WoW's. Personally I like DAOC's the best because it's got the deepest storyline but that's personal preference.
Now, all that said:
WoW is the most popular because it is
a) Very easy to learn
b) Piggybacking off one of the most well-known fantasy CRPG franchises in history (Warcraft)
c) Made by Blizzard which is a gaming company everyone in the world knows and trusts
WOW is a good game. It's a great game even. But to say it does PVP or Raids better than known kings in those areas is just silly. What WoW does is present MMO's to people new to the genre in a way that's easy and fast to learn. DAOC has a pretty steep learning curve. EQ2 could have competed with WoW but SOE made the same classic mistake they have since SWG and released it too early trying to beat WoW to market (mistake). At this point EQ2 is a better game than WoW but it'll take a while for folks to realize it because the damage, as they say, has been done. And tanking SWG the way they did will alienate even more people from the SOE name. EQ2 has to fight against SOE's reputation. WOW has a solid reputation of Blizzard backing it.
Game of the year? Yah, I could see it. Except that it was released in 2004, not 2005.
Perfectly said and my thoughts exactly. About the only thing I would add would be about the graphics.
WoW certainly does not have the best graphics in the world but what they are is accesible. Anyone with a half decent computer can enjoy it's lush world which in turn means that just because your friend has a super duper next gen killer machine, he or she is seeing basically the same thing you are and that makes a big difference for many people that were affraid to get into mmo's.
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Elnator your very very wrong.
DAOC's PVP - Overrated, has a great system in place but it punishes you for moving.
AO's PVP - pure crap
EVE's PVP - For more of the PVP who likes punishment
Lineage II PVP - Boring boring game tho
UO's PVP - Old dead game.
EQ2's PVP - You got to be kidding right? How can you call dueling and empty arenas better than WOW? Tbh you've lost the plot. It's terribly unbalance and not fun at all.
Raids:
DAOC - sound
EQ - great raids but with the graphics it feels like ur in more of a box with textures
EQ2 - Not epice enough
WOW - Amazing epic 40 man raids! You just can't beat them and no other game has come close.
Graphics:
EQ2 - More powerful engine but no art style. Bland and boring.
SWG - bad performance with a bad engine :
Ryzom - Outdated
DAOC - Outdated and horrible UI and controls
WOW - Outdated but a great Art style that makes them so they wont go old. Also there are great touches like bloom etc.
Sound:
Agree they're all on Par
Crafting:
Agree WOW has a shallow crafting system. It doesnt really matter tho as everything is loot bases.
Housing:
WOW has no housing.
Quests:
WOW has a great quest system with great quests. Just as good as any other mmorpg tbh.
WOW is popular because:
- Blizzard
- Warcraft
- Hype
- It's fun
- PVP is fun
- Easy system to understand but a lifetime to master. You can always get better.
- No bugs
- High polish like a single player game
etc etc.
Sorry but all these other mmorpgs just rnt polish enough. The developers feel that they can give us a second rate game because it's on the PC. Blizzard did not think like this.
WOW is the best PVP game and it's the most balanced ive played
Tbh death penalty is overrated, people think they're hardcore because of it. No it's no fun anymore and it's outdated, obviously numbers tell you this.
Now i don't play WOW and i think it's boring. I think all mmorpgs are boring tbh though. WOW deserves it's place.
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Scar... I'm not going to comment on the rest of what you wrote, because it's just beyond me but if your going to say that Ryzom's graphics are outdated, you've absolutely no idea what your talking about. And you know full well I'd be the last person on these forums to say anything like that.
I sincerely believe that anyone who spends more then five minutes in SoR would quite obviously see that they have amazing graphics, some of the most amazing terrain design ever, extremely detailed environments and quite possibly the best weather effects ever brought to an MMO.
Don't get me wrong, SoR has it's fair shair of issues but graphics are absolutely last on that list and if anyone gave it a fair look, they'd see some of the top graphics in this genre, hands down.
Are they next gen ? Of course not, it's 2 years old but outdated ??? You'd have to be crazy to think so.
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Sorry you are WRONG about DAOC's graphics and I dispute your statements about PVP in those other games. What you're arguing is 'personal preference'. I'm saying that DAOC and the other games are superior PVP SYSTEMS to WoW's..... which system you PREFER is totally personal preference. But the overall system and feel of PVP is better in those other games. I've played to max level in every game I listed, have you? I specifically said the graphics with the catacombs expansion. Obviously you have NOT played with the catacombs engine installed and enabled. (note, you can have it installed but not active). If you had you would not have said it's graphics are outdated. As far as 'style' that's debatable as to which style of graphics one would prefer. But the graphics in DAOC are top notch if you use the upgraded catacombs engine (which is a free download by the way).
As far as Raiding if you played to 60 in EQ2 you would not say that the top end raids aren't 'epic' enough. Especially with the latest expansions. EQ2 is far superior to WoW on the raiding front now (and has been for a while). And DAOC has raiding that's on par with it if you do TOA (I personally don't since I'm not into raiding myself).
And saying Ryzom's graphics are outdated is just plain idiotic. They are, by far, the BEST environmental graphics on the market. And their character graphics are on par with just about any other game as well.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
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I've only played WoW for a short time, but it did give me the same feel as well. Its world is quite immersive, excluding some instanced areas that I find poorly designed.
Currently playing:
* City of Heroes: Deggial, Assault Rifle/Devices Blaster. Server: Defiant.
* City of Villains: Snakeroot, Plant/Thorns Dominator. Server: Defiant.
I only played SoR for about a month after I beta tested it and I found I didn't much care for the game. I have to agree that the graphics are very well done, even though I prefer a more muted pallet such as EQ2 or SWG. The SoR art work is very good and has a style peculiar to the game, which makes it rather interesting to explore. I'm sure Scaramoosh must have been thinking of some other game when he posted that.
WoW should definitely be best MMORPG game of the year.. How many other MMO's have 2 million people currently subscribed to their game? None.... Lets remember a year ago you could not find WoW in the stores,every manufactured copy was sold out within a couple weeks after release..
I tried purchasing the game for my cousin as a Christmas gift and went to every known store in New Jersey,finally I found 1 copy in a Walmart..The only reason I found that copy was because the game was placed next to movies lol..
WoW kept my interest for almost a year but after doing the same raids repetitively,I quit for a couple months..I just reactivated my account yesterday because of the new patch coming out filled with new and exciting content..
WoW is a very addictive game,alot of fun,easy,and such a great success compared to every other MMO currently out.... EQ2 is no where neaqr as fun as WoW..I got to level 30 and couldnt take the crazy grind anymore.. I hope EQ2 doesn't get best MMO of the year..It definitely does not deserve it.. WoW does
Rallithon Oakthornn
(Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
Sorry you are WRONG about DAOC's graphics and I dispute your statements about PVP in those other games. What you're arguing is 'personal preference'. I'm saying that DAOC and the other games are superior PVP SYSTEMS to WoW's..... which system you PREFER is totally personal preference. But the overall system and feel of PVP is better in those other games. I've played to max level in every game I listed, have you? I specifically said the graphics with the catacombs expansion. Obviously you have NOT played with the catacombs engine installed and enabled. (note, you can have it installed but not active). If you had you would not have said it's graphics are outdated. As far as 'style' that's debatable as to which style of graphics one would prefer. But the graphics in DAOC are top notch if you use the upgraded catacombs engine (which is a free download by the way).
As far as Raiding if you played to 60 in EQ2 you would not say that the top end raids aren't 'epic' enough. Especially with the latest expansions. EQ2 is far superior to WoW on the raiding front now (and has been for a while). And DAOC has raiding that's on par with it if you do TOA (I personally don't since I'm not into raiding myself).
And saying Ryzom's graphics are outdated is just plain idiotic. They are, by far, the BEST environmental graphics on the market. And their character graphics are on par with just about any other game as well.
all the comments in this thread are personal preferences, so stfu about it
1) I agree but: WOW was released in 2004, not 2005. Wrong year.
2) WoW has 5 million subscribers, not 2. But to answer your question both Lineage I and Lineage II have over 2.5 million subscribers and I believe that there's a japanese MMO that boasts 3mil as well.
3) WoW is easy to find. Best Buy always has multiple boxes on the shelf in our area. But yes, it's popular.
4) WoW is ok and addictive but at the 'end game' it is repetitive and boring. There's not much 'end game' content and the PVP is pretty pathetic when all is said and done.
5) Neither EQ2 or WoW should be considered for game of the year as they were released in 2004, not 2005.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
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Someone pee in your wheaties Ash?
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
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"Originally posted by Elnator
Graphics:
EQ2, DAOC Catacombs client, Ryzom, Lineage, SWG and several other games have graphics on par or better than WoW's."
Lineage 2 and Everquest 2 graphics are BORING as hell compared to WoW. I played them both and maybe technically they had better graphics (I don't think so) but the art is so generic and rehashed.
I can't comment on the others because I have not played them.
______________________________
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Hmm. What year?
WoW was released in '04. Launching the game in new countries does not count.
Oh, and.. Since WoW and EQ2 how many BIG mmopgs have been launched. Not exactly been a competative year, has it?
World of Warcraft deserves the MMORPG award of the year, not the game of the year.
Some of the reasons I quit Lineage 2 were the open PvP- Not in WoW, the l33t kiddies- In WoW, but less on PvE servers and very few on RP servers, and the harsh death penalty- Not in WoW. I don't want to have to go AFK and then come back, realise I've been PKed and have dropped by Brigadine gaiters, and lost quite a large amount of experience.
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No Userbar here, sorry to disappoint.
The best part about this is that it's in what again... ? Oh right... A DISCUSSION forum. So if everyone with a personal preference would, like you so elegantly put it, stfu we'd all be doing what exactly ???
I doubt Scar will take it personally that El dissagrees with him, or that I do for that matter. So the question begs asking, why are you taking so personally ?
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Firstly I do not claim that WoW does not continue to sell. I said it had PEAKED, in terms of subscriber numbers. WoW may still be selling but is it still growing in the US and EU?
Ok, EU.
As for where we are in the process: it's always ongoing. We continually track the realm population numbers and consider opening new realms. Usually these decisions are made early in the week (looking at the weekend numbers) and new realms opened Wednesday or Friday.
Holiday numbers are notoriously difficult to handle though. Sometimes people play more, sometimes people play less. It even varies per realm. If the numbers are very clear on new realms being needed after this weekend I'm sure we'll open a couple. However, I doubt there's such a clear need and we might settle for waiting a week to get some more reliable numbers to work with. I can't really say anything for sure until early or mid next week when we've had the chance to catch up with everyone and have a good look at the numbers.
That was Thundgots non committal post on the opening of new servers in the EU. If ALL the servers were busting open with players new realms would not be debated they would be opened without delay. Certain servers might have been overloaded, with players joining friends on certain realms, but there is no indication that the sub base as a whole is growing.
Ok, US. True, some new servers have opened. Surely WoW is expanding in the US, right? Each server is built to hold 6000 players concurrently. When more try to play you get problems. Of course, a server might have more accounts linked to it, than it could hold if all of the account owners tried to log in. A realm might have 8000 accounts from which a % of the players will be online at any time, but not all due to differing lifestyles. So long as the number of players is less than 6000 the server is ok. However, often, at certain peak times, weekends and holidays, a much higher % of those accounts try to log in concurrently, creating queues and lag, and hassle. Imagine if every server had 8000 accounts linked to it, 2000 too many, or 30% over-subscribed, what would happen during the holidays when the online numbers surge. Mayhem.
Now. Even if ALL the US servers are currently 30% oversubcribed, meaning no low pop realms, 8000, accounts per server, 122 servers, would give you 976,000 active subs. In July Blizzard claimed they had 1 million US subs. However, the only a few realms are over populated, needing to be thinned out, most are normal or even low pop. And what about accounts about to expire, free trials, and mutliserver account holders.
So why have NEW servers? 2 reasons. Some want to move from the realm but don't want to move to an established server, with an old economy, set foes in BG etc. and so don't take up the free realm transfer offers. Secondly, many players like to start completely afresh. Moving to an old, used realm is not the same as a completely fresh one where everyone starts at level one again. This keeps players in the gaem even longer. EQ did, this whilst its numbers remained more or less the same.
Finally. Blizzard are my best witness. They use growing sub numbers as a marketing tool to draw hesitant players into the game. Many people think, "it has 5 million subs" it must be good. Nothing wrong with this, I just do not choose to blindly believe numbers quoted in a press release. My government massaged it's unemployment figured for years, giving the impression that less people were out of work, when actually less people were COUNTED as being out of work.
I suggest that US and EU peaked some time ago, otherwise Blizzard would continue to broadcast it's success, to keep the sales going. I suggest that pretty much ALL figures quoted from the far east should be taken with a pinch of salt.
WoW is a great game, until 60, then it falls behind many of it's predecessors. Bull S*&t, I mean, Burning Crusade MAY have something new to offer, but it is months from release. This year WoW may actually see some real competition, then we'll know for sure. I expect it to keep going in the far east for some time though.
I'm sorry if I think differently than you. But for me, I would have more fun having paint-drying races with a friend than WoW.
CoH and CoV have been doing this since launch. Do some research before putting yourself in a rut.Ashkent, this is your big chance to get all game philosophical and fire off a decisive reply, thus proving once again that you are a force to reckoned with at MMORPG.com.
WoW DEFIANTLY isn't the best game of '05 or is it '04??? Wait why the hell are you/other people saying it's the best game of THIS year?! Ok so...let's just say it did come out THIS year. Nope...still isn't but it probably is the best MMO of this year/'04.