The World of Warcraft expansion will be the next BIG SELLING mmorpg related product...
And will also keep WoW at the top of the mmorpg heap for at least another year after release. There is NOTHING coming into the mmorpg market in the near future that will stop it happening.
(People BUY game expansions/sequels...it's a fact...it's why the companies keep doing them)
Most people want fantasy, D&D has the brand name, established gameworld and an extensive history of successful computer games under it's belt to draw a fanbase from.
Never Winter nights and Bladders Gate were both big sellers.
No idea if the game is any good or functional, assuming it is, thats where I would place my bet.
Personally only Huxley currently looks of intrest.
Originally posted by hadz The World of Warcraft expansion will be the next BIG SELLING mmorpg related product... And will also keep WoW at the top of the mmorpg heap for at least another year after release. There is NOTHING coming into the mmorpg market in the near future that will stop it happening. (People BUY game expansions/sequels...it's a fact...it's why the companies keep doing them)
Not even a sequel is going to save WoW. I give it a few months after the expansion and they'll start to experience rolling subscription cancelations. It was a terrible game to begin with.
I predict FFXI can continue on for several years if they continue on with awesome expansions. They'll stay steady in between expansions because of their loyal fan base.
Lineage was never my bag. The fighting was boring and I seemed to lose sight of any sort of goal very quickly while playing. It does seemt to have a healthy fan base, but as long as they're there it'll be profitable to continue developing content.
FMO and FE look really nice, but they havn't even been mentioned in markets foreign to Japan. FE could be a HUGE hit if it's released in the wake of the downfall of other PvP games. It seems there's quite a bit of people itching for a PvP game, and FE could deliver it.
D&D Online hasn't got a hope in hell of knocking WoW off the top spot in my opinion. Sure, it's associated with a large fantasy brand name but the design descisions are just going to put off too many people. The full instancing is going to put off many old-school gamers. The forced grouping and lack of any really viable soloable content will alienate a lot of newer gamers. The smart thing WoW did was give players options so that you could still get something done if there wasn't anyone around who you wanted to group with.
The full instancing thing is going to be the real killer though. I've seen a lot of WoW players who like playing scripted instances complaining that they've taken it too far with D&D Online. It'll be a negative effect on any community building and, well, it makes the whole MMO side of it pointless. If I'm just going to play with the same handfull of people everytime then I might as well wait for the new Neverwinter Nights or play PnP D&D.
Vanguard's going to be a hit (providing they deliver what they're promising) but not on the same sort of scale as WoW. I reckon it'll gather a strong community that'll grow gradually over time rather than hit in one major wave. I think it'll generate a very stable community too because it seems to be designed for the long haul. The big problem with the WoW community is that it's constantly changing because you level so quick and see everything that you get burned out on it in a couple of months.
I think the only thing which has any chance of beating WoW is Star Trek Online. It's a massive brand with a huge cult and mass-market following. The only way it can fail is if they truly screw up the game in every way. Even then it'd probably sell millions.
D&D Online hasn't got a hope in hell of knocking WoW off the top spot in my opinion.
Yeah, I agree. They are not even the same audience. I'm definitely not a huge fan of WoW; I don't even play it any more, but DDO is not a very good game. I'm sure there are alot of WoW players ready to jump ship like I did, but it'll take alot more than what DDO has to offer to pull in the refugees.
I'm placing my bets on WoW staying on top through this year. They have a big overseas market now, and Burning Crusade will pull some players back in. I'm just not seeing anything comming with the mass appeal of WoW. If anything, becuase this years expected titles are so diverse, they are each going to carve themselves out a piece of the market, with handfuls of players going to each.
Vanguard, Conan, D&L, DDO, Chronicles of Spellborn, Dark Solstice, Seed, RF, and even Tabula Rasa all seem like they are bringing their own little slice of unique to the market, but they are nothing revolutionary. There are things that set them apart, but nothing SO different as to draw a huge mass audience to them.
If Darkfall gets released it might do a little better than the rest, as it appears to have the hardcore PvP gamer market cornered. That game has been in development so long though, who knows. Of course last, but not least is my beloved Auto Assault that I've been testing since June. I'd love to see that game do well, and those who play it seem to like it, but based on the interest I've seen generated toward the game so far, I'm not sure if it has the mass appeal that's going to pull people away from their favorite MMO at the time.
On a more Global Scale, there is Granado Espada. The game has a gigantic following in Korea along with another mmo; just about everything successful in Korea has a much larger fanbase then WoW, since there is such a huge audience there.
Ragnarok Online 2 is probably going to do well depending on how much spotlight they get at e3 this year. They plan on making the gameplay alot more like WoW and reducing repetative play. The game isn't really designed for Asian gamers but more for people in Europe and America. Also they discovered that you can generate 10 times as many players if you offer your game free to download, pay to play; this should shoot up its numbers alot more then other games coming out in the US for that fact.
From what I heard about Age of Conan, it sounds awesome; but from what I read on there site. I think alot more is speculation and rumor then actual fact. The really amazing normal mapped HDRI lighted world was taken primarily from the first 20 levels of solo gameplay. I really doubt thats what it would look like in the world since it would be like playing halflife 2 only with 100 more highly graphical characters. The actual system you would need would be too much for many systems to handle limiting the player base. The game itself may not even be released in 2006. From what I seen and the amount of time it would take to craft each area and diversity in characters. It most likely will be released in 2007 or even 2008. Still can't wait to play this game. The fact it has the first 20 levels of solo play is an awesome feature.
The Chronicles of Spellborn is alot more realistic as a hit in the US. Its graphical quality is set to be playable on most systems currently owned in the US. Also its combat system may offer a nice variety of close range combat since it seems to play more like a shooter game.
Hero's Journey may also do well, but it is falling into the same audience as Vangaurd. Due to thier employment method. There will probably be alot more content in this game then the competition.
Vanguard has alot of promise but thier updates and development seem to be a little slow. Lets hope they don't pull a Dark and Light.
Originally posted by Cleffy Vanguard has alot of promise but thier updates and development seem to be a little slow. Lets hope they don't pull a Dark and Light.
They see slow because they're not in a rush like most games in thier last year of development. One thing they've made very clear is M$ is not rushing them to put the game out the door.
I don't see any game bringing WoW down, because it created it's own fan base. Most of the other MMOs are trying to pull people who are looking for another MMO to play. Wow brought in it's WC 2 and 3 fans and that's how it got it's huge start. Once a game gets that big everyone starts to talk about it and the game sells itself.
DDO is not a MMORPG it's an online multiplayer game. It isn't a GW clone but it's pretty close. If you're looking for a game that you can drop in a few times a week and not have to worry about falling behind it wil be a good game. DDO will never be a mass market game though ( meaning millions of subs ). There just isn't that many people wanting to play that style of game ( imo ).
I honestly can't see any of the mmogs in development sweeping the market. Most of them are pathetic cut and paste projects or instance ridden themeparks. My search for a true mmorpg is a depressing one considering what is currently available and what is going to be available.
A game that would sweep the market would be a persistant world based on Shadowrun, but I haven't heard anything of one in development.
I can't see anything doing a WoW. DDO or LotR have the best licences but I don't see either hitting above 2 million and I think it will be years before we get another huge hit like WoW.
From innovations perspective I like Darkfall, Roma Victor and RF Online, but none of those will be sweeping the market.
Originally posted by Teala None. D&DO may sell 150k to 200k initially, but will quickly drop off after people realize how empty of a game it actually is. Name alone will not save it - SWG proves that. All the rest are rehashes of other games all ready on the market. We have HJ, Vanguard, LoTRO, PoTBS, RFO, AoC...and a smattering of games that will be seriously broken or incomplete when released like D&L, DarkFall, Auto Assault, Gods and Heros....most of the games like Vanguard, HJ and AoC will do what the average MMORPG does and have pops ranging from 50k to 300k...but none will see what WoW and Lineage II has. What we're left with is nothing that will sweep the market the way WoW did.
I am anticipating a market sweep by DDO. Personally I wouldn't buy it or pay to play, but I do believe it is indeed a great adaption of the pen and paper DnD. Main issue I have with it is that it doesn't feel MMO, too instanced from my experience. But, I know most everyone doesn't really mind that, so it'll do good I am guessing.
Originally posted by darktravesty I am anticipating a market sweep by DDO. Personally I wouldn't buy it or pay to play, but I do believe it is indeed a great adaption of the pen and paper DnD. Main issue I have with it is that it doesn't feel MMO, too instanced from my experience. But, I know most everyone doesn't really mind that, so it'll do good I am guessing.
I think your initial gut feeling (the reason you wouldn't buy it) is probably more accurate and it probably won't come out on top. DDO will IMHO will be big when it comes out, but after the first month (when people start paying) and the next couple months afterward I think the popularity will wane. I will be popular perhaps for diehard players but nothing compared to WoW.
As far as which will come out on top, I think the casual style games like WoW will be popular. Hardcore MMO gamers will find thier niches in the games they enjoy, but none will come close in numbers....which is probably a good thing.
I think RF is going to bring in a good crowd ...but for future ....future. Depending on how AOC comes along....I think it might be another WoW...as far as bring'n in numbers
None tbh, none of them have the media coverage that WoW and GW has, DDO will prove big though but this is from the name and it will get a crap rating because, frankly it is crap!
Lord of the rings online, shoulda woulda coulda really, FANTASTIC idea but the fact it won't have pvp, ruins the entire concept of LOTR and I immediately lost interest when i heard it was pve. That alone, shows the developers understanding of the lore and their ambitions of implementing it into the game.
the next upcoming mmo to sweep the market will be another load of gutless carebear land type of game which fails to realise there are so many people out there from the early days of ultima craving for that unforgiving harsh experience again but with 21st century technology. im sick of the genre spewing out commercially accpetable games...bring back corpse looting, player killers, theives, con men, vigilantes types who set out to kill these people, massive skill tress, massive crafting possibilites and the game will get my money!
I think it'll start off slowly, but RF Online (in my opinion) once it's tweeked a bit for Americans is going to blow away a lot of competition.
I think D&DO will be heavily stomped for a bit, only because there are so many that play the board, they're going to be really excited and want to try this. But it really doesn't look like much. Not bashing it, I can't give an opinion until I've played something. I just don't see this one going up and staying there.
WoW is fun for a while, but gets very boring very quickly. The fact that it has the most subs of all MMORPG's speaks woefully for the entire genre.
I see MMORPG's in a state of complete decline. 5 years ago the demographic was considerably older than it is now. And what do kids want? Instant gratification. Thus we have WoW. An EQ clone if ever there was one where saturday morning cartoon characters abound and challenge is an afterthought.
Right now we are in a dead zone. Soon we will have a slew of games that can save the genre from complete homogenization. Vanguard, Darkfall, Chronicles of Spellborn and Tabula Rasa, among others, seek to bring new life and new challenges to our beloved genre.
5 million customers doesn't make a great game. Mcdonalds served billions and billions but I wouldn't eat there. What we need is quality, and I don't give a flying fajita what the next big game is. I want to know what the next GOOD game is, and I don't need to know.
Originally posted by GIRO the next upcoming mmo to sweep the market will be another load of gutless carebear land type of game which fails to realise there are so many people out there from the early days of ultima craving for that unforgiving harsh experience again but with 21st century technology. im sick of the genre spewing out commercially accpetable games...bring back corpse looting, player killers, theives, con men, vigilantes types who set out to kill these people, massive skill tress, massive crafting possibilites and the game will get my money!
Yep...it'll get YOUR money...and 10 to 20 other people's who long for the UO days on these forums...
BUT IT WILL GET NO ONE ELSES!!!
You must realize that no one is going to make something that a massive majority of people don't like.
PS. Sick to death of the UOers ragging all other game-styles as carebear. IF UO is so good...go play it and stop complaining on these forums. (EDIT: No dev is going to listen to a bunch of whining losers who want to kill others (mainly lowbies) and take their stuff whilst trash-talking them for being a noob, in all likelihood taking them out of the game so that the company will never again receive their subscription.)
[quote]Originally posted by anarchyart 5 million customers doesn't make a great game. Mcdonalds served billions and billions but I wouldn't eat there. What we need is quality, and I don't give a flying fajita what the next big game is. I want to know what the next GOOD game is, and I don't need to know. It's Vanguard.[/b][/quote] I think Big Macs are the best thing since sliced bread. Guess that's why I like WoW :P
Vanguard might be big, but there's no way it will overtake WoW. WoW had the Blizzard name on it, and (I'm surprised no one's mentioned this) low system requirements without looking like crap. Most game designers (Americans and Europeans at least, Asia is a different story) just try to emulate reality graphically which results in really high requirements or vomit inducingly bad graphics, sometimes both. Now this isn't as bad as a few years ago (Perfect Dark for the N64 vs Legend of Zelda is a good example since they're both made with the same system specs in mind, though honestly RARE is better about this stuff than a lot of people). The WoW artists actually accepted the fact that they were working with polygons and delt with it. Now this wont be an issue once we achive photo-realistic graphics, but it's still a quite few years before your average Dell or HP computer can do that.
The trick to success will be to have a fun (not nessesarily innovative I'm afraid), well known/respected brand and decent graphics and performance on low end video cards.
There are no companies with the resources or a solid enough brand to pull in a sweep like WoW did. The way I look at it, you wold need a few things to pull a sweep like wow.
1)a solid VIDEO GAME franchise, not a movie or books. 2)a reputable company with the budget to adveritse well. 3)a team that can really put together a solid game in the right time frame. 4)a company with a HUGE budget so they can make sure the game is good and clean right from beta to eliminate as much bad press as possible. 5)a lot of luck.
Quite frankly, there we few video game franchises I could see working. The only one that comes to mind really is starcraft, but thats by Blizzard and they wouldnt want to be their own competition, that would be stupid. The other I could see pulling it off, would be Age of Empires. Their latest one wasnt as sucessful, its its a solid franchise, it has a lot of funding to back it, and a good marketing department, only problem... how could you make a mmorpg about it.
I dont think we will see a sweep like WoW did for a while yet, I say give it a few years.
after 6 or so years, I had to change it a little...
Originally posted by Vemoi How would a Fallout MMO grab you? i reckon that there is a possible Goliath
I 2nd that CardinalSin! One of my favorite ole games. I would like to see them do a Hellraiser Online.
i think fallout is more of a niche market. doubt it would be a major hit.
lotr and ddo based on the name, but as someone else said, DDO is pretty much crap and i don't see many people staying with it. look at SWG and Matrix online. both hugely popular names but the mmorpg versions did horrible.
i'm looking for age of conan but im not sure it will be a huge hit.
Comments
The World of Warcraft expansion will be the next BIG SELLING mmorpg related product...
And will also keep WoW at the top of the mmorpg heap for at least another year after release. There is NOTHING coming into the mmorpg market in the near future that will stop it happening.
(People BUY game expansions/sequels...it's a fact...it's why the companies keep doing them)
Dungeons and Dragons is my bet.
Everyone wants something new.
Most people want fantasy, D&D has the brand name, established gameworld and an extensive history of successful computer games under it's belt to draw a fanbase from.
Never Winter nights and Bladders Gate were both big sellers.
No idea if the game is any good or functional, assuming it is, thats where I would place my bet.
Personally only Huxley currently looks of intrest.
Not even a sequel is going to save WoW. I give it a few months after the expansion and they'll start to experience rolling subscription cancelations. It was a terrible game to begin with.
I predict FFXI can continue on for several years if they continue on with awesome expansions. They'll stay steady in between expansions because of their loyal fan base.
Lineage was never my bag. The fighting was boring and I seemed to lose sight of any sort of goal very quickly while playing. It does seemt to have a healthy fan base, but as long as they're there it'll be profitable to continue developing content.
FMO and FE look really nice, but they havn't even been mentioned in markets foreign to Japan. FE could be a HUGE hit if it's released in the wake of the downfall of other PvP games. It seems there's quite a bit of people itching for a PvP game, and FE could deliver it.
D&D Online hasn't got a hope in hell of knocking WoW off the top spot in my opinion. Sure, it's associated with a large fantasy brand name but the design descisions are just going to put off too many people. The full instancing is going to put off many old-school gamers. The forced grouping and lack of any really viable soloable content will alienate a lot of newer gamers. The smart thing WoW did was give players options so that you could still get something done if there wasn't anyone around who you wanted to group with.
The full instancing thing is going to be the real killer though. I've seen a lot of WoW players who like playing scripted instances complaining that they've taken it too far with D&D Online. It'll be a negative effect on any community building and, well, it makes the whole MMO side of it pointless. If I'm just going to play with the same handfull of people everytime then I might as well wait for the new Neverwinter Nights or play PnP D&D.
Vanguard's going to be a hit (providing they deliver what they're promising) but not on the same sort of scale as WoW. I reckon it'll gather a strong community that'll grow gradually over time rather than hit in one major wave. I think it'll generate a very stable community too because it seems to be designed for the long haul. The big problem with the WoW community is that it's constantly changing because you level so quick and see everything that you get burned out on it in a couple of months.
I think the only thing which has any chance of beating WoW is Star Trek Online. It's a massive brand with a huge cult and mass-market following. The only way it can fail is if they truly screw up the game in every way. Even then it'd probably sell millions.
Yeah, I agree. They are not even the same audience. I'm definitely not a huge fan of WoW; I don't even play it any more, but DDO is not a very good game. I'm sure there are alot of WoW players ready to jump ship like I did, but it'll take alot more than what DDO has to offer to pull in the refugees.
I'm placing my bets on WoW staying on top through this year. They have a big overseas market now, and Burning Crusade will pull some players back in. I'm just not seeing anything comming with the mass appeal of WoW. If anything, becuase this years expected titles are so diverse, they are each going to carve themselves out a piece of the market, with handfuls of players going to each.
Vanguard, Conan, D&L, DDO, Chronicles of Spellborn, Dark Solstice, Seed, RF, and even Tabula Rasa all seem like they are bringing their own little slice of unique to the market, but they are nothing revolutionary. There are things that set them apart, but nothing SO different as to draw a huge mass audience to them.
If Darkfall gets released it might do a little better than the rest, as it appears to have the hardcore PvP gamer market cornered. That game has been in development so long though, who knows. Of course last, but not least is my beloved Auto Assault that I've been testing since June. I'd love to see that game do well, and those who play it seem to like it, but based on the interest I've seen generated toward the game so far, I'm not sure if it has the mass appeal that's going to pull people away from their favorite MMO at the time.
Just my twelve cents.
On a more Global Scale, there is Granado Espada. The game has a gigantic following in Korea along with another mmo; just about everything successful in Korea has a much larger fanbase then WoW, since there is such a huge audience there.
Ragnarok Online 2 is probably going to do well depending on how much spotlight they get at e3 this year. They plan on making the gameplay alot more like WoW and reducing repetative play. The game isn't really designed for Asian gamers but more for people in Europe and America. Also they discovered that you can generate 10 times as many players if you offer your game free to download, pay to play; this should shoot up its numbers alot more then other games coming out in the US for that fact.
From what I heard about Age of Conan, it sounds awesome; but from what I read on there site. I think alot more is speculation and rumor then actual fact. The really amazing normal mapped HDRI lighted world was taken primarily from the first 20 levels of solo gameplay. I really doubt thats what it would look like in the world since it would be like playing halflife 2 only with 100 more highly graphical characters. The actual system you would need would be too much for many systems to handle limiting the player base. The game itself may not even be released in 2006. From what I seen and the amount of time it would take to craft each area and diversity in characters. It most likely will be released in 2007 or even 2008. Still can't wait to play this game. The fact it has the first 20 levels of solo play is an awesome feature.
The Chronicles of Spellborn is alot more realistic as a hit in the US. Its graphical quality is set to be playable on most systems currently owned in the US. Also its combat system may offer a nice variety of close range combat since it seems to play more like a shooter game.
Hero's Journey may also do well, but it is falling into the same audience as Vangaurd.
Due to thier employment method. There will probably be alot more content in this game then the competition.
Vanguard has alot of promise but thier updates and development seem to be a little slow. Lets hope they don't pull a Dark and Light.
They see slow because they're not in a rush like most games in thier last year of development. One thing they've made very clear is M$ is not rushing them to put the game out the door.
I don't see any game bringing WoW down, because it created it's own fan base. Most of the other MMOs are trying to pull people who are looking for another MMO to play. Wow brought in it's WC 2 and 3 fans and that's how it got it's huge start. Once a game gets that big everyone starts to talk about it and the game sells itself.
DDO is not a MMORPG it's an online multiplayer game. It isn't a GW clone but it's pretty close. If you're looking for a game that you can drop in a few times a week and not have to worry about falling behind it wil be a good game. DDO will never be a mass market game though ( meaning millions of subs ). There just isn't that many people wanting to play that style of game ( imo ).
I honestly can't see any of the mmogs in development sweeping the market. Most of them are pathetic cut and paste projects or instance ridden themeparks. My search for a true mmorpg is a depressing one considering what is currently available and what is going to be available.
A game that would sweep the market would be a persistant world based on Shadowrun, but I haven't heard anything of one in development.
I can't see anything doing a WoW. DDO or LotR have the best licences but I don't see either hitting above 2 million and I think it will be years before we get another huge hit like WoW.
From innovations perspective I like Darkfall, Roma Victor and RF Online, but none of those will be sweeping the market.
Benny.......................................
DDO has already sold 1.5 million pre-orders.
Make a difference!
That thread was a hoax. Don't get your facts from internet forums.
World of Starcraft
I am anticipating a market sweep by DDO. Personally I wouldn't buy it or pay to play, but I do believe it is indeed a great adaption of the pen and paper DnD. Main issue I have with it is that it doesn't feel MMO, too instanced from my experience. But, I know most everyone doesn't really mind that, so it'll do good I am guessing.
I think your initial gut feeling (the reason you wouldn't buy it) is probably more accurate and it probably won't come out on top. DDO will IMHO will be big when it comes out, but after the first month (when people start paying) and the next couple months afterward I think the popularity will wane. I will be popular perhaps for diehard players but nothing compared to WoW.
As far as which will come out on top, I think the casual style games like WoW will be popular. Hardcore MMO gamers will find thier niches in the games they enjoy, but none will come close in numbers....which is probably a good thing.
I'm was quite surprised to see a couple of Star Trek replies in there.
Every Star Trek game I've ever played on the PC has been unplayably bad.
None tbh, none of them have the media coverage that WoW and GW has, DDO will prove big though but this is from the name and it will get a crap rating because, frankly it is crap!
Lord of the rings online, shoulda woulda coulda really, FANTASTIC idea but the fact it won't have pvp, ruins the entire concept of LOTR and I immediately lost interest when i heard it was pve. That alone, shows the developers understanding of the lore and their ambitions of implementing it into the game.
the next upcoming mmo to sweep the market will be another load of gutless carebear land type of game which fails to realise there are so many people out there from the early days of ultima craving for that unforgiving harsh experience again but with 21st century technology. im sick of the genre spewing out commercially accpetable games...bring back corpse looting, player killers, theives, con men, vigilantes types who set out to kill these people, massive skill tress, massive crafting possibilites and the game will get my money!
C
I think it'll start off slowly, but RF Online (in my opinion) once it's tweeked a bit for Americans is going to blow away a lot of competition.
I think D&DO will be heavily stomped for a bit, only because there are so many that play the board, they're going to be really excited and want to try this. But it really doesn't look like much. Not bashing it, I can't give an opinion until I've played something. I just don't see this one going up and staying there.
WoW is fun for a while, but gets very boring very quickly. The fact that it has the most subs of all MMORPG's speaks woefully for the entire genre.
I see MMORPG's in a state of complete decline. 5 years ago the demographic was considerably older than it is now. And what do kids want? Instant gratification. Thus we have WoW. An EQ clone if ever there was one where saturday morning cartoon characters abound and challenge is an afterthought.
Right now we are in a dead zone. Soon we will have a slew of games that can save the genre from complete homogenization. Vanguard, Darkfall, Chronicles of Spellborn and Tabula Rasa, among others, seek to bring new life and new challenges to our beloved genre.
5 million customers doesn't make a great game. Mcdonalds served billions and billions but I wouldn't eat there. What we need is quality, and I don't give a flying fajita what the next big game is. I want to know what the next GOOD game is, and I don't need to know.
It's Vanguard.
Yep...it'll get YOUR money...and 10 to 20 other people's who long for the UO days on these forums...
BUT IT WILL GET NO ONE ELSES!!!
You must realize that no one is going to make something that a massive majority of people don't like.
PS. Sick to death of the UOers ragging all other game-styles as carebear. IF UO is so good...go play it and stop complaining on these forums. (EDIT: No dev is going to listen to a bunch of whining losers who want to kill others (mainly lowbies) and take their stuff whilst trash-talking them for being a noob, in all likelihood taking them out of the game so that the company will never again receive their subscription.)
[quote]Originally posted by anarchyart
5 million customers doesn't make a great game. Mcdonalds served billions and billions but I wouldn't eat there. What we need is quality, and I don't give a flying fajita what the next big game is. I want to know what the next GOOD game is, and I don't need to know.
It's Vanguard.[/b][/quote]
I think Big Macs are the best thing since sliced bread. Guess that's why I like WoW :P
Vanguard might be big, but there's no way it will overtake WoW. WoW had the Blizzard name on it, and (I'm surprised no one's mentioned this) low system requirements without looking like crap. Most game designers (Americans and Europeans at least, Asia is a different story) just try to emulate reality graphically which results in really high requirements or vomit inducingly bad graphics, sometimes both. Now this isn't as bad as a few years ago (Perfect Dark for the N64 vs Legend of Zelda is a good example since they're both made with the same system specs in mind, though honestly RARE is better about this stuff than a lot of people). The WoW artists actually accepted the fact that they were working with polygons and delt with it. Now this wont be an issue once we achive photo-realistic graphics, but it's still a quite few years before your average Dell or HP computer can do that.
The trick to success will be to have a fun (not nessesarily innovative I'm afraid), well known/respected brand and decent graphics and performance on low end video cards.
There are no companies with the resources or a solid enough brand to pull in a sweep like WoW did.
The way I look at it, you wold need a few things to pull a sweep like wow.
1)a solid VIDEO GAME franchise, not a movie or books.
2)a reputable company with the budget to adveritse well.
3)a team that can really put together a solid game in the right time frame.
4)a company with a HUGE budget so they can make sure the game is good and clean right from beta to eliminate as much bad press as possible.
5)a lot of luck.
Quite frankly, there we few video game franchises I could see working. The only one that comes to mind really is starcraft, but thats by Blizzard and they wouldnt want to be their own competition, that would be stupid.
The other I could see pulling it off, would be Age of Empires. Their latest one wasnt as sucessful, its its a solid franchise, it has a lot of funding to back it, and a good marketing department, only problem... how could you make a mmorpg about it.
I dont think we will see a sweep like WoW did for a while yet, I say give it a few years.
after 6 or so years, I had to change it a little...
i think fallout is more of a niche market. doubt it would be a major hit.
lotr and ddo based on the name, but as someone else said, DDO is pretty much crap and i don't see many people staying with it. look at SWG and Matrix online. both hugely popular names but the mmorpg versions did horrible.
i'm looking for age of conan but im not sure it will be a huge hit.
What next upcoming MMORPG do you see possibly sweeping the market?
None - for instance, WOW "swept the market" IMO. I don't see any upcoming games doing what WOW did (and no I don't play WOW).