Games like these are actually pretty popular in Europe, while the NA numbers will probably only be around 200-400k, i think EU/NA combine we could have close to 1mil in subs.
Tbh, Aion, aside from the better graphics and wings, are nothing new, RvRvR (o noes an NPC race..o wait u mean mobs) is nothing really that special. However, just like how WoW was nothing special, the combination of the features is how WoW became successful, and I can see Aion do the same, after trying the CN beta this is what i believe, you can see the shadows of many good games here, but they compensated for each system's weakness and damn...i wish NA version would come soon =3
A NCSoft game having 3.5mil subs in Asia is not surprising, it's to be expected. You can't expect millions of people sticking with the old Lineage1 / 2 games, they're getting old.
As for how well it'll do here in U.S., that'll depend a lot on how long people stay subscribed. No doubt they'll sell many copies here, mainly because the MMO genre is pretty stale right now, lots of people are looking for something new to play. So you'll have plenty of people buying the game to try it out, since it's getting quite a bit of hype right now. But a MMO's success comes from how long people stay subscribed.
Look at WAR, it sold lots of copies initially, but their subscription #'s have gone down to just a few hundred thousand now. I think anybody can release a new shiny game and sell plenty of copies these days.
Look at WAR, it sold lots of copies initially, but their subscription #'s have gone down to just a few hundred thousand now. I think anybody can release a new shiny game and sell plenty of copies these days.
Fair point except for huge differences.
WAR sold a lot of copies, but before it was released plenty of the beta testers had major issues with WAR. They advised many things that Mythic never put in place and still not in the game today. They failed to fix many of the issues beta testers had with the game that are still in the game today. The game itself was rife with thousands and thousands of silly bugs. To this day approaching a year, they still have not figured out how to make their endgame work as intended and described.
AION has been out in Asia for an extremely long time being beta tested and have gotten most issues that players had out of the game. Botters are disappearing and players all over the world are getting connections that make them seem like the game is being run from a server down the street; i.e. little lag and instability. WAR cannot even balance these issues with people in the same state as them. AION will be fully tested and beat on by the time it hits US shores, which means that when you load it, log in and start playing it will be technically perfect, the way a release SHOULD be and that's half the battle of any game.
Using WAR as a cautionary tale against AION is a bad example because it's already almost done being tested. This game will probably the first MMO you've played that will had a proper beta recently, and that spells US success.
Look at WAR, it sold lots of copies initially, but their subscription #'s have gone down to just a few hundred thousand now. I think anybody can release a new shiny game and sell plenty of copies these days.
Fair point except for huge differences.
WAR sold a lot of copies, but before it was released plenty of the beta testers had major issues with WAR. They advised many things that Mythic never put in place and still not in the game today. They failed to fix many of the issues beta testers had with the game that are still in the game today. The game itself was rife with thousands and thousands of silly bugs. To this day approaching a year, they still have not figured out how to make their endgame work as intended and described.
AION has been out in Asia for an extremely long time being beta tested and have gotten most issues that players had out of the game. Botters are disappearing and players all over the world are getting connections that make them seem like the game is being run from a server down the street; i.e. little lag and instability. WAR cannot even balance these issues with people in the same state as them. AION will be fully tested and beat on by the time it hits US shores, which means that when you load it, log in and start playing it will be technically perfect, the way a release SHOULD be and that's half the battle of any game.
Using WAR as a cautionary tale against AION is a bad example because it's already almost done being tested. This game will probably the first MMO you've played that will had a proper beta recently, and that spells US success.
I wouldn't go THAT far to saying Aion is bugless, not to mention the PvP balance is still "in-the-works" for Aion as well. It is save to say though Aion will be in better shape than WAR was when it was release, if NCwest doesn't fk anything up.
Yea, an MMO where the main objective is to impress others by having the largest, gaudiest, and stupidest looking """armor""" underneath a haircut that looks most like it belongs on the head of a 4 year old girl that just got done playing with the scissors isn't gonna be nearly as big in the US as in Asia.
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
an MMO where the main objective is to impress others by having the largest, gaudiest, and stupidest looking """armor""" underneath a haircut that looks most like it belongs on the head of a 4 year old girl that just got done playing with the scissors
Someone's just had a bad day. He's raging, annoyed, and frustrated. Tries to feel better by taking it all out and trashing a game.
On the "Lost in translation" issue: the team working on it involves US devs at NC West, so I think the NA/EU game will be fine.
Personally, I wish everyone would quit jinxing things by spouting that "WoW-killer" crap. If they release a nice, polished game(which it should be) that doesn't break 500k, as long as I am one of those enjoying the polished shiny stuff, that's all I care about. Looking for the next "WoW-killer" is not just a waste of time; it's retarded. Even if a game surpases them in subs, they'll still be around for a long time.
Besides, at the rate they are going, Free Realms will reach the numbers before any other game. A lot of under 18...hell, under 13-year-olds can enjoy that game. I don't think Aion, or WoW, for that matter, can do that!. Not to mention those above 18
Yea, an MMO where the main objective is to impress others by having the largest, gaudiest, and stupidest looking """armor""" underneath a haircut that looks most like it belongs on the head of a 4 year old girl that just got done playing with the scissors isn't gonna be nearly as big in the US as in Asia.
I'm sure you said the same about WoW before it released.
Using WAR as a cautionary tale against AION is a bad example because it's already almost done being tested. This game will probably the first MMO you've played that will had a proper beta recently, and that spells US success.
Being less buggy will help for sure, but how many people leave MMO's due to bugs? People will ultimately play the game that has the most fun and attractive gameplay, this includes the type of carrot they dangle in front of you to keep you subscribed. I haven't played Aion so I have no idea what the gameplay is like. But games with pretty graphics will always sell lots of copies. However it's the gameplay that will determine whether a game becomes successful in the long run or not.
I don't think people left WAR because of bugs. They left it (like I did) because the endgame RvR sucked. The game worked you up nicely through the first 30 levels, then you are hit with reality that they didn't test endgame RvR (T4 RvR) properly and that it simply wasn't *fun*. Fun is the key word. I think people can stomach bugs, they can wait a month or two for fixes. But if the gameplay isn't fun, especially the endgame, they aren't going to stick around.
So does anybody know what the endgame in Aion is like?
3.5 Million subs for a game thats only been out for about 6 months is very impressive no mattter what country the numbers are comming from. I mean what other game has even 1M subs world wide other than WoW? People saying that it wont be popular here because its more of the same are clueless. When will you understand that the majority of people just want a GOOD MMO to play whether its the same or different?
I was just agreeing with the "less subs in the US" idea and backing it up with my uninformed estimation of the gameplay of the game. No need to brandish me a snarling rage-filled hatemonger just because I'm not madly in love with your favorite mmo.
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
I was just agreeing with the "less subs in the US" idea and backing it up with my uninformed estimation of the gameplay of the game. No need to brandish me a snarling rage-filled hatemonger just because I'm not madly in love with your favorite mmo.
I was just agreeing with the "less subs in the US" idea and backing it up with my uninformed estimation of the gameplay of the game. No need to brandish me a snarling rage-filled hatemonger just because I'm not madly in love with your favorite mmo.
In all honesty it's a waste of a good post as it's quite pointless. You yourself admitted you're uninformed, so why waste yours or others time if you, as you said, know nothing?
I was just agreeing with the "less subs in the US" idea and backing it up with my uninformed estimation of the gameplay of the game. No need to brandish me a snarling rage-filled hatemonger just because I'm not madly in love with your favorite mmo.
{ Mod Delete }
Once again, calling me a troll because I'm not gushing heated passion all over your favorite game. All I'm saying is that this...
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
I was just agreeing with the "less subs in the US" idea and backing it up with my uninformed estimation of the gameplay of the game. No need to brandish me a snarling rage-filled hatemonger just because I'm not madly in love with your favorite mmo.
{ Mod Delete }
Once again, calling me a troll because I'm not gushing heated passion all over your favorite game. All I'm saying is that this...
I was just agreeing with the "less subs in the US" idea and backing it up with my uninformed estimation of the gameplay of the game. No need to brandish me a snarling rage-filled hatemonger just because I'm not madly in love with your favorite mmo.
{ Mod Delete }
Once again, calling me a troll because I'm not gushing heated passion all over your favorite game. All I'm saying is that this...
i have my doubts about aion NA/EU hitting the 3.5 mil subs in a year even. my reason? population. China blows the US and EU population. And then you have the RMT's to count several thousand accounts there, and then you have the people in NA contributing to the china SUB list. I have already seen RMT sites advertising Aion gold. So to sum it all up, i dont believe the 3.5 mil subs number.
Believe what you like but China has close to 200 servers by now and I'm not sure how many Korea has.
i dont doubt they are making alot of money. i only doubt the number of real subscribers.
Are you kidding me? Have you read the Q1 2009 for NCSoft? The profits are out the roof, this game is amazing. I'm definitely going to play at launch. It isn't going to make a lot of money in North America, but overall, the game has done great!!!
i say again im talking about the subscriber numbers, not the money they are making.
Lets hope they can turn profit into marketing in NA, and then into more profits and bigger numbers in NA. I hope its fun, is what I care about most though :P.
I don't know if my point is being ignored on purpose or not, but if I'm just gonna keep getting yelled at until I post; "MY GOD I WAS WRONG AION IS THE VIDEO GAME VERSION OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF!" then I'll just go ahead and back out of this conversation, lol.
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
I don't know if my point is being ignored on purpose or not, but if I'm just gonna keep getting yelled at until I post; "MY GOD I WAS WRONG AION IS THE VIDEO GAME VERSION OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF!" then I'll just go ahead and back out of this conversation, lol.
Your point is based on a lack of understandment of our current videogames market. You think Koreans and Chinese are the only ones who like funny dances in their MMOs, then again, the most popular MMO in the west is all about "funny stuff".
I don't know wether Aion will be as huge in here as in Asia, probably not, mainly because Asian market is way bigger, now, what I know, is that I can't find a good in depth review about Aion that tells anything but "awesome", from people who live in the west.
One thing for sure, though, Aion will be the second most popular MMO for some years if it doesn't beat WoW's numbers.
Using WAR as a cautionary tale against AION is a bad example because it's already almost done being tested. This game will probably the first MMO you've played that will had a proper beta recently, and that spells US success.
Being less buggy will help for sure, but how many people leave MMO's due to bugs? People will ultimately play the game that has the most fun and attractive gameplay, this includes the type of carrot they dangle in front of you to keep you subscribed. I haven't played Aion so I have no idea what the gameplay is like. But games with pretty graphics will always sell lots of copies. However it's the gameplay that will determine whether a game becomes successful in the long run or not.
I don't think people left WAR because of bugs. They left it (like I did) because the endgame RvR sucked. The game worked you up nicely through the first 30 levels, then you are hit with reality that they didn't test endgame RvR (T4 RvR) properly and that it simply wasn't *fun*. Fun is the key word. I think people can stomach bugs, they can wait a month or two for fixes. But if the gameplay isn't fun, especially the endgame, they aren't going to stick around.
So does anybody know what the endgame in Aion is like?
Well, tons left Vanguard because of bugs. And AoC because of bugs. Maybe in the past, but in today's gaming world, new gamers simply don't sit around and wait for bugs to be fixed; maybe some, but certainly not too many. Bugs are actually a gamebreaker for the majority of gamers, because if the game doesn't work right, how can it be fun?
Nothing fun about hitting a skill and not having it fire, or having pets shoot you through walls over and over while you cannot get them or their master. The majority of people who quit WAR quit long before ever seeing T4. That shows it wasn't the endgame that made people quit. Bugs and boredom did it. The T4 quitters came later after suffering through T3-T4.
AION's endgame is supposed to address another flaw that WAR had... no 3rd party involvement. Where in WAR one side of a server eventually gets the best of the other side until one quits or rerolls, AION is supposed to have the NPCs assist the losing side at times to maintain balance if one gets too strong. That alone, if it works as intended, will keep people from flipping servers and quitting the Elyos and flipping to the Asmodians simply because the Asmos are always winning.
I'd sepculate for 1 million boxes sold in NA and EU withing the first 3 months of release.
Depending on how NCSoft will apply patches etc, I guess Aion will be able to keep 50% of the players attrackted for like a year. Then idk what the plans are.
Comments
Games like these are actually pretty popular in Europe, while the NA numbers will probably only be around 200-400k, i think EU/NA combine we could have close to 1mil in subs.
Tbh, Aion, aside from the better graphics and wings, are nothing new, RvRvR (o noes an NPC race..o wait u mean mobs) is nothing really that special. However, just like how WoW was nothing special, the combination of the features is how WoW became successful, and I can see Aion do the same, after trying the CN beta this is what i believe, you can see the shadows of many good games here, but they compensated for each system's weakness and damn...i wish NA version would come soon =3
A NCSoft game having 3.5mil subs in Asia is not surprising, it's to be expected. You can't expect millions of people sticking with the old Lineage1 / 2 games, they're getting old.
As for how well it'll do here in U.S., that'll depend a lot on how long people stay subscribed. No doubt they'll sell many copies here, mainly because the MMO genre is pretty stale right now, lots of people are looking for something new to play. So you'll have plenty of people buying the game to try it out, since it's getting quite a bit of hype right now. But a MMO's success comes from how long people stay subscribed.
Look at WAR, it sold lots of copies initially, but their subscription #'s have gone down to just a few hundred thousand now. I think anybody can release a new shiny game and sell plenty of copies these days.
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Fair point except for huge differences.
WAR sold a lot of copies, but before it was released plenty of the beta testers had major issues with WAR. They advised many things that Mythic never put in place and still not in the game today. They failed to fix many of the issues beta testers had with the game that are still in the game today. The game itself was rife with thousands and thousands of silly bugs. To this day approaching a year, they still have not figured out how to make their endgame work as intended and described.
AION has been out in Asia for an extremely long time being beta tested and have gotten most issues that players had out of the game. Botters are disappearing and players all over the world are getting connections that make them seem like the game is being run from a server down the street; i.e. little lag and instability. WAR cannot even balance these issues with people in the same state as them. AION will be fully tested and beat on by the time it hits US shores, which means that when you load it, log in and start playing it will be technically perfect, the way a release SHOULD be and that's half the battle of any game.
Using WAR as a cautionary tale against AION is a bad example because it's already almost done being tested. This game will probably the first MMO you've played that will had a proper beta recently, and that spells US success.
"TO MICHAEL!"
Fair point except for huge differences.
WAR sold a lot of copies, but before it was released plenty of the beta testers had major issues with WAR. They advised many things that Mythic never put in place and still not in the game today. They failed to fix many of the issues beta testers had with the game that are still in the game today. The game itself was rife with thousands and thousands of silly bugs. To this day approaching a year, they still have not figured out how to make their endgame work as intended and described.
AION has been out in Asia for an extremely long time being beta tested and have gotten most issues that players had out of the game. Botters are disappearing and players all over the world are getting connections that make them seem like the game is being run from a server down the street; i.e. little lag and instability. WAR cannot even balance these issues with people in the same state as them. AION will be fully tested and beat on by the time it hits US shores, which means that when you load it, log in and start playing it will be technically perfect, the way a release SHOULD be and that's half the battle of any game.
Using WAR as a cautionary tale against AION is a bad example because it's already almost done being tested. This game will probably the first MMO you've played that will had a proper beta recently, and that spells US success.
I wouldn't go THAT far to saying Aion is bugless, not to mention the PvP balance is still "in-the-works" for Aion as well. It is save to say though Aion will be in better shape than WAR was when it was release, if NCwest doesn't fk anything up.
Yea, an MMO where the main objective is to impress others by having the largest, gaudiest, and stupidest looking """armor""" underneath a haircut that looks most like it belongs on the head of a 4 year old girl that just got done playing with the scissors isn't gonna be nearly as big in the US as in Asia.
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
Someone's just had a bad day. He's raging, annoyed, and frustrated. Tries to feel better by taking it all out and trashing a game.
Am I close? feel better?
On the "Lost in translation" issue: the team working on it involves US devs at NC West, so I think the NA/EU game will be fine.
Personally, I wish everyone would quit jinxing things by spouting that "WoW-killer" crap. If they release a nice, polished game(which it should be) that doesn't break 500k, as long as I am one of those enjoying the polished shiny stuff, that's all I care about. Looking for the next "WoW-killer" is not just a waste of time; it's retarded. Even if a game surpases them in subs, they'll still be around for a long time.
Besides, at the rate they are going, Free Realms will reach the numbers before any other game. A lot of under 18...hell, under 13-year-olds can enjoy that game. I don't think Aion, or WoW, for that matter, can do that!. Not to mention those above 18
I'm sure you said the same about WoW before it released.
Being less buggy will help for sure, but how many people leave MMO's due to bugs? People will ultimately play the game that has the most fun and attractive gameplay, this includes the type of carrot they dangle in front of you to keep you subscribed. I haven't played Aion so I have no idea what the gameplay is like. But games with pretty graphics will always sell lots of copies. However it's the gameplay that will determine whether a game becomes successful in the long run or not.
I don't think people left WAR because of bugs. They left it (like I did) because the endgame RvR sucked. The game worked you up nicely through the first 30 levels, then you are hit with reality that they didn't test endgame RvR (T4 RvR) properly and that it simply wasn't *fun*. Fun is the key word. I think people can stomach bugs, they can wait a month or two for fixes. But if the gameplay isn't fun, especially the endgame, they aren't going to stick around.
So does anybody know what the endgame in Aion is like?
EQ1-AC1-DAOC-FFXI-L2-EQ2-WoW-DDO-GW-LoTR-VG-WAR-GW2-ESO
Holla!
WOOT
www.eorzeapedia.com
(Great FF14 source)
I was just agreeing with the "less subs in the US" idea and backing it up with my uninformed estimation of the gameplay of the game. No need to brandish me a snarling rage-filled hatemonger just because I'm not madly in love with your favorite mmo.
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
Well can't shame a man for being honest.
or can you?
In all honesty it's a waste of a good post as it's quite pointless. You yourself admitted you're uninformed, so why waste yours or others time if you, as you said, know nothing?
Um you can't 'back up' anything based on an "uninformed estimation" of the game!
Once again, calling me a troll because I'm not gushing heated passion all over your favorite game. All I'm saying is that this...
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/883/aion20screenshot2008uf2.jpg
will sell a lot better in a part of the world responsible for this...
http://z.about.com/d/manga/1/0/z/M/-/-/SakuraCon08_FFantasy1_500.jpg
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
{ Mod Delete }
Once again, calling me a troll because I'm not gushing heated passion all over your favorite game. All I'm saying is that this...
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/883/aion20screenshot2008uf2.jpg
will sell a lot better in a part of the world responsible for this...
http://z.about.com/d/manga/1/0/z/M/-/-/SakuraCon08_FFantasy1_500.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1JhdNMBiZ0
That screenshot is from closed beta, you cold not edit your charecter the video above shoes charecter customs.
and what the hell has a cosplay of Auron got to do with anything?
March on! - Lets Invade Pekopon
Once again, calling me a troll because I'm not gushing heated passion all over your favorite game. All I'm saying is that this...
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/883/aion20screenshot2008uf2.jpg
will sell a lot better in a part of the world responsible for this...
http://z.about.com/d/manga/1/0/z/M/-/-/SakuraCon08_FFantasy1_500.jpg
Because the most popular MMORPG in the west is all about seriousness...lol.
On another note, that part of the world has always got the biggest hits in North American videogame's sales. Your tastes aren't everyone's.
Well somehow NC is making a boat load of cash off of aion. : www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/2319016/
Believe what you like but China has close to 200 servers by now and I'm not sure how many Korea has.
i dont doubt they are making alot of money. i only doubt the number of real subscribers.
Are you kidding me? Have you read the Q1 2009 for NCSoft? The profits are out the roof, this game is amazing. I'm definitely going to play at launch. It isn't going to make a lot of money in North America, but overall, the game has done great!!!
i say again
im talking about the subscriber numbers, not the money they are making.
Lets hope they can turn profit into marketing in NA, and then into more profits and bigger numbers in NA. I hope its fun, is what I care about most though :P.
WOOT
www.eorzeapedia.com
(Great FF14 source)
I don't know if my point is being ignored on purpose or not, but if I'm just gonna keep getting yelled at until I post; "MY GOD I WAS WRONG AION IS THE VIDEO GAME VERSION OF JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF!" then I'll just go ahead and back out of this conversation, lol.
"It is in your nature to do one thing correctly; Before me, you rightfully tremble. But, fear is not what you owe me. You owe me awe." ~Francis Dolarhyde
Your point is based on a lack of understandment of our current videogames market. You think Koreans and Chinese are the only ones who like funny dances in their MMOs, then again, the most popular MMO in the west is all about "funny stuff".
I don't know wether Aion will be as huge in here as in Asia, probably not, mainly because Asian market is way bigger, now, what I know, is that I can't find a good in depth review about Aion that tells anything but "awesome", from people who live in the west.
One thing for sure, though, Aion will be the second most popular MMO for some years if it doesn't beat WoW's numbers.
Well, tons left Vanguard because of bugs. And AoC because of bugs. Maybe in the past, but in today's gaming world, new gamers simply don't sit around and wait for bugs to be fixed; maybe some, but certainly not too many. Bugs are actually a gamebreaker for the majority of gamers, because if the game doesn't work right, how can it be fun?
Nothing fun about hitting a skill and not having it fire, or having pets shoot you through walls over and over while you cannot get them or their master. The majority of people who quit WAR quit long before ever seeing T4. That shows it wasn't the endgame that made people quit. Bugs and boredom did it. The T4 quitters came later after suffering through T3-T4.
AION's endgame is supposed to address another flaw that WAR had... no 3rd party involvement. Where in WAR one side of a server eventually gets the best of the other side until one quits or rerolls, AION is supposed to have the NPCs assist the losing side at times to maintain balance if one gets too strong. That alone, if it works as intended, will keep people from flipping servers and quitting the Elyos and flipping to the Asmodians simply because the Asmos are always winning.
"TO MICHAEL!"
uhh yeah, and moreover it's not about destroying your enemy's capital city
Why bother posting this? It is just scraps for the trolls trying to convince everyone Aion=Lineage=Grindfest to feast on.
------------------------------
I'd sepculate for 1 million boxes sold in NA and EU withing the first 3 months of release.
Depending on how NCSoft will apply patches etc, I guess Aion will be able to keep 50% of the players attrackted for like a year. Then idk what the plans are.
Of course, this is my speculation
Eaglix
(Mod Edit)
WoW did good in Asia
Aion won't in NA/EU