Why no serious competition for WoW? Why is mmo genre so vacant?

I am just shocked that there is not stronger competition for wow. You would think developers all over would be clammering to make a good mmo after seeing the INSANE profits that Blizzard's single game turns out. Millions of people paying $15 dollar a month. Month after month. That is a lot of dough. Think about it. The profits that Blizzard receives from WoW are so astronomical compared to even best selling games like Modern Warfare 2. I read a report that modern warfare 2 hit over 1 billion in sales in january. Impressive indeed, but WoW makes over 100 million dollars... A MONTH!! Oh, and they have been doing it for more than what now? 5 Years? That does not even include the sales from the games itself, WoW, Burning Crusade, and WOTLK. Also, all the merchandise they sell. Add that all up and nothing compares to the sales of World of Warcraft.

So why is it that a 5 year old game only gets competition from NCsoft? Who the hell is NCsoft? lol I just can't believe some of the big name developers are not all over this. Really? Everyone is just going to leave this HUGE peice of pie to Blizzard? Why? The profit potential is insane yet no big names are trying to take advantage of this. Very very odd indeed. So now what? Well, its almost too late. Blizzard is going to win again with the new MMO they are currently working on. Unless another big name is already working on something we don't know about. After personally seeing the success story of World of Warcraft unvail I really thought MMO'S were the future of PC gaming. Constantly we hear of dwindling sales on the PC and how consoles are taking over. MMO's are are one weapon of the PC that consoles can not have and the sales potential of the genre have been exposed by Blizzard. Yet we still do not see the proper investment into the genre and it just totally baffles me. :o Mark my word... Blizzards next MMO will have the largest amount of money invested into it then any other game probably 5x over.

But then why doesn't a developer with money make an MMO? I mean MMO's are not easy to make, but they are not really hard either. WoW is a pretty damn simple game. Really its simplicity is one of the main factors its so damn successful

But then why doesn't a developer with money make an MMO?

Jermone123

*cough* The old republic *cough*

There is no way that game is going to come close to WoW. Many many people do not like Star Wars. That is a niche crowd. MMO's are all about mass. Attract as many people as you can. That is why they went with fantasy. It works... Blizzard was even quoated in saying their next MMO is going to be more broad. Broad is something that Star wars is not.

There's no competition because 99% of the MMOs that come out are simply copying WOW in the first place. Yeah, they may change the setting, but it's still your basic tank, dps, healer groups that level up and occasionally get new gear and abilities, just like they've all been since EQ. The biggest difference is the new games are generally buggy while WOW is extremely polished and streamlined. Why would any sane person play any other MMO?

It's going to take a company going in a very different direction to have any chance of success against WOW. By that I mean a complete overhauling of leveling, the party system, etc.

WoW is the oddity, the freak...it is not the norm.

THe MMO genre was never meant to be so huge, and it still boggles my mind that developers try to make "WoW killers".

There will never be an MMO as successful as WoW, and until developers realize this, there will never be another solid MMO. They need to make peace with the fact that a few hundred thousand subscribers is all theyre going to get. Fewer servers, but with higher populations so the game does not seem vacant.

EVE has accepted this, and theyre likely the second best MMO out there.

People also forget that its the community of WoW that makes the game so successful; its as much about socializing as it is about slaying monsters. Other games have yet to come close to having such an open, friendly community (except, again, for EVE Online, wh ich has perhaps an even friendlier community than WoW, though not as large).

So, to sum up...MMOs are, by nature, a niche genre. The market was not designed to be flooded with such variety, and its a damn shame the limited player base available for the genre is split up among so many sub-par games, because it dooms the occasional quality games. Just because WoW has 11 million subscribers, does not mean you can make a game like Aion and expect 11 million subscribers too.

You think Star Wars is a niche crowd? I'd say the appeal of Star Wars rivals that of the Warcraft universe...maybe even surpass it. Problem is, most Star Wars games stink lol.Renevent42

WoW is fantasy. Swords and dragons. Swords and dragons are much more popular than what Star Wars does. Star wars is very different than other sci fi movies. It has its own feel. Its not like the old republic is just a sci fi mmo. No its a Star wars mmo. Those are two totally different things. World of warcraft is kmore of a fantasy mmo not a warcraft mmo. Liek star trek... that is more of a STAR TREK MMO than a Sci fi mmo... if that makes sense at all lol.

People that are not interested in Stra Trek and Star wars are not going to play those mmo games. Where as in WoW its more approachable for people that are not fans of Warcraft itself.

Wow doesnt make as much money as you think. You have NO IDEA how much it costs to pay all the employees to keep the game updated, admins, tech support, etc. Also you have no clue how much servers costs because of hte sheer amount of bandwidth being used.

Also, PC sales you going up, L2Research. Retail may be going down but digital are taking over.

There has been a lot of competition anyway. Star Wars mmo for instance is big competiton, Star trek too a bit. There is so much wrong and misinformation in your post you should be embarrassed.

So why is it that a 5 year old game only gets competition from NCsoft? Who the hell is NCsoft?

Jermone123

Seriously?!

From Wikipedia:

NCsoft is a developer and publisher of online computer games. NCsoft West, the arm of NCsoft with operating responsibility for North America, Europe, South America and Australia/New Zealand, houses its publishing headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The company also owns development studios on the United States West Coast:

• ArenaNet (Bellevue, Washington) – ArenaNet is the creator of one of the most successful MMORPG franchises in the world, Guild Wars.
• Carbine Studios (Aliso Viejo, California) – Carbine Studios was founded in 2005 and is working on an unannounced title.
• Game Production Studio (Seattle, Washington) – The NCsoft Game Production Studio brings products from the NCsoft development teams in Seoul to the West, including Lineage, Lineage II, Exteel and Aion.
• Paragon Studios (Mountain View, California) – Formerly called NCsoft NorCal, Paragon Studios develop the popular City of Heroes franchise.

I'm pretty sure most gamers know about NCSoft and their games, and while I have nothing against WoW, I'd much rather play Guild Wars or Aion. And I am not the only one.

I disagree that World of Warcraft is an oddity. Not at all IMO. I think it exposed the true demand for this genre. This genre is very fun and INSANELY addictive. No other genre comes close to MMO as far as addictiveness goes. People love making avatars and leveling them. Look who plays WoW. How many people do you know that play wow who never played videogames before. I personally know A LOT. So many girls have started playing it because their bf had them try it and they fall in love with the game. Why? Cuz its a damn fun genre. I think MMO will explode in popularity even more. I think WoW is just the beginning of the MMO genre. With new technologies in the future MMO's are going to go far.

You hit it on the nail. WoW is about socializing. Its about playing with friends and talking with them in game. We are a people that love to socialize and in no other genre do you soicialize as much as you will in the MMO genre. That is what will rocket this genre into the stratosphere. Look at the popularity of facebook and myspace and twitter. We are socializing over the internet more and more. That is going to only help MMO's

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]You think Star Wars is a niche crowd? I'd say the appeal of Star Wars rivals that of the Warcraft universe...maybe even surpass it. Problem is, most Star Wars games stink lol.Jermone123

WoW is fantasy. Swords and dragons. Swords and dragons are much more popular than what Star Wars does. Star wars is very different than other sci fi movies. It has its own feel. Its not like the old republic is just a sci fi mmo. No its a Star wars mmo. Those are two totally different things. World of warcraft is kmore of a fantasy mmo not a warcraft mmo. Liek star trek... that is more of a STAR TREK MMO than a Sci fi mmo... if that makes sense at all lol.

People that are not interested in Stra Trek and Star wars are not going to play those mmo games. Where as in WoW its more approachable for people that are not fans of Warcraft itself.

Wow doesnt make as much money as you think. You have NO IDEA how much it costs to pay all the employees to keep the game updated, admins, tech support, etc. Also you have no clue how much servers costs because of hte sheer amount of bandwidth being used.

Also, PC sales you going up, L2Research. Retail may be going down but digital are taking over.

There has been a lot of competition anyway. Star Wars mmo for instance is big competiton, Star trek too a bit. There is so much wrong and misinformation in your post you should be embarrassed.

Dr_Brocoli

Haha over 100 million dollars a month!!!!!!!!!!! I highly doubt it takes ANYTHING ANYTHING ANYTHING close to that amount of money to run WoW.

Star Trek is competiton? The ratings for that game are already down the crapper.

[QUOTE="Jermone123"]

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]You think Star Wars is a niche crowd? I'd say the appeal of Star Wars rivals that of the Warcraft universe...maybe even surpass it. Problem is, most Star Wars games stink lol.Dr_Brocoli

WoW is fantasy. Swords and dragons. Swords and dragons are much more popular than what Star Wars does. Star wars is very different than other sci fi movies. It has its own feel. Its not like the old republic is just a sci fi mmo. No its a Star wars mmo. Those are two totally different things. World of warcraft is kmore of a fantasy mmo not a warcraft mmo. Liek star trek... that is more of a STAR TREK MMO than a Sci fi mmo... if that makes sense at all lol.

People that are not interested in Stra Trek and Star wars are not going to play those mmo games. Where as in WoW its more approachable for people that are not fans of Warcraft itself.

Well the facts do seem to be going towards my way with the insanely successful releas of Star Trek MMO LOL!!!

I disagree that World of Warcraft is an oddity. Not at all IMO. I think it exposed the true demand for this genre. This genre is very fun and INSANELY addictive. TO YOU IT IS.

No other genre comes close to MMO as far as addictiveness goes. People love making avatars and leveling them GENERALIZATION, i'd rather progress with individual skills like Ultima Online.

Look who plays WoW.A BUNCH OF CASUALS

How many people do you know that play wow who never played videogames before. I personally know A LOT. So many girls have started playing it because their bf had them try it and they fall in love with the game. Why? Cuz its a damn fun genre TO YOU AND THOSE FEW PEOPLE. ASK SOME FPS FANS FOR INSTANCE AND THEY WILL SAY THE OPPOSITE, ASK RTS FANS AND THEY TOO WILL SAY THE OPPOSITE.

I think MMO will explode in popularity even more. I think WoW is just the beginning of the MMO genre. With new technologies in the future MMO's are going to go far.SO WILL OTHER GAMES. And no, WoW is not the beginning. Ultima Online, then EQ was the beginning.

You hit it on the nail. WoW is about socializing. Its about playing with friends and talking with them in game. We are a people that love to socialize and in no other genre do you soicialize as much as you will in the MMO genre.SO? SOME PEOPLE PLAY GAMES FOR.. YOU KNOW.. FUN!

That is what will rocket this genre into the stratosphere. Look at the popularity of facebook and myspace and twitter. We are socializing over the internet more and more. That is going to only help MMO'sKIND OF IRRELAVENT. LOOK AT ONLINE GAMBLING FOR INSTANCE, NOT THAT SOCIAL YET THERE ARE MILLIONS ADDICTED TO IT.

Jermone123

[QUOTE="Jermone123"]

[QUOTE="Renevent42"]You think Star Wars is a niche crowd? I'd say the appeal of Star Wars rivals that of the Warcraft universe...maybe even surpass it. Problem is, most Star Wars games stink lol.Dr_Brocoli

WoW is fantasy. Swords and dragons. Swords and dragons are much more popular than what Star Wars does. Star wars is very different than other sci fi movies. It has its own feel. Its not like the old republic is just a sci fi mmo. No its a Star wars mmo. Those are two totally different things. World of warcraft is kmore of a fantasy mmo not a warcraft mmo. Liek star trek... that is more of a STAR TREK MMO than a Sci fi mmo... if that makes sense at all lol.

People that are not interested in Stra Trek and Star wars are not going to play those mmo games. Where as in WoW its more approachable for people that are not fans of Warcraft itself.

no, thats actually spot on.

People came to WoW because it was Blizzard. But they stayed, and gained a larger playerbase, because it is an approachable, easy to use game with a large community. More importantly, its fun! That is why bothdiehard Blizzard fans and housewives that have never heard of Starcraft or Diablo or Warcraft enjoy the game.

Star Trek fans will be the bulk of STO's initial player base, but eventually the game will either fade away or succeed because of the game quality. I predict the same for SW:TOR.

[QUOTE="Dr_Brocoli"][QUOTE="Jermone123"]

WoW is fantasy. Swords and dragons. Swords and dragons are much more popular than what Star Wars does. Star wars is very different than other sci fi movies. It has its own feel. Its not like the old republic is just a sci fi mmo. No its a Star wars mmo. Those are two totally different things. World of warcraft is kmore of a fantasy mmo not a warcraft mmo. Liek star trek... that is more of a STAR TREK MMO than a Sci fi mmo... if that makes sense at all lol.

People that are not interested in Stra Trek and Star wars are not going to play those mmo games. Where as in WoW its more approachable for people that are not fans of Warcraft itself.

Jermone123

Well the facts do seem to be going towards my way with the insanely successful releas of Star Trek MMO LOL!!!

[QUOTE="Jermone123"]

So why is it that a 5 year old game only gets competition from NCsoft? Who the hell is NCsoft?

GPAddict

Seriously?!

From Wikipedia:

NCsoft is a developer and publisher of online computer games. NCsoft West, the arm of NCsoft with operating responsibility for North America, Europe, South America and Australia/New Zealand, houses its publishing headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The company also owns development studios on the United States West Coast:

• ArenaNet (Bellevue, Washington) – ArenaNet is the creator of one of the most successful MMORPG franchises in the world, Guild Wars.
• Carbine Studios (Aliso Viejo, California) – Carbine Studios was founded in 2005 and is working on an unannounced title.
• Game Production Studio (Seattle, Washington) – The NCsoft Game Production Studio brings products from the NCsoft development teams in Seoul to the West, including Lineage, Lineage II, Exteel and Aion.
• Paragon Studios (Mountain View, California) – Formerly called NCsoft NorCal, Paragon Studios develop the popular City of Heroes franchise.

I'm pretty sure most gamers know about NCSoft and their games, and while I have nothing against WoW, I'd much rather play Guild Wars or Aion. And I am not the only one.

Is that why they ran out of cash so fast and released an unfinished game and completely embarrassed themselves? Hmmm top notch developer there!!

[QUOTE="Dr_Brocoli"][QUOTE="Jermone123"]

WoW is fantasy. Swords and dragons. Swords and dragons are much more popular than what Star Wars does. Star wars is very different than other sci fi movies. It has its own feel. Its not like the old republic is just a sci fi mmo. No its a Star wars mmo. Those are two totally different things. World of warcraft is kmore of a fantasy mmo not a warcraft mmo. Liek star trek... that is more of a STAR TREK MMO than a Sci fi mmo... if that makes sense at all lol.

People that are not interested in Stra Trek and Star wars are not going to play those mmo games. Where as in WoW its more approachable for people that are not fans of Warcraft itself.

mrbojangles25

no, thats actually spot on.

People came to WoW because it was Blizzard. But they stayed, and gained a larger playerbase, because it is an approachable, easy to use game with a large community. More importantly, its fun! That is why bothdiehard Blizzard fans and housewives that have never heard of Starcraft or Diablo or Warcraft enjoy the game.

Star Trek fans will be the bulk of STO's initial player base, but eventually the game will either fade away or succeed because of the game quality. I predict the same for SW:TOR.

[QUOTE="Jermone123"]

[QUOTE="Dr_Brocoli"] Wow, so much wrong rofl. Are you a troll? You must be.Dr_Brocoli

Well the facts do seem to be going towards my way with the insanely successful releas of Star Trek MMO LOL!!!

I agree

but try telling the developers and publishers that. They look at WoW and say "Hey, if they got 11 million players, we can get 11 million players"

NO! Shoot for 500k, 1 million tops. Keep yourselves budgeted. Limit the amount of copies available initially. If your servers can only support 1 million players, dont sell more than 1 million copies! There is time later to build up both demand and server farms after release.

Too many times have developers imploded with the excuse that "Our player base isnt large enough to support our server farms"

[QUOTE="Jermone123"]

I disagree that World of Warcraft is an oddity. Not at all IMO. I think it exposed the true demand for this genre. This genre is very fun and INSANELY addictive. TO YOU IT IS. AND 11 MILLION OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!! LOL

No other genre comes close to MMO as far as addictiveness goes. People love making avatars and leveling them GENERALIZATION, i'd rather progress with individual skills like Ultima Online. ???

Look who plays WoW.A BUNCH OF CASUALS AGREED AND YOUR POINT?

How many people do you know that play wow who never played videogames before. I personally know A LOT. So many girls have started playing it because their bf had them try it and they fall in love with the game. Why? Cuz its a damn fun genre TO YOU AND THOSE FEW PEOPLE. ASK SOME FPS FANS FOR INSTANCE AND THEY WILL SAY THE OPPOSITE, ASK RTS FANS AND THEY TOO WILL SAY THE OPPOSITE. THAT PEOPLE THAT NEVER PLAYED GAMES BEFORE DON'T PLAY THOSE?

I think MMO will explode in popularity even more. I think WoW is just the beginning of the MMO genre. With new technologies in the future MMO's are going to go far.SO WILL OTHER GAMES. And no, WoW is not the beginning. Ultima Online, then EQ was the beginning. I MEANT THE BEGINNING OF MASS POPULARITY. ALSO FPS'S AND OTHER GENRE'S ALREADY HIT THEIR HIGHS

You hit it on the nail. WoW is about socializing. Its about playing with friends and talking with them in game. We are a people that love to socialize and in no other genre do you soicialize as much as you will in the MMO genre.SO? SOME PEOPLE PLAY GAMES FOR.. YOU KNOW.. FUN! OK?? THATS GOOD TOO, BUT THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT THE SOCIALIZING ASPECT OF MMO'S ARE A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

That is what will rocket this genre into the stratosphere. Look at the popularity of facebook and myspace and twitter. We are socializing over the internet more and more. That is going to only help MMO'sKIND OF IRRELAVENT. LOOK AT ONLINE GAMBLING FOR INSTANCE, NOT THAT SOCIAL YET THERE ARE MILLIONS ADDICTED TO IT. AGAIN YOUR BRINGING UP RANDOM OFF THE WALL EXAMPLES? "YES, THE I POD AND GPS WERE SUCCESSFUL TOO. DO THEY SOCIALIZE?" UMMM NO AND YOUR POINT? LOL

Dr_Brocoli

There...

[QUOTE="GPAddict"]

[QUOTE="Jermone123"]

So why is it that a 5 year old game only gets competition from NCsoft? Who the hell is NCsoft?

Jermone123

Seriously?!

From Wikipedia:

NCsoft is a developer and publisher of online computer games. NCsoft West, the arm of NCsoft with operating responsibility for North America, Europe, South America and Australia/New Zealand, houses its publishing headquarters in Seattle, Washington. The company also owns development studios on the United States West Coast:

• ArenaNet (Bellevue, Washington) – ArenaNet is the creator of one of the most successful MMORPG franchises in the world, Guild Wars.
• Carbine Studios (Aliso Viejo, California) – Carbine Studios was founded in 2005 and is working on an unannounced title.
• Game Production Studio (Seattle, Washington) – The NCsoft Game Production Studio brings products from the NCsoft development teams in Seoul to the West, including Lineage, Lineage II, Exteel and Aion.
• Paragon Studios (Mountain View, California) – Formerly called NCsoft NorCal, Paragon Studios develop the popular City of Heroes franchise.

I'm pretty sure most gamers know about NCSoft and their games, and while I have nothing against WoW, I'd much rather play Guild Wars or Aion. And I am not the only one.

Is that why they ran out of cash so fast and released an unfinished game and completely embarrassed themselves? Hmmm top notch developer there!!

First you are all like who the heck is NCSoft, now this???

Ran out of cash??? Anyways here is a link on NCSoft and I just googled it.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/ncscf_ncsoft-q4-net-posts-more-than-11-fold-increase-762987.html

So not sure where you are getting your info.

[QUOTE="Dr_Brocoli"][QUOTE="Jermone123"]

WoW is fantasy. Swords and dragons. Swords and dragons are much more popular than what Star Wars does. Star wars is very different than other sci fi movies. It has its own feel. Its not like the old republic is just a sci fi mmo. No its a Star wars mmo. Those are two totally different things. World of warcraft is kmore of a fantasy mmo not a warcraft mmo. Liek star trek... that is more of a STAR TREK MMO than a Sci fi mmo... if that makes sense at all lol.

People that are not interested in Stra Trek and Star wars are not going to play those mmo games. Where as in WoW its more approachable for people that are not fans of Warcraft itself.

mrbojangles25

no, thats actually spot on.

People came to WoW because it was Blizzard. But they stayed, and gained a larger playerbase, because it is an approachable, easy to use game with a large community. More importantly, its fun! That is why bothdiehard Blizzard fans and housewives that have never heard of Starcraft or Diablo or Warcraft enjoy the game.

Star Trek fans will be the bulk of STO's initial player base, but eventually the game will either fade away or succeed because of the game quality. I predict the same for SW:TOR.

YES!!!! THANK YOU!! I guess what I said did make sense lol. Again, you hit it on the nail. Your example of the housewife was dead on!! I love it! That is why Blizzard themselves were quoated saying they are going to make their next MMO broader. Why? To attract more customers. That is why I kinda doubt that their next MMO is going to be Sci Fi. I could be wrong though.

[QUOTE="mrbojangles25"]

[QUOTE="Dr_Brocoli"] Wow, so much wrong rofl. Are you a troll? You must be.Dr_Brocoli

no, thats actually spot on.

People came to WoW because it was Blizzard. But they stayed, and gained a larger playerbase, because it is an approachable, easy to use game with a large community. More importantly, its fun! That is why bothdiehard Blizzard fans and housewives that have never heard of Starcraft or Diablo or Warcraft enjoy the game.

Star Trek fans will be the bulk of STO's initial player base, but eventually the game will either fade away or succeed because of the game quality. I predict the same for SW:TOR.

because theyre obsessed with Blizzard.

Blizzcon takes place in two places...Seoul, Korea...and Los Angelos, California.

Korean Doritos and Pepsi have Blizzard characters on them; the fact that theyre scifi is merely a matter of coincedence.

WOW has entrenched itself already. There are too many people out there who have commited themselves to their characters, their guild, their friends who play WOW. Its sort of hard to uproot a huge community and move them somewhere else. People have pride in reaching level 80 in WOW and dont want to do it again (which is sort of sad to have pride in that). Also WOW has had time to be extremely polished and have alot of content, while no mmo regardless of how good it is will have as much content as WOW overnight. Also WOW runs on almost any computer, making all those people with ghetto PCs still able to play it.

Now when we break it down

New MMOs cannot compete in GFX department because good graphics=higher specs= restricing large audiences who dont have good rigs

New MMOs cannot compete with content because WOW has had over 5 years to add content

I particularly dont like WOW, I would like it to die already so we dont get so many damn MMOs copying the WOW formula and in the end being a failed WOW clone.

Is that why gamespot gave it a 9.5?

WOW has entrenched itself already. There are too many people out there who have commited themselves to their characters, their guild, their friends who play WOW. Its sort of hard to uproot a huge community and move them somewhere else. People have pride in reaching level 80 in WOW and dont want to do it again (which is sort of sad to have pride in that). Also WOW has had time to be extremely polished and have alot of content, while no mmo regardless of how good it is will have as much content as WOW overnight. Also WOW runs on almost any computer, making all those people with ghetto PCs still able to play it.

Now when we break it down

New MMOs cannot compete in GFX department because good graphics=higher specs= restricing large audiences who dont have good rigs

New MMOs cannot compete with content because WOW has had over 5 years to add content

I particularly dont like WOW, I would like it to die already so we dont get so many damn MMOs copying the WOW formula and in the end being a failed WOW clone.

NanoMan88

I do agree with you, but I think people are looking for something different. Its just nobody has given them a good enough reason to leave WoW. I think it is very possible to do that. Blizzard is making a new MMO to protect there customers. They know WoW is getting old and that millions of people won't be playing it forever. So they wanna say "Ok you wanna leave WoW? You want something different? Well, play this new MMO we have." They want THE NEXT MMO to be their MMO. The purpose of this post was to ask why? Why does THE NEXT MMO have to be from Blizzard? Why won't anyone else step up to the plate?

The reason I come up with is following: All mmos try to knock out WoW, by looking at what works in that game, and replicating it, in other words: they are often copys of WoW, often I can not see the difference when I look at screens of WoW and its competitors.

If you wanted a game to Rival WoW, you had to make a game that looked and playied quite differently, as far as I know there is 1 successful game (competitor) cant remember what it is called, but its in space, with ships and spacestations/trade and such, it has nothing in common with WoW, and thus it seems interresting for gamers.

Lots of devs have tried but they lack the money or knowledge on how to do it. Or they simply get rushed by their publishers and so on. Most devs also need to fix stuff before they add new things instead of saying "WUT!? our game have no problems! here have this in game cookie"... Warhammer had this problem...

Age of conan had huge game problems at start and it took them a long time to fix them... I could continue on but there is no point.

One thing that wow did that no other mmo had done was to make the animations + combat smooth... The fact that you can run and fight and it wont look retarded. Also the fact that the game did not require 293428903490 years of gameplay to level once :P...

[QUOTE="NanoMan88"]

WOW has entrenched itself already. There are too many people out there who have commited themselves to their characters, their guild, their friends who play WOW. Its sort of hard to uproot a huge community and move them somewhere else. People have pride in reaching level 80 in WOW and dont want to do it again (which is sort of sad to have pride in that). Also WOW has had time to be extremely polished and have alot of content, while no mmo regardless of how good it is will have as much content as WOW overnight. Also WOW runs on almost any computer, making all those people with ghetto PCs still able to play it.

Now when we break it down

New MMOs cannot compete in GFX department because good graphics=higher specs= restricing large audiences who dont have good rigs

New MMOs cannot compete with content because WOW has had over 5 years to add content

I particularly dont like WOW, I would like it to die already so we dont get so many damn MMOs copying the WOW formula and in the end being a failed WOW clone.

Jermone123

I do agree with you, but I think people are looking for something different. Its just nobody has given them a good enough reason to leave WoW. I think it is very possible to do that. Blizzard is making a new MMO to protect there customers. They know WoW is getting old and that millions of people won't be playing it forever. So they wanna say "Ok you wanna leave WoW? You want something different? Well, play this new MMO we have." They want THE NEXT MMO to be their MMO. The purpose of this post was to ask why? Why does THE NEXT MMO have to be from Blizzard? Why won't anyone else step up to the plate?

All I want is an MMOFPSRPG hybrid. Tabula Rasa was fun, but unfortunately poorly executed.

there are so many genres that would go well with the MMO prefix, its not even funny

damn, all this talk about WoW...makes me want to get back into it. Havent played for about six months now lol

ironically, I spent less time on the computer when I played WoW lol. I think its because I got tired of it faster than I did other games; I can easily sit down and put 3 hours into Mass Effect 2 or Anno or Team Fortress 2, but only 1 or2 hours into WoW.

hmmm I think I will load it up

Well there is alot of hate for wow... But it is a good game atleast from dev point of view...

It run smooth with nice animations... Action to ability to hit (or miss) cordination is fast... (if you press a button you want the ability to be used), its overall very casual friendly compared to other mmo's. There is a HUGE world instead of a loading screen every 2min. Balanced raid system and so on...

Jermone123

Is that why gamespot gave it a 9.5?

You obviously werent there at launch, with the 5 hour queues and horrendous lag.

WoW has the uncanny ability to suck people in. it's almost primitve in it's approach to gaming and socializing. make something that's fun for 15min and repeat those moments over and over. WoW has several of these moements ranging from dungeons to the auction house. no other game before perfected this and not to say no other game will not perfect this but simply that WoW was the first and has continued to do so for 5 years now.yes i know there are several games that have that cult following and those games are beloved but the fact that WoW has continued to dominate the market proves that any attempts have been a means to an end for those games.

[QUOTE="Jermone123"] Also, WoW's release was TERRIBLE too. Just like any other mmo/game.RossRichard

Is that why gamespot gave it a 9.5?

You obviously werent there at launch, with the 5 hour queues and horrendous lag.

There is no way that game is going to come close to WoW. Many many people do not like Star Wars. That is a niche crowd. MMO's are all about mass. Attract as many people as you can. That is why they went with fantasy. It works... Blizzard was even quoated in saying their next MMO is going to be more broad. Broad is something that Star wars is not.

Jermone123

Just because YOU don't care for Star Wars doesn't change the facts.

There is no way that game is going to come close to WoW. Many many people do not like Star Wars. That is a niche crowd. MMO's are all about mass. Attract as many people as you can. That is why they went with fantasy. It works... Blizzard was even quoated in saying their next MMO is going to be more broad. Broad is something that Star wars is not.

Jermone123

The sense of community is one of the principal things that WoW has going for it. There are more than a few people that maintain a subscription just to keep in contact with friends they have made online.

I have hardly been faithful to WoW through the years. I've strayed, playing Tabula Rasa, Age of Conan, Warhammer, Fallen Earth, and Champions Online - almost always taking a toon to max level in each game (Warhammer - too grindy to do it). Everytime I return to WoW, I am forced to admit that they have continued to polish and improve the game and that the overall sense of quality is resoundingly better than the competition.

So between the communities that have grown and the half-decade of spit and polish, WoW is a monster that will only fall to a game that affords a quality gaming experience that brings something new to the table.

I think the MMO genre is pretty vacant because developers can't make games as good as WoW, so they don't attract enough people then the game just fails. WoW just seems to be the best no matter what I compare it to...so why would i play any other game?

damn, all this talk about WoW...makes me want to get back into it. Havent played for about six months now lol

ironically, I spent less time on the computer when I played WoW lol. I think its because I got tired of it faster than I did other games; I can easily sit down and put 3 hours into Mass Effect 2 or Anno or Team Fortress 2, but only 1 or2 hours into WoW.

hmmm I think I will load it up

mrbojangles25

O god dude I am the opposite. I can only sit down for 2 hours with games that are NOT wow. WoW I can sit down and the hours tick by like minutes lol. That game is so darn addictive. I have not played for a few months and just starting to get really sick of it. I will prob start playing again when the new expansion comes out

WoW has PLENTY of competition... it just happens to be that WoW perrfected the formula and people don't like to start over, thus games like Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, City of Heroes and Aion don't take off like WoW did. These are all games that looked to profit from the success of WoW, and all they profited from (if they profited at all) was from the small minority that have since gotten bored with WoW and wanted something fresh. (i wouldn't be surprised if most of them went on to Eve Online, which is a much different type of MMO)gamer620

not true

a lot of people are tired of WoW and would love to start over. Why do you think we are looking forward to Cataclysm? its an excuse to start over :)

if other MMOs had half the content, polish, and support that WoW had they'd be successful.

[QUOTE="gamer620"]WoW has PLENTY of competition... it just happens to be that WoW perrfected the formula and people don't like to start over, thus games like Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Age of Conan, Warhammer Online, City of Heroes and Aion don't take off like WoW did. These are all games that looked to profit from the success of WoW, and all they profited from (if they profited at all) was from the small minority that have since gotten bored with WoW and wanted something fresh. (i wouldn't be surprised if most of them went on to Eve Online, which is a much different type of MMO)mrbojangles25

not true

a lot of people are tired of WoW and would love to start over. Why do you think we are looking forward to Cataclysm? its an excuse to start over :)

if other MMOs had half the content, polish, and support that WoW had they'd be successful.

I totally agree... I just want something new. New lands to explore, updated graphics, different classes, different story, different feel. A different spin, but not a totally different direction. Its just every other game has been fail boat. I think the reason is lack of investment weather that be time or money or both. I think people are ready and willing to leave wow if there is a goof enuf reason to.

And there has not been one. Like you said if they had half the polish and support it be succesful. 11 million people successful? Maybe not, but still way more successful than the garbage that has come out. Blizzard is a big boy developer and its going to take another big boy developer to take away some of wow's thunder. Ncsoft is not a big boy developer lol. I am not saying there are no talented people behind games like Conan and Aion, but they need the time and proper investment to make a good quality game... That is what blizzard always always has. I hate how there games take so freakin long to come out, but damn skippy you can not deny the results