Regarding the "contenders" to push Starcraft and World of Warcraft... StarCraft is established. Gamers know it, and are familiar with the universe. NOBODY does storytelling like Blizzard- particularly in RTS. Someone might come out with a "Me Too" Sci-Fi RTS, but having the depth and the lore of StarCraft- and the allure that creates- is huge. As for World of Warcraft... be serious. Other MMOs have the disadvantages of "time". It will take time to get release bugs out... time that Blizzard took 3 years ago and has perfected. It will take "time" to balance PVP... time Blizzard has already invested. No MMO publisher can afford to release a "perfect" MMO out of the gate, so you always end up with situations like LOTRO..where only 1/7th of the game world has actually been released...and if you care about Rohan, Gondor, Lothlorien, and Mordor...you have to sit around and wait in Hobbiton and Rivendell until the devs get to that...and get a handle on their design. WoW has already been through that. Gamers see WoW, and don't feel like wading through endless growing pains from other MMOs...so you have situations like with Warhammer- where it keeps being pushed back because even they know they aren't remotely ready to get in their and tangle with the heavyweight champ yet.