I feel a little like a relic at this moment. Everyone is talking about Age of Conan, Warhammer Online and Wrath of the Liche King, and I realized… I have no interest in any of them. I have a coworker in the AoC closed beta, but going around in gangs randomly ganking people wasn’t that fun in EQ2’s Nagafen from either end — seemed really pointless to me, though I did enjoy the feeling of danger and risk it brought to the game.
Still, they will rise or fall on their merits, and I’ll be watching from the sidelines. I have my EQ1 and EQ2. Mythos is coming out, Champions Online and Chronicles of Spellborn are on the horizon. I can spend my time anticipating those, while enjoying the good games I am already playing.
Flagship Studios is being incredibly responsive to its beta players, retooling Mythos at a fantastic rate to improve the game play and move it away from the “Diablo II”-clone label. It’s turning out to be something new to Western MMOs — a AAA-quality, Free to Play MMO with microtransactions. Dungeon Runners shares a lot of similar elements, and is released while Mythos is in beta, but it does not include microtransactions and has shown a greater reluctance to move in any significant away from the Diablo II model. Plus, I consider it rather dull. Mythos’ over the top, here’s a hundred mobs at once, edge-of-the-seat gameplay gets addicting after awhile.
Anyway, since I won’t be playing any of the current generation of MMOs as I wait for the next, here’s my quick takes on my hopes for them.
Age of Conan: This will be the EverQuest 2 of this generation. Few people will be able to play the game properly, but those who stick with it may find a fantastic game. It will follow the EQ2 arc. A quick burst of initial interest will give way to mass defections. AoC will fix the problems, get back on track, and in a year, the game will be where it should have been at launch and the players who stuck with them will be having fun.
Warhammer Online: The game can’t possibly match people’s expectations. EA Mythic may think that with enough money and marketing might that they can pull people away from WoW. Unfortunately, they are doing nearly nothing to lure non-WoW players to the game. They may think they can get a couple of million players without Blizzard noticing, but a lot of other companies have thought that in the past. It is impossible to drag WoW players away when they release a new expansion.
Wrath of the Liche King: I’ve seen the videos. This expansion is going to blow in the doors. AoC may struggle through because it is a significant departure from WoW, but Warhammer Online is going to be pounded. WoW will keep its crown for another year. By the time people finish the new content, Warhammer Online will seem like a has-been, and people will be more likely to wait for the next new shiny rather than give WAR a try. It’s all about the opening weekend — or free month. It is impossible to entice people to leave WoW unless Blizzard shoved them out the door first.
Why EA Mythic thought releasing against WoW would ever work… I dunno. Blizz was never going to give them an easy, uncontested launch. About the only thing EA Mythic can really do now is delay it a further six months and put in something so cool that the delay would be worth it.
There’s also SOE’s new MMOs, The Agency and Free Realms, coming out at some point, probably around the WAR and WotLK launches. The buzz on both these titles is so incredibly low, as are the expectations, that almost anything they can do will look like a success. If either game compromises the PC gameplay in favor of the PS3 gameplay, you might as well write them off right now. It won’t be these games that convince anyone to buy a PS3.
Anyway, I’m afraid all you’ll be seeing on the pages of this particular blog is more EQ, EQ2 and Mythos adventures for awhile. Mythos won the Mythos vs Dungeon Runners competition on my hard drive by virtue of not being boring. I am HOPING to get into the Spellborn beta (Spellborn devs, HINT HINT). I’m not sure I can talk about another beta I am in, but my high hopes for it were utterly crushed.
AoC, WAR and WotLK players — I’ll be looking forward to reading about your adventures 🙂
25 thoughts on “Sitting this one out.”
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Maybe it is time for me to start blogging again.
MMOs are like shoes. Take it, its yours. 🙂
New, shiny shoes!
Well, I have to disagree with your predictions about Wrath of the Lich King. Warhammer Online is going to release before Wrath unless Blizzard pulls off some sort of miracle, and it will have plenty of time to lure away disgruntled WoW players (and there are lots of them). When Wrath finally does release, it will lure back some past players, but there are plenty who will also be happy where they are and not bother to go back to the treadmill. Also, many people will be bored with Wrath within 3-6 months and both WAR and AoC will still be fairly new at that point. Games like EQ2, CoH, and Vanguard are getting a resurgence of players who’ve quit WoW and the first 2 are ancient (technically speaking) and the third was discounted as an abysmal failure. If those games can be picking up subscriptions at this point in time, I don’t doubt AoC and WAR will pick up plenty of ex-Wrath players.
Nothing is going to unseat WoW this cycle, it will remain mega-successful, but the MMO player demographic has expanded so much that there’s plenty of room for AoC and WAR to pick up plenty of subscribers, even in the face of another blizzard expansion.
I think your prediction for AoC is spot on though, it will probably struggle for the first 6-12 months with technical issues and other problems. Once enough development has gone into it and funcom has gotten it nice and polished . . . large numbers of people who are bored with Wrath will hear good things and try it out.
“Why EA Mythic thought releasing against WoW would ever work… I dunno.”
That’s wild and unfounded speculation. I see no ‘real’ evidence that these two games will be releasing this year, let alone in the same month.
That’s true. I have no insight into when each will release, aside from a strong suspicion that whenever WAR approaches release, Blizzard will release the next expansion in such a time as to hurt it the most.
WotLK has never had a release date except the vague promise of a year between expansions, and that would have put it at a couple months ago. If they still want to squirm and say CALENDAR year, that points to a Q3 release to catch the holiday shoppers. Exactly when WAR is supposed to release.
Everyone knows WoW will eventually peak, but I can’t believe Blizzard is ready for that quite yet. They won’t want people to become invested in WAR.
So so negative about WAR 🙂
I think you are greatly underselling how many people are still playing WoW just to kill time and are waiting for WAR, while another group quit a while back and are also just waiting. Remember that most people assumed WAR was coming out last x-mas or march the latest, and with all the delays, lots of players are left in a sort of MMO limbo.
Going from LoTRO regularly to a WoW raid (did it this sunday), it’s actually getting harder and harder to keep playing WoW, even with great people. In a lot of ways, it’s just old now, and I don’t just mean graphics. The whole ‘custom UI’ thing was cool, but playing the daily update game is not. It’s all little stuff, but it adds up, and at the end of the day, WAR will be the new exciting thing, while WotLK will be a new cover of paint on an old game, one that most people have already seen 95% of. Add to that the fact that MANY guilds are already planning to move, and you have entire social groups planning to move, removing one of the huge pulls to stay with a game; playing with your friends.
I’m inclined to agree with all your points on AoC, WAR and WotLK – on WAR in particular. Expectations are really insanely high and I can’t help but think this this is both unwarranted and an invitation for widespread disappointment. I think the title will do well, but from everything I’m reading and my own limited hands-on time with it, it’s not going to come anywhere close to challenging WoW.
Regarding release dates, it will not surpise me if either WAR or WotLK gets pushed into 2009. I’m a bit dubious that Blizzard is holding their release to try to hurt WAR – there’s a virtue in being first too, and they’ve always been cagey when it comes to announcing dates, a practice I consider generally smart. I would think they’d garner the most benefit from a release date in November or December regardless of when WAR is scheduled to launch.
I do have some hopes for The Agency, although I don’t see it taking away my own FPS time from TF2 at this point. Still, I hope it does well and will be interested to hear how it comes out.
I do remember the expectations for WoW being really high too.
Back then everyone was unhappy with EQ/AC/DaoC/UO and was latching onto any upcoming MMORPG as ‘the one’.
None of them really succeeded, except WoW.
So just because WAR has insane expectations, doesn’t mean that it’s not an amazing game and will by in large meet the expectations.
Blizzard isn’t the only company capable of pulling off WoW.
I don’t know if WAR is that game and Mythic is that company or not.
I do know that your pretty much right about AoC, it’s high system requirements alone is a ‘Very Bad Thing ™’
All that being said, I intend to play AoC, WAR and Mythos. However I’m only really looking forward to WAR, Mythos and Spore.
I’m with you on this Tipa. None really are floatin my boat from the previews. Just signed up for Mythos beta to check that one out.
You ain’t missing much sister. AoC does not deliver (what I want at least), Lich King doesn’t grab me from what I’ve heard so far and Warhammer is the most overhyped thing since either the Segway or the Y-2K apocalypse.
I’m open minded about WAR, but not planning any vacations around it. It would have to be battered, breaded, buttered and fried bacon wrapped fried chicken that also makes you taller, smarter, better looking, live longer and add 4 hours to the day (while reducing your sleep requirement) in order to live up to 1/2 the hype. Can’t be done, but I’d love to be surprised.
And with Mines of Moria looming in the distance, I’m inclined to plod my way along through middle earth to be ready to enjoy it. Who knows, maybe this is the year the Ancient Gaming Noob, Gaff and I roll back into EQ during the fall nostalgia season.
I think Mythos will be fun : ) but I’ve already played it (Dungeon Runners)…
And I really don’t see anything new in WOtLK to get excited about. WoW nailed the level grinding/mob killing/gear dropping MMO formula and brought it to the masses. But for those of us who have experienced all that since EQ times, its getting beyond old.
I don’t know how many of us experienced gamers there are relative to those new to MMOs via WoW, but I for one am hoping WAR or maybe even Guild Wars 2, will bridge the gap from the MMO newb masses of WoW to the next generation of MMO goodness.
You’re not the only old-timer feeling this way, Tipa. I know a few of us who just aren’t jazzed by any of the upcoming titles. I got momentarily swept away in AoC fever, but it’s left me feeling flat. I’m undecided about WAR. I loved what Mythic did with DAoC, but I’m not sure they can recapture that magic, especially in a post-WoW world. Im absolutely done with WoW, though. I’d play AoC or WAR over WoW again. Three years was enough…maybe too much 🙂
I feel MMO-homeless at the moment! Everything is equally not-interesting to me. On the plus side, I’m enjoying the heck out of single player games again, instead of giving them a quick play before I jump back into the MMO of the month/year.
I was like you, had no interest in any of the new stuff. I was like that until about a year ago, when I finally gave in and moved to EQ2. I regret being so reluctant. I guess its hard to deal with change, thats probally why I’ll almost always play an Everquest title of some sort. Just keep playing what you like, but it sounds like you might just be burnt out of MMO’s. I am not too excited about WAR, and well, I hate WoW (never cared for the cartoony stuff, I like some customization with my toons), but I enjoy AoC, atleast what I played of the open beta. I’m trying to decide if I want to play EQ1, EQ2, or AoC, because, well, I’m poor and it sucks having to choose.
I think you have the reason people stay in wow completely wrong. I’ve been saying since long before BC launched that the first company that figures out that WOW player’s just want more of the same in a new world that they don’t have memorized will make a fortune. They don’t need to be innovative they just need to fix some of the problems in wow and give everyone a big polished world to explore. And it has to be able to run on almost any machine so people can bring thier friends along.
Maybe WAR will grab the PVP crowd. I hope thats not the case. If they suck too many of one kind of player away then everyone will want to build that kind of game. but we’ll see.
I’ve tried several of the MMO’s prior to AOC but my friends won’t go so I drift away and never come back. Thats what makes wow so damned hard to kill.
@Sam — you’re describing Lord of the Rings Online. While it has done fairly well, it hasn’t got anything like WoW’s numbers. WoW was the first real MMO for a lot of people. It is always hard to leave your first game, and I frankly think that whenever WotLK does come out, that you’ll hear a lot of rushing air from other games as the WoW players rush back at top speed.
@Bryzon — well, EQ1 was my first real MMO, and now that I am moving back and forth between the two EQs, am pretty happy where I’m at. I do wonder if I’ll ever be able to move seriously to another game. WoW came closest of them all, but my disappointment with the community killed my enjoyment of the game.
@Rick — I really think we’re approaching a cusp point. There’s a lot of new technologies around, and new ideas. We’re not bored with MMO gaming, just the sort of cookie-cutter games with grinding and levels that seem to be content only with minor variations on a withered theme.
@redrinn — while both Mythos and DR are superficially based on D2 gameplay, they have done very different things with it. I loved DR… until I tried Mythos for the first time.
“I loved DR… until I tried Mythos for the first time.”
Well glad to hear that. I wonder how many people gave DR a try. Its a fun game, addicting with the frantic amount of monsters to kill, and lots of loooot : )
But if Mythos grabbed you even more, then I can’t wait!
And is there any explanation for the very little news on GW2?
I am making the plunge, and for the first time will be playing two MMO’s. I always get my feet wet, and play around in other MMO’s…but none have kept me.
Lately (ok 8 months now) EQ2 has been the first game I consistently WANT to play (and not marathon or play to finish…ALA Guild Wars or WoW)…I actually enjoy playing the game..exploring, doing various things from writs to shinies to lore and legends…and of course quests and crafting
But, I am one of the AoC beta players who found the game refreshing and new, and gorgeous to look at (much better than LOTRO or Vanguard)…I had zero issues (except the loads at first, which I tweaked away) with no crashes and found a quite stable game…
I am also a console gamer, and felt some of that gamestyle…very Jade Empire regarding combat, and it is WAY more than a button masher, very Halo-esque in the run and gun playstyles…
The feat tree’s are great…just like Diablo and WoW
Spend points in bonus items like a Baldurs Gate console version…for healing, perception, stealth (all players can hide if shadows are around, but you have to put “skill” points into it…AWESOME.
Also everyone keeps going on about the PvP when it also has PvE that is quite fun, as the mob AI is different…if you pull a mob, and another is close by, they will alert that mob…so strategy is more involved here….
And with cutscenes dialog and not the standard click ok through the wall of text to hit ok for your quest…it is more immersive as well.
The game will be good…once everyone gets past the “oh cool…bewbies and blood”…(which I need to note…the whole week of Open Beta…I saw a total of 2 people with their shirts off…I expected WAY more than that…)…and tries to see the overall picture of the setting…how they are approaching the lore…
Yup..I officially have become a 2 MMO kinda guy
Cool! Looking forward to reading about your Hyborean adventures!!
Don’t count out WAR too quickly… with Warhammer, Mythic has an MMORPG IP some of us have been waiting for… well, since before MMORPG’s really.
I’ve played DAOC since release (it was the game that broke my EQ addiction) and although Mythic has screwed up royally on occasion (Trials of Atlantis) — they’ve always realized it, admitted it publicly, and tried to correct it (Classic servers). IP isn’t everything, but from what I’ve seen of the gameplay, they’re fully aware of that too.
And they’ve never claimed to be a WoW killer. A game doesn’t need 9 million subscribers to be considered successful. 🙂
Grimjack I agree. I think the best thing that could happen to MMO gaming is for several reasonably successful titles to each suck away some of the fat from wow. Then maybe a little healthy innovative competition could commence.
This is what intrigues me about Champions Online and Chronicles of Spellborn. Both will offer extreme character customization, and Spellborn is doing something breathtakingly new with combat that goes way beyond Age of Conan and Guild Wars.
@redrinn — good question about GW2. I hate to toot Massively’s horn, but they have so many people looking for news items and scoops that if there is anything new, it’d show up there. The site can be a firehose at times with so much stuff all the time, but any MMO news usually ends up there sooner or later. I’ll do some digging on my own 🙂 I played GW in beta, but never got into it enough to really appreciate it. The later GW expansions look fantastic, though.
Well funny coincendence…the Massively podcast had a few mentions of Guild Wars and GW2. Nothing new, but that its still in the minds of noted MMO afficianados is a plus. The only thing officially that Ive ever found is the Wiki. Even the GW2 website refers to it. I imagine its going to be a late 2009 release at this point, since they are starting basically a new MMO design, with maybe 2yrs into it so far?
Hey,
You are looking forward to CoS and Champions. That doesn’t make you a relic, it makes you ahead of your time
I think the reason we are not hearing more about GW2 is that it is in that awkward time between the announcement and stuff being ready to look at in motion.