Hrothmund's random ramblings.
Tune in, you never know what you may find here!

I'm sure many of us are familiar with Defense of the Ancients. For those of us who aren't and have the patience to do a little self-study, here's a link to the Wikipedia article about this insanely addictive Warcraft 3 custom map. DotA in essence is a minigame, where two teams of five players try to defeat the opposing team by using a hero picked at the beginning of the match to assist the continuous waves of computer controlled creeps that set out from each base to raze the opponents town.

Most of the action, however, is spent trying to kill the heroes controlled by the enemy players. Killing an enemy hero gives your team the opportunity to have a man advantage for the duration of that hero's resurrection timer.  This is a perfect time to destroy a tower or an other structure, as the opposing team is somewhat ill-fitted to counter your team's attack. Basically, most matches are won with coordinated teamplay and a strategy comprised of a good mix of 'pushing' (focusing on attacking the enemy structures) and killing enemy heroes.

Some might even argue that a good DotA player is more worried about staying alive and being aware of where the enemy heroes are than attacking the enemy base. I won't spend more time explaining the gameplay mechanics and strategies, but if you were able to follow my line of thought you should have a good idea about how a game of DotA works. There are a lot of details which I didn't cover, if you want to find out more about the game http://www.dota-allstars.com/ is also a good source of information.

DotA is immensely popular, and has become an official event at many e-sport tournaments over the years. The first version of DotA predates WoW and EQ2 and yet still the map is only gaining popularity. There's a good reason for this. DotA is a bit like the WoW of custom RTS game modes. It is extremely well balanced, addicting and has a high replay value. A typical game of dota lasts around an hour, and depending on how your team does, the instant gratification level is extremely high. No matter what the outcome, a balanced game of DotA is something I will definitely enjoy. No wonder some people have dubbed the game 'the ultimate RTS'.

With the wondrous display of fanboyism over, lets get back on subject and examine the possibilities of an MMO with DotA like gameplay. I am aware there are some titles out there that already feature simplistic point-and-click gameplay. However, a DotA MMO would need to be based on PvP, I was thinking something a bit like the RvR approach from DaoC/WAR. I don't think such a game exists at the moment.

I will not go into detail about any distinct features such as world structure, classes, PvE, level cap, itemization and so forth. A lot of hard work and thought would be needed to transform a one-hour, level 25-capped custom map into a full blown MMO, of course, but my question to everyone here is, if all of this was pulled off with flare by a developer, would you be interested in the final product? I most definitely would!

There is already a standalone game in the works utilizing the DotA concept, Demigod by Gas Powered Games, however it will most probably not include any MMO elements besides an interactive lobby and ranking system. This is something I will probably have a look at, but to me it seems like the developers ignored all of the potential dimensions a standalone title could expand into. To me it looks like they are only recreating the same game and polishing it up with some eyecandy.

To conclude my little write-up, I would like to know your thoughts on this. Do you think we could see a DotA MMO in the future?

I do not want to be drawn into the AoC flamewar, but I will say my piece about the title.  Simply put, the game to me was a huge disappointment. I am sure some of you are loving the game, as I first did when I started out in beta. Unfortunately for most people, this infatuation will be quite short-lived. This of course is a matter of opinion, but I guess if your idea of an enjoyable MMO is nearly no end-game content and next to no longevity due to the extremely boring game mechanics and poor class balance, have fun with AoC, you deserve it!

Now, if you want to argue with me about AoC, drop me a PM or something, but please, for the rest of my write-up, let's assume the game is nowhere near to what the hype promised.

That done, I can get down to business. AoC is a let down, TBC WoW is 'finished', 'on farm', 'beat' or however you may want to put it.  This means  that out of the three promised  'big-hitters' for 2008 only one title has not revealed its hole cards. This title, of course, is Warhammer Online. The situation in the 'MMO game' could not be better for WAR.

AoC defeated itself by being sub-standard and WoW is losing the interest of its subscribers as all of the PvE content has been completed. A strong showing by EA-Mythic could potentially tip the scales in the MMO market to the direction many of us have been hoping for, away from WoW. Yes, I know Wrath of the Lich King is not that far away either, and the next WoW expansion will most definitely bring back subscribers, but I still think that if WAR lives up to everything Mythic has 'promised', it could be 'the next WoW'.

Why so? World of Warcraft has opened up MMO gaming to a whole new customer base, the casual gaming market. Before WoW, more or less the only people playing MMOs were the hard-core gamers, or what the general public refers to as nerds, geeks, etc. Look at how things have changed! I mean,  Mila Kunis plays WoW, as do many other celebrities.

Hell, my 36-year-old boss plays WoW and he is raiding Sunwell while managing to hang on to the ripple of social life he has left after fathering two children. I think that's amazing! Could you have been considered a 'hard-core' gamer in EQ or UO if you played less than two hours a day on average? I seriously doubt it. Not to stray too far off subject, I think I have maintained that WAR has a much larger potential customer base today, than WoW did at release.

In fact, it couldn't be easier for WAR to succeed. The only real competition out there is WoW, and if Mythic manage to pull everything off bigger, better, harder and stronger, the game will be a huge hit, no doubt about it. After all, the Warcraft universe is more or less a carbon copy of the Warhammer universe. There has been speculation as to whether the first Warcraft title was intended to be a Warhammer game, but Blizzard opted to release it under 'their own' IP due to not reaching an agreeable contract with Games Workshop. Nobody knows for certain, but one can't miss the similarities between two franchises.

All in all, if Mythic comes up with a game that is as enjoyable to play and as easy to pick up as WoW, but offers that 'next-gen' experience and upgrades all around, they have a winner. With the sad state of late MMO launches, I genuinely hope EA-Mythic breaks the norm and releases a title that meets and exceeds the expectations of the masses, instead of crawling under them like a drunken Sigil employee after the release of Vanguard.

Electronic sports, ten years ago people found the phrase more of a joke than a reality. Things sure have changed since then! Today, even mainstream television sports broadcasters are including eSports in their programming and the competitions have transformed from darkly lit lan parties to major entertainment events. Gaming is chique now, which means there is more money out there for online tournaments and live gaming events.

Since I've brought this issue up, the World of Warcraft arena tournament must obviously be mentioned. I think this is a novel idea. Now people who really take the game seriously have a chance at covering their gaming costs just by being good at the game, and possibly even turning their beloved hobby into a profession. When WoW was released, a circumstance such as this seemed more or less impossible.  Even if the arena system had been implemented into the game upon release, the class imbalance was far too great to warrant a cash prize tournament. Now though, it looks like professional gaming is finally hitting the MMO scene.

On the other side of the board ther are the big PvE players, like Nihilum and SK Gaming(Which admittedly do have PvP teams as well.) who are trying to establish themselves as the first ever professional PvE guilds in the world. Yesterday, Nihilum offered a live raid broadcast from their Sunwell Plateau raid, making it possible for people to peep into how a dedicated raid team completes PvE content. The event was sponsored by two companies, so most probably some sort of compensation arrangement was in place. Nihilum and SK Gaming both have commercial sponsors,  so in a sense they are already being paid to play WoW. It will be interesting to see how this 'professional PvE guild' phenomenon takes shape in the future. I can only imagine the top guilds in the world becoming more and more professional as the time passes. It is hard to tell whether there are sponsors out there who are willing to take their money and sponsor a fully professional PvE team.

My post is extremely WoW-centric, but let's face it, in terms of PvE WoW is 'the game' right now, and the popularity of the title ensures that the largest PvP events in the world will take place in WoW as well. This brings up an interesting point. Let's pretend the MMO player-base was more equally divided between the currently released titles. Would guilds suchs as Nihilum and SK Gaming be able to get sponsorship deals for their PvE teams? Would there be a world-wide pay-to-play arena tournament? I doubt it. Sure, maybe the big PvE guilds could go multi-platform and compete in many titles at once, but I think the public would not be as interested in following up guilds that play 4-5 games with 800,000 subscribers each as they are now in following the top dogs of WoW that has amassed over ten million subscribers world-wide.  You can debate about the merits of WoW as a game, this is a matter of opinion, but there is no arguing that WoW is the only game in the world that gives guilds the opportunity to turn professional.

What needs to happen then, for MMOs to take the final step into the esports domain? My opinion is that a few minors changes to the policies of developers and publishers will do the trick. I think Blizzard is only now realising there is a huge potential to increase their customer base by turning their game into an eSports title. WoW has gradually been building up to an official ranking system. First of all, the arena and honor systems allowed PvP contestants to finally prove just how good they are. There is no arguing against the official rankings. Now, with the advent of the offical WoW armory, the gear of every player is visible making unofficial ranking sites able to rate guilds by their gear level. I don't think we are far away from Blizzard launching their own World of warcraft PvE progress site. When world first kills will be officially recorded and published by the game developer, as subtle as the change sounds, the PvE 'game' will finally be solified as a competative event giving PvE guilds a new sense of credibility.

I am not sure whether we will see WoW breaking the mold as the first true eSports MMO, but Blizzard surely does have the know-how to do the job. Looking at Warcraft 3 and Starcraft, if not Blizzard then who? We will just have to wait and see.

One thing is for certain. There are already several fully professional raiding teams in the world, earning a pretty comfortable living. These are of course the in-house game testers.(Yes, I acknowledge testers have tasks beyond just playing the game and that many of the play tests bring in employees from all branches of the developer.) Even though Kil'Jaeden hasn't been killed on the test realms or in the public realms, he most probably has been downed by the Blizzard test team. This leads me to wonder if in the future PvE eSports teams will get access to raid content before the 'regular' gaming public, just like professional athletes get their hands on new equipment before the masses. In my opinion 'league realms' could be quite a feasible system to cement MMO gaming as professional gaming medium. The casual gamers, or the amateurs would then have to wait their turn and see whether they can live up to the pros after seeing  the pros in action on ESPN. Most probably we are still years away from anything like this being possible.

Please let me know your thoughts regarding this issue, I'm quite interested to see what others have to say about this. As a little postscript I'd like to add that I knowingly ignored the subject whether PvE esports competition will have a negative impact on the lore/RP aspect of MMORPGs. If you want to discuss this, please do so in the forums or write your own blog entry regarding the matter.

As of late, this new title has caught my eye. It seems to be an other Darkfall type of affair, lots of promises and enticing features for hardcore/PvP orientated gamers, but once you do a little bit of research you can find that the budget for the game is by no means enormous and the development team is quite small. Below is a link to the official FAQ page:

http://www.mortalonline.com/faq

What do you guys think? Could this be a credible heavyweight contender, or is it just an other vaporware title doomed to be entrampled by the big boys? I'm hoping, as always, that Starvault(the developer of the title) can put together a quality game. If everything goes right, the game could be what many of us are looking for, a well seasoned mix of WoW, Guildwars, the Diablo series and SWG. We'll just have wait and see.

Whatever your personal opinion is regarding the current state of the game, one thing can not be discounted, 'welfare' epics are are now a reality. It is extremely easy to gather a set of high-quality PvE gear now, making SSC and TK walk-throughs for 'casual' raiding guilds that didn't have the time to farm appropriate gear or to master the encounters before 2.4. I'm not too worried, as I am in what is considered a high-end raiding guild. Illidan has been on farm status for a few months now and we've made nice progress in the Plateau, so I guess this does not affect me or my guild at all? Wrong, wrong wrong!

Blizzard opted once again to simplify and tone down the difficulty of PvE content to accomodate not only the casual player, but also the masses of people MMO vets refer to as nubs, tards, ninjas and various other not very endearing terms. There has been a history of decision making on Blizzard's part to cater to these buffoons. I think it all started in pre TBC, when the gold-buyin PvP 1337 kids were enraged by the fact that AQ 40 and Naxxramas geared PvP 'nubs' were indeed making bloody pulp of them and their inferior gear. I mean come on! These kids AFKed for hours on end in battlegrounds to get their blue PvP set and then out of the blue came these PvE scumbags who had the audacity to outgear them? Or, uhm, wait a minute? Naxx was hard, harder than any instance in TBC in my opinion. AQ 40 was no walk in the park either. I think the PvE crew more than deserved their newfound status as the best geared PvP players in the game for enduring countless wipes in that foul floating rat-trap and rotten sandbox. The masses disagreed. A huge wave of whine threads emerged on the Blizzard forums, and like always, Blizzard listened to the 'casual' player.

From the very beginning of TBC, it was apparent that you needed a seperate set of gear for PvP and PvE if you wanted your character to be a viable participant. This I agree with. Infact, arena season 1 was one of the best PvP periods for the game since US closed beta. I was enjoying myself, PvP was meaningful again. Everyone could get started with PvP and become a household name, no matter their guild or level of PvE knowledge. The situation is quite similar at the moment and I truly enjoy arena. Blizzard has done a good job of making PvP a means for casual players to make their mark as reputable players. This is the way PvP should be done in my opinion, make it relatively easy for everyone to step up and develop their character to the point where they ahve a shot at beating the best of the best in their battlegroup, if only their skills allow it. Well done Blizzard!

Why am I complaining then, if everything is fine on the PvP front? Well obviously because of PvE issues. I've been sorely disappointed with the difficulty of the 25-man raid dungeons. Most encounters in Naxxramas and AQ 40 were much harder than even the end raid bosses in TBC, and on top of the individual skills needed, you also had to organize 40 people to coordinate instead of just 25. Vashj was easy enough before she was nerfed for a reason I can't comprehend. (I acknowledge the entry level raid instance pre TBC was a cakewalk as well, you could pretty much take a random zerg pug into MC and clear it.) The fact is, after Naxxramas only late Hyjal started getting interesting and this was and still is a real buzzkill for me and is slowly but surely distancing me from the game. Progression in TBC is much faster since you only need to get 25 quality raiders instead of 40 to log on. Look at the speed at which Nihilum cleared Illidan! That pretty much should be enough for some alarm bells to start ringing at Blizzard HQ. Come on guys, you are making the game too easy!

Having stated the above, many might label me as an elitist bastard, which I self-admittedly am, so no need for the gratuitous flames. However, I haven't even made my point yet. Since the 25 man instances are already easy enough, what do you think will happen when 'team welfare epic' starts raiding Hyjal and BT? I can tell you, there will be whining and likely more nerfs by Blizzard. This happened already with TK and SSC, so I don't think a BT and MH nerf is far away. Oh the joy of those farming runs! In my experience, as instances have been nerfed, our farming runs have become worse and worse. People log on with their alts and people like myself can get wasted on raids 'since its easier'. Actually, no need for sarcasm here, I actually enjoy those drunken brawls!

Now to sum up my disorganized and angry little write-up. What do I want? I want an other Naxx! I want an instance where you truly have to think up creative strategies, a place that Nihilum or Curse don't clear in two weeks! A place that has bottlenecks which aren't based on a world event or collaborative effort, but on the difficulty of the encounter itself! I was really liking the direction Blizzard was taking the PvE experience pre TBC but now, with every new instance I just prepare to get more disappointed and farm away the epics.

MMOFPS, a genre that is still without its WoW or EVE, there really isn't a 'successful' and well rounded product out there for us to play. Having reviewed the base principles behind a MMOFPS, I am left wondering why.

Planetside was in many ways a very solid attempt by Sony. The core game was playable, the mechanics worked in general and even the balancing was taken care of quite decently. However, the 'magic touch' wasn't there. Combat quickly became repetetive and simply not involving enough to keep playing. The game was also a memory hog and took up a huge amount of system resources while looking completely dated. Yes, the game is still up and running, but I'd classify the title more or less dead.

Why did this happen, then? Why weren't people happy with Sony's blend of MMO and FPS? Why did the combat become uninteresting? I personally think the genre has been approached by the developers with the 'let's blend a MMORPG and a FPS' attitude. From the onset, the developers have been looking to create a hybrid game resulting in a dull, grayish compromise. I mean, consider the possibilities. We could experience Halo-like battlefields with hundreds of players controlling static objects and vehicles while working towards various objectives, coupled with Call of Duty/Battlefield-like rank progression, item drops and talent points. I'd definitely play a game like that!

The problem with all of this is balance. If you are to create a true FPS, then character development  and items should not precede player skill in deciding the result of a PvP encounter. This is extremely hard to balance. The sense of accomplishment is negatively affected if a maxed out character with the best gear available is continuously being being defeated by low-level characters simply because the player is not as a good a mouse-warrior as his opponents. However, new players will be disappointed if a maxed out character can one-shot them even if the player controlling that character is clearly inferior. What are developers to do, then?

I think traditional FPS developers have already come up with the answer. In the Call of Duty and Battlefield series your rank doesn't make you that much deadlier. It simply gives you access to new perks, weapons and cusmization options. I think this is the way MMOFPS titles should work as well. Why make level-specific areas, when you can simply create a system similar to CoD, Battlefield or EVE, where player characters are able to participate almost everywhere in the game world from the start of the game, just in a limited role. This means that the annoyance of seeing a beautiful area, or hearing of a cool planet but not able to actually experience the place until weeks later due to character advancement issues would be non-existent. People would not be forced to progress through the game in a certain manner, which would greatly improve replay value and the level of immersion.

You may think, 'but the player with the maxed out character who is just not up to par with his mouse and keyboard would still not be nullified'. You are correct. He would not be nullified. This is the essence of an FPS game, player ability is meant to be meaningful, the time spent in the game less so. Now, don't get me the wrong way here. Currently, I think there are no FPS games out there where a normal person without any physical handicaps can not become one of the elite by simply putting in the effort. This competitive aspect of FPS games is what attracts me to the genre. There is nothing like self development in 1337-skills to boost the ego of an it-oriented nerd! I simply love being able to instill some major pwnage on others.

I gather many people who actually managed to read through this monster blog were able to put two and two together. MMOFPS games are not meant to be mainstream MMO titles in my opinion. Most probably MMOFPS games will be favored more by FPS players who want a persistent game world, rather than MMO gamers who are looking for real-time combat. I'd like to hear some comments regarding this, at least my circle of friends seem to be on the same level with me regarding this. I certainly hope that there are developers out there who share this mentality.

Let me start my post by creating a little bit of a background for my musings. In the past few days I've been playing CD Projekt's excellent RPG, The Witcher. Now, this game has some serious flaws, errors and bugs, but they don't matter, the overall experience is wonderful. The gritty and uncensored atmosphere, along with the unpolished translations create a very unique feeling within the game, that makes it one of the most immersive titles I've played in the last few years.

Now, being a fan of The Witcher, I must type that AoC has many similarities with the aforementioned game. A 'mature' and 'manly' world, drinking and brawling in pubs, semi-twitch based combat and outstanding graphics and overall presentation are all things these two titles have in common. I would be satisfied, if Funcom could just come up with the same level of polish as CD Projekt did, but honestly I expect much, much more from AoC. However, I am truly hoping for the same 'off the hip' attitude from the development team, the same sense of  enthusiasm and love for their title that transferred through so well  to me when I was playing The Witcher. Along with this, Funcom have to accomplish something CD Projekt didn't, 'endgame content' and replay value.

All in all, I am sure Funcom has their hands full. Immersive, read interactive, environments are much harder to create in a MMO setting, when compared to single-player titles. Also Funcom are working with an established IP, which limits their creative freedom content-wise. I hope we can be expect characters and settings that have not been jaded by demands from management or the production team. In short, I wish AoC could finally be the 'made by gamers, for gamers' title that so many of us have been waiting for. I know there are some really creative and understanding games executives out there, but it seems when examining recent MMO releases, that there's always that same '50-year-old couldn't-give-a-horses-cock' type of production executive that manages to bland down the games and tone down the title to a generic and uninteresting game.

I'm in the software business myself, but when developing business tools, the outlook of the producers and managers is a lot different. Yes, ease of use and eye-candy are a factor in this segment of the software world as well, but when it comes down to selling the end product, the criteria differs substantially. The software that is chosen is commonly selected because it can do something the competitors can't, is easy to integrate/adopt into the customer's environment, does not require a vast amount of resources to run, and is cost-effective and dependable. In this regard, the games industry has a few things to learn.

As a conclusion, I'd like to extend my best wishes to the AoC development team and sincerely hope you can get the game finished on time and won't have to make too many concessions. There are many of us out there waiting for your game who do not think the current 'copy and paste' method of creating MMOs is the way to go.

I know there are creative writers and developers out there with exciting concepts of game mechanics and intellectual properties we can only dream of playing at the moment. The question is, where are they? Has WoW pushed the MMO community to a point where the only ideas that actually gain funding and go into production are titles that offer something that has been done before but claim to do a better job of it. Sure, there are some games out there that offer a few quirks here and there, but I've yet to find a product that is truly original and at the same time appealing.

Let's make this clear; World of Warcraft is a great game and huge a success, I do not put the blame on Blizzard in any way for killing the creativity in MMO design. The fact is, that once something becomes as established as WoW, if you come up with a concept that mirrors the original but offers the consumers a somewhat altered and unique end product, it is much easier to get your project approved and funded than a game that pays no resemblance to the current market leader.

I truly hope that there is some crazy developer out there with a solid idea for a sandbox game that would actually have mass appeal, yet be so original there would be no comparing it to past titles. Yes, I recognize that hundreds of MMOs have been released, many of them(especially the crazy Asian ones) being quite original, making it hard for anyone to come up with a truly imaginative idea. However many of the 'truly original' Asian MMOs have plainly been too weird to play for me. The game that would send shivers down my back then, would have to then be a true master-piece, a new avant-garde trend setter amongst the worn-out MMO titles.

Mission impossible, you might think. I've actually been putting my neglected brain cells to work on this one, and have come up with a few ideas that I think could improve the genre.

• Most MMORPG IPs are either high fantasy, scifi or a mixture of the two. Why not create a world that is as much make-believe as it is realistic and gritty? I would love to play in Film Noir setting, for example. I'd definitely buy a well implemented game set in a toned down version fo the Gears of War or Blade Runner universe. I think comic books and well-written thrillers could provide MMO designers with fresh ideas and a street-wise edge that would be popular amongst many.
• To be truly immersive, MMOs could learn a little bit from Hollywood. To establish true immersion, the IP needs to be believable, without any major discrepancies and to not include the plague of current MMOs, different design styles for content. There is nothing that breaks your involvement in the game world more than stepping into an expansion area and clearly noticing the difference in the artistic style and overall mood of the setting. What MMO design teams could need then, would be a producer type brand-manager figure, who would make sure the lore and game world are presented in an uniform manner.
• What I also crave in the current MMO offering are involving and fun time sinks. I know gambling is a no-no for developers that don't want an 'M' rating, but this does not bar minigames and twitch based secondary trade skills, like real-time dancing or sports in general. What I want is more truly casual content, think Wii here,  for killing time.
• Character progression, that's a tough nut to crack. I would want a steeper power curve for abilities and skills, at least in the visual department. Somehow using the same ability I used to kill level 1 rats and bunnies in the starting area to take down the hardest raid boss in a given game does not appeal to me. Again, yes this is a pain for the devs, but more content is needed here in my opinion.
• True NPC interaction. Let's say you portray a filthy and parasite ridden bum in rags, why don't the NPCs react to your repulsive appearance? Most likely you will be allowed into the hall of the most respected rulers wearing your potato sack, or level 1 squire's leather armor. I know this is a nightmare to implement, but I hope that in a few years we will get there with more and more powerful computers and a better network infrastructure that will make truly interactive worlds possible.

So there we have it, I could go on and on with demands like the ones above, but what I'm really hoping for is that there is already a development team out there with a like-minded production counterpart that thinks somewhere along the same lines as myself. One can always hope, can one not?

Here I am sitting at the office, sipping a warm cup of coffee and thinking about the coming year. Whatever will happen, it sure as hell is going to be one interesting ride. In fact, I think 2008 will be a landmark year for the MMO. It has the potential to be the greatest year in the history of MMO gaming, or a sour disappointment, a true lemon of a year that could even bring the bustling genre to a decline. There are so many promising titles coming out next year that i can't even hope to cover them all. So I'll take the easy way out and just cover the big hitters.

Blizzard is releasing WotLK, which will probably be where WoW reaches its peak. For years(Seems a little strange to type that.) people have been claiming that WoW is in the decline and people are leaving the game, when in fact the number of subscribers has steadily been building up. After Wrath of the Lich King, whether it is succesful or not, WoW will be nearing the end of its life-cycle. No matter how well the new expansion augments an already great game, there is not a whole lot of directions Blizzard can take the game that would keep the masses playing for years on end. The game is at a level of polish and amount of content where all Blizzard can offer is more of the same. The question is, how much more of WoW are we the players willing to play through? On the other hand, Blizzard has such a strong product on their hands, that if the competition fails to deliver people will stick with a quality game they can trust. Whatever happens, don't count on WoW dropping out of pole position in 2008.

Funcom and Age of Conan. An enigma in the making. I would like to see this title become a huge success, what's better than sending your opponents to the grave knowing it was your circle strafing, aiming and correctly timed combos that sent the fools to their demise rather than your fully purple set of epic gear? If Funcom pull this off with flourish, and the game becomes a huge success, guilds like Nihilum could actually realise the dream of many MMO players, becoming a professional MMO player. However great that might sound, I don't see it happening for Funcom. AoC is simply not appealing enough to the masses in my opinion to enable WoW-like success. The game will probably be a hit, but not the top dog.

To Mythic and WAR then. If you want a potential WoW-killer, here is your game. The masses have now gone through MMO elementary school, and as interest in the current juggernaut of the MMO genre is waning, WAR will surely be an appealing alternative to the generic gamer. This game also has the potential to bring in the "more serious" roleplaying crowd, where WoW was somewhat of a failure. The imagery might have a cartoony edge, but the lore of the Warhammer universe is much more adult orientated and sinister, the humor is more acidic than black and if WoW screams "Toys"R"Us" to some people, WAR might as well be what "Toys"R"Us" would have been if Charles Lazarus had founded the chain in the 60s after reflecting on an acid trip. If Mythic deliver an outstanding game, the sky's the limit.

Now that I've the big guns covered, I'd like to cover my pet game before this entry becomes too long for anybody to finish. I bet you did not guess the title, it is Jumpgate Evolved. Oh how I adored the original title, no EVEish point and click "carebear" combat, yes you actually had to grab that dusty Sidewinder from your cupboard to earn some respect in this game. Like with AoC, I hope NetDevil pull off a roaring success, hooray for the "skill based" MMO! If anybody from the development team happens to read this, I'm always willing to help with testing! ;)

Right, with my little plug taken care of, let's sum things up. We have three big batters at the plate, who'll be hitting one home? I'm hoping for a true grand slam, all three of the big names producing a hit game, and a fourth large title rising up from out of the blue. What more could a consumer wish for than four quality titles competing for the top spot? To top this off, happy New Year to all of you, don't forget that whatever happens next year there is always one person you can rely on, yourself!

I would like to pose a question to you all. Why is it that online communities seem to strive on proclaiming failure and discontent? Hell, if my office was filled with the sort of whiners that inhabit most forums, I'd probably end up fighting every Friday when we go out for pints as a collective. Now, I'm not here to suggest that living in a lobotomized state of bliss is something to strive for, but I think some people really need to unequip their +10 critical blade of whining.

Yes, if a game is crap, fire away, I'm not afraid to do that. The fact is, most of the "expert" opinions we see on online forum boards are not based on first hand experience of the issue they are regarding. My experience is that most of the content in online communities is created by bandwagon monkeys, people who just ape other users opinions, writing styles and even avatars to fit in and create a name for themselves. In many cases, this is not unfortunate, many times the generalized opinion of the clone community is not far away from the truth. However, there are cases where an influential user, or group of users(In either case a small minority of the community.) manage to manipulate their opinions to be the accepted reality.  This, is where the "cumulative"(What I mean by this, is that the opinions seem to grow from moderate to extreme, as more people pick up on the idea.) opinion of online communities is at its worst.

This issue for me is a double-edged sword, no matter how much I dislike the extremity of the opinions on online forums, the fact that you can express yourself without any censorship is a wonderful freedom, that I think many people do not appreciate enough. We are given such an excellent medium for communication with the internet that we should be thankful for just being able to experience a complete freedom of speech and opinion, a freedom that even our parents could not experience. I just hope that we could all remember this more often when posting.