This game has class. While other games attempt to appeal to a huge audience and benefit off that market, this game is satisfied with a niche of players. There are so many games that claim they are the next-generation mmo with innovative playing systems never seen before which will revolutionize the genre as a whole. The Chronicles of Spellborn doesn't do this and while it might be a devious market ploy to build a huge fanbase before release, it seems the TCoS don't need that kind of fake recognition before the world faces the beast. Every feature they have mentioned has been demonstrated in one way or another. Frankly, the dev is not throwing half-assed features into the game to appeal to everyone. Their statements and website contain information that is matter-of-fact, not embellished by large empty words.

I constantly hear that The Chronicles of Spellborn will be a sleeper hit and I think that the potential is there. I am sure that the initial fanbase will consist largely of niche players. I think there will then be a huge influx of veteran players and interested new players looking for a new experience. The game won't get an influx of many players who will want to reach the end as quickly as possible, kill as many other players as possible, and who want to get the best loot. The Chronicles of Spellborn dev team saved the game from that. Other mmos give the false promises to fans who take them as immediate assurances of excellence. Those that go to the game often know little of the lore or what they are even getting into. They'll play the game for a few months and grind to the top level without ever knowing what's even going on or what the game is even about. Those that come to this game will come for the lore, for the new gameplay. The Chronicles of Spellborn will require players who play the game for the immersive world, for the lore, for the game itself.

I'm not a fanboy and I am not sure I will even play this game. I am currently looking at Aion and AoC. All three have great potential and are completely different from one another. This game has amazing potential to create a new class of mmo players, sort of the same thing Asheron's Call did when it was introduced.

I think the sleeping giant is waking up.

Being a retired WoW player, I hope TCoS does appeal to a niche market. It makes me happy to hear (read) people saying that they refuse to play TCoS because gear doesn't make your character perform better, or that it's not enough "like WoW". I hope that I've not only left that game behind me, but also left that type of player behind me as well.

Well stated, Wizgamer.  The Chronicles of Spellborn was designed with such thoughtfulness to concepts that will advance the MMO genre and captivate the community.  Eliminating time-skins like grinding weeks for armor upgrades that gives minimal stat bonues, and a introducing a combat system that relys on player ingenuity for sucess are only two of the many powerful features that this game offers.

The flexibility and diversity of the combat system excites me the most.  For starters is a manual targeting system; no more entering combat and then going afk to stir your tea or dive into a bag of cheetos!  But to temper a potential twich player advantage they system ustilizes a rotating skill deck where you place the skills you want to use in a strategic sequence that will best serve your style of fighting.  Furthermore, the skills and attacks you use can lead to powerful combo sequences that can devastate your opponents.

I could go on and on, but check out any info on this game, and you can see for yourself  

All the Leizig coverage must be doing wonders for this game, people are really starting to notice it. The past week has been the only time that I can actually recall where Spellborn forums topics have frequently been on the front page. I must say, it's nice to see.

Spellborn will most definately be a great success as far as niche games go. I imagine it will fill a role in the MMORPG market similar to what EVE has today: a relatively small, but very dedicated and passionate fan base. The people who like it, will like it alot. It may lack mainstream appeal with so many original gameplay and design elements, but I think that might actually work in the game's favor. It will probably have a very close knit community of mature and intelligent people, if the official forums are any indication of how the game will be once it launches. An interesting thing that I've noticed is that it seems to attract a very specific set of people. There are alot of ex-FFXI players and avid pen and paper RPG gamers, which I think is due to Spellborn's emphisis on storytelling and lore. It is quite likely that the game will have a strong RP community. I never played the old school games like UO, AC and EQ in their prime, but somehow I've always thought that their communities would be something like that of Spellborn.

I guess to sum it up, you could say that Spellborn is a next generation game with an old school heart and soul.

Although that might not exactly be too acurate... but it does sound rather nice.