Ok lets do this just for fun but I truely believe this will be the biggest and best nmo since WoW launched.

Pre-Orders: 1.5 mil

Pre-Purchase: 1.7 mil

500k - 1m

at least one pre-purchase!

Even though Gw2 is sold-out in my country I don't think it will be more than 1 million.

750,000 Pre purchases;

1,500,000 Pre Orders;

(2,000,000 copies sold on the release date, not including the above figures), for a total of:

4,250,000 copies sold on release date.

pre purchased, maybe 600-700k

pre- orders, 150k

One Month after launch- 1.5 million total sales

Three months - 2.5 total

Number of people actively playing 6 months later- 800k(using xfire stats 5k people active daily) but we know they dont count :)

All gut feelings of course

I really have no clue.  It took nearly 48 hours for 1 million people to sign up for beta.  I wouldn't expect anywhere near that many people to actually pre-purchase.  But this option will also be available until release, not just for 48 hours.  Either way, they have a lot more marketting to do prior to release to really bolster their orders.  

And even then, the great games don't start with 10 million players, they build that number up over time by consistently pumping out a good product with good updates and having word of mouth spread.  

Somewhere between 10 and one bajillion prepurchases, give or take 6 or 7.. :)

Who knows, I only hope they are profitable and have a high rate of retention.

Guildwars is a fairly well known name brand.

I would expect good initial sales just based on it being a known and liked commodity.

I can't be any more sure of any numbers than anyone else, but I do recall that they broke some kind of beta sign up record.

So to think that pre order sales may break records is really not much of a stretch.

Video games are cheap entertainment.

For the cost of one good Vegas or Hawaii vacation you could buy;  a Gaming PC, a PS3 and an X-box. Then still have 7500 to buy games with.

The 60.00 dollar I spent if I spend only 60 hours total playing the game will still be a buck an hour. If I spend 30 hours playing and toss it then its 2 bucks an hour. I cant get to see a 90 minute matinee at the theatre for under 5.

I'm pretty sure i'm gonna play the game for 60 hours, probably in beta before it even launches. So its cheap entertainment and with gas prices what they are I already know  I won't be taking the boat out fishing and all that too much this year because times are tight.

42.

I think there will be like 100-200k pre-purchases. A lot of people don't want to buy digital game without release date.

Originally posted by QSatu

I think there will be like 100-200k pre-purchases. A lot of people don't want to buy digital game without release date.

I actually wish for this to be true, it will only quicken the pace for them to get the game out.

Not sure about the breakdown between pre-order or pre-purchase but I'm guessing between 1 and 1.5 million at launch.  If the game is as good as it seems to be, I guess 2 - 2.5 million within 6 months.

Just a guess.  Personally, as long as I like the game and it's profitable for Anet (meaning they'll keep it going for a while), I'll be happy.

not many prepurchases. one must keep in mind that anet is letting them all into the beta, so if there are too many it will be a mess. so maybe 200k-300k prepurchases. probably the same numbers again for preorders (maybe add another 100k to both). also keep in mind that about 1M people signed up for the beta, and that was nothing more than throwing them an email address. honestly, if gw2's starting pop is more than 1M, i will be amazed. after that.... time will tell.

EDIT: also i feel like i'm really overestimating the prepurchases. maybe slash off 100k to both numbers...

LOL @ OP... 1.7mil prepurchase.  Would be awesome for Anet, but no way.

I'm thinking 100k-200k prepurchase would be realistic.

Yeah, I'll be surprised if full pre-purchases surpass 500-600k, but then I'm just pulling a number out of my arse for fun here. We are sort of entering new territory here with pre-purchases and B2P in a high-profile AAA mmorpg.  I can't wait to see the first day results.   Even if they hit 100k, it will be good for them.

Originally posted by Quenchster

42.

I wouldn't go that high OP, I'd say maybe 800k total, I'm not expecting millions, but as time goes on, I think it's a bit more realistic to believe the numbers will go up lol. I know without a doubt thy should hit the millions by the end of the year.

Revising my estimate.