General Discussion

With the mass hype focusing on the launch of AoC and whether it will be a success or failure I started thinking about the more recent 'big' releases. 

Pirates of the Burning Sea - Population is sinking faster than any ship in the game and there is no real mega patch that is going to change a whole lot anytime soon.  Not successful.

Tabula Rasa - Mass hype and population has come and gone.  Enough patches have helped it along and it has turned into a niche type game.  Not successful but has found a gaming space.

Fury - Not played but it was released with a small pop after much talk and I haven't seen any threads about it for ages. Successful...seems not

Vanguard Saga of Heroes - Major issues at launch and heavy rig needed to play.  Population left in droves and its hard to find another living soul.  Not successful.

What were the last big releases that are still successful?  WOW, EVE Online?  Its a worrying sign and if AoC does gain a healthy following and more importantly keeps it then it will be breaking the trend.  Stats say otherwise and I hope they are wrong for the sake of the MMO industry.

LoTRO. Not as "popular", at least on this site, as some of the games you mentioned, but at least it's solid in its niche and it had a good launch.

Lord of the Rings Online do well 

LOTRO

Yeah i would say LOTRO..and being number #3  in the NPD reports. Id say it is a success.

Originally posted by chryses

With the mass hype focusing on the launch of AoC and whether it will be a success or failure I started thinking about the more recent 'big' releases. 

Pirates of the Burning Sea - Population is sinking faster than any ship in the game and there is no real mega patch that is going to change a whole lot anytime soon.  Not successful.

Tabula Rasa - Mass hype and population has come and gone.  Enough patches have helped it along and it has turned into a niche type game.  Not successful but has found a gaming space.

Fury - Not played but it was released with a small pop after much talk and I haven't seen any threads about it for ages. Successful...seems not

Vanguard Saga of Heroes - Major issues at launch and heavy rig needed to play.  Population left in droves and its hard to find another living soul.  Not successful.

 

What were the last big releases that are still successful?  WOW, EVE Online?  Its a worrying sign and if AoC does gain a healthy following and more importantly keeps it then it will be breaking the trend.  Stats say otherwise and I hope they are wrong for the sake of the MMO industry.

 

 

  I support this post 100%. For the last 3 years, me and my friends have been waiting for something big that would do well.... Finally, I think that AoC will be the first big installment that is going to do well. Bout time!

EDIT* LoTRo did well and still is, but it was way too easy imo. We couldnt stick with that game at all.

Lord of the rings had a decent launch.  you cant really ever have a good launch because MMO's are so different to normal games.  they rely on the internet to function (thats 1 thing out of the developers control), they are just as demanding to make as normal games (bugs and other problems will be there at launch), no beta test will EVER fix every problem with a game.  all these factors and more mean that MMO's will never have a successful release.  there will always be a group of players who cant play, a bug or some other problem and that is why there are patches.

I forgot about Lord of the Rings.  It really is the only MMO that can put its hands up and say they did well enough for the investment put in. 

If AoC and WAR don't work out to be great MMO's then I seriously need to look at changing hobbies :)

Jumpgate, Earthrise, Stargate and Darkfall are grabbing my interests but I am losing hope....

Yes, LOTRO had a smooth launch.  Although, I dont think they got any where near the numbers they were expecting.

Lord of the Rings Online :) 

Perfect launch. 

Constant great game updates. 

Mines of Moria in the fall!!!