General Discussion

Folks at MMORPG.COM  talk about peanuts these days.

You ALL want the latest news ???

Vivendi launched a press release today.

At the end of the first quarter of 2008 Wow has now a subscriber base of ... 10.7 million.

Active subscribers are those that pay to play the game and those that have acquired the program and are in their first free month of playing. No trial or non active accounts are counted in this figure,

As you are all aware Vivendi is the mother Cy of Blizzard and publishes audited financial reports, so better believe 10.7 million people PAY to play Wow.

Now WHICH was the last succesful MMO launch again???

How much has the opinion leader public of of MMORPG.COM  lost reality on this matter ?

people put too much emphasis on numbers. As long as there is 1 good server and i'm having fun. Don't really care.

Originally posted by Zorndorf

Folks at MMORPG.COM  talk about peanuts these days.

You ALL want the latest news ???

Vivendi launched a press release today.

At the end of the first quarter of 2008 Wow has now a subscriber base of ... 10.7 million.

Active subscribers are those that pay to play the game and those that have acquired the program and are in their first free month of playing. No trial or non active accounts are counted in this figure,

As you are all aware Vivendi is the mother Cy of Blizzard and publishes audited financial reports, so better believe 10.7 million people PAY to play Wow.

Now WHICH was the last succesful MMO launch again???

How much has the opinion leader public of of MMORPG.COM  lost reality on this matter ?

 

 

I think your opinion of a successful MMO launch is highly skewed. 

  I have a funny thing to share with you all.  When reading this thread, and all of its debate about WoW and numbers therein, an image popped into my head.  This image was of all of you...but instead of being forum poster, you were market analysts for all the various companies out there trying to make an MMO right now.  It was then that I realized that they are experiencing the VERY SAME FORM of discussion we are here.

  No one has a bloody clue why WoW rocks the market.  No one has a bloody clue how to emulate the success.  Finally, as a result of this, everyone bases their market expectations AND initial game production costs on this fact.  Due to this new basis of a 'good market' and a 'failing game'...we can only consider massive success a success at all.  Its terrifyingly similar to the "Wal-mart" effect that rippled across the retail scene once its growth and success became prevalent.

  You can thank the lovely people in suits for this...you know, the ones who went to college and think they are now educated enough to understand the consumer tendency.  Yeah, they have no clue either.  Hell, the consumer doesn't even understand himself.

A list of MMO games that werwe succeful just before or after WoW that people have mentioned so far.

Before

Darkage of Camelot,  City of Heroes, Ragnarok Online, Anarchy Online, Eve

After

Guild Wars, Lineage 2, Lord of the Rings, Final Fantasy 11, Puzzle Pirates, Maple Story

When Blizzard makes a game it sets a very high standard that many, less creative, companies have a hard time beating.  When Warcraft 3 came out, not many RTS games could steal the spot light.  When Diablo 2 released with its expansion, no other diablo clones could compare. 

It usually takes a good 3 - 5 years for other companies to start competing aginst Blizzard with clone games.  4 years after Warcraft 3;  games like Dawn of War, company of Heroes, and Sins of a Solar Empire are able to make a strong standing.  Most of them do so well, because they are very different in comparision to Starcraft and Warcraft 3.

Originally posted by hazmats

people put too much emphasis on numbers. As long as there is 1 good server and i'm having fun. Don't really care.

Yeah, but you also want enough cash to ensure that theres support and development to grow and expand the game.

Originally posted by andyjd

Originally posted by hazmats

people put too much emphasis on numbers. As long as there is 1 good server and i'm having fun. Don't really care.

Yeah, but you also want enough cash to ensure that theres support and development to grow and expand the game.

All in perspective though.  If you look at a game like Jumpgate Evolution they have a tiny team and I know the game will be an indie title with a very loyal following but it wont be for the masses and in some ways that is why it will work.  Due to development costs etc.  Jumpgate will need a minascual amount of revenue compared to WoW to be successful.  AoC is a different matter and any other release like WAR, Vanguard etc.  They really go for high risk vs high reward methodology...

Originally posted by Druz

Wow Trowar, you don't seem to know a single fact about Turbine or its games..never mention any of them in any of your posts for as long as you live

I hate people that talk out of their arse

Quake 3 WAS the next best thing.. how do you manage to know these games yet escape the reality of their popularity? Q3 was a hit with deathmatchers all over the earth which was their target market in the first place..
Do you have any idea how many games also used modified versions of the Quake 3 engine?

here is one hint: HALF-LIFE

Oh and please don't ever compare Quake to WoW, WoW was a dumbed down version of the MMOs before it which appealed to the lowest common denomonator.. Quake became popular because it's multiplayer was fast paced and exciting... the better players got at the game the more advanced the game became

Ahem, Half-life used a modified version of the Quake 2 engine, Quake 3 did actually have better graphic than Half-life.  But that didn´t make Quake 3 a better game, and Half-life crushed the competion that year it was released, both in sales and in "Best game of the year" awards.

Half-life sold 8 million copies.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_video_games

Quake 3 sold 2 millions http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/48409524/m/874095501/p/2

As for games using the Quake 3 engine, look at this list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Id_Tech_3

IHalf-life 2  used the source engine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Source_engine

Ps. I also hate when people talks out of their arse.

Originally posted by chryses

 

Originally posted by andyjd

Originally posted by hazmats

people put too much emphasis on numbers. As long as there is 1 good server and i'm having fun. Don't really care.

Yeah, but you also want enough cash to ensure that theres support and development to grow and expand the game.

 

All in perspective though.  If you look at a game like Jumpgate Evolution they have a tiny team and I know the game will be an indie title with a very loyal following but it wont be for the masses and in some ways that is why it will work.  Due to development costs etc.  Jumpgate will need a minascual amount of revenue compared to WoW to be successful.  AoC is a different matter and any other release like WAR, Vanguard etc.  They really go for high risk vs high reward methodology...

 

AoC did go for risk, but not so sure what's rewarding about locking out a huge portion of potential customers due to system requirements. I guess those who get to play can have prettier graphics?

Anyone who thinks AoC has even the slightest chance to compete with WoW is freaking clueless. It'll be another niche like the majority of MMOs.