The announcement of warhammer 40k online was the biggest story of the year.. Of the choices offered it would have to be SWTOR since star trek was all ready in production by perpetual before they went other and the other stories hold no real interest at all...

This is the way that I see things:

1. SW:TOR Announcement
2. Blizzard / Activision Merger
3. STO Re-Announcement

The change of leadership at AoC and the closure of TR were what I think of as "house keeping" headlines.  Things that happened that needed to be done.  There was also Richard Garriot jumping ship shortly before the closure.

The cutting of content from WAR, well.. some things never change.  Cutting content from release is standard.  Sucks, but it's standard.

In the end, I see a MMO release by Bioware as the news that directly affects the MMORPG genre the most, especially with the (dare I say almost delicious) drama yet to unfold as we see its inevitable affect on SWG.

First of all, what's a preader? ;o

I voted for WAR only because the other announcements were a long time coming or hinted at along the year.  The WAR story (as the AoC changing content just before launch last year), was a true shock.  In my opinion the changes have drastically changed the game, and not necessarily for the better.

T

The Bioware one was fairly common knowledge, so it wasn't THAT big of a news story.  Secondly, the information released was rather overwhelming compared to what I believe most people were expecting.

The TR one was not surprising, or terribly important.

STO reannouncement was not terribly surprising either, as that information was easily accessible through financial information, and a game announcement, like the SW game, is not that life-changing of an event on the MMO scene.

AOC story shouldn't have been nominated.  Company shifts happen all the time, this shouldn't affect its players in any significant way.  The game releasing in such an unfinished state is the bigger news.

The WAR announcement was not only surprising, but also  seriously put doubt into many gamers about the state of that game upon release.

The biggest news story, while not "new" was by far ActBlizzard.  It is important because it is part of the overarching trend of monopolizing the gamining industry, and also has made individuals concerned about the future of Blizzard games, especially with the 3x Starcraft purchases that people must make, regardless of what Blizzard is saying about their products.  It also is the newsmaker that will affect the game industry the most out of those that were listed.  This is big news that is generally viewed in a BAD way by most people.

Even though it wasn't news and it'll probably suck....... ToR.

I agree with Star Wars: The Old Republic crowd. Th is announcement was by far the biggest news of the year, hands down.  I haven't been this excited about a game since I first heard Star Wars Galaxies was being make years ago.

Yes I'm a Star Wars fan, but its also the new approach they are taking the game. I just love the whole idea of being story-driven and choice-driven. For better or worse you have to live with you actions with no save button.

Plus the companions sound cool too, thats one thing I liked in Guild Wars as well. Although I didn't like Guild Wars that much anyway, companions and the free to play business model is the only things Guild War ever got right. I hope Bioware and LucasArts goes the same way with The Old Republic. I wouldn't mind paying for a new exspanion every year or so, if normal every day game play is free.

Originally posted by Postal13

What about Diablo 3???

Not an MMO.

What about Darkfall beta?

Originally posted by SignusM

Originally posted by Postal13

What about Diablo 3???

Not an MMO.

 

 

 

What about Darkfall beta?

Seeing as Darkfall beta has been promised on and off for years, its hardly news

Originally posted by Mysk

This is the way that I see things:

1. SW:TOR Announcement
2. Blizzard / Activision Merger
3. STO Re-Announcement

The change of leadership at AoC and the closure of TR were what I think of as "house keeping" headlines.  Things that happened that needed to be done.  There was also Richard Garriot jumping ship shortly before the closure.

The cutting of content from WAR, well.. some things never change.  Cutting content from release is standard.  Sucks, but it's standard.

In the end, I see a MMO release by Bioware as the news that directly affects the MMORPG genre the most, especially with the (dare I say almost delicious) drama yet to unfold as we see its inevitable affect on SWG.

My thoughts as well.  I think that SW:ToR will be a big disappointment, but it is obviously a major story.  It may not have been a surprise, but it is important.

The biggest news and mystery is "Tabula Rasa is closing yet SOE's vacant and pure crap game SWG still continues on".

That is like solving the Bermuda Triangle mystery, will never happen.

Let's see:

Tabula Rasa Closure   //dead, doesn't matter
Age of Conan Directorial Change   //old news, no big deal
Star Trek Online Re-Announcement   //not great to have a reannouncement. Small story.
WAR Ditches Cities and Careers  //old news, game is hanging on
 

We are left with: Activision / Blizzard Merger   OR Bioware Announces The Old Republic

Activision / Blizzard Merger is certainly worthy of big news.  It is very telling for the future of the industry (ie growth).  But since this is a gamers site and this is a reader's choice mergers don't feel right.

Clear Winner: Bioware Announces The Old Republic!!!  The real beauty is that without more detail information, we can let our imaginations run away with possibilities.  Therefore, in my mind, this is got to be the most amazing thing going on!

Age of Conan Directorial Change.

TOR, etc. is news for 2010-2011.

TR closure does it for me.

 STO  made me way more excited than anything else listed....Star Wars is great and all...but its still controlled by Lucas so I don't expect to much out of it...Surely nothing as good as the SWG PreCU was.  

I guess for me it was Blizzard +Activision.

Here we have the most successful money making game in MMO's WOW and there owners[Blizzard/Vivendi] decide to share the wealth?this made zero sense to me.WHY?Would a company having success take on a partner?does this show they lack confidence in themselves and feel a total Blizzard melt down was coming soon?

On the other hand we have a fairly decent long standing successful company in there own rights [Activision]why do they all of a sudden want to merge with a proven failure when comes to finances in VIVENDI.They own some kind of record for most money ever lost in there stock market or something like that,fact is they handle money poorly and OVER spend foolishly.The only real success coming out of  Vivendi's camp was WOW,until then they had a bunch of freebie kids hanging out on there battle.net.

Does Activision actually forsee Vivendi/Blizzard as making something of the future or are they just riding the coat tails of WOW?it really baffles me from both sides.

Ok i think the biggest reason y star wars is getting such hype is cause of the star wars bug... Star wars galaxies was an awesome game till lucas arts screwed up the game with its updates... and since this game is by a diffrerent company... it has alot of work too do too get us too like it more then SWG was. but also everyone has always like the movies and the games... its like Mario... mario is the master in Nintendo, Sonic for Sega, Halo for Xbox and Final Fantasy for Playstations. Star Wars falls in all those categories... any system it comes out in... it tends too be great... your only problem is... which system do you want too play it on lol. usually Xbox if you want too play online with others... PC if its like a MMORPG type game ect... But i will definitly keep an eye out on the new Star Wars game and see what they are gonna do with it :).

I did forget too mention one thing i do hate about blizzard/bioware ect.... when they come out with a release date... i get mad... cause you know you have too add 1-2 years too that date... it will always get pushed ALWAYS... ex: WoW was pushed for 1 1/2 years before it came out... StarCraft came out almost 2 years after its release date ect... So get ready too WAIT everyone.

STO is my favorit.

I think personally ST:O was the biggest announcement. I;ve been waiting for over two years already. Perpetual going under was a big hit to my hopes for the game, but now that Cryptic has it going again, they've somehow been able to keep interest. Perhaps it's because they have more community interaction than Perpetual ever did. Anyways, i'm extremely excited by ST:O's eventual release, and so that makes it the biggest story for me.

Originally posted by Wizardry

I guess for me it was Blizzard +Activision.

Here we have the most successful money making game in MMO's WOW and there owners[Blizzard/Vivendi] decide to share the wealth?this made zero sense to me.WHY?Would a company having success take on a partner?does this show they lack confidence in themselves and feel a total Blizzard melt down was coming soon?

On the other hand we have a fairly decent long standing successful company in there own rights [Activision]why do they all of a sudden want to merge with a proven failure when comes to finances in VIVENDI.They own some kind of record for most money ever lost in there stock market or something like that,fact is they handle money poorly and OVER spend foolishly.The only real success coming out of  Vivendi's camp was WOW,until then they had a bunch of freebie kids hanging out on there battle.net.

Does Activision actually forsee Vivendi/Blizzard as making something of the future or are they just riding the coat tails of WOW?it really baffles me from both sides.

Intresting post Wizardry. I saw it as the biggest news story for the year simply because the gaming industry is headed towards a future that is controlled by a handful of giant corporations.