Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero

 

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Originally posted by Kaocan

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Originally posted by Teala

 

I can't help but laugh if anyone thinks this game will do anything remotely as well as WoW does in the US /EU markets.   It will be lucky if it holds 150k players at teh 6 month mark.

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I can't help but laugh if anyone thinks they know what EVERYONE in the US/EU markets will do with thier money and time. This poster will be lucky if they dont' get beat up at least 6 times in the next 6 months.
See, others can assume stuff to. Aion will do what Aion will do. Oh and to be accurate, the total number of US/EU subs in WOW, make up the smallest portions of thier overall.
http://users.telenet.be/mmodata/Charts/WoW.png
 

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That "smallest portion" is over 5 million active subs each paying 15 a month. That "smallest portion" also accounts for the vast majority of WoW's revenue stream.

Asian accounts don't count for much, they're there as marketing figures, the real money is made in the West.

And just for the record, I too believe 3 months from now AION will be under 200k subs in the WEST.

It amazes me how much World of Warcraft has changed the tune of what a successful MMO should be.

Before Wow, a MMO with 200k subscribers, while wouldn't be a run-away success, it would be doing quite well. Most other MMO's seem to shoot for 200-400k subscribers throughout MMO history.

So what does that say about Wow? It says that in the MMO industry it is an outlier, not a standard.

I enjoyed Wow for 4 years. I quit recently. Not because of any one reason, but just because I have played through my enjoyment of it and are looking for something new. I do not understand why you say Aion will fail? What reason are you giving for this? They seem to be doing well in making a quaility product and their customer support has seemed great so far.

I think Champions Online will fail because of the lack of decent support and communication and understanding of it's issues, but I think Aion will do okay. It will not 'kill' Wow, because wow is not a standard MMO that needs to be killed.

Originally posted by Cosmic201

Originally posted by Vagrant_Zero

 

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Originally posted by Kaocan

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Originally posted by Teala

 

I can't help but laugh if anyone thinks this game will do anything remotely as well as WoW does in the US /EU markets.   It will be lucky if it holds 150k players at teh 6 month mark.

---

 

 
I can't help but laugh if anyone thinks they know what EVERYONE in the US/EU markets will do with thier money and time. This poster will be lucky if they dont' get beat up at least 6 times in the next 6 months.
See, others can assume stuff to. Aion will do what Aion will do. Oh and to be accurate, the total number of US/EU subs in WOW, make up the smallest portions of thier overall.
http://users.telenet.be/mmodata/Charts/WoW.png
 

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That "smallest portion" is over 5 million active subs each paying 15 a month. That "smallest portion" also accounts for the vast majority of WoW's revenue stream.

Asian accounts don't count for much, they're there as marketing figures, the real money is made in the West.

And just for the record, I too believe 3 months from now AION will be under 200k subs in the WEST.

 

It amazes me how much World of Warcraft has changed the tune of what a successful MMO should be.

 

Before Wow, a MMO with 200k subscribers, while wouldn't be a run-away success, it would be doing quite well. Most other MMO's seem to shoot for 200-400k subscribers throughout MMO history.

So what does that say about Wow? It says that in the MMO industry it is an outlier, not a standard.

 

I enjoyed Wow for 4 years. I quit recently. Not because of any one reason, but just because I have played through my enjoyment of it and are looking for something new. I do not understand why you say Aion will fail? What reason are you giving for this? They seem to be doing well in making a quaility product and their customer support has seemed great so far.

 

I think Champions Online will fail because of the lack of decent support and communication and understanding of it's issues, but I think Aion will do okay. It will not 'kill' Wow, because wow is not a standard MMO that needs to be killed.

World of WarCraft supports the casual gamer and therefore is successful.

However, MMOs with more than 200k subscribers before WoW were:

Runescape

Lineage

Final Fantasy XI

...and EverQuest

and those were good games

This just proves that the rest of the world loves big tits and half naked girls just as much as Asians do. (and for the girls "pretty" boy toons). 

Aion wanted to be Second only to WoW and they have already done that before the game has hit worldwide. Big congrats to them. Hope they keep on rocking.

I have a feeling some of you think that this game is super popular here in the US and EU.    You don't take into account that it is a relatively unknown IP outside of Asia.   Then you don't take into account that many in the US and EU do not like the way the toons look.   Anime is far from mainstream in the US and EU.   Also, look at previous games like this one.  Lineage 2 and such.   They do not have large numbers of US and EU players - they just don't.    Maybe in Asia they do, but not in the US.    So all this tells me that Aion, with it's shallow game play, small world and limited PvP in the Abyss and it is limited(you'll see what I am talking about - the PvP in Aion is very shallow and really lacks any kind of depth even at the highest levels).   I am sorry, I just cannot see this game doing anything remotely close to what WoW does here in the US and abroad.     I think the reason it is such a hot item here is because it is the flavor of the month game that a couple of dozen posters have latched onto and try to keep it hyped - when the hype for the game has come and gone long ago.

I had friends that were going to play this game at release in the US BTW, they even had pre-ordered and those have all since been cancelled and they are back to playing WoW.    Two had actually thought the game was really good and went so far as to have accounts on the Chinese game and played it through to level 50.   Once they got there and had a go at the end game they quickly got bored and came back to WoW.  LOL!   I may not have had an account myself but I did play on one of my friends Chinese accounts - so I know what I am talking about.

Originally posted by Teala   

I may not have had an account myself but I did play on one of my friends Chinese accounts - so I know what I am talking about.

Uhm, well that's a stretch. Depending on your playing time, I would not be hasty to make such claims.

Aion endgame PvE loses to WoW 10-0, PvP is a matter of taste. Aion is a Korean grinder with emphasis on PvP, and when I type that I must add, an exceptionally well-made and polished Korean grinder. But that's all it is. Having played closed beta and open beta myself, I will not be playing at release. Many of my friends, however, have cancelled WoW and will pursue Aion as their number one MMO, at least for the time being.

My prognosis for Aion 'Western' release is that it will mirror AoC/WAR. Respectable numbers at start, that quickly start diminishing as people lose interest. Aion's endgame is about as substantial as WAR's in my opinion, and that is saying much.

Originally posted by Hrothmund

Originally posted by Teala   

I may not have had an account myself but I did play on one of my friends Chinese accounts - so I know what I am talking about.

 

Uhm, well that's a stretch. Depending on your playing time, I would not be hasty to make such claims.

Aion endgame PvE loses to WoW 10-0, PvP is a matter of taste. Aion is a Korean grinder with emphasis on PvP, and when I type that I must add, an exceptionally well-made and polished Korean grinder. But that's all it is. Having played closed beta and open beta myself, I will not be playing at release. Many of my friends, however, have cancelled WoW and will pursue Aion as their number one MMO, at least for the time being.

My prognosis for Aion 'Western' release is that it will mirror AoC/WAR. Respectable numbers at start, that quickly start diminishing as people lose interest. Aion's endgame is about as substantial as WAR's in my opinion, and that is saying much.

You make this statement based on what? What you yourself have heard? or think? Because I don't remember seeing any endgame content yet for NA or EU....and I also Highly doubt it will follow in the footsteps of AoC/WAR considering many people already like Linage and L2. Along with Guild wars. Same F'in toons. Just better detail. 

If you have forgot, let me remind you that all MMO's have very little PVE "endgame" content at first. Companies tend to add them as the game goes. WoW even has done that, and still does. Wrath only had 3 raids on release. And we all know how fast pro-gamers went through those. 3 days after release... Entire game beaten... WOW.....soo much fun. (5 days for my guild)

Originally posted by coffee

As most people like to discount WoW Asia subs then Aion has ZERO subscribers as all are currently asia subs.

But if the Aion community really want to turn this into a numbers game the real test will be if in 5 years from now if.....

1. Aion has continued to grow and holds 5 million western subs as WoW currently has done. 
2. Aion and its expansion will have to be the top 5 monthly sales spots for ALL that time just a WoW has been
3. Expansions will need to sell 2.4-2.8 million pre-orders and go on to sell 3.5-4.0 million in the first month (in the west)  just as WoW & its expansions have.
4. Will need to be around 450 western servers open to cater to such a huge population, just as WoW has.
5. We will need official press-releases that clearly state how NCsoft count Aion subs, just as Blizzard does.

Numbers two and three don't need to happen because Aion has free expansions that you upload through the games installer, you don't have to buy their expansions at all.

If you looked at the servers for both WOW NA/EU, you would see a lot of servers are with low to medium populations and only a few high population servers.

Until a official report comes out of both companies, the numbers game is irrelevant for now.

Aion will fail in us/eu if NCSoft keeps the korean grinding model.

Originally posted by shamus252

Aion will fail in us/eu if NCSoft keeps the korean grinding model.

This has been discussed to death but apparently you have not been paying attention.

Originally posted by shamus252

Aion will fail in us/eu if NCSoft keeps the korean grinding model.

What are you talking about?

What Korean grind are you even talking about?

Have you even read the various patch notes or even played it?

Stop spouting something you don't even have knowledge of.

Originally posted by shamus252

Aion will fail in us/eu if NCSoft keeps the korean grinding model.

Good for them it doesn't then.

Originally posted by shamus252

Aion will fail in us/eu if NCSoft keeps the korean grinding model.

Or they can keep it and tend to the Incredibly bigger Asian population than the rest of the world? If they Focus in just China alone and take 5% of their population thats 100 million subs right there alone. And since its an Asian game You can count that it will out perform WoW there. It's already climbing.

Edit- forgot to add... there is no "Korean" grind but pretending there is, back to what I said above ^^

TLDR, why is this important?

Originally posted by Hepisodic

Originally posted by Hrothmund

Originally posted by Teala   

I may not have had an account myself but I did play on one of my friends Chinese accounts - so I know what I am talking about.

 

Uhm, well that's a stretch. Depending on your playing time, I would not be hasty to make such claims.

Aion endgame PvE loses to WoW 10-0, PvP is a matter of taste. Aion is a Korean grinder with emphasis on PvP, and when I type that I must add, an exceptionally well-made and polished Korean grinder. But that's all it is. Having played closed beta and open beta myself, I will not be playing at release. Many of my friends, however, have cancelled WoW and will pursue Aion as their number one MMO, at least for the time being.

My prognosis for Aion 'Western' release is that it will mirror AoC/WAR. Respectable numbers at start, that quickly start diminishing as people lose interest. Aion's endgame is about as substantial as WAR's in my opinion, and that is saying much.

 

You make this statement based on what? What you yourself have heard? or think? Because I don't remember seeing any endgame content yet for NA or EU....and I also Highly doubt it will follow in the footsteps of AoC/WAR considering many people already like Linage and L2. Along with Guild wars. Same F'in toons. Just better detail. 

 

If you have forgot, let me remind you that all MMO's have very little PVE "endgame" content at first. Companies tend to add them as the game goes. WoW even has done that, and still does. Wrath only had 3 raids on release. And we all know how fast pro-gamers went through those. 3 days after release... Entire game beaten... WOW.....soo much fun. (5 days for my guild)

 

I base my claims on the endgame content on my beta experience as well as the currently running Korean and Chinese releases.  While not maxing out my characters in the beta, just judging by gear it is obvious that the PvE endgame content is not the 'crown jewel' of Aion. I do not know how appealing end-game PvE is, but from the reports on the Korean and Chinese releases, it looks like the majority of players are focusing on the PvP grind.

its a pvp game.....

Ugg . . . this site hurts my brain!  Type out a small story to have it erased . . .

Originally posted by vkayne

TLDR, why is this important?

It is no more important than the WoW fanboys prancing around WOW's sub numbers.  It is, however, incredibly entertaining to watch them boil over at the shear though of another game "catching up".

It is nothing more than a "my penis is bigger than yours" fight.  Some find it incredibly insulting and a personal attack while others laugh it off and know that it isn't the size that counts but how you stir the pot.

FJ Cruiser for the win... I like to call it my JEEP Recovery Vehicle

Originally posted by Teala

I have a feeling some of you think that this game is super popular here in the US and EU.    You don't take into account that it is a relatively unknown IP outside of Asia.   Then you don't take into account that many in the US and EU do not like the way the toons look.   Anime is far from mainstream in the US and EU.   Also, look at previous games like this one.  Lineage 2 and such.   They do not have large numbers of US and EU players - they just don't.    Maybe in Asia they do, but not in the US.    So all this tells me that Aion, with it's shallow game play, small world and limited PvP in the Abyss and it is limited(you'll see what I am talking about - the PvP in Aion is very shallow and really lacks any kind of depth even at the highest levels).   I am sorry, I just cannot see this game doing anything remotely close to what WoW does here in the US and abroad.     I think the reason it is such a hot item here is because it is the flavor of the month game that a couple of dozen posters have latched onto and try to keep it hyped - when the hype for the game has come and gone long ago.

I had friends that were going to play this game at release in the US BTW, they even had pre-ordered and those have all since been cancelled and they are back to playing WoW.    Two had actually thought the game was really good and went so far as to have accounts on the Chinese game and played it through to level 50.   Once they got there and had a go at the end game they quickly got bored and came back to WoW.  LOL!   I may not have had an account myself but I did play on one of my friends Chinese accounts - so I know what I am talking about.

Shallow game play? The game play is very similar to WoW. Heck it's similar t LOTRO as well. You get quests you go out and kill x amount of y and you return. The pvp portion is rvr. If you like rvr then great. If you don't then you don't.

the game is also a pvp game and it is a rvr pvp game. People who are playing because of the pvp are most likely playing because of this.

As far as people not knowing it? Well, I met an avid wow player the other night who did know about it and was eager to get in the game. Game players usually don't have their heads in the sand and there is enough news on Aion so that even a person that casually looks at game websites will see it.

It just seems to me that you have an issue with anime style games and are making a few assumptions. Does everyone like anime style art design? No of course not. But it's not like there are 50 people salivating about it and the rest of the western world has no clue. I do know the anime conventions here in the Boston area are packed with people. Doesn't mean that they will play Aion but it shows that there is an avid interest in the subject matter.

If there are people who love eastern art design and people who despise it, there are also people who don't care either way and it won't influence them either way. They will look at Aion for what if offers, what is similar, what is different and the possibilities.

The game is new (only a year old in the east) so of course it is not going to have the same amount of content that a game like LOTRO or WoW will have. This is common sense. But they are aready working on the expansion which of course will add more.

Once level 50 the pvp players will be pvp'ing. That's why they are here. There are pve insances and some pvp/pve instances as well. The problem with pve is that it is somewhat finite. You can run the same instances over and over again but at some point one asks "why"? PvP is a bit different as every encounter can play itself out differently.