OMG...thank you.    I never thought I would actually ever see something I wrote spotlighted on this website.   :)

Good read. I'd just like to also add that once something starts gaining momentum and popularity, it's not easy to stop. WoW is a rare beast, and several factors made that happen. You touched on most of them. It had a popular IP with a large gamer following, it was accessible, it released at a good time in the MMO market, and it combined the best features of past MMOs into one package, then improved on them (polish). Even in 2004 with a relatively rough start, people were willing to play it. From there, with advertising and mostly word-of-mouth, it just kept growing.

I see the same things happening with SW: TOR.

They have a ridiculously popular IP. Even if it's not set during the timeframe of the 1980s Star Wars movies, almost everyone knows what Star Wars is. Far more than Warcraft.

This is a time in the market where people are disillusioned and bored. WoW is the king, and people don't want to play it or games similar to it (WoW clones). Nothing in their eyes has distinguished itself as being different. With SW: TOR's focus on story, like a true RPG, it might be enough to convince people that, even if it's a "WoW clone", it's one done very well. We'll have to see, and Bioware will have to make sure its other features are up to par as well.

WoW took the best things from its predecessors, and now Bioware has the benefit of having a game with 5 years of experience to use as a springboard. Yes, no one wants to see another WoW clone, but as I mentioned above, nothing WoW did was bad, gameplay-wise. You either liked it or you didn't. It's simple, easy to learn, and fun to most people. The sandbox crowd shouldn't worry, since they're getting Mortal Online and Earthrise. But for the much more popular, casual "themepark" system, I think SW: TOR will deliver and deliver well. Bioware devs even said they're not going to cater to hardcores. They're going to focus on "fun". Heh, well, that means casuals can rejoice. They'll have WoW or SW: TOR (I haven't heard much about Aion being casual friendly yet... "the game starts at level 20+?" Well, that's fine, but most casuals don't enjoy grind. Maybe it is, though.)

SW: TOR won't be a WoW killer. But here in the West, along with Aion, I think it will deal a severe blow. If we have a ruling triumverate instead of one monster gorilla in the market, I'm fine with that.

Great read, in a way i wish something would take the so called crown...at least people will start saying AION/SWTOR clone or whatever game that comes out will kill AION/SWTOR.  least then WoW can get some peace and quiet =P

(i use those names because those apparently are the top contenders right now)

I still think a game will eventually dethrone WoW, be it because of age, new technology, better game whatever. Champions are always replaced by newer younger ones at some point. The point here is how long will WoW reign.

Also, I think the game that will do it, won't by hyped before it happens. It will probably be a sleeper hit. A game that no one saw coming and blows the socks off of everyone. That's my prediction and I'm sticking to it. :D

WoW will kill itself.   It might result in a MMO dominant vacuum or something might step in.  But nothing will "take it down" it will simply age and wither.   I think we already see that a bit.

WoW may never be killed, but it will die one way or another.

In my opion not much out there and if Blizzard decided to come out with a Sci-Fi theme mmo it would be curtains for most other low budget companys. They own the Fantasy mmo now.

Originally posted by Teala

OMG...thank you.    I never thought I would actually ever see something I wrote spotlighted on this website.   :)

Maybe its because what you write has great meaning and is true. They never ask for feedback an ideas from the playerbase. As a gamecompany they should be making the game and the players are suppose to play the game. Kinda basic stuff but majority of the game companies dont seem to understand this. Othervise there would be more games to choose from.

One of, if not THE biggest reasons WoW has been a success is the minimum system requirements.  You rarely see anyone talk about this while they are raving about how revolutionary WoW is.  Yes, everyone knows WoW has been one of the most polished titles ever created, and the game play is addictive to the solo / casual crowd, but it wouldn't have been nearly as successful if you couldn't run it on just about any computer.

Games that were around when WoW launched still required the player to have a decent gaming rig, where WoW played fine with very modest video cards.  For example, SWG's engine was so harsh and unoptimized that it put the smackdown on even medium-high end machines at the time. WoW's accessibility opened it up to the mainstream.

Originally posted by Comnitus

Yes, no one wants to see another WoW clone, but as I mentioned above, nothing WoW did was bad, gameplay-wise.

This is where it all starts.  The first step is to take all the bad crap out - that doesn't cost anything. There're lots of things about WoW that I'm not crazy about, but I can always see how somebody else might like it.  With other games, I honestly can't imagine why ANYONE would like some of the features.  it's like they're designed by sadists. 

I'll happily cut a designer slack if they cut corners.  But it irritates the heck out of me when I see so many errors of commission - things they actually spent time and money on that they never should have.   It's not that the implementation just didn't quite work out; a lot of these things were obviously a colossally stupid idea from the very beginning, but somehow nobody caught it and put a stop to it.

In a Blizzard game, all the way from when you first click to start it, you don't get those damed promo clips that you have to click through.  Seriously, what customer focus group looked up and said, "Hey, we really like those!"

In terms of client computer resources, polygons are expensive, while colors and animations are cheap.  So where does Blizzard put its money?  In the RIGHT place, instead of the WRONG place.  It's not that they just outspend all their competition (WoW makes back its original design cost every week.)  It's that Blizzard doesn't waste its money doing crap customers dislike.

 I'd just like to also add that once something starts gaining momentum and popularity, it's not easy to stop.

As obvious as that sounds, I'm not sure that's true.  WoW is at the same place EQ was six years ago: a top-heavy clientelle still paying their fees but desperate for something new. If somebody can design a game to target specific parts of that market, they'll make a killing.  In order to compete with Blizzard, all someone needs to do is match their quality and then SEGMENT THE MARKET.

But nobody seems to be trying to do that.  They just keep trying to make another WoW, just with slightly lower quality and different IP's.  Think about it: look at any new MMORPG out there today and ask, "Why would someone like this particular game over all the rest?" 'Cause they'd rather play a Wookie, or a genuine Tolkien(TM) elf? Maybe, but for most players, the appeal of that kind of purely stylistic distinction doesn't last very long.

Nowadys, it seems like all the new MMORPG's have the same button-flashing minigame combat and arcade-style death system.  If you want to make a new game for kids, that's great, but make it JUST for kids.  Likewise, if you want to make an MMORPG for grownups, make something that will hold the interest of the non-ADD crowd.  The different gameplay styles of new MMORPG's are more like bit errors in an imperfect copy than carefully targeted market strategies.

It made perfect sense for Blizzard to design a single game for everyone.  But nobody else can do that.  Don't try to beat Blizzard at their own game, because beating people at their own game IS Blizzard's game.  WoW is like a brontosaurous; you can't attack it by trying to squash it; that's just stupid.  But if you aim for the right place and start tearing off - there's a lot of meat there.

Very good article, you pretty much nailed it.

A game will beat Wow eventually, but I do not see any of the announced ones doing it, including Bioware's entry.  Remember there is a big difference from making single player games and moving into the MMO genre.  We have to wait and see if Bioware has smarts to do that.  Also LA seems to have significant decision rights with their IP and that proved disasterous for SOE.

My guess, strictly based on what I have seen from the industry so far, the next big thing will be the unannounced MMO that Blizzard is working on currently.  I don't see anyone else in the industry with as good a feeling for the genre as Blizzard seems to have.

WoW 2 will kill WoW