wow-killer
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Does anyone even care about a "WoW killer" anymore?
There's been one constant in my six years of writing for WoW Insider -- everyone thinks something is going to kill WoW. Off the top of my head there's been Warhammer Online, Star Wars, Guildwars 2, Oblivion, Rift, Aion, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy (again), The Secret World, and a bankrupt project by 38 Studios. Many of those have gone free to play, have been shuttered, or have a fraction of a fraction of the WoW playerbase enjoying them. Nothing has ever turned into a threat. Enter stage right: WildStar and Elder Scrolls Online. Can you hear me yawn? There's a certain segment of the population that will always think the next thing is going to kill of WoW. And one day they'll be right -- after all something has to be The Next Big Thing. That's just a universal truth about time and existence, empires are created and empires fall. The World of Warcraft seems to have a longer shelf life than anyone thought, and with the uptick in subscriptions and (from personal experience) a significant uptick in interest, the death of WoW seems to have been put off, once again, for quite a long time. I'm curious though, is this opinion shared? I look at all this "WoW killer" talk and just yawn. Even there, just typing it out made me yawn. Let's answer a poll so I can go get some coffee and not yawn about these latest shiny things: %Poll-87197%
Project Titan: A brief history of a game that doesn't exist
For the last several years, the MMO community has been abuzz with rumors regarding Blizzard Entertainment's Project Titan. Long reported to be a brand-new MMO based on an entirely original intellectual property, Titan was a top-secret project discussed only through occasional interviews, job postings, and hearsay. No footage ever slipped through the cracks; no early alpha build accidentally leaked to the web. Unfortunately, Project Titan as we knew it is no more. Rumors broke in May that development on the project had been restarted from scratch, and Blizzard offered comments that didn't so much as confirm those rumors as lend them a hefty amount of credence. Now it seems as though whatever we might have known about Titan may no longer apply, and whatever Blizzard had created so far may never see the light of day. With that in mind, let's take a little adventure through the rumorsphere and look back on the history of Project Titan and the stories surrounding it.
Has Blizzard left an opening for the next generation of WoW killers?
As Blizzard has faltered with its recent loss of WoW subscribers and the reset of its yet to be announced next MMO, other developers, hungry to make inroads in the MMO market, have looked on this as an opportunity. So, after countless games have tried to claim the title, are we really about to see a WoW killer come to market? Stephan Frost, Game Design Producer at NCsoft's Carbine Studios, thinks that it gives his game Wildstar a better chance to succeed. "We're coming out at a time when WoW is losing subscribers and we can fill the void for people who want an MMO that's deep, hardcore but also accessible to people." In the meanwhile, Take-Two Interactive has taken the opposing angle, saying that no one -- not even Blizzard -- can succeed because the North American market is a poor one for MMOs. Analysts agree that Blizzard's delay can only be an opportunity for others, though with WoW's current patch frenzy, it's clear that Blizzard isn't planning on relinquishing its title as top MMO any time soon. So is scifi MMO Wildstar going to be the next big thing? Or will Take-Two's Asian-market MMOs be a smashing success? Only time will tell.
Breakfast Topic: Doomsday predictions
WoW Doomsday predictions -- they're happening in the comments of The Queue, in the official forums, actually everywhere that people can comment relevantly about World of Warcraft. It's the end of WoW because of pandas. WoW is dead because of the Black Market Auction House. The WoWpocalypse is near because Blizzard is catering to the casuals. I know that subscription numbers must be a little down right now. Many people suspended their accounts in order to play Diablo III. Many others canceled until they see how Mists of Pandaria turns out. I don't know what the magic number of subscribers is for Blizzard to make a profit from its MMO, but my guess is that it's much less than the 10.2 million reported last month. Most MMOs would be happy with a third of that number. Despite what the very loud doomsayers predict, millions of people are enjoying Azeroth and are happily paying the subscription fee to do so. As Ben at the Asylum Wall pointed out, the entertainment dollar per hour value is low. Of course, you still need to be having fun playing, or any amount of money will be too much to pay. Are you still subscribing? If not, why not? Do you think the end of World of Warcraft is nigh? Why? Even if you think WoW will be around for many years more, what do you think would bring about its demise?
The Soapbox: Defining the WoW-killer
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. I haven't written much about World of Warcraft. There are many reasons for this. For one, Massively rarely pays WoW more than the bare minimum lip service (due to the game's being fairly exclusive to our WoW Insider sister site). For another, I don't look at Blizzard's behemoth all that fondly, and the sum total of my time in Azeroth amounts to about 20 hours spread over six weeks. As it does for everyone else who makes a living off of MMORPGs, though, WoW looms over my shoulder like a billowing dust cloud after a titanic explosion, reaching relentlessly for the heavens and effectively blotting out the sun. There's really no way to measure how influential this one game has been on not just MMORPGs but gaming in general. There are the population numbers, of course, and even though WoW has been shedding subs in bushels of late, it could continue to do so for the better part of a year and still dwarf the second largest subscription title by a considerable margin. That kind of success cannot be planned, nor do I believe that it will be replicated. WoW was a happy accident for Blizzard, a perfect storm of polish and timing the likes of which the MMO industry will not see again.
The Perfect Ten: MMO forum terms beaten to death
If there's one aspect of MMO culture that I have difficulty saying anything positive about, it would have to be the official forum. No matter how well-moderated and well-intentioned studio forums may be, they're essentially giant signs broadcasting "COME WHINE HERE!" When you witness a 500-page thread that's responding to a badly spelled rant about a nerf we'll all forget about in a month's time, it's hard not to break down and weep at the time and energy lost to such trivial stupidity. And with the forums -- and to a lesser extent, comments on blogs, Twitter, and telegraphs -- comes a shocking array of linguistic conformity. You see, when people are upset or eager to prove a point, they have no time to sit down and calmly think of a way to fully communicate their perspectives. No time! Instead, they reach deep into the well of the same overused words and phrases, give them a hearty kick in the direction of their post, and feel as though they've conjured up a masterful work of literature. So today I'm going to exorcise 10 of the most overused, abused, and tired forum terms seen daily in your local MMO forum. Then I will move on with my life and suggest you do the same.
Blizzard COO: We hope Titan will still be growing in 20 years
Finding (or developing) the first real World of Warcraft-killer is something of a holy grail for MMO fans and developers alike. The extraordinary success of Blizzard's fantasy title has set the company and its flagship product on a seemingly unreachable pedestal in terms of financial success and subscriber numbers. Conventional wisdom says that's unlikely to be duplicated any time soon, if ever, but Blizzard COO Paul Sams isn't so sure. In a new interview with Gamasutra, he talks a bit about Titan, the code name for the as-yet-unannounced followup to World of Warcraft. "I believe [it's] the most ambitious thing we've ever attempted," Sams told Gamasutra. "And I feel like we have set our company up to succeed on that. We have some of our most talented and most experienced developers on that team. Many of the people that built World of Warcraft are full time on that other team." Will WoW's 12 million subscribers jump ship and make Titan the raging success that its predecessor was? "The thing that we hope will happen is that it will not stop World of Warcraft but we believe it will eclipse it," Sams said, before adding that he expects Titan to be an industry force over the next two decades.
Is Star Wars: The Old Republic four years out of date?
We know that Star Wars: The Old Republic is the most anticipated game of 2011 according to our readers and writers, even if one of the reasons is that we want to "see what kind of MMO you get for that kind of money." However, if you were to ask one of the writers at 1Up.com, EA is not spending the money in the right places. In the article, there are claims that EA is looking to topple the World of Warcraft giant given similarities between SWTOR and the Blizzard MMO. The writer uses words like "generic" and "conventional" to describe the leveling system for the Star Wars game and says that BioWare is simply playing follow-the-leader by playing it safe. "Given Blizzard's enormous headstart though, a developer has to do more than play it safe to reach the heights that World of Warcraft has scaled," the article asserts. The developers at BioWare claim they are not attempting to copy WoW. However, the similarities exist. Even our own writers have said they feel "right at home" with the controls because they're like World of Warcraft's. Other writers say that it is different enough. Who will be right in the end? Maybe our curiosity for the game alone is enough to make SWTOR a success. For the whole article stop by 1Up.com, and for more information about Star Wars: The Old Republic, visit its official website.
Blizzard not yet ready to slaughter the cash cow and go F2P
It seems like the subscription-free bug has been catching on lately. Turbine experimented by rolling Dungeons and Dragons Online over to free-to-play, and saw their players (and revenue) jump appreciably. Now Turbine is taking the next step by rolling their triple-A MMO, Lord of the Rings Online, over to the same model. We've also recently seen Hi-Rez Studios take Global Agenda over to a somewhat similar model to Guild Wars -- buy it once, play it forever. What might we see go subscription-free next? Could it be World of Warcraft? According to Tom Chilton, Lead Designer on Blizzard's current kong-sized-gorilla, World of Warcraft, the company has thought about free-to-play as a potential model for their flagship MMO. But we'd warn you against celebrating just yet: Those thoughts have been more along the lines of intellectual curiosity -- a "down the road when we're not on top" type of thing. While many companies are working hard to improve their portion of the market, there just haven't been any fabled "WoW killers" as yet, poised to bean the Blizzard-spawned giant in the head with the proverbial well-aimed rock. Until that time comes -- even if they wind up unseating WoW with another monster of their own creation -- we're unlikely to see Blizzard dropping those lucrative monthly subscription fees. If you're curious as to the specific details, the article over on PC Gamer's site is worth a read. It gives you a glimpse into the current philosophy at Blizzard with regard to recent market trends, as well as how this may impact their game now and in the future. [via WoW.com]
Warhammer 40k devs on unusual pricing structure and WoW-killing
"WoW-killer" is a cliched term these days, and many MMO fans continue to keep a weather eye out for the game that will take down the juggernaut of the gaming world. No thanks, say the developers behind Warhammer 40k. Brian Farrell is the CEO and President of THQ, the company behind Warhammer 40k, and he has no desire to go after that title. "What we love about the Warhammer 40K MMO is that it's different in that it's a sci-fi, futuristic-based world. We're not competing directly in the orcs and elves fantasy environment that World of Warcraft is in. We can differentiate ourselves." Farrell feels that there is plenty of room for more than one great title, particularly since the game is a completely different type of MMO. In addition to addressing the WoW question, Farrell also offered up some interesting information regarding the pricing structure for Warhammer 40k, indicating that it will vary depending on what part of the world you are playing in. Warhammer40k will be revealed fully at E3 this June, but for now you can take a look at more of what Farrell had to say recently over at IGN.
The perfect MMO concept is complete
GamerZines just wrapped up a blog series detailing all the ingredients that make their perfect MMO and they want your feedback. They also plan to pitch these ideas to various MMO studios and eventually compile it all as a full feature in their free MMO magazine, aptly titled MMOZine.We wrote about parts one through five a couple weeks ago and since then they have come out with a sixth part. In part six, the author suggests "next-gen" MMOs should become more homogenized in terms of their feature sets. Why re-invent the wheel when you can copy a perfectly working system already, they ask. Somehow, we don't think everyone's going to agree with that one.If nothing other than one man's (or magazine's) opinion, this series highlights a valid point about game development. Because everyone has different gaming tastes, developers are bombarded with strong opinions from all sides. "You should focus on hardcore raiding." "No, you should focus on casual questing." "I want to experience epic large-scale PvP." "But I want your PvP to be solo-friendly!" That has to be difficult, unless you're so focused on your game's vision that you can tune out most of the background noise.
Gamerzines blog series on crafting the perfect MMO
Gamerzines doesn't want to sound arrogant, but they're pretty sure they can design the perfect WoW-killer and because they're such nice folks, they're going to spill the beans in a series of blog posts. There are five parts so far that include their must-have elements for the next best MMO since [insert your favorite MMO title here]. Part 1 - User generated content that passes through a quality filter Part 2 - Persistent world and good story Part 3 - Crafting and economy 2.0 (see EVE Online's industry) Part 4 - Old school RPG customization system (stats, appearance, gear, etc.) Part 5 - Real world simulation This is obviously a pretty bold series if it aims to change the MMO landscape, but the ideas do seem interesting even though none of them are exactly novel so far. That said, they are starting to fit together nicely as newer parts of the series come out.For instance, allowing players to have a visible and lasting impact on the game and then mixing it with the concept of a more real world simulation could produce interesting outcomes; e.g., too much hunting of one particular species could throw the ecosystem and biodiversity of the surrounding area out of balance.[Via: Warcry]
Ask Massively: Wrath vs All Comers
Never let it be said that Ask Massively doesn't give everyone a chance to be heard. We believe that everyone should have a voice, and it is in the interest of providing that voice that we bring you the following question.Dear MassivelyI am SO SICK of all of the coverage of Wrath of the Lich King! I demand that someone at Massively write about something that isn't World of Warcraft related this week. Non-WoW players aren't interested in an expansion for a game that they don't even play. Someone throw me a freakin' bone here!Sarah P.Someone hasn't been paying attention, have they...
Will SWTOR be bigger than WoW? LucasArts thinks so
Here we go again. While recent triple-A MMOs have shied away from a downright challenge to competing with World of Warcraft's behemoth subscription numbers, EA Games president Frank Gibeau and LucasArts' online chief Tom Nichols have come right out and said that Star Wars: The Old Republic has the potential to be bigger than WoW.According to a recent interview with videogaming247, BioWare's newly announced MMO has very high expectations. Both Nichols and Gibeau seem very confident in the power of the Star Wars brand to take the game higher than any other MMO has gone before. "This is going to be a powerful category and there's lots of ways to compete in this category," Gibeau stated. "[Blizzard] created a much larger opportunity for everybody else, but that doesn't mean it's going to stay that way."
Blizzard retains PC gaming dominance
As if in response to predictions of the beginning of the end, Blizzard's market dominance in US PC game sales was reaffirmed in late August through the NPD Group's research. In fact, World of Warcraft garnered three of the top spots on the PC game sales chart, with The Diablo Battle Chest and The Warcraft III Battle Chest thrown in for good measure, Gamesindustry.biz reports. While it could be argued that World of Warcraft's steady retail box sales silences all erroneous claims of the rise of a WoW-killer (oops... uttered the dreaded phrase), this doesn't seem to take into account all those Warhammer Online pre-orders placed in August. In that case, September might paint a different picture. But let's face it -- WoW's not going away anytime in the foreseeable future. And despite the knocks World of Warcraft takes from some MMO gamers, would you really want a world without Warcraft? One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
The Daily Grind: Is WAR the WoW killer?
The Warhammer Online NDA has been lifted, and a veritable tidal wave of WAR-related information has struck the internet. The open beta test is imminent, but countless pre-order customers are already in the closed beta. The game's launch is only a month away! So this is a great time to ask for your predictions: is Warhammer Online the long-awaited World of Warcraft killer?Some folks hoped it would be Age of Conan, but while that game is doing all right, it hasn't lived up for the hype for everyone. Are all your hopes placed in WAR now, or will it take BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Online or Cryptic's Star Trek Online to move the genre into the next era? Hell, maybe WoW will never be dethroned by one game.Make your predictions here, but we have a disclaimer: we won't be held responsible for any shame and embarrassment when you're proven way off base in the future!
Forum post of the day: The future is not what it used to be
With the Wrath Beta Opt-in available, we're one step closer to the expansion. We're all anxiously awaiting the time when the expansion is ready. I'm still having fun with the existing World of Warcraft, but I'm a bit antsy. There is a lot of frustration over existing conditions, especially when it comes to PvP. Chloroform of EU-Magtheridon isn't interested in waiting. He listed his grievances in the EU-PVP Forum, "Balance issues, queue times, destroying premades, AFK problems, uneven teams, world pvp screwed by 9000yd aggro range ultra guards." Like many others, Jasse of EU-Bronzebeard blames the arena for the death of PvP.
Runes of Magic to offer comprehensive feature set, but you'll have to wait
Runes of Magic is a pretty thorough-sounding MMO coming out of Frogster Interactive Pictures, who also count Chronicles of Spellborn as one of their properties. According to the website, the list of features is fairly comprehensive, and we've included it after the jump. Frogster (which, by the way, is the greatest company name ever) was also nice enough to provide a ton of screenshots and concept art -- and it certainly looks pretty.We can't fault Frogster for planning ahead: A recent press release states that the launch is planned for " ... before Christmas 2008. The English version will be released soon afterwards." You know, it's been a while since we've used the term "WoW Killer" -- with this list of features, at least on paper Runes of Magic could be the next contender!%Gallery-24476%[Thanks, Axel!]
Last Week on Massively: WoW-related stories
This week's round up of WoW-related posts on our sister site Massively covers many different angles of the MMO universe dominated by World of Warcraft. You can click on the links below or subscribe to a special WoW-only Massively feed.As the Worlds Turn: Get your fixWith so many games out there, presenting different worlds, different rules, different ways to play, what is it that grabs hold of players and, for some, doesn't let go?Does WoW really need to be 'beaten'?When will the constant cries of 'Will this be the WoW-killer?' be stifled once and for all? Let's instead concentrate on the far more interesting question: 'Why does there need to be a WoW-killer?'Pong creator Nolan Bushnell to enter MMO spaceThe man many call 'the Father of Videogames' -- as he is responsible for founding Atari and creating Pong -- Nolan Bushnell was recently interviewed by GameSpot at this year's GDC.Behind the Curtain: Should raiders get special treatment?Loot should always be a secondary concern in MMOs. I've been seeing more and more, the idea that developers should put the concerns of those players whose sole or primary concern is the acquisition of loot above the concerns of other players.Clan Gear: guild clothing for the massesAdam and Freya Chapman have run Threadsafe, a direct-to-garment printing business, for the last two years. Now, in conjunction with Adam's brother Keith, they're opening Clan Gear, a direct-to-garment printing outlet for gamers, where the focus on the printing is your artwork, your character, and your designs.Investment of $1 billion+ wouldn't dethrone WoW, exec saysAccording to a report, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick stated in an investor meeting that his company had done extensive research on the MMO category, and came to the conclusion that even a game bolstered by an initial investment of $500 million to $1 billion would still probably have a hell of a time competing in the same space as the Blizzard juggernaut.
The Daily Grind: Does WoW really need to be 'beaten'?
When will the constant cries of 'Will this be the WoW-killer?' be stifled once and for all? It's an endlessly fascinating debate, apparently, with some huge cachet to be awarded to the winner -- well beyond, of course, the obvious monetary spoils to be accrued. But then, of course, the question transfers to the victor: 'What will be the WoW-killer-killer?'Pfagh, enough. Let's instead concentrate on the far more interesting question: 'Why does there need to be a WoW-killer?' Does everyone think that Blizzard will just hang it up if some new title manages to amass more persistent accounts then they have? Will current players suddenly think 'Thank the gods, there's an alternative! I can escape my slavish chains!' and then recapitulate their drudgery with the new game? Or do people just feel the need to root for the underdog? Chime in with your thoughts, O Constant Readers.
