Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsDeveloper resolution for 2009: Beat Warcraft
by Mike Schramm 
Jan 6th 2009 at 4:00PM
Our friends at GameDaily have a nice set of resolutions for game developers next year, and it's definitely worth a read if you're interested in seeing where they think the game industry might improve in 2009. But number three is the most interesting one for us: they suggest that game developers (and MMO devs in specific, we'd imagine) should make this the year that something else beats World of Warcraft.It seems much more unlikely than last year: last year, we were looking down the barrel of Age of Conan and Warhammer Online, and wondering if either one of those might cause a road bump in WoW's traffic. Age of Conan was called the steak to our game's McDonald's, but in the end, WoW players didn't do much more than give it a cursory glance. And while Warhammer seemed like a good contender to the throne, it hasn't come close to taking a bite out of Azeroth. This year, it doesn't even seem like there will be any MMO contenders. GameDaily cites Bioware's Star Wars MMO, but that's not coming out in 2009, and while The Agency and DC Universe Online might be getting close to finished, it's unlikely we'll see them on the shelves this year either.
This might be a year of recuperation, for both Blizzard and their competitors. Lord of the Rings Online is doing well, so their big task is just to keep the content moving, and unlike last year, Blizzard has no real impetus this year to really push their playerbase to stick with the game. As with everything, we'll have to see what happens, but I'd expect a much more subdued year this go-around for the MMO market. When the MMOs in progress now come to fruition in 2010, then things will likely get more interesting.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
sharkeater75 Jan 6th 2009 4:41PM
well the above will get you there but my apologies
http://www.darkfallonline.com/
is the correct link. cutting edge. and a long long time in development.
Holgar Jan 6th 2009 5:01PM
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
You actually think a total nieche game, (Everyone who likes being ganked and having all your items stolen say I!) from a developer who has never made a game before, who promises more things than the AoC dev team did ten times over, will be better than Warcraft? They haven't even got a public beta together and the reviews they post on the forums are a TOTAL joke.
There is no evidence that more than 1 in 10 of the features they promise even exists.
Guess what mon, chou gonna be reel disappointed mon.
ghogiel Jan 6th 2009 8:32PM
Whenever someone mentioned darkfall - Duke Nukem always comes up in my mind: when ?
So far there are very little (if not none) evidence (just promises/hype) if it's going to kick ass.
Also - like the above poster mentioned: it's going to be a very niche game. I know for sure that the game's not for me - I'm a carebear who got real life commitments who could care less of getting gank'd everytime I log on.
CursedSeishi Jan 6th 2009 4:49PM
Eh, you have to wonder though, how long is WoW going to be able to stay fresh. Sure there is the players that have lasted for 4+ years, but I bet you that it's mainly because they found a guild they enjoyed and raided. I've never heard of a player that has played that long that was guildless and never raided.
WoW's already grown a little stale to me, I love the guild I'm in, and I've started raiding with them when I can. Yet it doesn't completely keep me interested. Theres only so many times you can raid a place before it becomes a task of monotony and the fun is gone. The achievements and 'hard-mode switches' like the dragons in Obsidian Sanctum can only add so much replayability to WoW before it's seen as just a way of artificially lengthening content added.
Personally, I'm looking forward to a nice game called Earthrise. I'll try out Aion, and I've been meaning to try out War, but ER has my attention right now for the most part :P
darian Jan 6th 2009 6:27PM
You can wonder this, but ultimately your situation has been occurring since May 05. It hasn't stopped WoW from continuing to rake in more and more players.
WoW may peak without a real challenge or replacement, but I think that it will, at worst, recede to a player base of 5 million over a *long* period of time, only collapsing if/when a true "WoW killer" or replacement comes around.
Chaz Jan 6th 2009 4:51PM
two games that were not mentioned that are coming out this year, (Atari is shooting for a Spring Release) are the Star Trek MMO and Champions-Online MMO. Champions-Online look very well done, and it will be interesting to see what kind of following they get. Cryptic Studios is know to release good stuff and for it to grow. But as for a WoW Killer, with the following that the game has, I doubt it will fall.
stabbington Jan 6th 2009 5:02PM
I'm thinking the next legitimate shot at beating WoW comes from Star Wars: The Old Republic. The *only* reason I give it a chance is because it's coming from Bioware, who I respect as much as Blizzard.
That's Bioware, B-I-O-W-A-R-E, so no comparing it to SOE and the debacle that was SWG just because of the Star Wars name.
Amaxe Jan 6th 2009 6:37PM
That is the game I am interested in, though in some ways SW seems doomed to failure. No matter how good of a Jedi you become, you know you're going to be succeeded by Hayden Christensen
Ruthar Jan 6th 2009 5:27PM
As a Mac user WoW is pretty much all there is in terms of MMO's. So thats a small chunk of the market right there.
Candina@WH Jan 6th 2009 5:34PM
Small chunk and Growing.
Double Digits as of the last survey I ready (based on web pages scanned by OS and Browser).
Liel Jan 6th 2009 5:47PM
I don't think you can "beat" wow just appeal to a different type of gamer and accept a different form of success. EQ1 was the biggest there was at what 800K players? Wow is a fluke not the norm, I am pretty sure 90 percent of wow players will quit eventually and not touch another MMO again if Wow was their first mmo. I know I played others and really lack the desire to learn another one from scratch.
Southrncomfortjm Jan 6th 2009 6:26PM
Nothing will be World of Warcraft out the gate, nothing. What a game developer needs to do is create a game with a solid base to start with and then spend the next few years upgrading and fixing it just as Blizzard has done through numerous patches and 2 expansion.
What will a game need to draw people away from WoW? Well it can start by addressing some of the key issues that have been unresolved by WoW for a long time:
-Healing is (for most people) boring... find a way to make healing fun
-If PvE and PvP are both in the game, balance the skills in the game for these two aspects from the get go.
-All classes should be "Hybrid" in the sense that no class should be limited to one roll. Or some other fix so that there isn't a clash between "pures" and "hybrids."
-If there are talent trees like WoW, be careful not to make certain trees obsolete for the first 2-3 years of the game for anything other than leveling/pvp.
-There are many more, but these are just some of the issues that Blizzard will almost certainly never be able to fix because of how the game was started and has evolved.
Other than that, find a way to make the game fun, enjoyable, and not much of a grind (unless you just want to attract the hardcore crowd).
But yeah, beating or matching WoW cannot be done in one fell swoop. Its going to take a dedicated and talented development team lots of time to get to the level of quality of WoW.
Jyotai Jan 6th 2009 7:29PM
The problem with that notion is that competitors have to compete with today's WoW, not WoW at launch day.
A competing product has to be better than WoW;
-more polished and less buggy
-more user friendly
-more mass market appealing
-more customizable
-and more everything than WoW...
on the -day- it launches to beta test... or it will be doomed.
And by live, it has to be even better than that.
A near impossible set of shoes to fill.
Nemesis Jan 6th 2009 6:46PM
First of, I don't think any MMO will beat WoW financially for another 3-5 years even if it's a better game than WoW.
Second, no MMO since WoW has received great reviews, I'm talking 95%+. I kind of think developers are out of fresh ideas right now, Warhammer and Lotr are great games but they haven't taken a step forward on the MMO front.
For an MMO to be as successful as WoW you need an experienced company that polishes their games to near perfection, a game that suits as many peoples PCs as possible while looking appealing , smooth animations, long-lasting appeal and a step forward gameplay wise, something different than grind - reward - grind reward.
Three games I think have a chance to be successful is the new Star Wars from Bioware, Bethesda's Elder Scrolls MMO (probably won't come out for years and years) or Blizzards new MMO (which I think will succeed just like WoW did).
Dodger Jan 6th 2009 8:09PM
Yes, WoW isn't going to be "killed" this year. Frankly, WoW probably will never BE killed, when EverQuest 2 still has something of a following. There are a few on the horizon, however, that may very well make Blizz sweat a little.
Most notable is Champions Online. Not only does it have a sizable fan base from the pen and paper game (much like WoW's following from the RTS games), but it's also in the hands of a capable developer in Cryptic that has experience from City of Heroes/Villains. On top of that, being on the Xbox 360 would give them a much larger install base immediately- like how WoW gives Mac users (like myself) a viable game choice. If Microsoft cuts a deal so Xbox Live subscribers don't have to pay an extra fee to play, then the buzz would probably lead most (if not all) 360 owners to at least give it a try.
If it turns out to be good- which I think it will be- then WoW may very well have a problem.
Jyotai Jan 6th 2009 7:25PM
Competitors are too focused on making games based on what they didn't like in WoW, rather than looking at what it is about WoW that the masses who play it do like, and doing that better or with twists that WoW can't compare to.
WoW is the supermarket of MMOs, you can't beat it with a specialty health food shop, you've got to hit it with a Walmart.
Kiristo Jan 6th 2009 7:32PM
I think the way wrath is going more people will get bored faster than before. I doubt they plan on even making another expansion, especially if they are going to make a Starcraft MMO, which sounds stupid imo. I'm looking forward to the KOTOR MMO though. Won't be this year, but I don't know if it will have to be if Wrath doesn't hold my attention.
ghogiel Jan 6th 2009 8:44PM
The way I see it - only Blizzard themselves could lower the dominance of WoW, either through:
* making mistakes (throwing the game off-balance for example)
or
* through other games: Diablo 3, SC2. I know I'm (and at least 5 real life friends) going to cancel WoW sub when Diablo 3's out.
uncaringbear Jan 6th 2009 10:06PM
It never fails to amuse me, the number of people prophetizing the imminent closure of WoW. WoW is a huge money maker for Activision. Now a few members of the development team may be feeling a little bored or burnt out from working on WoW, but is that reason enough to cut such a huge source of revenue?
As far as competition from future MMO's, I pray we see a worthy competitor soon. As much as I love WoW, lack of any serious competition has made the game show signs of stagnation. Innovation and creativity often needs the motivation of a threat from an external source.
Kman911lalive Jan 6th 2009 10:12PM
WoW will die when blizzard has already released a new MMO. At that point subsscription will wane till there's no point in keeping up the old servers and all will switch. Plus you know that their next game will be comparable to wow and as accesible for everyone too...
I personally cant wait for the WoW "killer", considering i quit wow cuse of the lack of exictment i got from it and havent been back on since september before release.
I just like to search the internet for somthing that will ultimatley kill BLIZZARD MUAHHAHAHA, till then...CoD World at War is dope xD