Loading... 2008 in review - PotBS and AoC

[Ethec]

Two of 2008's most promising prospects got off to a bit of a rocky start and are only just now coming into their own.

We look at Pirates of the Burning Sea and Age of Conan as only a Monday morning quarterback can, plus offer an insightful interview on the prospects of a Sci-Fi MMO from Trion networks, a review of Perfect World International, 9 exclusive AoC screenshots, and much more in the very first newsletter of 2009: Loading... 2008 in review - PotBS and AoC!

[Barbarious]

I doubt AoC will ever recover to a noteworthy level.

The game will probably "maintain" but considering the shenanigans worth of hype it had pre-launch the game is going to go down in history mostly as a disappointment.

It's an unfortunate truth about our society but first-impressions last.

That being said - the game has a lot of potential to scoop up some of the hard-core crowd that Blizz. has largely ignored in Wotlk thus far.

Not to bash Wotlk. because it was definitely a solid expansion, but by most of the xx-HardCore-xx communities consensus the game just didn't deliver in terms of content difficulty and challenge.

Regardless of if you agree with that or not - there's going to be a lot of bored raiders quite soon and AoC could capitalize on that if Blizz. doesn't pull a fast one when the Ulduar and subsequent Azjol-Nerub/Icecrown raids are released.

Who knows?

[huddscudd]

While I think POTBS will continue in its niche category as a fun nation vs. nation contest, AOC just blew it. The robust requirements to run it smoothly makes it very much a 'niche' fantasy game that only hardest of hardcore gaming systems can handle.

MMOLG rule number 1 for success: Create a game engine that can run on just about about any computer.

[Savanja]

I don't see "niche game" as being a dirty word. I always seem to find myself rooting for the underdogs these days when it comes to gaming but honestly everything looks like a niche after WoW. Back in the day snagging a 200k sub base was called success! These days it's called "Not WoW".

AoC will plug along, maybe winning back a few here and there. We've been seeing a slight upswing in activity lately and perhaps the server merges will bolster confidence and pull a few back in. If they are smart they will put together an amazing expansion that puts some focus on PvP and siege play.

[bobdole1979]

Originally Posted by Savanja

I don't see "niche game" as being a dirty word. .

Of course its not dirty in fact there is an old saying "The Niche will make you Rich" It is true of course especially now more then ever since you can reach more people with the internet. Look at all the different kinds of fetish sex sites out there. The only thing is you have to manage to keep your costs low for it to make you rich. Of course Conan didn't do that so while I am sure it will continue on it won't make anyone rich.

Of course the entire reason people think niche is a dirty word is because of wow. For some incredibly stupid reason people think that if you don't have WoWs numbers you are a failure and nothing could be further from the truth.

[Miralyn]

Originally Posted by bobdole1979

For some incredibly stupid reason people think that if you don't have WoWs numbers you are a failure and nothing could be further from the truth.

Well stated BD.

Yes WoW changed how people see MMOs but a lot of these companies tried to compete with WoW and figured the name alone would do it. They released products that were half complete or simply not ready for market and shot themselves in the foot. Gamers these days won't play incomplete games, not with so many choices out there. In the end those games gave people who played WoW no long-term reason to leave WoW, as well as not factoring the fact that people played what their friends played.

So while yes WoW does skew the numbers and cause a lot of comparisons I think a lot of it is these competitors' mindsets. I give kudos to Warhammer and Mythic for not trying to compete with WoW and being content to "be #2" as one of their lead developers said.

I'd rather have a game that consistently does some business then one that makes a big splash and then drops off and eventually dies (i.e. Tabula Rasa). I think NCSoft is seeing the long-term implications that no matter the title the next game they develop will have a "wait and see" attitude from a lot of people.

I think Conan and Vanguard can build back some player base but the fact is no one is going to compete with WoW - until these companies understand that there is going to be a trail of poorly released games (Warhammer excepting) and people wondering what happened. Just make your game and set reasonable expectations - but expecting WoW numbers overnight is just asking for disaster.

[Acidbaron]

Age of conan keeps getting new members, that is something not to be ignored and their look on the game isn't the same at all from those who joined at the start.

New things over the horizon aswell that improve the game even further, i think if they play it smart they will get a million subs back.

I think people would be surprised when in the future they reactived former subs accounts again for free to see how the game looks like now.

And while the bad start has made it harder for the 'informed' mmo player to try it out, that block hasn't have to stay there forever.



WoW also had the luxury that when they were around the most populated game was a bit over a million, cause i remember people moaning at the early days of WoW that there wasn't much to do, the dungeons were dull there was like 1(?) end game dungeon.

Now the market is bigger and the standards are higher and if another game had that many subs and WoW was to be launched now it would've just as much issues other game houses now have.