Them's fighting words! During a recent conference call, NCsoft CFO Jaeho Lee stated, "I believe the performance of Aion in the US and European markets will be very successful. ... We are guessing that Aion will be -- could be -- the second [most] successful MMO in the US market next to World of Warcraft".
And right there, folks, is the beginning of the downfall of AION.
I'm sorry, but the last time NCsoft got cocky was when they believed the Garriott brothers were the second coming of Christ. Remember that little dead game? Tabula Rasa?
Personally, I believe AION may do 500k non-goldfarming/botting subs in NA at the end of 6 months, if that. Regardless of how much they try to convince themselves otherwise, they do NOT understand western gamers.
Which is what he actual guy in the interview said. Its warhammer all ovr again. No matter how many times the PR people tell everyone that their game will not beat Woow you will still have 1,000's of fanboys and wow haters calling it the "WoW Killer".
Its just sad that we actually web columnists spouted the same garbage , trying to ignite the flames........
People don't read it seems. He never claimed they'll beat WoW, quite the opposite. He said they'll be the second most successful MMO, not the first. Remains to be seen of course.
And technically all they need is subscriptions in the range of 300-500k for it.
well to me its matter of ppl.. if they dont hold back the capacity of ppl play that not going to be any problem.. like WoW.. all ppl in the world can play thats is y its so popular.. if aion want to achieve something like that.. need to have international server not like some mmorpg got ip block or some sort of things..
I don't think Aion will do as good as it could in NA if they would remove GameGuard. I think NCSoft is under estimating NA gamer's hatred for these type of game-parasites. The fact that it's a completely useless program that does nothing to prevent hacking/cheating and can cause multiple issues with computers doesn't help much either.
Even though, I think Aion will do well with GameGuard, but it could do much better without it.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
well to me its matter of ppl.. if they dont hold back the capacity of ppl play that not going to be any problem.. like WoW.. all ppl in the world can play thats is y its so popular.. if aion want to achieve something like that.. need to have international server not like some mmorpg got ip block or some sort of things..
As far as I know NCSoft is not going to be IP blocking. The game is already released in 3 countries and you can connect to all of those servers from anywhere else in the world currently.
It's the same way WoW works. Local servers, but no IP blocking.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
I haven't played Aion, so I can't comment on that. I have read about it, and it is NCsoft. I think NcSofts reputation is hurt over here by the closing of two games. Medicore, crap or garbage, call them what you want, but closing a game spews hatred for a company. After the initial launch in a busy month(maybe 4 MMO's if Jumpgate:evolution launches, fallen earth, aion, and champions) it is going to be a hard month to launch in as many will only try one of those.
Ncsoft's biggest thing is hackers and keeping farmers out of the game. I see it keeping about 250-500k depending on how popular it is. I know a few MMO players that only play WoW and never tried anything else(guys from work I know) are picking it up because WoW is getting old. So if that mentality is across the nation, Aion will be a bigger hit than I thought.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, Asian MMOs just won't make the cut in the US. Lineage II, Final Fantasy Whatever (just die, already), they were both touted as the Next Great MMORPG. But American gamers can only take so much of the fuzzy, glowy, cutesy graphics and animation and sound and grind. Asian single-player console games sell great here, but they are different. Kids get their folks to buy them, and it's a one-time expenditure. But MMOs require subs, and adult gamers are more discriminating in their tastes and how their hard-earned money is spent. Aion might have an initial honeymoon sell (really, what ELSE is out there atm? nothing), but give it a few months, you'll see the US Aion servers are ghost towns in 4-5 months, tops.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, Asian MMOs just won't make the cut in the US. Lineage II, Final Fantasy Whatever (just die, already), they were both touted as the Next Great MMORPG. But American gamers can only take so much of the fuzzy, glowy, cutesy graphics and animation and sound and grind. Asian single-player console games sell great here, but they are different. Kids get their folks to buy them, and it's a one-time expenditure. But MMOs require subs, and adult gamers are more discriminating in their tastes and how their hard-earned money is spent. Aion might have an initial honeymoon sell (really, what ELSE is out there atm? nothing), but give it a few months, you'll see the US Aion servers are ghost towns in 4-5 months, tops.
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not going to take away much from Aion because it is a polished game and it is graphically appealing to some. The fact of the matter is that Aion peaks because nothing else good is out there now. It is doing what Lotro did in 2007. In 2007 Lotro won mmo of the year because nothing was competing with it. The same thing is happening again with Aion. Some may say well what about Champions. Sorry but Champions will be overlooked because the masses do not crave for a super-hero mmo. Enjoy Aion while you can but when Guild Wars 2 and The Old Republic hit center stage Aion will lose many subscribers.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, Asian MMOs just won't make the cut in the US. Lineage II, Final Fantasy Whatever (just die, already), they were both touted as the Next Great MMORPG. But American gamers can only take so much of the fuzzy, glowy, cutesy graphics and animation and sound and grind. Lineage 2 and FFXI both are doing quite well in the US. Maybe you can't take any more, but there are many NA gamers that are looking forward to Aion. Me being one of them.
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not everyone in the United States shares this one guy's opinion, you know? But thanks for doing exactly the same thing he did by lumping an entire region of people together under a stereotypical statement. Kind of ironic.
There are many, many people in the US that enjoy and immerse themselves in Asian culture, especially Japanese culture.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
I've said it before, I'll say it again, Asian MMOs just won't make the cut in the US. Lineage II, Final Fantasy Whatever (just die, already), they were both touted as the Next Great MMORPG. But American gamers can only take so much of the fuzzy, glowy, cutesy graphics and animation and sound and grind. Lineage 2 and FFXI both are doing quite well in the US. Maybe you can't take any more, but there are many NA gamers that are looking forward to Aion. Me being one of them.
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not everyone in the United States shares this one guy's opinion, you know? But thanks for doing exactly the same thing he did by lumping an entire region of people together under a stereotypical statement. Kind of ironic.
There are many, many people in the US that enjoy and immerse themselves in Asian culture, especially Japanese culture.
Isn't Aion out of Korea and not Japan? I don't see the connection with Aion and asian culture apart from the fact the game orginated there.
I really don't care where Aion comes from. Its a great looking game and one that will probably be around for awhile.
People are really underestimating Aion.....really really really underestimating it.
^^^Agree. I have played in beta and there is more to the game than people here are giving it credit for. It has mass appeal. In other words it has many components that many types of gamers will enjoy, hence more subs as a result. Similar to WOW. True its more PVP oriented, however it still has strong elements of PVE, strong crafting, great art direction, character customization, etc. the list goes on.
Aion has enough elements to keep many types of gamers interested and therefore that many more subs. I dont think NCSoft is speaking out of turn or getting ahead of themselves by claiming it may get the #2 spot. It will. And with more subs, more $$, more development/content...more more more.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, Asian MMOs just won't make the cut in the US. Lineage II, Final Fantasy Whatever (just die, already), they were both touted as the Next Great MMORPG. But American gamers can only take so much of the fuzzy, glowy, cutesy graphics and animation and sound and grind. Lineage 2 and FFXI both are doing quite well in the US. Maybe you can't take any more, but there are many NA gamers that are looking forward to Aion. Me being one of them.
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not everyone in the United States shares this one guy's opinion, you know? But thanks for doing exactly the same thing he did by lumping an entire region of people together under a stereotypical statement. Kind of ironic.
There are many, many people in the US that enjoy and immerse themselves in Asian culture, especially Japanese culture.
Offcourse there is, but as a user of this forum you must admit that the american population shows a great disrespect for the asian gaming culture in general, this is certain.
People are free to like or dislike whatevcer they want, but what i see here is a "oh, its asian its crap" attitude from the so called american crowd
PS to stratford: I sure hope Final Fantasy wont die already, I had the best tgaming time i can remenber playing final fantasys on my old playstaion 1 and super NES
It will be second, but the better question is for how long?
With FFXIV, old republic, champions, STO, and non-mmos like SC2, Dragon Age Origins, Assassin's creed 2, FFXIII...I think just the sheer amount of quality RPGs coming out (note I gave a variety list, 'quality' may be a loose term for some peoples tastes) that its more PVP focus late game will dwindle its early explosion.
I'm more interested in seeing Aion coupled with the next 1-2 years of powerful titles effects on WoW, than I really am caring about who is going to be be #2
Well i don't know about worldwide, but personally, this game trashes WoW, i quit wow to play this, wow is a drowning game trying to pretend its not, it may have a lot of players now, but i think it will not be long before people lose interest. I have read everything i can find on the internet about this game and everything seems well thought out, well planned, blizzard on the other hand have lost their ability or their will to think through their game and maintain balance. The classes are out of balance, the economy is drastically out of control (at least on all of the servers and battle groups i've ever been in) and if you read their patch notes no where in there, do they fix the problems of the games, they only worsen them and try to distract their players with new areas and new shiny toys, but in the end the new areas are buggy and the new shiny's lose their shine or are never attained. So really in my oppinion WoW is not going to be that big of competition, i think this could go for 1st once it becomes more well known and wow continues to decline. or if it does only reach 2nd it will be to another game. However, to be honest, i don't care if everyone else keeps playing wow or switches to aion or whatever, i just know that for me, its no contest, aion dominates wow.
I don't think it'll be second. Aion is just a prettier wow ripoff with a korean grind style of gameplay, it'll never be anything big really. After the early access me and a ton of people I know have canceled pre-orders after seeing the game is just a wow wanna be, and to add insult to injury it has a korean grind to it. Nothing were intersted in playing. We also hate wow, and anything that tries to copy it. Fantasy mmorpgs are kinda bleh now a days people want something new, the old swords and magic has been done to death.
Originally posted by tryklon Offcourse there is, but as a user of this forum you must admit that the american population shows a great disrespect for the asian gaming culture in general, this is certain. People are free to like or dislike whatevcer they want, but what i see here is a "oh, its asian its crap" attitude from the so called american crowd
No, I don't admit the American population shows a great disrespect for the Asian gaming culture. Where is your proof of this?
I will admit that this one poster seems to, or that a few other posters on these forums also seem to hate everything out of Korea or Japan.
I would like to point out that some of those people are not from America, and even those that are only reflect their personal opinions, not the opinions of an entire country.
As to the second part I'm guessing you're talking about the general feeling that the plethora of F2P Korean grind-fest games are sub-par and "crap".
That feeling is shared by many people in the Western world, not just the US. Just look at some of the F2P game forums here, there are a lot of non-US people that don't like these types of games as well.
Having said that, there are a lot of US players that do like these games, I'm not one of them, but they are out there.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm tired of people from other countries coming on here and taking what 1 guy says and then responding the way you did.
I have no problem if you address that one person directly, but when you say something like all Americans hate Asia, well, I take offense to that and it really makes you sound no better then the person who made the original post.
Edit: Sorry for the derailment, this will be the last thing I post on this topic.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
He yea i know after all Like many Asian MMO's that start in Asia like this did it probably already has more players than WoW already.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
I think it will be 2nd to WoW, but it's going to be short lived, only until Star Wars comes out. (Maybe Star Trek online, there are a lot of trekkies, after all).
To be blunt, it just doesn't have much competition. Most of it is really bad. Probably LOTRO is the best, and that's hurt by several factors. Slow gameplay (especially combat), confused game design (somewhat casual license, but now aiming for uber leet raiders, although it fails there badly), and grind, grind, grind, grind. I've played some of those so called asian grinders, and I tell you, LOTRO has nothing on them. (And I'm just talking about leveling, not the deeds, which are truly insane when it comes to grinding.)
Eh, that really isn't saying much in my opinion. In regards to the triple A mmo's out there the subscription numbers in comparison to WoW is rather pedistrian so gaining the #2 foothold is not a difficult feat to accomplish. I believe Aion will be able to capture this at the present time but still a distant #2 at this point. In 2010 who knows what will happen since there are a number of heavily awaited MMO's that should be released then. I'm just hoping this gaming genre picks up and we get more selection of good polished games to play.
Which is why I also asked the question -- does #2 only mean a distant second, or do you think Aion can approach WoW-like numbers?
Free Realms has 3 or 4 million and Battlefield Heroes a while back hit 1 millions. So really anything is possible. Of course the two I mentioned are free to play games, but players are players. Regardless if they pay tor a sub for a game or not.
Plus Aion looks like it should be a F2P game anyway. I'd say it would go F2P like Spellborn is, but NCSOFT would ratherl kill a game before it would even go F2P(For example: Tabula Rasa.).
When we get back from where we are going, we will return to where we were. I know people there!
Comments
And right there, folks, is the beginning of the downfall of AION.
I'm sorry, but the last time NCsoft got cocky was when they believed the Garriott brothers were the second coming of Christ. Remember that little dead game? Tabula Rasa?
Personally, I believe AION may do 500k non-goldfarming/botting subs in NA at the end of 6 months, if that. Regardless of how much they try to convince themselves otherwise, they do NOT understand western gamers.
Which is what he actual guy in the interview said. Its warhammer all ovr again. No matter how many times the PR people tell everyone that their game will not beat Woow you will still have 1,000's of fanboys and wow haters calling it the "WoW Killer".
Its just sad that we actually web columnists spouted the same garbage , trying to ignite the flames........
People don't read it seems. He never claimed they'll beat WoW, quite the opposite. He said they'll be the second most successful MMO, not the first. Remains to be seen of course.
And technically all they need is subscriptions in the range of 300-500k for it.
well to me its matter of ppl.. if they dont hold back the capacity of ppl play that not going to be any problem.. like WoW.. all ppl in the world can play thats is y its so popular.. if aion want to achieve something like that.. need to have international server not like some mmorpg got ip block or some sort of things..
I don't think Aion will do as good as it could in NA if they would remove GameGuard. I think NCSoft is under estimating NA gamer's hatred for these type of game-parasites. The fact that it's a completely useless program that does nothing to prevent hacking/cheating and can cause multiple issues with computers doesn't help much either.
Even though, I think Aion will do well with GameGuard, but it could do much better without it.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
As far as I know NCSoft is not going to be IP blocking. The game is already released in 3 countries and you can connect to all of those servers from anywhere else in the world currently.
It's the same way WoW works. Local servers, but no IP blocking.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
I haven't played Aion, so I can't comment on that. I have read about it, and it is NCsoft. I think NcSofts reputation is hurt over here by the closing of two games. Medicore, crap or garbage, call them what you want, but closing a game spews hatred for a company. After the initial launch in a busy month(maybe 4 MMO's if Jumpgate:evolution launches, fallen earth, aion, and champions) it is going to be a hard month to launch in as many will only try one of those.
Ncsoft's biggest thing is hackers and keeping farmers out of the game. I see it keeping about 250-500k depending on how popular it is. I know a few MMO players that only play WoW and never tried anything else(guys from work I know) are picking it up because WoW is getting old. So if that mentality is across the nation, Aion will be a bigger hit than I thought.
I've said it before, I'll say it again, Asian MMOs just won't make the cut in the US. Lineage II, Final Fantasy Whatever (just die, already), they were both touted as the Next Great MMORPG. But American gamers can only take so much of the fuzzy, glowy, cutesy graphics and animation and sound and grind. Asian single-player console games sell great here, but they are different. Kids get their folks to buy them, and it's a one-time expenditure. But MMOs require subs, and adult gamers are more discriminating in their tastes and how their hard-earned money is spent. Aion might have an initial honeymoon sell (really, what ELSE is out there atm? nothing), but give it a few months, you'll see the US Aion servers are ghost towns in 4-5 months, tops.
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not going to take away much from Aion because it is a polished game and it is graphically appealing to some. The fact of the matter is that Aion peaks because nothing else good is out there now. It is doing what Lotro did in 2007. In 2007 Lotro won mmo of the year because nothing was competing with it. The same thing is happening again with Aion. Some may say well what about Champions. Sorry but Champions will be overlooked because the masses do not crave for a super-hero mmo. Enjoy Aion while you can but when Guild Wars 2 and The Old Republic hit center stage Aion will lose many subscribers.
Well, that depends if SW:TOR is a proper MMO or a Guild Wars in Star Wars universe.
i do not like the idea of a star trek mmo or star wars.
star wars is well known but it be like playing a mmofps if anything.
eve online vs star trek, ermmmmmmmmm
People are really underestimating Aion.....really really really underestimating it.
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not everyone in the United States shares this one guy's opinion, you know? But thanks for doing exactly the same thing he did by lumping an entire region of people together under a stereotypical statement. Kind of ironic.
There are many, many people in the US that enjoy and immerse themselves in Asian culture, especially Japanese culture.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not everyone in the United States shares this one guy's opinion, you know? But thanks for doing exactly the same thing he did by lumping an entire region of people together under a stereotypical statement. Kind of ironic.
There are many, many people in the US that enjoy and immerse themselves in Asian culture, especially Japanese culture.
Isn't Aion out of Korea and not Japan? I don't see the connection with Aion and asian culture apart from the fact the game orginated there.
I really don't care where Aion comes from. Its a great looking game and one that will probably be around for awhile.
^^^Agree. I have played in beta and there is more to the game than people here are giving it credit for. It has mass appeal. In other words it has many components that many types of gamers will enjoy, hence more subs as a result. Similar to WOW. True its more PVP oriented, however it still has strong elements of PVE, strong crafting, great art direction, character customization, etc. the list goes on.
Aion has enough elements to keep many types of gamers interested and therefore that many more subs. I dont think NCSoft is speaking out of turn or getting ahead of themselves by claiming it may get the #2 spot. It will. And with more subs, more $$, more development/content...more more more.
Current Games: WOW, EVE Online
West in not only united states you know? Fortunately in europe we are not so anti-asian as i see in this forums the americans are... we are already ahead of that, and many other things fortunately
Not everyone in the United States shares this one guy's opinion, you know? But thanks for doing exactly the same thing he did by lumping an entire region of people together under a stereotypical statement. Kind of ironic.
There are many, many people in the US that enjoy and immerse themselves in Asian culture, especially Japanese culture.
Offcourse there is, but as a user of this forum you must admit that the american population shows a great disrespect for the asian gaming culture in general, this is certain.
People are free to like or dislike whatevcer they want, but what i see here is a "oh, its asian its crap" attitude from the so called american crowd
PS to stratford: I sure hope Final Fantasy wont die already, I had the best tgaming time i can remenber playing final fantasys on my old playstaion 1 and super NES
It will be second, but the better question is for how long?
With FFXIV, old republic, champions, STO, and non-mmos like SC2, Dragon Age Origins, Assassin's creed 2, FFXIII...I think just the sheer amount of quality RPGs coming out (note I gave a variety list, 'quality' may be a loose term for some peoples tastes) that its more PVP focus late game will dwindle its early explosion.
I'm more interested in seeing Aion coupled with the next 1-2 years of powerful titles effects on WoW, than I really am caring about who is going to be be #2
Well i don't know about worldwide, but personally, this game trashes WoW, i quit wow to play this, wow is a drowning game trying to pretend its not, it may have a lot of players now, but i think it will not be long before people lose interest. I have read everything i can find on the internet about this game and everything seems well thought out, well planned, blizzard on the other hand have lost their ability or their will to think through their game and maintain balance. The classes are out of balance, the economy is drastically out of control (at least on all of the servers and battle groups i've ever been in) and if you read their patch notes no where in there, do they fix the problems of the games, they only worsen them and try to distract their players with new areas and new shiny toys, but in the end the new areas are buggy and the new shiny's lose their shine or are never attained. So really in my oppinion WoW is not going to be that big of competition, i think this could go for 1st once it becomes more well known and wow continues to decline. or if it does only reach 2nd it will be to another game. However, to be honest, i don't care if everyone else keeps playing wow or switches to aion or whatever, i just know that for me, its no contest, aion dominates wow.
2nd...LOL!!!
I don't think it'll be second. Aion is just a prettier wow ripoff with a korean grind style of gameplay, it'll never be anything big really. After the early access me and a ton of people I know have canceled pre-orders after seeing the game is just a wow wanna be, and to add insult to injury it has a korean grind to it. Nothing were intersted in playing. We also hate wow, and anything that tries to copy it. Fantasy mmorpgs are kinda bleh now a days people want something new, the old swords and magic has been done to death.
No, I don't admit the American population shows a great disrespect for the Asian gaming culture. Where is your proof of this?
I will admit that this one poster seems to, or that a few other posters on these forums also seem to hate everything out of Korea or Japan.
I would like to point out that some of those people are not from America, and even those that are only reflect their personal opinions, not the opinions of an entire country.
As to the second part I'm guessing you're talking about the general feeling that the plethora of F2P Korean grind-fest games are sub-par and "crap".
That feeling is shared by many people in the Western world, not just the US. Just look at some of the F2P game forums here, there are a lot of non-US people that don't like these types of games as well.
Having said that, there are a lot of US players that do like these games, I'm not one of them, but they are out there.
I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm tired of people from other countries coming on here and taking what 1 guy says and then responding the way you did.
I have no problem if you address that one person directly, but when you say something like all Americans hate Asia, well, I take offense to that and it really makes you sound no better then the person who made the original post.
Edit: Sorry for the derailment, this will be the last thing I post on this topic.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
Aion already has a few million players, no? Doesn't that make them #2 already? lol And it hasn't even hit NA/Europe yet XD
( I don't really know about the populations)
As for "western players"....some of us are Canadian.
Do you have the willpower to delete YOUR wow toons? XD
[Retired: WoW, RO, EvE, WaR, AoC, LoTR]
He yea i know after all Like many Asian MMO's that start in Asia like this did it probably already has more players than WoW already.
Another great example of Moore's Law. Give people access to that much space (developers and users alike) and they'll find uses for it that you can never imagine. "640K ought to be enough for anybody" - Bill Gates 1981
I think it will be 2nd to WoW, but it's going to be short lived, only until Star Wars comes out. (Maybe Star Trek online, there are a lot of trekkies, after all).
To be blunt, it just doesn't have much competition. Most of it is really bad. Probably LOTRO is the best, and that's hurt by several factors. Slow gameplay (especially combat), confused game design (somewhat casual license, but now aiming for uber leet raiders, although it fails there badly), and grind, grind, grind, grind. I've played some of those so called asian grinders, and I tell you, LOTRO has nothing on them. (And I'm just talking about leveling, not the deeds, which are truly insane when it comes to grinding.)
R.I.P. City of Heroes and my 17 characters there
Which is why I also asked the question -- does #2 only mean a distant second, or do you think Aion can approach WoW-like numbers?
Free Realms has 3 or 4 million and Battlefield Heroes a while back hit 1 millions. So really anything is possible. Of course the two I mentioned are free to play games, but players are players. Regardless if they pay tor a sub for a game or not.
Plus Aion looks like it should be a F2P game anyway. I'd say it would go F2P like Spellborn is, but NCSOFT would ratherl kill a game before it would even go F2P(For example: Tabula Rasa.).
When we get back from where we are going, we will return to where we were. I know people there!