Yes I noticed the spike and drop off of Aion popularity and also thought about before the popular other sources of searching for WoW information besides google. I still find it hard not to be convinced from looking at the google trend comparison that Aion did effect WoWs popularity, there's a very visible dip there. No other MMO has had a real visible impact on WoW until Aion.
That's what surprises me the most. And while Aion did not topple WoW from the #1 seat (lol) it has reached stable enough level of subscribers one year after release that is close to WoW in popularity and even more popular in some countries. That is a huge accomplishment. You can sort of see that with even more major MMOs coming next year that WoW is getting closer and closer to losing the #1 MMO spot.
Please check your numbers. You will find that WoW had a drop about 2 weeks prior to AION went live. If you look at the dates, you will find something ELSE that happened at this time, and is the real cause for the change (and is also a major factor in the headline news all this year).
I would be in panic mode. The Star Wars movies are over and the nostalgia is just about faded. Marketing has pushed all the items they can into stores and on tv. Parents and children alike are just about sick of everything jedi.
Cliffnotes: This game better be damn good and come with a trial. The "Star Wars" name no longer means "buy then try."
When has the "Star Wars" name EVER meant "buy then try" when it comes to video games? You either have very little experience in gaming, or your tastes are not very particular.
BioWare, however, has been, and whill continue to be, a reason to "buy then try". BioWare has yet to fail to deliver.
Given that Baldur's Gate 2 is in my top 3 games of all time, and that I loved each of the IE games developed by Bioware, I beg to differ. For me, its been a slow decline from KOTOR to JE to ME. Dragon Age was a nice exception but still didn't overawe me like BG2 did. Ever since 2002 they have been going more and more into "cinematic mode" which I was never that excited about.
From another fan of Biowares games here's my rating:
BG2 - Graphics, art, story, dialog, combat are a 10. One of the greatest games of all time
KotOR - graphics, art, story, dialog, combat are a 9.5
KotOR 2- graphics, art, dialog, combat are a 9.5. The story maybe a 8.
NWN - graphics, art, combat are a 8. Story and dialog are a 7.
JE - graphics, art, story, dialog, combat is at 8. I give them props for taking on an original universe.
ME - didn't play it.
DA - graphics, art, story, dialog, combat are a 8.5. Good in many different areas, hard to do.
ME2 - graphics, art, dialog, combat are a 9.5. The story maybe a 8. ME2 is probably the best game I have played since The Elder Scrolls 2: Morrowind.
Bioware is definitely a "buy then try" developer. Star Wars though... Last Star Wars game that amounted to anything special was KotOR 2, maybe Battlefront 2? Force Unleashed is just a console button smasher.
Yes I noticed the spike and drop off of Aion popularity and also thought about before the popular other sources of searching for WoW information besides google. I still find it hard not to be convinced from looking at the google trend comparison that Aion did effect WoWs popularity, there's a very visible dip there. No other MMO has had a real visible impact on WoW until Aion.
That's what surprises me the most. And while Aion did not topple WoW from the #1 seat (lol) it has reached stable enough level of subscribers one year after release that is close to WoW in popularity and even more popular in some countries. That is a huge accomplishment. You can sort of see that with even more major MMOs coming next year that WoW is getting closer and closer to losing the #1 MMO spot.
Please check your numbers. You will find that WoW had a drop about 2 weeks prior to AION went live. If you look at the dates, you will find something ELSE that happened at this time, and is the real cause for the change (and is also a major factor in the headline news all this year).
The numbers look fine to me. China didn't shut down WoW in China until late-October/early-November. And they had been having trouble getting the WoW BC expansion authorized for play since March of 2009.
Aion released in September of 2009. Had a huge spike in popularity and in those exact same days you see WoWs significant dip on google popularity. It doesn't seem like a coincidence and can't be related to the China ban which happened almost continually in 2009. Including a China WoW ban 4 months before starting in June and lasting until September.
Yes I noticed the spike and drop off of Aion popularity and also thought about before the popular other sources of searching for WoW information besides google. I still find it hard not to be convinced from looking at the google trend comparison that Aion did effect WoWs popularity, there's a very visible dip there. No other MMO has had a real visible impact on WoW until Aion.
That's what surprises me the most. And while Aion did not topple WoW from the #1 seat (lol) it has reached stable enough level of subscribers one year after release that is close to WoW in popularity and even more popular in some countries. That is a huge accomplishment. You can sort of see that with even more major MMOs coming next year that WoW is getting closer and closer to losing the #1 MMO spot.
Please check your numbers. You will find that WoW had a drop about 2 weeks prior to AION went live. If you look at the dates, you will find something ELSE that happened at this time, and is the real cause for the change (and is also a major factor in the headline news all this year).
The numbers look fine to me. China didn't shut down WoW in China until late-October/early-November. And they had been having trouble getting the WoW BC expansion authorized for play since March of 2009.
Aion released in September of 2009. Had a huge spike in popularity and in those exact same days you see WoWs significant dip on google popularity. It doesn't seem like a coincidence and can't be related to the China ban which happened almost continually in 2009. Including a China WoW ban 4 months before starting in June and lasting until September.
Aion launched on Sept 20 (I believe) and if you look at the data, you will see that the drop started ~ 11 days prior to that.. on the launch date of a DIFFERENT game.
The other game that launched on 9 Sept is having a BIG effect on the market this year (indirectly) whereas Aion has faded out to be just another game that didnt do much. It isnt that this game was so great, but it was that it changed the direction of the market, and opened new avenues for many players.
As a hint, what I am talking about is something that has caused a drastic change in approach to multiple AAA titles this year alone, all because of its sucess.
An object in motion tends to remain in motion - Sir Isaac Newton
Not to mention you are just reading wayyyyyyy too much into google trends.
Its a fact that WoW has increased subs from before Aion launched to now. Not just stayed the same; increased. On the other hand, Aion sub numbers in the West have jumped off a cliff. So much for "google trends"; instead of trying to make the facts fit the theory, throw out the theory if it doesn't fit the facts.
I would be in panic mode. The Star Wars movies are over and the nostalgia is just about faded. Marketing has pushed all the items they can into stores and on tv. Parents and children alike are just about sick of everything jedi.
Cliffnotes: This game better be damn good and come with a trial. The "Star Wars" name no longer means "buy then try."
That is wrong on so many levels. Go to your local Walmart or Meijer or whatever and check out the toy asles, clothes, games isle, etc etc and tell me if you can't find anything Star Wars. Star Wars is a brand that will never fade. It is everlasting on every level.
Do I think they are upset? Sure a little. Making something of this magnitude always has significant risks. If it didn't have risks, it would probably be another lame duck thrown at us in the MMO industry. But in all honesty, the more talk about the game the better. I honestly believe that the current Mythic ex-employee rant helped the game more than hurt. It created buzz and continues to make SWTOR the story of the MMO industry...sorry GW2 fans. SWTOR has no competition for other MMOs this upcoming year. I know a few games will/could be great, but not on the same level.
TL/DR: No. The more you talk about the game, the better.
In answer to the OP: Honestly mate, Bioware has been downlplaying their game since the beginning. Even in some of their interviews and vids, they hated the hype the game recieved early on. The company tried to stifle the fires of hype but witht he combination of Star Wars and Bioware, everyone expected a miracle. In truth, the game is an MMO meaning there will be little innovation as far as gameply mechanics are concerned. They are building what any other MMO company does: a virtual backdrop for mass subscriptions and profits.
Also mentioned above was the fact that forum flamers are not the mainstay subscribers. And that's possibly true, especially for console MMO's. Many people on the PC as well don't like forums at all, mainly because of harrassment. So I feel EA is probably comfortably waiting release. Bioware is also likely holding back a little, but in the end they are making just another MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLEPLAY GAME. In other words; exactly what is all over this website already. We've seen proof of their attitude when they declared Space Combat was "on rails". They didn't want to spend money, time and resources programming free-flight space combat and travel. Typical MMO dev team. Sacrafice what is fun, to increase profitablity.
I love Bioware games, I hate EA, I like star wars and I have been playing MMO's for nearly a decade. So I feel my opinion is balanced and not too terribly biased.
In answer to the OP: Honestly mate, Bioware has been downlplaying their game since the beginning. Even in some of their interviews and vids, they hated the hype the game recieved early on. The company tried to stifle the fires of hype but witht he combination of Star Wars and Bioware, everyone expected a miracle. In truth, the game is an MMO meaning there will be little innovation as far as gameply mechanics are concerned. They are building what any other MMO company does: a virtual backdrop for mass subscriptions and profits.
Also mentioned above was the fact that forum flamers are not the mainstay subscribers. And that's possibly true, especially for console MMO's. Many people on the PC as well don't like forums at all, mainly because of harrassment. So I feel EA is probably comfortably waiting release. Bioware is also likely holding back a little, but in the end they are making just another MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLEPLAY GAME. In other words; exactly what is all over this website already. We've seen proof of their attitude when they declared Space Combat was "on rails". They didn't want to spend money, time and resources programming free-flight space combat and travel. Typical MMO dev team. Sacrafice what is fun, to increase profitablity.
I love Bioware games, I hate EA, I like star wars and I have been playing MMO's for nearly a decade. So I feel my opinion is balanced and not too terribly biased.
I would be very concerned if a public company decides to go against making profits. I want EA/Bioware to be around and not go under due to not being in the black. Their earnings (EA) so far hasn't been 'as bad as predicted' but it still is in the red last I checked.
Screw innovation, I want a world that I can get 'lost in', like every Biogame I played.
A lot of the previews I read are mentioning the 'immersion' factor, (whether this is due to voice overs or w/e) I am looking forward to this game.
Gdemami - Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
Yes I noticed the spike and drop off of Aion popularity and also thought about before the popular other sources of searching for WoW information besides google. I still find it hard not to be convinced from looking at the google trend comparison that Aion did effect WoWs popularity, there's a very visible dip there. No other MMO has had a real visible impact on WoW until Aion.
That's what surprises me the most. And while Aion did not topple WoW from the #1 seat (lol) it has reached stable enough level of subscribers one year after release that is close to WoW in popularity and even more popular in some countries. That is a huge accomplishment. You can sort of see that with even more major MMOs coming next year that WoW is getting closer and closer to losing the #1 MMO spot.
Please check your numbers. You will find that WoW had a drop about 2 weeks prior to AION went live. If you look at the dates, you will find something ELSE that happened at this time, and is the real cause for the change (and is also a major factor in the headline news all this year).
The numbers look fine to me. China didn't shut down WoW in China until late-October/early-November. And they had been having trouble getting the WoW BC expansion authorized for play since March of 2009.
Aion released in September of 2009. Had a huge spike in popularity and in those exact same days you see WoWs significant dip on google popularity. It doesn't seem like a coincidence and can't be related to the China ban which happened almost continually in 2009. Including a China WoW ban 4 months before starting in June and lasting until September.
Aion launched on Sept 20 (I believe) and if you look at the data, you will see that the drop started ~ 11 days prior to that.. on the launch date of a DIFFERENT game.
The other game that launched on 9 Sept is having a BIG effect on the market this year (indirectly) whereas Aion has faded out to be just another game that didnt do much. It isnt that this game was so great, but it was that it changed the direction of the market, and opened new avenues for many players.
As a hint, what I am talking about is something that has caused a drastic change in approach to multiple AAA titles this year alone, all because of its sucess.
An object in motion tends to remain in motion - Sir Isaac Newton
Your not seeing the google trends graph right. Put in ("world of warcraft", aion) minus the parentheses. What you'll see in September 2009 is exactly as google traffic about Aion starts to ramp up towards the launch, WoWs google traffic starts to dip. The correlation is exact. I think it's very probable that Aion caused this dip because no other event is that closely correlated.
Did Aion fizzle? They went from almost 3 times WoWs google popularity and fizzled down to close where WoW is right now in google popularity. I'm not a big Aion fan but this is impressive for any MMO these days. Lotro is still behind Aion even after going free-to-play.
Not sure which other MMO you're talking about because no other MMO becides WoW and Aion are generating much google traffic.
Fallen Earth released earlier in September 2009 but they are not doing well, being eclipsed in popularity by UO (which is now a 13 year old MMO).
Not to mention you are just reading wayyyyyyy too much into google trends.
Its a fact that WoW has increased subs from before Aion launched to now. Not just stayed the same; increased. On the other hand, Aion sub numbers in the West have jumped off a cliff. So much for "google trends"; instead of trying to make the facts fit the theory, throw out the theory if it doesn't fit the facts.
Google is a great way to check on interest in a game For example try ("world of warcraft", "ff xiv") minus parentheses at google trends lmao. It's about where you get your facts from.
WoW might have gained subs, like I said though, I doubt how many. WoW also admitted that their growth rate has slowed dramatically. Looking at the facts (numbers) you can see that Aion probably bit into pool of MMO subscribers. Even after settling down to more realistic subscriber numbers, the numbers predict that they have more subscribers than any other AAA MMO besides WoW.
According to google traffic, after Aion's release WoWs web popularity started declining at a faster rate than it was before. It indicates that either their growth has really slowed down or they have stopped growing. So I'm not trying to make facts fit a theory, I'm looking at a graph of raw data and coming to a conclusion.
Not to mention you are just reading wayyyyyyy too much into google trends.
Its a fact that WoW has increased subs from before Aion launched to now. Not just stayed the same; increased. On the other hand, Aion sub numbers in the West have jumped off a cliff. So much for "google trends"; instead of trying to make the facts fit the theory, throw out the theory if it doesn't fit the facts.
Google is a great way to check on interest in a game For example try ("world of warcraft", "ff xiv") minus parentheses at google trends lmao. It's about where you get your facts from.
WoW might have gained subs, like I said though, I doubt how many. WoW also admitted that their growth rate has slowed dramatically. Looking at the facts (numbers) you can see that Aion probably bit into pool of MMO subscribers. Even after settling down to more realistic subscriber numbers, the numbers predict that they have more subscribers than any other AAA MMO besides WoW.
According to google traffic, after Aion's release WoWs web popularity started declining at a faster rate than it was before. It indicates that either their growth has really slowed down or they have stopped growing. So I'm not trying to make facts fit a theory, I'm looking at a graph of raw data and coming to a conclusion.
What interests me is that Aion demonstrates pretty much the same massive spike and STEEP drop off, that has become all too typical among MMO's these days. The interest in the game(as displayed by the chart) drops off a cliff. Also note the difference between much of the Asian markets and the Western. Aions Western retention numbers are much less than its Asian.
As I've stated for years now, NCsoft is pretty much clueless about the difference between the Asian and Western markets. This shows in their retention numbers. I've no doubt that Aion at launch drew in some of WoW's subscribers. But its pretty obvious that many of them did not stay(at least in the west). One of the reasons is the forced PvP. The Asian markets are more tolerant of that than the western ones are. Hell, I'd be playing Aion myself(at least until Cata launches) if they had PvE servers.
But thats rather far afield. The idea that a huge corporation like EA would care what a group of people post on various forums is to my mind silly at this point. Keep in mind that only a SMALL fraction of the potential audience even visits such sites. Its an even smaller fraction of that who post. Lets wait and see how TOR turns out before we pass judgement on Biowares approach to MMO's.
Yes. In a statement on G4 the team had this to say: "Good. I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete."
EA has made 300 million dollar investment in this game. They hired one of the best studios in gaming. And have one of the best settings in popular culture.
Yet the negativity that is starting to surround this game (not only on this site) grows every day.
Now I am not sure about EA. But if I was in their shoes I would slowly start to panic.
The game is probably finished by now (and is only tested and fine tuned at this moment) Yet its clear that they have nothing good to show.
Every new video (like the latest one of imperial agent) looks worse than previous , and only puts more fuel to the fire.
I think they clearly dont have nothing better to show too.
And If they do have something better to show. What are they waiting for ?
For game rep to crash and burn so it would rise from ashes like a phoenix ? ( <- that is irony)
There is similarity here with APB. Great ideas , great budget , skillful company. But somewhere between idea and execution things got really wrong and end result is simply flawed.
So are EA and Bioware in panic mode right now ?
I think you like the sound of your own voice.
False figure quoted regards CAPEX on this project from an unreliable source.
Bioware have nothing to worry about the game will be huge and a huge success the negatibity here is representative of the cesspit these forumns have become not the games being represented.
This site is like a text based MMO it isn't about the games its all about the people jostling for power.
DOn't understand your post or what you are trying to acheive....
________________________________________________________ Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel
The thing about it is it has the most awesome question to a dev. ever made... Ask A Jedi: Is there anything that you’d like to talk about that no one every asks you?
They are not in panic mode, but they realise they have to stop trying to shove their will onto the players and listen to what is being said instead. They are obviously in Delay mode, but they still seem fully confident that they will deliver. Its also good to know that higher up execs from EA say, Thou must hast macros!
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Good, because this is the LAST place I would go for making judgements about any game.
Every video i see on youtube, gamespot, etc. Read comments below. Very negative.
Pick any random video on youtube or any random article on a gaming blog and you'll see the same thing.Comment sections are notorious for being filled with people who have nothing better to do than whine about everything.
Now if that is not upsetting EA/B. Than what is ?
None of us here know them personally but speaking for myself I am not upset with the state of things and can't wait for the game to be released.
They expect that majority of their customers will be people that never seen game footage , or never followed the game ?
Um...The majority of reports I've read have been positive.Those videos from PAX were outstanding. I haven't seen any fallout on the official boards and almost every report I've read from PAX has been positive.My hope would be that everyone gets to see them, but I know that is impossible.
And yes, there will be a lot of players who buy this who haven't been following it like we have. I know that's hard to believe, but it isn't once you realize that not everyone is like us who loves to follow these games through their development. I never saw any development videos before I started playing SWG,which was my first MMORPG. I just saw it on the shelf , read the back of the box and decided to pick it up and give it a go.
Not likely, most who are going to play don't read these forums, or others for that matter, and even then the negativity you seem to sense is nothing compared to what it could be. This level of negativity is from impatience now, not from any hint of a bad game that negativity usually always develops during OB or right after launch.
50-100 million seems more realistic. the feedback as pax closed was mixed I think. I tend to view it as BW and EA have boat loads of cash and don't worry about it much.The real test is if the launch goes smooth. If they pull of a rift like launch? then maybe execs will not have to be sedated that much. We have many starwars fans. many of them the standard group and then the kotor BW lovers. right now on the SW:TOR forums we have both going at each other like rabid dogs.
Kotor fans just want it now. they love BW and will outright debase you if you speak of anything they view as negative views about pretty much anything TOR or about BW/EA
The SW fans who came from other games and didnt like or play Kotor RPG want what they want in the game.
I see it as not my game and will be elsewhere playing. But sure is fun to watch peopel have it and try to sound smart.
The only way BW will panick is after 2 million subs get bored and they loose 1.5 million of them? then they will get worried a bit. other then that we will have another game with the starwars brand.
Comments
Please check your numbers. You will find that WoW had a drop about 2 weeks prior to AION went live. If you look at the dates, you will find something ELSE that happened at this time, and is the real cause for the change (and is also a major factor in the headline news all this year).
From another fan of Biowares games here's my rating:
BG2 - Graphics, art, story, dialog, combat are a 10. One of the greatest games of all time
KotOR - graphics, art, story, dialog, combat are a 9.5
KotOR 2- graphics, art, dialog, combat are a 9.5. The story maybe a 8.
NWN - graphics, art, combat are a 8. Story and dialog are a 7.
JE - graphics, art, story, dialog, combat is at 8. I give them props for taking on an original universe.
ME - didn't play it.
DA - graphics, art, story, dialog, combat are a 8.5. Good in many different areas, hard to do.
ME2 - graphics, art, dialog, combat are a 9.5. The story maybe a 8. ME2 is probably the best game I have played since The Elder Scrolls 2: Morrowind.
Bioware is definitely a "buy then try" developer. Star Wars though... Last Star Wars game that amounted to anything special was KotOR 2, maybe Battlefront 2? Force Unleashed is just a console button smasher.
The numbers look fine to me. China didn't shut down WoW in China until late-October/early-November. And they had been having trouble getting the WoW BC expansion authorized for play since March of 2009.
Aion released in September of 2009. Had a huge spike in popularity and in those exact same days you see WoWs significant dip on google popularity. It doesn't seem like a coincidence and can't be related to the China ban which happened almost continually in 2009. Including a China WoW ban 4 months before starting in June and lasting until September.
Aion launched on Sept 20 (I believe) and if you look at the data, you will see that the drop started ~ 11 days prior to that.. on the launch date of a DIFFERENT game.
The other game that launched on 9 Sept is having a BIG effect on the market this year (indirectly) whereas Aion has faded out to be just another game that didnt do much. It isnt that this game was so great, but it was that it changed the direction of the market, and opened new avenues for many players.
As a hint, what I am talking about is something that has caused a drastic change in approach to multiple AAA titles this year alone, all because of its sucess.
An object in motion tends to remain in motion - Sir Isaac Newton
Not to mention you are just reading wayyyyyyy too much into google trends.
Its a fact that WoW has increased subs from before Aion launched to now. Not just stayed the same; increased. On the other hand, Aion sub numbers in the West have jumped off a cliff. So much for "google trends"; instead of trying to make the facts fit the theory, throw out the theory if it doesn't fit the facts.
That is wrong on so many levels. Go to your local Walmart or Meijer or whatever and check out the toy asles, clothes, games isle, etc etc and tell me if you can't find anything Star Wars. Star Wars is a brand that will never fade. It is everlasting on every level.
Do I think they are upset? Sure a little. Making something of this magnitude always has significant risks. If it didn't have risks, it would probably be another lame duck thrown at us in the MMO industry. But in all honesty, the more talk about the game the better. I honestly believe that the current Mythic ex-employee rant helped the game more than hurt. It created buzz and continues to make SWTOR the story of the MMO industry...sorry GW2 fans. SWTOR has no competition for other MMOs this upcoming year. I know a few games will/could be great, but not on the same level.
TL/DR: No. The more you talk about the game, the better.
In answer to the OP: Honestly mate, Bioware has been downlplaying their game since the beginning. Even in some of their interviews and vids, they hated the hype the game recieved early on. The company tried to stifle the fires of hype but witht he combination of Star Wars and Bioware, everyone expected a miracle. In truth, the game is an MMO meaning there will be little innovation as far as gameply mechanics are concerned. They are building what any other MMO company does: a virtual backdrop for mass subscriptions and profits.
Also mentioned above was the fact that forum flamers are not the mainstay subscribers. And that's possibly true, especially for console MMO's. Many people on the PC as well don't like forums at all, mainly because of harrassment. So I feel EA is probably comfortably waiting release. Bioware is also likely holding back a little, but in the end they are making just another MASSIVELY MULTIPLAYER ONLINE ROLEPLAY GAME. In other words; exactly what is all over this website already. We've seen proof of their attitude when they declared Space Combat was "on rails". They didn't want to spend money, time and resources programming free-flight space combat and travel. Typical MMO dev team. Sacrafice what is fun, to increase profitablity.
I love Bioware games, I hate EA, I like star wars and I have been playing MMO's for nearly a decade. So I feel my opinion is balanced and not too terribly biased.
I would be very concerned if a public company decides to go against making profits. I want EA/Bioware to be around and not go under due to not being in the black. Their earnings (EA) so far hasn't been 'as bad as predicted' but it still is in the red last I checked.
Screw innovation, I want a world that I can get 'lost in', like every Biogame I played.
A lot of the previews I read are mentioning the 'immersion' factor, (whether this is due to voice overs or w/e) I am looking forward to this game.
Gdemami -
Informing people about your thoughts and impressions is not a review, it's a blog.
Your not seeing the google trends graph right. Put in ("world of warcraft", aion) minus the parentheses. What you'll see in September 2009 is exactly as google traffic about Aion starts to ramp up towards the launch, WoWs google traffic starts to dip. The correlation is exact. I think it's very probable that Aion caused this dip because no other event is that closely correlated.
Did Aion fizzle? They went from almost 3 times WoWs google popularity and fizzled down to close where WoW is right now in google popularity. I'm not a big Aion fan but this is impressive for any MMO these days. Lotro is still behind Aion even after going free-to-play.
Not sure which other MMO you're talking about because no other MMO becides WoW and Aion are generating much google traffic.
Fallen Earth released earlier in September 2009 but they are not doing well, being eclipsed in popularity by UO (which is now a 13 year old MMO).
Google is a great way to check on interest in a game
For example try ("world of warcraft", "ff xiv") minus parentheses at google trends lmao. It's about where you get your facts from.
WoW might have gained subs, like I said though, I doubt how many. WoW also admitted that their growth rate has slowed dramatically. Looking at the facts (numbers) you can see that Aion probably bit into pool of MMO subscribers. Even after settling down to more realistic subscriber numbers, the numbers predict that they have more subscribers than any other AAA MMO besides WoW.
According to google traffic, after Aion's release WoWs web popularity started declining at a faster rate than it was before. It indicates that either their growth has really slowed down or they have stopped growing. So I'm not trying to make facts fit a theory, I'm looking at a graph of raw data and coming to a conclusion.
What interests me is that Aion demonstrates pretty much the same massive spike and STEEP drop off, that has become all too typical among MMO's these days. The interest in the game(as displayed by the chart) drops off a cliff. Also note the difference between much of the Asian markets and the Western. Aions Western retention numbers are much less than its Asian.
As I've stated for years now, NCsoft is pretty much clueless about the difference between the Asian and Western markets. This shows in their retention numbers. I've no doubt that Aion at launch drew in some of WoW's subscribers. But its pretty obvious that many of them did not stay(at least in the west). One of the reasons is the forced PvP. The Asian markets are more tolerant of that than the western ones are. Hell, I'd be playing Aion myself(at least until Cata launches) if they had PvE servers.
But thats rather far afield. The idea that a huge corporation like EA would care what a group of people post on various forums is to my mind silly at this point. Keep in mind that only a SMALL fraction of the potential audience even visits such sites. Its an even smaller fraction of that who post. Lets wait and see how TOR turns out before we pass judgement on Biowares approach to MMO's.
Yes. In a statement on G4 the team had this to say: "Good. I can feel your anger. I am defenseless. Take your weapon. Strike me down with all of your hatred, and your journey towards the dark side will be complete."
In Bioware we trust!
Honestly, I doubt that. I'm sure they have a fine demo that's hacked together, however.
I think you like the sound of your own voice.
False figure quoted regards CAPEX on this project from an unreliable source.
Bioware have nothing to worry about the game will be huge and a huge success the negatibity here is representative of the cesspit these forumns have become not the games being represented.
This site is like a text based MMO it isn't about the games its all about the people jostling for power.
DOn't understand your post or what you are trying to acheive....
________________________________________________________
Sorcery must persist, the future is the Citadel
Panic mode, probably not.
However, http://www.askajedi.com/2011/03/14/pax-east-2011-a-conversation-with-james-ohlen/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+AskAJedi+(Ask+A+Jedi)
The thing about it is it has the most awesome question to a dev. ever made... Ask A Jedi: Is there anything that you’d like to talk about that no one every asks you?
They are not in panic mode, but they realise they have to stop trying to shove their will onto the players and listen to what is being said instead. They are obviously in Delay mode, but they still seem fully confident that they will deliver. Its also good to know that higher up execs from EA say, Thou must hast macros!
That's indeed absolutely a great question, one to remember (and to use myself when the situation occurs
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Nice find, thanks
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Currently Playing: World of Warcraft
Not likely, most who are going to play don't read these forums, or others for that matter, and even then the negativity you seem to sense is nothing compared to what it could be. This level of negativity is from impatience now, not from any hint of a bad game that negativity usually always develops during OB or right after launch.
Retired: EVE, SWG, STO, EQ2, Ryzom, AO, LotRO, FFXI
Currently Awaiting: SWTOR, TSW, ArcheAge
50-100 million seems more realistic. the feedback as pax closed was mixed I think. I tend to view it as BW and EA have boat loads of cash and don't worry about it much.The real test is if the launch goes smooth. If they pull of a rift like launch? then maybe execs will not have to be sedated that much. We have many starwars fans. many of them the standard group and then the kotor BW lovers. right now on the SW:TOR forums we have both going at each other like rabid dogs.
Kotor fans just want it now. they love BW and will outright debase you if you speak of anything they view as negative views about pretty much anything TOR or about BW/EA
The SW fans who came from other games and didnt like or play Kotor RPG want what they want in the game.
I see it as not my game and will be elsewhere playing. But sure is fun to watch peopel have it and try to sound smart.
The only way BW will panick is after 2 million subs get bored and they loose 1.5 million of them? then they will get worried a bit. other then that we will have another game with the starwars brand.