Guild Wars 2?

[Jeebus]

Will anyone be playing it? How big a following do you think it will get?

Will it finally topple WoW? Or at least dethrone it?

 

[Abdul]

If Guild Wars 2 had mining..etc just like WoW, then it would topple it.

 

[xfactor]

http://www.edge-gamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=171440

We have a bit of a following already. And there will be a subdivision for it.

 

[Xaelyn]

First, background. I played WoW for 6 years (maybe 5, with time off counted out). During that time, I dabbled in many other MMOs. All of them lacked certain things that WoW did really well (crisp controls being a major factor), and inevitably I ended up back in Blizzard's pocket.

Then I heard about TOR. If there are two categories of media I love, they are 'Star Wars' and 'BioWare video games'. I've been following TOR, with varied levels of enthusiasm, for three years. For me, all BW has to do is get the controls CRISP, at least as good as WoW, and WoW will take a serious hit. The rest of the game will exceed WoW's play in every way.

I didn't know about GW2 until about 3 months ago, and only recently started looking into it seriously.

It will, without a doubt, destroy and revamp everything about how MMO combat and mechanics are done. If the events system is as good as it sounds, it will do the same to quests.

GW2 and TOR will signal the end of WoW's MMO market dominance. D3 and rumors of Titan will aid. Of the two games, I think GW2 will be a better experience. The controls, animation, art, combat mechanics, and depth of world look too good for TOR to match. TOR will probably have better immersion and storytelling, and good combat of its own; but for those of us who avoid 'more of the same' mechanics, it will appeal to us only by its 'secondary' qualities (story, setting, etc).

 

[ghettosmurf]

First, background. I played WoW for 6 years (maybe 5, with time off counted out). During that time, I dabbled in many other MMOs. All of them lacked certain things that WoW did really well (crisp controls being a major factor), and inevitably I ended up back in Blizzard's pocket.

Then I heard about TOR. If there are two categories of media I love, they are 'Star Wars' and 'BioWare video games'. I've been following TOR, with varied levels of enthusiasm, for three years. For me, all BW has to do is get the controls CRISP, at least as good as WoW, and WoW will take a serious hit. The rest of the game will exceed WoW's play in every way.

I didn't know about GW2 until about 3 months ago, and only recently started looking into it seriously.

It will, without a doubt, destroy and revamp everything about how MMO combat and mechanics are done. If the events system is as good as it sounds, it will do the same to quests.

GW2 and TOR will signal the end of WoW's MMO market dominance. D3 and rumors of Titan will aid. Of the two games, I think GW2 will be a better experience. The controls, animation, art, combat mechanics, and depth of world look too good for TOR to match. TOR will probably have better immersion and storytelling, and good combat of its own; but for those of us who avoid 'more of the same' mechanics, it will appeal to us only by its 'secondary' qualities (story, setting, etc).

This is pretty much exactly my thinking, from beginning to end, very good post.

 

[Snipeye]

I agree about the end of WoW's market dominance, but not exactly because of two new MMORPGs that look great and would take away the MMO crown from Blizzard. I think a vast majority of gamers, RPG and MMO fans alike, are actually just burnt out from the genre and for one reason or another, there wasn't another game that could match the quality that World of Warcraft is and was. If anything, the lack of quality competition against WoW killed gamers' appetite for MMO gaming and WoW's already on the downfall, if slowly. The first real test to see if gamers still like MMO's and are willing to play a different game would be SWTOR coming out sometime this year. Core mechanics and such are comparatively the same as WoW, with an even greater history and lore as background to surpass Blizzard's Warcraft series. If SWTOR does very well for the initial three months in sales and subscriptions, at least 750,000, that will definitely signal the end of WoW dominance in the MMORPG genre, as well as a healthy appetite from gamers for the genre as a whole (which is good news for GW2 makers).

 

[Xaelyn]

I think WoW burnout may be the most important factor. I don't know why I didn't mention it, but I agree with you completely, Snipeye. Without the burnout that's happening now, TOR and GW2 would have a much larger hurdle to overcome (less so GW2, I think). WoW has done so many things well, and for so long, that many people are invested in it to a large degree.

But as people tire of the game, the investment starts to matter less and less, until people are actively looking for alternatives.