Goodbye World of Warcraft, hello Rift?

[Elamdri]

Ultimately new MMO's all face the same problems that give WoW an advantage: Functionality and Community.

Functionality is the problem that any new MMO has where inevitably THINGS WILL BE BROKEN upon launch. There will be bugs, things will be unbalanced, yadda yadda. This all takes time to fix, and unfortunately we no longer live in a time where it is possible to release a less than perfect product in the MMO market. Why would I buy a game and wait 6 months for the devs to balance it and fix the bugs when I can play WOW as it is?

WOW essentially has the benefit of being pretty much first to market with their product, which has allowed them to establish and fine tune it to a level that other developers haven't been able to match.

Community is the other problem. As others have stated, if you already have established a community of friends in a game, and have invested in that community, and that community wishes to still play, are you seriously going to go off and leave for other pastures? Probably not. Especially if those pastures are not going to be as initially enjoyable as your WoW experience.

 

[Bags159]

Wait GW2 is going pay to play now?

Actually, no, not that I've heard. Good point. I am still worried, however, that it may not sell well in the face of other bigger games and, therefore, still fail for reasons completely unrelated to the game's actual merit.

I'm currently subbed to two games (WoW, Planetside) and I'd still buy GW2 if it was released today.

I think a lot of people who are currently subbed to a game would be a lot more likely to buy a one time purchase game than another subscription based game.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

I'm currently level 43 on Rift. I'm finding it loads more fun than WoW, the customisation of the talent trees is pretty awesome, and the zones are fucking incredible. Eg:

I haven't reached end game yet but I'm finding the levelling more enjoyable than WoW. The PvP could do with some work, but for once in an MMO I don't give a shit, I just wanna play the PvE, the dungeons are very well designed.

 

[Bags159]

Surprise, surprise, a brand new game is more exciting than one you've been playing for six years?

PVE content only lasts one time. When you're done with that and you realize the PVP sucks you'll come crawling back. Graphics don't make a game. Sowwie.

 

[Jasper Jeffs]

Shock, a brand new game is more exciting than one you've been playing for six years?

PVE content only lasts one time. When you're done with that and you realize the PVP sucks you'll come crawling back. Graphics don't make a game. Sowwie.

That directed at me? Shock, I don't play WoW that much. :O

The PvP doesn't suck either, but it could do with some work admittedly. I like how the community on my server is doing a lot of organised world PvP. Sure, other MMOs that have been out for fucking ages might have more content, but Rift has just come out, I'm not expecting it to have everything. Plus, what it does have right now I'm happy with. Everything you just said is your opinion, and it doesn't apply to me, so I'm just gonna ignore you.