Who's tired of hearing the term WoW Killer tossed around?

[KhaineII]

Now, I'm in no way a fan boy of Blizzard, but every time I hear the term "WoW Killer" I can't help but imagine marketing teams gathering together and collectively shooting themselves in the foot.

The way I see it is, multitude's of developers and fans attach the words "WoW Killer" to their game before they're even released. The two games who are the biggest committers of this mistake right now are Aion and The Old Republic.

Way too many games in the past have tried to label themselves as some WoW destroying juggernaut, just to slide unconscious to halt in the front doorway of Blizzard after turning out to be just good or mediocre.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is, don't set such a high standard for yourself, whether you like WoW or not, you'd have to admit that it's a massive game with an even larger fan base. If you start calling yourself a "WoW Killer" there's a large chance that you're going to fail that within weeks of your game coming out, be it bugs, server-overload, or honest to god bad design, and people are going to write you off quick.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

I agree that it isn't a title you should be awarded until you've actually managed it.

is that the kind of thing we are meant to discuss? that we agree?

 

[Fauxity]

I doubt that claiming WoW-killer is as sure a way to kill your own game as you claim. But at the same time, I sort of agree with the negative connotations it brings into play. If you're making and marketing an MMO, your focus should be on creating an enjoyable (and hopefully profitable) game, not knocking out the competition.

 

[blackfrancis567]

I am not a fan of WOW, Blizzard or any MMORPG in fact I hate them but even I will admit that nothing will beat WOW its held its title for so long it could rename itself number 1 MMORPG and get away with it

 

[Bealzibob]

It is a bland and cliche title for a new MMO to label itself under but I'm more tired of hearing the term "Tossed around" being tossed around too frequently =[

 

[Kiutu]

See, my problem with 'WoW Killer' is that it assumes people only play one game of a type. People who are boycotting L4D2 are also that stupid. Even a game's own sequal wont kill its predecessor. People still play Halo 1 and 2, and Gears of War 1, and Call of Duty 2, and Morrowind, and plenty of other 'old' games.
Now you could say they mean become the new king MMO, making it number 1. Guess what that would make WoW? Number 2. Not 1, but not 3, 4, 5 ,6 or whatever. And they would still have millions and millions of players. Does not seem dead to me.

 

[Yassen]

Indeed, I'm very tired of hearing that thrown around. You know what I think? I think that every time a developer makes a new MMORPG and some players like it, they assume that it'll kill WoW because

a) they assume WoW players are only playing what they think is the only good MMORPG around or

b) that the reason for WoW's success is incredibly simple and can easily be topped.

Neither of these are the case, the reason for WoW's success has many different faces and things going for it. Shamus Young wrote an articule highlighting all the things that made WoW great that other MMORPG's fall short in. Have a read if you want to understand why people love WoW so much.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/experienced-points/6110-The-Secret-of-WoW

 

[KhaineII]

Yes, I'm essentially just seeing if people agree or not, and what their thoughts are either way. I seem to have gotten so caught up in myself I forgot to ask a question!

While I do agree that claiming your game is a "WoW Killer" won't utterly wipe your game off the face of the earth in the blink of an eye, I think games like LOTR Online and Warhammer Online stand as good examples of games that tried to hard to promote their game by tossing around their big competition with WoW, and loss focus of the fact that they're trying to sell us their game, not drive a company to the ground.

And as it stands LOTOR Online, Warhammer Online, and Conan all came out of the gate kicking and screaming only to peter out into a small murmur.

 

[Xerosch]

I think the only ones who could convert hardcore WoW players to try another MMORPG are the guys at Blizzard themselves and only if they release a new online game in the spirit of WoW. I've played it for some months, but found other titles more interesting (i.e. Guild Wars and FFXI) as they feature actual storylines and cutscenes.

Developers like to dump WoW's name to get attention, if their MMO is good it will be recieved as such, if it's not then... well, they die.

And just for the record: Why is it so important to be more successful than World of Warcraft?

 

[Nmil-ek]

Aion already flopped on the wow killer title 400, 000 pre orders? Absolutley nothing compared to that gargantuan what is it 12 million now? Hell was pushing 10 mill when I was still playing.

 

[DesertHawk]

I think you just read through the same topic I did. I had considered posting a reply discussing this same topic.

Games need to thrive on their own merits, and not just to ape the mechanics of an established franchise in hopes of stealing a little bit of their spotlight. For a developer hoping to topple the standard-setting franchise of the time, is for a developer to shoot themselves in the foot. Popularity must run its course. When it has, someone else will have their time to shine.

As far as the (blank)-killer term being thrown around, I would say that the fans are mostly guilty of this. Once that self-generating hype machine gets off the ground, it snowballs into such lofty expectations that a developers could never hope to match it. It's no wonder why many new MMOs have such a hard time getting off the ground. Fans have been shoveling so many slices of that hype pie into their faces, their expecting the second coming of Christ by the time the game is finally released.

 

[KhaineII]

And just for the record: Why is it so important to be more successful than World of Warcraft?

There! Why is it that game developers are trying so hard to compete with WoW, and completely forgetting about trying to make the game in it's own spirit.

 

[Jaythulhu]

Meh, I'd rather hear "WoW Killer" than the "See where the X phenomenon began!" from tv stations when they're about to launch into repeats of the same old shows we've seen over and over. At least "WoW Killer" only pops up once or twice a year.

 

[can't-think]

It's is an annoying thing to hear but i think it can be a successful marketing technique. a lot of people will jump to a new MMO when they hear that just for bragging rights if the game does topple WOW, also a lot of WOW players will get bored and try it and then return to wow a few months later. I doubt it would make a long term affect on profit but it will help with initial sales.

 

[DesertHawk]

I liked the way the Devs behind Warhammer Online said 'Ah ha, it's proof Blizzard are scared of us' (sic) when World of Warcraft put in levelling via PvP.

Also known as Blizzard stuck in the only good idea from Warhammer Online, and took anyway any incentive at all to buy Warhammer Online.

I still occasionally play a bit of World of Warcraft, i used to play very heavily. There won't be a 'WoW Killer' ever. There might, long after World of Warcraft runs it's course be a similar MMO pop up in similar veins of popularity, but that won't be for an extremely massively long time. And more than likely, it'll be made by Blizzard anyway, because they have to much experience in the field now that it's hard to see anyone but them doing it. Even existing MMO Devs can't do it.

The problem is, to compete with World of Warcraft they have to be as good as World of Warcraft is now, at release date. It has what, a massive development time and 5 years of tweaking. That polish just doesn't appear overnight. Many 'Hardcore' leave World of Warcraft to try other MMOs... in fact, when i'd quit most of my guild went to try Warhammer Online for a few months.

Every single one came back.

Agreed. Developers will definately need to step up their A game if they want to compete on the Fantasy MMORPG market with Blizzard. Actually...that's a bit of an understatement. They'll need to make a Faustian Bargain to even have a sneeze at long-term success. That, or, they could just try something different (as absurd a concept as that may seem...).

 

[Librarian Mike]

Hearing 'WoW Killer' reminds me of how, in the previous console generation, every time there was a crime/sandbox game, it would be labelled a 'GTA Killer'. Of course, most/all of them were inferior but it made for easy marketing.


...and as it turned out, GTA ended up cannibalizing itself.

 

[heyheysg]

WoW Killer Killer ftw

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Just like Metal Gear Killer, Final Fantasy Killer, GTA Killer, Halo Killer etc. WoW Killer will fade with time and people will get over the idea that it either can or needs to be "killed" and eventually it'll fade and die like so many games and fads before it.

 

[Jark]

To be truly honest I haven't heard a single MMORPG developer dub their game a "Wow killer".
I'm no fanboy of blizzard myself, used to play wow before they kicked it's teeth in with Wrath of the Lich King but anyway. I'm looking forward to the release of Aion a lot, even though it may be worse than WoW it'll be nice to play a new MMO that hasn't claimed itself to be better than the spazfest that is World of Warcraft.

And also if any game developers of MMO's have outright called their games wowkillers, need links/pics. Proof is always a nice incentive.