Aion : a possible competitive threat to WoW's future according to ActivisionBlizzard

[shol]

Originally Posted by Keske

because the very nature of fanboyism isn't that the thing you idolise is awesome it's that everything else is worse than Hitler.

Keske

+1
/salute

[Arquen]

Anything that shares the genre of WOW and can potentially take away customers from Activision/Blizzard is termed a threat. WAR was a "threat" so was Age of Conan. It really doesn't mean much, Blizzard isn't going to change anything... pull out all the stops or give their customers free months of playtime. It simply means they are keeping an eye on the competition.

Besides, Blizzard has become an increasingly money hungry and greedy company. Their recent announcement that Starcraft II will have no LAN feature and only multiplayer through blizznet is already giving them A LOT of flack. The company has it's own problems, and while Aion taking customers is among things they have to worry about, I'm sure it is a side-note to their other problems.

[Untamed]

Originally Posted by Arquen

Anything that shares the genre of WOW and can potentially take away customers from Activision/Blizzard is termed a threat. WAR was a "threat" so was Age of Conan. It really doesn't mean much, Blizzard isn't going to change anything... pull out all the stops or give their customers free months of playtime. It simply means they are keeping an eye on the competition.

Besides, Blizzard has become an increasingly money hungry and greedy company. Their recent announcement that Starcraft II will have no LAN feature and only multiplayer through blizznet is already giving them A LOT of flack. The company has it's own problems, and while Aion taking customers is among things they have to worry about, I'm sure it is a side-note to their other problems.

They became greedy when they partnered with ****ing Activision.

[Dashdot]

WoW is dying, slowly but surely. Blizzard knows this, that's why they're making a new different next-gen (could be next-gen in terms of graphics or next-gen in terms of features) MMO, they know WoW is slowly dying, so of course it's only natural they'll expand into new games.

Aion will definitely take some players from WoW, it's not that it's a "possible competitive threat", it IS a competitive threat, especially since this one will be released here in the EU and US in a MUCH more complete status than previous MMOs (AoC, WAR) much thanks to it having been in retail for a while now.

I'd say the biggest reason it's appealing is because unlike WAR and AoC, it's as finished as it needs to be for a launch. WAR and AoC had many things going for them, especially WAR, but the launches killed them. AoC won't last for another year. WAR is definitely shaping up to be a great MMO, especially if they fix their loot rolling for keep and PQ rewards, but I fear it's to late for them to redeem their lost playerbase, WAR is extremely dependent on new people trying it all the time, as it needs PVP action throughout all level ranges. It'll probably survive, but I don't think it has any chances of attracting newer players.

So Aion, is of course a threat to WoW's future. Though, I don't think WoW will ever die completely, I just don't see it happening, but it will eventually sink to a low similar to that of AoC where they're forced to combine servers in order to keep it active and populated, server wise.

Not much to discuss on this topic to be honest. :P I feel like I'm saying what's only obvious.

[aarion81]

Competition is good for any business, it stimulates things, makes a business try harder, try new things, etc. This is rarely a bad thing for us, as customers

[Vegamagus]

For who want to become MMORPG Killer that make their business seriously. Too bad!

[Cupido]

Originally Posted by NarcissuStar

if I want cheese i'll eat cheese

and if i want to play WoW, but all my buddies are switching over to AION, then i'll play aion...

although thats not my current situation, i'm seeing this happen more and more

Blizzard says 11 million people are playing WoW currently.
For one person who switches over to Aion, he brings along another 3-4.
Let's say 1 million WoW players find out about Aion and switch over.
1=3-4
1million=3-4million?

It will definitely hurt blizzard. Maybe not enough to shut WoW down, but enough to give Aion some pretty good rep.

[Untamed]

Originally Posted by aarion81

Competition is good for any business, it stimulates things, makes a business try harder, try new things, etc. This is rarely a bad thing for us, as customers

Yeah but the problem is that the fan boys that bash anything new that comes out don't consider the need for competition. Hell I hope another MMO doesn't become as big as WoW again and the MMO population is a little more spread out over a number of MMOs in the future. At least then companies would try harder to keep their subs.

[Livvy]

Blizzard says 11 million people are playing WoW currently.
For one person who switches over to Aion, he brings along another 3-4.
Let's say 1 million WoW players find out about Aion and switch over.
1=3-4
1million=3-4million?

You're forgetting a few things here .For one : that still leaves 8-9 million subscribers ( a lot more than any other MMO has now or will have in the foreseeable future ) .

And secondly : players are still starting to play WoW on a daily basis .In addition to this we always see a spike whenever a major patch is being released ( soon again with patch 3.2 ). The Blizzard CEO has said the same thing about every MMO last couple of years so it's no big deal . I'm thinking Blizzard secretly hopes a serious contender would arrive on the scene . It sure would take away a lot of the pressure they are under . We tend to uderestimate what it takes for them to remain vigilant and creative when it comes to WoW. Also : the only ones who are engaging in "hate campaigns " against any particular game are gamers themselves . You'll never see any developer saying "WoW sucks " or "Aion sucks "because those guys ( and girls ) realize what it takes to develop any MMO . Aion devs admire WoW devs and vice versa ,you can be certain about that .

[Lawtaku]

Originally Posted by Cupido

and if i want to play WoW, but all my buddies are switching over to AION, then i'll play aion...

although thats not my current situation, i'm seeing this happen more and more

Blizzard says 11 million people are playing WoW currently.
For one person who switches over to Aion, he brings along another 3-4.
Let's say 1 million WoW players find out about Aion and switch over.
1=3-4
1million=3-4million?

It will definitely hurt blizzard. Maybe not enough to shut WoW down, but enough to give Aion some pretty good rep.

You forgot about the 3-4 million in China that was playing WoW but since the lawsuit...wonder how many players switched.

[VikingGamer]

What is really interesting here is that this is a stock market analyst talking. Not an Aion fanboi. Not a WoW hater. Just a number crunching financial geek who is really only interested in the bottom line. If Aion is significant enough to get noticed in the financial world against the 10 ton gorilla that is WoW, that is news. Aion won't supplant WoW but it looks like the money guys are expecting it to land hard enough to get noticed buy more than just gamers.

[Lawtaku]

Originally Posted by VikingGamer

What is really interesting here is that this is a stock market analyst talking. Not an Aion fanboi. Not a WoW hater. Just a number crunching financial geek who is really only interested in the bottom line. If Aion is significant enough to get noticed in the financial world against the 10 ton gorilla that is WoW, that is news. Aion won't supplant WoW but it looks like the money guys are expecting it to land hard enough to get noticed buy more than just gamers.

Well its a new IP, so its success really relies on how well NA and EU takes the game, its already a success in China and Korea, and despite it failing here, the stock climb for NCsoft has already increased nearly 3 folds with just being released in Korea and China, and of coarse its other games.

[Livvy]

Well its a new IP, so its success really relies on how well NA and EU takes the game, its already a success in China and Korea, and despite it failing here, the stock climb for NCsoft has already increased nearly 3 folds with just being released in Korea and China, and of coarse its other games.

Don't forget GW 2 is looming on the horizon as well. I'm pretty sure Blizzard will again make a statement when beta for that one is going on

[Sol]

You forgot about the 3-4 million in China that was playing WoW but since the lawsuit...wonder how many players switched.

Apparently a good number of WoW China players simply rerolled on the Taiwanese servers.

[Honesty]

The only way WoW will "Die" is when WoW 2 comes out. And Blizzard has said themselves, that every time a new game comes out, they notice numbers dropping--but they all come back sooner or later.

Aion won't even make a dent in WoW's subscription base. I can already see a ton of people leaving after the free month, or re-joining WoW sometime down the road... let alone the people who will pay for two MMO's, like myself.

I love AION .. but the only way I'd ever cancel my WoW account, was if this game is a huge killer. I have hopes, but don't see it happening anytime soon.