Ok looking back at the old "What I predict in 2009 post" from my old blog site, here were my predictions and what did or DID NOT come true:
Spellborn and Darkfall will flop hard. These games can barely get released in the North American market let alone hold a substantial playerbase. One of them will go free to play.
TRUE
I think RMT will now make us pay more for our games and the sad thing is we won’t notice it until we do the math.
TRUE
Some sort of drama will ensue at WoW Radio and yet another podcast will get cancelled and someone will leave the station…AGAIN.
SORTA TRUE. A few departures but overall the station was quiet and we got more Blue PLZ which I can never get enough of. Not sure when the whole WoW Insider thing went down or The T. left so this may have happened in 2008.
On the fence bloggers will continue to avoid actually slamming MMO’s that are failing attempting to remain neutral to avoid ruffling feathers (and losing readers).
TRUE
I will continue to be ripped for playing WoW. Apparently if you play a game that can actually hold subscribers and function with a working client you are a moron.
TRUE
I will catch flack for running a guild that appears to be successful (where 80% of my members are garnered from World of Warcraft gaming sites). I know what players want, how to give it to them and what makes a happy community. I consider myself the Bill Parcels of World of Wacraft. You can talk junk about me all you want behind my back. By the way WoW is my domain and my MMO so I think I know what works and what doesn’t. It’s a video game, relax.
KINDA TRUE. That guild folded due to a lot of douchebags, but we are back now and having more fun with nicer people
I think that Sony will close Matrix Online and Pirates of the Burning Sea will sail off into the sunset.
HALF TRUE
I will post something that causes me to lose even more readers because I speak (err blog) my mind.
TRUE
Tobold will gain a free beta invite to SOMETHING and then get some sort of kick back for mentioning it on his blog.
TRUE, but he had to admit it.
Miley Cyrus will do something to totally ruin her image.
FALSE. Dammit
Daniel Craig’s movie Defiance will kick a lot of ass. Speaking of Craig, Peter Travers has backed me up on my dislike of Quantum of Solace. Thanks!
Kinda true. The movie didn't do so well at the box office. Meanwhile the Bond film didn't either
The phrase “EQ2 blah blah blah” will be uttered once more on the ”Shut Up We’re Talking” podcast.
Every...fucking...episode...
Age of Conan will shut down and we won’t see any major releases in 2009.
Dammit. Close, but no cigar. It did go free to play for the first 20 levels
The phrase “Triple AAA MMO” will thankfully die. Why? Because there are not that many and there never will be. I can count three. Two of them have been around for more than 4 years. I will let you guess my third choice.
Just about. You don't see too many people using this with the flops of Warhammer Online and Champions Online showing them that I was right
Spellborn and Darkfall will flop hard. These games can barely get released in the North American market let alone hold a substantial playerbase. One of them will go free to play.
TRUE
I think RMT will now make us pay more for our games and the sad thing is we won’t notice it until we do the math.
TRUE
Some sort of drama will ensue at WoW Radio and yet another podcast will get cancelled and someone will leave the station…AGAIN.
SORTA TRUE. A few departures but overall the station was quiet and we got more Blue PLZ which I can never get enough of. Not sure when the whole WoW Insider thing went down or The T. left so this may have happened in 2008.
On the fence bloggers will continue to avoid actually slamming MMO’s that are failing attempting to remain neutral to avoid ruffling feathers (and losing readers).
TRUE
I will continue to be ripped for playing WoW. Apparently if you play a game that can actually hold subscribers and function with a working client you are a moron.
TRUE
I will catch flack for running a guild that appears to be successful (where 80% of my members are garnered from World of Warcraft gaming sites). I know what players want, how to give it to them and what makes a happy community. I consider myself the Bill Parcels of World of Wacraft. You can talk junk about me all you want behind my back. By the way WoW is my domain and my MMO so I think I know what works and what doesn’t. It’s a video game, relax.
KINDA TRUE. That guild folded due to a lot of douchebags, but we are back now and having more fun with nicer people
I think that Sony will close Matrix Online and Pirates of the Burning Sea will sail off into the sunset.
HALF TRUE
I will post something that causes me to lose even more readers because I speak (err blog) my mind.
TRUE
Tobold will gain a free beta invite to SOMETHING and then get some sort of kick back for mentioning it on his blog.
TRUE, but he had to admit it.
Miley Cyrus will do something to totally ruin her image.
FALSE. Dammit
Daniel Craig’s movie Defiance will kick a lot of ass. Speaking of Craig, Peter Travers has backed me up on my dislike of Quantum of Solace. Thanks!
Kinda true. The movie didn't do so well at the box office. Meanwhile the Bond film didn't either
The phrase “EQ2 blah blah blah” will be uttered once more on the ”Shut Up We’re Talking” podcast.
Every...fucking...episode...
Age of Conan will shut down and we won’t see any major releases in 2009.
Dammit. Close, but no cigar. It did go free to play for the first 20 levels
The phrase “Triple AAA MMO” will thankfully die. Why? Because there are not that many and there never will be. I can count three. Two of them have been around for more than 4 years. I will let you guess my third choice.
Just about. You don't see too many people using this with the flops of Warhammer Online and Champions Online showing them that I was right
Nicely done. I like the part about being ripped for playing WoW, oh and the Miley Cyrus prediction too!
ReplyDeleteYou have a most interesting blog. I look forward to more of your posts, even if I've stopped playing WoW.
ReplyDeleteIf ever I do come back (for Cataclysm maybe), perhaps I can join your guild and learn how to play a class other than the hunter. LOL. :)
I don't think AoC is free for the first 20 levels. There is a 7 day free trial that either limits you to level 10 or 20 (can't remember), maybe that is what you're referring to? Or maybe you got it mixed up with WAR?
ReplyDeleteI think this is the offer I was thinking of so it may be over.
ReplyDeletehttps://register.ageofconan.com/unlimited_trial/
Get ready for the most savage, sexy and brutal MMO ever created!
This trial allows you to play all of the content on Tortage Island - for as long as you want at no cost whatsoever. Please note that a trial account has some limitations to avoid 'spam' and 'gold farmers': you can not trade with others, use in-game mail, public chat channels and you can not post on the forums.
All these limitations are lifted once you upgrade your account to the full version of the game. If and when you decide to upgrade your account you will receive an immediate boost to your progress through an exclusive and powerful beginner's item that increases both XP gain and your chance of performing fatality moves!
This offer is valid for those that create an account and log into the game before January 1st 2010.
Agree with most of what you posted, though I will say Darkfall is not a failure. It opened up a second server and both are doing well. It is gaining subs fairly nicely and the income from the game even allowed Aventurine to move into a nice new office.
ReplyDeleteIt will never be as big as WoW or Aion or probably even Eve, but it is doing fine. Seeing that it had a very small budget and a very small dev team, they are a pretty nice little success in a very crowded market.
I think Darkfall can be placed with WWII Online as one of the more successful MMOs from small companies. Some people like it, many don't but they are doing just fine.
Yea...The Age of Conan thing is a fail for you. But, you WERE close.
ReplyDeleteFuncom for some reason continues to pull money either out of it's ass or thin air to continue to run games they do NOT know how to develop.
I am clueless of how they do it.
And the fact that Age of Conan is still sticking to the mid ground of popularity (equal number of lovers and haters), I just do not know where it is going.
For now, I still think it has potential, just Funcom will be the ones who make or break that potential.