How popular/mainstream do you think Ashes will be?

ArchivedUser

So we who dwell here are obviously built of hype but how do you think general MMORPG crowd thinks about Ashes and how do you think game will do player count wise? I am little bit concerned about peoples opinion since I remember articles that AOCs referral system is "pyramid scheme" and I doubt my.com fiasco has helped matters.

Do you think Ashes will be fabled "WoW killer" (no), successful MMORPG in its own right or our dear little cult classic?

ArchivedUser

The only way to know this is to be from the future.

ArchivedUser

Yakoyakdiddy said:

Lmao, remember to ridicule me forever if Ashes kills WoW.

ArchivedUser

I think that it will be very popular and a success financially. But it will also be niche, which Steven has said that he is fine with. PvX is not for everyone and there will be a huge portion of the casual gamer base that will sub for a month, not like that they are not put on a treadmill and told what they have to do next, and will leave in confusion. The hardcore EU players who don't like my.com won't even be a blip in overall sales, a huge majority of those same casual players have no idea of past issues, and probably could care less about the guy shouting fire in the theater. They will sub, find out if it is right for them, and a couple months later hear about "You didn't know about all the stuff people were saying before launch?" I don't think it will be a "wow-killer", the only thing that is going to kill WoW is WoW itself.

ArchivedUser

It could be the "WoW killer" in the public relations department,  I've certainly been trying to hype it as such.  As far as CRUSHING the be-jesus out of it and the rest of its fathomable remains... Nah.  It will sure try though!

ArchivedUser

I believe it will find a strong footing. People have been looking for something 'new' in the mmo genera.. This game and pantheon are the two big ones on peoples lists; both catering to different markets and that's a good thing. Though I am nostalgic for the early days to EQ1 style play, I know my personal tastes have changed. I'm glad both games will be around.
In a nut, the genera is hungry for new games that are not clones of past games. I feel AoC's initial numbers will be staggering, like any new game coming out.. Will it 'hold' people is the question... and for that.. only time will tell..

ArchivedUser

I think it has what it takes to be big. I don't think it will kill wow, but I do hope it does.

ArchivedUser

Shoklen said:

I believe it will find a strong footing. People have been looking for something 'new' in the mmo genera.. This game and pantheon are the two big ones on peoples lists; both catering to different markets and that's a good thing. Though I am nostalgic for the early days to EQ1 style play, I know my personal tastes have changed. I'm glad both games will be around.
In a nut, the genera is hungry for new games that are not clones of past games. I feel AoC's initial numbers will be staggering, like any new game coming out.. Will it 'hold' people is the question... and for that.. only time will tell..

I agree. The market is clearly hungry for the 'next big thing'. WoW has dated considerably, and that is in no way to denigrate it, but that Golden Age is past, and the next era would demand a much more modern iteration. We see this with every hype train. There only is a barrage of hype trains because of that desire to see the next level MMORPG, and the community allow themselves to raise their expectations due to what they have been seeking for so long; that perfect storm of populated game that's fun to play, is an IP they can get behind, and have longevity. We see this each time another title claims not to be Pay2Win or a thousand other promises.
 What sets Ashes apart is the starting point: A pool of established talent, someone with vision who actually is a seasoned MMO player, and independence. Coupled that with being a Western company that isn't chasing a quick cash grab, and you at least on paper have the recipe for the next WoW (in terms of success as an MMORPG). There are plenty of indicators to this based on how many backed AoC in the first place

ArchivedUser

I'm excited, optimistic and hopeful. I don't think it will ever kill WoW, but I have a feeling it will take a portion of their more dedicated base who are looking for a different challenge. I expect we might see news of large sever guilds opting to migrate someday. Till then, I'm gonna enjoy the ride. 

ArchivedUser

Perseus01 said:

It could be the "WoW killer" in the public relations department,  I've certainly been trying to hype it as such.  As far as CRUSHING the be-jesus out of it and the rest of its fathomable remains... Nah.  It will sure try though!

No, just no. People really need to stop saying stuff like this.

ArchivedUser

Its a PVP centric MMO so it will be niche. I imagine at best a concurrent player base height of around 300k-500k players. It would be successful at those levels but nowhere near WoW.

ArchivedUser

Dragnon said:

Perseus01 said:

It could be the "WoW killer" in the public relations department,  I've certainly been trying to hype it as such.  As far as CRUSHING the be-jesus out of it and the rest of its fathomable remains... Nah.  It will sure try though!

No, just no. People really need to stop saying stuff like this.

Well,  what did you expect?

ArchivedUser

Well,  I figured this was going to be the very last anything that brought up the cliche of being a "WoW Killer"....next... 

ArchivedUser

I think it wont kill WOW, but its trying to bring back the things that made mmos great and at the same time be innovative. Its what the people want. This may bring back older players who gave up on MMO's because of how shallow they have been. It may not need to kill wow to be super successful.

ArchivedUser

WoW's Lore is just too good.... You can't kill the game off that easily. I'm sure at some point wow will even make a new engine to beat out any potential killers at some point. However, this game will hopefully pull a big crowd to get some well deserved recognition in the MMO community.

ArchivedUser

I made this post a while back but my opinion is still the same
I'm not sure if anything would ever kill WoW (apart from blizzard its self), but to me, ashes seem to be a more niche game, An excellent and exciting game, but I don't think it will ever be as mainstream like WoW and to be honest, I like that. I may sound elitist but games have died looking for that magical wider audience and it so hard to keep everyone happy if you do find it.  

I like the way ashes is going and I'm glad Steven and intrepid are doing what they want and not just making a clone. To me this is why we backed ashes not because it will be the best MMO ever(which I hope it will) but because its something new and interesting

ArchivedUser

nagash said:

I made this post a while back but my opinion is still the same
I'm not sure if anything would ever kill WoW (apart from blizzard its self), but to me, ashes seem to be a more niche game, An excellent and exciting game, but I don't think it will ever be as mainstream like WoW and to be honest, I like that. I may sound elitist but games have died looking for that magical wider audience and it so hard to keep everyone happy if you do find it.  

I like the way ashes is going and I'm glad Steven and intrepid are doing what they want and not just making a clone. To me this is why we backed ashes not because it will be the best MMO ever(which I hope it will) but because its something new and interesting

Bone man I hear your bones rattling across the ocean and I must agree!

ArchivedUser

I think there will be a large influx of people into ashes at launch, as there is a huge hunger for new MMO's out there. I do think that many will find ashes does not fit the hand it to me now, max level in 10 hours, its all a grind crowd, thus many will leave after a couple of months, and that quite frankly is a good thing. 

There will be many who will find a new MMO though and I believe ashes will be quite successful, just so long as they can deliver on the game they have promised, and I think they will.

ArchivedUser

Rajuta said:

I think it wont kill WOW, but its trying to bring back the things that made mmos great and at the same time be innovative. Its what the people want. This may bring back older players who gave up on MMO's because of how shallow they have been. It may not need to kill wow to be super successful.

You hit the nail for the head for me, gave up on MMOs for while and kickstarted especially for this.

Perseus01 said:

Well,  I figured this was going to be the very last anything that brought up the cliche of being a "WoW Killer"....next... 

I think there is curse if someone says game is WoW killer its doomed to flop, here is hoping we didn't jinx it.

Dragnon said:

Its a PVP centric MMO so it will be niche. I imagine at best a concurrent player base height of around 300k-500k players. It would be successful at those levels but nowhere near WoW.

Thanks for your comment, didn't hit me that people thought this way but personally, I dont think Ashes is technically PVP centric MMO since you can ignore it (or most of it) and participate in PVE if its your style but once again I can see why people would think it is especially since its highly subjective.  

ArchivedUser

Aside from everyone on this forum, a lot people i've seen seem to dislike the game because they don't understand "Alpha" or "in development". I think ashes will be successful. Whether it is the wow killer or not will be told by time. But as someone mentioned earlier, The only wow killer is wow itself

ArchivedUser

VoidShadow said:

Aside from everyone on this forum, a lot people i've seen seem to dislike the game because they don't understand "Alpha" or "in development". I think ashes will be successful. Whether it is the wow killer or not will be told by time. But as someone mentioned earlier, The only wow killer is wow itself

Yeah steam and the Korean market has killed the market with "Early Access" games... I think if they market correctly when they are ready to release they will be fine. But it's hard to get people excited for a game that is two years from release. Not to mention people these days have been beat over the head with "THIS MMO WILL BE BEST BUY INTO EARLY ACESS!!!! *Upon purchase smashes player in the face with cash shop full of pay to win* ... *Game dies two months later due to crap development*

ArchivedUser

Wow is the most popolar mmorpg all time.
I will never understand, how could that happen.
Sorry!!
😂💟
PS: For me personally it is the most idiotic, boring and lame game I >ever< played. ( I only tested it, until the first dungeon with a party and I was literally shocked and couldn`t stop laughing, or was it crying?, I don`t know, maybe both.) Then I logged out and deletet the game.
I played 10 year`s EQ2. Maybe thats the reason why.^^

And the answer to your question: hopefully it will not be a wow killer.
Because they have their own community. And fan`s. So let them play wow.^^

And AOC has and will have their own community and fan base.
And I think it will be a better one.

ArchivedUser

It won't be wow killer that's already certain.

By how it looks it will be f2p after ~2years from release, the subscription based model ain't going to work when there are f2p alternatives.

Probably there will be a hype at the start, but I wouldn't expect more than 500k players.

Though if they can keep that number for long time, it already can be called "success", and they can even keep the subscription in this case.

Actually it depends on what the game will offer at release. If the combat will be like it's currently, then I don't see bright future. The majority of PvP players already lost by bad but zealous design choices, so they should focus on PvE/roleplay if they want to keep them at least...

Well actually I don't see what they could offer to PvE players either. If they start mass produce expansions/content so new dungeons in every half year they can keep their interest for sure, wow does the same, and while it's a successful strategy, it's also fake which only works on the dumber part of the player base, but luckily the overwhelming majority of players are in that section.

ArchivedUser

Rajuta said:

I think it wont kill WOW, but its trying to bring back the things that made mmos great and at the same time be innovative. Its what the people want. This may bring back older players who gave up on MMO's because of how shallow they have been. It may not need to kill wow to be super successful.

That pretty laughable, as wow is the thing which made the mmos great in the first place. It was a noname genre with abysmal playerbase, then wow came, and took the overwhelming majority of players in, causing the mmo genre to grow into a genre with tens of millions of players.

But even nowdays, where blizzard themselves, since nearly a decade now, ruin their own game with more and more **** design choices, it's still have more players than all other mmorpg combined...

ArchivedUser

UnknownSystemError said:

I don't think it will be a "wow-killer", the only thing that is going to kill WoW is WoW itself.

WoW 2: The WoW Killer!

Official title right there.

Imo, If launch is successful and there aren't "too many" people harassing new players. This will kill WoW. Even the most dedicated WoW players will try AoC, and if it manages what Steven is saying they will do. I'm 100% sure people will stay with AoC, even if that does mean going between WoW and AoC. AoC will keep more of the casual players and new younger players for sure.

ArchivedUser

WoW is designed to be very easy to play and jump in and out of. You are lead like a sheep from mission to mission there are big ?s to help etc  It does prove that a subscription based game can be successful.  AoC will probably have an impact on the WoW player base initially  but lets face it the vast majority of todays MMO players have got used to and will demand instant gratification with the minimum of work to achieve.  I don't believe AoC will fill that role and many will soon return to the snugly comforter that is WoW.  The upside of that is AoC will be filled with like minded players who enjoy having to explore, think, problem solve, work cooperatively and risk & reward type gameplay.  In my opinion AoC will not kill WoW simply because it is not aimed at the average WoW player.  Incidentally I am not a WoW hater I do jump in and out from time to time.  Just it is zero challange. So it doesn't hold my attention.

ArchivedUser

I personally don't care if it kills WoW or not. WoW isn't even on my radar. I just want Ashes to be different to the MMOs currently available.

ArchivedUser

I think it will have to agree with what others said; It will have a stable large enough player base, but it won't reach WoW or ESO levels. 

And I am totally fine with, I actually prefer having a smaller more dedicated community, where names are famous or infamous. As opposed to the typical theme park experience where you just see a bunch nameless and faceless characters walk and jump around without any interaction.

I am quite enticed by the RP opportunities AoC might provide, meeting people traveling together and embarking on adventures. Be it Exploring, finding rare resources in hard to reach places or Fighting with tooth and and nail for survival. 

As long as the playerbase is large enough to provide such endeavors and ensures the continuation and expansion of the game, I won't care at all if AoC won't have the numbers of MMO X.   

ArchivedUser

Nothing is killing WoW unless they make another one. Ashes will have its place and be popular as well. 

ArchivedUser

Dragnon said:

Its a PVP centric MMO so it will be niche. I imagine at best a concurrent player base height of around 300k-500k players. It would be successful at those levels but nowhere near WoW.

I'm highly doubtful it'll only reach those numbers. While I agree that it wont killl WoW, I also don't expect it to do any less then Bless Online. Which drew in well over a million at launch.

Truth be told, I expect AoC to become the 2nd more popular mmo. I expect a strong launch and likely a continued presence. However, with all of that said, it's too early to tell. So I am basing my opinion off of the presumption Intrepid succeeds in what they are planning to do.

ArchivedUser

Like many said, I don't think it will be a 'WoW-killer'. AoC not being the typical easyscape themepark MMORPG will be one of the reasons not.
And that is not particularly a bad thing.