right now WOW is in the shitter, you could throw around subscription numbers, but most of the 12 million subs are people with multiple accounts and China/Chinese gold sellers, which if you look at the MMO numbers recently, their was a huge drop off in Subscriptions back in July-Sept of last year where that 12 million dropped down to 6 million, then shot back up to 12 million all of a sudden, this was the China markets influence.

When compared to Aion which has put out more subscribers of any other MMO not named WOW, Aion aint far away from being the MMO choice if NCSoft plays its cards right, and all NCSoft has to do is put down a pair of 2′s, because the problem with WOW is it went into the 10 year olds hands and became the MMO for dummies, little to accomplish in WOW anymore without going through the politics the guilds play and the highly exploitable PVP system it has, especially for arena play.

1. A very Solo friendly MMO
2. Accessibility without the need for large numbers (anymore)
3. Not having to worry that your lack of being able to play (some people do have busy llives) will make you fall too far behind.
4. Many fights that are more then a Tank and Spank (Very well done instances)
5. Fast paced pvp (very console style).
6. Not alot of time is needed to get something out of it.

Those are some of the things that WOW added to the MMO genre. One thing blizzard does well is create games that are fun, and that many seem to enjoy (the primary point to a game most of the time).

Any new game will of course draw attention. Its new…that is why. The thing about WOW ….that i feel draws people is what many also call it flaws. It is “easy” for lack of a better statement. The things I stated that WOW added to the MMO genre are also somethings that many feel make it too easy…or no challenge. I feel this is mis-understood. Yes, gaining nice gear is easy…but it is not the best. I do not have to spend tons of time just to gain one small piece of something “epic” in a patch time frame before it is worthless come next patch. Sadly…many who did have time to dedicate would get much of such rare item and feel higher. Blizzard “fixed” this….thus many can get epics…sad thing is…many do not feel higher or unique in the venture.

The game itself (instances, fights and such) have not gotten easier…in fact they require much more tactics then a the game used too. Many more have to have an idea of what is going on to win. What has gotten easier is the time needed to actually win. What used to take hours (for many) to just start (40 mans) and many hours to complete (due to length and trying to keep 40 in the same place) now does not.

Sadly…many feel that game is too easy because it is more accessible. I do not feel that the actual game play is easy…just that ALOT ot time is not needed to feel a sense of acomplishment (or get gear to even allow you to attempt ing instances). Because not much time is needed…people are able to check out new games..knowing that they can pretty much jump right back into WOW without falling far behind the “top” player (end game re say) curve.

Many get the wrong sense of a fight (or challenge)…because they require people in gear that is better then the gear of the instance to be in thier group; thus being carried. When they run into a group that is about right in gear and skill to just start an encounter….a wipe is more or less about to happen (has nothing to do with the fact that those players are good at thier class or will be great in the encounter once learned). When it does…the person that never really got the challenge in the first place feels he is ellite and leaves….looking for that group that can carry him. Thus making the game “easier” for that player. The game still is challenging (if you get into something with others that have not done it)…but many can and will following the shadow of those that have done the challenge and are helping gear up the rest. This is a problem with any MMO…..normally used with Power lvling, giving high lvl items to low lvls, high lvl follow around, etc.

Aion is just a different game that brings its own taste to the genre. It is fun in it own right. Time can only tell if it will pull the customer base it needs to remain alive. The question is not really….,”will it kill WOW”. WoW will end some day. :)

WOW does one thing I really like to the genre…..it opened it up….now many need to come up with something to really grab you. :)

Yea…I typed alot about wow…but wanted to get my point out lol.

I’d recommend this game to anyone who liked what WoW once was, but don’t really care for what it has become (too easy). And before people reply with “wow was never hard”… play WoW with no addons, and only raid in group that don’t use any addons, then tell me it’s easy. All that modding really ruined the game imo.

http://elliotinaion.wordpress.com/2009/06/04/aion-vs-wow-a-conclusion/

If it was going to do that poorly then we’d be seeing the first signs of mass exodus right now (three weeks in). Yet all of the first-batch servers are still queued up every night. And all of the community polls and player feedback seem to indicate that the subscriber retention rate will be… oh… 85% or so.

It may not become WoW 2 at millions of subscribers, but it does seem like Aion will do well for some time to come.

As for the community: Aion’s (in-game) community has been surprisingly friendly, helpful and mature. There have been the inevitable immature discussions in general chat, especially on Gorgos, but overall it’s a lot better than most MMORPGs (WoW definitely included).

As a result, it comes nowhere near HoN’s terrible community. This is not a game where newbies will get kicked out of Noob Only servers for … being Noob. It’s too bad that Heroes of Newerth is a great game to play, because the community is just appalling.

Jokers.

I’m really happy for you and all, but I promise you this will die (Hopefully) quietly in a grave, right next to Warhammer and AOC.

Also, your childish mannerisms make me chuckle.

I’m leaving this thread to die now, come back in six months and you can suck me or something for being right.