Well, they were right. ESO did flop in 2013. Zero copies sold and zero active subscribers. Not easy to flop any harder than that.

2014 is another matter. I predict a huge boost in subscriptions right around April 4th, 2014. Most likely the result of Zenimax releasing a new hat or something that you can get for your characters and everyone will want one.

Although the guy who said it will be a flop if it doesn't blow everyone else away has a point. There will always be people out there who will consider it a failure if it doesn't svck WoW completely dry of subscriptions and force Blizzard into bankruptcy. They're mostly journalists, bloggers and forum trolls though.

Trends are stupid and for stupid people. Like I said, adaptive human beings will play what's enjoyable for them, not what "the current trends" dictate. And hilariously, despite everything, people still will pay the sub fee and play games if they're fun enough.

I can't talk to someone civilly when they think an MMO has to beat or match WoW to do well. Goodbye.

I think it's fair to say ESO will certainly flop with Single player TES Fans who despise any PVP since ESO is heavily geared towards a PVP community, to include even using public guild stores. Although that could pay off for ESO if they draw in the MMO crowd that enjoys PVP.

Did I ever say I held that ground? No. I don't want no will I ever want ESO to try and beat WoW. Please read my posts again.

Anyways, I'm done playing the Devil's Advocate now. This is just devolving into a troll-off.

It's that mentality that people need to get rid of, if somebody wants to make so many comparisons to wow, then...why...not...just..play...wow, it's that simple. ESO is not wow, and it should not aim to be wow at all, of course some players will come from wow to ESO, I bet these will be the people who swarm to the forums and complain about the systems etc too, complaining how it's not "wow" enough, these are the people who jump from MMO to MMO and ultimately end up back at wow, as mentioned if people were willing to adapt or at least try to enjoy a game for what it is then maybe the MMO community wouldn't be so toxic, but that's a dream that will never happen.

I too hope ESO will cover that barrier, and I personally right now think they just may, I'm sold on pvp, it looks fantastic, but as mentioned we haven't seen much for PvE content, it's worth noting that Nick Konkle said they have a planned schedule for information being released, so I am sure come the new year we will start seeing info on PvE content, especially as the months draw nearer to release, where their marketing picks up.

Thomas,

You seem to have a level headed view about things but how does not being the greatest MMO of all time (which it may yet still be) mean it's a flop?

Is Tom Brady a flop because he's only won 3 Super Bowls?

Is Stephen Strasburg a flop because he hasn't won a Cy Young yet?

Is Lionel Messi a flop because he hasn't won a World Cup?

The only way Zenimax will consider this a flop is if they have a negative balance sheet after launch. The only way I will consider it a flop is if it's not fun. Are you saying that it'll be a flop to you if it's not the greatest game of all time? That's a bit steep.

Being someone who liked WvW in GW2 but felt it fell short in several regards, I can easily say ESO's PvP is probably going to wipe the floor with WvW, since coverage is probably not going to be a determining factor towards victory due to only three factions existing.

They've already sold me on alliance Wars, though. Now I want to see more of what I can do cooperatively, when I don't want to grind other players into the dirt because they annoyed me.

Farts-with-Purpose: I don't hold that view. I don't care how well this game fares against WoW because this game actually caters more towards the Guild Wars arena (who despise WoW with every fiber of their being). All my statements bringing it up were Devils Advocate statements, which some people tend to overreact to.

Perfect example of how you describe strengths as weakness.

Additional player base from TES series is not any reason for flop. It is more reason to make game stronger. Strong game story is also not a bad reason - this is what makes difference between mindless quests accepting and following some story.

Indeed comparing games that had new releases in 2013 with game that was only announced and leaked (by players who are not follow law) makes no sense - there are no other reason then just false ones.

As mentioned, they have a release schedule, so only worry when it gets to Mid February/March and we still haven't heard anything about PvE.

Really? Every single player TES player I know has said to me multiple times how awesome they are at the game. Now they have a chance to prove it. Hell, most of the reason that I don't play Skyrim every day is because I can't play with my friends. While I've heard this argument before I'll wager that it'll sound ridiculously dated a year from now.

It's for the reason I stated in my first post. TES players typically don't do multiplayer. A pretty good number of my TES friends will not be buying ESO because it is an MMO. Doing a particular quest while ten other players are in the area doing it at the same time (which tends to happen a lot at launch) is a big deal-breaker as far as they are concerned.

On the contrary, typical gamers own both single and multiplayer games. A person who only plays one game is far from typical.

Yes, but you do not know one basic fact (I do not know it either): how many TES series players also played MMOs. If it is more then (for example) 50% then you know what does it mean. I doubt someone makes multi-milion investment without checking some base facts. But who knows after all.

I'm not saying at any point I am right about anything.

Just drawing on what I've seen so far.

The irony is excruciating.

Of all the MMOs on the horizon, it is indeed most likely to flop, simply because it is such a huge undertaking and is easily the largest IP for an MMO on the horizon. That also depends on your definition of flop though. For me, for an MMO to be a total flop it has to be shut down. No amount of F2P mid-stream switches or server-merging or not making their money back in the first month counts for me as a flop or a failure.

I don't see ESO being shut down for many many years and only really if there is a sequel they want everyone to jump to, ha! The game is here to stay, in one form or another.

Yeah, but I don't write on a journalist site trying to peddle my wares.

Maybe you should!

Maybe!

Really? Most mmo players just toss a group invite in that case, or at worst wait the five minutes it takes for the enemy to respawn. Seems kind of silly for this to be the deal-breaker on something you could potentially get years of enjoyment out of.

Based off of their other awards it looks like they have something against subscription and theme park MMOs so i'm not surprised they picked TESO. I actually do understand the logic in picking TESO for this award, Zenimax is trying to please two separate crowds, and has gained the most attention out of all the MMOs next year. IMO Most other MMOs next year have no chance of flopping because no one really expects anything from them.

Honestly, alot of that just looks like a SOE advertisemant.

WoW was an anomaly. When WoW was launched, internet had reached the point where it was a hell of alot more common than ever before, it had become fast enough, it had become affordable enough, and the "mainstream" had just really started to become aware and curious of a genre called "MMO". It also was developed by a reputable (back then) company. To put it simply, WoW came out at the "opportune moment" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVWWMj72-SI). If WoW was launched earlier, or later, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as successful.

I've never heard of this website, does that make them a flop?

$10 per month for Xbox Live? I have never seen Xbox Live with a baseline cost of $120 per year. Xbox Live & PSN have a base line cost of approximately $50-$60 AU per year, that is half the cost of what you've quoted.

i dont know that site, so i dont care.

There are certainly some TES fans who would enjoy PVP, and some would enjoy playing with friends in PVE , but i think most hardcoe TES fans will want that single player experience without other players killing them or disrupting their immersion, Those who want and expect their Elder Scrolls games to be Reminiscent of games that came before.

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