I have never posted before but must take exception with the above post - I think that EQ is still the game that sets the standards for all other games - I found doac dispite all of its hype not to be near the game eq is today or will be tomarrow - True luclin did and does have problems but dispite that it still offers players more choices and experiences than any other game - many people like myself bought doac to see what a new generation game would be like and i was for one highly disapointed - It is not nearly as sophisticated a game as EQ and does not offer near the challanges - True many people bought doac and are playing the game now but how many will still be playing a year from now - In my guild in doac almost all have gone back to EQ and either dropped there account for doac or it is dormant- Outside of being able to color your armour and put your guild on a cloak what does it offer - The graphics are not realistic and everything is small - its different but its not better - DOAC account gone at the end of the month - I much prefer EQ -

I disagree with Brad in his evaluation with regard to market share. Particularly in regard to DAOC and how that Effects EQ.

DAOC by far is the one game that has ranked quite high on player reviews, more so than any other game - including EQ, and especially since EQ's recent expansion Luclin.

The significance to the market, is that many people who played EQ did, in fact, leave EQ to play DAOC. Their player base is a portion of EQ's player base. And when all is said and done, in truth the real issue that people seem to completely ignore, is NEW players to the MMOG market, NOT keeping existing players. Lets discuss this aspect a little.

From personal observation of my own family, as we have over ten accounts, those that played EQ and now play DAOC did not cancel their accounts; not one. However only I of all the family still play EQ. For that matter much of my guild left to play EQ. Their rationale for keeping their accounts open and active on EQ was in anticipation of the coming Luclin expansion released just last month. Many players were going to compare Luclin with DAOC and make that their final determinant for a single game.

With Luclin's huge release bugs, and problems. Not one of my family members have bought the expansion - except for me. I think the majority of accounts on EQ went out to buy the expansion, but also the majority were extremely disappointed because of a terribly bugged product, and an unfinished and rushed product. Some things that players were expecting were multiple new chat channels for raids for larger groups, player implimented merchant abilities, new game interface, upgraded spell graphics, and upgraded sound. All in all, a lot of things just fizzled, and it shows up in all the reviews. I personally have not read one review that DOESN'T feel the Luclin expansion was not at the potential of EQ or comparable to DAOC.

A few of my family members have as of a couple of weeks ago chose to quit their EQ account. Others still keep it active, and find a serious dilemma to kill off a character they have worked on so long. But not one person, aside from myself, continues to play EQ.

I beieve you cannot determine market share or how DAOC affected EQ so early in the game. Simply said, so many people are and were hoping Luclin would get them back into a game they spent years developing characters on. And considering all the bugs, and "promises" they are still holding on. I believe that hope is dying slowly as player characters find out that the issues they came to despise are still practiced and fostered by Verant. All in all, speaking of success stories - DAOC did in fact have an impact on the market that won't be immediately recognizable for a couple more months. It's a tug of war for many players of EQ and DAOC that will eventually be one by a company that can hear the demands of their player base. When another company provides another launch like DAOC the tug of war will begin to be even harder for EQ.

So, if EQ is to succeed it needs to do something very radical, and not simply focus on championing how DAOC or any other game did not significantly hurt their player base. As for NEW subscribers to the MMOG market, I seriously doubt EQ has much to champion there. EQ cannot win new customers by parading how little its existing market share has changed. In observation, that's all it can do with what we saw from the Luclin release. Over time that existing market share will decline.





Edited, Sat Jan 12 15:20:59 2002