Our sister site Joystiq sent an MMO newbie to wade through the crowds surrounding the PAX08 booths of two upcoming MMOs. One of those titles was Warhammer Online and the other was Aion. The goal was to spend some time with each game, talk to the developers and see which title appealed more to an uninitiated MMO player. The results? Well, take a look for yourself.
It's hard to spend a short amount of time with any game and draw a conclusion of some sort, especially an MMO. Even still, Initial impressions are just as important as long-term ones. Each of the two games chosen definitely give off an immediately different vibe. Most eastern MMOs from NCsoft tend to focus on the established crowd more than new players and Aion isn't an exception. Wheras Warhammer Online is doing more to appeal to a group of players who's first MMO was, well, World of Warcraft. So, as a newbie to the genre it's not hard to see where one might go.
Reader Comments (2)
Posted: Sep 6th 2008 10:58AM (Unverified) said
Actually, that's not what he's saying.
"A very basic theory on the two different structures could be lobbied at a large, established world versus a new world that hopes to entice players. Warhammer, if you weren't aware, is timeless to fans and the MMO from Mythic Entertainment is an extension of that established universe. Aion is a brand new experience from NCsoft that hopes to draw players in with beautiful visuals and rewarding tasks (ie. the ability to fly without use of a mount)."
I think his views on what both are trying to accomplish (conflict vs discovery) are possibly spot-on though, apparently they convey their message well from the start which is promising (though it'll probably not be so dry cut after sinking some time in either).
"A very basic theory on the two different structures could be lobbied at a large, established world versus a new world that hopes to entice players. Warhammer, if you weren't aware, is timeless to fans and the MMO from Mythic Entertainment is an extension of that established universe. Aion is a brand new experience from NCsoft that hopes to draw players in with beautiful visuals and rewarding tasks (ie. the ability to fly without use of a mount)."
I think his views on what both are trying to accomplish (conflict vs discovery) are possibly spot-on though, apparently they convey their message well from the start which is promising (though it'll probably not be so dry cut after sinking some time in either).
Posted: Sep 8th 2008 2:59PM (Unverified) said
Is it me only, or this article looks incredibly biased?
Pointing at the sales as a measure of which game will be more successful when Aion is releasing around 6 months after WAR in US/EU isn't really objective.
I haven't read anything about Aion going for a stablished crowd instead of going for newcomers neither, way to twist words.
Pointing at the sales as a measure of which game will be more successful when Aion is releasing around 6 months after WAR in US/EU isn't really objective.
I haven't read anything about Aion going for a stablished crowd instead of going for newcomers neither, way to twist words.







