The longer virtual worlds exist, the more that developers will see that it is better to evolve than re-engineer. I would be very surprised by a sequel to WoW, there doesn't seem to be any point. Everquest II showed that it was probably unwise. Sony would have been better off devoting that time to a EQ overhaul or just work on a new IP.

So over time this gen, will become next gen. When people were talking about the next 'third gen MMO', what they didn't realize is that they were probably already playing it, it just hadn't evolved by then.

The last change in MMO generations was the introduction of virtual environments and social areas ( a la Facebook, Second Life etc), just hanging out in an environment is enough, without playing a game. This is getting fed back into the mainstream game releases, with the addition of offline content, social linking of avatars etc.

The next 'gen' will be greater sensory immersion, the game beyond just a monitor. If Blizzard are not already working on this, I'd be very surprised.

Blizzard don't have to make follow ups as the market leader, they are in a position they have to innovate to protect their market share, otherwise it will be slowly eroded over time by all the other releases.

Well they wouldn't be taking kickbacks from both Blizzard and EA. Warhammer was hyped here to hell, and nothing negative was ever really said about it.

Actual, yes, they could be. think about how magazines do advertising. This site is basically a magazine of sorts.

No, we don't do the whole cash-for-comment thing. What we *do* write are our honest opinions - which you're free not to agree with.

Criminey, if you agreed with everything we said you wouldn't be thinking for yourselves, and that would be excessively tedious. I know I'd be sad.

Heck, not all of us here at Massively necessarily agree with each-other, even.

Plenty of folks say we're too anti-Warhammer. About the same number who say we're too pro-Warhammer, actually, when you count it all up - quite frequently about the same posts. That seems to suggest that we're somewhere in the middle. :)

But, yes, if someone offered us even a single dollar to say something nice about their game, we'd tell the world about that dollar before you could blink.

When it comes to our opinions, they're *ours*, and they're not for sale, rent, or hire. Actually, that's a really good part about this job. Nobody wants us to write something we don't believe in, and that's pretty special.

All that said, if you don't agree with us or you think we're off-base, SAY SO! We make mistakes, we get disappointed by some games, we get a little too excited sometimes. We're human (Well, except for the Turpster, maybe. Not so sure about him)

If you think we're wrong. Say something. We're all grown up, and a bit of nudging isn't going to hurt us terribly. We *are* listening, and we pay attention -- but we're not on the take :)

Thanks for the comment and response, Tateru. and I am saying so :D