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Wish Post Mortem

Marc Laukien responded to some emails regarding the reasons for the end of Wish and what may happen to the code over on Stratics:

Wish has been shut down because with the data we gathered during the first 10 days of our Beta 2.0 test, even with our best-case projections for player numbers, we could not have reached enough subscribers for Wish to sustain itself.

This is the reason that I already gave to several fan site managers, and it is the only reason. There have been no technical problems out of the ordinary, we have not been bought out, and neither is there any truth in any of the other rumors that are being spread in the Internet.

This reason is hard to accept for some fans of Wish, and I can understand that. There has been a very loyal and dedicated community around Wish. But it is simply not large enough to support a group of over 32 full-time game developers, plus many others that worked as consultants.

And later:

It is very unlikely that the Wish source code will be released under some form of open source license. The code depends on several commercial products, so you couldn’t just use the code as it is. Furthermore, you would need a large and highly experienced development staff to actually use the code, plus a lot of support from the original authors, something that most likely would not be possible. I’m really sorry that I cannot give you any better news, but knowing the complexity and required efforts of development, I’m afraid that Wish as a community project is not feasible.

So there you have it. They did not think the number of potential subscribers would keep the game afloat. The code is tied up in a bunch of 3rd party rights. The end?

SW:G Added To Station Access Plan

At $21.99 per month, this is a pretty damned good deal if you like a few of these games.

After Feb. 1, 2005, Star Wars Galaxies will join the already available line-up of titles offered under the Station Access subscription plan, which includes the original EverQuest, the recently released EverQuest II, PlanetSide, EverQuest Online Adventures for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, EverQuest for the Macintosh and the three Station Pass games, Cosmic Rift, Infantry and Tanarus.

WoW And It’s Impact On Other MMOGs

One of the devs over at Dark Age of Camelot has posted a letter on The Camelot Herald. Of interest to me was this part:

“…since the original launch of the game, we have looked at creating a new server type that is geared to players who have less time than others to commit to a MMORPG. This exciting new server will cater to both the casual player as well as address some of the concerns of players about bots and the time commitment necessary to complete ToA. We will be announcing full details about this server type in the coming weeks but I believe that this server will go a long way in making DAoC the leader of the pack in regards to the casual player. As part of this, we will also be looking at the impact of the death penalty and other aspects of the game on the casual player.”

The popularity of World of Warcraft is already making waves throughout the MMOG market. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? We can only watch and see.

WoW Offline For 16 Hours

The weekly realm maintenance normally scheduled for Tuesday morning has been moved to this Thursday, January 13, at 4:00 AM PST. As part of this week’s maintenance, we will be making improvements to our current infrastructure to address recent performance issues. Please note that implementing these improvements will extend the duration of the maintenance window to approximately 16 hours. We thank you in advance for your patience during this time; we will work diligently to bring the realms up as quickly as possible.

16 hours? Ouch.

WoW Dominates Holiday Sales

IRVINE, Calif. – January 10, 2005 �Blizzard Entertainment today announced that World of Warcraft has sold through more than 600,000 units to customers in North America, Australia, and New Zealand. The fastest-growing massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) has also shattered all previous concurrency records in North America, achieving over 200,000 simultaneous players during the holiday period.

That Was Fast

I quote my own predictions for 2005: Wish: I wish this one would go away, and I may see my wish come true.

Here you go:

Dear friends of Wish:

Unfortunately we have bad news.

After careful consideration of all the facts and analyzing all the data
which we have gathered from the Wish Beta 2.0 test so far, we have decided
to cancel the Wish project.

Our Beta test will end this evening at 6pm EST, and at this time our Beta
forums will close as well.

We enjoyed working together with our fans very much, and we are very sorry
about this development. We wish you the best of luck in the future, and hope
that you continue to enjoy online gaming, even with Mutable Realms and Wish
not being available anymore.

We also wish the best luck to our competitors, and hope that they will not
suffer the same fate as us.

Best regards,
Your Mutable Realms Team

Ethic’s 2005 MMORPG Predictions

World of Warcraft: Will continue to dominate the casual playerbase. Hardcores will move on. Will become the number one MMOG in the USA.

Asheron’s Call 2: Won’t make it to 2006.

Everquest 2: Completely gives up on the casual player market and focuses on the powergamers, thus raping Everquest.

The Matrix Online: I’d be shocked if this one ever gets released.

City of Heroes: Will continue to be strong. City of Villians will be very big for them.

Guild Wars: I hate to call this an MMORPG, but what else can I call it. Will be rather popular but will not be able to remain free of monthly charges. I predict they will find a way to charge people other than the planned “expansion” idea.

Wish: I wish this one would go away, and I may see my wish come true.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: This one has good potential except for one thing: Turbine. Can they erase the stain of AC2?

Middle Earth Online: Same problem as DDO, but this one is already getting the rumors of cancellation (again). As much as I’d like to see this one and give it a try, I’m not hopeful. Turbine, what went wrong?

Tabula Rasa: Square Enix and Richard Garriott. That’s two pretty good things going for you. Won’t be out in 2005 however.

Final Fantasy XI: Will remain strong outside of the USA.

Lineage 2: Suckage will continue.

Asheron’s Call: Will remain a soft spot in many players heart’s, but most will refuse to play it unless they update the graphics.

Anarchy Online: Free game play can be good for the exposure, but it does not help the bottom line. Was one of my favorites and I hope it can get more players. It will hang around for another year.

EVE Online: Will remain popular with math geeks and scam artists.

Star Wars Galaxies: Space expansion a little too little, a little too late. Will hang around but it’s chance for glory is long gone.

Everquest, Ultima Online, Horizons, Shadowbane: Meh, I just don’t care. Go to hell.

What am I forgettting? Planetside. Yes, I forgot Planetside. Thankfully.

Everybody Dance Now

I spent 30 minutes in WoW a week or so ago showing my wife all the different dance moves that the various character races do. She was mildly amused by them and recognized most of them but had problems placing one dance. The one she could not figure out was the male Tauren dance. I knew I had seen it somewhere but could not place it either. I finally remembered where I saw that dance:

It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time!!!

Do You Wish?

Beta 2.0 for Wish is now going on. Not only don’t I care, but it has a tough road ahead of it with everyone and their mother playing WoW.

So I watch with a yawn as Wish passes off of my radar screen for what may be the last time.

Another Alt

I’ve created another alt in WoW, this one a Hunter. I started with a Rogue that got to level 12 and then a Shaman that got to level 21 and now my Hunter is level 10. Something happens to me after a while that I just need a break from a character so I start something new. Always happens, no matter what game. Evnetually something clicks and I ignore the others, but so far, no click.