Frankly you are never going to find another Ultima Online or Everquest. These days, developers could not give a crap about risk, and that is what made those games (and WoW) really shine. They want money, and they want it reliably returned within a short period of time. If a game doesn't show a reasonably good turnaround rate, it is scrapped early on. This goes for *all* games except WoW, which is still the paragon of MMO titles.
This is bad for the Fantasy-oriented gamer. It is bad for gamers in general. Whats more, it is awful for the future of the industry. By releasing games that very specifically are aimed at "stealing" WoW gamers, the industry is setting itself up to make games that perfectly mirror the familiarity of WoW while saying they are different and new.
I am really sorry to say it, but that is reality. The companies of today are not only not run by the people that created the games we loved in the mid-90s, they are existing on a 200% profit per dollar spent marketing strategy.
Shadowrun Online has possibilities. The IP is engaging, there's potential for various styles of play, and let's face it - being a troll combat mage carrying an assualt cannon would be bad ass.
Now, that being said, tentative beta is May 2013, so whether it will make a 2013 release (an whether it will be any good) is up for debate.
No. SWTOR didn't flop because it was too much like WoW; it flopped because of a number of poor design decisions. Poorly designed zones, badly designed questing hubs, being about 7 years behind the times in MMO development, etc. As I've said, as have legions of other observers, this was a single player-game with an MMO pasted on as an afterthought.
I believe the idea for a Fallout MMO crumpled up as soon as they encountered a legal battle over the attempt of creating such.
Doubt there will be a beta for something that isn't going to happen, at least, not anytime soon. xD
As for the subject of any other "exciting" MMOs to release for 2013, I am just not seeing it. I think GW2 will get really interesting as time goes on, especially since the way they designed their core gives a lot of breathing room for ideas and newer concepts to be integrated more naturally into the game. So, probably keep your eye on that.
Otherwise, Elder Scrolls? I'm just not seeing anything exciting for it as of yet. Granted I've always thought of Bethesda as the most over-hyped game developer out there to date. Sorry folks that actually appreciate their games. My experience with them has thus bar been exceptionally underwhelming for the amount of praise they get--both in the technical and game-play departments.
Last edited by Rudol Von Stroheim; 2012-12-03 at 11:06 PM.
Rift is a pretty good MMO that is doing quite well for itself. If you haven't even considered it, you might want to atleast do the trial to 20. The game is good.
(I know you said for 2013, but you also said no MMO released post WoW is worth a damn)
I'm not sure when TES:O is supposed to come around, but I'm not really looking forward to it. I'm scared they will take an amazing single player RPG and ruin it like SWTOR compared to KOTOR. I'm hoping I will be surprised though.
Last edited by NoRest4Wicked; 2012-12-04 at 12:08 AM.
http://us.bladeandsoul.com/en/faq/NCSOFT has a team of game designers, localization experts, community support managers, and producers dedicated to working closely with Team Bloodlust to deliver the Blade & Soul experience to Western audiences without compromising the game's artistic vision.
So a team within team bloodlust working on localization. This was about 4 months ago. Doesn't look like lyn blademaster will be in for launch.
Also I think gunner was scraped
(Warframe) - Dragon & Typhoon-
(Neverwinter) - Trickster Rogue & Guardian Fighter -