Is Guild Wars 2 a major Threat for WoW?

[Tro]

ArenaNet originates as SOME of the original WoW developers. So basically they "KNOW THE LIST"

By list, I mean, the original X-pac rotation of WoW.

Take close look at Guild Wars 2.

The one thing I notice is that unlike other failed MMORPGs, ArenaNet seem intent on taking and coping WoW related features.

Notice the similarities between GW2 and Cataclysm(Sea x-pac)

Both are the rise of Underwater gameplay, and a lead Dragon as the big bad guy.
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Even more closer examination of the two, you can see GW2 copy lore from WoW.

Example : The new plant race Sylvari
They are very similar (in concept) to the Night Elfs. A race that seem very connected to Plants. Well thats common in all DnD elf races right?

But the main similarity between the two, is that they both have a enemy known as the NIGHTMARE who is corrupting their own racial members. Isnt that similar to the Nightmare in the Emerald Dream?

[Kaleina]

Frankly WoW's only threat is WoW. 12 million subscribers is pretty hard to top even with the original selling over 6 million copies. going right down to the core they're two different models one is ftp the other is pay by the month. Your examples on how Guild Wars is "copying" Cat. Both have been in development for around the same amount of time, in fact most of the design of GW2 was ironed out 3-4 years ago PUBLICLY, back in a time where wrath was the next big thing. The bit about the Sylvari is interesting, but alas wrong. The Sylvari are more akin to the cenerion factions, and a major difference being that they ARE plants not just connected to them.
I'm sure you can draw some more connections like Charr=orcs and asura=gnomes, but these are archetypes that are way older than warcraft, many of them older than Tolkien's archetypes.
They are rivals, competing for some of the same user base. In the coming months we'll see how much is "borrowed" and how much is "new." By the way some of the graphical and rp tweaks they're making make it seem much more like DA:O than WoW. A good example of this ability for skills to affect each other, fire an arrow through a flame wall? It lights on fire. things like that.
Cat isn't a "sea x-pac" most of the cool stuff is up on land. GW2's underwater gameplay comes from complaints about water being a veritable steel wall up infront of the characters. Same for jumping.
Also, try to actually look at GW2 lore and trace it back further than just your vague connections.
Oh and try to read something older than yourself, it's really enlightening.

[AdrianCC100]

World of Warcraft has so many subscribers because it is a real casual video game and you don't need a high end system to play it.

That said, I think Guild Wars 2 will be an awesome MMO. I enjoyed the first one besides the instanced zones, which wont be in Guild Wars 2, it will be an open world with some instances like WoW.

Did I mention there is no subscription required?

[Kaleina]

It almost seems like Blizzard is trying to deflate GW2 by using divulging Cataclysm info at the same time as the awesome epic stuff that's being churned out over at a-net. Especially the interview at gamespot.com and the very impressive stuff they've placed on their site. Also, it seems like GW2 seeks to make us feel like we're playing the way we want to play with each class having multiple roles (elementalist being able to spike, nuke, snare,or buff), and having each character have a backstory.
another cool thing is the addition of choices, village being attacked? go help them or not either way the area will change accordingly.
Plus the stuff about the new way of rewarding effort instead of "I attacked this first, I should be the only one getting credit" methodology of WoW. Overall this seems like it'll be a great game to play and it's really gotten me to want to play GW more, much more than WoW:Cat has made me want to play WoW more.

[Baaadum]

It almost seems like Blizzard is trying to deflate GW2 by using divulging Cataclysm info at the same time as the awesome epic stuff that's being churned out over at a-net. Especially the interview at gamespot.com and the very impressive stuff they've placed on their site. Also, it seems like GW2 seeks to make us feel like we're playing the way we want to play with each class having multiple roles (elementalist being able to spike, nuke, snare,or buff), and having each character have a backstory.
another cool thing is the addition of choices, village being attacked? go help them or not either way the area will change accordingly.
Plus the stuff about the new way of rewarding effort instead of "I attacked this first, I should be the only one getting credit" methodology of WoW. Overall this seems like it'll be a great game to play and it's really gotten me to want to play GW more, much more than WoW:Cat has made me want to play WoW more.

They did this with Aion and Warhammer, IIRC. Or maybe it was coincidence. /shrug

I do not think GW2 will be a threat. I hope it will be because I want something other than WOW that is worth the time and money, but I really don't think it will be (that and it's NCsoft :P)

[Daginni]

Stop making these "WoW Killer" threads. It's pointless at this point. No MMO has a good chance vs WoW, sure they can take a few subscribers but they wont kill it.

[Xelu]

While looking at GW2 news and it's trailer movies it feel's somewhat huge and epic but distant... WoW story probably thanks to Warcraft series is much closer to me... Even though GW2 looks just awesome, much better than WoW, skills feel much more powerful than in WoW, little bit more "realistic" in fantasy world than normaly, but theres no Kel'Thusad with his plan to kill all life on Azeroth, no Yogg-Saron that want's to break free and then kill everybody, no emo-Arthas, no Kael'Thas with his setbacks and C'thun without friends... just some kind of made up dragon who drowned long time ago hit his head and fell asleep... can't realy connect with it (maybe becouse i only played trial of GW1 which I didn't realy enjoy)... but I must say that GW2 IS a powerful threat to WoW, just is... if they won't fu** up the gameplay then Blizzard will loose quite a lot of players (not to mention I didn't know if i should laugh or cry when in one of the interviews introducing the new water implemented in Cata one of the designers said that graphically WoW is finished, that was the last touch... wtf guys seriously?)

[Kokolums]

I've played wow since vanilla and never thought of trying another MMO. This one definitely has my interest unlike any others for the simple reason that I KNOW Arena.net had success with GW1. I also like PvP and let's face it WoW PvP isn't very good.

I never, ever gave a serious thought to buying Warhammer or Aion or whatever other MMO there has been. But I am very seriously considering buying GW2. I can only speak for myself, but there it is. I don't think there is anything Blizzard can do to alter my perceptions of ArenaNet as this point anyway. I'm tired of Blizzard dropping the ball when it comes to PvP. I need to try other companies out.

[Masnailia]

I doubt a spin-off company of blizzards that can't even think of its own name (Battle-net, Arena-net. Notice somthing?) will be able to take down WoW, no doubt Guild Wars 2 will do reasonably, no game from outside blizzard will take down WoW. There are many threats, but these only steal small amounts of players, many of whom return shortly.

[Kaleina]

I doubt a spin-off company of blizzards that can't even think of its own name (Battle-net, Arena-net. Notice somthing?) will be able to take down WoW, no doubt Guild Wars 2 will do reasonably, no game from outside blizzard will take down WoW. There are many threats, but these only steal small amounts of players, many of whom return shortly.

Ok.....A-net is not even close to Battle.net one is a COMPANY the other is an online gaming service.
OT
I really think that Xelu is partially right. Yes to WoW players the story feels distant, but to GW1 players who actually listened to the cinematics, GW2 feels like a very big step in unifying the franchise, which admittedly seemed fractured until the ending of Nightfall and Eye of the North. Also if you read the "movement of the world" article, there is the complete back-story of the game.
And for all of those who think Deathwing=gw2 dragons, are wrong. The GW2 dragons are more like Old Gods in their power, don't quite know yet if killing them destroys tyria.
Overall this game seems like it could in fact give WoW a healthy rival because if WoW's domination continues WoW will go down the crapper. Also, for all of those who whine about people having their gear, try getting the "god amongst mere mortals" title in GW, not only is it a title only for the most dedicated GW players but it is also a sign of a very well rounded player (titles come from PVP, PVE, and random stuff like minigames), GW has the things that can make you stroke your e-peen as much as you want. If you want an entire tier of stuff to be only yours,vote with your wallet and play GW, and run some dungeons where bosses regen health all the time, hit twice as hard, have no aggro, and debuffs last half as long while also dealing with your and your party's aggro bubbles that immediately cause everything in the room to want to kill your healer. Then again, if you are too addicted to WoW to vote, have fun with your game.

[bbr]

The one thing I notice is that unlike other failed MMORPGs, ArenaNet seem intent on taking and coping WoW related features.

Euhm... Everybody does that.

They need to "STOP" doing it to become successful, not keep copying WoW.
People who want to quit wow, don't want to run into the exact same thing with a different skin, they want to play a NEW, BETTER game.

GW2 may be a nice game in time, but, like all the other WoW clones, it won't beat the real thing.

[Zenotetsuken]

I doubt it, but hopefully it can become a big enough threat for Blizz to take notice and work on some of the flaws in WoW rather than the current "If you don't like it find a new MMO... lololololol" approach.

[Elementium]

I'm hoping they provide the most optimal PvP for an MMO. So Blizz can drop theirs

Competition is good. Even though Blizz is still dedicated to WoW you can see they've started to slip a little bit.

[Tro]

I'm hoping they provide the most optimal PvP for an MMO. So Blizz can drop theirs

Competition is good. Even though Blizz is still dedicated to WoW you can see they've started to slip a little bit.

That would kill WoW.

If Blizzard removed PvP from WoW, that would be it for about 80% of their population.

Most player (Despite what WoWhaters say) enjoy WoW's PvP over many other games. I couldnt deal with GW1 PvP, but that was only thing fun there.

Old AV for example is much more epic than anything GW1 has.

Iam excited about GW2 tho.

[belus]

whenever i hear NCfail i feel like slicing and dicing my wrists, ffs that company should just be shut down, they fucked so many Aion players over, death to Failsoft!!!!

[Wrien]

Age of Conan was the only real wow killer... but funcom blew it and all players left after 2 weeks... even Blizzard confirmed it as a threat..

seriously, the two first weeks of Age of Conan i though finally a real wow competitor had come

[Kaleina]

whenever i hear NCfail i feel like slicing and dicing my wrists, ffs that company should just be shut down, they fucked so many Aion players over, death to Failsoft!!!!

aaand since Aion and GW2 are/were made by two completely different companies you need to calm down. Unless they (insert horrible crime to loved one here) to your family, chill out.
OT:
People who don't think that GW1 was competition, what other mmo has lasted 5 years ALONGSIDE WoW, not been updated with significant portions of content in 2 and still have 2-3 million active players, no one besides GW.
As far as the "epic-ness" gap between the two, the WvW competition should even that out. (little scared about the projected numbers, they keep talking about >4-500 ppl fighting at a time. sounds like it could get laggy real fast) That being said, the PvP in Gw1 and projected to be in 2 looks to be much fairer than WoW just because they pay more attention and aren't afraid to fix stuff immediately regardless what qq happens on forums, all they care about is being balanced.

With both Cat and GW2 coming out at a similar time (4-5 months head start for Cat) it isn't a far shot from saying that the old rivalry will be reignited.
Unfortunately for Blizz, the high entrance cost of WoW Cat is almost $130 dollars all said and done (WoW battle chest 40, Wrath 40, Cat 50 if that's correct) when compared to GW2 (50-60) the entering MMO player will see GW2 as cheaper. In the end what makes WoW so dynamic (the x-paks) could drive them into the dirt as cost to get the full experience sky-rockets

[Daljo]

I recently repurchased Guild Wars again and i'm enjoying it a lot more than I used to.

From the looks of it, everything that I didn't enjoy has either been changed or is being changed in Guild Wars 2.

Guild Wars 2 won't dethrone WoW as the king of the genre but it will certainly be popular and give Warcraft a run for it's money. This entire discussion is invalid as will buy both (And you will too).

[schippie]

I have always loved WoW. tho i can see GW2 becoming one mmo to reckon with. compared to warhammer,gw1,aion.

Tho tbh i dont think it wil ever become bigger as wow. It has almost 12 milj peeps actively playing it and that is not nothing.
On the other hand we cant deny that wow is getting old and could use a completly new version wow2 ? xD to boost its graphics. That said i hope/think cataclysm wil make wow feel fresh again and that also gives a boost(even more acitve members xd).

[st0n3r]

I will have to get the link for this, but WoW does not have 12 million ACTIVE accounts. One of the CEO's came out and said the 12 million accounts was factoring in EVERY account. Trial accounts, refer a friend etc. Its not active account, nor is it paid accounts. Its total account. Let me find that article....