Once someone is addicted to drugs, they'll do anything and pay anything for it. WoW is said drug. People are used to subscription fees, so the only way they'd even consider dropping it is if GW2 really puts a large enough dent in their player-base. Obviously they can AFFORD to drop the subscription, but that's not justification enough to do it yet, hehe.
What's going to make WoW and the other major MMOs that charge subs rethink their model is the land of F2P games more than GW2, itself. Turbine saw MASSIVE PROFITS from their in-game store when they turned LOTRO into a F2P game and I believe Aion became profitable, once again, after it went F2P with a store.
Microtransactions look more and more like the wave of the future for MMOs in general. It's really easy for people to justify "just one dollar" or "just five bucks" here and there.
GW2 sure is a lot of fun! i made a nice screenshot with a stranger
LOL thats the best screenie ever.
They are, I deleted mine last night and installed fresh just to make sure there are no errors from updates.
Mines fully installed and patched now and the folder is only 14.0gb.
---------- Post added 2012-08-10 at 02:01 PM ----------
The reason it will most likely see success where the others have failed is because unlike those other games, this isn't a WoW clone. Most WoW clones died because people leaving WoW for it wanted something different, not more of the same. The common reasoning is this, why would I pay a subscription fee to play a game that is the same as WoW, costs the same as WoW, but is less polished, when I could simply play WoW instead. That's why they failed. Just crappier versions of a bigger game.
The fact that this is different sets it apart from that doomed approach, but it being different makes it uncertain. It still could fail, but it will certainly not fail for the reasons the others have. This game has a lot of promise.
I've said this before, my fur is carefully kept and conditioned and everything. Can't go around smelling like humans or Asura in the black citadel, everyone would look at me funny. I'm a respectable charr.
(Also, Diamond, I dislike you a bit now! I shall remember this!)
And that screenshot is brilliant! =D I think I have a couple of characters staring at each other's chests (particularly when the females stretch) but nothing that amazing.
Also, I hope more and more people enjoy the game - despite the obvious connection/server issues of a stress test - and I will right now welcome you all to GW2 =D
At gamebreaker.tv they said that we keep our characters? Or do they mean character names? Guildcast episode 35 at 2:37 (can't post link because I didn't post enough in the forums yet)