The way I remember "AAA" being used initially was as a way to distinguish a product as being superior to the majority of it's competition. That was generally only possible if you had a large budget, but a large budget was not the criteria - quality was. This includes both gameplay and graphics quality.
The important distinction here is that a AAA rating is meant to be based on comparison to competitors, not to an arbitrary line in the sand.
For example, SWG, EQ2, DAOC and other games from that era, they were all great but none of them were really AAA because none of them were clearly much better than the competition. WoW, however, was clearly superior (even if you didn't necessarily enjoy it), and so I would consider WoW as the first AAA MMORPG, possibly even the only AAA due to the shallowness of the genre.
Games like LotRO, FFXIV, ESO, SW:TOR etc, they all had good budgets and produced good games but superior to the majority of the competition? Probably not. If you broaden the definition of MMORPG then you start to include mobile and browser MMOs, plus all the crappy indy titles, in which case you could consider these examples as AAA.
So, using the definition of "superior to the majority of the competition", there are only two on the horizon that have the potential to meet it: Star Citizen and New World. Star Citizen has a great budget and a non-standard setting so has the potential to be AAA, but development has been plagued by issues and the project seems to has lost it's focus, so I'm expecting an incoherant mess at the end. New World we know virtually nothing about, only that Amazon is investing a lot of money and has hired some talent. However, I also expect that New World won't actually be an MMO.
If you change the definition of AAA to basically just mean any game with a big budget (which is how it is generally used now), there still isn't much on the horizon. Admittedly, I don't really keep track of what is being released in Asia so there is probably quite a few with big budgets coming out of there in the near future (I saw a couple mentioned in this thread), but Western dev studios have pretty much packed it in or are keeping things to themselves.
AAA companies won't touch MMO's until a crowd-funder comes out with a decent game for them to copy and mainstream.
I agree with this except for the part about a crowd funder. they will copy any decent game from anywhere haha, even if it was from asia, as long as they think the concept is the next big thing. it was a gimmick for years to hear "this is going to change way you think about questing" or "there is no questing" haha.
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I originally thought it would be Valiance Online, if do release, it will be.
Here is why, WoW is so successful because of its' flexibility. You can ride mounts, have pets, do nearly anything you wish.
VO planned on having pet customization, meaning one can create their minions as they do the heroes, as in, perhaps the first customization system which includes various body types such as horses, mermaids, snakes and so on.
VO planned on having your choices affect your morality, meaning your actions matter.
VO planned on having 90 power variations
VO planned mounts
VO is a dead project, which is a shame. They promised a alpha way back last year, but went mum and never again spoke of its' release date.
Imo, VO could have been the next WoW. Pet customization similar to the hero is unheard of, this may be the first title which allows heroes be horse, scorpion, snake, or mermaid people.
VO was in line to be the next big thing, such as shame. CoT is partially to blame, they have promised and never delivered, therefore, every CoH successor is being shunned. SoH is healing the image at this time.
The pet customization would have sold the game alone, but add hero customize onto that? You have players not only spending hours in the hero creator, but in the pet creator. I wish more people would have supported this project, ah well.
If they can get it together, VO is the next WoW, book it.
If they don't release it, obviously they failed lol
If you change the definition of AAA to basically just mean any game with a big budget
I don't think it's a change; AAA was always about having a large budget with a large return when it comes to games.
I also think it came about from the bond ratings, AAA being that a bond will most likely meet it's obligations and be able to pay back the investors with interest, thus a strong financial investment.
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I just view AAA as a landscape breaking successful project, far from the actual meaning, I view it as success. Reason being, if you hit it big within a market, juggernauts are born. You two are correct though.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
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If by AAA you mean the skill and experience of the Dev team, Pantheon.
If by AAA you mean inexhaustible resources, something out of Amazon Game Studios.
I have high hopes for both. One thing about Amazon, they will lose $$$ and not blink if it gets them a foothold into a market. So game could be amazing.
Wish Pantheon would get some big cash influx to speed up the project.
My gut feeling says ffxi mobile will be the next best mmorpg.I say that because it seems like it will be quite similar to ffxi with loads of depth and i like lots of stuff to do .
Pantheon i figure will be playable,a decent game but not a triple A game but i hope it turns out better than i imagine,that way i will be pleasantly surprised.If i get my hopes up too high it will be a letdown.
Most marketed game on mmorpg??Crowfall a game i figure will be very weak,i do not expect even a 4/10.It reminds me of H1Z1 the start of a GAME turned into nothing more than a pvp mod.
AOCreation could be good if it is real and not just some early fake hype the way Dark N Light tried to scam us. COE could still be decent but imo pvp games are aiming for pvp for a reason,there is not enough content to leave out pvp.
So imo only two games worth noting ffxi mobile by the douche baggery called Nexon and Pantheon,everything else will look like Budgetware.
The way i see it,i am likely playing Pantheon,at least for a few weeks because i doubt i can accept any of Nexon's over the top cash shop ideals.Until then i play older single player games,watch movies,play sports,go to the gym and enjoy mma.so i don't need to play any crap games.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Bless Online is probably the next AAA title to come out. Awesome graphics. Raids and dungeons. Huge world with flying mounts...
In many ways it looks like it's going to be WoW with almost BDO graphics (almost, I don't think it'll be quite THAT pretty).
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
World of Warcraft 2 - now that would shake things up.
WoW is already World of Warcraft 2. It's almost nothing like it was in 2004. They won't make another one anytime soon. They will just keep reinventing this one.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
World of Warcraft 2 - now that would shake things up.
WoW is already World of Warcraft 2. It's almost nothing like it was in 2004. They won't make another one anytime soon. They will just keep reinventing this one.
nah it still looks like a 15 year old cartoon
IMPORTANT: Please keep all replies to my posts about GAMING. Please no negative or backhanded comments directed at me personally. If you are going to post a reply that includes how you feel about me, please don't bother replying & just ignore my post instead. I'm on this forum to talk about GAMING. Thank you.
World of Warcraft 2 - now that would shake things up.
Please no. I'd like to see WoW keep going for quite some time. I don't play it, but I can't stand the thought of Blizzard making something I might be interested in. So keep going strong WoW!
The reason WoW was wildly successful was because of three things. Marketing, brand recognition, and ease of play.
There will never be a "wow killer" because the market is too saturated with games from every neckbeard in a basement making one. There are literally hundreds of games to choose from these days, most having 0 barrier to entry (free to play). This has spread the consumer density out significantly, and I can almost guarantee there will never be a game that brings them all together.
WoW also launched right at the time that MMO's were becoming a thing. EQ and UO were hugely successful, and WoW brought all of that together and made it so easy to play that a child would be able to follow along.
Comments
The important distinction here is that a AAA rating is meant to be based on comparison to competitors, not to an arbitrary line in the sand.
For example, SWG, EQ2, DAOC and other games from that era, they were all great but none of them were really AAA because none of them were clearly much better than the competition. WoW, however, was clearly superior (even if you didn't necessarily enjoy it), and so I would consider WoW as the first AAA MMORPG, possibly even the only AAA due to the shallowness of the genre.
Games like LotRO, FFXIV, ESO, SW:TOR etc, they all had good budgets and produced good games but superior to the majority of the competition? Probably not. If you broaden the definition of MMORPG then you start to include mobile and browser MMOs, plus all the crappy indy titles, in which case you could consider these examples as AAA.
So, using the definition of "superior to the majority of the competition", there are only two on the horizon that have the potential to meet it: Star Citizen and New World. Star Citizen has a great budget and a non-standard setting so has the potential to be AAA, but development has been plagued by issues and the project seems to has lost it's focus, so I'm expecting an incoherant mess at the end. New World we know virtually nothing about, only that Amazon is investing a lot of money and has hired some talent. However, I also expect that New World won't actually be an MMO.
If you change the definition of AAA to basically just mean any game with a big budget (which is how it is generally used now), there still isn't much on the horizon. Admittedly, I don't really keep track of what is being released in Asia so there is probably quite a few with big budgets coming out of there in the near future (I saw a couple mentioned in this thread), but Western dev studios have pretty much packed it in or are keeping things to themselves.
Here is why, WoW is so successful because of its' flexibility. You can ride mounts, have pets, do nearly anything you wish.
VO planned on having pet customization, meaning one can create their minions as they do the heroes, as in, perhaps the first customization system which includes various body types such as horses, mermaids, snakes and so on.
VO planned on having your choices affect your morality, meaning your actions matter.
VO planned on having 90 power variations
VO planned mounts
VO is a dead project, which is a shame. They promised a alpha way back last year, but went mum and never again spoke of its' release date.
Imo, VO could have been the next WoW. Pet customization similar to the hero is unheard of, this may be the first title which allows heroes be horse, scorpion, snake, or mermaid people.
VO was in line to be the next big thing, such as shame. CoT is partially to blame, they have promised and never delivered, therefore, every CoH successor is being shunned. SoH is healing the image at this time.
The pet customization would have sold the game alone, but add hero customize onto that? You have players not only spending hours in the hero creator, but in the pet creator. I wish more people would have supported this project, ah well.
If they can get it together, VO is the next WoW, book it.
If they don't release it, obviously they failed lol
I also think it came about from the bond ratings, AAA being that a bond will most likely meet it's obligations and be able to pay back the investors with interest, thus a strong financial investment.
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Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I have high hopes for both. One thing about Amazon, they will lose $$$ and not blink if it gets them a foothold into a market. So game could be amazing.
Wish Pantheon would get some big cash influx to speed up the project.
Pantheon i figure will be playable,a decent game but not a triple A game but i hope it turns out better than i imagine,that way i will be pleasantly surprised.If i get my hopes up too high it will be a letdown.
Most marketed game on mmorpg??Crowfall a game i figure will be very weak,i do not expect even a 4/10.It reminds me of H1Z1 the start of a GAME turned into nothing more than a pvp mod.
AOCreation could be good if it is real and not just some early fake hype the way Dark N Light tried to scam us.
COE could still be decent but imo pvp games are aiming for pvp for a reason,there is not enough content to leave out pvp.
So imo only two games worth noting ffxi mobile by the douche baggery called Nexon and Pantheon,everything else will look like Budgetware.
The way i see it,i am likely playing Pantheon,at least for a few weeks because i doubt i can accept any of Nexon's over the top cash shop ideals.Until then i play older single player games,watch movies,play sports,go to the gym and enjoy mma.so i don't need to play any crap games.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Awesome graphics. Raids and dungeons. Huge world with flying mounts...
In many ways it looks like it's going to be WoW with almost BDO graphics (almost, I don't think it'll be quite THAT pretty).
My SWTOR referral link for those wanting to give the game a try. (Newbies get a welcome package while returning players get a few account upgrades to help with their preferred status.)
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/ref/Callaron/
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Bless
Any mmo worth its salt should be like a good prostitute when it comes to its game world- One hell of a faker, and a damn good shaker!
There will never be a "wow killer" because the market is too saturated with games from every neckbeard in a basement making one. There are literally hundreds of games to choose from these days, most having 0 barrier to entry (free to play). This has spread the consumer density out significantly, and I can almost guarantee there will never be a game that brings them all together.
WoW also launched right at the time that MMO's were becoming a thing. EQ and UO were hugely successful, and WoW brought all of that together and made it so easy to play that a child would be able to follow along.
http://www.mmorpg.com/games-list/show/beta/sCol/estimatedRelease/sOrder/desc
none.. Bless maybe?