Will Free Realms be bigger than World of Warcraft?
by Shawn Schuster 
Aug 18th 2008 at 3:00PM
Filed under: Real life, Podcasts, Business models, MMO industry, New titles, Opinion, Free Realms
"After what we saw today...if any of you were here, listeners, and you saw what they're doing with Free Realms, you would agree... that this is going to be the biggest MMO in the World." He then goes to say that there will never be any numbers, with WoW, Habbo Hotel and Lineage included, that will ever touch the numbers we'll see in Free Realms.
This episode 127 of the Virginworlds podcast was recorded on location at SOE's Fan Faire this last weekend. Brent and Jonathan from The Online Gamer's Anthology both give their impressions of the newest upcoming SOE games after getting a bit of play time in on DC Universe Online, The Agency, Free Realms and more. This certainly isn't the first time "The Prognosticator", as he's also known, has made predictions for the MMO industry. The scary thing is, he's usually right. Will he be right about Free Realms and the general future domination of SOE in the MMO industry? There's no way we could say just yet, but it will certainly be exciting to watch.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
ColdCoffee said on 12:26AM 8-19-2008
No.
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Tony said on 3:30PM 8-18-2008
I'm not even sure what to expect from this game yet. I've read a bunch of random tidbits about it, but a lot of it has never come together in my mind yet... I do like the freedom to travel between servers, the ability to get premium content through ads, etc.
But at the same time, looking at it makes my eyes bleed. It's almost too colorful and seems like it's all over the place. But maybe a lot of other people like that more than I do.
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Scopique said on 3:55PM 8-18-2008
It might possibly be because it's going to be free (mostly), with appeal to not only children, casual, and moderate gamers (because the "hardcore" would NEVER stoop so low as to play something with wide appeal, lest they sully their e-peen), but to PARENTS as well.
I've been looking for something to addic...introduce to my daughter by way of non-Barbie entertainment on the PC. Webkinz has been shelved and NeoPets is so poorly done, but I consider even the simplist MMOs to still be out of her reach (she created a new hero in CoH, but I can't let her play it without my direct intervention).
From what I have seen and read, Free Realms seems to be the absolute closest thing to what I've been looking for, and I think that it has a lot of appeal not just with MMO players, but with those who are not yet MMO players...the same way that WoW did it way back when.
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Tony said on 5:41PM 8-18-2008
You might want to check out that Wizard101 game. It's pretty simple and there's a lot of child safeguards on it. I actually thought it was enjoyable.
Tony said on 5:41PM 8-18-2008
You might want to check out that Wizard101 game. It's pretty simple and there's a lot of child safeguards on it. I actually thought it was enjoyable.
Chen said on 4:12PM 8-18-2008
Everyone says the same thing with each new MMO coming, promising to "blow WoW out of the water," or "be a wow-killer"
Guess what? Age of Conan *thought* they were better....not really WAR is going to be the next best thing, but nothing has indicated as such, and i'm withholding my judgement until open beta next month....
I say let them claim what they wish, until the game can actively last 5-7 years, then lets compare userbase and subscription.
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CCommander said on 4:30PM 8-18-2008
Grain of salt... he's an SOE fanboy.
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Barth said on 5:15PM 8-18-2008
That's just hype talking. Nothing will come close to WoW numbers until Blizzard makes an MMO that replaces it-- even if a game comes out that is actually better in every conceivable way. There are just too many Blizzard fans, and there is too much loyalty and there isn't big enough a market for MMOs. WoW broke the mold because there were enough people willing to give MMOs a try just because of the Warcraft IP. It remained huge because it made the genre accessible to people who didn't want to punish themselves in video game format like other MMOs. There's no way a game coming out of left field is going to top WoW, even if they include everyone who logged in once just to try it out for being free.
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aurorallew said on 6:04PM 8-18-2008
I love Brent, but he does have a huge man-crush on Smed.
Matt Mihaly said on 7:13PM 8-18-2008
The claim that nothing will come close to WoW is a silly claim, no offense. There are already games that are nearly as large (certainly well within the "close to" realm) as WoW, and that are larger than WoW in the West. Runescape, Habbo, etc. Take off the blinders and look around at the full MMO landscape rather than just the few MMOs that are sold at retail.
rakeleer said on 11:32PM 8-19-2008
@"just because of the Warcraft IP"
Incorrect. Of the 12 people I considered friends (and family) in my old raiding guild, 0 of them had ever played any of the Warcraft titles.
Accessibility, entertainment and fun. That's the formula. Citing "Warcraft IP" is just Blizzard fanboy (which I claim to be one of, these days) lip service.
Wjowski said on 6:41PM 8-18-2008
Someday, perhaps soon or perhaps far in the future, there will be a game that'll surpass WoW's numbers...
But that game damn sure isn't going to be made by Sony "We Don't Believe In Marketing" Online.
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Captain Obvious said on 10:38PM 8-18-2008
At this point Brent is the most blatant and vocal SoE shill with the benefit of an iTunes feed. I listened to that podcast, where they spent, what seemed like an eternity praising SoE for ushering in the "true next-gen MMOs", whilst condemning games like AoC and WAR as some type of antiquated dinosaur games.
I used to listen to Virgin Worlds for the straight MMO news, that Brent had such a knack for delivering in an informative, unbiased fashion. Now that he seems to have developed some sort of opinion, I am finding myself far less interested in his sales pitches and "sponsorship opportunities".
Don't even get me started on that "sponsorship" racket of his. You mean for only $250 a month I can be considered a "die hard MMO fan and supporter of VirginWorlds." Looks like this guy takes more than his gaming cues from SoE. Bollocks.
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aurorallew said on 11:27PM 8-18-2008
Nah, you're all wet, Cpt. Obvious. Yes, Brent likes SoE. He started out playing EQ and has more ties to that community than others. Yes, he's fallen prey to the "WoW dumbs down MMOs" trope that is both wrong and tiresome.
But he makes a hell of a podcast and while his preferences are pretty clear, his fairness also is.
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Tasogare said on 2:35AM 8-19-2008
That claim MAY hold weight, but in the way that games like Peggle outsell most other PC games. There are simply more casual gamers in the world than hardcore or moderate and that is the crowd that Free Realms is catering to.
To me, stuff like this is a disgrace to the community, but whatever, it's not like Sony's ever tried to hide its lust for money and bragging rights and if what it takes to brag about trumping WoW is selling out like crazy, then they'll do it. Also, I didn't listen to the podcast but I think this guy's opinion of MMO's is suspect if he even SUGGESTS that not making a game that looks like this garbage is antiquated. Sorry that Funcom and Mythic don't make games for 40 year old housewives, buddy, some company's still have real gamers in mind.
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Captain Obvious said on 3:04AM 8-19-2008
Honestly, I think it was just this most recent podcast that really rubs me the wrong way.
Ive listened to Virgin Worlds literally since episode one, and I generally think Brent is a genuine dude, with a passion for MMOs. I don't fault the guy for having preferences, but it is becoming increasingly clear that VirginWorlds podcast, is no longer an objective summery of the week's MMO news. Perhaps I went to far by calling the dude a shill, c'mon, let's practice a bit of lucidity here folks.
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