Enough of WoW. I go back to my own logorrheic and foolish commentary noone is interested about. Shoo.

While my site slowly returns to normality, I noticed on my RSS page an entry on Darniaq’s blog with an amusing title: “EQ1 Expansion outsells EQ2s”.

We build sequels because we stupidly think that these *worlds* (because we are creating worlds, not games) have life cycles and need to be replaced as it happens with every other “goods”. This news is another stab to one of those popular commonplaces.

Years of development and an insane amount of money invested into a new project that is now even less successful than the product that it was supposed to *replace*. Money and resources that were CUT from EQ to move them on EQ2. The same HUGE mistake that every other company is stupidly making sooner or later.

Of course it’s too early speak. EQ2 devs are slowly but steadily doing a rather good work and all these efforts could probably bring to a surpass once EQ is more and more left behind and developed in a “flat” direction that isn’t aimed to keep the game fresh and accessible. But this “overtake” is not something that SOE anticipated by looking forward and planning ahead. This is something that they decided and obtained. Something they chose (but I would be so interested to hear their expectations and marketing projections).

I just wonder what could have happened if SOE put all the resources that went into EQ2 to consolidate EQ and make it the best product (and world) out there. Building on top of what was being worked till that moment and reinvesting on the strengths to reinvigorate them even more. Probably even the community could have benefited of a focus instead of being shattered and directly encouraged to move toward brand new worlds (WoW).

Either way, we’ll never know. But I surely have my own opinion.

EDIT: Scott Hartsman commented elsewhere:

It’s an interesting topic, for sure. One other random thing to throw in the mix.

EQ2 has a proportionally larger number of overseas customers who wouldn’t show up in the US NPD numbers. (At least, I don’t believe they would. Fortunately, that’s not my thing. I just make games.)

So many that we adjusted our main US patch schedule to better accomodate the play times of one group (For Asia/AUS/NZ), and more in the other direction to where they really needed to be given their own patchers and downtime schedule. (UK/DE/FR).

Personally, I’d like to see the total numbers for all of those titles that included all locales and downloadable purchases, then watch the discussion.

Until then, good luck, and may the best conjecture win!

– Scott