The lesson? Manage your expectations. I'm sure most of those are fine enough games, but "hype poisoning" ruined it for people.Posted at 7:00PM on Jan 12th 2009 by Sokkratez

I think the comments on Star Wars Galaxies are a bit off the mark, and while what happened to SWG was sad and disappointing, I'm not sure it belongs in the "didn't rise above the hype." What killed the game wasn't the "same kind of mmo grinding" and so forth, but rather when the game got a bad case of WoW syndrome.

By WoW syndrome, I mean that unfortunate condition many MMO's get when they see WoW's astronomical subscription numbers, and declare anything less a "failure". Even if its subscription numbers are anything but to someone with perspective.

It was this sort of thinking that seemed to lead the suits calling the shots at SoE to mandate the fiascos of the NGE and other sweeping changes to the game, gutting the game's unique (in the modern mmo market certainly), sandboxy, "this is more of a universe to play in and less of a 'game'" feel. SWG's subscription numbers, while more modest than the eventual blizzard 5000-lb. gorilla, were nothing to be scoffed at initially (Everquest, the previous reigning champion, had similar numbers in it's heyday.) Outcry at the sweeping game gutting and refitting was instant, fervent, and deafening. SoE declared this just a very vocal minority, but this was when the rapidly plummeting numbers began to prove otherwise.

Sadly, the community's overwhelming response fell on deaf ears. SoE plugged their ears, started humming loudly to themselves, and rode the bomb of the "new" swg slim pickens style all the way down.

A sad story, but not really one as much related to hype (except perhaps in a more tangential way.)Posted at 1:00AM on Jan 18th 2009 by Kay

Given the description I think you meant 'Black & White' and the 2 was a typo.Posted at 6:08PM on Jan 18th 2009 by Sir Buzz Killington( The Artist formerly known as Jakka)

And where is Far Cry 2??????Posted at 8:50AM on Jan 19th 2009 by Cubfan786