Can Anyone Compete with World of Warcraft?

When I first heard that Blizzard was going to create an mmorpg based on its series of real-time strategy games I thought to myself,"So what?" I had, once upon a time, enjoyed Warcraft and Warcraft 2 but that had been a long time ago. I simply refused to be interested in WoW.

When World of Warcraft (www.worldofwarcraft.com) became such a hit I was annoyed, even more so when I tried the game out and found it didn't interest me at all. I was playing Everquest 2 and I was enjoying it. However, there is no doubt that as things stand now, World of Warcraft is the most popular mmorpg in the United States.

People are getting tired of it though. For the last several months, almost no day would pass without my hearing of yet another person who said,"I'm tired of the game, I want something else." Which, I would like to point out, doesn't mean the game is bad, simply that people are always looking for new experiences.

When people found out that Vanguard: Saga of Heroes (www.joinvanguard.com) would finally be released soon (after quite a long wait) they began to flock to it. They would say Vanguard is going to be the WoW killer. Vanguard would be the home of the refugees from all other mmorpgs.

Sadly, this was not the case. Vanguard has had lukewarm reviews and while it might some day become a pretty good mmorpg, it doesn't seem to be what everyone had hoped it would be: a new home.

On the horizon are three mmorpgs that may have a chance to compete with WoW. They are all planned to be released in 2007. Two are based on popular series of novels and movies. Two also have real-time strategy games in their history. All three have had pencil and paper role-playing games.

Lord Of The Rings Online: Shadows Of Angmar

With the nearest release date, Lord Of The Rings Online is expected to be released on April 24, 2007. It's being created by Turbine, which was responsible for the Asheron's Call mmorpg.