I read on the scroll on G4 that this might be the next-gen MMO they were talking about...I really hope not.

Why wouldn't they just expand on WoW? Diablo 3 better be a hack-n-slash...

I don't fault them for working on a new MMO; at some point (and SOON by the fact that instead of the traditional 10 levels, the level cap on the next expansion is only 5 higher) WoW will become too top-heavy, and will need to basically be reset. There is pretty much no way they can actually get a new player interested after this expansion, as who would want to work through 85 levels of grinding?

Everything I've seen on it doesn't look mmo ish enough. However, they did release Warcraft III before its MMO. So why not do the same? Release the main game, generate even more fan frenzy then drop the second MMO we know they're working on, which they can do. Blizzard has taken on so much new staff they can work multiple games at once with ease. Not just the lil company we all knew before.

Though, I don't think they will kill WoW at any point. Any major succesful mmo lives on like an endless zombie. Heck, the next expansion for it Cataclysm is pretty much designed to make leveling to 85 easier, plus all the legacy items that give you good states and faster xp while leveling all hint to cleaning up the top heavy issue. But, it's main problem is that it's old. Very old. The graphics and physic engine on it are ancient, and it's to much task to upgrade those.

The nest Blizz MMO will be a sci-fi (lol SyFy) MMO. They will not shoot themselves in the financial wallet.

-Geoff

It seems counter productive until you remember just how old WoW is, for a lot of players they lose they've simply tapped out the limitations of their first attempt, and given the history of scifi mmos, what's the success rate?

Starcraft MMO

Korea/China alone will ensure it's success, they are addicted to that franchise.

Tapped out or not approx 8 Mil subscribers for WoW? Yeah, that's not a cash cow you take to market.

-Geoff

China's market is unreliable, they haven't gotten expansions in a timely fashion and the government was hassling them even before the current issue. They have an issue with 'foreign' games making such an impact. Korea is a cash cow, but, even then fantasy games perform better, but not if compared to the whole of the US and EU markets which they can release in straight english and perform fine.

We can hope...*drool*

11 million last time I saw anything.

They might do a reset, buuuuut look at EQ2. That alone will push them to put it off for as long as reasonably possible. I think they probably have a few more expansions in them. If nothing else they're revamping a lot of early progression with the next xpac. I could see that help keep grinding a new toon somewhat fresh to keep expanding their playerbase.

How would a Diablo based MMO be that different from a WoW MMO, anyways? Thematically they are very similar... I agree that a sci-fi MMO would be much more viable.

The wrapper alone makes a big difference. Diablo is (obviously) a much darker and grittier fantasy setting than WOW.

Diablo 3 will be a simple Hack and Slay again, max. 4 players in multiplayer, maybe up to 6.

The Next-Gen-MMO they are working on is something completly new, no Warcraft, no Spycraft and no Diablo universe IIRC.

I don't think anyone is saying it's going to be a Spycraft MMO.

-Geoff

Blizzard has stated that the new MMO is not a spin-off of an existing Blizzard property--so no SC, WC or Diablo. Whether it is an Activision property or something completely new, only time will show.