[...] try to look at how I did with last year’s predictions a bit later (along with the 2008 Nerfbat MMO Blog Awards). I suspect they’ll be fairly [...]

I think Vanguard will announce a shut down – I really dont think they have extensive playability and they are going to lose more players than they gain this year. They need a serious revamp or just start again, lets face it, it had nice ideas, they were just done wrong.

I think Pirates of the burning sea looks like an innovative idea and could become hugely succesful. We dont have long to wait now to find out.

Age of Conan – What can i say… i AM as excited as little schoolgirls get when making daisy chains about this game. But who was’nt about vanguard last year? I think our expectations may be set too high, i havent played the Beta so i cant really comment. Once again, the ideas in it are innovative, they look good, expecialy the siegeing other player built forts etc.

I think Everquest 2 if going to have some announcements this year about its dwindling player base, or this years expansion is going to have to be something exceptional. I love EQ2, i play it alot still, but the lack of players, especially low level, is becoming irritating, theres only so many times i can raid something at the 70+ when i really want to develop new characters an raid my way up again. After the success of Echoes of Faydwer, the player numbers were up until june/july last year. Its only January, the new expansion Rise of Kunark has only been out 2 months an already theres a lack or regular groups/raids and players in the new areas.

WoW – erm… i hate this game with a passion. I’ve attempted to play it several times an got bored before a chracter ever reached level 10 – its not my thing – i just dont like it. So hopefully it will crash an burn an we can be done with that, but with the “success” of Wrath of the lich King, i doubt this is going to happen (success quoted because, even if it is actualy shockingly bad, people are going to love it because they are brainwashed by WoW an dont say bad about it)

I expect Eve to dwindle in players this year. The idea of developing the longer you are registered must become irritating instead of an xp based level system. An how long can you really spend looking at vast emptiness of space? When it comes to expansions – more vastness of space? I think they are going to struggle?

An MMO based on R.A. Salvatore’s Demonwars

A Forgotten Realms MMO

(and although not MMO, a single player game based on Bob’s The Highwayman)

Well duh.

It is much easier to write a press release than build a massive game. If you count indie efforts, this is even more obvious (I’m assuming you do.)

Chris Crawford asks: What does the player do?

I predict that one small Indie MMO with little publicity will become “mainstream” by the end of 2008.

RR Martin or Krondor or Dragonlance/Krynn or Shadowrun, and although I won’t see any screens till 2010, I will still get a massive chubby at just the announcement.