Xbox Live reaches 2 million members

[Jeremy]

It's hard not to, since they offered stuff with their service, like web browsing, that still haven't been replicated. Didn't they even launch the DreamCall service later in the system's life? The service (and the system) were years ahead of its time. Sega really shot for the fences, and it succeeded, only not for them, as it gave MS the gold standard to surpass, and they did.

Many here seem to discredit Sega when it isn't called for, so I'm shocked that diff would just shit on their service. As a sidenote, it's kind of sad that the SNES has more online games than the GC.

[Yoshi]

I thought for sure Yoshi would mention how WoW did it 5 times faster or something

Nah. I don't have any reverence for WoW. It is a lot of fun because we have everyone on Ventrilo, and we have a large group that all "knows" each other. I don't believe the game itself is light years beyond the other MMOs out there.

[Rumpy]

Xband has nationwide matchmaking, but it was like 200 dollars a month or something

At first it was just "that's a long distance call! Enjoy your next phone bill!" and then they hooked up with AT&T for Nationwide. It was like 25 bucks a month, I think. It was a hell of a lot better than a long distance charge that's for sure.

And fuck anyone that says otherwise, Xband kicked ass.

[Cowdisease]

And fuck anyone that says otherwise, Xband kicked ass.

Xband Mario Kart: Pretty good.

Xband Super Street Fighter 2: Not so good.

[Rumpy]

NHL (whatever year) was a blast, MK2 was the shit, Madden was really popular. I barely even remember WeaponLord on the service. I'm not even sure if it made it all the way through testing. I think NBA Jam was on there too.

[Master]

Nah. I don't have any reverence for WoW. It is a lot of fun because we have everyone on Ventrilo, and we have a large group that all "knows" each other. I don't believe the game itself is light years beyond the other MMOs out there.

It is billions of lightyears ahead of any MMO in existance in terms of how pick-up-and-play friendly it is. No MMO has ever been so welcoming to noobs, that is why it is shattering sales records.

You also don't need a killer system to play it, thus making the potential userbase worldwide that much larger. Hell, I can play it on my laptop.

Though, that is a completely different convo...

[Diff-chan]

You really dont sell 9 times more than your next closest competitor without doing something very right and very different. I mean, this game shows just how massive the potential audience is for online gaming and what a poor job SOE and others were doing to tap that potential.

Im also not sure why Yoshi doesnt believe WOW is so far ahead of other MMORPGs - he plays them a lot more than me, but even I can see what makes the game different from others (main point, its fun kthx).

[Yoshi]

It is billions of lightyears ahead of any MMO in existance in terms of how pick-up-and-play friendly it is. No MMO has ever been so welcoming to noobs, that is why it is shattering sales records.

I think that's one of its problems, obviously not from a commercial standpoint, but from a player longevity standpoint. I just question whether there is enough to keep a power leveler-type busy for even one year.

Im also not sure why Yoshi doesnt believe WOW is so far ahead of other MMORPGs - he plays them a lot more than me, but even I can see what makes the game different from others (main point, its fun kthx).

We have vastly different play styles. I whipped WoW's ass in my first tour of duty. Since we didn't have ventrilo back then, the community aspect was lacking. There are several other MMOs, some SOE-made, that have significantly more content and depth for someone who can power level.

[VIDEODROME]

For some reason this makes me imagine 2 million Mike Teevees. Kind of scary.

[Diff-chan]

We have vastly different play styles. I whipped WoW's ass in my first tour of duty. Since we didn't have ventrilo back then, the community aspect was lacking. There are several other MMOs, some SOE-made, that have significantly more content and depth for someone who can power level.

You mean, for someone who can grind? I know about the grind, I played UO, and EQ, and SWG. Sure, one could argue a quest to kill 12 mottled boars is a grind, but you got a big juicy 3000XP and some gold at the end. WOW has no grind, and thats what makes it so popular.

Now, there was one grindy quest Ive had so far, it was in Desolace, it was the one where I had to kill enough centaur to make the opposing clan like me. I think I even said in guild chat at that time, "this makes me realize why I stopped playing EQ and SWG". Now... WOW's retention rate might be slightly worse than the others, because it is possible to "quickly" get through all the content and like all early MMOs, end game content is on the thin side, but this is a small price to pay for a game so accessible and so much more fun than the status quo.