Top 10 Most Anticipated MMORPG of 2011 [Part II]

Top 10 Most Anticipated MMOs of 2011 [Part II] By Jeffry Lau Years ago, I joined an online game company after graduation and stepped into this industry by coincidence. At spare-time, I always pay close attention to the development of gaming industry and write industry reviews for MMOsite.

Seriously, I'm deeply inspired by all your guys' comments on Top 10 Most Anticipated MMOs of 2011 [Part I]. Digging out the best games for you is always my pursuit. Million thanks for your permanent support for MMOsite, and may you have a happy New Year! As many of you wondered in the comments why Arche Age didn't appear on the list, I want to say that it'll be listed in Top 10 Most Anticipated MMOs of 2011 [Part II]! Having talked about the five games that are very likely to enter the market in 2011, let's further check out the games that are uncertain whether to be released this year! Of course, Blade& Soul and Guild Wars 2 should be the first to be mentioned!

1. Blade and Soul/Guild Wars 2

For more Blade & Soul videos

In 2010, I presented these two games to you as the most anticipated games of the year, but they both decided to remain still eventually. Just as how I thought last year, I still reckon the two have little possibility to be released simultaneously this year. Only one of them is possible to go live in 2011, but it's more likely that they both won't enter the market till "the end of the world". XD...

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Blade and Soul

As the two games only unveiled some related videos in the past, they put much energy into large-scale promotion in 2010!

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Blade and Soul

For example, in North America, Guild Wars 2 last year showed up at many game exhibitions including Gamescom, Comic-Con, PAX and the one held in Seattle, USA, making public much content including gameplay, classes, skills, screenshots and gameplay videos. The official company also launched an official blog for the game, and released the latest game info periodically. Meanwhile, the in-game dynamic events system's veil was raised in 2010, and the development team will unveil the game's 5th class in Jan., 2011. In the past internal test, it seemed that Guild Wars 2's high-level content was abundant and the dynamic events system took shape too. The game is expected to undergo a slightly-larger-scale stress test and receive players' feedback very soon. At this point, I guess Guild Wars 2 will at least enter the CBT stage and meet the audience in 2011, with its release date depending on the CBT status.

Guild Wars 2 Footage - Gameplay + Sound (54 minutes)

In South Korea, Blade and Soul was also busy. With 2010's Christmas approaching, NCsoft held a non-public test party for Blade and Soul in its R&D Center, and invited game fans to test the game in the headquarters directly. Generally, participants of the test thought highly of the game quality. Focusing on fighting effects and variable skills, Blade and Soul displays a very strong oriental martial arts style. Maybe, it is a game designed for Asia. The development team once even went to Taiwan for the sake of creating high-quality concept arts of in-game scenes. It seems that only NCsoft knows when Blade and Soul will meet the North American players.

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Guild Wars 2

Blade and Soul is expected to be released in South Korea some day between late 2011 and early 2012, and in North America some day between the second and third quarter of 2012.

Guild Wars 2 is expected to be released in North America in the third quarter of 2011, and in South Korea in the first quarter of 2012.

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Guild Wars 2

Expected Business Model:

Blade and Soul: Subscription+ Monthly Feeon

Guild Wars 2: Buy to Play