What changes?

With the discussion of lifetime memberships and how long we stick with a game, it got me wondering? How can a game have so much hype during beta, then kinda fall flat after the first few months of release?

WoW had the hype. I remember reading an article from someone in beta. In this case the hype was justified. I remember trying WoW beta then wanting to play so badly I subscribed to another game (EQ2) because I just couldn't wait. Had my computer at the time been able to play EQ2 smoother perhaps I would have stuck with it, but once WoW was released I jumped ship.

I don't remember much hype about LotRO, but it was there. I'm sure it was supposed to be a WoW killer, but it was quickly drug out of the arena with the rest.

Now Warhammer Online had hype. Guilds were disbanding in WoW to head to WAR. I really felt it would put at least a chink in WoW's armor because WoW PvPers *always* complain about WoW PvP. And I saw the videos, they made it look decent. But I was wary. Yet I gave into the hype as the time of release grew close. I'm sure I was in one of my "I'm bored with WoW" phases I seem to swing in and out of, so I gave it a shot. I always enjoy creating a character and then the inevitable struggle of finding a name I like. It's fun to run around with everyone else as we scramble to get our bearings but then MMORPG ennui sets in as you realize you're killing 10 more rats. Then the question becomes is this game doing it better than WoW does. Is it doing it at least as good as WoW is? And with WAR if killing ten rats isn't the point, then killing 10 orc players pretty damn well be. And for me it wasn't.

But how long was Warhammer beta? What did those players in beta do that was so much fun for months, that it wasn't fun for many of the rest of us?

I'm pretty sure I'm going to play Champions Online, because all of the stuff I enjoy doing will be there and last me at least a month. But to be honest, I haven't heard a lot of hype about CO. At least there isn't really much for me to get disappointed about later.

Update: The reason why I hadn't heard much is the NDA had not been lifted as of this post. Coincidentally it was lifted the next day. Turns out there isn't a lot of hype because apparently it doesn't deserve it.