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Dark Age of Camelot celebrates 10th birthday with limited edition lithograph
Mythic Entertainment's popular RvRvR-based MMORPG, Dark Age of Camelot, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. In order to commemorate this momentous occasion, Mythic is selling a limited edition Dark Age of Camelot 10th anniversary lithograph. There will only be 300 prints available, each signed and numbered by artist Eric Polak, so if you want to get your grubby paws on one of these beauties, you'd better preorder now.
The Game Archaeologist celebrates Dark Age of Camelot's 10th anniversary
Last month was a historic occasion for MMOs, as Dark Age of Camelot joined the exclusive Decade Club, turning 10 years old and making most of us sit down heavily and wonder, "Has it really been that long?" It has indeed. You may wish to invest in a calendar. While it might be a tad tardy, I got the chance to interview the ever-busy Mythic about this milestone... and here it is! The Game Archaeologist: Could you please introduce yourself, your role on the team, and the faction for which you live, breathe and sleep? Stuart Zissu: I am Stuart Zissu, producer on Dark Age of Camelot. Asking which Realm I prefer is like asking which child is my favorite, I love them all! They all have their advantages and disadvantages, and each one brings something different to the table. With that said, my first level 50 was an Albion Enhancement Friar (before Enhancement Friars were "viable").
Star Wars: The Old Republic approaching the final phase of testing
It's hard to believe that after all this time, Star Wars: The Old Republic is launching in less than a month. As you would expect, the game is making its final testing pushes for players. According to Stephen "Rockjaw" Reid's Twitter feed, players selected for the final testing weekend will be seeing schedules sent out over the next 12 hours, with players allowed to start testing either Friday or Saturday, starting at 11:00 a.m. EST. Existing testers and visitors to the site will also have to contend with some degree of maintenance trouble, as the site is experiencing an understandable groundswell of traffic. The final push also means that the deadline is approaching for players to get in on the Pre-Launch Guild Program, which ends at 11:59 p.m. PST on December 2nd. This means that players who fulfill all the requirements will be able to transfer their guilds straight into the live game -- but they'll have to finalize everything before the deadline. So if you're a guild leader with a few things left to finish up before launch, the holiday weekend might be an ideal time.
New interview talks Warhammer Online and Wrath of Heroes synergy
Warhammer Online fans can be forgiven if they took to scratching their heads in puzzlement as BioWare-Mythic announced the Wrath of Heroes MOBA at last summer's Gamescom convention. After all, here was a new fantasy title that was brazen enough to borrow the IP and arguably the best gameplay mechanic (scenarios) from an existing MMO that's still alive and kicking. The distinction between the two games is up for discussion in a new Warhammer Online interview at Stratics. "There is no direct link currently between your WAR and WOH characters. That being said, we plan on giving WAR subscribers benefits in WOH," explains producer James Casey. "We are also looking at other ways to connect them and have the benefits go both ways." The interview also touches on the next WAR update (currently slated for the PTS next month), as well as the fact that the devs are considering a level-cap increase on the game's endless trial offering.
New Dark Age of Camelot patch introduces New User Experience, RvR changes
It's a big day for Dark Age of Camelot players, as patch 1.110 is going live today. The update includes the revamped New User Journey, which redesigns the tutorial and many mainland areas in each of the three realms in order to "make character progression more efficient and enjoyable than ever before." And of course, DAoC is all about the RvR, so many updates have been made to the game's Battlegrounds in an attempt to make them a "one-stop source for character progression and RvR action through level 49." A number of UI updates have been made as well, which should hopefully make the game more user-friendly and customizable. Balance passes have been made on all classes, with some classes being given free respecs to account for the changes. All-in-all, it seems to be a rather comprehensive update to the game, so if you're a denizen of DAoC, head on over and check out the changes.
BioWare Mythic isn't playing favorites with free-to-play and subscriptions
BioWare Mythic says that the market is big enough to support both free-to-play and subscription models -- and everything else in between. Talking with Gamasutra, GM Eugene Evans said that the company has to acknowledge that there are people who don't like F2P and those who do, and it's important to reach out to both groups. With Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes in beta testing, BioWare Mythic is testing the waters of free-to-play while preparing for Star Wars: The Old Republic's massive subscription launch. "We often got asked about taking our old games free-to-play, and in the case of Warhammer, we felt there was a different way of doing it," he opined, going on to say that the Mythic branch was learning a lot about polish and quality from the BioWare team. Evans commented on the observation that the widening global market means that no one business model is guaranteed to work in every country: "We're all still figuring out what free-to-play means, what the best way to monetize is, and how to run it as a business and engage players in ways they're prepared to accept."
BioWare Mythic on Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes' MMO origins
Not everybody is in the closed beta of Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes; if we were, it wouldn't be closed. That's just about the only way to know any details about BioWare Mythic's new free-to-play spinoff, as the company's been quiet since announcing the game at GamesCom. During GDC Online, I asked studio GM Eugene Evans to explain just what Wrath of Heroes is, especially in relation to the existing Warhammer Online MMO. "The scenario gameplay that you experience within Wrath of Heroes is part of Warhammer Online," Evans explained. "You can go and have a similar experience in Warhammer Online. But it means that you have to go and start with a base character, level that character up, and then get into the scenario."%Gallery-136533%
Warhammer sticking with its subscription model
Those of you holding out for a freemium conversion for Warhammer Online may as well resign yourselves to waiting on the upcoming Wrath of Heroes MOBA. In a new piece at PC Gamer, BioWare-Mythic vice president Eugene Evans says there are still no plans to give away the game aside from the ongoing endless trial that covers the title's newb tier content. "Right now, we're focused on Wrath of Heroes as our free-to-play offering in the Warhammer universe," Evans said at this week's GDC. "We believe in the community of players who are playing Age of Reckoning. Yes, we could have attracted a lot of players to it [via F2P], but it's unclear how long you'll keep them. We wanted to support our game as it currently exists."
Dark Age of Camelot unveils its 10th anniversary masterpiece
It's not every day that an MMO turns 10, and Mythic is taking full advantage of the situation to hype up Dark Age of Camelot's impressive milestone by treating players to a few goodies. First up is a highly detailed mural depicting the conflicts, races, and classes of DAoC over the years. Mythic has been revealing the mural piecemeal over the last few weeks before finally unveiling it today to the playerbase. In addition to this poster, Mythic's unleashed Producer Stuart Zissu to film a video laying out the plans for the game's celebration. Zissu talks about the new training hubs designed to get beginners on their feet, epic encounters in the world for groups to tackle, moral arcs that give players concrete choices to make, UI changes, and the 10th anniversary t-shirt. Players logging into the game in October will also find that they'll be enjoying several bonuses to XP, crafting, and more. You can watch Zissu get the crowds pumped up for the party after the jump!
Mark Jacobs elaborates on departure from EA Mythic
It's been a couple of years since Mark Jacobs abruptly left -- or perhaps was let go -- from EA Mythic, but curiosity around the split persists in the MMO industry. Yesterday, Jacobs opened up about the event that occurred after EA's acquisition of Mythic and BioWare. Long story short: The merge brought about changes, and Jacobs wasn't on board with them. "They made a decision on a direction they wanted to go and obviously, as we put out in our joint statement, that wasn't a direction that had a role for me, or at least the role that I wanted. It really is as simple as that. Or at least publicly. Whatever went on behind the scenes, whatever we talked about, I have no intention of sharing that," he said. Jacobs insists that EA has been kind to him in the subsequent years. "One thing I'll say publicly about EA, they have been very good in what they've said post-departure regarding me. Similarly I've been good about what I've said about them post departure." He has since gone on to form a new company to create social and mobile games. In an ironic twist, Jacobs says that the idea for getting into the social gaming market took root while he was at Mythic, but he left before acting on that notion.
New bounty rewards coming to Dark Age of Camelot
Dark Age of Camelot is taking aim at bounties. Specifically, the development team is taking aim at the bounty points that players can now earn via quests in the game's battlegrounds. Longtime players have no doubt noticed this change, and in the latest developer diary for the game, Kai Schrober outlines the team's plans to continue improving player experience via a new set of equipment purchasable from special bounty vendors inside the battlegrounds. The equipment available isn't meant to just be good -- it's pre-templated and should bring characters close to the apex of their abilities. The goal, obviously, is to help players feel rewarded for their participation in the game. But the diary also goes into detail about more enhancements to gameplay, including new epic events surrounding quest hubs and new teleporters to give players easy access to battlegrounds. It's a laundry list of improvements for DAoC, a clear sign that even though the past few months have been a bit quiet for the game, development hasn't abated.
Warhammer Online celebrates third anniversary with bonus XP, veteran goodies
It's time to raise a glass to Warhammer Online, as Mythic's fantasy PvP title turns three on September 18th (time flies when you're WAAAGHing, we suppose). What's on tap for the inevitable celebration? Bonus XP/RP, of course, and a whopping 10 days of it. Starting today, players can enjoy increased advancement potential and loot a few fireworks from the twitching carcasses of their foes. Also, three-year veterans are being recognized for their loyalty, as Mythic is gifting them with a Jack-O-Lantern vanity pet and an endless supply of both chaos black and blazing orange dyes. Don't forget that the 1.4.4 patch was recently deployed, and the Wild Hunt event is currently ongoing. Finally, check in with Massively on Sunday for our three-year Warhammer Online retrospective.
Dark Age of Camelot takes players to school
Dark Age of Camelot's new website is already paying off in spades for players, as the developers are able to pass along a host of new information, concept art and previews for the populace. DAOC will be 10 years old as of next month and isn't slowing down. Exhibit A: The team is already hard at work on the 1.110 patch. John Thronhill penned a dev diary about the patch this week; he focuses on the new Lesson Quests that will go hand-in-hand with the beginner experience. Lesson Quests are designed to help newbies get their footing in this complex setting, especially since the game continues to see a "large amount of returning and brand-new players" each month. As players progress through Lesson Quests, they'll not only get a better understanding of how DAOC works but be rewarded with buff tokens, potions, and other nice goodies. As part of the quest chain, NPCs will demonstrate crowd control techniques and other RvR survival skills in the hopes that new players will be able to make a better contribution to the war. These tutorial quests can also be skipped if players already know the ropes. Lesson Quests aren't the only new additions coming with 1.110, although Thornhill says we'll have to wait until another day to hear about the rest.
Warhammer Online Patch 1.4.4 goes live this afternoon
Warhammer Online's latest patch is here, and it's just in time for the fantasy title's third anniversary week. Well, technically the 1.4.4 patch isn't here yet, as the servers are still down and scheduled to rez at approximately 1:30 p.m. EDT today. The new patch introduces the Wild Hunt live event, which allows players the chance to "test their skills tracking and slaying fierce animals, collecting sacred pelts, and sighting the elusive White Stag." There's also an opportunity to earn event influence and participate in the Curse of Kurnous public quest. Mythic has also tweaked the RvR keep defense mechanics, introduced new vanity pet packs, and shifted the scenario lineup. Finally, you can vote for the next batch of scenarios via the Dev Discussions forum on the official WAR website.
Mythic: Wrath of Heroes gets rid of 'all the boring crap' of WAR
Mythic is taking an interesting approach in promoting its new MOBA, Warhammer Online Wrath of Heroes -- it's throwing Warhammer Online under the bus. At the Wrath of Heroes reveal panel at PAX, the Mythic team talked up its new project as something that Heroes' parent game is not. The team found that people liked WAR but couldn't justify investing in it, so Mythic wanted to create an experience for them. The team took what it saw as one the more popular aspects of WAR -- the scenarios -- and modified them to pit three teams (six on each) against each other for quick, 15-minute gameplay sessions. On death, you can choose any hero in your arsenal so you can adjust to whatever your team needs. This game format allowed the team to strip away the parts of the game it saw as unnecessary. "We went, you know what? If you play the MMO, we give you all this cool equipment on your adventure, and it's a neat thing to do, but let's just get rid of the boring crap and give people cool [stuff] to wear," Paul Barnett said. Citing the accumulation of multiple -- and sometimes quite situational -- skills over the course of "748,000 hours of grinding," Barnett said that his team got rid of this approach by focusing on only five skills per hero in Wrath of Heroes. He thinks that the small incremental progress of skills and skill effects in Warhammer Online is "dull" and instead extolls Wrath of Heroes for picking the best skills, effects and armor so that players don't have to worry about getting all of them. You can watch the full reveal panel of Wrath of Heroes after the jump. [Thanks to Joris for the tip!]
Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes is EA's next 'Play4Free' game [update: trailer]
What's BioWare Mythic been up to? It's a new Warhammer Online game due this fall, just announced by BioWare's Ray Muzyka at GamesCom. Wrath of Heroes will be a "Play4Free" title -- like the Facebook game Dragon Age Legends and the freemium Battlefield Play4Free. You can sign up for a beta of the PvP, cel-shaded Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes right now here. It'll be released this fall. %Gallery-130892%
Choose My Adventure: Dat's it, boss, I'm outta here
As of today, I'm finished with Warhammer Online. Today is my final installment of Choose My Adventure, with the torch passing along next week to Larry Everett. Before anyone asks, yes, I'm definitely going to miss the feature... but that's not really what you're here for at the moment, is it? You're here for the fanfare, and it's all over but the depressing part. Last week's vote was overwhelmingly meta -- rather than a recounting of events, the audience clearly wants to hear my thoughts on the future of Warhammer Online, what worked and what didn't, and why the game followed the trajectory it did. (Also, an awful lot of people want to know about the Choppa Song.) I'm admittedly coming into the game late and with somewhat less passionate eyes than many of the game's fans, but looking at my experience, I think I found a lot of the game in microcosm. I see all of the things it did right... and in hindsight, where certain choices went wrong.
Choose My Adventure: Da udder half lives
I remember thinking quite distinctly that I was ready to be done with the Tier 1 scenarios, oh, forever ago. It's not that Nordenwatch is inherently a bad scenario; it's just that when you see it often enough, you start to get sick of it. So I was very happy when the voting closed on last week's poll and I saw that I had a very different list of scenarios available to me in Warhammer Online. That had probably happened several levels ago, sure, but I hadn't been queueing. Unfortunately, I found out that Oscar Wilde's old chestnut about the gods granting our wishes when they want to punish us proved entirely accurate. Jump on past the break for this week in Klurgind's somewhat less than epic adventure, with the caveat that it's going to be just a wee bit depressing in places. But hey, I never promised this story had a happy ending.
Choose My Adventure: Nuttin' happened, boss!
Ever thrown a birthday party and had no one attend? I haven't, but I experienced a similar sensation on Saturday, probably due more or less to my own poor planning. But it wasn't just events that didn't go according to plan this past week. Virtually nothing did, mostly due to real life intruding into my play time in frequently unpleasant fashion (not to mention a nicely bizarre computer problem that took several weeks of research and effort to finally identify and fix). So, awesome all around! So this week featured distinctly less choppin' than usual. But there are still interesting anecdotes to relate, even if I've got a bit less material about Warhammer Online than usual. Click on past the break for this week's exploits, the latest round of polls (a bit different than the predecessors), and the usual randomly assembled letters that form words which hopefully entertain the audience.
Choose My Adventure: I da popular ork
Klurgind may not be the smartest ork in Warhammer Online nor the strongest one, but he's certainly a popular greenskin. What is it about him? That beady, penetrating stare? The way he eulogizes Squig Herders on the fields of Nordland? His sharply alluring green-blue skin and bright orange tattoos? Or just the fact that everyone knew he was my character, thus ensuring that every regular reader went out of the way to shower him with praise, advice, and adulation? I don't know. But I do know that special thanks go out to Tsavonglah for some excellent in-game advice and a veritable wall of information in the comments, Daswagga for a large pile of Strength talismans, and the many people who gave me a wave or cheer for bring a touch of Massively WAAAAGH to the game. So read on past the break for talk about my adventures in the twilight of Tier 1, the dawn of Tier 2, scenarios, open RvR, and the general stages of the Choppocalypse.
