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Mark Jacobs on changes to WAR's open RvR
Mythic Entertainment's Mark Jacobs posted a Warhammer Online dev blog today, titled "Open RvR Update" which maps out the future of open realm-vs-realm in the game. Jacobs writes that the coming months will bring some changes and additions to WAR: An RvR Influence system. "This system is designed to reward our oRvR players with lots of new stuff that you can only get through oRvR," he says. Increased visibility of open RvR, made possible through numerous improvements such as improved maps and travel systems, second bind points, a campaign HUD, and tier-wide messaging about the status of battlefield objectives and keeps. Greater incentives for oRvR participation, namely through keep quests, 'Daily Event Quests,' and chained RvR missions. Better rewards for guilds that take and control keeps, and a system of keep upgrades. Allowing characters to gain oRvR "Fame", linked to the Tome of Knowledge and thus rewards, titles, and experience that come with oRvR success. Jacobs cautions though, "Please keep in mind that these changes/systems apply to oRvR only and not to scenarios. This is not all we are working on but these do reflect the majority of oRvR additions that we are currently working on/planning for the next few months." Jacobs hopes that open RvR enhancements will inject more risk and challenge into this aspect of the game, and ultimately more rewards. Check out his dev blog where he outlines the changes to open RvR and let us know, do you think Mythic is headed in the right direction with this system revamp? Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Warhammer combat and careers patches pushed back
Mythic dev Mark Jacobs writes that the combat and careers patches for Warhammer Online will not be appearing in patch 1.0.5 as previously planned and are instead being rescheduled for patch 1.0.6. "Our plan was that no patch would make it through the [Public Test Servers] until we were sure that it was tested thoroughly and properly." writes Jacobs, "It was evident throughout the testing process that some of the changes needed to be reconsidered and some changed outright." Patch 1.0.5 is going to deploy to live servers tomorrow (Tuesday, 18 November), with fixes/improvements to the Realm War system, and the "Heavy Metal" Live Event that sets the stage for the Knight of the Blazing Sun and Blackguard.
Hangame and EA to bring Warhammer Online to Korea
There was a time when the western MMO market was flooded with imports of popular Korean titles. While there's still a steady influx of Asian games reworked to fit western playstyles, there's also a growing number of western MMOs being exported to Asia, particularly Korea. The obvious title that succeeds anywhere it goes is World of Warcraft, whose Asian following is legion. But smaller games have also been making inroads. EVE Online has been operating in China for years and Hellgate: London gained a new lease on life in Korea. They're not alone in this. Turbine has its eyes set on expanding into Korea with Lord of the Rings Online, and we know that Age of Conan is marching eastward, too. The latest successful western title to look east is Warhammer Online, which will soon be played in Korea as well. Electronic Arts and Hangame are partnering to bring WAR to South Korea. In a related press statement, Mythic's Mark Jacobs said, "By partnering with Hangame, we hope to provide Korean gamers with a fresh, new fantasy experience and years' worth of Realm vs. Realm adventures on the frontlines of WAR." You can see the full announcement about WAR's attempt to capture Korean gamers over at The Earth Times. Given how PvP-centric Korean MMOs tend to be, do you think Warhammer Online would be a natural fit for gamers in this market? Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Looking to leave World of Warcraft? Good luck!
If you're playing World of Warcraft right now, odds apparently are that you'll be doing that for some time to come. That's the word straight from sister site Joystiq, which listened in on the Activision/Blizzard financials conference call earlier this week. In speaking to the assembled business-types Blizzard President Mike Morhaime reiterated earlier statements, saying something like 70% of folks who left WoW for Age of Conan are already back. Of the players that left the game for Warhammer Online, almost 50% of them have already returned to the Azerothian fold. Mark Jacobs may have pooh-pooh'd Blizzard claims (on more than one occassion) but anecdotally it certainly seems like Shattrath has been a busy place in the last few weeks. These numbers, of course, are all in advance of Wrath of the Lich King's launch next week. Analysts see Wrath of the Lich King garnering a whole new wave of attention to the game, and within the next few weeks we could see announcements of even more individuals signing into Blizzard's juggernaut of a title.
The Daily Grind: Are you a one-game gamer?
Not so long ago, Mark Jacobs made a comment that got several of you riled: 'Any comment along the lines of 'well if they're in my game they're not playing in another game,' flies in the face of all research that's been done among MMO players... The idea that you only play one is really kind of silly.' Mark was of course referring to the idea that if someone stopped playing WoW they were playing WAR, and if they started playing WoW again they must have stopped playing WAR.While there is obviously no law that says you must play only one fantasy game or SF game, we did wonder just how 'silly' it is to expect gamers to pick one game and prioritize that. Not everyone has the resources, or the time, or the inclination to keep multiple MMOs on the go. For many gamers, it is an issue of having one primary MMO to which they devote their time.Are you one of these? Do you have one main MMO that takes up most of your gaming time? Or do you spread your time around over multiple titles?
Mark Jacobs of WAR: "I'm flattered" by Wrath's PvP
Oh, this is rich. We'll admit that WoW's achievements system is Blizzard's reaction to Warhammer Online's Tome of Knowledge system, and sure, we'll even go so far as to say that the PvE to PvP transfers are a shot off the bow of WAR, but claiming that WoW's Lake Wintergrasp is a straight rip from Warhammer? We'd think not. Still, that won't keep Mythic's CEO Mark Jacobs from claiming exactly that -- the outspoken developer says he's "flattered" by what he calls Blizzard's attempts at open world PvP.Too bad it's straight out nonsense -- we were at the PvP panel at last year's BlizzCon, where Blizzard explained all of the experiments they'd made with world PvP, from the very sad Silithus, to the more successful Halaa and Auchindoun, and how they'd landed on the concept for Lake Wintergrasp -- the worldwide buff, the raid boss, the persistent rewards, and so on -- from all of the world PvP that had come before. That's not to say that Blizzard doesn't want to borrow the best things from Warhammer and other popular games out there, but to claim Wintergrasp is an attempt to emulate Warhammer's PvP is just plain reaching. And leveling through PvP? Considering you need a flying mount to get to Wintergrasp and you can't actually get that until three levels left in the game, it's as stretchy as it gets to claim that's Blizzard's attempt at emulating WAR. If Blizzard really did want to rip off WAR, they'd do it better than that, no?Can't say we're that surprised, though. Jacobs and his team do have a habit of biting off more than they can chew already.
Mark Jacobs says EA wanted to kill UO, but he saved it
Mythic CEO and Warhammer Online lead designer Mark Jacobs is a man who speaks his mind in the face of opposition and criticism. In truth, it's an admirable trait, even if it might occasionally cause some trouble. In the face of criticism from forum trolls and Blizzard COO Paul Sams, he posted a super-long defense of his game and himself. That's interesting on its own, but there's a gem hidden inside. Jacobs claimed that EA wanted to shut down Ultima Online, but he saved it!Jacobs was defending himself against the accusation that he has a thin skin to criticism by listing things he's weathered and done over the course of his career. Listing those, he said he was "blamed for the state UO is in," but went on to say that "EA wanted to shut down UO when they gave it to us but I convinced them to spend more money on the game."While it's not surprising that EA wanted to can UO, we're not sure whether to believe he was solely responsible for UO's rescue -- but if that really did happen, well, uhh... thanks, Mark Jacobs![Via Kotaku]
WAR has only just begun to compete with WoW, declares Mark Jacobs
If you've been following this particular exchange you'll know the score, but let's recap: Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan just like turned around and said some stuff about Warhammer Online, about how he wasn't even in the Beta and stuff, and Mark Jacobs was like whoa, and he totally turned around and said some stuff about World of Warcraft, and now Mark Jacobs is all, like, dude, bring it, and everybody's like, ohmygawd, it is so on.In his discussion with gamesindustry.biz, Mark is upfront about competing with Blizzard. 'We're in this space to be successful and, when you have a competitor that is as successful and important to the games industry as WoW has been, you don't go into this space unless you're willing to spend money and spend time and really compete against them.'
The Digital Continuum: December updates for WAR
Warhammer Online has its flaws that like to run up and slap you in the face from time to time -- it can put a damper on the fun. Lucky for us, one of the strengths found in Warhammer Online actually comes from its design team, Mythic Entertainment. These guys (and gals!) have been stringing together a daisy-chain of updates and just yesterday announced their first big content release only one month out of launch. The update seems all good, but I do have a couple of gripes.
State of the Game reveals Blazing Sun Knights, Black Guards coming to WAR
It's been a full month since the launch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, and general manager for Mythic Entertainment Mark Jacobs has now offered up the 'first annual' State of the Game address to players. After opening with a heartfelt thank-you to the 750,000 players in the game and some cheering about the game's explosive growth, he quickly went on to talk about the major issues the team will be addressing in the near future. The Empire's Knights of the Blazing Sun and the Dark Elven Black Guards will be entering the game in December! Jacobs reiterates previous comments that the cut classes will not be introduced for a fee, and further states that their introduction will be accompanied by a unique in-game event. The team is hard at work on stability and crash-proofing for players. The upcoming 1.1 patch will address a bevy of issues, including the frustrating crash-to-desktop issue and stuttering. A molasses-like mail system still plagues the game, something the team is taking very seriously. RvR players will see retweaking to itemization and rewards across the game, with the 1.1 patch improving gear drops, drop rates, and even implementing a new RvR-based influence system to accompany the PQ influence system we've already seen. The Combat and Classes team has been hard at work since the game launched, and numerous professions are going to see their abilities and gameplay tweaked in the coming months. Other highlights include: massive improvements to the chat system (including item linking), target of target, and even free server transfers to further get people where they want to be as regards server balance. The Warhammer Herald has the full details of Jacobs' first State of the Game, an auspicious outlay of plans for a game that's already had a lot of early-term success. Check it out. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
The fall of Altdorf, take two
Remember that one time, when Warhammer Online's Altdorf burned to the ground over on the EU server Karak Eight Peaks? And then, like, Mythic said wait no, that was a bug and we don't acknowledge it as real? Yeah, those were good times. Good times.Well now it's actually official, and Mythic's Mark Jacobs has publicly acknowledged it himself as the first time that anyone has gotten this far legitimately (if the data checks out), even if others claim that this isn't technically right. Of course the blogosphere is ablaze with opinions on both sides of the fence, with some claiming that it only happened because it was done during off-peak hours, or that this only means bad news for WAR's endgame potential. We'd be curious to hear what the Massively readers think about this, so let us know in the comments below!
WAR's anti-gold-selling policy challenged
We're well aware of Mark Jacobs' and Mythic's views on gold sellers in Warhammer Online, but what about the opposite side of the fence? Could gold sellers in a young, potentially top-selling MMO actually help the game develop and attract the adult working class? That's what Gigaom's Wagner James Au argues in a recent article."When launching a big-budget online game, it doesn't strike me as a very good idea to risk alienating nearly a quarter of your user base right out the gate. That, however, is likely to be the consequence of an extreme anti-gold selling policy at Mythic Entertainment," writes Au. He also cites research by Nick Yee, who is fast-becoming the most popular gaming-related research scientist, stating that gold-buying is done mostly by those ages 35 and older, who don't have the time to play as those younger gamers.
Half a million users register for WAR
According to a recent market report, Warhammer Online now has a half a million registered users. This isn't boxes sold to retailers or projected numbers, this is 500k people who have registered to play Warhammer Online.These numbers come only one week after the game first went on sale, as publisher Electronic Arts claims the title of the fastest-selling MMO of all time. "In just one week we have a half a million people playing WAR online, and the ranks of Order and Destruction are growing at a record-breaking pace for a new MMORPG," offered Mark Jacobs, co-founder of Mythic Entertainment. Whether this sales trend will continue to rise, or taper off, is yet to be seen, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on WAR to see if EA's record-breaking claims hold true.
Mythic Entertainment to work with IGDA on credit attribution for Warhammer
Late last month, before Warhammer had even launched, there was a minor dustup between the International Game Developer's Association and Mythic Entertainment. Mythic claimed that the sheer number of people who had worked on the game made proper accreditation impossible, and would only be recognizing the people on the project when the game launched. IGDA responded via its newsletter that it found that disrespectful to the people who had previously worked on the game, and took Mythic GM Mark Jacobs to task for the oversight. We've since noted the release of the Warhammer credits video to the game's official website.Though Mythic hasn't made a formal announcement to this effect, IGDA has announced that the EA subsidiary will be taking pains to recognize everyone who has worked on the project. Furthermore, Mythic will take pains to create an online database tracking credits for titles under their control. Mark Jacobs will even work with the organization to help them understand the issues inherent to MMO development. Mr. Jacobs expands on this announcement in a post to his personal blog.At the end of the day, we're just glad everyone is getting the nod they richly deserve.[Via Broken Toys]
The MMO Report offers part two of their Warhammer Online special
Last weekend, as a preview before the launch of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, G4's MMO Report ran a special video touring the Mythic offices with Paul Barnett as guide. This week, the show follows up with a more serious look at the game from the other frontmen on the team: Josh Drescher, Jeff Hickman, and Mark Jacobs. Join the hearty crew as they run through the features list for the game and wax eloquent about the project they've spent years developing. Frankly, if you've been reading Massively and (even moreso) if you're already playing you probably know everything they have to say. Still, there's nothing like watching a passionate nerd talk about their life's work backed by dramatic fantasy music. Click through below the cut for their passion unfiltered. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
WAR's quest for online success
Just when developers and venture capitalists were almost to the point of apprehension for the future of investing in the MMO genre, Warhammer Online has broken the failed-MMO streak by creating what looks to be the biggest thing since... well, since World of Wacraft. In a recent interview with the Washington Post, Mythic's Mark Jacobs pointed out that by his count, only 10 MMO titles have enjoyed any sort of financial success in the last 11 years, while the number of failures is much higher.Frank Gibeau, president of EA Games expands upon Jacobs' statement, "The game industry is only just starting to scratch the surface for the opportunity out there." Gibeau goes on to explain that the failure of many MMOs has been due to lack of quality. "We're the first quality MMO to release since World of Warcraft was released," he said. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Jacobs swings the banhammer with abandon in Warhammer Online
You may or may not be aware that the head of Mythic Entertainment, Mark Jacobs, hates gold sellers. Like, a lot. He's been known to play the part of subscription-loving, RMT-hating traditionalist at conferences in the past. So now that Warhammer Online is out, how do you think he likes the idea of gold farmers in his gameworld? "Not at all" would be an understatement. A testament to this is his most recent blog post, "A banning we will go, a banning we will go."In it, Jacobs explains why he desperately hates 'these jerks', and some of the lengths they're going to get them out of the game. As Jacobs puts it, the Customer Service Reps at Mythic have a 'zero tolerance policy' when it comes to their shennanigans. The RP server Phoenix Throne was the first of their servers to recieve a new innovation: the banhammer message. It's an in-game message stating that a certain character has been removed for the game for 'providing wealth and power to the unworthy.' Players, as a result, can clearly see when goldsellers are kicked from the game. Head over to Jacobs' site for the full details on his crusade against these particularly pernicious capitalists. Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out all of our previous Warhammer Online features, and don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR!
Warhammer Online's cut content will return for free
Just in case you needed some reassurance, Mark Jacobs has flat out told 1up.com that Warhammer Online's cut content -- when added back -- would be a free content update. So toss any worries of an expansion featuring previously discussed content out the window, it's not happening. Now we can all go back to wearing our tinfoil hats and guessing (re: arguing) over which races are going to be added to the game in its first expansion. While we're sure Skaven are going to be a popular pick for many (some of us have a strange evil beast fixation) there is a certain draw to the wet, nasty and all-around cool Vampire Counts. At least that's the opinion of this particular blogger, who just wants to march about the countryside as a Blood Knight slaughtering Bretonnians gleefully.
What is the potential lifespan of an MMO?
If there's one thing people love to do, it's quote Mythic employees. So let us continue that trend. In a recent interview with MTV Multiplayer, Warhammer Online's Mark Jacobs stated his case for why people should play Warhammer Online instead of World of Warcraft. But in stating his case, he brought up an interesting point: "All online games have a lifespan." True, there's no denying that everything has a lifespan (except maybe plastic), but we all know what he's saying here. Over at Matt Mihaly's blog, he focuses on Jacobs' words a bit more. Sure WoW won't live forever, and it may not always be the dominant force in the Western MMO scene forever, but when will its lifespan end? With Ultima Online still pulling a profit after 11 years, do we see the next generation of gamers eventually playing the exact same games as us in 10-15 years from now? That's a scary thought.
Mark Jacobs makes the case for playing WAR instead of WoW
Tracey John over on the MTV multiplayer blog recently caught up with Mark Jacobs, General Manager of EA Mythic and lead Warhammer Online designer. Some of the questions posed have already been covered, and we've been busy giving out all the information we can get our eager little hands on, but possibly the most loaded of them all has been left until the day of WAR's launch: why should a World of Warcraft player come over and play WAR?Jacobs' response is what you'd expect: it's all about the Realm Versus Realm, baby. 'This is what we do well. This is the most core reason to play our game.' He's also subtly (or not so subtly) dismissive of games that require major time commitments from their players, insisting on WAR's friendliness for the casual player.
