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Jeff Skalski talks about WAR's past, present, and future
When it comes to birthday parties, most people would like to celebrate them one of two ways: Party-hearty or keep it calm and low-key. Warhammer Online will be celebrating its first birthday a bit differently. With all the MMO competition arriving this September, the game is in for a turbulent and possibly frightening experience. But according to a recent interview with Producer Jeff Skalski, Mythic plans to keep focused on their game instead of worrying about others."In the coming months, we plan to stay focused on our 1.3.2 and 1.3.3 goals and, more importantly, keep improving the elements in WAR-such as open RvR and our city end-game experience-that our competitors simply don't possess. Meanwhile, we will continue to address player concerns and introduce more polish across the board."The extensive Warhammer Alliance interview covers a broad range of topics, including where WAR's been, where it's at now, and where it's going in the future. One of the things Skalski wishes they did better was to not launch with so many servers. Many players agree with this, but point out that they could have also corrected that mistake by consolidating the excess a lot sooner. It will be interesting to see how the next month or two affects WAR. Be sure to read up on Mythic's strategy to mitigate the effects in this informative interview.
The Daily Grind: Will you be playing Aion open beta this weekend?
With Aion's open beta set to launch this weekend (September 6-13), we're curious: Do you plan on giving it a shot? The game has gone through several closed beta phases dating back to early June. All closed beta phases leading up until the very last one were using an older version of the game client (1.1). They've recently upgraded to 1.5, so we highly suggest giving it a try before making any final judgments based on early testing experiences. We also hear the open beta version will be the version Aion launches with in North America and Europe. Be sure to read up on Shadow of the Balaur.Open beta characters will be capped at level 30, which is high enough to test a good mix of what the game has to offer including Rifts and the Abyss. Rifts are portals that will take you into your enemy's PvE lands and the Abyss is a giant PvPvE zone where the game's three factions battle for supremacy. I'm personally going to play a bit next week as an Elyos Gladiator named Snafzg on the NA servers, so make sure to say "Hi!" if you see me putzing around. Settling on a class has been challenging thus far. Want to know more about Aion? NCsoft invites you into the world of Atreia where the Elyos and the Asmodians fight each other and the evil Balaur for control of the shattered planet. Check out out all our coverage of this must-play MMO!
Snafzg returns to WAR (week four): A gilding guild
Welcome to the continuing adventures of Snafzg returns to WAR! Just to recap, week one provided an introduction for this crazy project, week two highlighted Tier 2 on Iron Rock, and week three highlighted Tier 4 on Phoenix Throne. Snafzg returns to WAR was even featured on the last episode of our Massively Speaking podcast. Next week will be my final impressions post, so make sure to come back for that one!In this article, I'll focus on my continuing journey into Tier 4 on Phoenix Throne as a rank 40, renown rank 45 Squig Herder named Snafzg. Let's recap some of the goals I set out for myself last week: find a guild, participate in a city siege, raid Land of the Dead, check out the Wild Hunt live event, top up my RvR influence bars, obtain a fourth piece of Sentinel gear for my set, and most of all gain a general feeling for what has changed for better or worse in the past few months. I'm happy to report that many of these items have been checked off my list.
Snafzg returns to WAR (week four): A gilding guild (part 2)
It feels as if I'll never fill up my RvR influence bars. Killing someone solo yields 100 influence, which is great, but killing someone in a warband might yield 1/10th of that. The influence from battlefield objectives seems to have been nerfed since I actively played because they now reward 65 influence instead of 100.
Warhammer shows off its birthday suit (including Wild Hunt video walkthrough)
Let the celebrations begin! Warhammer Online is about to reach its first anniversary and Mythic is throwing a huge party. You remember those great birthday parties when you were a kid; the ones with all the fun games and phat loot (bags)? They seem to be aiming for something like that with all kinds of games and fun loot being liberally doled out.First, you have the Wild Hunt (see a video walkthrough after the cut) starting today. This weeklong Live Event introduces RvR PQs, a list of themed tasks, and a special limited time dungeon available in each tier. This will be followed up by a few special scenario weekends, including Mourkain Temple, Gates of Ekrund, and Temple of Isha. All players will receive celebratory items in their mailbox and veteran players (those who have held an active subscription since launch) will receive an extra special treat. Finally, all players will drop goodies like fireworks, exploding stout, and other limited time items.One year really is a hallmark, and while WAR may have had its ups and downs over the past twelve months like any MMO experiencing growing pains, we'd really like to wish them all the best. Even if you don't have an account, you can probably join in the festivities with a free 10-day trial.
Snafzg returns to WAR (week three): Tearing up tier four
"Tearing" as in "ripping", not "crying." Not yet, anyway! Welcome back to this little journal series documenting my one month return trip to Warhammer Online. Part one laid the ground rules for what I hoped to accomplish and part two shed a little light on the tier two experience on Iron Rock. Part three (this part) will recap the last week I spent on Phoenix Throne as my rank 40, renown rank 45 Squig Herder named Snafzg.Here are my goals for re-evaluating tier four on Phoenix Throne. I say it in the present tense because I was unable to check off every item from this list. Some of these items will carry over into next week. My primary goal is to get a general feeling for what's changed since I originally stopped playing. I also want to experience a city siege and the new Land of the Dead zone. I also want to find an fun active guild, top up my RvR influence bar(s), and gain a fourth piece for my Sentinel set. Finally, I just want to have fun playing and slaying.
Snafzg returns to WAR (week three): Tearing up tier four (p2)
Order gained control while I was inside once and I was happy to quit the PQ in search of some RvR in the desert. As for the top issues I've been experiencing, topping my list are terrain stickiness and fall damage.
Snafzg returns to WAR (week two): Toiling in tier two
Welcome back to Snafzg returns to WAR, a five-part series detailing my one-month trip back into Warhammer Online. The goal is to comprehensively check out what has changed and/or stayed the same and see whether or not the game I was so excited about one year ago is worth resubscribing to. I'm going into this with an open mind. I hope you'll join me!Since last week, I've reinstalled the game, downloaded a bunch of add-ons (thanks for all your suggestions), customized my user-interface, and logged into the Old World for the first substantial amount of time in several months. I ended up mostly playing my tier 2 Shaman on Iron Rock (named Snafzg) instead of my tier 4 Squig Herder on Phoenix Throne (also named Snafzg) for a number of reasons.
WAR producer's letter details major 1.3.1 changes and lays out plan for near future
The newest Warhammer Online producer's letter starts off by detailing all the major changes coming with patch 1.3.1, including revamped city siege, open RvR enhancements, and social improvements. Basically, it's a lot of stuff we've heard about already. However, things get really interesting when Jeff Skalski starts talking about what is on the horizon for patch 1.3.2. There are some gems.It sounds like Mythic is planning on uncoupling the fortresses from zone capture. This is a major RvR campaign design shift but the details are pretty vague at this stage. They will also be reworking the earlier tiers of the game in an effort to retain newbies and make alting more pleasurable. This could work quite nicely with the sidekick/buddy system they are working on as well. Finally, they're continuing to tweak crowd control and hint at a potential new Live Event tied to the "Daemon Moon." Maybe it will involve the Khorne Daemon Prince in the image above.
Major keep redesigns in Warhammer Online
One of the biggest complaints Warhammer Online players have about RvR is the static nature of keep siege. Usually, attackers zerg the front door and once inside, zerg the main stairway leading up to the keep lord. This provides a slightly (read: very) annoying chokepoint and little room for strategy. To be fair, Mythic's reasoning for the initial design was that keeps are designed as defensive fortifications. Why wouldn't defenders want to funnel attackers into a single chokepoint? Unfortunately, it isn't very fun from a gameplay perspective.All that is about to change with the new keep designs coming to WAR in patch 1.3.1. The most significant change is that all keeps are getting a bigger footprint and will feature a second set of stairs leading up to the keep lord. They are also making a number of structural tweaks (e.g., more space near the oil pad). Interestingly, it sounds like some of the keep will have their locations moved within the RvR lakes too. Pairing these new changes with the keep upgrade systems and guild claiming bonuses introduced back in April should make sieging a lot more fun and strategic than when the game first launched.
City siege improvements featured in WAR 1.3.1 patch
It's no secret that Warhammer Online's tier four endgame and city siege specifically are a bit lackluster. Mythic has admitted this by ranking it third place in their list of five key goals for the game's improvement. Well, just over a month after announcing endgame improvement as one of their top priorities, the studio is testing out new city siege mechanics and they sound quite interesting.One of the biggest issues players currently have with city siege is that it features way too much PvE and not enough PvP (or in WAR's case, RvR). Patch 1.3.1 is introducing several improvements in this area. Sieged cities now have three states: Contested, captured, and rebuilding. Attackers and defenders will be present and battling it out in each state and the contested state public quests will benefit from a new design. Warlord encounters are now instanced and balanced for 24 players, allowing multiple groups to participate. Finally, there will be a number of siege UI improvements allowing you to keep better track of your realm's progress.Nearly every area of the game is being touched in some way by the 1.31 patch. Take a look at the comprehensive patch notes on the Warhammer Herald to observe their true breadth and feel free to give them a try on the public test server.
Neo Steam opens realm vs. realm combat and new dungeons
The two kingdoms of Rogwel and Elerd are finally facing off on the territory of Rope Isle for control of the neo steam! Yes, realm vs. realm combat is finally being enabled on the Neo Steam servers, letting players go at it for control of new stretches of land and the dungeons that dwell beneath. Players will be able to both fight on foot and in siege engines for the glory of their kingdom!However, realm vs. realm combat in Neo Steam works a bit differently than most MMOs. For one, it's actually timed. Currently you can only engage in RvR once every weekend. Once a side wins the battle, the areas are locked until the next week.
Mythic responds to negative Land of the Dead community poll
Special thanks to Mythic Community Coordinator, Jess Folsom, for pulling together these responses for us.Q. What do you make of community poll results?We work very closely with our fan sites, especially Warhammer Alliance, and view the polls as a valuable source of player feedback. We take all poll results seriously, and carefully evaluate the subject of the poll, the wording of the questions, who is allowed to vote, and other factors, especially if there is an overwhelming majority vote. It's important to note that polls alone will never force a change, but we do take them into consideration, along with all other feedback we receive. Q. What were you able to glean from the recent Land of the Dead poll on Warhammer Alliance in regards to its impact on open RvR? Did the poll results fuel any in-game changes?The poll helped to confirm what we were seeing on our end -- the initial release of Rise of the Tomb Kings on June 24th did have an impact on open RvR activity at the time the poll was taken, particularly in Tier 4. We saw a large surge of players flocking to the new areas, and enjoying all of the exciting and innovative new content and RvR battles that the Land of the Dead offered. We see this kind of initial surge of interest any time we release new content such as weekend Scenario events or Live Events. "Tier 4 open RvR is back in full force" Now that the Land of the Dead has been out for a little over a month, and more players are equipped with the powerful talismans and vessel weapons available, players are often making the choice to continue to stay in Tier 4 RvR and fight in the campaign, even when their Realm controls access to the new area. As a result, Tier 4 open RvR is back in full force, with warband-on-warband skirmishes, epic Keep battles, and lots of Scenario action going on. Players enjoy the added purpose to zone captures that ownership of the Land of the Dead provides, and appreciate that they have a choice to stay in the Tier 4 open RvR Lakes, or venture into the Land of the Dead, and feel that the choices complement each other. One change we made recently (7/23) to Expedition Resources was based on player feedback, and has had great results. The number of Expedition Resources necessary to win control of the Land of the Dead has been reduced to 500, and the number of resources awarded from zone control is now 250. This will make the Expedition Resources earned from defeating enemy players in open RvR have a greater impact on securing the Land of the Dead. The number of Expedition Resources that drop from players and NPCs in Tier 4 RvR lakes and invaded capital cities will remain the same, which greatly increases their relative worth toward gaining control of the Land of the Dead.What this change did, was encourage open RvR even more and allow for faster control of the Land of the Dead, and made player kills more valuable toward gaining that control. This is the kind of adjustment we can (and do) make as a result of player feedback from our official forums, in-game feedback forms, and fan sites.Since the initial release of the Land of the Dead, and the Warhammer Alliance poll, we are now seeing very active Tier 4 RvR lakes, where the Land of the Dead is a reward for open RvR victories. If players still feel that the Land of the Dead is impacting open RvR, we absolutely encourage you to let us know and offer your suggestions on our official WAR forums. Our number one goal for the Land of the Dead is that is a fun, challenging, and rewarding place to control, and add a tangible incentive to participate in Tier 4 open RvR, not to take away from it.We are continuing to evaluate Tier 4 open RvR activity versus the Land of the Dead, and encourage our players to continue to offer feedback. < < Poll results
Warhammer Online's target audience (part 3)
In conclusion, I don't actually think Mythic made a mistake in trying to take the widest appeal approach. At its core, WAR was and is an RvR game, but to only appeal to PvP players would have severely limited Mythic's potential for massive subscriber numbers. To compete with WoW, they truly needed to have a strong PvE component to their game. Where they failed to meet expectations of course, was in the execution of both areas. Shortly after release, Mark Jacobs released a State of the Game announcement. In it, he said that Mythic would spend more time and resources on improving RvR. This was when he announced RvR influence and a number of other RvR-centric features. He drew a line in the sand that day and said WAR was an RvR game first and foremost. By doing so, I believe he turned off many PvE players interested in WAR. The pendulum began to swing. Apparently Land of the Dead is really appealing to the PvE crowd since its release, which is great, but there are many accounts that it is hurting RvR. This effect may only be temporary due to LotD's newness, but it just further highlights my point about the difficulty involved in balancing for different audiences in your MMO. Where does Mythic go from here? I think they need to focus more energy trying to steady that pendulum. If they ever can achieve that perfect balance of RvR and PvE, WAR may be one of the best MMOs with the widest appeal in history. Does that mean they'll ever achieve WoW's numbers? Hell no. Accessibility alone gives WoW a huge advantage, not to mention it has now become a pop culture phenomenon. That said, a more balanced WAR with strong PvE and RvR design could easily hold north of one million subscribers. How far north? *Ahem* I'm sure Mythic wouldn't mind feeling a bit chilly, especially after all the heat they've drawn since release. < < Back to Page 2
Warhammer Online's target audience (part 2)
Like I said before, Mythic screwed up royally in implementation. By broadening their appeal to too many people they diluted the quality of their feature set and in the process made some really odd design decisions (e.g., Let's ramp up this huge RvR campaign and then put a bunch of city PvE at the end of it - an attempt at balancing RvR and PvE content that failed abysmally). What are the two biggest complaints leveled at WAR by ex-WAR players? One: The RvR endgame is meaningless, boring, and repetitive. Two: The exact same thing can be said about PvE - except all the way through. How can you make RvR the main focus of your game without pissing off PvE folks and vice versa? You can definitely try and balance them 50/50, but let's be real here. Mythic can barely balance their classes, let alone entire aspects of an MMO. Let's also be fair -- it's a pretty damned hard task to achieve. Make PvE gear 5% easier to get than RvR gear and you're going to start a civil war within your community. There's already latent animosity between both camps to begin with. So, who is left playing WAR these days? Oddly enough, a friend and I were discussing this a few nights ago over the phone (which inspired this post by the way). We think the people playing WAR these days are made up of hardcore RvR folks who have had their fill of DAOC, other PvPers, Warhammer tabletop fans happy to experience the IP in a new medium, and a number of disgruntled ex-WoW folks (and other MMOs). Those aren't actually bad audiences to work with and they can definitely be built upon. Target content to these players while fixing performance issues and WAR may start growing rather than holding steady or potentially even shrinking. On the other hand, we feel these audiences are also prime candidates for a couple upcoming MMOs. First, we have Aion. This is the next big RvR-focused WoW-clone (Yes, I said it!) coming to market. We think the Abyss concept will appeal to many WAR players interested in PvP because the combat is just as refined (maybe even more so) and the PvP is slightly more meaningful and hardcore. We also think it will appeal to many WoW players who choose to play on PvP servers. Next, we have Warhammer 40K. Sure, it's a ways off yet, but we have a feeling this game will grab many WAR players who call themselves hardcore tabletop fans. It's worth mentioning that WH40K will also feature PvP and that it may even be more advanced, including vehicles and destructible terrain. That said, a lot can happen between now and release. It's risky business to bet on an MMO based on pre-beta feature lists. WAR's biggest audience right now is made up of people interested in RvR/PvP, but we think many of these players could easily jump to one or several upcoming RvR/PvP MMOs in search of their next thrill. The titles include: Aion, Global Agenda, Mortal Online, Earthrise, and maybe even Darkfall once it releases its NA-1 server. Options for PvPers are growing in the MMO genre. < < Back to Page 1 On to Page 3 >>
What audiences should Mythic have targeted with Warhammer Online?
This is an original opinion piece written by someone who has been following Warhammer Online since November 2007. Comments are open on page three.Many people claim WAR is a total fail-whale of an MMO. I can see sides of their argument, but I don't believe it's completely true. The "fail" perception mostly comes down to the expectations that were set by Mythic and EA and then never fully delivered upon. It's no secret they were aiming for 500k+ subs and then missed the mark (by about 200k), but it got me wondering... Who is/was WAR's target audience? Was their potential audience actually big enough to support their aspirations?Let's go back. Waaaaaaaaaaay back. Let's pretend we were a fly on the wall in a Mythic/EA/Games Workshop boardroom as they were discussing the original vision and design direction for WAR. One of the first steps you take before developing any product is to define your target audience or demographic. Knowing your audience gives you better direction and allows you to focus your efforts and design decisions more clearly.
The Land of the Dead is open for business
Hot sun. Sandy beaches. Exotic creatures. It almost sounds like a great vacation spot until you realize the heat is unbearable, the beaches run alongside a poisonous river, and the creatures are determined to kill you and then mutilate your corpse. The Land of the Dead may not be for your average snowbird but courageous adventurers will find treasures and excitement in great abundance - and it all starts today.Game Update 1.3 launched exactly one week ago and introduced a special Live Event called Rise of the Tomb Kings. The event pitted the realms of Order and Destruction against each other in a massive resource-race to determine who would gain first access to the Nehekharan desert via airship. That race ended this morning and Mythic just released a patch that grants the winners 24-hours of uninterrupted dungeon access.The Land of the Dead was a massive undertaking by Mythic that began shortly after launch in September 2008 and it will change the way Warhammer Online fans play the game from now on. How will it affect open field RvR, city siege, scenarios and other raid instances? Only time will tell (and we'll keep our eyes on it for you).
WAR's Call to Arms live expansion wraps up with Land of the Dead
We first learned about Warhammer Online's Call to Arms live expansion back in late January 2009. After nearly six months of tests, live events, content updates, monster patches, and an ongoing story arc, the expansion will come to an end some time this month. They have saved the best for last of course and Call to Arms will be sent off in style with the release of the highly anticipated Land of the Dead mega-zone.This week may be your last chance to test patch 1.3 before it goes live. This (last?) phase will focus on the Tomb Kings zone itself. That's right; testers will finally be unleashed upon the desert of Nehekhara! As a special reward, random testers will be awarded special manticore and griffon mounts akin to those gained from Mythic's recruit-a-friend program.Many players agree the game has improved by leaps and bounds in the last six months and population has been holding steady quarter to quarter. This new mega-zone may prove to be the extra push that encourages new and past players to hop aboard the WAAAGH! train and give WAR a(nother) try. Interesting times are ahead.
Games Day '09: Managing realm vs. realm combat with Jeff Skalski
RvR is a carefully titrated, expansive system, and no one knows that better than Mythic Entertainment's Jeff Skalski. Jeff is the RvR team lead on Warhammer Online, and we recently had the chance to sit down with him at Games Day and pick his brain about many different aspects of WAR's RvR combat.So what can we expect from city sieges in the future? What's the current priority for the RvR team? What's their plans for open RvR and keep sieges? What's it like designing a zone that includes a heavy emphasis on RvR and RvE working in tandem? These questions and more are answered inside this Games Day interview.
