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Curse.com sued by Games Workshop over Warhammer Alliance's name
Members of Warhammer Online fansite WarhammerAlliance.com found a startling announcement posted on the site today: "We wanted to inform our community here on WarhammerAlliance.com that Games Workshop has filed lawsuit against Curse for operating and maintaining WarhammerAlliance.com." A look at the official complaint revealed a litany of allegations including cybersquatting, unfair competition, dilution (of the IP), and more. Part of Games Workshop's problem with all of this, according to the complaint is that Curse's use of the Warhammer name and trademarks "literally states and implies that Defendant and their business are in an "alliance" with Plaintiff and its products and services offered under the WARHAMMER Marks," and that this "conduct as aforesaid has caused great and irreparable injury to Plaintiff, and unless such conduct is enjoined, it will continue and Plaintiff will continue to suffer great and irreparable injury." Not much is known at this point beyond the complaint document from Games Workshop and the forum announcement on the WarhammerAlliance site, but we will certainly keep our eyes open for new information as it comes. [Thanks to everyone who sent us emails on this!]
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.
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
Is Land of the Dead negatively impacting RvR? Mythic responds
Warhammer Online's Call to Arms live expansion wrapped up at the end of June with the release of the highly anticipated Land of the Dead. Many players perceived this new RvR mega-zone as the game's defining "make-or-break" moment.A successful launch could do amazing things for WAR. A not-so-successful launch could push some players over the edge. The Land of the Dead expansion was green-lit shortly after WAR's launch in September 2008 when everything (and everyone) was on a high. The game became the fastest selling MMO of all time and quickly reached 750,000 registered users.Unfortunately, it wasn't long before cracks started showing, the economy fell out, and perhaps most importantly, Wrath of the Lich King launched.
Mythic's stance on monetizing cut WAR content
A thread/poll over at the Warhammer Alliance forums recently asked its denizens if they would be angry at Mythic Entertainment for charging money for the previously-cut Warhammer Online content via an expansion. The results appear to be drawn down the middle. While that may not be indicative of how the majority of players would feel about Mythic putting the previously talked about content in its first expansion, it's not the most important side to the story. The important thing to take from all of this is the post that Mark Jacobs makes very early on in the thread. He compares the cut content to a director cutting specific scenes out of a movie in order to make it a better experience and releasing said content at a later point on the DVD release.If that analogy doesn't make things quiet clear, Jacobs helps assuage possible fears by ending his post with, "if/when we bring back those classes and these cities (sorry for the if, don't read more into it, just being careful) that players will not have to buy them from us as part of a paid expansion but rather just part of the content updates that we did so well for DAoC." We're happy to hear it and hope for an expedient release of that content. We really had our hearts set on being a Blackguard.[via theGREENskin]
Mark Jacobs responds to 'magic show' accusations
Earlier today, we posted a link to an article over at Warhammer Alliance that accused Mythic of conducting a "marketing magic show" on their fan-base by refusing to come forward with many of the juiciest, most controversial details about Warhammer Online yet to be released. Judging by the comments on that post, the disagreement about the quality of Mythic's efforts to date is stark indeed.In a demonstration of class and forthrightness, Mythic co-founder and designer Mark Jacobs stepped forward on the WHA forums today to address the editorial directly, taking apart the argument piece by piece. He outright rejects the notion that the marketing department is calling the shots when it comes to the release of details, saying that the flow of information begins and ends at his desk. He further disputes the notion that the game is unfinished or lacking in the fun department, citing the imminent guild beta as proof of the confidence they have in their product.Given the volume of information we were allowed to show off in our Massively goes to WAR coverage, we're inclined to side with Mark. For a site whose message of the day for many moons now has been, "The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last," we hope the writers and posters over at WHA regain their patience.
WAR European guild beta live within a month
The long-anticipated Warhammer Online guild beta appears to finally be moving forward, as we've heard via the grapeline that European guild leaders are being notified about the imminent start of the guild beta. According to this email, guild leaders are being given until July 2 to submit the information for members hoping to participate in the beta. Interestingly, the NDA for the beta will remain in effect for the duration of the guild beta, so don't expect to see full-fledged personal accounts for a little while yet.This information will likely bristle some who were likely hoping that they'd be able to enjoy the open beta sometime this summer. It's probably too early to rule that out at this point, since we don't have any information yet about how EA Mythic will be handling the North American guild beta, and that has to be an important stepping point before they're willing to show Warhammer Online to the greater public.In the mean time, why not enjoy the recent MMOG Nation podcast, where our own Michael Zenke sits down for a candid chat with WAR designer Paul Barnett?
Play.com having WAR pre-order problems
When we last reported on Warhammer Online's pre-order foibles, we knew that the confusion was far from over. There were too many variables going into the distribution of those promotional codes for everything to go strictly according to plan. Predictably, there's some confusion coming in the wake of WAR Europe's announcement that Play.com would soon be distributing the pre-order packs, which include the codes for the Open Beta, the head start, and the exclusive in-game items.The problem is, European customers who ordered through Play have evidently been hearing differently from customer service. Today some European staffers have finally gotten on top of the problem, explaining that their distribution partners (who act as intermediaries between EA Mythic and Play) were the ones who had informed them the pre-order goodness was going out soon. Apparently some wires were crossed, and people are hearing different information. They've promised to get the situation sorted out promptly.
WAR's Dwarf mounts are real head turners
MMO mounts come in an almost endless variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and types. From the mighty Kodo to the agile Chocobo, there's a generally accepted level of convention when it comes to mounts. They're usually organic (or at least they replicate being organic), walk on legs, and have some way for players to sit astride them. Mounts that buck this trend are really few and far between.So you can imagine our surprise then when Avien over at the Warhammer Alliance forums posted several links to the new Dwarven mounts (also featured in the newest Warhammer newsletter) for Warhammer Online -- in the form of personal gyrocopters. They're certainly not what we would have guessed would be their mount if you had asked, but thinking about it, there's something so distinctly Dwarven about the idea of strapping a gyrocopter to your back and flitting about a battlefield. In any case, the concept art is extremely amusing both if you plan to make a stuntie yourself or if you aim to have them fall at your feet.
White Lion confirmed as final High Elf career
At long last, Mythic has finally confirmed the last of the High Elf careers for Warhammer Online. After months of speculation and lots of hints, they've finally confirmed that the White Lion class will round out WAR's robust list of player careers. The White Lion will be fulfilling the melee DPS niche on the side of order and will focus on the dynamics between the hardy White Lion and his war lion pet.Unlike his Destruction counterpart the Squig Herder whose Squigs are relatively expendable balls of sentient fungus, the White Lion's bond with his pet starts at level one, and there will be a good degree of customization available so that each player's pet will be relatively unique. War lions will grow and change as their master grows in power, and will even be capable of fighting in a feral capacity if you fell his master in battle first.We're excited to see the last of WAR's careers fall into place. Here's hoping we're only a few steps away from the open beta!
Mythic on the WAR guild beta phase 2 contest: We're on it
Several players over on the ever-busy Warhammer Alliance forums recently raised concerns about Mythic's commitment to fulfilling the terms of the contest they held for guilds trying to get into the second round of the Warhammer Online guild beta. The contest required guilds to construct WAR-centric guild websites full of guild fan fiction, and winners were going to earn themselves slots in the beta. Problem is, the contest ended back in September of last year!James Nichols, a WAR community coordinator, stepped in to reassure players that winners have been selected and will be notified "soon." While James explained the delay as a necessary function of the development process, we have a sneaking suspicion that everybody simply forgot about the contest after former community coordinator Richard Dufek left around that time last year. In any case, we're happy to hear the goof was cleared up, and hopefully players will be getting notifications soon.
Mark Jacobs tanks forum trolls for WAR team
Those of you who have followed our WAR coverage for any significant period of time might wonder why we always seem to have something to say about Mythic maven and designer Mark Jacobs. Truthfully, much of it has to do with the fact that, with the possible exception of Paul Barnett, Jacobs is the most visible person currently working on the project. Warhammer Alliance's dev post tracker might as well be Jacobs' personal version of Twitter, he's always in there amongst the fans, posting about something. The other reason we fancy Jacobs is that he's just a stand-up guy.Case in point: the WAR fan community has been doing some serious grumbling ever since it was announced that the game's release was being pushed back to the Fall. When that grumbling started to turn nasty, and some posters turned their disgust towards the developers themselves, Mark threw down the gauntlet, and called out the trolls as both misguided and misinformed. It was touching the way he puts himself out there for the sake of his team; it's not something you're liable to see suits at a lot of other companies do for their employees. So kudos to you, Mark Jacobs, for taking the troll aggro and shield slamming them back into their place.
WAR's delay: from the fallout come further details
While we can't say that we didn't see it coming and we know that it's probably for the best, the recent delay of Warhammer Online from Q2 2008 to Fall 2008 has many of us in the Massively offices in low spirits. It's a sentiment that's reflected across the community, from what we've seen. In an effort to put out the fires in the community and remind us that the development team is on our side, WAR bigwig Mark Jacobs has been spending a lot of time in the Warhammer Alliance forums today, answering all sorts of player questions as a gesture of good will. Here are some of the meatier details: Newsletters, video podcasts, and previews will not only continue until the new release date, but will probably increase in frequency to keep up the buzz. To the question of how he felt about releasing so close to Wrath of the Lich King, Jacobs stressed that they would rather take a page from Blizzard than be afraid of them. He would rather release the game when it's ready than worry about being gobbled by the competition. The "head start" that people get by preordering the Collector's Edition will be "more than a day," but no exact amount of time has been decided yet. The recommended system requirements should be similar to or slightly below the requirements for the beta. They're still working on optimizing the game, so they don't even have a ballpark for the minimum specs at this point. He made a point of not even hinting at when the open beta might start And finally, when asked what type of "mud" would allow WAR's release date to slip so far, Jacobs conceded that it was both wet and sloppy. As ornery as players have gotten over the delay, you have to at least respect the fact that the guy is willing to answer all these questions, from his home at 7 in the morning, no less.
WAR Europe's countdown not what we'd hoped
When an ominous countdown appeared on Warhammer Online's European site last Friday, speculation surged that the Mythic team might be on the verge a major announcement. Are we finally going to see a release date set in stone instead of mud? Are they going to announce the open beta that we've all been waiting for so long? Is the NDA finally going to be lifted? Left to their own devices, WAR fanatics are liable to start expecting all sorts of things.Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is far less exciting. No, as Mark Jacobs indicated in an overtly *hint hint* forum post, players should be able to read the writing on the wall and figure out what the countdown is for. To start, it's only on the European site, so it couldn't be something like a global release date or NDA lift. Second of all, photos of the European Collector's Edition were leaked last week. Third, developers have been talking rather openly about the content of the CE on fan forums. Without explicitly saying it, Jacobs indicated that the announcement would be the details of the Collector's Edition. Not as exciting as a release date, but what can you do?
WAR's Q2 release date "set in mud"
There was a big uproar recently on the Warhammer Alliance forums when one astute forumer noted that gaming mega-retailer Gamestop had updated the release date on Warhammer Online to September 2 of this year. Retailers are sometimes privy to information that gamers are not, so every now and again we'll get an update on a release date from them long before publishers are willing to make a peep. We put the emphasis on sometimes, because there are occasions where the date they set is almost completely arbitrary. Or, as is evidently the case with Warhammer Online, as part of some sort of typographical error.WAR big-wig Mark Jacobs stepped in to assure gamers that this was a mistake on Gamestop's part. Or, according to Jacobs, "Actually what happened was that GameStop got confused between the various EA release dates for September and put another games release date in for WAR. At least that's what they told us when we called them to ask WTF?" WTF, indeed. Jacobs went on to reiterate that while no release date is set in stone, they're sticking to their Q2 guns. As an alternative, he suggested that the release date is "set in mud" instead. While we appreciate his dedication to finding the most appropriate analogy, perhaps he could have thought of one that wasn't quite so... dirty?
Question WAR devs on in-game cities
Whether it's Orgrimmar or Mos Eisley, some of the more interesting aspects of MMOs have to do with cities. They're usually areas steeped in quests and lore, they're traveling hubs for players moving across the countryside, and they've usually got lots of fun activities to partake in, either with other players or with NPCs. One of the neat things about Warhammer Online is that they're trying to give players a larger stake in the relative safety and security of their capital city by turning it into something that players can lose after a concerted effort by the enemy faction. Unfortunately, unless you're one of the lucky few who have been playing the beta, the specifics of the city gameplay are still a bit unclear.Fortunately, this is just the thing the Warhammer community team is looking to shore up. Missy Hatch put out a call on the Warhammer Alliance forums (which you should already have bookmarked if you're at all into WAR) this morning, calling for player questions pertaining to cities. They're going to take a select group of questions from that thread and answer them in the March newsletter grab bag. They're only on page 3 in the thread so far, so there's a good chance your well thought out question will make the grade.
WAR Europe's Orcaniser teaches players to talk the talk
One of the most difficult aspects of covering the media build-up to Warhammer Online's release is the need to rewrite any post involving Greenskins to include the infamous Orc-speak that fans of the fluff are so fond of. To the casual observer, it might appear like a simple matter of changing verb tense and throwing in a few zeds here and there. Not true! It's an extensive scholarly process that takes years to learn, and decades to master. To put it frankly, it's not as easy as it looks.Well imagine our delight then to find that WAR Europe guys have gone to the trouble of putting together the Orcaniser! It operates like an Orcy version of babelfish, giving fans the ability to translate normal human speech into authentic Orc dialect. And it works in five languages! Obviously, there's always a little bit lost in translation, and it doesn't automatically account for the Orcy need to talk about smashing heads once every couple sentences, but it's good as we're liable to do. See for yourself:To be or not to be, dat is da question;Whetha 'tis nobla in da mind to suffaDa slingz an' arrowz of outrageouz fortune,Or to take armz against a sea of troublez,An' by opposin', end dem.[Via WHA]
WHA tellz you grots bout da' WAAAGH!
One of the aspects about Warhammer Online's Greenskins that seems to endear them to players so much is that they present the opportunity to write in a hackneyed and entirely ungrammatically stunted form of english. Wut iz dees humies lookin' at dem shiny bits for? See, I slipped into character there. I bet you thought I was an Orc for a second. It's OK, you don't have to feel bad, I'm a pretty good actor.For those not already well steeped in the Warhammer lore via the tabletop game and pen and paper RPG, the folks over at Warhammer Alliance have been going faction by faction putting up guides to the various races. By some strange fortune, we somehow missed the fact that they had posted a "Guide to the Waaagh" last week, replete with biological information, sociological observations, and of course a gracious dose of Orc-speak. It's a short run-down, but well worth soaking up for anybody at all interested in fielding a Black Orc or Shaman into battle in Q2 of this year.Of course, if you really want to get serious about things, you should probably pick up the Orcs & Goblins Army book or bookmark the Warhammer Wiki for perusal at work.
