Warhammer
I have been following this game for a little while now. It is not scheduled for release until 2008 (hopefully) but it is being made by the same company that made DAoC and is being closely watched.
So was Shadowbane and Vanguard and look where they wound up.
But - it has promise but little details abound just yet. Not sure this will be a "WoW killer" or not but it might wind up pulling in a few million subs if they do a good job.
Anybody in beta have any word on if PvP can be multiboxed?
The team behind it looks sound - with one exception - The "Creative Director" Paul Barnett.
Back in early 2000, Paul - a successful MUD designer - was commissioned by Games Workshop to create a Warhammer MUD (Multi-User-Dungeon). Initially it proved a success. It went live in Feb 2001, in what many of the Beta players considered to be an "Alpha" state.
It peaked at around 200-250 Subscribers, with around 60-100 on at any given time of day. As far as MUD's went, it was really incomplete and lacked the attention that the Dev's gave to the sister Games (Legends of Terris, Legends of Cosrin) This neglect of the game continued for quite some time, the occasional update, etc. The one thing that really set it apart from the other MUD's at the time was the quality of the Roleplay, and the depth of the Warhammer World.
Few years down the line, and Online games company (Paul's company) lose the Games Workshop Licence, so the game underwent several changes. Rename and a new "history" with all the gods & etc being given new names. Then the slump came, most people unregistered (It cost £9.99 a month) and thus the Dev's gave it even less attention. Now, its just a few dedicated players, maybe 10? Most of the time, you login and are the only person there.
To cut a long story short, I don't have great confidence in Paul, some of his ideas might be sound, but I really don't think that it will be "as quality" a product as it could be.
MMORPG's aren't really noted for their roleplay, and I feel that a Warhammer MMO should be extremely roleplay focused, given the amazing depth and history of the Warhammer world.
If any of you are interested in seeing how games were before graphics - http://www.kingdomofheroes.com My Main's name is Tharick - Multiboxing is strictly forbidden ;-)
I feel that Warhammer as it will be will be successful not for its rpg quality but its casual gaming appeal. Just like WoW.
Don't get me wrong - I loved UO and EQ and all of the challenges it had. I was also one of the players who drove the other customers away - so it was a mixed bag. Most people don't encounter a game that they lose at time and time again and decide to get better at it. Most say screw this and cancel.
If War will be successful, it will be easy for an average person to get into and play and if they want enough subs, they already know this and are designing the early game accordingly.
Not to say hardcore sink or swim games can't be successful (hi 2 u Eve Online) but a true mass market MMORPG will find it VERY hard to support full on rpg/lore/hardcore/open PvP gaming with a player base (in the USA and likely elsewhere) that is willing to keep playing to lose.
I'm signed up to get a beta key.
Who knows if that'll happen.
I'll give more details if I get in.
I've been anticipating this game for quite some time now. Huge PVP potential = I'm there. Hopefully multiboxing will be a possibility as well...we shall see
I imagine WAR is going to be an evil, mirror universe version of WoW (complete with Goatee) if WoW had developed more PvP objectives, battlegrounds, and mechanics instead of focusing on PvE.Originally Posted by Xzin
This game will kill WoW, and I know why. Most of the games subscribers come from Asia, this being said, everyone knows they prefer PvP to PvE. So when WAR comes out and there's another major MMO on the market that offers MUCH BETTER PvP, they wont stay around in WoW to do PvP. At the same time you'll be getting the western players who either enjoy PvP or want a fresh and and something new. All these players will be leaving WoW, that's going to be atleast half of their playerbase. The only ones left will be the people who don't have money and or are enjoying the PvE provided by WoW.
We shall see
I'm all for any good games out there - best of the best after all. However, I won't predict a game killer till it's there. Until then - all of this is just hype.
Problem is, all the failed WoW-killers were published by either minor companies who had to launch before debugging, or SOE. Neither is to be trusted.We shall see
I'm all for any good games out there - best of the best after all. However, I won't predict a game killer till it's there. Until then - all of this is just hype.
Mythic, on the other hand.. well.. I actually believe Blizzard mentioned DAoC as being what they were competing with when comparing the amount of bugs and gameplay, and now that EA is putting in the money for further tuning pre-release (or so I've heard) WoW is in trouble. Mind you, it wont cost the full 8 million players on launch day, but given some time I wouldn't be surprised if it cut the population in halves.
Sure, I wouldn't be surprised either. But I, for one, cannot boldly say that it's THE WoW killer unless that time happens.
Other than the "minor companies who had to launch before debugging, or SOE," you pretty much knocked out 90% of the companies who "can" produce a playable game that requires subscription.
I'd be much more swayed by Starcraft 2 being the WOW killer rather than any game out there at the moment. It's guaranteed a few things: it's free online, it's great, and damn it's a lot of fun.
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