WAR pushed back until "Fall"

[sanix]

I'm not a big fan of the cartoonish style of wow but it does the job in the context of the game.
I really liked the graphics of Guild Wars, too bad there was very few content.

I also don't like the PVP aspect of Wow where the gear has such a big impact on the fight. GW had it better imo.
PVP arena in GW was more about skills / strategies than gear.

[Eteocles]

If you actually played the Warcraft series they're not "cartoony" on purpose...that's simply how they're designed. It's correct, for the universe. Warcraft was becer fully a serious game/series, as is evidenced by clicking on critters until they EXPLODE(bwahahaha) or poking peons until they feel sexually harassed and say as much out loud. Aka, it's fun ;p

[Attyla]

Guys -

Don't forget who is pulling the strings here. Games Workshop. Its there IP. These are the same clowns that sued online retailers for using pictures of there products to sell there stuff... for infringing on thier IP. And sued the same online retailers for selling for less then MSRP.

And also, the mother of all fuckups... turned Blizzard down a long time ago with this concept game that would later bcome the first Warcraft.

I love the Warhammer / Warhammer 40k universe, but the people at the wheel are arrogant idiots!

I don't know about the summary history involved, but GW isn't actually pulling anything. They essentially were given notice about 12 hours previous to the interview releasing the information.

I don't see it as an ill omen. But I do selfishly wish it would launch. And while I'm not naive enough to think that games are entirely produced on timelines that are independent of other timelines in the marketplace -- the fact is that this game really caters to a different crowd than WoW does now. Whether or not it launches on WoTLK's release day doesn't mean it's going to fail because the existing pool of MMO players that are expressly interested in playing it regardless is more than sufficient. Delaying will only mean competing with WoTLK with players that might otherwise choose either game.

It also means that Mythic understands their subscriber base, and is capable of bending EA's and GW's collective will to release now and start getting a return on their investment. Something that was a primary concern early in the process -- and intensified when EA bought Mythic.

If I were to liken EA/Mythic's target audience, it's probably the kinds of players that enjoyed WoW's early PvP. There are millions of players that no longer call Azeroth home that did not like/enjoy Blizzard's deviation from their original PvP construct. Just as there are millions of existing WoW players that are simply enduring WoW because of the dearth of other options.

Delaying the release for polish reasons does 3 things.

First, it allows EA to form a better first impression -- which I think everyone would concede is important. This doesn't ensure that the game succeeds -- just that it doesn't die a virtually instantaneous death. The recent release of MMOs has certainly demonstrated this.

Second, the first subset of their target audience is pretty much locked in. They are dissatisfied enough to not play WoW already. So nothing Blizzard does is going to temper their behavior regarding WAR's launch.

Third, it heavily improves WAR's ability to retain the second subset of their target audience: Those players languishing in a staid WoW. Those players are likely to pick up WAR whenever it's released relative to WoTLK. They're content to force other companies to "impress them" in order to make them switch loyalties/subscriptions. Delaying the game gives EA a better retention rate amongst existing WoW players that it can be assured will intend on giving WAR a go before making a final choice on where they remain.

Launching the game earlier really doesn't buy them much, except to lose box sales to the extremely tepid/curious WoW subscriber set that currently enjoys WoW and plans to stay there. Those players have a very small likelihood of staying with WAR past the first free month anyway.

In the end, I think waiting is the smart move *IF* the delay results in the polish that is now going to be expected. It has the disadvantage of raising the bar of expectation on release. In an environment where bad games already die quickly -- WAR is going to have to be heavily polished. Or else it'll succumb to the weight of lofty expectations.