Tag Archives: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning

Hugely anticipated fantasy MMO Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning has gone live, Massively reports, and the servers are now open for Order- and Destruction-related business.

This is by far the biggest MMO launch so far this year, and behind the scenes buzz for the game has been huge.

The game is now on sale, and pre-orderers have been playing for the last four days.

Hit this for the official site and heaps of information about character classes and all the rest. We’ll be online later. Do the right thing and get involved.

Following a comment yesterday from WAR creative director Paul Barnett regarding EA knowing “nothing about launching MMOs in Europe,” Mythic boss Mark Jacobs has clarified the situation by calling Barnett “sarcastic” and “irreverent.”

“Well first you’ve got to understand that Paul is Paul,” Jacobs told Eurogamer. “He’s very sarcastic. He tries to be very funny – he usually is. He can be a bit irreverent. And so you need to look at anything he said in the interview from that perspective.

“Second, in terms of GOA: we had done a deal with GOA before EA bought us. So the idea that we went with GOA because supposedly EA doesn’t know anything about doing online games is just not true. There was no EA in the picture. So that was one part of it.

“What Paul said about EA not knowing anything about launching MMOs: you know, Paul likes to exaggerate – of course EA knows things about launching MMOs. EA is responsible, certainly, for one of the most important MMOs of all time, and that was Ultima [Online]. And that had people in Europe playing, people in Japan playing – it was really the first MMO to have any success in Japan. And it was the first one to break 100,000 subs.”

Loads more through there. WAR launches tomorrow. Order or Destruction? The million dollar question.

Bloody hell, Paul. Don’t hold back. In WAR’s launch week, the MMO’s creative director has launched a stinging attack on EA, saying the firm simply “knows nothing” about bring an MMO to market in Europe.

WAR is being published by GOA in Europe.

“GOA did it with Dark Age of Camelot and they’ve done it really well. They’ve done it in a very European way, but they’ve done it very well, and it’s more of the same,” Barnett said.

“EA couldn’t have done it, what the hell would EA know about it? They know nothing about launching MMOs in Europe, unless it’s spending lots of money closing them down I suppose.”

The quotes are from a Eurogamer interview. Knock yourself out.

Mythic’s confirmed that Warhammer Online will ship to retail tomorrow.

The MMO’s level of pre-ordering has apparently set a record for an EA game. More than 1.5 million units have been sold into retail.

“This is truly a historic day for both EA and Mythic as we prepare to send more copies of WAR to retailers than any other newly launched MMORPG in North America and Europe. Over the course of our beta, over a million gamers throughout the world sent a clear signal to us – they want WAR, and we are more than happy to oblige them,” said Mythic boss Mark Jacobs.

“In three days the real battle begins – we have declared September 18th the ‘Day of Reckoning,’ and WAR will soon be upon us!”

So there we are. Full thing after the link.

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EG’s published the first Warhammer Online review in the world, and it’s 8/10. Snip:

Mythic has dutifully done everything it needs to to compete with Blizzard’s jack of all trades and master of most. Crafting is weak, and dungeons – the small, instanced experiences that really cement the group dynamics in an MMO – are frustratingly rare, but aside from that WAR does it all, and does it well. That said, you can very easily tell which parts of this grand enterprise Mythic’s heart was in, and those parts – RVR and Public Quests – are completely thrilling, and surprisingly accessible.

But they’re also fragile. They’re at the whim of an unpredictable player base and a hundred other factors besides. They’re utterly dependent on en even balance between the two realms on each server – and at beta stage, there’s a worrying bias towards Destruction on all servers. That means that, until it’s been out in the wild a while, this extremely well-made and highly enjoyable MMO remains unproven. And it remains – until our first re-review, at least – one step short of true greatness.

Game’s out on September 18, but CE pre-orderers will be playing from September 14.

Knock yourself out.

Speaking to MTV, Mythic boss Mark Jacobs has admitted that the release of WoW expansion The Burning Crusade pushed back Warhammer Online’s release thanks to its “water cooler quests.

“We obviously had a major bump when ‘Burning Crusade’ came out,” he said. “When [Blizzard] released that expansion, they raised the expectations of the player; they put in some of what we call ‘water cooler quests,’ the things that you talk about around the watercooler.

“We looked at the amount of content they put in that and said we need more time if we want to add some of those things, if we want our own water cooler quests or more water cooler quests. So our choice was to delay the game and spend more time on it. It was a major bump.”

Warhammer Online releases on September 18.

Speaking to VG247 this morning, Warhammer Online’s European publisher, GOA, has assured that all registration issues gamers are experiencing with the game’s open beta will be resolved before release on September 18.

“These issues will of course be completely fixed for the launch,” said a rep.

The firm also said that current problems with new users getting onto the open beta are being sorted now.

“We are currently handling the various issues we have and are hoping that they will be resolved ASAP,” the spokesperson added.

Warhammer Online launches on September 18, although those who’ve pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition are going to be playing as of September 14.

As you can see from the official site, almost 900,000 people have now registered for the beta.

Not long now.

Mythic boss Mark Jacobs has publicly blamed Warhammer Online’s European publisher, GOA, for registration errors at the opening of the Warhammer Online beta in Europe, saying the firm “messed up.”

“GOA messed up, they apologized and they are working hard to do better,” he said on his blog.

“This is a good start but not an excuse for them. Neither their CEO nor I am defending what happened yesterday. It was an ugly day.”

Jacobs said he understood frustration at the errors – which meant that new players weren’t able to register for the open beta – but called for calm after things got heated in the snafu’s wake.

“I think that the players have every right to be angry, disappointed and frustrated,” he added.

“I agree with them 100% but what I do not agree with is the level of threats and abuse that followed. I know why some players feel that way but my not agreeing with their reactions does not mean that I’m excusing GOA, clear?”

More through the link.

According to this GI story, GOA’s issued a statement apologising for registration problems with the now-open WAR beta.

Although servers have opened, and closed beta testers have been able to enter the new phase without any problems, account registration and authentication for new players is not working.

“I rarely address players directly, but I wanted to write you as too few of you have been able to access the open beta today,” said GOA’s chief executive, Ghislaine Le Rhun, on the European WAR site.

“We have not yet solved the issue of saturated Open Beta key activations that we’re currently experiencing,” Le Rhun said. “I am sincerely sorry for this, and I understand all the frustration the situation has spawned.”

More through the link.

As announced on its official site, Warhammer Online’s open beta is now live.

“This is a monumental step for the game and the community and it is with great pleasure that we welcome you all,” said the blurb.

“WAR has come, it is now up to you to forge your destiny and choose your allegiance in this epic struggle.”

The game itself launches on September 18.

Multiplay just confirmed that it’s going to give out 50,000 Warhammer Online beta keys today. As you do.

You’ll need to have a Multiplay account to get one. You can get the keys here.

The game itself releases on September 18.

Press release after the link.

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This is obvious. EA’s announced that those pre-ordering strategy sequel Red Alert 3 will get an exclusive helmet for use in WAR that allows your character to turn into a bear.

There’s not really a huge amount more to say. Other than “what?”

More on Massively.

For those of you gagging to get involved with Warhammer Online later this month, good news arrives today in the fact that those pre-ordering the game get a headstart.

If you’ve pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition of the Mythic MMO, you’re going to be able to start levelling on September 14, four day’s ahead of the game’s retail release on September 18. “Normal” edition pre-orders get to start a day later, on September 15.

There’s more on Eurogamer.

Mythic’s Mark Jacobs has trashed Bobby’s Kotick’s estimation that it would take $1 billion to compete with World of Warcraft, describing his posturing as “nonsense.”

“When certain people throw out ridiculous numbers, you know they’re throwing out ridiculous numbers because they want to scare off competition or they want to make themselves seem invincible and that sort of nonsense,” he told MTV.

“Realistically, if you’re going into this space for the first time, and you want to compete with WoW and you want to compete with us — because we’re going into that same space — you’ve got to make sure that you have at least 100 million dollars.”

Warhammer Online has now gone gold and will ship in September. More through the link.

Warhammer Online’s gold, says a press release both approved by EA and Mythic. You can read it after the link. You can believe this. Please don’t believe Mythic games are finished if senior execs at the developer say so. No sir. Believe press releases, though. Like the one after the link. Very official, that.

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Needs no introduction really, but here goes anyway: Below you can see a brand new Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning trailer that makes us want to invest in l337 PCs and hardcore graphics cards.

Check it out.

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Mythic’s announced that that WAR open beta will begin in the US on September 7.

“For three years we have been saying that ‘WAR is coming’ and the team has been working hard to deliver on this promise,” said company boss Mark Jacobs.

“In just a few weeks, we are going to throw open our doors and invite more players into the game than ever before. They will have a chance to delve into the open beta and see for themselves that WAR has arrived and it is glorious!”

Press release here.

Warhammer Online’s been confirmed for a September 18 launch by EA.

The publisher also announced that a monthly subscription will cost $14.99, with slight discounts available when signing up for three-month ($13.99 per month) or six-month ($12.99 per month) periods.

“The countdown has officially begun. Mark your calendars!September 18th is the Day of Reckoning,” said Mythic founder Mark Jacobs. He added, “For the last three years,the entire team at Mythic has poured their hearts into making Warhammer Online the next great MMORPG. We are so excited to open upthis world and share it with the fans that will live in it, quest init, go to war in it and make it come alive.”

Press release after the drop.

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Warhammer Online creative director Paul Barnett has said that it will be “very sad” if Funcom’s Age of Conan collapses, and that the game’s “rhythm, longevity, gameplay and style” may not connect with the market in general.

“I think it will be very sad if they don’t have enough users to maintain the critical mass, because we need more successful MMOs in the world, not more failures,” Barnett told VG247.

“Whether they’ve hit the right rhythm, longevity, gameplay and style depends on the vagaries of the market. I know they worked really, really hard on it, and I know they tried really, really hard on it, and if they don’t make it that’s a real shame, because that’s people’s mortgages.”

Age of Conan has been beset with issues since it launched in May, with many questioning the longevity of the MMO’s content and its ability to hold a significant user-base.

Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is tipped to release in September.

Mythic’s released minimum system specs for Warhammer Online, to be found after the break.

As you can see, there’s nothing especially mental going on there, news that will no doubt be welcome to the untold legions of fantasy fans waiting for the MMO to ship.

Have a look. Thanks, IGN.

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