Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
WAR Pushed back to Q2 of 08'
Scorn_Arkane
Member Posts: 189
What will you continue to do in the mean time?
Comments
Guess it wouldn't hurt to back up what I wrote. This is from their State of the Game address:
Greetings All!
Below is the State of the Game from Mark Jacobs, VP and General Manager for the Studio. You can also find the state of the game in the October Newsletter which has just started to go out, please note it may take a couple of days to get all of them to your in-boxes.
In 2005, when Mythic signed the licensing agreement for Warhammer, I promised Games Workshop that we would create a great and glorious game. When Electronic Arts acquired us a year later, I told them the same thing. Now, a year after that acquisition, nothing has changed: we still intend to deliver the next great MMORPG. As many of you may have heard, we have extended WAR’s development cycle until the 2nd quarter of 2008. The reason is simple; we will not release Warhammer Online until it is the game we set out to create two years ago.
Our goals for Warhammer Online are not easily met. The game includes many new and innovative ideas, a feature set that is going to blow players away, and, most importantly, the best RvR system in MMORPG gaming. These things take time to implement and test properly. During the last phase of beta testing, we received valuable feedback from our testers that will help make these features even better. When we looked at our options, two paths lay before us: 1) Ship the game on time with fewer features and less polish, or 2) Extend the development cycle and spend the needed time and money to make WAR great. We chose the latter path - to invest additional time and effort in implementation and polish to make WAR great. Fortunately, we have the resources and support of EA behind us to extend our development cycle; time that will be used to make sure the game is everything we want it to be. WAR is coming, and it will be glorious.
One of the “popular” topics of discussion regarding EA Mythic this past week has been the subject of layoffs within the studio. While we did let several people go from the Warhammer Online team, the number was *quite* small and their loss had no impact on our development schedule. These layoffs were part of our normal studio operations and a necessary step for EA Mythic to ensure that we have a focused and committed team working on WAR going forward.
On the Beta front, we will begin a new phase of testing in December, and we look forward to getting even more people involved in WAR by the end of the year. We are approaching a half a million registrants, and, to my knowledge, this could be the most ever signups for a Western MMORPG beta. I am very proud of this as it is a testament to the strength of the community, the popularity of the Warhammer license, and the outstanding work the team at EA Mythic is doing on the game. When we open the beta in Asia, we expect the numbers to continue to climb as we’d like to see one million players signed up to test the game. At that point, we will be well on our way to bringing about the second part of the double entendre of our motto as WAR really will be everywhere.
Over the next few months in Beta, our players will find all-new content to experience, careers to play and cities to siege. Our Capital City team continues to push the envelope by creating the next generation of living cities in MMORPGs and Altdorf is simply breathtaking. New Community systems will be in place and we look forward to getting many existing guilds into the beta to try them out.
In addition, we’ll be making changes to the RvR (open field RvR FTW!) and Server Rule Set Systems. These changes bring WAR a step closer to fulfilling the promise that “War is Everywhere” while ensuring a great play experience for those that do not choose to engage in RvR 24x7. This is another example of how EA Mythic talks to the community, listens to what they have to say, and takes action. We will continue this process over the next three quarters as we continue to develop, expand and improve WAR.
As I often quote from movies, one line particularly leaps to mind right now: “Creation is an act of sheer will,” said John Hammond in Jurassic Park. Unlike his creation in that film, however, what EA Mythic creates will be great and glorious, and nobody will get eaten by giant reptiles. That is, until we bring Lustria to life and then all bets are off.
As always, we thank you for your patronage, support and interest.
Mark Jacobs
VP and General Manager, EA Mythic
More time to enjoy PoTBS before i have to switch to try out WAR.
The mention of the special rules server almost sounds like they are planning on expanded pvp... ie FFA pvp, or maybe RvR without any safe zones (including pve areas). Will be interesting to see the details when they release them.
Waiting for: A skill-based MMO with Freedom and Consequence.
Woe to thee, the pierce-ed.
Not surprised at all. I wouldn't be shocked if it got pushed back again along the line to Q3 of 2008.
Well, probably ensures that I'll be giving AOC a trial in March as long as they hit that date.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
2 Years to make a mmo isnt alot of time i mean wow spent 3-4 take thier time i say
i will play Vanguard untill WAR. But i maynot even buy war right when it comes out, wait till a few reviews have been published first.
OH NO do you all know what that means? One of the devs will be murdered!
Wasen't it Paul Barnett or Jeff Hickman who said if the game was not released at the beginning of 08 someone was about to die? Can someone please find that vid where he says that and link it here!
$OE lies list
http://www.rlmmo.com/viewtopic.php?t=424&start=0
"
And I don't want to hear anything about "I don't believe in vampires" because *I* don't believe in vampires, but I believe in my own two eyes, and what *I* saw is ******* vampires! "
Folks,
Okay, the news is out about WAR being delayed till to the second quarter 2008 (of the calendar year (April, May and June), not fiscal year for those accounting types in the audience) and it’s time to don the flame-retardant suit for me. Here’s some more straight talk, no hype, spin or rinse and dry cycles. In regards to the delay, there are 4 phrases that you should know (oh, and if some of you want to, right now, expand my vocabulary by using some of your own choice words/phrases, please resist the temptation):
1) Content complete – When we have the entire content into the game this includes quests, NPCs, etc.
2) Feature complete – When all the game’s systems have been added to the game.
3) Balancing – Something that is impossible to do 100% correctly in an MMOPRG, no matter how hard we try to make sure that the systems are balanced so that races/classes/abilities all fit nicely together.
4) Polish – The time that is spent after (1) & (2) are done that is geared to improving existing content, chucking out some stuff that isn’t working and overall, adding nice touches to the game here, there and everywhere.
Over the last couple of months the team has been delivering its content in the hopes of being content complete on schedule. Once that was done, we intended to have many months of polishing that content (like all the great games do) before release. The same holds true for the systems that go into the game as well (RvR, crafting, etc.) and we would then spend time balancing and also polishing them. While the team has been delivering lots of content and features, we were eating into the time that we had allocated for polishing the game once we were content and feature complete. So, as the SotG says, we had two paths opening up in front of us. We could cut out some of the features from the final milestones and have less time to polish the game or bite the bullet and extend out the schedule. We made the choice, supported by EA, to allow us the time we wanted to both polish the game and put in the features that this game needs to be great. We now have all the polish and balance time we need to get this game ready for its debut.
Additionally, during the course of beta, our testers raised a number of issues regarding the game, among them RvR, repetitive PQs and classes that didn’t feel special enough as you play them through Tier 4. We listened to their feedback and because of it we are making lots of adjustments to those things as well. This too has been factored into the new schedule. That is the proper purpose of Beta, getting lots of feedback and then, if you are smart and have the resources, going back and getting it right. That process has begun at Mythic and with the extra time, we will be able to deal with them. With the additional of open field RvR, multiple server types including Open RvR (kill any enemy you meet other than true newbs), Core Ruleset (once you’re in enemy territory you’re flagged automatically and you can’t unflag yourself but PvP is still consensual in PvE protected areas, you can *never* unflag in RvR areas) and RP we believe this will be a great system at launch. And, according to the beta testers, they agree. Their feedback has been overwhelmingly supportive of this system though a small percentage would still like to see DAoC 2 (which we have said no to right from the beginning). In actually, the Core Ruleset is closer to DAoC than you think but still has enough difference to make it quite interesting and the Open RvR Ruleset is very different. One suggestion that I’ve seen here and elsewhere is for an Open RvR RP Ruleset which we are considering. During the ongoing beta test we will continue the polling and if there is enough support for that, we will consider it. There also has been some support for a FFA server as an additional server type, not as a primary, but we have no plans to do that at the present time.
Now, I know that on a number of levels that this news doesn’t seem to be very good. I haven’t tried to spin things but simply, as always, tell it like it is. Over the last year a number of people have raised certain fears for WAR after Mythic was acquired by EA. Among those classics are:
1) That EA will meddle in the design to make the game more like WoW.
2) That EA will not allow Mythic the time to complete WAR and make us shove it out the door on schedule regardless of the game’s quality.
3) That the game is not going to come out at all.
4) That Mythic is out of touch with what the player’s want and we are not listening.
I hope that this delay serves to quell those fears for now and for ever. They are backing our play to create a great game and if it takes a little longer, then it takes a little longer; that is the price of playing with the big boys. We are listening to our beta testers as well as our internal teams and doing what is right for WAR over the long-term not what is right just for now. As I’ve said before, and I’ll say again, we set out to make WAR a great MMORPG and that is what we intend to do. While the delay may seem like forever, it is only another quarter and not another year.
And as our CEO (especially of a public company) said in our earnings call, EA continues to invest in Mythic and in Warhammer and they expect it to be a bigger hit due to the extra time. Gotta love it when a CEO says that about your studio and your game! Not too bad eh?
Our beta will reopen on schedule in December and we will open the Guild Beta about a month later once we’re sure that everything is back up and running properly and ready to go for the guilds.
Over the years the MMO industry has seen too many games crash and burn at launch as well as some games, while marginally successful, that just didn’t live up to the hype. We are spending the additional time on WAR to make sure that it doesn’t fall into any of those categories. We could have waited till the last minute, as some other games have done, and then announced a delay. This might have been better to do from a marketing perspective but not from our perspective. I would rather disappoint some of you now, not later and especially not when we release the game.
If the delay causes some of you to lose faith, that’s okay, take a break and come back when we are further along with the game, you’ll be welcomed back with open arms by a friendly DE holding a Heartseeker when you return.
Mark
Warhammer Online retreats to mid-2008
Missed milestone forces MMORPG to march further into the future; EA CEO denies EA Mythic on restructuring chopping block.
In a conference call following Electronic Arts' second-quarter earnings report, executives revealed that one of its major titles has been delayed yet again. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning, the tabletop-inspired massively multiplayer online role-playing game, is now expected in the first half of EA's 2009 fiscal year, which begins on April 1, 2008. The game was previously slated for a March 2008 release, and now could come as late as September of that year.
The delay comes just one week after a leaked e-mail from Warhammer Online developer EA Mythic revealed that EA was planning a company-wide restructuring. Today, EA CEO John Riccitiello confirmed that his organization was pondering staff cuts, but emphasized that EA Mythic was not being closed, as had been rumored. In fact, the studio isn't being downsized at all--instead, it's being expanded.
"Frankly, this is a pretty straightforward situation," Riccitiello told analysts during a postreport conference call. "I want to emphasize to the team at Mythic that, no, we are not having you be part of our restructuring. That's not in the plan. We are investing in the growth of that studio, and the Warhammer slip is a simple one. They missed part of a milestone. [EA Mythic general manager] Marc [Jacobs] came forward and said it would affect quality if he held the March date. So we made the decision that, with the big investment we've got behind it and the talent and inspiration of the team, to invest behind quality. We're going to give it a little bit more time, a little bit more work, and we think we'll have a little bit more of a hit on our hands."
Today's delay is just the latest hairpin turn in Warhammer Online's long and convoluted road to release. First announced in 2000 by developer Climax with support from Microsoft, the game was canceled in mid-2004. The following summer Dark Age of Camelot developer Mythic Entertainment scooped up the project, which is based on Games Workshop's tabletop strategy game Warhammer. Almost exactly one year later, Mythic was purchased by EA, renamed EA Mythic, and touted as the publisher's entry into MMORPG space. However, the game's delay and EA's purchase of BioWare, which is developing its own highly anticipated MMORPG, cast some doubt on the future of Warhammer Online--and EA Mythic itself.
What they said:
Greetings All!
Below is the State of the Game from Mark Jacobs, VP and General Manager for the Studio. Blah, blah, etc.
What I heard:
Greetings All!
The beta test will be longer so you have a better chance of getting in! Blah, Blah, etc.
But that's me. I always interpret things in a very personal (read: "crazy") way.
~ Ancient Membership ~
ya spirit i know you have your feelings sometimes but dont assume to much man. makes you look bad when your wrong. not saying you are just putting that out there.
The second quote I posted pretty much lets us know that the Dark Elf Ranged DPS class is a shade.
The part about the Dark Elf waiting with a Heartseeker. I was told by a guild member ( Eriom ) that heartseeker is a term the Dark Elves use for their repeater crossbows. Hope you Dark Elves are happy.
lol, Same here Grunties, POTBS looks to be good.. this will give me time to try it out. Plus Spore is coming out around the same time as well.
Meh, kinda saw that soming anyways so not that surprising to me. If it means that WAR will be even better then I'll continue to wait. Atleast now I don't have to worry about my grades dropping in early second semester lol, they'll just have to wait until the end i guess
Okay, this is good.
Dark Elf Shade with repeater Crossbow vs. High Elf Shadow Warriors (a racial balance) with Longbows.
Back in DAoC, each realm had its version of archer and each had its own strengths and weaknesses. I remember that I would constantly seek out and attempt to kill the other realms' archers because we were well matched up in terms of combat strategy. It felt very competitive to see which realm's archers could be the most badass.
I always felt that playing the archer classes meant that you needed to think very strategically about finding good offensive positions, leaving escape routes open, keeping your eyes open for incoming meleers, and keeping the high-DPS caster-nukers backed up and out of range (hopefully).
While I usually don't play heavy tank types, the other classes of archers, casters and light meleers all sound very interesting to me.
~~~
It's too bad they pushed back release to second quarter of 08 ... but I expected it.
What this probably means to me is that I will be out on the high seas (PotBS) until WAR releases.
I am actually more confident now that it will have a VERY successful release.
~ Ancient Membership ~
Wtb beta?
Oh, well, good news for aoc 
maybe I'll play that, if it does release in q1 that is. Still, war is developing pretty fast, when did they start? Middle of 2005? so, 3 years, not bad at all 
Atleast WAR won't end up like Vanguard, lol.
"Because it's easier to nitpick something than to be constructive." -roach5000
If they have to wait for September, might as well hold it off until 2008s holiday season.
It's single-player break time....
All these MMOs are just rehashing the same game with different IP, graphics, and names for things. Hopefully war and aoc might be different... if not... yawn. Maybe get back into FPS or something... ut3 etc.
They won't fix that because "that" is not a problem war has. That's actually how it is designed to be
daoc'ish combat, slower death rate than wow's one shot kill fest. I best the combat will be much more fast paced once people know whatthey are doing.
I could see another delay a mile off, but to be honest its best to make the game right first time around instead of a rush job.
I wish they would stop using beta as a marketing gimmic, its gonna backfire big time.
Heh, wise words there, mate.
I wasn't surprised that it was pushed back but there are tons of good games coming out this holiday season to keep me busy until April.