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September 18th, 2008

Wonder if it will be the "WoW Killer"... cause AoC didn't manage to do it

I'm sure it will pull some away, esp the folks more interested in real RvR play.

Rollie wrote:I'm sure it will pull some away, esp the folks more interested in real RvR play.

Well I am definately gonna try it out. I just put in my vacation for the week it comes out to get a healthy jump start. I played DAOC for two years, and I still look back and think that I had the most fun pvping in that game.

And yet there will be no open beta? I predict massive release day bugs/crashes/problems/etc when an untested 500k players try to log in the first week.

AO release anyone?

Rollie wrote:And yet there will be no open beta? I predict massive release day bugs/crashes/problems/etc when an untested 500k players try to log in the first week.

AO release anyone?

I read if you pre-order you get Open Beta Access 8-15-08, and you get a jumpstart before the servers open to everyone on 9-18-08 of a few days, or possibly a week earlier.

I really hope they have a smooth launch, but like every other new MMORPG lately it comes out buggy, and everyone leaves the first month.

The really nice thing is the game is coming out during a slow time of WoW so I won't be losing anything, or falling behind since the expansion is still not out.

Mmmm, I predict a fairly stable client with slightly more issues than WoW at release. Server side we'll see it more stable than WoW the first couple of days (hard not to be, Mythic has done this before) but the first month impressions are anyones guess. It will be a solid AAA product which a lot of WoW players will consider too complex with 20 classes, tactics and morale. Unlike WoW and AoC it will have a good end-game from the start with solid RvR but there will of course be issues with performance and stability in large battles. For guilds and people focusing heavily on open PvP/RvR there will be no looking back but less focus on gear-based progression, likely less soloable content (though between the extensive log book/progression tracking features and the public quests the game might turn out to be just as good for soloers/duoers without killing the group game) may limit the draw among casual players.

Ideally the game doesn't draw too many people away from WoW initially making it possible for them to ramp up in a more deliberate fashion than Blizzard did. Having two big games out there would be great for everyone involved...

I don't know how much ramp up time they will have. I know a TON of people who plan on trying it out as soon as it ships, and if they have a bad experience in the first 2 - 3 weeks of play, they will put it down and not look back. This is true of most MMO's. You have 1 shot to set the hook. Don't blow it because you haven't tested your server infrastructure.

The fact that Mythic has done this before is one of the biggest reasons I'm so shocked there is no open beta.

The only way they will have time to ramp up is if they artificially limit supply to keep the numbers from pouring in.

AOC had 400k in the first month. The buzz behind Warhammer is at least twice what it was for AoC, if not more.

Mmmm, I see your point and I would rather have seen an open beta, the reason I never tried AoC was that they announced that you had to pay membership fee for beta client d/l. The closed beta has enough concurrent players to give a decent idea of server and network load both in terms of raw cpu/bandwidth as well as overhead/session load if they have very competent people doing the scaling. It would be fun to do the backend stuff and I know that myself and people I have worked with in the past have ramped up for similar loads on a very compressed timetable for large events. It can certainly be done with competent people and the right level of resources available but it will be interesting to see.

If they have fully tested a loaded out game world and have the capabilities to rapidly deploy new worlds as needed, preferably not out of the same data center, then there could be a shot. I guess we'll see soon enough!

Alanthus,

Since you were lucky enough to beta test this game I was wondering if you could share which classes you noticed were better in RvR.

I am undecided really.

Originally in DAoC I played a warrior, and I could destroy almost any class. I rolled a shaman, and skald also but my warrior was my favorite.

But in WoW, I have changed to classes that can heal themselves, pally, priest, druid, etc. It seems I can live a long time, and its more solo friendly for leveling up fast.

Back in DAOC though everything in pve was mostly group based, which I kinda miss because you can make alot of friends.

My druid alt has been able to solo all the way to 70 without ever grouping to do one quest.

I see a few classes that seem like fun. I can just go with a warrior again, and beat people down. I can go with a wizard, and do hella dmg. I also see the rune priest. I remember smite clerics in DAOC being OP so I wonder if you see class resemblences to the old classes in DAOC.

I have preordered, and will get the jump start, but I want to make sure my jump start is in a char I am gonna level to max and not waste it on some char I end up deleting.

The one good thing I noticed is there seems to be NO stealthed classes. So maybe the 12 year olds won't quit WoW and come to WAR.

Thanks,

Eyeball-Dragonmaw wrote: The one good thing I noticed is there seems to be NO stealthed classes. So maybe the 12 year olds won't quit WoW and come to WAR.

Thank the lord for that. Stealth is gay.

More on subject, I've heard from a few people in the beta that War is being rushed to come out on the release date, and that it didn't seem ready... but I guess we'll see.

Sorry, not only do I take the NDA seriously but there is no doubt we'll see similar fluctuations with different fotm classes as we saw in DAOC. Balancing 20 very diverse classes in an RvR focused game is quite a challenge As long as you find a class that fits a playing style you enjoy or want to try out you'll have fun, if that happens to be the one that has an edge at a certain point in time will be down to luck...

...and no "real" stealthers is a great thing for RvR... ...that and the chickens...

xpolockx wrote: More on subject, I've heard from a few people in the beta that War is being rushed to come out on the release date, and that it didn't seem ready... but I guess we'll see.

I said the same thing about WoW when I did closed beta testing along with everyone else, and look how many people play it now. Originally every class was supposed to have a hero class by release, and now 3 yrs later one is coming out.

Sorry Alanthus I figured the NDA would of been lifted by now with the release date announced. I guess I will find out soon enough.

Eyeball-Dragonmaw wrote:

xpolockx wrote: More on subject, I've heard from a few people in the beta that War is being rushed to come out on the release date, and that it didn't seem ready... but I guess we'll see.

I said the same thing about WoW when I did closed beta testing along with everyone else, and look how many people play it now. Originally every class was supposed to have a hero class by release, and now 3 yrs later one is coming out.

Sorry Alanthus I figured the NDA would of been lifted by now with the release date announced. I guess I will find out soon enough.

Yeah, I can understand that as all the betas I've been in were still very buggy while I played them. The people I was referring to just had played numerous betas and said that War seemed rushed even compared to the wow and AoC betas. That's why I mentioned it, although of course I'm just speaking from what they've told me and so obviously I don't have any personal experience.

WAR is Coming!

And so we must be ready...

Tomorrow the Mythic Account Center will begin accepting all Open Beta and Head Start Keys allowing all Pre-Order customers to register their accounts and prepare for the weeks ahead.

We'll provide instructions and let you know when it's open tomorrow, but we wanted to announce tonight that up to the first 50 thousand Standard Edition Open-Beta keys registered will be invited to the upcoming Preview Weekend in addition to all of our registered Collectors Edition Pre-Order customers!

While we haven't announced any dates yet be rest assured that the next few weeks are going to be action packed and this is your only way to get into the preview weekend if you missed out on the Collector's Edition.

Stay tuned tomorrow August 15th, 2008

I also preordered so I can't wait to see it.

I am totally switching things up and going with a healing class. Other than that I know nothing about the game, but I would rather keep it that way. Hopefully the game is semi casual friendly because I am certainly a casual through and through.

Just got an update that says the release date has been moved up to 9/1/2008. How sweet is that?

sounds very unlikely to me, they are still planning to cram an "open beat" (really a stress test performed by paying customers), and a head start in before the release date...

Okay, maybe I am confused but here is the email Best Buy sent me about my preorder. I see the Warhammeronline.com website has announced OPEN BETA starting Sept 7th, 2008 for everyone.




Dear Brian:

There's been a change to the release date for your pre-ordered item.

The new release date is 09/01/2008. Your order details are listed below.

Get more information on this order by checking your order status.

You can also call us toll-free at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289) with any questions. For faster service, tell us the order number when you contact us.

Thank You.
Best Buy Customer Care









Order Date: 06/15/2008




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Product Description


1
Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning-Windows




Status: Pre-order release date is 09/01/2008.



For complete order details, check your order status.