the single-greatest RvR-based MMORPGs in the industry

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[Xest]

I am thrilled to see that Warhammer Online gets a second chance but I am doubtful that Mythic has access to the code that Climax wrote.

Now for all the people who haven't followed the development of WO here a quick breakdown:
- no levels
- no obvious knowledge how good an enemy is - that means if it is big it will hurt you
- PvP limited by choosing certain careers
- big scale battles possible in later stages where players can take over roles as lower commanders
- the heart of the Empire is the starting ground - rest developed probably as expansion packs
- expect to play not an elf - elves are very very reclusive
- character development based on Warhammer Roleplay - you choose a career, develop in it, then move to the next career
- intelligent mob behaviour - as in if orcs come together they will start moving as a big mob - no single pulling with some adds - you pull and you can have a horde chasing you

I play Warhammer tabletop for many years - and must have over 1000+ miniatures of which around 20% are painted. Games Workshop has in the last recent years expanded its franchise with establishing a publishing company (black library) and releasing special campaigns in book and organised through the web.

Now if Mythic takes over this ruleset then I have hope for the game. Games Workshop pulled out of this enterprise last year simply for the reason that the development took very long and no ROI was in sight. As to my knowledge the code written by Climax wasn't given to Games Workshop so Mythic is starting from a clean sheet.

This is what leaves me in doubt about their success. WO was seen as a new set of rules which leaves the basic structure of the Warhammer World intact. I expect that Games Workshop is looking to preserve the gothic gritty feeling that has been re-established with the current books and releases. In that regard, yes, GW will be very much after that their IP is presented in the correct way.
Having said that GW is very confident that with the right producer the results will be in the correct way. Like with the recent WH40K game titles all that was done was to give the designers a very good background, access to all miniatures (will make developing the models very easily) and most of the artwork.

Disclaimer: Yes, I work for Games Workshop. All things written in this post are my own opinion and derived either from official publishings or talks with people involved in the last Warhammer Online project. Anything covered by non-disclosure agreements, ongoing negotiations or talks at work under confidential settings have and will not make it into any post that I make - so don't ask.

As mentioned already, Mythic aren't starting from a clean sheet entirely, they already have the server code, tools and client of an MMOG capable of handling thousands of players in a real time full 3D enviroment, what's more they also have a lot of content such as sounds and spell effects that can be potentially reused or changed with minimal effort. Essentially due to having DAoC Mythic already have a massive head start here - sure they'll undoubtedly have to rewrite portions of the DAoC client and server but it's still FAR less work than starting from scratch, it essentially means they can be working on content creation from day 0 of development - and that's what takes a long time in MMOGs. Also as you mentioned the availability of existing models from the tabletop version of Warhammer will make creation of new characters easily and in fact, I'd imagine that miniatures are designed for production in some computer based format so it may even be possible to transfer models directly from that if GW decide to let them do so. Finally as mentioned also a lot of the lore is already there and a lot of the rulesets such as the combat systems are already there.

It's not like the 5 to 6 year development times for WoW where a lot of the storylines, code, models, sounds had to be created from absolutely nothing - Mythic have a massive head start here and could potentially produce one of the most impressive MMOGs in the shortest time scale possible.

My only real concern is if they screw up, it's a flop and give up on DAoC in the process - I can't imagine a company justifying supporting 2 fantasy MMOGs.

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just change the skin of the classes to warhammer skins and voila!!!! :cowgif:

[Ankh Morpork]

[quote="Gitt"]Same here (purchased the day of UK release in fact ) and providing WO is true to the original FRP setting and doesn't follow the mess that the FB setting degenerated into then it has real potential.

My only concern with Mythic taking on this project is the danger that the rich history and brooding atmosphere of the Warhammer world may not be reflected in the final game. Lets face it, DAoC, whilst being a superbly playable game, is somewhat bland and un-involving when it comes to history, atmosphere and quest content... but hey, they may get it right this time, after all the bulk of the design work has already been done by someone else over the last 25 years or so

At least we know that the system itself is being looked after by an experienced MMORPG designer, I had almost given up hope on it after the constant legal issues etc that have plagued its development.

Fingers crossed it will all work out this time ]

True, but unlike Daoc - warhammer already have years and years of background/races/classes finished...so I really dont see any reason to add new stuff Also, the new Warhammer 2.0 was release just a 2 month or so ago so I think they would wanna stick to its rules instead of making new ones.

/Ankh

[Ovi]

It's a very good move by Mythic imo. They are getting to the stage with DAoC where they have no where to go, decisions made early on are holding back directions that they would like to go.

The next step would be DAoC 2, but tbh one of the biggest problems Mythic have had, in UK especially, is marketing. By buying warhammer they can in effect make DAoC 2, but at the same time gain a marketing advantage with the Warhammer name.

This is probably the best news for MMORPGs for a while. Mythic have made a pretty good game, and if they learn their lessons and make the most of the Warhammer name there is no reason they can't produce "The next" big game and we can all listen to the Warhammer will kill Warcraft threads

One thing I have learnt though, I will be playing on US servers, unless Mythic run the Eu servers themselves, no more 6 month translation periods and a third party getting stuck in the middle

[Gitt]

[quote="Ovi"]
This is probably the best news for MMORPGs for a while. Mythic have made a pretty good game, and if they learn their lessons and make the most of the Warhammer name there is no reason they can't produce "The next" big game and we can all listen to the Warhammer will kill Warcraft threads

One thing I have learnt though, I will be playing on US servers, unless Mythic run the Eu servers themselves, no more 6 month translation periods and a third party getting stuck in the middle ]

Have to agree, the existing fan base for Warhammer is HUGE, if WO is a fair translation of the Warhammer setting (and GW is unlikely to permit its release if it isn't) then it will probably put a serious dent in the other fantasy MMORPGs.

I would imagine GW will keep a very tight control over who the EU servers are farmed out to (as they have always been very protective of their branding and representation by outside agencies) and as a UK originated company I doubt they will be in favour of a 6 month translation period.

Having said that, GW and Mythic have both made some pretty questionable marketing and administration decisions in the past, so theres always a chance it will go the same way as DAoC.. in which case I'll see you state-side

[Xest]

On a side note, afaik Mythic have just opened or are due to open soon a European office to oversee Imperator, therefore I imagine GOA wont get a look in for future Mythic MMOGs as Mythic seems like they're pushing into Europe themselves now. Even if Mythic don't wish to handle translation it means at least they should be in a place to handle the european English version of the game even if not the other language versions so I don't foresee this being a problem, assuming Imperator increases their income and hence overall company size by the time they release Warhammer online I imagine they'll be able to more than afford to host the european English version themselves.

[Gahn]

[quote="Ovi"]It's a very good move by Mythic imo. They are getting to the stage with DAoC where they have no where to go, decisions made early on are holding back directions that they would like to go.

The next step would be DAoC 2, but tbh one of the biggest problems Mythic have had, in UK especially, is marketing. By buying warhammer they can in effect make DAoC 2, but at the same time gain a marketing advantage with the Warhammer name.

This is probably the best news for MMORPGs for a while. Mythic have made a pretty good game, and if they learn their lessons and make the most of the Warhammer name there is no reason they can't produce "The next" big game and we can all listen to the Warhammer will kill Warcraft threads

One thing I have learnt though, I will be playing on US servers, unless Mythic run the Eu servers themselves, no more 6 month translation periods and a third party getting stuck in the middle ]

Been playing myself Warhammer for years in tabletop edition i look forward to it.
Absolutely agree that they can make the "Killer Application" with the easier 2 faction setup btw Just hope that they learnt from their past mistakes and i will, with any doubt, play US version unless they run it blizzard style for EU market.

[Gahn]

On a side note, afaik Mythic have just opened or are due to open soon a European office to oversee Imperator, therefore I imagine GOA wont get a look in for future Mythic MMOGs as Mythic seems like they're pushing into Europe themselves now. Even if Mythic don't wish to handle translation it means at least they should be in a place to handle the european English version of the game even if not the other language versions so I don't foresee this being a problem, assuming Imperator increases their income and hence overall company size by the time they release Warhammer online I imagine they'll be able to more than afford to host the european English version themselves.

Well Blizzard has no problems in delivering 2 languages translation patches with 3-4 days of difference from US .. guess they can do the same tbh.

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Blizzards handeling of wow is realy pathetic tho