- Image by yum9me via Flickr
As I talked about before on this blog, the new hotness of MMOs this past September has predictably pushed other titles that have been out a while out of the spotlight in order to deal with issues in-house. Warhammer Online is one of these, and the upcoming 1.3.2 patch is set to, more than ever, deal with some of the fundamental issues that players have provided feedback on for the past few months or so.
The highlights include the removal of fortresses as a requirement to initiate a city siege, a new user package that better prepares players with tutorials, an all-newbie guild, and the concentration of all starting players in one pairing, chat channel additions, and the ability to sidekick a newer player so that they can play with someone of higher rank. This is also combined with a variety of combat and careers changes, the biggest of which is the removal of stun and further reduction of CC skills for certain classes, as well as surgical changes for several key Destruction careers.
The changes, while not necessarily “marketing sexy”, are internally focused and speak to a “do-over” philosophy to some of the core mechanics that needed addressing. Shifting the Tier 4 campaign and removing a key part of the original design was one of these, as is the DAoC-like inclusion of channels and guilds specifically designed to bolster new players. I can’t really complain about these kinds of “reset button” changes, even though some people might point to it as a sign of flawed core design. The reason is that traditionally, MMO developers don’t like changing fundamentals, as it is A)an inherent admission of failure or B)the changes are so major they require too much testing to properly release them. Mythic, however, has proven in the past year that they are anything but traditional, and this latest batch of changes that touch the center of their WAR game experience prove it.
Combine this “reset” philosophy, this idea that almost nothing is sacred in terms of creating a better player experience, with the more plain-spoken interviews/language, and you have, in a quiet and subtle way, Mythic’s apparent strategy for the next few months. That would be the following: to fix the fundamental issues as a high priority, tinker with the existing game mechanics, and let actions, not words, dictate whether or not the game will have a chance at re-upping its subscriber count anytime soon. I find this to be a far better long-term strategy for WAR than desperately trying to attract attention through big, game-changing announcements or making knee-jerk changes to stop further subscriber loss. Because for as many people who have declared “too little, too late”, there are just as many if not more people looking to check in on the game in a couple months, when new shiny has given way to typical MMO, and old products will get another try. With changes like the 1.3.2 patch notes in the works, Mythic plans to be ready for those.
I fully plan on re-rolling from scratch and blogging a bit about my experiences once the patch hits live, and, like WAR itself, dropping a reset on my character advancement. It sounds intriguing and interesting, and I look forward to how Mythic will deal with the increasingly competitive and close-to-saturated MMO market.
Will be curious to see what you think. I was surprised that they decided to redo Tier 1 because I remember it as being the most fun part of the whole game, and if they're really throwing out the old goblin/ dwarf starting area then …. I am surprised.
What do you plan on rolling?
They are not exactly throwing it out, just that people aren't starting in there no matter your race. People can use the flight master to go to other area.
Though even some devs agree it would do well if they allow flying back to there immediately at the start, since for example greenskins starting area really have some charm to it.
I've been watching WAR since I left and I have to say 1.3.2 does sound tasty. Let us know how it goes as, if funds were better, it's certainly something I'd dip my toe back into
@Spinks,
They're not redo'ing it, just improving the experience. You can still travel to the pairing, but from an RVR point of view New Emshrank does seem most popular. The dwarfven orc pairing never seemed to get the same amount of RvR action, due in my opinion to it's size.
@Frank,
At the moment the changes are to the core of the game and are important, which in itself will slow or halt a further loss of players. Who knows they maybe on the way up. But Mythic will need something earthshattering to grab attention back to the game, else otherwise how will those ex players be drawn back to warhammer to appreciate the constant improvement that's been happening. Regardless of ex players negativity, the improvement has been pretty constant, bar some of the quality issues with some patches. Unfortunately 1.3.2 in the general gaming online press, will not create that many waves. I hope I am wrong. It's looks to be good patch.
PS – Don't forget the performance improvements that only a line or 2 in the notes, seemed to be very positive.
[...] Frank re: WAR – “I can’t really complain about these kinds of ‘reset button’ changes, even though some people might point to it as a sign of flawed core design.” [...]