MMORPG.com's Garrett Fuller had the opportunity to send along seven questions to Wrhammer Online's Jeff Skalski to discuss the game's progress as it nears its one year anniversary.

MMORPG.com:

Warhammer has now been on the market for one year. Please tell us the story of the game's lifecycle.

Jeff Skalski:

In May 2005, Mythic signed a deal with Games Workshop to bring to life the rich universe of its fantasy-based Warhammer IP. The challenge we laid out in front of us was creating a fresh new MMORPG that stayed true to the IP, unlike any other to date, for gamers and loyal hobbyists across the globe. A little over three years later, an EA acquisition, and almost 289 pounds of baby weight created, we shipped Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning on Sept 18th, 2008 (a few days earlier for those who pre-ordered). It has been one of hell of a ride, and the talented developers here at Mythic haven't taken a second away from pouring their love and passion into WAR since.

If you go back and review the patch notes over the past year, what we've accomplished is rather astounding. What I find even more interesting is seeing how the players have adapted to our game over time, and how the various servers matured in different ways. We are an RvR game at our core, with two Realms--the forces of Order and Destruction. At any given point, one side will win and one side will lose. It's been interesting watching servers go back and forth between who maintains control, and challenging at the same time as we tweak system mechanics to help foster Realm balance. We've made some progress, but we have more to do.

Coming up to our 1 year anniversary, I couldn't be more excited for WAR. We've learned so much about our players, and are now beginning to improve certain aspects of the game that, months ago, we would have hesitated on. City Siege end-game experience, CC and AoE enhancements, Fortress rework, along with new user improvements, are just a few of the things we're focusing on. Keep an eye on our patch notes and dev articles!

Read What Difference Does a Year Make? Q&A

Wonder if that cheer is followed by a concoction of bourbon and pepto bismol....

I hope they keep the enthusiasm up and make some solid changes to the game.

(Fortress...city siege....Renown skills) cough...cough...cough...

I'm sure others will voice their long laundry list of items shortly after me.  I hope this game makes a comeback.  I had fun for awhile, and would like to come back to it some day.

So after a WHOLE year!

Their 1-year aniversary quote is pretty much this: "We now feel confident. We are now going to fix the game"

Shame that GOA has pretty much killed the game here in Europe (about 4-5 servers left).

I don't know how bad it is in the US region at the moment for WAR? If it's in the same sorry state?

But I think this asks for a classic quote: "A little too late!"

i bet games workshop is still kidking themselfs for allowing mythic for roayally fucking up their game. I mean it was all their for them basiclly they needed to just slap a UI on it and they had a solid mmo. If this game stays alive another year I will be surprised.

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Originally posted by Guillermo197
So after a WHOLE year!
Their 1-year aniversary quote is pretty much this: "We now feel confident. We are now going to fix the game"
Shame that GOA has pretty much killed the game here in Europe (about 4-5 servers left).
I don't know how bad it is in the US region at the moment for WAR? If it's in the same sorry state?
But I think this asks for a classic quote: "A little too late!"
 

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What did GOA do to you in WAR that makes you write that? I have nothign to complain about regarding GOA this time around...they did a crapjob on DAoC thou..

PS. I don't think it's to late... I checked last night and europe had about 15 servers up with Med/Med and Med/High saw two with low/med pop, all others servers are of the list.

Originally posted by daelnor

Wonder if that cheer is followed by a concoction of bourbon and pepto bismol....

I hope they keep the enthusiasm up and make some solid changes to the game.

(Fortress...city siege....Renown skills) cough...cough...cough...

I'm sure others will voice their long laundry list of items shortly after me.  I hope this game makes a comeback.  I had fun for awhile, and would like to come back to it some day.

HA!! I see you duck man! 

Yes, our beloved game is in deep trouble. The guy who wrote this article is kinda like how the '09 presidental election quote from the losing side " The fundementals of our economy is essentially strong" then a week later wall street emplodes and everyone starts losing their homes, cars,  throw in a couple trillion in stimulas money into it and we still have unemployment of 10%.

Back to Warhammer- I waited for this game. I got the collectors edtion. I love my guild. But my faith in EA/mythic is gone.

ASC will spread in games to come. NO MERCY!

Hey, ive Collector's Edittion of WAR too. Mine is covered by layer of dust and i'll not touch it anymore.

WAR has had major issues in this first year, no doubt. Some would say this most recent round of fixes is "too little, too late" but I'd have to disagree there.

Lots of games have rocky starts and still go on to be successful. The last two patches have gone a LONG way to correcting some serious issues in the endgame that players have been griping about since almost the launch (AOE, CC, and fort/city sieges being the big ones). They are definitely on the right track, and need to continue working towards fixing the bugs and tweaking the core element of the game (RVR), but as long as they keep as they are they will endure and eventually come out of this in a decent state.

Right now I'd say their biggest issue is the bad publicity and bad reputation they've garnered. Players have left in droves, bad-mouthing the game on their way out and no matter what improvements Mythic makes, they've got that huge hurdle to get over.

It's the lack of realm balance, driven by player dissatisfaction that is killing the game. On Phoenix Throne, Order has been DOMINATING all summer, and from what I hear the same is true on other servers. This constant cycle of one side beating the living crap out of the other side just makes people not want to play. Most of the decent players on the winning side get bored because of the lack of challenge, and of course the people on the losing side get tired of getting their arses handed to them on a regular basis. Players leave in droves, wash rinse repeat.

I really enjoy Warhammer. When the sides are balanced, it's the most fun I've ever had in a PvP environment; when you're working with your teammates, covering for each others weaknesses, the game's bugs and glitches are a lot less obvious and a lot easier to deal with. I think losing Mark Jacobs may have been the best thing that could've happened to Mythic, because these last few months have been the most productive since the game was launched.

I do have my own laundry list of items that has killed my enjoyment of the game, but they're mostly aesthetic, such as a bow string and I'd like the elves knees to bend realistically. It's the small things that give a game its charm, and Mythic's way of prioritizing places those small things at the bottom. Their process also takes too long. I remember people complaining for months about AoE dmg among other things before it was finally fixed. In fact, that took about 6  months. They need to revise their process, because on paper the process looks good, but in practice, it takes too long. Listen to the players, and try what they suggest. That's my advice.

WAR failed in my eyes, because I was a DAoC player with expectations of a game that'd be equal as good as DAoC. I never got into WoW before, but the failure of WAR pushed me towards playing WOW. I really appreciate WoW, because Blizzard pays attention to the little things, while continously working on the big things and adding content. WoW may not be everyones cup of tea, but Blizzard knows how to listen to their playerbase. They know who's paying the bills. Mythic may claim to listen to their playerbase, but it's only after trying it their way first.

Originally posted by Telonos

WAR has had major issues in this first year, no doubt. Some would say this most recent round of fixes is "too little, too late" but I'd have to disagree there.

Lots of games have rocky starts and still go on to be successful. The last two patches have gone a LONG way to correcting some serious issues in the endgame that players have been griping about since almost the launch (AOE, CC, and fort/city sieges being the big ones). They are definitely on the right track, and need to continue working towards fixing the bugs and tweaking the core element of the game (RVR), but as long as they keep as they are they will endure and eventually come out of this in a decent state.

Right now I'd say their biggest issue is the bad publicity and bad reputation they've garnered. Players have left in droves, bad-mouthing the game on their way out and no matter what improvements Mythic makes, they've got that huge hurdle to get over.

It's the lack of realm balance, driven by player dissatisfaction that is killing the game. On Phoenix Throne, Order has been DOMINATING all summer, and from what I hear the same is true on other servers. This constant cycle of one side beating the living crap out of the other side just makes people not want to play. Most of the decent players on the winning side get bored because of the lack of challenge, and of course the people on the losing side get tired of getting their arses handed to them on a regular basis. Players leave in droves, wash rinse repeat.

I really enjoy Warhammer. When the sides are balanced, it's the most fun I've ever had in a PvP environment; when you're working with your teammates, covering for each others weaknesses, the game's bugs and glitches are a lot less obvious and a lot easier to deal with. I think losing Mark Jacobs may have been the best thing that could've happened to Mythic, because these last few months have been the most productive since the game was launched.

I agree with you on your point about Mythic having a big hurdle to overcome. The genre isn't growing at a fast pace, unless you're WoW, which means first impressions count. Yes, Mythic will probably turn WAR around to a good game, but it won't matter by then. Even if they can claim WAR is a good game now, which I wouldn't argue, it'd be too late for most, because most of us have given the game a try after every major patch and have by now given up on WAR. I don't plan to ever give WAR another shot, because WoW is a good enough game for me, not to mention AION will release soon, and if that doesn't work for me, there will be other new releases in the coming years. My point is that WAR missed its chance to catch a sizable playerbase, and won't get another chance. The best thing they can do now is make their current playerbase happy, and cross their fingers in hope that future releases will tank, which will give them another shot. While many MMO's may tank in the future, it's hard to count against Bioware and Blizzard failing.

Originally posted by Ogrelin

 

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Originally posted by Guillermo197
So after a WHOLE year!
Their 1-year aniversary quote is pretty much this: "We now feel confident. We are now going to fix the game"
Shame that GOA has pretty much killed the game here in Europe (about 4-5 servers left).
I don't know how bad it is in the US region at the moment for WAR? If it's in the same sorry state?
But I think this asks for a classic quote: "A little too late!"
 

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What did GOA do to you in WAR that makes you write that? I have nothign to complain about regarding GOA this time around...they did a crapjob on DAoC thou..

PS. I don't think it's to late... I checked last night and europe had about 15 servers up with Med/Med and Med/High saw two with low/med pop, all others servers are of the list.
 

From the 30 or so english servers there are now only 5 english servers left in the EU. My server, Burlok, that was still Med/Med back in January, has been shut down in June.

That's why I am saying a little too late!

Cheers

Originally posted by daelnor

Wonder if that cheer is followed by a concoction of bourbon and pepto bismol....

I hope they keep the enthusiasm up and make some solid changes to the game.

(Fortress...city siege....Renown skills) cough...cough...cough...

I'm sure others will voice their long laundry list of items shortly after me.  I hope this game makes a comeback.  I had fun for awhile, and would like to come back to it some day.

I'm wif ya bruddah. 

I miss my psycho greenskin Gorlik, but the game, to me, was lacking.  Also, I don't think the market needs another fantasy based MMORPG, even one with the lore that is WAR.

"The Land of the Dead (LotD) shook things up and, in my opinion, in a positive way. We knew going into it, that it would split player population for the short term as players flooded to the new content for its shiny new appeal. This caused a lot of intense, memorable fights for many in the LotD when control flipped."

I find that funny.  From what I remember there was nobody from the opposing faction in LOTD.  One side was in LOTD while the other in the Capital City.  The most intense fight I had after LOTD was against a mob... The whole "expansion" was not a positive experience for me.  In fact, it was the last straw that caused me to unsubscribe from the game.

Once again, they're wasting their time and money on something that is not needed right now. Sure, a Mac version would be great, but should that be one of their priorities right now?  I don't even want to hear about different teams working on different things.  The fact is they're spending their time and money on something that will not make the game better. 

Every patch Mythic comes out with is supposed to be incredible, and fix the problems players have been bitching about.  So far, none of them fixed a damn thing (since I left, at least).  Nothing but bandaid after bandaid.  With Aion right around the corner, I sure hope they're serious this time.  I definitely won't be back anytime soon.  After supporting Mythic for so many months, I'm going to have to see a large amount of positive feedback from players, blogs, etc to get me back. 

Lack of a playable end game made WAR a mythic Joke.

Having fought epic RvR battles across multiple lands struggled to hold an alliance together and finally made our way to the gates of the enemy city - the climatic epic battle for victory was some crummy instanced PvE, that was badly broken.

LAME

Originally posted by Wuuduu

Hey, ive Collector's Edittion of WAR too. Mine is covered by layer of dust and i'll not touch it anymore.

I was very very disappointed with this game. it couldve been so much better. Open world, better crafting, more cites etc.

Originally posted by bleyzwun

"The Land of the Dead (LotD) shook things up and, in my opinion, in a positive way. We knew going into it, that it would split player population for the short term as players flooded to the new content for its shiny new appeal. This caused a lot of intense, memorable fights for many in the LotD when control flipped."

 

I find that funny.  From what I remember there was nobody from the opposing faction in LOTD.  One side was in LOTD while the other in the Capital City.  The most intense fight I had after LOTD was against a mob... The whole "expansion" was not a positive experience for me.  In fact, it was the last straw that caused me to unsubscribe from the game.

Once again, they're wasting their time and money on something that is not needed right now. Sure, a Mac version would be great, but should that be one of their priorities right now?  I don't even want to hear about different teams working on different things.  The fact is they're spending their time and money on something that will not make the game better. 

Every patch Mythic comes out with is supposed to be incredible, and fix the problems players have been bitching about.  So far, none of them fixed a damn thing (since I left, at least).  Nothing but bandaid after bandaid.  With Aion right around the corner, I sure hope they're serious this time.  I definitely won't be back anytime soon.  After supporting Mythic for so many months, I'm going to have to see a large amount of positive feedback from players, blogs, etc to get me back. 

This is almost verbatem how I feel. I'm not 100% aginst playing WAR again, but I'm not paying for shit until I see re-review after re-review and posts from returnees stating how the game has made a 360. On top of that, I won't be the first to return. I want to see a huge spike in the population first. Then, I'd consider going back. Right now, it's just to little, w/ to few people to play with, and to many things still wrong.  

yes a year of lies betryal and well lets face it more 1 sidednes to a game , hmmm lets see we will give order more powers at less cost  , that should work .... no lets also take alot of destro powers make them weaker and make there cost more ... yes that will work ........wait 1 more thing there dps calss lets make there dammage even less so the max dam they can do is so weak that a healer can heal double the amount than can do at max end game

this is why they went from 800,000 players to 300,000 now its around 200,000 and droping  very fast, i am bitter this was suppose to be my ultimate mmo , and the funy thing is i played  every other mmo longer than i did this one .

back to wow for me will aion comes out hopefully it will do better than war , not that you can do much worse

 This kind of interviews with Mythic make me believe even less in the future of this game. Reading the interview gives you the impression that last year have been a success. This game struggle, but Mythic keeps saying it´s going great. I wonder when MMO developers will realize that hiding facts and making stories only make things worse.

Even my grandma that never played a MMO in her entire life, realize that loosing 600.000 subscribers in NA/EU in less than a year, is a disaster. 

For god sake Mythic, tell us the truth and earn some respect, because right now hardly anyone have faith in you.

The main diffrence that a year makes is that ppl have seen all the flaws - Some so big that many doubt they can ever be fixed. 

PPL have also seen the badly designed PVE content that is totally meaningless cause Laggy RVR is supposedtly all this game is about.   And then ppl have seen very slow reactions from Mythic regarding gamebreaking issues like abilties of some classes that ruined the entire game for thousands of ppl.  

This is the diffrence... And to put it mildly - this game is history.

 I have never been more upset by any MMO than I was with Warhammer, such a great IP and a company with DAoC under its belt spewing out this piece of crap, caving in to be more and more like the industry leader, WoW.  The way to get customers is to attract people who want something different from WoW, hence the initial 800k subs number.