Dear Mythic,

I would very much like to play a Warhammer Dwarf:

However, these things look like they belong in some other games, but not yours:

=(

Please fix this before you release your game. kthx.

And welcome to reality.

Mythic cut back on the release features for WAR today. Specifically they reduced the classes and capital cities.

The announcement and corresponding interviews were peppered with the usual cheery 'it's for quality' spin.

I'm not denouncing Mythic, while I don't think there was any bravery in the announcement, it was to be expected. It was either something like this, or a delay. At this point, with collector's editions pre-ordered, they cannot delay. EA would balk. They may even be contractually obligated to the retail chains for a Q4 release.

Mythic is trying to provide as much entertainment as they can within a sane timeframe and budget, two things which they've pushed pretty damn far.

It's too easy for fans to ask for something to be 'done when it's done'. The first time I heard that phrase it came from John Carmack, while leading a team of 8 talented developers at ID Software. It's a phrase for great games with limited scope. MMORPGs are on an entirely different scale of complexity, they can be great, but so much is involved in the process of getting them there. And it's far from an exact science yet.

Just a little while ago, MMORPG players were finally getting games that could be released without servers bouncing up and down for days, weeks and months. To ask for complete polish with full-and-lasting content on top of stability for launch-day, well we haven't seen it yet. It comes later, with patches.

I think we all have to swallow the pill sooner or later.

I hope to be proven wrong, eventually I will be, but not by the current crop of MMORPGs approaching release. There's an insane amount of pressure, the market has gone up and up and each game has investors that are hoping to catch onto that rocket and fly into the stratosphere.

When we do see it, I think it may be from a privately held company and not a big public corporation with shareholders to answer in quarterly reports and expectations of earnings on each dollar.

I've had an "EA is the Devil" category on this blog for years, it's somewhat tongue-in-cheek but there's a real reason it's there too.

Keen just opened up a bucket of worms by making the issue of 'incomplete' MMORPG launches an ethical issue of inflated customer expectations. The problem is, he's pumping EA-Mythic as his example of a company he trusts to deliver on what he'd hold others accountable for.

I probably would have discussed more of the premise, but as it was, I choked on my drink and sprayed my desk in the process.

Needless to say, I don't think EA is the bastion example of ethical behaviour when it comes to customer expectations in the MMORPG market. I also don't think Mythic is a good example of responsible budgets and deadlines for the health of their products, although that perspective is interwoven with their arrival to their EA-Mythic roost.

I'm surprised to hear this from a fellow Peter Molyneux fan, the king of raised expectations. Developers do get excited and hype stuff that they want to get into the game, and much of that stuff doesn't make it in time, or doesn't work as planned. Passion for your game just comes out that way. This is especially true with the complexities involved in MMORPGs.

I think the implication that there's an intentional bait-and-switch is absurd. There's no sinister attempt to hijack expectations. Wishful thinking perhaps. From evidence Funcom seems almost too honest about their shortcomings.

I still see this as more of a Craft than purely a business. I'm more often disappointed when it's treated as the later.

Edit: I've edited much of this post, not because it was incendiary, but because it's been better addressed by Richard Bartle's own response. Even edited, this is still a bit meandering, I think my followup is better.

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The debate of the day seems to be revolving around a recent Massively interview with Richard Bartle, where he lumps Age of Conan and Warhammer into the same pile as World of Warcraft. This offended some folks who are particularly passionate about this specific genre. Keen went as far as to call out Dr. Bartle to educate himself better on the differences between games in the genre.

Keen has a point, if you're going to speak out on something, it helps to know the details.

The thing is, Massively's Michael Zenke was obviously looking for another perverse quote like last years "I'd shut down WoW". Richard Bartle isn't interested in any game based on the EQ / WoW model and whether you're hyped for WAR or not, you have to admit that's the genre it's in. He keeps getting asked, so he's forced himself to play the games and of course playing that way he's had a horrible time.

Are we stuck with the Everquest model?

You probably know the basics of most MMORPG gameplay from WoW, but it's essentially the same model that was Everquest.

The real question: Is the EQ-derived model a Wheel-like invention that's essential for these games? There's this big assumption that's what an MMORPG should start with, then patch in all of the features to differentiate. I don't think it's the Wheel, not even close. We need more games built on new models, that's what Richard Bartle is getting at.

I enjoyed WoW and even moreso AoC. I have huge respect for the evolutionary changes that will be in WAR, but I cannot help but think I'd enjoy these games even more if their core wasn't so much the damn same thing over and over. So while Keen insists that WAR != WoW, I have to say, WAR is more like WoW than it isn't.

So much time and energy is spent at Mythic and elsewhere to fix the deficiencies in the genre's basic model but the concept of changing the model is lost on people. Partly because it's not going to happen, the grind and trap of leveling up equates to pure cash and it's easier to take tried-and-true and just slap some extra fun on top.

Why not change what's broken instead of applying bandaids?

Burdens inherent to the EQ model drag down the fun factors. The MMORPG market has a lot of room to grow, but it could just as easily shrink as players feel disenfranchised because sooner or later they realize that some elements in this genre are nothing more than a dip into their wallets.

Tycho @ Penny Arcade put a similar perspective into better words, of how the entire MMORPG market is leaving him feeling dry:

It hits home the same way Richard Bartle's observations have for me, which is a paradox because Tycho's more interested in gameplay and I'm pretty sure he wouldn't find Dr. Bartle's virtual world simulation perspectives as much fun.

The MMORPG playing field has suddenly become very competitive.

I've heard from various friends and acquaintances who've just been invited into the Warhammer Online Beta, plus I suspect Mythic is handing out select invites to bloggers and press. Apparently Blizzard isn't the only one that sees Age of Conan's release window as fair game to kick up some interest.

WAR is looking bright.

Mythic deserves the attention mind you, by most accounts WAR (Warhammer Online) looks slated to kick some ass.

I distinctly recall Marc Jacobs saying in an interview they were shooting for second or third position in the market, but that was before the EA buyout. Now, I'd put good money that they're aiming to dethrone WoW as the top MMORPG. It will take them some time to pick up the steam, but I think WAR can actually do it.

It would be fitting really, given the borrowed look-and-feel of the Warcraft universe.

Age of Conan goes over the top.

Age of Conan has gained a lot more traction than expected, it's definitely a success and I think what Funcom fully intended to be a niche game has broken into the mass-market.

As a player, I'm pleased that Funcom will have significant leverage to improve the game. It has more than its fair share of rough edges to round out, although I think the core gameplay is solid.

Reaction within my own guild is good. There are some grumblings about a few shortcomings, or changed expectations, but each of these is tempered with happy cries of surprise at other details and features better than expected. Mind you, I think we're Funcom's target audience, because WoW has bored us and WAR doesn't seem our thing.

Mythic has just announced that they are planning for local Australian servers for Warhammer.

That's a smart move. There must be swarms of Aussies just waiting for a mass-market MMO that doesn't suck for lag. Warhammer could scoop up that entire country's supply of MMORPG gamers. The only MMO off-hand I can think of that has Aussie servers is Fury, but of course that's where that game was made.

Here in Canada, our pings can get bad enough using U.S. servers, so I can't even imagine how horrid it must be for Hawaii or Alaska, let alone Australia. You might as well be playing from the moon.

Both Age of Conan and Warhammer Online feature collision detection as a standard feature. In layman's terms, that means players won't be able to walk through one another, they'll push up against each other instead.

It's not new for an MMORPG, but I'm hoping that both games will be able to match their rhetoric in how this can be a useful game mechanic.

How NOT to do it:

In City of Heroes, at the lowest levels any player is able to "tank" mobs by literally holding them back, especially through doorways. That was great, but I guess Cryptic decided it was too easy, so at higher levels virtually every mob was given the ability to either fly or shoot past the tank. The end result was the same tanking via taunt-like abilities that we're used to in most of these games.

Collision detection in CoH was reduced to nothing more than an immersion tool and a way for players to annoy each other.

Let us mess with it:

When I first heard AoC would have collision detection, the scenario I imagined was one of a wall of tanks, with casters behind them building up spell weaving momentum. I'm imagining this could work in PvP too, letting the numerous barbarians and assassins smash up against that wall of tanks.

That may just be dreaming of course, the standard zerg tactics would probably give way, but even just the occasional attempt is worth it. We need this kind of new avenue for combat strategy. I hope Funcom doesn't fall in with the easy balance solutions, they should let it go ahead and be messy for a bit so they can observe and learn to innovate. It should be sandbox time.

WAR's method of collision detection has an interesting twist, it only happens between enemies. Friendly targets can still walk through each other. This sounds like it may favour collision-aware strategies, because teammate placement won't be as difficult. Your team won't have to be a well-oiled Spartan machine, but that may be a downside too, it may be too easy to defend from an invading army.

As AFK Gamer and Tobold have both pointed out, EA/Mythic has oddly shut down the current Warhammer Online beta for at least 2 months. And now the rumours get to fly, the most obvious of which is a possible delay for the Warhammer release date.

Before EA scooped up Mythic, Warhammer Online was poised to grab a solid niche of the MMO market, but more and more it seems that EA has big hopes for WAR to challenge WoW for dominance. So far though, the leaks from the beta have been a mixed bag and my guess is that EA/Mythic is going for another round of polishing. Despite Mythic's pre-EA insistence that they would be happy as #2, I think they're shooting for the stars now.

More beta madness.

For many of you I know that this is the one you've been looking for: Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is now offering Beta signups. Here's the direct link for North American folks and another for Europeans or just click on the big "Beta is Here" banner on the official Warhammer Online website.

Mythic has delayed Warhammer Online again. This time they've attributed the setback to their buyout by EA, though they put it in a positive light.

So far, real competitors to WoW have been slow in coming, only LOTRO has actually seen the light of day at this point.