I've made a new rule for myself. I'm not going to play any MMO until at least a year after launch. The amount of content that was cut from WAR greatly supports my decision.

argh

@shredmanifesto: Usually the attention span of those who ruin a game for others are shorter than that of a sneeze. WoW got way too much into raiding with BC and a lot of old school people who played it to have fun as a casual raider lost interest. WotLK is going to be the same...raids, night after night...by the time you kill a boss for the 2nd time, it's already a ritual. Boring. Battlegrounds provided a human factor, but the predictability and the constant imbalance between gear and lack of people on your team made it another grind. I can't keep count of how many times I've lost a bg because the other team was full and it was me and 1 other dude braving it out.

JCVD

@Thorvard:
That's normally just an estimate, unless you paid extra for a faster delivery.

Odin

Um, I work at GameStop and I've known about this for months. It's been in our computer system for as long as I can remember... All you guys had to do was ask.

Dopefish

Well, this makes me happy. AoC was really starting to show its "OMG I wasted $100+ on this PoS!" suck factor. Here's to more wasted money.

Cheers!

Oyako

@i_9: The problem with The Agency is that it's SOE. :) Even if it comes out the most revolutionary thing ever they'll figure out a way to destroy it, as it's just what they do. It's like the Yin and Yang, someone creates worlds, SOE destroys them.

Kral2

Well isn't that a pisser. My first baby is due Sept 24. Think they wife would mind if I don't make it to the hospital because I'm to busy playing?

Thorvard

@demonknightinuyasha:
WotLK will likely be out by years end, there's no release date yet but it's already gone into beta so it's not going to be much longer.

@Popcornicus:
I played it at last years Games Day (the UK one) and it sounds pretty much the same as it was then. If this date is correct though it'll be coming out a little over a week after this years UK Games Day (Sept 14th) so I might spend a little time giving it a look if only becasue:
A) My friend will probably want to check it out
and
B) To see if it's changed at all since I played it last year.

You're right though what was on offer was just some crappy example of a battleground that had a boring and simple objective of holding the middle of the map. The UI was clunky and there was just so many little delays between actions that the gameplay didn't feel smooth at all.

Odin

I've had my collector's edition preordered for a while now and everything I read makes me look forward to this. I suspect it'll start a lil slow but knowing me I'll either run off to find the nearest PQ for fun or dive headfirst in PvP. That's if I don't spend all the time chatting and helping people like I do in every other MMO XD

As for MMO communities... I find it's a matter of how you treat them. For example, while waiting for a battleground in WoW some rogue challenged me to a duel. With not much else to do I said 'sure' and proceeded to utterly destroy them. At the end the rogue said "my class sux." and started getting all depressed even talking about rerolling but I calmly and kindly told him that our fight hadn't been an issue of class but tactics and told him what I'd been doing that foxxed him and how he could circumvent it. He seemed a bit more happy at my advice if not entirely convinced and we fought another round which was incredibly close (I can't actually remember who won now XD ) and he was delighted. He thanked me very much and was suddenly much better company (his english magically improved a bit too).

Moral of the story... if you have patience and know how to deal with people you can help make the community better; after all, you're part of it =3

Geminosity

Right on my birthday. :/

Yofu

I played this yesterday at Games Day (Warhammer convention) and it's a lot like WoW Battlegrounds, but a lot less fun. I was really looking forward to this being a different game, but all the classes are WoW copycats. The UI even looks the same. Unfortunately we all know WotLK is going to be more polished, so I would rather play that.

On the plus side for Warhammer games, Dawn of War II looks badass.

Popcornicus

I'll try this out, but I've got to say everything I've seen/played/read/heard/etc. about Warhammer just makes me realize how dull it's going to be compared to WotLK. The only really interesting MMO('s) to be announced thus far are The Agency (SOE), and the untitled Star Wars project (Bioware).

:(

i_9

@MuppetChrist: Seriously. The main reason I spent the extra money was for the beta access. I'm going to be pretty upset with my purchase if they only give a week or two prior to toy with it.

Oceaniax

@shredmanifesto: You can state an opinion without devolving into calling people retards and little kids. I would agree that the general community of MMO's is getting more casual and therefore resorting to more child-like play styles and language but you don't have to get all militant about it. I am hoping that this game might not attract the exact same crowd but you never know. In four months there could be a zone entirely dedicated to Chuck Norris.

Grahamunculus

@sir_carrot: Yep, rage alot. After seeing whats happened to the MMO community over the years sure, I think that my "opinion" is quite understandable. Oh by the way YOU HAVE TO AGREE WITH ME.@

href="#c6906947">Grahamunculus: Stating your opinion whether it be negative or not is not trolling. Saying dumb shit about others opinions and going off topic is trolling.

shredmanifesto

@shredmanifesto: What game did you play? Because WoW sure as hell wasn't like that if you played it right.

Dalren

I got the chance to watch a friend play a bit of the game, and I was severely underwhelmed. The game appears to be trying desperately to be WoW in almost every conceivable way from the interface to the gameplay. Even the hotkeys are almost identical in purpose and layout.

I've heard it's quite different in 'endgame', but if I have to play World of Warcraft with a different coat of paint I'd much rather devote my time to something else.

IIDXTrick

@shredmanifesto: I find most of the "little kids" upon questioning tend to be in their mid 20s. Actual little kids tend to be pretty polite on my WoW server.

Trencher-1

@shredmanifesto: Rage much?

I thought I'd heard the game was delayed till 2009. But that could have been last year hearing the game was delayed till 2008. Which I guess would be now.

Anyway, if I play an MMO again, it might have to be Bioware's - unless Warhammer proves to be some sort of amazing.

sir_carrot

@shredmanifesto: Do you have a newsletter that I can subscribe to? Perhaps it is called "The Weekly Troll"

Grahamunculus

Another massive-nerd-rage-race-to-the-top-fuck-everyone-and-fuck-life game.

MMOs suck nowadays. Too many fucking little kids, retards, and just generally miserable people who hate having fun and being cool. Avoid this if you have a soul.

shredmanifesto

@demonknightinuyasha:

Beta is starting, so while the date isn't set, it is probable that they aim for years end, or perhaps a repeat of the january launch of BC.

@demonknightinuyasha:

Sorry if my wording made you believe that. That was merely my personal opinion, like everything else I say on this site.

But you have to admit, that it was not beneficial for them to stay so quiet during AoC's release and the first big news after it was that some starting cities, 4 classes and some other features (character visual changes when leveling comes to mind) was cut.

Wahrheit

@Wahrheit:

also i don't think they really lost their advertising to AoC considering half the people i played conan with for the time i did play it were in the "i decided to play this til warhammer comes out" camp.

demonknightinuyasha

@MuppetChrist:

my guess would be last week of august or first week of september.

it would rock if this was true. would be just in time for me to get my next living expense check and actually be able to afford it XD hehe

@Wahrheit:

so they even have a date announced for WotLK? I have a feeling if warhammer came out on the 23 it would still have months before WotLK came out (or for that matter even had a date announced)

demonknightinuyasha

@MuppetChrist: Exactly. I would like at least a couple weeks of beta to test it out before I decide to submit my free time to it.

Grahamunculus

What to say about Warhammer? I used to play the tabletop games so I'm very familiar with the settings and I really anticipated the game, but the last months...

Their advertising just disappeared in the AoC storm, they cut classes and cities and WotLK is looming ever closer.

Sorry to say but Warhammer online doesn't seem like it will revolutionize the mmo genre anymore.

Wahrheit

When's the collector's beta start? I wanna' get my hands dirty with this.

MuppetChrist

@Dopefish: You guys have also had Duke Nukem Forever release date for a long time too.

taftsearlobe33

@argh: while I understand your desicion I will say that only about 18% of the content was cut from the release. More was cut from WoWs launch then this and more then that was cut from BCs launch at least Mythic has at least told you that it has been cut long before release unlike Blizz.

taftsearlobe33

From everything I've played of this game, it has got to be the most intriguing MMOG to come out since WoW. And as much as I enjoyed my time in Azeroth, I'm ready for my PvP to mean something... and that's one thing Mythic's always been good at. Make the PvP more than just an e-peen gear grind, and make the people on your side more than someone to compete against.

The whole game's about this ongoing conflict between two sides. Not implied as it was in WoW, but really and truly a WAR between two factions. Cities burning, siege weapons destroying... the whole game is like one giant epic battle, even when doing the PvE content.

I wasn't sure about it before, but after all I've seen lately (not in beta myself yet, but I've got a few very nice friends)... I'm inclined to jump ship from all other MMOGs and call this one home for a while.

Bildo

i didn't enjoy the Beta

(sure all great features ... all brand new, innovative stuff ... but the most important thing is missing : the fun)

sorry folks ! i said it !

waza

@taftsearlobe33:
4 classes and 4 cities does not sound like "about 18%" I'd say it's significantly more than that. Especially since classes are probably one of the most important parts of any MMO's content. While I know that stuff was cut from WoW and BC they at least didn't cut any of the playable classes.

Odin

@Odin: and how long has Hero classes been on the production list of WoW? Whats that? Three years?

...and they're adding one in a few months? Yeah...

belo

The release dates on the EA Australia site have ALWAYS been wrong. (this is coming from a moderator on the EA Aus forums) Take anything you see on that site with a truckload of salt.

Spik3balloon

*Note: EA Singapore is on the under the same umbrella as EA Australia.

Spik3balloon

@waza: How sad...you're one of those who play beta for some free entertainment instead of trying to make the game better by testing it out actually. Closed Betas aren't supposed to be "fun" it's about testing for balance and bugs that the devs may have missed. Fun comes at open beta and release when everything is ready to go. You should just give up your acct to someone who wants to be in the game.

JCVD

I'm really intrigued about how far they've got with the factions war. That's what has been missing for me in all momorpegers so far, with the exception of Eve Online. I want the chance to be proud of having fought in a war that changed the world I am playing in, not just being the 20000th player who killed the Terrible King of the Frozen Lands#2, and then do that 20 times until I get the equipment I need from Him.
The problem is you have to artificially balance the system, so one faction cannot banish the rest, as happened in Eve. How they manage that Chinese trap will determine if I get in the game or not.

@EA: A release date is nice, but a shut-down date would be better, as we know it will come soon, given your history. Will you let us play for more than 2 years? Or just until you release another MMORPG, like you did with Fifas and Maddens?

@IIDXTrick: Yeah, because WoW was such a breakthrough from all previous user interfaces and shortcuts...

EloraHRanma

All you can bet for sure is that they have to release before the Lich King expansion, regardless of bugs or server load problems in order to snag all the bored WoW players for a possible MMO switch.

kasplat

Yeah, Warhammer. Funny as it may seem, my biggest issue is the gender selection for the different classes at the moment.

I'll just post a link to what I wrote and not bore anyone with multiple paragraphs about it. :P

[www.hatefulgamers.com]

Rookerith

@belo:
There's a difference between saying "Hey here's a feature we're working on and planning to put in at some point" and "Hey here's features that we said would be in it but uh we couldn't finish them in time". Blizzard never sets any kind of timeframe for when they're putting in features that they've mentioned MIGHT be in the game at some point until of course they're ready to be introduced. Saying the game is going to have 6 cities and x amount of classes (I can't remember how many there were supposed to be) and then removing four of each is an entirely different kettle of fish.

Odin

@EloraHRanma:

There's a lot of truth in that, but at the very least Blizzard had a certain visual appeal to the way their interface and icons 'felt'. Warhammer managed to completely duplicate that as well.

IIDXTrick

after what I sow in AoC I will wait 6 months then try it.

UAEmirates

At first it sounded like WoW with good and fun pvp but now it sounds like it's just going to be another failure but I hope their questing system and loot distribution ideas get passed on to other MMORPGs.

It might still be good but you need to remember it's still an MMORPG so I would wait 5 months before making the decision to buy it or not.

Weepee