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Saturday, July 12, 2008
EA Mythic finds the third way
Some companies, like Blizzard, only release games when they are finished, so players have to wait a very long time. Other companies, like Funcom, release their game at the perfect moment, but with lots of bugs, and thin content in the endgame. Now several readers wrote me with a link to an article at Massively on Warhammer Online, saying that Mark Jacobs from
The first major feature that isn't going to make it into release are 4 of the 6 capital cities. Only the Empire / Chaos conflict will have their capital cities of Altdorf and the Inevitable City. The Dwarf / Greenskin and the High Elf / Dark Elf conflicts will have no capital cities. As you might have seen in the video podcast (YouTube link, the link on the official site was dead at the time of writing), the capital cities are the ultimate prize in the RvR conflict. For two thirds of the game, this final prize will be missing.
The other major thing that won't make it into release is class balance. Originally every one of the 6 races was about to have 4 classes: tank, melee dps, ranged dps, and support (healing). Now the melee dps classes for Dwarves and Greenskins, and the tanks for Dark elf and Empire have been removed. That leaves the dwarves / greenskin battle at least symmetrical, but in the other two pairs one side will have 4 classes against the other sides 3 classes. And if you were thinking of playing Dark Elf or Empire and like group PvE, you'll be left to wonder how to do that without a tank.
Personally I'm looking forward to WAR for its PvE content: Lots of new classes, new zones, public quests, the tome of knowledge, and so on. For me 4 classes less at release isn't a problem, as they'll probably be in by the time I played all the remaining 20 classes. But somebody who was looking forward to WAR for the RvR must be devastated. One side beating the other because they have classes the other side doesn't have access to? Ouch! You finally crush the enemy, get ready to plunder his city, and are stopped by an "under construction" sign? Where is the point?
One day a game company is going to find out how to produce quality games on time, without bugs or missing features, and they will do to the current crop of game companies then same as what Toyota did to the US/Euro car companies. Until then we'll have to buy the equivalent of a three-wheeled car from Mythic Entertainment, or the model announced for last year only coming out a year later from Blizzard, or the car whose motor mysteriously stops working once per hour from Funcom. No wonder nobody takes gamers seriously, we seem to be a bunch of masochists.
- posted by Tobold @ 8:14 AM Permanent Link
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I first become leery of this game when they switched to each class having three trees and pigeonholing healers. Now this. Good buy race only guilds. I also am disappoint that it's now just one main city. Guess I will have to wait until they complete this game.
Was Waiting on Warhammer, now Waiting on Wrath
Was Waiting on Warhammer, now Waiting on Wrath
Tobold, suggest you read some of MBJs responses on VNBoards and WHA.
People need to stop thinking about RvR being purely "Empire vs Chaos", "Dorfs vs Greenskins" and "Elven fight club".
Instead its Order vs Destruction.
Empire classes will fight Dark Elf classes for Greenskin territory. I can't see how there will be class imbalance, being classes can move freely where needed.
The community, as usual, has jumped to conclusions.
As MBJ says himself, if in doubt, wait for the NDA to be lifted before making your own mind up. And the NDA will be lifted weeks, if not months, before the game is released! :)
People need to stop thinking about RvR being purely "Empire vs Chaos", "Dorfs vs Greenskins" and "Elven fight club".
Instead its Order vs Destruction.
Empire classes will fight Dark Elf classes for Greenskin territory. I can't see how there will be class imbalance, being classes can move freely where needed.
The community, as usual, has jumped to conclusions.
As MBJ says himself, if in doubt, wait for the NDA to be lifted before making your own mind up. And the NDA will be lifted weeks, if not months, before the game is released! :)
Blizzard already does this when they release content for their expansions. Apparently Arthas won't be killable and Icecrown Citadel won't be in the world until the release of the final patch before the third WoW expansion.
The glacial pace that Blizzard releases content is starting to worry me. I think players are going to get tired of the endless waiting. I just don't understand how they can't speed up the pace of content considering their unprecedented manpower and resources at their disposal.
My prediction is that content will be sped up and once WoW subscriptions start to decline.
As far as removing features from games, this is one of the hard realities that publishers and developers have to face on a daily basis in the industry. It's all about prioritization and getting the most bang for the bug.
It's far better to release a few well polished features/mechanics then release too many that are not fully developed. In this case less is more.
The glacial pace that Blizzard releases content is starting to worry me. I think players are going to get tired of the endless waiting. I just don't understand how they can't speed up the pace of content considering their unprecedented manpower and resources at their disposal.
My prediction is that content will be sped up and once WoW subscriptions start to decline.
As far as removing features from games, this is one of the hard realities that publishers and developers have to face on a daily basis in the industry. It's all about prioritization and getting the most bang for the bug.
It's far better to release a few well polished features/mechanics then release too many that are not fully developed. In this case less is more.
# posted by 
: 12/7/08 10:01
: 12/7/08 10:01
Apparently Mythic's game designers got an urgent memo from accounting.
When something like this happens you (the software engineer) can do 2 things: release as-is or strip unfinished functionality.
I have hands on experience with both, and as a developer who wants to create and deliver quality products i can be proud of, i hate both: it leads to extra work (instructing the users on the as-is status and the consequences, or creating on the fly work arounds for the missing functionality) and unhappy users.
Taking out major cities is bad but cutting 4 (!) classes/careers is worse, a Capital Mistake. Even if these classes were not great or very distinctive they should be in! A correct interpretation of the IP demands no less. And when Mythic says not great, i suspect: not finished. See said memo.
With this news i significantly lowered my expectations of this game, both content and polish wise. It could well be just another half backed mmo, trying to capitalize on a favorable release moment (as in: before WotLK).
When something like this happens you (the software engineer) can do 2 things: release as-is or strip unfinished functionality.
I have hands on experience with both, and as a developer who wants to create and deliver quality products i can be proud of, i hate both: it leads to extra work (instructing the users on the as-is status and the consequences, or creating on the fly work arounds for the missing functionality) and unhappy users.
Taking out major cities is bad but cutting 4 (!) classes/careers is worse, a Capital Mistake. Even if these classes were not great or very distinctive they should be in! A correct interpretation of the IP demands no less. And when Mythic says not great, i suspect: not finished. See said memo.
With this news i significantly lowered my expectations of this game, both content and polish wise. It could well be just another half backed mmo, trying to capitalize on a favorable release moment (as in: before WotLK).
# posted by : 12/7/08 10:22
: 12/7/08 10:22
Not "jumping" to conclusions, just having conclusions based on information from the beta that I'm am not at liberty to talk about.
I can't see how there will be class imbalance, being classes can move freely where needed.
In World of Warcraft, you can roll a level 1 dwarf, and then travel freely to Darnassus and level him up there. How many people do that?
Tobold, suggest you read some of MBJs responses on VNBoards and WHA.
I did, and he said "Sorry we couldn't come up with a round 4th wheel, all our designs were for a square 4th wheel, and beta testers told us that it didn't roll right. So we decided to release the 3-wheeled car, following the wishes of our beta testers."
What I'm saying is that what ever way you look at it, it remains a shoddy production process. And particularly Mythic shouldn't have flooded us with so much marketing promises which now they aren't able to keep. If they had said nothing about the number of classes or cities in the game, they would have gotten away with it easier. Promising something and then delivering only 83% of the classes and 33% of the cities looks bad. That you can redirect the dwarves and orcs to fight for the empire/chaos cities instead of their own, or that you can have a dwarf tank for the empire, doesn't change that.
I can't see how there will be class imbalance, being classes can move freely where needed.
In World of Warcraft, you can roll a level 1 dwarf, and then travel freely to Darnassus and level him up there. How many people do that?
Tobold, suggest you read some of MBJs responses on VNBoards and WHA.
I did, and he said "Sorry we couldn't come up with a round 4th wheel, all our designs were for a square 4th wheel, and beta testers told us that it didn't roll right. So we decided to release the 3-wheeled car, following the wishes of our beta testers."
What I'm saying is that what ever way you look at it, it remains a shoddy production process. And particularly Mythic shouldn't have flooded us with so much marketing promises which now they aren't able to keep. If they had said nothing about the number of classes or cities in the game, they would have gotten away with it easier. Promising something and then delivering only 83% of the classes and 33% of the cities looks bad. That you can redirect the dwarves and orcs to fight for the empire/chaos cities instead of their own, or that you can have a dwarf tank for the empire, doesn't change that.
Mark Jacobs has stated that delaying the game further would not guarantee a resolution of the issues with the cut classes.
Now, the Blackguard was meant to mirror the Iron Breaker, and the Knight of the Blazing Sun was meant to mirror the Chosen.
Does he honestly expect us to believe that it isn't possible to make a viable mirror of the Iron Breaker or Chosen? Make them look different and rename their skills, perhaps, Mark?
I don't think we've given the true reason why these classes were cut. For someone who prides himself on how honest he is with the community, I can't help but feel that Mark Jacobs has misled us here.
Now, the Blackguard was meant to mirror the Iron Breaker, and the Knight of the Blazing Sun was meant to mirror the Chosen.
Does he honestly expect us to believe that it isn't possible to make a viable mirror of the Iron Breaker or Chosen? Make them look different and rename their skills, perhaps, Mark?
I don't think we've given the true reason why these classes were cut. For someone who prides himself on how honest he is with the community, I can't help but feel that Mark Jacobs has misled us here.
Hype for hype's sake is bad. Sure, you can score big on the initial sales (if you push all buttons correctly, Funcom is good at this) but after that is virtually game over when players get another bitter taste of broken promises.
I think the tolerance for missing or broken content in MMO's is quickly evaporating. Nowadays MMO players demand fully functional and polished content for their money, at the moment of release, not months later. MMO's have become pure mainstream and mainstream audiences are not patient or forgiving. At all.
The subtle, humble and even silent approach followed by the developpers of Fallout 3 has its merits i guess. In the present climate empty or broken promises can kill your game before it even hits the shelves.
I think the tolerance for missing or broken content in MMO's is quickly evaporating. Nowadays MMO players demand fully functional and polished content for their money, at the moment of release, not months later. MMO's have become pure mainstream and mainstream audiences are not patient or forgiving. At all.
The subtle, humble and even silent approach followed by the developpers of Fallout 3 has its merits i guess. In the present climate empty or broken promises can kill your game before it even hits the shelves.
# posted by : 12/7/08 11:11
: 12/7/08 11:11
On time? It's been delayed twice already, they're a couple years past their original release date, with a buyout in-between to continue development.
Just saying, it may have made a clever sentence, but it wasn't accurate.
Just saying, it may have made a clever sentence, but it wasn't accurate.
# posted by : 12/7/08 11:17
: 12/7/08 11:17
If a development studio was smart enough to figure out how to deliver a good MMORPG on time, on budget, with all announced features, they could probably find some better use of their time.
Some things come to mind : curing cancer, galactic exploration, cold fusion, etc.
Some things come to mind : curing cancer, galactic exploration, cold fusion, etc.
Lol, project managing isn't THAT hard. Many other industries do it. It's only the "creative types" that have problems with working on schedule and budget.
Well it is just another example of why playing an MMOG at lanuch probably isn't the best idea. Most of them launch without enough content, bugs, or now areas still under construction.
I played UO with it first launched and dealt with many issues, played EQ and dealt with constant nerfs and they figured stuff out, waited 10 months to play WoW and thougth it was great, CoH at launch and it didnt' have enough for me, played Beta of LotRO and didn't play live at all. Now it looks like they have enough content and I may go try it out. Played AoC at launch and umm, yea I only made it a month lol.
I've never gave one I left due to issues a 2nd chance so I'm seriously considering not bothering with WAR until it has 6-8 months of live time to see how it develops and I may do that for all future MMOGs.
I played UO with it first launched and dealt with many issues, played EQ and dealt with constant nerfs and they figured stuff out, waited 10 months to play WoW and thougth it was great, CoH at launch and it didnt' have enough for me, played Beta of LotRO and didn't play live at all. Now it looks like they have enough content and I may go try it out. Played AoC at launch and umm, yea I only made it a month lol.
I've never gave one I left due to issues a 2nd chance so I'm seriously considering not bothering with WAR until it has 6-8 months of live time to see how it develops and I may do that for all future MMOGs.
# posted by : 12/7/08 14:16
: 12/7/08 14:16
Project management isn't that hard? Quick browse of the Telegraph: "iPhone launch chaos", "The Ministry of Defence's 20 biggest weapons projects are £2.6 billion over budget and a total of 36 years behind schedule", "The bill for the 2012 Olympics in London is set to soar past the £8 billion mark", "Labour's multi-billion- pound project to create the NHS's first ever national computer system "isn't working and isn't going to work", a senior insider has warned." Yeah, piece of cake...
# posted by : 12/7/08 14:30
: 12/7/08 14:30
My experience since i started working in software development: when the government is involved in any way, it will likely be a disaster. Endless amounts of money thanks to the taxpayer, no sense of urgency whatsoever (at all) and employees who without exception deserve the label "most likely to fail in the real world" when they were leaving school. Nofi of course.
Sometimes i have no choice but usually i avoid government led assignments, despite the fact that -as said- they dont seem to mind waisting money by the bucketload (meaning: big fee for me and my collegues). It is just so frustrating to work for these nitwits.
/rant
Sometimes i have no choice but usually i avoid government led assignments, despite the fact that -as said- they dont seem to mind waisting money by the bucketload (meaning: big fee for me and my collegues). It is just so frustrating to work for these nitwits.
/rant
# posted by : 12/7/08 15:00
: 12/7/08 15:00
Quote M Jacobs from WarHammerAlliance:
"I've addressed in great detail, why we have made the moves we did but we didn't make these moves to avoid delaying the game again. Frankly, I think another delay announcement would have had a dramatically worse effect on the community than this announcement."
So they knew the announcement would go down bad, but chose to do it now anyway, in stead of surprising the customers after release.
Thats good i guess.
"I've addressed in great detail, why we have made the moves we did but we didn't make these moves to avoid delaying the game again. Frankly, I think another delay announcement would have had a dramatically worse effect on the community than this announcement."
So they knew the announcement would go down bad, but chose to do it now anyway, in stead of surprising the customers after release.
Thats good i guess.
# posted by : 12/7/08 15:25
: 12/7/08 15:25
forgot the link for those interested
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?p=967545#post967545
http://www.warhammeralliance.com/forums/showthread.php?p=967545#post967545
# posted by : 12/7/08 15:26
: 12/7/08 15:26
This loss, taken alone, isn't that big of a deal, but I do suspect that this is the tip of the iceberg. If your game is so bad off that you're slashing highly publicized content that you've been advertising for months, what else is incomplete or broken that we're not even seeing yet?
You know what they say - underpromise, overdeliver. WoW was kept tightly under wraps until the NDA was lifted - almost nothing was publicized by Blizzard and leaks were few and far between. When alpha testers were allowed to start posting their experiences, only then did we get a taste of the game, and it was almost universally positive. There was no disappointment that features were cut or didn't make it in - they promised us nothing.
Contrast that with WAR and other new games - the hype machine surrounding MMOs these days starts churning before any code is even written. Devs come up with Great Ideas that they want to put in the game, and start touting them as features before they're even close to being implemented.
Once those features are "promised," there are no takesy-backsies. Devs feel obligated to deliver on these promises, even if implementation is ultimately infeasible. They waste numerous hours trying to make some impossible promise realized, throwing good time after bad, only to end up with something unworkable in the end.
Then, what can you do? Renege on the promise (as Mythic has done here)? Release the promised feature in a half-assed state (as with AoC)? There is no way out of this - you're screwed either way.
The solution is pretty clear - promise nothing. Let the game live and die by its own merits. Only publicize features that actually exist and work.
You know what they say - underpromise, overdeliver. WoW was kept tightly under wraps until the NDA was lifted - almost nothing was publicized by Blizzard and leaks were few and far between. When alpha testers were allowed to start posting their experiences, only then did we get a taste of the game, and it was almost universally positive. There was no disappointment that features were cut or didn't make it in - they promised us nothing.
Contrast that with WAR and other new games - the hype machine surrounding MMOs these days starts churning before any code is even written. Devs come up with Great Ideas that they want to put in the game, and start touting them as features before they're even close to being implemented.
Once those features are "promised," there are no takesy-backsies. Devs feel obligated to deliver on these promises, even if implementation is ultimately infeasible. They waste numerous hours trying to make some impossible promise realized, throwing good time after bad, only to end up with something unworkable in the end.
Then, what can you do? Renege on the promise (as Mythic has done here)? Release the promised feature in a half-assed state (as with AoC)? There is no way out of this - you're screwed either way.
The solution is pretty clear - promise nothing. Let the game live and die by its own merits. Only publicize features that actually exist and work.
I'm with jeremy on this one. The actual loss is hard to measure - there's a lot of spin from Mythic on it. The spin may or may not be true. Personally, it's as convincing as "it's only a flesh wound!".
Regardless of the real value, they know how bad it looks. And they're doing it anyway. The reasoning is not sound, therefore I must believe accounting or EA is applying pressure here.
Not good.
PS) The announcement also included a note that Punkbuster was to be integrated for protection against "cheats and hacks". Will it require admin? My other Vista games don't.
Regardless of the real value, they know how bad it looks. And they're doing it anyway. The reasoning is not sound, therefore I must believe accounting or EA is applying pressure here.
Not good.
PS) The announcement also included a note that Punkbuster was to be integrated for protection against "cheats and hacks". Will it require admin? My other Vista games don't.
# posted by : 12/7/08 16:57
: 12/7/08 16:57
Personally I see a trend...
The beginning of the end of the MMO hype machine, and the overall genre.
Blizzard effectively killed it. It is also why they spoon feed us new content. Their hearts are not in it anymore.
It is overrun now with lame boring copies on IP (LOTRO), New mechanics with companies who do not know how to control said mechanics or break from the mold (AoC-Funcom)
And once ran's who are running on IP and previous momentum alone (WAR).
Anyone ever think of why Blizzard is releasing two NON MMO's?
They already know it is over, and they did it...and they are all giggling inside!
The beginning of the end of the MMO hype machine, and the overall genre.
Blizzard effectively killed it. It is also why they spoon feed us new content. Their hearts are not in it anymore.
It is overrun now with lame boring copies on IP (LOTRO), New mechanics with companies who do not know how to control said mechanics or break from the mold (AoC-Funcom)
And once ran's who are running on IP and previous momentum alone (WAR).
Anyone ever think of why Blizzard is releasing two NON MMO's?
They already know it is over, and they did it...and they are all giggling inside!
Lol, project managing isn't THAT hard. Many other industries do it. It's only the "creative types" that have problems with working on schedule and budget.
Tobold most project management classes I've been too have started out by stating that 80% of all projects end up overbudget,Past deadline, unfinished or not at all.
Project management is hard because most project managers don't have any real authority. They are just facilitators that have to beg borrow and convince people to do what is best for the overall project instead of thier resume.
Try managing a project with 5 or 6 different groups who either don't understand the other groups or just don't care. Without the authority to write them up or fire them when they refuse to play ball.
Tobold most project management classes I've been too have started out by stating that 80% of all projects end up overbudget,Past deadline, unfinished or not at all.
Project management is hard because most project managers don't have any real authority. They are just facilitators that have to beg borrow and convince people to do what is best for the overall project instead of thier resume.
Try managing a project with 5 or 6 different groups who either don't understand the other groups or just don't care. Without the authority to write them up or fire them when they refuse to play ball.
The solution is pretty clear - promise nothing. Let the game live and die by its own merits. Only publicize features that actually exist and work
To be fair blizzard created 10 million people crawling through the desert looking for water. So any hype thats been thrown out has been bounced around, magnified and twisted beyond belief. A whole new generation of MMO gamers is slowly dieing of thirst and they keep grabbing for anythink that looks like the clear refreshing water they want.
Add that to the developer mindset of always wanting to do something new and innovative and those two things are really killing a lot of gamers desire to play. It's funny to me. Consoles make far more than blizzard ever did giving up the same old type of stuff to thier various core audiences. But the MMO devs seem to think thier audience is somehow different. It boggles the mind
To be fair blizzard created 10 million people crawling through the desert looking for water. So any hype thats been thrown out has been bounced around, magnified and twisted beyond belief. A whole new generation of MMO gamers is slowly dieing of thirst and they keep grabbing for anythink that looks like the clear refreshing water they want.
Add that to the developer mindset of always wanting to do something new and innovative and those two things are really killing a lot of gamers desire to play. It's funny to me. Consoles make far more than blizzard ever did giving up the same old type of stuff to thier various core audiences. But the MMO devs seem to think thier audience is somehow different. It boggles the mind
In spite of everything I've heard recently. I think War is going to live or die on how much fun it is to play. And how much fun it is to replay the content. If those two things are right and they patch in the other stuff later it'll do just fine.
If not I think the MMO community will start declining for a good while
If not I think the MMO community will start declining for a good while
jeremy t makes a very good point about expectation management--it seems a point so fundamental that many of us reading his post think "sure, i learned that long ago."
do you think it's just economic and marketing reality that encourages widespread publication of developers' first napkin notes?
would, say, Age of Conan even exist had its developers not told "us" all the stuff they wanted to build? if it would, what kind of game would it or could it have been?
do you think it's just economic and marketing reality that encourages widespread publication of developers' first napkin notes?
would, say, Age of Conan even exist had its developers not told "us" all the stuff they wanted to build? if it would, what kind of game would it or could it have been?
Since when would you be without a tank? There's two choices left in either faction. It's sad the way the blogging community for this game, is so ignorant of it's structure and features...or just wants to stir the controversy pot.
# posted by : 13/7/08 03:33
: 13/7/08 03:33
The two *races* in question would be without tank, relying from the other tanks of the *faction* to come over to their lands to help out tanking. In a game where zones of each race are numbered by tiers 1, 2, 3, 4 and subdivided into chapters, I'd say many players will level up in the zones of their race. And if WoW taught us anything it is that most players will prefer dps classes over tanks and healers anyway. Having some races missing tanks isn't going to help a tank shortage.
In World of Warcraft, you can roll a level 1 dwarf, and then travel freely to Darnassus and level him up there. How many people do that?
Not many would go to Darnassus, but plenty of Night Elves (like me) went from Darnassus to Ironforge at extremely low level (not quite 1, just after clearing the starting areas) to hook up with friends and guilds. Plus, of course, until the extra auction houses went in, Ironforge was the de facto Alliance capital anyway.
Tanks (and groups in general) are hardly an issue until the Deadmines anyway, by which time (as far as I remember), there are quests sending you around to world to discover other capitals anyway. Unless WAR puts up significantly greater barriers to races moving between areas, I can't see it particularly being an issue, and if there are significant barriers to moving between areas lack of tanks would be a secondary concern to a bunch of friends/guildmates being forced to all pick the same race if they wanted to group up before the end game.
Not many would go to Darnassus, but plenty of Night Elves (like me) went from Darnassus to Ironforge at extremely low level (not quite 1, just after clearing the starting areas) to hook up with friends and guilds. Plus, of course, until the extra auction houses went in, Ironforge was the de facto Alliance capital anyway.
Tanks (and groups in general) are hardly an issue until the Deadmines anyway, by which time (as far as I remember), there are quests sending you around to world to discover other capitals anyway. Unless WAR puts up significantly greater barriers to races moving between areas, I can't see it particularly being an issue, and if there are significant barriers to moving between areas lack of tanks would be a secondary concern to a bunch of friends/guildmates being forced to all pick the same race if they wanted to group up before the end game.
Here's a perfect example of how marketing too aggressively and overpromising features can come back and bite you in the butt.
This announcement is going to cause a lot of hard feelings. And now you really have to wonder how much of the image Myhtic created for WAR is just vaporware.
For me, WAR just moved from the "must buy as soon as it's out" to "wait and see".
This announcement is going to cause a lot of hard feelings. And now you really have to wonder how much of the image Myhtic created for WAR is just vaporware.
For me, WAR just moved from the "must buy as soon as it's out" to "wait and see".
# posted by : 13/7/08 13:31
: 13/7/08 13:31
Call me cynical, but I'm not surprised at all.
Maybe these large projects should be first launched as smaller mini-games and paid for with advertisements in order to pay for the eventual larger MMO?
Maybe these large projects should be first launched as smaller mini-games and paid for with advertisements in order to pay for the eventual larger MMO?
# posted by : 14/7/08 14:40
: 14/7/08 14:40
I'd buy War knowing features are missing. I kind of expect that in an MMO. The release of an MMO should have a solid game between level 1-level cap. The end game should be there, but obviously it won't be as rich until after a few patches. After that, what really matters is how the developer handles the progress of the MMO after release.
A perfect comparison is WoW vs. AoC. WoW released with a few bugs, and most were patched quickly. WoW had levels 1-60 covered with stuff to do. WoW had a basic end game. AoC was riddled with bugs. Bugs take a while to patch. The out of memory error riddled my computer even after I made sure all my ram, and video ram was free of defects. The out of memory error is still present nearing three months past launch. AoC leveling took a huge crap at level 30. End game was null. I'm got a vacation at the end of this month and I'm gonna resubscribe to AoC just to give it the benefit of the doubt. Who knows?
Point being? Major cities and racial classes are a minor feature. If War releases with minor bugs, has content for leveling, and a small end game, then War will do fine.
A perfect comparison is WoW vs. AoC. WoW released with a few bugs, and most were patched quickly. WoW had levels 1-60 covered with stuff to do. WoW had a basic end game. AoC was riddled with bugs. Bugs take a while to patch. The out of memory error riddled my computer even after I made sure all my ram, and video ram was free of defects. The out of memory error is still present nearing three months past launch. AoC leveling took a huge crap at level 30. End game was null. I'm got a vacation at the end of this month and I'm gonna resubscribe to AoC just to give it the benefit of the doubt. Who knows?
Point being? Major cities and racial classes are a minor feature. If War releases with minor bugs, has content for leveling, and a small end game, then War will do fine.
Wow. I'm surprised nobody else picked up on this statement by Mr. Jacobs. When asked about the timing of the announcement, he said, "We announced this now, rather than in two months, precisely so people would not be surprised when they buy the box."
Anyone think he slipped up and let loose the secret on the ship date? Two months?
mm
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Anyone think he slipped up and let loose the secret on the ship date? Two months?
mm
# posted by : 14/7/08 17:33
: 14/7/08 17:33<< Home
