WAR's delay: from the fallout come further details

by Chris Chester Mar 27th 2008 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Business models, Forums, New titles, Warhammer Online

While we can't say that we didn't see it coming and we know that it's probably for the best, the recent delay of Warhammer Online from Q2 2008 to Fall 2008 has many of us in the Massively offices in low spirits. It's a sentiment that's reflected across the community, from what we've seen. In an effort to put out the fires in the community and remind us that the development team is on our side, WAR bigwig Mark Jacobs has been spending a lot of time in the Warhammer Alliance forums today, answering all sorts of player questions as a gesture of good will. Here are some of the meatier details:

Newsletters, video podcasts, and previews will not only continue until the new release date, but will probably increase in frequency to keep up the buzz.
To the question of how he felt about releasing so close to Wrath of the Lich King, Jacobs stressed that they would rather take a page from Blizzard than be afraid of them. He would rather release the game when it's ready than worry about being gobbled by the competition.
The "head start" that people get by preordering the Collector's Edition will be "more than a day," but no exact amount of time has been decided yet.
The recommended system requirements should be similar to or slightly below the requirements for the beta. They're still working on optimizing the game, so they don't even have a ballpark for the minimum specs at this point.
He made a point of not even hinting at when the open beta might start
And finally, when asked what type of "mud" would allow WAR's release date to slip so far, Jacobs conceded that it was both wet and sloppy.

As ornery as players have gotten over the delay, you have to at least respect the fact that the guy is willing to answer all these questions, from his home at 7 in the morning, no less.

Tags: collector's-edition, delay, ea-mythic, mark-jacobs, mythic, WAR, warhammer-alliance, warhammer-online

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Ryan Shwayder said on 8:11PM 3-27-2008

Note: Mark Jacobs isn't a designer, he's the CEO of EA Mythic.

Kilrogg said on 10:43PM 3-27-2008

"Note: Mark Jacobs isn't a designer, he's the CEO of EA Mythic."

Mark is actually the (or one of the) Lead Designer on the project as well.

breezer said on 10:02PM 3-27-2008

An MMO developer grossly underestimating development times?

I'm totally shocked.

I hope one day the game industry gets called out for this arguably unethical practice. Bait n switch much?

Craig Withers said on 5:46AM 3-28-2008

Would you rather they stuck to a previously-announced release date, even when it became untenable, and released a sub-par product the might do irreparable harm to their reputation?

breezer said on 12:19PM 3-28-2008

No. I would rather they be honest and realistic about development times instead of just giving the public the date they want to hear, knowing full well they will delay it.

What was the original release date? And Mythic really thought the game would be ready by then? I think not.

arcanearts101 said on 5:13PM 3-28-2008

A more realistic alternative is that they would just not even inform the public of a release date. MMOs are even more difficult estimate a release date for than other types of games.

Sometime I think people take delays far too seriously.

Finicut said on 2:42AM 3-28-2008

Looking at the MMO landscape they are going to be loosing out on so many potential customers. With. Providing Age of Conan doesn't get a similar delay again they are looking very solid to pick up the switching/swingin MMO audience.

Those dissatisfied WoW players who are currently in limbo waiting for the next big thing are a big proportion of the Audience Mythic needs to attract to get runs on the board.

Many would have gone back to WoW with all the 2.4 shinyness of which I am also doing. But they will invariably want for more sooner.

Enter Age of Conan.

Those players get into it and start levelling and working towards end game. Now I'd suggest Mythic has a very small window to attract these swing players. A couple of months of Conan will either entice them to stay or make them yearn for the good old days of WoW.

Now around that time they are going to be dragged back to Lich King. That will be a timesink thats keeps people on the blizzard train for quite some time.

A long open beta with a lot of fanfare my be their only saviour because at this stage a large portion of their Audience is going to be DOAC people wanting DAOC 2.

Lest just hope they don't go the way of Imperator with this one.