The Digital Continuum: Memoirs of a WAR beta tester
by Kyle Horner 
Aug 23rd 2008 at 11:00AM
Filed under: Betas, Warhammer Online, Opinion, The Digital Continuum
So what's the big deal? New MMOs are always facing the issue of going up against World of Warcraft's several years of polishing. Everyone has always wondered what it would take to deal with that issue, too. Mythic seems to have decided it will take raw, unadulterated determination. The kind that a child displays when presented with the opportunity to have a new toy. It also helps to have a license that Blizzard themselves once attempted to acquire because of its depth. Ironic? Only if WAR really does take a big chug out of the World of Warcraft milkshake.
Then again, that's implying that the MMO market is like a piece of food, that it's finite. It certainly is not. If anything, the MMO market is more like a kid going through school looking for cute girls to date. The girls in this metaphor are subscribers and much like girls in school, they become more varied and available throughout different levels of schooling. It's not a perfect metaphor, but you get the idea. It's a progressive industry, with more milkshakes than can be drank.
Anyhow, back onto my experience with the WAR beta over the last year plus. When I first got in, I wasn't writing as a part of the excellent team at Massively. I was however a long-time gamer and lover of MMOs, as I still am today, obviously. When I received the notification email, my heart lurched back as if it were placing itself into a slingshot, then fired against my ribcage and exploded into billions of tiny joyous heart pieces. It was, for the lack of a more interesting word: shocking.Like I said before, I've been in a lot of MMO betas, but never this early on. It was only June of oh-seven, this beta practically just started! So I made my account and began downloading the client right away. It took some time, but I managed to download, install and patch it. Keep in mind that I'd played some Greenskins and Stunties at PAX06 before this, so I kind of knew what to expect. Or so I thought, at least. I sort of forgot that about eight months had passed since I last played the game. The build they were showing in here was already much, much further along than the PAX demo.
One thing I really want to stress is how impressed I've been with Mythic's willingness to show their game early and often. If you had went to an event Mythic was booked at, you probably would've seen WAR running. A lot of developers don't want to do this for various reasons. The biggest being graphical prejudices before the game even ships. It always makes me feel more secure in being excited for a title when a developer allows the public to get its grubby hands on the controls. In this case, my dirt-caked hands. Not that I eat dirt, I just, uh... it's useful.
So I played a few times a week for several months. Progress was made, we got to start trying out the Chaos and Empire content after a couple months of Greenskins and Stunties. I was anticipating playing the Dark Elves soon, although wanted to also get back to the Greenskins, also. You see, Mythic likes to be very focused with their testing. I've been in various betas where a developer just continually adds content, but leaves the old stuff. This often ends up in the overall game feeling uneven. You'll notice WAR doesn't really have that problem. The polish-level is pretty high across the entire game, with a few exceptions here and there. I'm hardly claiming perfection, but merely consistency.
Eventually we got to play the Elves, but we only had access to some of the classes. In fact, throughout the entirety of the beta I never got to play the Black Guard. So when Mythic says they couldn't get the Black Guard to be fun or to feel right, it wasn't due to player feedback as far as I know. I'm not upset at them for pulling those classes (at least not anymore) but I do think they need to get them back into the game, stat. We'll get to my thoughts on that a bit later, though.So, there was a short break in the beta, at the end of last year. It was to give the team some time to dig in, make changes and also take a break for the holidays. Mythic works really hard, but they don't seem to deny their employees contact with their families. They're not the Men in Black or anything, after all. Well, maybe Paul Barnett is one of those guys. He seems like he knows something that he's not telling us about.
(Barnettoid: It seemed pretty apparent that some of the in-game voices during beta where from Paul Barnett. I could be wrong on this, but they sounded so uncannily like him at times that I really have to question it.)
When the beta did come back last January, I went through the whole download process again since the build was completely updated. It was astonishing what the people at Mythic had done in just a couple of months. The game was leaps and bounds better than whatever it was I played previously. I put down my reserve down the next day.
I don't claim to be a fanboy of any game or developer, really. Well, except most games made by Valve, but this is the wrong venue for that. However, when it comes to WAR, Mythic may just have me considering carrying one of those pointy baseball flags for them, or something to that extent. Every month or two after the beginning of this year the game continued to make leaps in different areas. Class balance, RvR changes, graphics, performance, user interface. You name it, Mythic improved it substantially. I can't tell you how many times I'd see worries posted online about certain aspects of WAR not being lived up to, only to be able to say nothing to refute them. And while many bold concepts were dropped from the game, plenty of things were delivered upon.Avatar aspects slowing changing as a character leveled? Gone. No Orcs getting bigger each level, which was too bad since that was a very cool idea. Black Guard/Knight of the Blazing Sun? Gone, they were mirror classes and I really loved their individual flavors. (Please bring them back, Mythic!) Choppa/Hammerer? Gone, too. I uh, really just want the Choppa back. Sorry, Stunties. Now, as far as the four cities go, I can actually understand the choice to hold off on them after playing a bunch of the current cities' content. The cities are incredibly full of delicious content meat. If a city in any other MMO is a song or two, then a city in WAR is a small album complete with an overarching story throughout.
I want to end this with a hopeful thought. While the current lack of some really cool classes does indeed suck more than mutated leech on a eyeball, they could be back sooner than we think. With the launch of the game, Mythic's team has to focus on supporting the live game through bug fixes and maintenance. However, I'm hoping that they don't slow down their content churn, quite possibly the most important aspect of live support. At least not until they add previously cut content back into the game. If they keep up with the pace they've had for most of the beta, then we're talking Black Guards and Choppas in before years' end ... possibly. I also think we could see more people flock to WAR than expected. After all, the amount of sales Age of Conan saw in its first month proved that people are looking for something to replace WoW right now. Then again, Wrath of the Lich King is coming sooner this time around. It's really all conjecture, but I think Mythic's determination -- if kept up -- will surprise a lot of people wondering where the game will plateu.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jared said on 4:31PM 8-23-2008
Good Read, after my short time in beta just in 10 levels on a few characters I'm hooked, Mythic has done a great job.
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Ura D-Bag said on 1:21PM 8-23-2008
What a pretentious opening.
"Which gives me something more to say than the typical tester talking about this game."
"I've seen more progress made on any MMO in the span of about a year than I have in any other in beta. And I've been in a lot of them."
Stop licking your own arse and just report on the darn game.
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Daed said on 2:37PM 8-23-2008
It's not "pretentious", it DOES give him something else to say. Namely the difference and progress made (which he goes on to mention) since the early beta (more than a year ago). The "typical" tester he refers to may be one of the hundreds of thousands accepted recently. Fair enough really.
And "i have been in alot of them" is hardly licking his own arse, he is merely attempting to give his comments weight by showing he has multiple points of reference. Again, fair enough.
I appreciate these "memoirs" as i too am a beta tester and have read countless reports talking about many specific details, however very few look at the picture as a whole.
He is right, Mythic have worked hard, and it shows. There is no reason to believe this wont continue.
Daniel said on 11:48PM 8-26-2008
This is a memoir, it is meant to be personal and from his point-of-view.
If you want less 'I's, go read a preview or something.
Kyoji said on 2:31PM 8-23-2008
Appropriate having 'D-Bag' in your name, huh?
He was simply stating that 1) hes been in it since the beginning, which DOES give him more to talk about than someone whose just gotten in, and 2) hes comparing his experience with this game with the others hes played, the only reason he mentioned volume was to give more weight to his statement. The only thing you could possibly catch him on is his use of the word 'typical', and how long a 'typical' beta tester is part of the beta for.
Anyway, I enjoyed the article and your impressions. Down to earth, real experiences like this really make me wish the open beta was starting sooner, so I could jump in for myself. Mythic's process so far seems to have worked out for them, and while I too was initially mad at the content cuts, with more information like this coming out with the NDA lifted, it all makes sense. It's good to hear that Mythic are a dedicated bunch of guys, because the first few months are going to be beyond critical for this game, and they need to make sure it stands up and performs like no other.
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Pingmeister said on 3:39PM 8-23-2008
Perhaps I would have worded it better than the first commenter but I have to admit that the opening few paragraphs of this article sure had a lot of peculiarly immature-sounding comments.
"I've been in it for a long time. A really long time, in fact. We're talking about, well, since the thing started. Which gives me something more to say than the typical tester talking about this game."
"I think I've seen more progress made on any MMO in the span of about a year than I have in any other in beta. And I've been in a lot of them."
Overall, if you read the first few paragraphs of this article there are a WHOLE lot of "I"'s. Rubbed me the wrong way.
ScytheNoire said on 4:33PM 8-23-2008
I hope all the WoW fans and WAR haters don't join and play the game. Keep playing WoW, just as all those EQ fans hated on WoW and kept playing it. We all know the rest of that history.
As much as WoW was an evolutionary leap over EQ, WAR is an evolutionary leap over WoW. It gets rid of so many things that add no fun to the game, and improves and adds so many things that do make the game more fun.
It's just the next evolution. It doesn't re-invent the wheel, it's just a better wheel.
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Xeos Celeres said on 5:55PM 8-23-2008
A good read, though, crafting, and the general UI (boxes/icons) does need improvement.
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recursive said on 8:11PM 8-23-2008
Nice read, glad to hear the community comments too with so many people like Scythe over there around atm. But I guess launches are supposed to be like Barrens chat.. ><
Is Massively allowed to cover higher level content yet? Curious how the game holds itself after the first few tiers.
Overall it's starting to look like a nice PvP MMO, still a bit undecided on the PvE aspect.
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recursive said on 8:18PM 8-23-2008
Pff. Wrong post with the community bit. Typical. Now I'm worried again.
Don't quite understand how they played the development of some of the stuff they cut, but there's playtesters and stuff as well I guess. I think overall Mythic has played most stuff above the table, just the last few months have been a bit uncertain.
It's all the fanboying that's going to hurt this game most if it's less than perfect, so things like these need to be said too. Overall your time seems to have been enjoyable though and that's what games are about first.
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Liz said on 9:43AM 8-25-2008
Strange, I didn't find the intro pretentious...
I played the preview weekend, wanted to get into closed beta for a long time. I wondered where those other classes went! now i know!
I did find several very fixable bugs, and I'm glad to know that there has already been vast improvements through the whole process, so I'm confident that Mythic will have a pretty polished game at launch.
My speculation is that those who preordered WAR are those that truly want something different than WoW. i.e. Me. Thus far, I'm truly happy with the direction WAR is taking. Thanks for the memoir, it's very helpful.
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Paul said on 11:32AM 8-25-2008
Dude, I read this and its about nothing! I was in the beta since august 12th and I can say more about the game then this whole article. The only things he talks about is him being in beta for a long time and other useless stuff. What you need to do is talk about THE GAME and how was THE GAME experience and some PROS and CONS.
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McGoo said on 12:17PM 8-25-2008
The title of this article is "Memoirs of a WAR Beta Tester". It isn't "Complete in-depth review of WAR". If you don't want to read a memoir, then just stop. Why read the whole thing and then proclaim that this guy knows nothing.
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Mark said on 3:26PM 8-25-2008
Paul, you're a git, just like McGoo said, it was a memoir and such, basically he can write about the color of the sky in it when you take a flight if he wanted...
Anyway, i've tested beta's also, however didn't get the coveted invite to this one... i was in a sad state for a while. Anyway, that being said i preordered it without a second thought, kind of on blind faith ( have to count the times i use the letter i and becareful with it, don't want to sound pretentious!). i did play DAoC for a while, but that was a long time ago, and well due to crappy computer back then and college and stuff, i had to give it up. So, here it is, the end of the preview weekend, and i feel the need to just say one thing really, the game is great though a few things that i know mythic is aware of and will take care of before release, if you are like myself and tired of the gear contest/strutting around in WoW and other like games, i say you should give this one a shot... to sum it all up in one word... that would have to be
WAAAAAAAAGH!
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Sean said on 12:33AM 8-26-2008
I loved this article. It was very down to earth and related a lot of my own opinions of War. I was in the preview weekend and this is my first beta experience but i loved being able to test it. only issue is now i want this game even more. War is a leap in a new direction for MMO's focusing more on player cooperation and friendly competitiveness rather than becoming a "power ranger" at high levels and then having to just redo it all again. I quit WoW so long ago and never going back. War all the way.
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Driznar said on 9:46AM 8-26-2008
My only concern for WAR is order vs. chaos population balance.
Chaos seems to be the dominant side . My squig hearder had no problems doing PQ's, while my engineer was hard pressed to find a solid group. Though my play times where in the mornings.
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Dank said on 3:49AM 8-26-2008
this article was a very good read and Kyle made some great points about the game/develpoment process/overall big picture. I've been imn beta for about 6 months now and can't even express my excitement for this game!
All's I can say is: WAR > WoW
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SmokeFalcon said on 9:48PM 8-27-2008
I can't wait to start open beta. As far as I can tell from everything I've read and heard, WAR RvR is going to be the best thing since sliced bread ( and we all know how much we like sliced bread ) Of course everyone is always worried about class balance, but they seem to have a great handle on any problems. WoW made me happy for 2 years, AoC made me happy for a month, hopefully I'll still be playing WAR 3 yrs from now!!
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Abriael said on 10:39PM 8-27-2008
Very nice article. I find myself, as another beta tester that has been around since day one, agreeing pretty much with almost all of it.
I do feel as well that the KOTBS and the BG need to be reinstated soon (expecially after having been one of the few leveling a KOTBS to 40 in the beta, and enjoying it a lot, even if it was really really really similar to DAOC's paladin, maybe a tad too much) should be Mythic's number 1 priority after launch (alongside polishing and such), even if Swordmaster will definately more than enough to keep me interested until KOTBS comes back.
But overally the game really feels good, the RvR action is great, there's TONS of content and a wide variety of things to do. Honestly i can't wait to see what Mythic will do with the game after release. With the depth of the IP and several races still waiting to be included (i see at the very least six of them that would fit very well in the Order vs Destruction scenario: Bretonnia, Skaven, Lizardmen, Vampire Counts, Wood Elves, Beasts of Chaos, alongside with all the depth and scope of their own background). Warhammer Online has definately the potential to be the hugest and most beautifully varied thing our computers will see in the following years.
@Driznar: I wouldn't be very worried about population balance. During early beta, when most people included were mainly hardcore seasoned players, destruction largely outnumbered order. With preview weekend, when more casual people were included, numbers became much nearer. With release, when an even bigger intake of casual gamers will come into the picture (with droves of the ever present legolas fanboys and girls), I'm pretty sure order will pretty much match destruction in numbers, or even slightly outnumber them. The very strong following of destruction compared to other games (in which the "evil" races were pretty much shunned, mostly due to unimpressive design and monodimensional backgrounds) might definately be a nice thing, finally bringing some balance in numbers between "good" and "evil" in a MMORPG.
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Tarvi said on 7:54AM 8-28-2008
I loved this little 'diary' of Kyle's experience in the beta.
I found it easy to read, not at all 'pretentious' and as far as I can see, true to the information that all the other sources I've read have stated.
Thank you!
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