A data-fueled examination of Warhammer Online's launch
by Kyle Horner 
Oct 6th 2008 at 12:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Warhammer Online, News items
GamerDNA has a very interesting article taking a look at the effect of Warhammer Online's launch on games like World of Warcraft and Age of Conan. It was written by our most recent guest on Massively Speaking, Sanya Weathers. They've primarily watched the login rates of 250 players since beta who'd been certain that they'd pick up the title on launch day and the results are quite interesting. Neither World of Warcraft nor Age of Conan seem immediately affected by the game's launch, but that hasn't stopped its numbers from skyrocketing among the group of test players. Strangely enough, it also seems like the launch of Warhammer Online has caused people to play more games in general, including Lord of the Rings Online and Spore. The coolest thing about all of this is that GamerDNA plans to continue its data mining over the coming months in order to build up a big pile of information. WAR has undoubtedly made a big splash in the ocean of MMOs and we can't wait to see if any big waves -- either good or bad -- come of it.
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Did you enjoy this? Make sure to check out our Warhammer guides: Massively's Character Creation Guide and our WoW Player's Guide to Warhammer. Plus, don't miss any of our ongoing coverage as Massively goes to WAR! |
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Leshrac said on 12:17PM 10-06-2008
I'll be honest; I don't think that I am going to renew my WAR sub. I play on Order and for a game based around PVP the game just isn't fun for me. We get our butts kicked in scenarios, we quickly get outnumbered in RVR, Destruction controls every Keep I see.
The PVE game in WAR is pretty boring too, its basically EQ 1999. And after chapter 12 the PQs got stale pretty quickly.
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MightyIdle said on 1:25PM 10-06-2008
I've had a different experience. Things on my server seem to be very well balanced, if not tilted slightly towards order.
I think it'll simply take time for things to balance out and settle down into a normal routine.
Leshrac said on 1:44PM 10-06-2008
Yeah, I don't know - there are too many games that are coming out that I want to try and I just don't have the patience to wait around for WAR to right itself. This weekend I had a choice between Crysis Warhead and WAR and I chose Crysis. I stared at the WAR icon and for the first time in a month or so I had no desire to play - that's not a good sign this early.
I'm actually looking at WoW again, which pains me, but I actually enjoy WoW pvp better then what WAR is offering. WAR was supposed to be about RvR but no one does it on my server.....and when we do decided to go and take a Keep the entire server shows up and the game is a laggy slideshow, then I'm getting hit by mobs inside walls - or the mobs are rubber banding. Its a mess. So the only other option is Scenarios and people are clueless when it comes to PVP, I'm no newbie to PVP and I've wracked up over 50,000 kills in WoW and I've been death matching since Half-Life and Quake III. I love going up against human opponents but WAR sux for PVP.
I'm going to pick-up Fallout 3 and WotLK. I'd say I'd check back on WAR in a few months but already the newbie PQs and zones are dead.
JP said on 4:33PM 10-06-2008
Well, I can attest to logging in to two mmos a day. And it's not WoW or AoC. It's CoH. And honestly, since I picked up WAR (3 days after launch) I **only** log into CoH to buy/sell on the market. I log in for 10 mins - tops. Say hi to SG mates, and then usually end w/ "Cya. WAAAGH!"
WAR is that fun.
Also, my server is pretty balanced as well, almost in favor of Order.
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tenfoldhate said on 3:11PM 10-06-2008
I think it'll take a while to get a substantial amount of the population into Tier 3+ until RvR gets very interesting in WAR. That's why I'm enjoying scenarios at the moment--since it involves X amount of players on each side, it provides some balance even if Destruction vastly outnumber Order on your server. And another thing people fail to factor in when criticizing WAR's PvE. PvE is boring in EVERY MMORPG--unless of course, it's your FIRST PvE experience. It's the same across the board, from EQ to WoW to LoTRO to AoC. I'm glad its in WAR as an occassional distraction, but if anything it just shows that devs need to start thinking long and hard about how to make PvE-style questing a viable, fun option again.
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Leshrac said on 3:23PM 10-06-2008
Nah, I don't agree - not all PVE is boring. In WoW there was something new and exciting about entering a new zone, the varied terrains too made it fun to explore. My first time to down Onyxia and Raggs in MC was a blast. In WAR its just run from one PQ to the next. In WAR its like you're on rails, leading you to the next zone. WoW felt and feels bigger and the landscape feels more varied. Granted, WAR isn't even a month old - but I'm just not feeling it with the PVE. And Scenarios are basically nothing more then WoW BGs.
To each his own I guess, I'm kinda disappointed because I ran out and bought the CE, paid for overnight shipping - I even bought my sons a copy as well. And they're not really even logging in to WAR either. I really, really wanted to be able to wipe my slate clean of WoW but the more I played WAR the more I missed WoW. The talent trees in WoW certainly feel more developed, rightfully so, then the WAR version. And most of all the WoW UI is butter smooth compared to the WAR UI.
Have fun guys, I may change my mind - I've learned to never say never when it comes to MMOs.
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Ohnam said on 5:27PM 10-06-2008
Bah, WoW Burning Crusade was just like its original content and it 5 mans were no fun. People had to spend time finding the right group to succeed unless they had friends with enough gear to cover newbies or slightly under geared players to get thru.
It was more of the same except for dailies. At least I can get xp when I pvp.
Abriael said on 12:34AM 10-07-2008
lol @ wow's landscape being more varied. There's no game with a better landscape variation than Warhammer Online. And the scenarios also, are much more fun and varied (and require better coordination) than wow's borefest BGs.
At the moment wow is simply stale meat. A lot of meat, but still stale. And WOTLK won't change that.
Leshrac said on 11:26AM 10-07-2008
You can't expect a 4 year old game to feel fresh when compared to a brand new game, use your brain.
WAR Scenarios are just kludgy suck festivals. Strategy? You're kidding right? LOL - CTF? Strategy? Grab the ball? Please........
WAR's landscape is a pain in the ass to navigate, you get hung up on little bullshit changes in the landscape like a tiny rock or branch, and mobs can't hit you thru the terrain too. The whole game has a very boxed in feeling which is why when you take a flight all you get is a loading screen, because the game is a bunch of zones cobbled together - and which you could never effortlessly "fly over".