Massively interviews WAR's producer on the future of the game

by Tracey John Nov 11th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Patches, Warhammer Online

Warhammer Online has gone through big changes recently, both in-game and out. Mythic recently released the title's 1.3.2 patch, which had some controversial changes, and this week we learned that staffers at the studio were let go as part of Electronic Arts' new business strategy.

In the midst of all this, Warhammer Online producer Jeff Skalski answered questions via e-mail to Massively.com about where the game is headed.

"Right now, our focus is on improving the RvR campaign, career balance, and game performance," Skalski said. "These are critical to our long term success. We also continue to fix bugs and work on overall game polish. These are the things we sit down and discuss every patch planning meeting we have."

Though we got a letter to the community from producer Jeff Hickman earlier, Skalski also addressed questions about appeasing both existing and new players, whether or not to merge servers again and the overall future of Warhammer Online in these troubled times.

Massively.com: There were a lot of changes implemented in the 1.3.2 patch that made some users upset. What do you say to those who don't agree with the changes?

Jeff Skalski: We hear them and always take our users feedback very seriously. We made a lot of good progress in 1.3.2, and for those none too happy about how often city sieges are occurring, rest assured there is a plan in place. In fact, just recently we hot-fixed a few things to address some of the players' concerns and have an upcoming PTS event to test a few more additional tweaks to the city endgame. This should help carry us through to 1.3.3 where we plan to introduce an underdog system into the RvR campaign.

Why were these changes implemented? Do you see these changes as a split between trying to appeal to the existing userbase and attracting new players?

Every week, we get reports generated on how players are playing the game. We read the forums and we listen. All this data helps drive the planning of feature improvements in our patch schedule. If you specifically look at 1.3.2, we added features targeted at our endgame, such as the new keep difficulty system and removal of fortresses, and at new users coming into the game through our new user journey experience. We purposely pushed our last patch to hit two different types of player in WAR, but in the end all subscribers benefit from all the improvements either directly or indirectly in cases.

Do you find it challenging to try to appease both existing and new players?

Yes, its fine line we walk. The last thing I want is for a subscriber out there to think we are not aware of or don't plan to address their top concerns. We don't want to be working on a part of the game that has no relevance to their play style.

What has been the most challenging aspect of working on WAR these days?

Making the call which features to include with each patch. We have so much that we want to get done, but unfortunately we can't get it all done every patch. We want to make sure we always allocate time to address lingering bugs and put more polish into WAR.

Why do the endless free trial now? What do you think it will accomplish?

We are very proud of the work we've accomplished over the past year on WAR, with new careers, new content, and our recent performance and stability improvements. We want players to come check out everything we've done, whether it's for their first time, or it's a returning visit to the game for another look. Now, no one has an excuse. We've simplified our trial account registration, drastically lowered the initial download from 6GB to 1GB, and revamped the Tier 1 content to be a more enjoyable PvE and intense RvR experience.

It's great that people are able to play Tier 1 for free, but many have also complained about the lack of players beyond that. Do you expect the free trial will really boost those numbers after Tier 1?

Definitely! We have every confidence that the changes we are making to the game will hook players and they'll want to continue into higher tiers and take part in the RvR campaign. We plan to take what we've learned from the new user journey experience in Empire vs. Chaos Tier 1 and apply it all the way up and through Tiers 2, 3 and 4.

Would it be better to merge servers again?

Yes and no. Merging a server affects a lot of people, and some players rejoice while others get upset about the change. It's a tough call really. Right now we're closely watching Dark Crag and Phoenix Throne. Both have passionate players on them, but we wish the populations were higher. With the recent release of 1.3.2 ,we'll be holding off on any merges until we get a few more weeks of data. Then we can make final, informed decision if needed.

Some say that WAR is still trying to find a clear direction. Can you tell us what elements, development-wise, that Mythic is focusing on for WAR?

Right now, our focus is on improving the RvR campaign, career balance, and game performance. These are critical to our long term success. We also continue to fix bugs and work on overall game polish. These are the things we sit down and discuss every patch planning meeting we have.

What do you say to the naysayers who say WAR's on the decline?

When's the last time you played the game? If the answer is anything over a month, then do me a favor and give the new endless trial a shot. The team's made a lot of great improvements in 1.3.2 and we have even more planned for 1.3.3. We're sure we can change their minds.

Do you ever see WAR going free-to-play?

No, not in its current state. WAR would need to have a lot of things scraped and redone in order to support that type of business model successfully.

What can we expect from WAR in the future?

Well, with 1.3.3 we're going to be introducing the underdog system to the RvR campaign. This will act as a handicap system for the Realm that is losing the war and give them a chance to fight back. We are also preparing for WAR's launch in Korea and there will be many enhancements/adjustments from to that version that will be big wins for all our entire global player base. For example, the upcoming visual enhancements we're doing in 1.3.3, including Bloom/HDR lighting and new weapon trails, come from the work we've been doing on WAR for Korea. Beyond that we'll continue to take a strategic approach to tweaking the careers, and you can expect continual improvements to the RvR Campaign to make our endgame even more exciting.

[Note: We asked how the layoffs at Mythic specifically affect the game and the team, and we were informed by PR that no one at EA will be commenting on the layoffs at this time. We wish the best to everyone affected.]

Tags: Electronic-Arts, featured, jeff-skalski, Mythic-Entertainment, war-patch-1.3.2, warhammer-online

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

tiki said on 4:21PM 11-11-2009

I would have asked if DAoC 2 is something they will work on in the future.

Ivasen said on 4:28PM 11-11-2009

I recently tried WAR again, and it just doesn't feel natural.
I'm pretty sure it's the engine, but here are a few things that bother me.

Mounting - It just feels weird, I can't put my finger on it, but it just doesn't feel like a mount. It feels like I got a speed buff with a weird animation.

The quality of the game - Whenever I'm running and see another player, specifically the opposite faction; it looks like they are either lagging or the game is having trouble rendering their movement.
They don't look like they are running naturally, more like you are seeing things at two frames a second. It's hard to describe without seeing it.

Server to Client lag - I still see Ability and Item lag, such as moving stuff around in my inventory or using an ability when I want it to. It gets very annoying on a positional DPS class.

DoTs - DoTs just don't feel very fun, you know how in other games when you DoT something so much you laugh and feel evil knowing they are going to die? You don't feel that in Warhammer - you feel like you better keep reapplying the DoT five times over to make sure they die.

I probably have more but I can't think of them at the time.

Rolanthas said on 4:44PM 11-11-2009

@Ivasen:: The frame drop you mentioned is the LoD on animations. Beyond a certain range character animations drop frames to improve performance. It simply looks disgusting though, and should have been optional.

snowleopard233 said on 10:13PM 11-11-2009

I was noticing that too! And I thought it was just because I was running it on Mac. What also bothered me was that when I reset the graphics, the game auto-set them back next time I logged in to what it felt was appropriate.

JP said on 5:05PM 11-11-2009

More PR "we're committed" w/out any real evidence of such. I'm sure the mood at Mythic isn't the best, but if they're going to try and spin this as anything but bad, they'll need to be a little more upfront then the same three things they've been talking about since Jacobs got canned. RvR, Performance, Balance. It's a broken record that people just aren't buying anymore. We're one and a quarter year into the game, and it's still the same shit, different day.

Hiravaxis said on 5:44PM 11-11-2009

Have you even played the game?
They've made big strides in these 3 areas, but they ARE still the key points of interest.

Saddest thing about the layoffs is that we're less likely to see an expansion soon.
Well the second saddest.. The saddest thing is your constant yammering.

Cameron said on 5:16PM 11-11-2009

I don't want Warhammer to die. I liked it a lot. Disciple of Khaine is my favorite MMO class ever. I just don't have the money to spend on multiple subscriptions at the moment, so I'll just cross my fingers and hope the game is still there when I can play again.

Don't shoot down my joyplane, people.

newskooltrooper said on 5:16PM 11-11-2009

Exactly...RvR, performance, balance. Blah, blah, blah. What I don't hear is, "We'll soon be announcing a brand-new expansion that adds several RvR zones, a couple of new high-end dungeons, and a couple of new scenarios."

I somehow doubt that I'm ever going to hear that. It's pretty obvious they're in "Make the best of what we already have" mode.

pogger said on 5:22PM 11-11-2009

I subscribed to the game a while back and re-tried the trial. It really isn't a bad game. Visually, it's okay. It's tough to describe but while the background is nice, the characters almost seem like paper dolls placed on a hi-res picture. Aesthetics are pretty important to me.

Any idea if 1.3.3 is going to be DX10+? Do they have an idea of when it's going to be released? I'd like to try the trial once again after 1.3.3.

Kaza said on 5:23PM 11-11-2009

More then a few of our guild members, including myself tried out WAR again after 1.3.2 and it doesn't hold water. The game itself has gronw stale and people are now excited in T4 about having 2-3 full Warbands on a "great" night. If you just do the math, that means those left are excited to see 70+ people per side on a really great night for RvR. Which at first sounds great until you realize those numbes only occus for 1-3 hours and after that the game goes back to being a ghost town.

On top of that there is still the gross imbalance on classes and RvR ranks that cause any new player in T4 to blanch when they realize how ineffective they are comparatively.

I'm slightly dissapointed that Massively hasn't done more of a dissection on this interview. There must be some politics behind it since they will want the interviews from EA once Star Wars comes closer. Still, the questions should be asked about why Mythic refuses to change some of the more core mechanics and improve upon classes and skills to make the game more fun. Forget all of the added stability, enhanced graphics and gloss, if the core of the game isn't fun, then no sugar coating will change that.

For instance:
What do you say to the naysayers who say WAR's on the decline?
He side stepped this question, so I challenge him. Give any potential players a reason to say WAR is not on the decline. What few servers you have are asking for mergers, yes even Badlands needs one now.
Saying that he is sure they can change thier minds, based on what? Forts are gone, but now cities are flipping too often and you have an upcoming fix. What is that fix and how will it improve the system? Why should anyone choose WAR's RvR over EVE's or even WoWs?

Some say that WAR is still trying to find a clear direction. Can you tell us what elements, development-wise, that Mythic is focusing on for WAR?
He also managed to avoid truly answering this question. Heck he may have even used the same answer that was given almost a year ago. Nothing has changed on that promise and the vast majority of the age old complaints about the game are still oustanding. Unless they can give a clear direction, as noted in the question, they Mythic is only floundering around and has no real intention of fixing anything in a time frame that would revive the game.

I would love a chance to interview them myself and push for real answers, not this teleprompter PR babble that you guys were fed.

Archmage said on 7:50PM 11-11-2009

RE: Massively not being more critical of the interview.

Massively, with a very few exceptions, comes across to me for the most part as a PR extension of most of these companies. The best reviewing/writing I've seen was by Brooke -- most others seem to be so excited to be getting an interview that they go all fan-boy and throw nothing but softballs at these guys.

Just my opinion.

Thormier said on 5:28PM 11-11-2009

I recently resubbed to WAR and im having a blast , I used to really enjoy playing WAR but i left because i started to play WoW again and Aion

But going back to WAR has been great , I started playing the squig herder which im having a blast with. I really like the advice chat where i can ask any questions and people will reply.

The game has a great atmosphere and there are always more people running around!

I think the t1 becoming free was a great idea , i suggest anyone who hasnt to check out the free trial!

Matthew said on 5:45PM 11-11-2009

You know who else said that they were "totally committed to this triple A title"? NCSoft, two month before they pulled the plug on tabula rasa.

Tim said on 6:05PM 11-11-2009

You have a source of this ? Or are you just trying some scaremongering ?

It could go both ways, there was some big panic at Funcom aswell before the AoC picked up again.

Warhammer is my favorite world, and WAR is a very very good iteration on bringing the tabletop game to life. Letting this go without seeing how Mythic picks up the pieces (like they're doing lately) would be a darn shame.

Hardy said on 10:30PM 11-11-2009

This game deserves to succeed, but even if it's amazing. The MMO market is too saturated. 15 bucks a month is good for many people, but more than one game and it's out of the question.
Since most people already play Wow and have a commited group of people they play it. It's hard to move.

I think they should change the pricing to 10 bucks, like what LotRO has. I think that would boost subs a lot.

JP said on 10:28AM 11-12-2009

@Tim

You can see the link Elliot has in the last article about Hickman's letter showing NCSoft's "triple A and here to stay"

Also, comparing AoC/Funcom and WAR/Mythic isn't exactly Apples & Apples. There's a huge difference that one doesn't have looming over them: Electronic Arts. Funcom can, and likely will, keep AoC running on a very slim revenue as they would accept revenue overall. EA doesn't do that. If it's no making enough, they'll close it.

Graill said on 6:44PM 11-11-2009

Cool, they just release this MMO? *looks around*

Dripping Sarcasm for those that need the explanation.

Accordance said on 2:16AM 11-12-2009

Mythic lost sight of the World of Warhammer IP. It arguable that they had it in sight in the first place. What they created was an RvR system with a Warhammer face on it and the system was flawed to begin with (RvR lakes?) They had a lot of great ideas, like the Tome of Knowledge, but they were poorly implemented. Why list in a Chaos player's Tome unreachable Empire NPCs? And a great many of the unlocks still don't work. The crafting system was horrible and made no sense. Turning into a chicken was a weak and easy way of limiting higher level players from controlling lower-level PvP and it, too, ran counter the lore of the Warhammer World, which speaks of untrained hundreds of 'low-levels' being slaughtered regularly.

All I'm trying to say is that, in my opinion, the only way Mythic will make this game a success is if they go back the drawing board with the Warhammer World lore held close and design system around that lore. Give it some life.

It's probably too late.

Bossy said on 2:48AM 11-12-2009

Indeed.

WAR had nothing to do with Warhammer Lore. And like the previous poster said "they never had it in sight".

From the initial release only ONE marginal figure was coming from the Empire Army (warrior priest - not even included in the basic Army box). Not even a kinght was included.

It showed Mythic NEVER had a clue about Warhammer. In fact they were not interested in WH TT. They were interested in WoWHammer. A game that already was made and had 9 miles head start in a 10 miles race.

The scenarios were pathetic compared to BG's. The Siege castle animations were worthless against the real time destruction in Wintergrasp. The RvR didn't work at all. For a PvP game the controls were out of synch and complete unresponsive (Mythic ack-ed this themselves !) and finally the world was liniair, cut up (divided into Tiers which killed its much needed populations) and PQ's were simply not being played because the player base was too divided in the scenarios, Tiers, and server limits.

HOW much MORE failed elements do you want ?

I am betting WAR will be finished in 2010. Enjoy it while it lasts, but next spring this game will have 2 servers each in US and EU... and after that you simply can't merge anymore.

Mark Jacobs...: YOU are responsible for this mess. YOU and YOU alone and then that jumping monkey "Paul" guy of course.

It is also time that money grabbing machine of Games Workshop start to CARE about their franchises. As if it continues like this, they could end up the same way.

BTW Our Warhammer shopkeeper says the War Fantasy battles don't sell anymore like it used to be ... (WH 40K has more success). I wonder if the massive FAIL of WAR didn't have a little finger in it.