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[Interview] Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes: Why It's Closing
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Last week's announcement that Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes came as a shock to some. We managed to catch up to Producer James Casey to find out more about the reasons behind the closure. See what he had to say before heading to the comments to discuss the interview.
MMORPG: It seems like it was just yesterday when we saw Wrath of Heroes unveiled at PAX Prime. Why the sudden announcement of the closure?
James Casey: It boils down to us having to make a hard decision about the project in light of our changing direction as a studio. Over the last year as we've had a chance to expand and experiment with Wrath of Heroes, we began a pivot to mobile as a studio. With this shift we looked at our resources, our plans, and our projects to achieve our transitions. As a result, we had to make the decision to retire Wrath of Heroes as a project while in Open Beta rather than push it forward. As I noted in the producer letter, Wrath of Heroes was a grand experiment and it had some very hardcore followers. It has a strong IP, a great community, and what I think is some outstanding three-way action in that space. But the studio is moving into new spaces and we had to make the hard call to close Wrath of Heroes.
Read more of Bill Murphy's Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes - Why It's Closing.
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Comments
Joined - July 2004
It's sad to see this game close. I really liked this game, despite some of it's flaws, but it was clear from the start that the company behind it just wanted to grab as much cash as they could. They kept "rebalancing" the cash shop prices, they never added a decent clan/team system, and they never even created an official forum for the game, instead the players had to create one. That's shameful.
Too bad, the game was actually really fun.
One of the true reasons the game could not catch on with audiences is simpler than anyone would have you believe: As the game started to grow in numbers, a group of hardcore players (Cult) were online 12+ hours a day stomping all of the pickup groups that new players were routinely queued into. There was no separate queue for premades, so all new players were repeatedly stomped by veteran premade groups. The new players would then inevitably quit, reducing the population, and new players would come in and get matched up against the Cult premade as well. I remember days where I would play 5 or 6 games in a row against them.
The devs never addressed this problem with the simple solution of adding a random queue with premades disallowed, despite repeated outcry from many in the community. You simply cannot afford to not listen to your fanbase if you expect your game to thrive.
Moo
Yea, that was also a big issue with the game. The devs implemented some sort of matchmaking but it didn't really work very well.
WAR itself was a failure, this little "test" was just an attempt at something they know nothing about. Their system, features, costs and overall theme were so flawed that it would not succeed with anyhing but an insanely small and niche audience. Something that maybe a little indie team could keep going, but doesn't look good at a presentation at a large company.
Not shocked at all and obviously this guy isn't going to be frank or earnest ni his replies, they are still trying to sell their upcoming "mobile" titles. You can't tell people you're a gross failure with the left hand and then hope they invest in your products from the right hand.
PS - Everyone with a brain knew WAR was dead in beta after the huge nerfs, cutting the other capitol cities and watching the PvE gameplay devolve into the mess they released.
ahhh WOH--
Ill miss my 'Archivist.'..to this day i still use that awsome name on my other mmo characters.!
Mythic you guys are awsome!-Dont give up!-Your time will come! thanks for givin us a great game!
Warhammer online still the best fantasy mmo!
I love how "failure" turned into "experiment" this game, this whole cycles was a rushed mess of compromises, cuts and lack of risk taking that lead to huge mistakes despite a ton of potential.
For many mmo's today the word seems to be "bite off more then we can chew" or "promise the world and give them dirt instead"
James Casey: I just want to say thank you to everyone that tried Wrath of Heroes over any part of our Beta processes. Whether the game was for you or not, your participation in the game was immensely helpful to us. I hope that all the fans and those that have played the game, even if they lapsed, get a chance to jump in, buy some cheap heroes and experience all the new stuff we slam in before we have to shut it down at the end of March. Once again, and I can't repeat this enough, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support.
I am the only one who was specting anything else but... that?...
Wait... what?
It was selling stuff in it's shop in beta? And worse; "We also went through and put all items on the store at dramatically marked down prices."
They are *still* trying to sell stuff, even after the close down annonucement?
*edit* I see later he states to label the open beta (which for some reason limited their audience..?) was more of a 'soft launch' apparently... Boy, this guy is slippery lol. Just open your store for free already Mythic, the game is dead man walking and it just looks like you are trying to get some last minute necrophilia in before it goes into the ground.
Well, wow. Mythic really shifts into mobile games industry.
Word. Though Wrath of Heroes obviously was one more "milking" experiment by EA its even more sad that Mythic gets pushed towards mobile games industry.
game was live for years.. what would it really matter if you threw in money and enjoyed your time playing? does a game need to be available for 30 years to make it worth putting money into?
I angered the clerk in a clothing shop today. She asked me what size I was and I said actual, because I am not to scale. I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at a store, oftentimes, I will drop it... so that it achieves its maximum flavor potential. --Mitch Hedberg
It entered open Beta less than a year ago, and that they feel the need to say in an interview about the game closing that theyve lowered cash shop prices speaks for itself...
Bump. You can't beat these folks with a stick in the head while you yell, "how could you ignore so much from Dark Age of Camelot and think you were going to float?"
I feel sorry for the people who needed the resume' builder and work at whatever is really running warhammer these days. I hope thye get a chance to get out.