Here's the thing.....You can only use the excuse "spit and polish" so many times. While I'll agree on most points and by no means want another vanguard released, I'm a little concerned over this last delay.
Its not whether or not the game is going to good, It will be good or great , but the beta testing has revealed some of the content or mechanics that they thought would be a hit were not.
So how long before we wait until they release? Who knows for sure, but I don't think hiding behind spit n polish to make the best dam game is going to work anymore.
The pre order info being posted shows around 10/07/08 - 10/14/08 or something like that. If Mythic doesn't clean up what they want by then and release the game good or great I think they will have comiited suicide for War.
If you don't have confidence in your game Mark then hire someone with some balls to push what the game needs to be released.
I'm guessing that this is good news for AoC, frankly, as now it will get a hefty head start over the other big MMORPG contender of 2008. Assuming WAR keeps to the new release date, I assume it will end up launching at about the same time as Stargate Worlds, which I also think may hurt them a bit. Of WAR and Stargate, the latter MMO interests me more.
I don't care about AoC, I don't want to play it and I won't play it.
It's not like there's is an alternative to what i want.
I want to play WAR and at the right time when it will be done.
I'm not currently playing any other MMO and I don't feel the need to.
Stargate World ?...a threat to a many years in developpement game? doubt so.
The problem with WAR is that they're trying and hoping to compete with WoW. If they'd simply settle for being a good game and getting a respectable player base they'd be so much better off than trying to please everyone to become the next mega hit with 4.5 million in Europe and the US. I wouldn't be too surprised if a year from now, Pirates of the Burning Sea is bigger than both WAR and AoC, and I don't consider it entirely unlikely that AoC will also be bigger than WAR. Simply because trying to be a second WoW will simply have players go for WoW instead of your game. And no, I don't believe for a second that the delay is for any other reason than trying to grab the WoW crowd. Mythic knows RvR, and already had that nailed down pretty well early on. I think delays are all to please the "WoW-market". And of course this is my personal opinion and guesses, not adamant truth or analysis based on insider Mythic info. At least, when proven wrong a year from now, I won't be creating another account to hide from it. :-p Edit: and my best wishes to the Mythic guys. We're all cheering for you. Just please keep this your game, not the game you had to make to make (more) money.
Well I agree with you, but keep something in mind. WoW is so hugely popular for a certain reason...not because of the Warcraft name, or because of any certain graphical styles. It's because the game is fun. That's as much an opinion as it's a convention, and of course a good number of people will play it and not enjoy their time.
But nine million people, more than any other online game before it, many of whom are first timers to the genre, have played the game and become addicted. Still, just calling it 'fun' is a little vague. The character development is interesting, the abilities are fun to try in combat (and constantly changing through patches) the world itself is rather well conceived, and the game is programmed incredibly well. Nearly everything works the way it should, nothing seems too 'slow' or restraining, it's an easy game to just jump into and feel like a part of the world that's fun to interact with. It's on the easy side which makes it even more accessible, but there are a lot of further challenges players can find once the levelling process is tired out. Everything about WoW is solid. All of it comes together and ropes people in who never even thought they'd play a game like this.
I'm not writing a review for WoW, I'm trying to put the desire to emulate WoW's success into perspective. They're not just trying to put out a game made a certain way that will make a lot of money, they're trying to make a game so accessible that people in the millions will jump into this game and come away with it wanting to return. Sure, it will make them a lot of money...and that's why EA is so lenient with Mythic about this.
To put it conversely, think about Final Fantasy XI. There are some people who think the game is utterly badass, and hate the guts out of World of Warcraft. That's great for them, but people like me who think FFXI is just too slow and unforgiving to get motivated enough to play to the endgame simply aren't going to invest time and money into this product. And Mythic's bottom line is simply, why put out such an extensive, immersive product with such a prolific name as Warhammer if you aren't going to aspire to getting as many people to sink as money hours into this experience as they possibly can? Money or not.
BUT. One thing I agree with you about is that I do feel that they're pushing a little too far toward their perceived ideal of perfection. There's only so much improvement you can make before doing more harm than good. I feel that releasing the game pretty close to perfect and then making small changes after (there's these things called patches and expansions games have!) would be good enough.
Both WAR and AoC have a challenging problem.
The reason WoW is so immensely popular is, of course, because it's easy for the MMO novice and the casual gamer to get into. Most MMO players are casual -- they don't PvP much, if at all -- nor do they raid much. The statistics bear this out, and it's really interesting since WoW is an equipment centric game where success and end game are based on raids and PvP.
That said, here come WAR and AoC. In both, PvP is central. In fact, WAR is nothing but PvP.
So how does FunCom and EA Mythic draw the casual MMO player? Add more PvE to draw them in while finding ways to introduce these casual players into PvP in a way that's fun for them. Both FunCom and Mythic have experience with this.
I doubt if EA Mythic or FunCom are aiming for a niche market audience of hardcore powergamers who live and breath PvP. No. The only thing they want to emulate from WoW is the hugely popular wide-based appeal -- 9 million players is a nice, round number. So when comparing it to WoW, this will be the crux for the success or failure of both WAR and AoC.
I agree with some of the previous posters. Should never have given a date to begin with. Pushing it back over and over really upsets their customers and they risk losing some as a result.
Oh and personally I was looking forward to Imperator over WAR by far.
Please just make this the last delay. I understand that this will help of the quality if the game on launch day I'm getting anxious and don't know how much longer I can keep waiting.
I can also wonder if this is EA sticking their nose into the development mucking it up. In the past a lot of developers have said, American McGee for one, that EA wasn't a good company to work for from a development standpoint.
At least these guys have figured it out, if you have a bad release your game, no matter how good later on will not be as successful as it could have been.
I agree with those of you who said that they should not have even had a release date. All it brings is dissapointment. They knew going into development that there would be atleast one delay. It doesnt help the way the are having closed beta....bit by bit, area by area[i am not in beta i just read that from the WAR website].
It is a good way to focus on one point at a time but slows up the process all at once. But then again, you dont want an unfinished product on the market.
Comments
Just dont make us wait till 2009 Okay? Good.
Here's the thing.....You can only use the excuse "spit and polish" so many times. While I'll agree on most points and by no means want another vanguard released, I'm a little concerned over this last delay.
Its not whether or not the game is going to good, It will be good or great , but the beta testing has revealed some of the content or mechanics that they thought would be a hit were not.
So how long before we wait until they release? Who knows for sure, but I don't think hiding behind spit n polish to make the best dam game is going to work anymore.
The pre order info being posted shows around 10/07/08 - 10/14/08 or something like that. If Mythic doesn't clean up what they want by then and release the game good or great I think they will have comiited suicide for War.
If you don't have confidence in your game Mark then hire someone with some balls to push what the game needs to be released.
I don't care about AoC, I don't want to play it and I won't play it.
It's not like there's is an alternative to what i want.
I want to play WAR and at the right time when it will be done.
I'm not currently playing any other MMO and I don't feel the need to.
Stargate World ?...a threat to a many years in developpement game? doubt so.
anyways my 2 cents.
I think this delay means that they should open up the beta test more.. to more testers...
like me..
*cough*
Well I agree with you, but keep something in mind. WoW is so hugely popular for a certain reason...not because of the Warcraft name, or because of any certain graphical styles. It's because the game is fun. That's as much an opinion as it's a convention, and of course a good number of people will play it and not enjoy their time.
But nine million people, more than any other online game before it, many of whom are first timers to the genre, have played the game and become addicted. Still, just calling it 'fun' is a little vague. The character development is interesting, the abilities are fun to try in combat (and constantly changing through patches) the world itself is rather well conceived, and the game is programmed incredibly well. Nearly everything works the way it should, nothing seems too 'slow' or restraining, it's an easy game to just jump into and feel like a part of the world that's fun to interact with. It's on the easy side which makes it even more accessible, but there are a lot of further challenges players can find once the levelling process is tired out. Everything about WoW is solid. All of it comes together and ropes people in who never even thought they'd play a game like this.
I'm not writing a review for WoW, I'm trying to put the desire to emulate WoW's success into perspective. They're not just trying to put out a game made a certain way that will make a lot of money, they're trying to make a game so accessible that people in the millions will jump into this game and come away with it wanting to return. Sure, it will make them a lot of money...and that's why EA is so lenient with Mythic about this.
To put it conversely, think about Final Fantasy XI. There are some people who think the game is utterly badass, and hate the guts out of World of Warcraft. That's great for them, but people like me who think FFXI is just too slow and unforgiving to get motivated enough to play to the endgame simply aren't going to invest time and money into this product. And Mythic's bottom line is simply, why put out such an extensive, immersive product with such a prolific name as Warhammer if you aren't going to aspire to getting as many people to sink as money hours into this experience as they possibly can? Money or not.
BUT. One thing I agree with you about is that I do feel that they're pushing a little too far toward their perceived ideal of perfection. There's only so much improvement you can make before doing more harm than good. I feel that releasing the game pretty close to perfect and then making small changes after (there's these things called patches and expansions games have!) would be good enough.
Both WAR and AoC have a challenging problem.
The reason WoW is so immensely popular is, of course, because it's easy for the MMO novice and the casual gamer to get into. Most MMO players are casual -- they don't PvP much, if at all -- nor do they raid much. The statistics bear this out, and it's really interesting since WoW is an equipment centric game where success and end game are based on raids and PvP.
That said, here come WAR and AoC. In both, PvP is central. In fact, WAR is nothing but PvP.
So how does FunCom and EA Mythic draw the casual MMO player? Add more PvE to draw them in while finding ways to introduce these casual players into PvP in a way that's fun for them. Both FunCom and Mythic have experience with this.
I doubt if EA Mythic or FunCom are aiming for a niche market audience of hardcore powergamers who live and breath PvP. No. The only thing they want to emulate from WoW is the hugely popular wide-based appeal -- 9 million players is a nice, round number. So when comparing it to WoW, this will be the crux for the success or failure of both WAR and AoC.
I agree with some of the previous posters. Should never have given a date to begin with. Pushing it back over and over really upsets their customers and they risk losing some as a result.
Oh and personally I was looking forward to Imperator over WAR by far.
Please just make this the last delay. I understand that this will help of the quality if the game on launch day I'm getting anxious and don't know how much longer I can keep waiting.
Games I've Played: WoW, FFXI, SWG, CoH, EVE Online
Games I'm Waiting for: WAR, Stargate Worlds
I can also wonder if this is EA sticking their nose into the development mucking it up. In the past a lot of developers have said, American McGee for one, that EA wasn't a good company to work for from a development standpoint.
At least these guys have figured it out, if you have a bad release your game, no matter how good later on will not be as successful as it could have been.
I agree with those of you who said that they should not have even had a release date. All it brings is dissapointment. They knew going into development that there would be atleast one delay. It doesnt help the way the are having closed beta....bit by bit, area by area[i am not in beta i just read that from the WAR website].
It is a good way to focus on one point at a time but slows up the process all at once. But then again, you dont want an unfinished product on the market.
Currently Playing: Guild Wars.
Played:Guild Wars, Dungeon Runners, WoW, WC3, Starcraft, RuneScape, Wurm.