Da Newz – June 19

Story of the Week: Baltimore Games Day 2008

• A little bit of the old, a little bit of the new: this was the mantra of the devs who came to the Games Day convention, parceling out a few new snippets of info (10 character slots! population caps! expansion in the works!) and regurgitating a lot of older stuff. Many visitors noted that 8 of the classes were unavailable to play on the show floor, including the elusive Black Guard.

Beta Ticker:

• 736,315
• +7,469 from last week

Quote of the Week:

• “Paul runs on love, kindness, and the blood of many elves!” ~ Mythic rep

New WAR Sites & Blogs:

• Like Facebook? Like WAR? Then here you go: The Warhammer Online Facebook page.
• /random might not be new, but it’s a great catch-all WAR blog.
• The Captain’s Blog covers WAR, Warhammer 40K and Warhammer tabletop.
• The White Tower of Hoeth may be just a blog baby, but it’s a hefty baby boy!
• Warhammer Online Gaming Scene told me they were going away, but I guess they’re back!

From EA Mythic:

• EA Mythic’s Event Calendar — find out where WAR will be showcased next!
• James Nichols explains who’s handling the customer service for WAR in different regions.
• WAR Europe confirms that the Play.com’s codes are sent.
• Josh Drescher clarifies what can go on at the Games Day event.
• James Nichols gives us a taste of Warhammer’s “fluff” — one of my favorite MMO features.
• Get the straight scoop on server/realm population caps from James Nichols (with a short follow-up here).
• Jeff confirms that only 16 of the 24 classes were available for play at Games Day.
• Various rule set servers are in the works but nothing definitive, James says.
• EA CEO: WAR won’t rival WoW

Misc. News:

• Warhammer Online will be showcased at this year’s diminished E3 in July.
• Play.com is still having problems with the whole pre-order situation.

Podcasts:

• ChaosCast Episode 2: Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By
• Podcast of Reckoning Episode 3: What does the newsletter entail?

Articles & Commentary:

• Hardcore Casual deduces: we need WAR already!
• Keen’s Korner: Which class looks the most appealing? It’s a classy piece.
• Wrenn’s take on Warhammer’s graphics, over at Warhammer Peaceniks.
• War Noob asks, “…but what if WAR gets terrible reviews?” Will you still play?
• TTH has organized all their zone overviews on one handy page!
• “By the Gods!” at Warhammer Gaming Scene covers the major deities of WAR.
• “WAR for the Win” at Game Zig replies to my “How WAR Can Win” article — does he agree?
• Book of Grudges digs around in the whole “no official WAR forums” pile. Stinky!
• “MMORPG Burnout and… Anti-Burnout?” at The Greenskin gives us a lovely new gamer definition to memorize.
• Snafzg penned a follow-up, second draft analysis of the recent WHA what-class-will-you-play poll. Great reading, check it out.
• Champions of Stuff throws their hat into the ring as to release and beta speculation.
• Werit (heaven help you if you mispronounce that as “Wart”) looks at WAR’s ability for a character to level up via PvPing.
• How can you sex up the Hammerer? Book of Grudges has some kinky ideas.
• Order of Destruction wants Mythic to get a commercial out on TV, ASAP!
• Svoald comes up with a few WAR conspiracy theories. I think WAR shot JFK, after reading this.
• /random looks at how we can build a Warhammer server community.
• Dreaming a fantastic dream, The Cogworks thunks up fun ways for WAR to make alt leveling more enjoyable.
• Book of Grudges has some nice Baltimore GamesDay review quotes and info tidbits.
• Read a lengthy GamesDay review at Alpha Guild.
• More Games Day wrap-up at Only-WAR.
• “Some Pretty Good Reasons Why Warhammer Looks Like It Might Be Awesome.”
• Book of Grudges debate whether a guy’s manhood is threatened by playing a Witch Elf.
• Ten Ton Hammer’s started an Orc screenshot gallery — see how they’ve changed over time!
• Khaos chooses an army (part 3). Part 3 of what? I feel like I’m loading a computer game with 15 old 5 1/4″ floppy disks.
• War Noob asks, “Should all classes move at the same speed?” Personally, I’m hoping to crawl everywhere. Maybe skip.
• Keen examines the server queues hubbub.
• “How to take criticism (from a pro)” reexamines the whole PC Gamer UK article in a new light, responding to this blog post by the author.
• Here I thought I was in Detroit that weekend…
• Werit looks at DAoC to speculate as to what incentives WAR might feature in getting people to play the underdog faction.
• The White Tower examines Destruction’s apparent domination in the gamer mindset.
• “Early Access? Bring it on!” Book of Grudges declares.
• Only-WAR goes to Games Day 2008 and brings back a personal tale of love and laughter.
• Bo from The Greenskin looks at the graphical style of different MMOs — and why some connect.
• Wrenn looks at AoC and speculates how it might affect WAR.
• War Noob looks at the three most popular WAR forums, and explains why you should care.
• How incredible, exactly, will WAR’s end game RvR be? WAR Gaming Scene reports.
• War Noob doesn’t want WAR to be as popular as WoW, and he has good reasons for it.
• “Can Warhammer Online kill the powerleveler?” Honestly? I don’t think so.
• WAR City Sieges FAQ at TTH
• Tobold looks at the server population issue and decides nobody can play.
• Hardcore Casual says “RELAX!” about server population queues
• TTH’s Top Ten Insights from Games Day 2008.
• Another convert — Gordo is joining the WAR side of the force!
• CyberVic analyzes the Zealot gameplay video from Games Day 2008.
• Book of Grudges asks, “Do we really need different server rulesets?” I, for one, would like to see a banana ruleset.
• Gear v. Skill. Who will win? Who will get the girl, and who will cry themselves to sleep at night on their huge pilla?
• JeuxOnline looks at how WAR might distinguish itself from the rest of the MMO pack.
• Order Strikes Back: Swordmasters of Hoeth. About darn tootin’ time!
• One word: ZERGHAMMER!
• TTH looks at how the human race has evolved in the past year (in WAR, of course).

Databases & Forums:

• Warhammer Vault has upped their guild database to an impressive 520+.
• Another week, another awesome Forum Watch at The Greenskin!

Videos:

• The Cogworks has a cute chicken gameplay video to watch.
• Games Day 2008 Q&A Part 1
• Marauder gameplay
• Engineer gameplay
  
• Guild Vendetta interview: Part 1 and Part 2
• WAAAGH!
• Paul Barnett at Dreamhack
• Dark Elf Sorceress @ The Captain’s Blog

Fun & Games:

• Play the WAR slot machine!
• The Secret Life of Mobs new comic — “The Inquisition”!
• Interview with a Witch Elf at Order of Destruction.
• There’s a great new goblin fan art over at Warhammer Vault.
• In “Werit captures a Greenskin!”, a dwarf and a greenie face off in a hilarious battle royale.
• Gene Simmons in WAR?
• Keen shows off a reader-submitted Spore Squig!