ChaosCast #1 – It’s My WAR And You’ll Bleed If I Want You To

One of the best perks of doing this blog is making new friends who share the same hobby. After a *really* late night on Saturday, Keen (of Keen and Graev’s Gaming Blog), Snafzg (of The Greenskin) and myself stumbled our way through recording our very first Warhammer podcast, which we’re calling ChaosCast.

What’s ChaosCast? It’s our attempt at bridging the WAR blog community together, even if in a small way. Sure, it’s fun writing about these subjects in our blogs, but sometimes we need to hunker down in hunter-gatherer herds and hash things out as friends chatting.

It’s a bit of a long first podcast, as we had a lot to go over, but future ChaosCasts — we’re aiming for one every two or three weeks — will be shorter and contain 90% more karaoke. If there’s anything you’d like us to discuss in the show, just leave a comment on this post.

Hope you enjoy!

(Special thanks to Snazfg for doing the incredible music intro, and for Keen working up the graphic and setting up the podcast hosting. I just showed up and used my mouth to make sounds.)

Listen to ChaosCast #1 here!

Show notes:

• Who we are and what we’re doing here
• May newsletter discussion
• New community sites: DaBigWaaagh, Book of Grudges & WaaagHead
• The Wiki Invasion
• NDA & getting into closed beta
• Massively’s massively cool WAR articles

Wave of Wikis

Okay, answer me this — months before the game is actually released, do we really need so many Warhammer Online wikis?

Let’s count ‘em up so far: HammerWiki, MMO Wiki’s Warhammer, Conflict Wiki, Warhammer Geek Wiki, and now WaaagHead is doing a wiki. And I’m pretty sure I’ve missed a couple more.

It’s like we’re on some weird sort of reality TV show where contestants line up and say, “Hi, I’m Bob, and I have a wiki! I think it’s going to be the wikiest wiki of them all!” and by episode three he’s sobbing in a corner, snot dribbling down his nose, whining about how the others “just don’t get me”.

I’m certainly not putting down any of these sites, but the question remains: why do we need so many wikis? Unlike blogs and fan sites, wikis are pretty much one-shot dealies. A central location, people from all over dump info into it, and voila! We as a community are served and satiated. Having so many makes me feel like I’m being pulled between five parents, repeatedly asked who I love more. Having multiple WAR wikis isn’t a wealth of resources for me, personally — it’s a slight annoyance I can’t just go to one place to find it all.

In the end, I’m pretty sure there’s going to be one main wiki for Warhammer, like there is for World of Warcraft and other games. So how do we judge which wiki comes out on top? Sheer content? Slickness of interface? Highest promotion? How many more wikis must be born only to die a shriveled, neglected death months later?

Couldn’t we, as a WAR community, band together to support one wiki and make that the best darned MMO wiki in the world?

I guess I can dream.

Da Newz – May 22

Beta Ticker: 700,255 (+7,549 from last week)

Quote of the Week: “We’re not nervous about its quality, we’re nervous about sending it out on the world. It’s like sending your kid to school for the first time.” ~ Josh Drescher

Story of the Week: Oceanic Servers. The Warhammer Herald put up an Oceanic Server News and FAQ for those of you in that region, and EA confirms that Australia, New Zealand and Oceanic copies will be shipped and go live the same time as everyone else (fall 2008). Wash that down with a swig of a GameSpot AU or IGN follow-up interview!

In other news:

• Hardcore Casual has a rant against Age of Conan’s launch and a cautionary (if positive) tale for WAR’s upcoming release.
• Keen’s (shudder) Korner asks, “Will WAR make quests feel like quests again?” Good question. If you solve it, I’ll give you 45 xp and this donut.
• The Greenskin is compiling questions on dwarfs and greenskins for a future interview, so pop on over there and give him a piece of your mind.
• Massively Speaking Podcast 5 discusses Blizzard’s recent media bomb and how its designed to fight against fans’ WAR anticipation.
• Orlock over at Warhammer Geek asks, “Can a game be TOO big?” (in terms of subscribers, not world size)
• As WoW looks to expand, The Greenskin queries “Will WAR follow the WoW expansion model?” I think it’s a question a lot of us have on our minds.
• “Paul Barnett is actually six, identical robots that we stole from the British Air Force.”
• A visitor to the NY Comic Con invested a chunk of time into the WAR beta, and here’s his neat writeup at Sturmgrenadier.
• WAR will be making the printed rounds, with articles in the June editions of both PC Gamer and Game Informer. You can read the (short) Game Informer article on this thread.
• Check out 22 gorgeous new screenshots over at the official site!
• Congrats to Warhammer Conflict and their one year anniversary! Huzzah!
• The Greenskin spotted a few posts by Mark Jacobs on the forums, and he shares the love with you.
• If you have the shakes and need you some videos, Greenskin directs you to WarHammerOnline.tv – it’s new, so we can’t vouch for quality or content. Also, check out WHMovies.com for more movie madness.
• Warhammer Conflict has announced their wiki is sporting over 300 entries now — and they need your help to grow them ever more!
• WHA has set up a nifty RSS feed that you can subscribe to let you know when a dev posts on their forums.
• Next Generation has a WAR preview article up — standard stuff, but nice nonetheless.
• The Secret Life of Mobs’ “The End” wraps up their current short storyline (yet it is not the end for reals).
• The German issue of Frontline (a Warhammer Online rag) was kindly translated into English and can be read here.
• Warhammer Geek’s uploaded their second Podcast of Reckoning, which includes an interview with Mr. Greenskin himself. Give it a listen!
• We found a new WAR blog for you to digest: Book of Grudges. Welcome to the WAR community!
• Although this will probably be “old news” by the time you read this, a huge new wave of beta invites went out to both the US and EU communities.
• Allakhazam has a great interview with Josh Dresher that covers, among other aspects, character creation.
• Meet Magnus, a brand new GOA community manager, over on this WHA forum thread!
• West Karana admits she was wrong about Age of Conan – and speculates that she might be mistaken about WAR’s upcoming presence as well.
• Ten Ton Hammer has a wee lass of a Sorceress analysis/rehash up for you to court.
• Two quick notices from EA Mythic: a Condemned By Fire comic beta key FAQ, and an Canadian EB CE Pre-Order Cards Update.
• A blog/site aggregator, Da Big WAAAGH (hey, that’s our name! sort of!) is now open for quick perusal.
• “There’s Beta and Then There’s BETA!” over at Book of Grudges clarifies what’s going on with WAR’s varying beta levels.
• Paul Barnett bemoans a quote taken out of context.
• Game Arena asks, “Warhammer: Can EA Pull It Off?” Let’s see… um, YES.

Da Newz – May 15

Beta Ticker: 692,706 (+7,821 from last week)

Quote of the Week: “The best way to look at it is that Warhammer is Batman.” ~ Josh Drescher

Story of the Week: Oddly enough, the biggest story about WAR this week wasn’t about WAR at all — but instead, the blitz of World of Warcraft expansion info that was suddenly thrown all over the place. Many Warhammer fans are nervously chewing their nails at the shift in spotlight (and unrestrained speculation about the supposed fall head-to-head battle of the two titles), but Massively actually thinks WoW is a positive factor in the future success of WAR. In any case, a clash between these two titles looks to happen this fall, as Vivendi confirmed that Wrath is “anticipated to be released in the second half of 2008.”

In other news:

• Warhammer Geek reports that a new German online magazine, Frontline, looks to be fans of Warhammer Online – check it out if you speak Germaneze.
• In the mood for a few good men… er, videos? Warhammer Vault points us toward Warhammer-Portal for some Warhammer-Videos.
• The Greenskin reports that EA bought out Rupture. What does that mean for WAR? Snafzg speculates that the technology might be used to help extend the game experience beyond the game itself — as in social networking.
• GamesIndustry.biz gives us a sneak peak at an interview with Josh Drescher, including the revelation that the Mythic team has at least five years of content and leveling mapped out.
• Speaking of interviews with Josh, bit-tech.net has a pretty cool chat with the man about taking on World of Warcraft and how WAR is like Batman (among other topics).
• Action Trip’s second WAR Progress Report has a great overview of what WAR’s been up to, and what it’ll offer the average player.
• With all the hubbub over EA using DRM in its upcoming games, Mark Jacobs popped onto the VN boards to assure us that WAR will not use DRM (which isn’t really needed in MMOs anyway). Wow, that’s a lot of acronyms.
• Need a little Capital Cities RvR in your diet? Warhammer Vault’s got you covered.
• TTH muses on the promise by WAR’s devs to make the game viable for solo players as well as groupers.
• Mythos has announced at least five years of… something… more planned, and Keen’s all over the analysis.
• Or you could just take the word from the horse’s (the horse here being Josh Drescher) mouth.
• That Videogame Blog has a massive hands-on preview of Warhammer Online — cool info in here about gear and mounts, if you’ve been searching for tibits on those.
• JeuxOnline does us proud by translating an older French article of theirs mulling over the upcoming WAR beta/release/NDA dates. There’s a really handy chart in here too — check it out!
• Warhammer Conflict Wiki would like you to sample their wares by reading up on a dude named Malekith. We think he’s a baker.
• Another week, another awesome wallpaper from Wallhammer Vault (wait… Wallhammer?): The Marauder!
• Warhammer Conflict would like to invite you to peruse and participate in one of its famed Focus Discussions!
• The Greenskin brings a drink of water to the parched soul with his seventh webcomic, “There’s Nothing To Fear”
• Tobold wonders “Will Order or Chaos Prevail in WAR?”
• Warhammer Geek parodies Pinball Wizard with their WAR-themed tune “Witch Elf Woman”
• Want to give your cellphone or MP3 player a bit of Warhammer love? The Greenskin reports that WAR wallpaper for these devices are now available!
• With all the new Lich King info, doom ‘n gloom pronouncement for WAR’s future have been stirred anew. West Karana declares that she will “sit this one out” when it comes to this year’s major MMOs.
• QJ.net takes a brief, insightful look at the Zealot career.
• This is a little old, but this YouTube clip of Dwarf WAR music is… awesome. Pure awesome.
• JeuxOnline has a funny little article wondering about how you can cement your reputation as a “legend” in the upcoming WAR.
• How much will WAR’s graphics affect (good or bad) its upcoming release? Keen compares and contrasts with other MMOs.
• Making me think of the old SAT questions, Tobold posits “AoC is to WAR as EQ2 is to WoW”
• On the WHA forums, Iain Compton straightened out a few facts about the timing of the guild beta, open beta and NDA liftage.
• Keen reports that WAR’s graphics are definitely showing some polish, which I suppose is a “good thing”
• EA Mythic has announced Warhammer Online: The Official Drink. Cheers!
• MTV tries to be convinced by Mythic to make WAR their first MMO — yeah, we SO want those guys playing with us. Because they keep it real.
• Thought we’d go another week without mentioning Greenskin’s Forum Watch? Think again!
• IGN gives Warhammer Online a progress report, and its good enough to avoid a spanking by the parents.
• 1Up’s done their own hands-on WAR play, and have the stones to share it with you personally.
• You know you want to drool right now, so check out these brand new screenies here at VE3D!
• During the Spring Press Event, GameSpot got their grubby little mitts on WAR and molested it until it gave up the literary goodies. I’m kinda creeped out by the previous sentence, even though I wrote it.
• The Warhammer comic is finally on newstands, according to this unnamed source.
• Warhammer Geek’s started to offer exclusive wallpapers, and you can snag the first two here.
• GameSpy has a brand new article looking into WAR’s newbie zones, and it’s a fun read! After you’re done with that, Keen’s got a bit of follow-up commentary on the piece.
• Josh Dresher gave us a brief summary of the EA Games Spring Break, whetting our appetite for more info in the near future.
• Josh Drescher did another interview (the man is a MACHINE), this time with GamesIndustry.biz entitled, simply, “Warhammer Time!”
• Wikis are all the rage these days, it seems, and Warhammer Geek’s launched the fourth (I think) WAR-related wiki. Which one will become the standard? Anyway, you can read there announcement here, and check out (and contribute to) the new Warhammer Geek Wiki here.
• Warhammer Geek’s posted four motivation-style wallpapers (I particularly enjoy the squig one).
• Do you want to write about WAR but don’t want to have to hassle with your own blog/site? Warhammer Gamers is hiring (“hiring” being a loose term — don’t think there’s pay involved) new writers to the staff. Go apply today!
• Finally, The Secret Life of Mobs has a new WAR comic this week — “No More Beercraft!”

Da Newz – May 8

Beta Ticker: 684,885 (+17,567 from last week)

Quote of the Week: “Death! Kill! Custard!” ~ The slogan on the 8-Bit Paul Barnett t-shirt

Story of the Week: The dev team did a huge conference call with 23 WAR and game review sites last week, prompting a plethora of articles more or less saying the exact same thing. We here at WAAAGH! were not invited, and thus are drowning in a vat of bitter tears and tabasco sauce.

• The full April Newsletter is available on the main site (for some reason, my e-mail copy comes late every month) — check it out here!
• Start your day off right with a cup of coffee and a read of Massively’s “Catching Up With WAR”, an update on the closed beta. Good news: Jeff’s wife loves the crafting system. Murder Ball sounds fun!
• Keen’s Corner looks at “Moving Away From A Gear-Centric System” — so break out those sprockets, springs and hinges!
• Josh Drescher mentions the conference call Mythic had to about a bajillion WAR and news sites. I most enjoyed Warhammer Vault’s summary, if you only have to read one.
• Speaking of which, here’s TTH’s take, as well as GameZone and GamePlasma.com’s writeup of the call.
• Finally, Keen shares his thoughts on the highlights of the conference call.
• What we like to see in a WAR site: “Five Things To Worry About” Because worry and speculation is all we have right now, folks! (well, that and rocky road from the ice cream truck down the street)
• It’s been a couple weeks, but The Greenskin is back with another Forum Watch of interesting posts and comments culled from the boards!
• Have questions about the Tome of Knowledge that even I, Tome King, was not able to answer? Check out Ten Ton Hammer’s Tome FAQ!
• The Wizard of Duke Street brings us a few thoughts on crafting in WAR. Are your tastes whetted?
• Warhammer Vault whipped out another awesome wallpaper, this time of a naugh-tie Dark Elf.
• Canadians have another option to pre-order the CE — this time at The Source.
• If you’re having a hard time keeping track of dates in May, Warhammer Vault has an excellent calendar for you.
• WAR-JOL has an excellent writeup on WAR’s living guild system, complete with screenies!
• Warhammer Conflict is now offering Conflict Wiki as a wikish service — head on over and help them fill it up with info!
• Get your official 8-Bit Paul Barnett t-shirt (death! kill! custard!) at the Mythic store.
• Is WAR trying too hard to imitate WoW? Tobold seems to think so, but he’s a cranky monkey anyway. Hardcore Casual has a rebuttal.
• TTH elaborates on some of the NPC’s featured in the April newsletter. We think Gortek is quite the dreamy hunk.
• Get your weekly dose of gameplay footage here – check out the weather and lighting effects!
• MMORPG gives us a decent overview of the High Elf Swordmaster class: it slices, it dices, it rinses thoroughly after each use.
• A couple of other RvR videos have surfaced on Jeux Online – watch them here.
• Warhammer Geek’s first “Podcast of Reckoning” is now available for your audio enjoyment.
• GameSpot did a nice video interview with WAR’s Josh Drescher, giving us another basic overview of WAR.
• Be sure to watch Justin Goes to Comicon for all sorts of Warhammery goodness: Part 1, Part 2, and (my favorite) Part 3.
• Jack Black isn’t going to be a voice actor in WAR. How are you dealing with this tragedy? Let me know, I need help!
• Warhammer Conflict defines what “WAAAGH!” is, exactly. And no, it’s not just the name of the most awesomest blog on the planet.
• TTH delves into the Dark Elf Sorceress career – this particular class looks to be a fan fave so far.
• Warhammer Vault has archived six must-see movies for your entertainment!
• Warhammer Gamers notes that the WAR CE is still in GameStop’s top 15 best sellers — #10 to be precise!
• This week’s WHA Waaagh discusses “Gamer and the Paul Hype Factory” — how much are we buying into the hype and how can we sort it out?
• Warhammer Vault points us to three new videos from the 2008 RPC.
• New Secret Life of Mobs comic: “Beercraft Fanboy”!
• Apparently I’m in a comic now. I think I look like a tumor. I don’t wanna be a tumor!