Da Newz – May 29

Beta Ticker: 700.255 (+0 since last week)

Quote of the Week: “I would rather hear William Shatner and Roseanne Barr singing a duet while having my fingernails pulled out one by one while sitting in a pool of molten lava than have Mythic’s own Official Forums for WAR. How’s that for clarity?” ~ Mark Jacobs

Story of the Week: White Lion career confirmed. As little of a surprise as it ended up being, the cat is finally out of the bag (heh) on the last High Elf class and the final revealed class of WAR: the White Lion career! GameSpot and Warhammer Alliance jumped the official gun on this by a day or so, but Mythic doesn’t seem too sore, and the official White Lion page is up. Meanwhile, GameSpot has a g-r-r-r-eat White Lion video to watch and a more fleshed-out interview to read.

In Other News:

• Read the full May newsletter here!
• Keen asks, “Now that you’ve played AoC, are you more or less excited for WAR?” Well, I haven’t, nor will I really, play AoC, so someone else will have to answer that.
• Massively posted a Possible WAR Expansion Races Wrap-Up. I like lettuce wrapups.
• From the Warhammer Herald comes a new dispatch, including “News From The Front: Advance On Altdorf”!
• Warhammer Vault has a shiny new Bright Wizard wallpaper for you to download and enjoy!
• Guntar and Brett Norton discuss WAR on a podcast of Online Gamer Radio.
• Book of Grudges has done some nice research into Dwarf Lore for ya.
• The WHA Waaagh has a new article entitled “WAR-Colored Glasses” encouraging us to take a realistic look at our upcoming game of choice.
• Will WAR be the Holy Grail of MMOs? Mark says… not so much.
• WHA has a beautiful White Lion concept art for you to print out and hang over your bed, to the disapproval of your wife/mom/dog.
• “What does Europe have against edible halflings?” Thank you, Book of Grudges, for asking that vital question.
• The blog questions keep on coming: Sneezy asks, “Is WoW an unstoppable train?”
• For the record, the only two unstoppable trains in the world were Blaine and Charlie.
• Mac users interested in WAR might want to perk their snobby little ears up at this news: Apple is courting EA to promote their system as a gaming platform.
• Book of Grudges urges you to go vote for WAR in the 2008 Golden Joysticks!
• Female dwarfs. Perhaps they should be exterminated.
• The MMORPG Center — which we can only assume is like Muppet Labs — takes a look at WAR’s RvR system.
• “Elves Again…”, a new Secret Life of Mobs comic, is ready to accept your humble laughter!
• Mark Jacobs reminisces over DAoC’s launch, with the obvious comparison to WAR’s future launch.
• Warhammer Vault sums up a whole lot of forum posts between players and devs about Mythic’s lack of WAR forums. Are we still talking about this? Seriously?
• Warhammer Geek presents their newest musical parody, “Rock this WAR”.
• Book of Grudges follows up my rant on WoW/WAR comparisons with one of their own.
• Snafu has picked out his eight Greenskins vs. Dwarfs interview questions out of the ones submitted.
• Syncaine doesn’t think WAR’s graphics look anything like WoW’s, for a change of pace.
• Attack of the WoW Clones continues, with Heartless Gamer weighing in on the topic.
• The Greenskin furthers your basic WAR education: What is Realm vs. Realm?
• New WAR sites seem to be rolling out about one a week now, and this week’s is “WaaagHead”. Check it out!
• Mark Jacobs had a quote in an Escapist column, “The Fallacy of MMO Innovation”.
• WHA first broke the quite unsurprising “news” that the final High Elf class was indeed the White Lion.
• Book of Grudges is really big into checking out Altdorf, as in, “Hey sexy thing! If I told you you had beautiful cobblestones, would you let me walk all over you?”
• A 25th class? Can it be? Dare we hope? Mythic presents… The High Elf Artisan class!
• Keen digests the new crafting video as well as Tobold, and they burp a little.
• Big Download has a big article with a big name: “PvP vs. PvE – EA Mythic on Warhammer: Age of Reckoning”. It’s a chunky interview with Jeff Hickman, and worth a read.
• Keen and Graev posted a couple (one and two) pieces of mount concept art — the dwarf one looks so James Bondy!
• Like the crafting podcast? Then read GameSpy’s 5-page (!) follow-up interview with Mark Jacobs about the wonders of WAR crafting and gathering skills.
• “The Rules of Launch-gagement” over at TTH lists three gamer no-no’s of any MMO launch.
• Vid — you know Vid, right? — has posted his thoughts on the May 2008 newsletter.

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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 – April 10th

Da Newz is WAAAGH!’s weekly wrapup of WAR news bits and chunks.

BETA TICKER: 654,971 (+10,463 from last week)

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “For those who don’t want to see PvE in WAR, sorry, deal with it. For those who don’t want to see any form of PvP in WAR, sorry, deal with it. WAR has been designed, discussed and displayed as an RvR game with both PvE and PvP as part of the game. If you want to PvE your way up the ladder, you can. If you want to PvP your way up the ladder, you can. That’s been the plan from day one and it hasn’t changed at all.” ~ Mark Jacobs

• Tobold discusses WAR’s beta sign-up numbers in “Number Inflation” — is it me, or does he seem a little cranky as of late?
• “Warhammer Online impressions” at Guardian Unlimited. Likes the big scope of combat in theory, but they say actual combat needs to be tightened up a bit.
• Will there be stealth in WAR, even after the devs denied it? Keen makes an observation that may be the thorn in my liony paw!
• You can read up on “Scenarios 101: Part 3” on the official WAR website. Two Empire vs. Chaos scenarios are presented, one of which features capturable flags a la Battlefield 1942, and the other “murderball”.
• Hexus.gaming pumped out a seven-page article on WAR following the Paris event. I particularly liked the page on the Tome of Knowledge and how much they enjoyed it.
• WAR Herald: “The Conscious Subjugator” — a short lore story about a Witch Hunter.
• Ten Ton Hammer’s got a cool video for anyone interested in playing the Disciple of Khaine class. It’s interesting to note that this class is completely new for WAR, which Mythic and GW had to co-create. Likewise, a Sorceress career video is available.
• Want a closer look at career masteries (aka “talent trees”), or perhaps Keeps and Sieges? Check out the Career Mastery Preview and the Keeps and Sieges Preview at TTH.
• “What Warhammer Online will always be remembered for” at Massively. They know this already?
• “Collision Detection: That Is the Question” at MMO Gamer.
• Eurogamer agrees with the delay after playing the beta.
• Mark Jacobs comments on the Beta Ticker and the PR surrounding it.
• MMORPG: “How You Look: The Trophy System And More”
• MMORPG: “Capital Cities”
• “Fool Me Once, Shame On You” at Keen and Graev’s Gaming Blog, discussing the recent stealth and CTF revelations.
• The Greenskin’s Forum Watch for the past week — loads of weeping over stealth!
• “PvE… It Ain’t All Bad” at The Greenskin takes a look at the oft-unrepresented portion of WAR’s gameplay.
• Raiding as an end-game focus in WAR? Mark Jacobs says, not so, not really.
• MMORPG Blog takes us on a whirlwind tour of the Magus.
• Want a good overview of different class mechanics? Check out this spiffy thread at WHA.
• Keen and Graev return for a short Warhammer & Conan podcast!
• I’m not sure if Plaguelands is happy or upset with Mythic about WAR’s release, but here ya go anyway!
• Mythic art director Greg Grimsby popped by WHA forums to explain why some of the videos of the game look “flat” — most of the lighting effects haven’t made it in yet.
• Browncoat, forum admin over at WHA, wrote an excellent post on “Chicken Littles” in the community.

• Stratics hosted a House of Commons Dev Chat, the transcript of which you can read here.
• Highlights to me include: everything you do contributes to Guild XP, Black Guard is still afk, you can travel between newbie zones fairly easy, gear does give a player an advantage (duh) but hopefully not overpoweringly so, PvE and RvR in end game go hand-in-hand, you can’t jump over any other character, Warcamps will be mini-city raids available to the world, renown can earn you stat packages to boost your baseline stats, lowbie players will have access to mounts but won’t own them, CE items are available to all your characters, dungeon loot systems should be “intelligent” and drop usable loot for that group, no integrated voice chat at launch, and no flying.

• Loads of videos from the Paris Event, in no particular order:
• Careers in WAR: You will earn 30+ Abilities & Morale that can change from fight to fight, you can combine Abilities with other players to create a combo, Morale abilities can turn the tide of a battle, you’ll get 20-25 Tactics to help you in RvR, Tactics can help you customize play sessions between solo and RvR, gives you choices, the Tactics Editor can save your favorite Tactic loadouts, the Mastery system came out of beta feedback, you get 30 Mastery points by the time you hit 40, there will be respecs, huge look at the Sorceress class.
• Capital Cities: Cities have two modes (peaceful & contested), they are social hubs, some buildings only available to guilded folk, all the best loot is found in the city RvR situations, lots of utilities, iconic features/landmarks, banks might be attacked by robbers as the city gains in fame, random fun events, guards level up, city ratings equal realm-wide buffs, you will be alerted when your city is under attack.
• Realm vs. Realm: PvP and RvR are NOT the same thing — RvR is so much more than that, RvR benefits both yourself and your realm, if you’re playing WAR you *will* be doing RvR, they are concerned about population balance, a lot of discussion on Keep RvR, Keeps should change hands every 4 hours or so but could go as long as days, more discussion on scenarios and city sieges.
• Tome of Knowledge: Basic ToK overview, a couple of the unlocks are sending /tells 50 times or clicking on yourself 100 times, it likes to mock you, several tome unlocks in action are shown.
• Q&A With Jeff Hickman: Mythic takes a hard line against gold sellers, the best items it the game are earned not bought, they have a plan for visual character growth but it is doubtful they’ll do it, they’re going to retool the dwarf mount, city pvp will be instanced, they generally don’t believe in raids, they have future patches and expansions mapped out, and you can throw tomatoes at captured enemy kings.
• Producer’s Presentation: Jeff Hickman and Josh Dreshner, overview of GW and Mythic, they had a playable version of WAR 6 months into development, they seem VERY confident about a fall 2008 launch, and generally you’re getting about an hour and a half overview and summary of everything they’ve already said about WAR. If you’re only going to watch one video, this would be a safe bet.
• Witch Hunter PvP Video: A half-hour of PvP action, from the perspective of the semi-stealthy Witch Hunter.

Da Newz

Da Newz is WAAAGH!’s weekly wrapup of WAR news bits and chunks.

BETA TICKER: 644,508 (+20,120 from last week)

• Massively reports that WAR will have no dance emote.
• Only-WAR.com is another site that got an interview with Mark Jacobs about the WAR delay. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man give out so many interviews, so it’s logical to assume he’s a cyborg.
• “WAR’s delay: from the fallout comes further details” from Massively. In short: WAR news and media will continue at a good pace, WAR is not afraid of WoW, and the CE head start will be more than just a day.
• New videos: Altdorf City and Dark Elves at GameSpy. High Elves and Altdorf City at IGN.
• IGN wrote up a piece on City Sieges. As the cities — 9 in total — will be the ultimate focus of the RvR conflict, this is of special interest to many people anticipating WAR. Cities are being approached a bit like RPG characters: they have five levels to progress through as players accomplish tasks for the city, which will change the face of the city and allow players to access new content. There will even be dungeons under the city to explore.
• GameSpy explored Chaos’ Inevitable City to their glee. More discussion in here about the “leveling up” of a city, the RvR war waged between capital cities, and capturable keeps.
• GameSpy has its take on the Collector’s Edition, and it’s… pretty much the same as mine, only less swearing and rants against corporate greed in the Bahamas.
• Check out Eurogamer’s interview with Jeff Hickman at the Paris event! VERY interesting quote about the release date: “I know the actual dates and it’s not six months. Let’s call it three to six months.”
• Mark’s said that not all of the servers will be available for the head start (and, apparently, they are planning on “lots” of servers).
• Open beta will begin this summer.
• Cool Greenskins wallpaper over at Warhammer Vault.
• GU Comics muses on class balance in WAR.
• Mark specified what he includes as autumn/fall in terms of the release date: “I posted earlier in the week that I consider the Fall between September 23rd – December 21st. So, if you’re counting on August…”
• WarCry gets their interview in with Mark Jacobs about the delay. At this point, is there any need to keep touching on this subject? Is there any previously unhidden factoids that might come to the light? I don’t think so.
• A couple of video interviews with Jeff Hickman in Paris, talking about WAR.
• Keen reports on a few tidbits of news coming from Paris: WAR might cost 14 Euros a month, and Mythic is estimating about 200-250 hours (8-10 days) /played to hit level 40 (the cap).
• Videogamer.com has a great “Hands On” article about WAR. “And so I beg Mythic to convince me to stop playing WoW and start playing WAR.” Amen.
• Warhammer Vault’s April Fool’s: Warhammer’s first expansion announced!
• April’s High Elf calendar wallpaper at Warhammer Vault.
• Josh Drescher recaps the Paris Event, blog-style.
• Hexus.gaming interviews Mythic about PQs, social networking and other fun topics.
• WarCry got a nice hands-on experience at Paris, and you can read all about it here.
• The Greenskin is there for us with their weekly Forum Watch – check it out!
• Keen reports that Mark Jacobs expects over one million beta sign-ups before it’s all said and done. Holy schnikey!
• Paul Barnett says that he’s working on an audio “read along” for the art book in the CE, probably to be downloadable after the CE ships.
• “Chaos, Panic, Disorder: WAR CE Pre-Order Run-Down” at Massively.
• Warhamma #13 is out — give it a good listen!
• “One Week Later: WAR Collector’s Edition” at The Greenskin.
• New Secret Life of Mobs comic: “Relationship Trouble”.