Folks, It’s lunch time and it’s going to be another crazy day. So, while I’m eating my noodles, I thought it would be a good time to do a quick post and answer/respond to some of the questions/comments I’ve been getting. So, hee we go:
1) From “”, Sorry, I need my head where it is right now. Placing it in the position you suggest would require many years of highly specialized yoga training and would still probably result in neck surgery. But thanks for the suggestion!
2) Gunnaur says “Where is the pie? =)”. Hey, good to see you here. I had some delicious blueberry pie last night, didn’t save any for you, I hope you can forgive me.
3) Dei says “On the topic of nerfs … please promise us to not hire again amateurs off the forums (*cough* Mackey *cough*) and put them (and then leave them) in charge of balance”. Mythic succeeds as a company and we fail as a company. I would no more blame Mackey for all the problems of DAoC than I would anybody else. OTOH, feel free to blame me, it’s what the cool kids are doing. 
In truth though, we have come a long way since DAoC with our metrics tools, surveys and forum work. If we had everything in place for DAoC that we have in WAR, ToA would never have happened.
4) AoCFan says “Leave AoC alone!” Well, not really but I thought I’d make a quick point on the whole “Mark Jacobs thinks AoC is a failure, Funcom sucks and Conan is a sissy” stuff. I like the guys I met and hung out with from Funcom, I wanted to see AoC succeed and I don’t think that AoC is a failure yet. The CCP guys (Lots of love to them) took a game that launched really badly in the US and have turned it into one of the greatest success stories in MMO history. The Funcom guys similarly took a bad launch with AO and turned that game around. An MMO isn’t a failure till it’s shut down and/or the developers stop working on it. AoC sold a ton of copies in North America and Europe and now it is up to them to retain and/or bring back a lot of their subs. It is the interest and support of the players that determines whether a game is successful or not not somebody like me. For DAoC, the players determined that ToA was not a great expansion and it wasn’t at launch but we’ve worked hard to make it better. That’s my point for AoC and any other MMORPG that launches from today to infinity and beyond!
5) Gadareth says “The way I am seeing the current gaming market will be more and more specialist MMOs coming out each one designed to appeal to a particular aspect of the MMo market as opposed to trying to grasp ALL of them.” Preaching to the choir brother. I said the same thing during one of my acquisition discussions with EA to one of their executives (who has since left the building) and let’s just say his reaction was less than enthusiastic (how do you say “Jacobs is a dumb ass” in polite company?) and so those negotiations ended rather quickly. I’m in total agreement with that sentiment, even today.
6) Camoking says “SOO is Imperator coming out?!?!” Time will tell. It’s not in development right now but in my spare time I like to think about how I could rework it to be a better game. I haven’t given up on it yet.
7) CubanChaos says “Actually I wanted to ask when and where will we see something other than word of mouth marketing and the occasional viral site?” Soon. Viral was the best way to go in the short-term and if WAR succeeds, well…
Alby says “I hope the best for Warhammer Online, I know I’ll be in line on launch day. I do have a quick question though: Any plans for Mac support?” Nothing to announce yet but the computer in the bag next to my desk isn’t a PC.
9) Jay says “Btw is there an Asian server or similar coming?” Right now the only deal we have announced is with GigaMedia in Taiwan. However, I’ve been to a number of other Asian countries so it’s safe to say that we are looking at all sorts of possibilities. I see you are from Thailand, I hope things work out there. Stay safe.
10) Steve H says “If I have one plea it would be to keep the pressure on GOA. The Euro community already are beginning to feel like 2nd class customers. Please make sure that you make them stick to the standard you set and I’m sure we will be delighted.” I know GOA is trying really, really hard to do just that. It’s not easy trying to coordinate a simultaneous trans-Atlantic launch of a new MMORPG especially when GOA has soooo many countries, launguages and cultural differences to deal with. And the fact that things can change very rapidly here makes it even more challenging.
11) Haarani says “Man i loved your southpark reference” Thanks. I loved that show, watched it all the time. Thought the movie was brilliant. Any time those guys want to do a WAR vs. WoW show I’d be all over that.
12) Rafar says “Honestly I think the biggest problem facing this industry right now is building potential customers expectations way to high by saying their game will have everything and then not being able to deliver, they promise the world and deliver a boulder or maybe a mountain in either case it doesn’t live up to what we were expecting.” I couldn’t agree more. It’s why you’ll never see me promising that WAR will do everything you want it to do. I’ve also always said that we/I/Mythic will piss players off at times because we both won’t promise you the moon and the stars but also because we will do what we think is best for the game in both the short-term and the long-term. I’d rather have people say about WAR that it was a better game than they expected than the exact opposite.
13) Taea says “It is wonderful to see an MMOG company take responsibility for their game, as you have here.” Always. I have no problem admitting when we make a mistake, I wish all MMO developers would do the same, it would be good for the industry.
14) Dave r says “Then specifically in #7 above you challenge the reader to count the mmos with more than 200k subscribers since 1997.” Yeap, that was my point. I can only talk about NA and Europe because those are the markets I know the best and the one that WAR and most other NA/European developed games are aimed at. Plus, the biz model is so different in Asia that comparing sub numbers from here to sub numbers from there is just wrong.
15) Eblitz says “Mark, nice blog post. Sometime I’d like to hear your impressions of EVE Online’s role within the MMO space.” Major shoutout to them for their amazing turnaround work with EVE. One of the best success stories in the industry.
16) Emperor Guan Di says “One question about something you said: Will Mythic publish their sub numbers?” That’s up to EA. Because we are a publicly traded company I can’t go around talking about the financials as I used to do when we were independent. However, I’ve already had lots of discussions with them on the subject and I think everything is going to be just fine.
17) Ashendarei says ” My biggest problem with DAoC was the apparent lack of communication with the playerbase.” LOL. Well, that depends on who you talk to. For every person who thinks we didn’t talk to the playbase enough I can proly show you 2 or 3 times that number who think we talked and listened to them too much. With our Team Lead programs, forum posting, server boards and feedback systems we did a lot of listening and talking. I don’t think that there is another AAA MMORPG who spends as much time interacting with the community as does Mythic.
18) Gyshall says “awesome, was hoping you’d start a blog, mark.” See, I do listen to the players!!!
Okay, lunch is over and it’s time to get back to work. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back later tonight to answer some more questions and maybe tell a bedtime story called “The Three Little MMOs” but who knows, only time will tell.
Thanks for the interest and taking the time to read this blog.
Mark
P.S. If I missed your question or seemingly ignored your comments, I never promised that I’d read and comment on everything and I’m not doing so now.
P.S.S. BTW, some guys have taken my comments in last night’s good night post, especially regarding the nerfing comments, just a wee bit too seriously. Those points were totally, totally tongue-in-check. C’mon all, I know I’m not the world’s greatest writer but I thought those points couldn’t have been dripping with more sarcasm if I tried and I even had a disclaimer at the bottom of the post.
Filed under: Entertainment, MMORPGS, Technology, games, mmos, online games | Tagged: Entertainment, mmo, mmorpg, mmorpgs, Technology
Lol @ “My biggest problem with DAoC was the apparent lack of communication with the playerbase.” Honestly, Mark, I have to give you Kudos for the time you spend actually creating and upkeeping an healthy dialogue with the playerbase. Not many developers do that (some can’t even be bothered by posting personally on their own official forums, and have some other people do that for them… i’m talking about you Mr. G.G.), and I definately appreciate the honesty. Expecially since you don’t have problems at identifying and knuckle slapping trolls
I will ask what’s on everyone’s mind: What kind of noodles do you enjoy?
Were they Ramen noodles? I hope not…cause those are bad for your health and we want you to stick around for awhile
SO have there been a lot of late nights at Mythic since the OB is getting closer?
If we were in the PW are we going to patch for the OB come sunday?
Thanks Mark!
Wow if that wasn’t a wall of text… Got thorough it though! Thanks for taking the time to give us your thoughts, I am assuming that time might be short at this point over there in VA!
/agreed with Abriael.
One of the things I like most about MJ, is that unlike other MMO devs, he seems to actually “care” about the playerbase. While obviously, all devs care about their playerbase in some way (i.e. what can we do to keep them paying), Mark actually seems to care about the concerns people have with his product. Things like releasing the cut content, and explaining why it was cut is a huge step in the right direction for the MMO market.
On that note, the other thing I like most about MJ, is that while he is confident and not afraid to speak his mind, he doesn’t seem to have the overbearing arrogance of many previous MMO devs. He isn’t so obsessed with his own vision that he can’t bring himself back to the reality of the situation.
The last thing I would like to state is that I find it particularly amusing when Mark states “If WAR fails”…. yea right. I realize that comprehending and understanding the potential possibilities of what could happen is important, but WAR is most definitely not going to fail. Not in any sense of the word. Honestly, if anything, I expect WAR to completely blow everyones expectations out of the water (including its own devs).
Anyway, you guys at Mythic have come a long way from DAoC at this point (I remember playing it at release, balance? what balance? hehe). Now, it is your time to shine in the MMO market. You guys deserve it with all the time and hard work you have put in delivering a truely focused and polished MMO experience.
-Foof
Could you comment on the mixed up codes some retailers have stuck us with. Some have wrong codes, some have no codes, etc… It gives us worry. Most of us just want what we should have gotten.
Oops, I wanted to ask a question. I know you are not obligated to answer anything, but it can’t hurt to shoot one out.
Mark, do you think the technology will ever get to the point in which “real time combat” (for lack of a better term) will ever be present and done well in an MMO? By this, I mean actual hit detection with weapons/abilities etc… (like say, a fighting/action game). So if I say use “super sword chop of doom”, I’d actually having to swing my sword and hit the enemies hit box. If he took a step back, I’d miss. Or if I wanted to dodge “Giant vertical axe chop”, I’d do some kind of evasive roll to get away… etc…
If you do think its going to be possible, when? 10-20 years? etc..
awesome mark, just awesome. The level of communication ya’ll have shown in WAR is steps above what ya’ll had in daoc, but that’s just my opinion of course.
Did have one question though. How is Jane? Is she still an ignorant slut? I think a few of us were dying because of the hilarity there. A++++ Sir. Keep it up.
I spent my lunch goggling at the concept of “Buffyology”.
That wall ‘o text was pretty impressive for a lunch time. While I’m normally a lurker, just wanted to say thanks for taking the care to read all that stuff and respond.
Awesome, i know you have heard this alot but it is really nice to see the devs and such posting and blogging and all that.
I cant wait for Open Beta, PW was awesome even with the few bugs. WAAAAAGH!
Hi, I was wondering what you think of Mortal Online, the mmo is supposed to be launched next year by Star Vault.
I am your biggest fan sir, we should have babehs
Hi there Mark.
I just wanted to cogratulate you and all your team for the great effort you are putting on your game.
I’m an elder DAoC player (played for 6 YEARS, *not months hehe* since it was launched) and I really hope WAR takes DAoC’s throne and stays there for so many years.
Keep the good work, and if you have a great success, do not ever forget about keeping in contact with the community as you’ve been doing since WAR’s first announcement. That’s the great difference, players feel important, we feel that our words are being listened, not like any other companies.
This, plus your reputation as a MMO company and Warhammer licence could bring something very good to the market. Keep the good job! Follow DAoC steps and don’t even get close to it’s failures (anyone said artifacts?)
Do not do like WoW, do not make players to stay connected for hours and hours and days and months trying to get a piece of equipment. Ahhh good old days when Epic Armor was the best of best and all you had to do was to be better than your enemy.
I also remember warmly my dear Tuscaran Glacier, funny, great drops, and still Skill > equipment.
I think I talked too much, thanks for everything Mark (and also Jeff, Paul, Josh and all the whole team behind the scenes) keep the good work!.
P.S: As I said on ten ton hammer… you better have a mohawk exclusive dwarven head hidden in your Collector’s Box or I’ll cut yer legs and kill ya bashing your head with em >:)
(Sorry, I tried to tell you this on your last message but it seems to be bugged, still needing moderation so nobody can read it)
For one, I recommend putting Texas Pete hot sauce on noodles; I find it quite zesty, if hot sauce is your thing and the noodles aren’t spicy to begin with.
Secondly, excellent blog, I look forward to reading it incessantly to entertain and inform myself.
Thirdly, can I have a mental high five?
Twenty-four hours and you’re already a blogging superstar! I really appreciate that you traverse so many WAR forums to keep in touch with the community, but I’m also a huge fan that you finally have a home base (this blog) for us to check in on.
Seriously, Mythic could teach a university course on community communications. Keep up the fine work!
” My biggest problem with DAoC was the apparent lack of communication with the playerbase.”
That is funny. One of the reasons a friend of mine is joining me in WAR is that he remembers how good the communication was in DAoC.
I also wanted to say thanks. I wrote up a little post about the Squid Herders being wonky at PW and you actually responded to it. It wasn’t to me personally, but in the general sense, but it felt very good to have that kind of feedback.
A few of my guild members and I will be firing up on Sunday, and I expect to have a blast with the game ( as I’ve had so far).
Don’t want to make a text wall here, but as a huge fan of Blizz and WoW, I have to say there will be a lot of crossover with WAR. I’ll play both because meaningful PvP warrants it’s own game. Keep that RvR focus and I’m sure the game subs will soar!
Nice post…
Although have an unhealthy obsession for South Park, …
err
I dont think Im speaking for myself alone (as proven above) that “we” cherish the fact that you actually go out on a plank and speak to fans/players. You should really rethink the “modesty over honesty” about your own game. We know it will be great, so you don’t have to politely say it wont be the greatest thing since roasted meat.
(Roasted Meat – Requires level 5, Use: Restores health to player, disappears when used)
(WAR64.exe – Requires 64bit CPU, Use: Restores happiness, and promotes glad to be home effect)
<- see, now you have to make a 64bit client!!!!!!
i didnt get an open beta thingie, but hopefully i will be able to execute my (delayed) domination plans on opening day
@ Kelmain if you look at this movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2rZNpPQyTs&feature=PlayList&p=1C90F907EDCF51C0&index=11 you can see that Mohawks are already included in the beta. Moreover hair and head are two different parts of character customization, so you’ll be able to put any hairstyle (mohawk included) on the CE’s head.
I have a question, as I didn’t even think how much international travel you must do, what’s the craziest WAR related thing that’s happened to you overseas?
And, Mr. Jacobs…if it were possible for one man to have another man’s babies in a totally heterosexual way…well I shouldn’t get too fanboi here.
Mackey and I never got along, well before he lead the TL program :p Well at least he was the reason I turned my attention away from class issues to UI modding … so I guess there is some good in anything
Just think, without mackey there would of never been a Sohwyn UI for DAoC :p
http://home.comcast.net/~j.massa/images/SohwynUI191.jpg
I’ve got an off-topic question…..I’ve been playing mythic games since magestorm/darkness falls (DF will always be GAME before it’s a dungeon
) …always been a huge fan. I really miss magestorm and spellbinder, and there’s nothing else out there like them. Any chance in the future of you guys doing another fps-esque game like those?
Expand on PLATFORMING….liars + solid players = the start. Im telling you…its the future of MMO.
Welcome to the WAR blogging community, Mark!
Hey! Thanks for the vid Abriael. Anyways I was asking for Mohawks just like this one:
http://www.wardb.com/screenshots/226.jpg
Now that I get to know that we will only get special heads, I don’t know if it will look any cool on dwarfs as they are 75% beard, 15% hair, 10% face.
In fact, I think we might get some kind of hairstyle or unique beards, if not we will not be very different from any other normal dwarfs. And I hope that Mythic has already planned this.
It is true that Mythic is based out of Fairfax, VA right? If so, are there going to be any opening day events in the Area?
On another note I believe that DC would be a great place to host some sort of WAR specific Event or a games convention in general…There are way to many conferences on the west coast!
Mark, blog looks great and your openness and sincerity are both welcome and very refreshing.
Best of luck with WAR and maybe some day I will see you on the battlefield.
WAAAAAAAGH!
Mark, you sound like a fun, sensible and straight-talking guy — precisely the rare type of boss one would be glad to work for.
I am anxiously awaiting Warhammer this September. Please keep up this excellent communication. It’s quite reassuring!
Any plans on having a true developers blog? At the moment warhammeronline.com does have “developer diaries”, but at the moment it could be considered stale content.
Judging by the popularity of your own blog, I have no doubt the community would be excited to read about the real, honest to goodness challenges which face your developers on a daily basis. I would imagine high-level posts discussing things like concerns over balance and replayabiliy would be just as popular as posts going into the nitty-gritty of how the “combat lag” solution was formed.
Assuming a development team of 60 people, having each person even only contribute 1 entry every 2 months would still result in new content each day. Of course best case scenario they would write a bit more
Personally I’d love to read about the challenges developers face, and how they go about solving them!
Mark, I’d like to thank you on behalf of the Oceanic community for providing Oceania servers for the Warhammer Online launch. Blizzard, who currently prints money doesn’t even give the Oceanic community what they deserved even after 4 years of being with them – after 4 years, they were only given a FORUM..
I’m not hopeful of being answered here but I have a question: There was an interview from Josh Drescher (http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/42862) in Leipzig and he gave answers about population balance. His statement was that if a particular faction had too many players at a given time, the overcrowded faction would deny its players from logging in (to not add more players to an already populated server).
I thought this needed further clarification, but I thought you guys would just go with Blizzard’s approach of free server transfers (limited to a faction) to balance population. Thoughts?
“On another note I believe that DC would be a great place to host some sort of WAR specific Event or a games convention in general…”
No, no, no! It needs to be in Spotsylvania!
Oh by the way Mark, can you put in a request with the Mythic Store people or whoever does the Clothing line for some more options in the T-Shirt Department. I still have my DAoC T-Shirt (holes and everything) that I bought when it launched… Was from just after launch it is black and has the mythic logo on the arm and the dragon and symbol thing on the front. I don’t like white
however I may be forced to buy it if no other options present themselves. Not a horrible shirt by any means… but it is white.
Hey Mark,
I also wanted to congratulate your team on the work thus far. I know my husband and I have been waiting patiently for WAR’s release for almost a year.
An actual MMO that doesn’t feel like you’re shopping for gear all the time is refreshing.
I was wondering, is there any plans of release those jobs that didn’t make it in final release eventually?
Make some fatty shirts for us lazy, fat gamers. 4x and larger
Fools,
we are french mmo guild and we and some massive other players don’t want chicken mode on open rvr.
Please Mr Jacobs let us rvr freely
best regards
team of fan
Just poping by to say you’ve safely made it to me blog roll ^^ enjoying the read so far
That and to wish you the best with the WAR launch, ill be there in open beta providing GoA get it right
ToA was really beautiful in a lot of ways. Swimming underwater, being carried off by a harpy during ML2, being changed into a mummy in ML5, the lava in Volcanus, the Phoenix, the armor and weapon designs, etc. were amazing. It was just too buggy, too difficult to meet all the requirements for getting MLs and leveling artifacts, and the abilities gained were too powerful. It’s really kind of tragic that it was so flawed.
Hi Mark,
I’m going to cut right to the chase here with some questions.
Firstly, the trend in the MMO playerbase as of late is what I refer to as the ‘WoW test’ where any title slated for release in the MMORPG market is excruciatingly compared to WoW’s current state. My question is this, What is your opinion on the subject. Do you feel that its fair to new titles to be compared to the behemoth that WoW has become in its current form or should new titles be compared more relistically to what WoW at tis initial release state?
How do you feel micro-transaction MMO’s inpact the subscription based MMO model? As I personally have yet to find a micro-transation MMO that was anything more than grind grind grind, afk your toon as a “merchant” while you work/sleep and do it again the next day, with no real purpose or incentive or even a goal for that matter.
Are there whispers around the office of possibly picking up similar IP’s in the future for the MMORPG scene? For example Privateer press’s warmachine (which in my opinion would be a badass steampunk MMORPG)
thanks for taking the time to communicate with the community Mark, it really is refreshing to see a development company who’s employee’s deal directly with the players in so many ways. In 20 years of gaming I can’t recall a single company that talks to the players in such a straightfoward down to earth manner as Paul, Josh and youself.
Thanks again, and see you at launch!
@theeriver Vertical stripes… they make you look thinner.
Anyway, thanks Mark, for being a gentleman and a scholar. I don’t want rock stars with too-high testosterone levels developing MMO’s *cough* Kaplan & Metzen *cough*, I want someone who wants to make a fun game! (That being said, having played in the CB and the PW, WAR is definitely a very fun game.)
Yep, I admit it, after playing DAoC since the guild beta, I jumped ship to WoW. Tried to come back, but I got sick of slash commands, clunky interfaces, and character classes that were too rigidly designed. Don’t worry, I felt the same way about The Realm and UO.
So, a question, if I may. I’m one of those mythical weird people, y’know, a diehard roleplayer? However, I am no one of those “sit-in-taverns-and-emote” type roleplayers. I love action, I just like to do it in-character. So, uh, my question, yeah. Will you be adding some nice fluffy stuff that is meaningless to the HARDCORES for us? Like a /sit and /walk and /e command? Like clothing in addition to armor? Like keeping the lore consistent and not putting in space paladin squigoats? (Okay, the last one I already know the answer to.
) Thanks for guild taverns, by the way, my little rp guild is drooling already!
Great to see you blogging and the answers to the comments are what I have come to expect from you over the years.
You guys and gals at Mythic are the most responsive of developers and this game is definitly one to be proud of. I look forward to a long ongoing relationship with this game
The Imperator reference may have been cruel. i was all up for it when it was still being developed and a good Sci-Fi game is definitly needed in the market space. I hope to see it come back
Mark,
First of all, thanks for opening up this line of communication with you. I’d like to take advantage of it to say a couple of things.
I have been a player of Ultima Online since 1996… The only other game that ever tore me away from UO for any significant amount of time was DAOC.
When EA and Mythic got married, I was in hog heaven! My two favorite games ever were going to be brother and sister. Amazingly cool!
UO has had a rough time in the past, but the current devs really seem to “get it” and they’re trying hard to put the Ultima back in UO.
DAOC had ToA
UO had AoS
I would really LOVE it if you could just talk about UO for a few minutes. What do you think of the game? What are your expectations? Where would you like to see it go?
I feel like since Mythic took over UO there hasn’t been any kind of top-down communication coming from you. The Mythic site doesn’t mention UO. The new accounting system doesn’t include UO.
I feel like Harry Potter living under the stairs. Maybe I’m naive, but I think UO has still got a LOT of potential to increase it’s playerbase and really set itself apart as an MMO. It’s one of a kind and I hold it very dear.
Mark, I grew up playing UO. My UO accounts are older than my little boy who’s starting kindergarden. Older than my marriage that spawn this wonderful kid, even.
Please stop by UHall or the UO Herald and give us a little hello. I know you’re a busy guy, but it would mean so much to us if you could just acknowledge that UO is getting the love it needs from everyone at Mythic, from the top to the bottom.
Thank you Mark,
John
Excellent job with your new blog, Mark. I honestly can say that you and Mythic have a lot on your plate to work with but out of all the MMOG developers I’ve seen, you and everyone that works with you have done the best job possible.
I also agree with a previous comment. Perhaps you could take the idea that Blizzard has with Blizzcon and do something similar for Mythic / WAR / DAoC out here on the east coast! The DC or Baltimore region would be an excellent spot!
Mark,
Thought I would give you a heads up. There is a massive, growing need for MMO gamers. It’s called a Sandbox game. If you read messages boards such as the one on mmorpg.com you will see that a growing number of players don’t want character levels, they want skills.
Since Ultima Online, there still have not been a proper true sandbox games other than a few.
I know for a fact, if done right, it can be successful.
And who other than Mark Jacobs to do it in the future?
I see the UD herald just update anoth PW weekend but only for last PW users…
Many more have preorederd and reg now open it for everone that is reg with pre order codes
and dev wonder why thier games fail people cancel orders for being left out of pre order stuff
open it to all pre orders not just last weekend users
Nice reading, Mark.
Your a breath of fresh air in this buisness, and infact, in this age.
Its nice to see honesty and a general down to earth attitude.
Be seeing ya
Great work on the Blog Mark. Its always interesting to read the thoughts of the ‘higher ups’ at a development studio. Hope you find it enjoyable enough to keep cracking at it.
One of the more interesting aspects to MMOs for me is the potential to create living and breathing virtual worlds. Whilst RvR (rocks btw) helps make you feel like you can impact the gameworld, what are your thoughts on more social features in order to enable the players to feel like they have a place in the game. Im talking player housing, player created content, being able to actually BUILD things like keeps (dig, gather, build, finish).
I know developers are kind of anti-sandbox since SWG flopped, but is there a place in modern day AAA MMOs for certain sandbox features?
Wall of text warning (sorry)
Just read your blog, it’s a very interesting read, and got me thinking about MMO success in general.
I believe that for LoTR, the remarkable sense of immersion and their failure to attain higher subscriber numbers was a result of the high level of fidelity they maintained in the realization of their I.P..
If play balance is significantly skewed in WoW for PvP (and I think it is for PvP game). Why is PvP in WoW (i.e. the number of subscribers on PvP servers) so successful?
WoW expansions have been described as more of the same, only better. Can WoW’s success be attributed to Blizzard’s identification of the various ways their player base needs to feel successful (this is why cocaine is addictive), and their ability to provide for that need (the rush from success) in a more sustained manner and to a wider audience better than any other MMOG in history? If so, what are those needs (all the ones that Blizzard is currently feeding, and any that they are not and why), and how are these needs being fed in a sustainable manner (also, is Blizzard failing to deliver on any of those, if so, why?).
On a side note, I don’t know of many people that maintain multiple active MMO subscriptions for an extended period of time. So, in order to be successful with a given player, that player has to want play you MMORPG more than any other. That’s my only concern with regards to focused MMORPG development. If I think of an MMORPG like a Basketball team, and if I look at all of the tangibles and intangibles that that go into making a successful MMORPG or getting a basketball team an NBA championship, your team/MMORPG has to win the equivalent of the NBA championship in any given player’s heart for them to play your game for an extended period.
to driksna
Honestly lrn2preorder faster
and its only 2 days bud…Sunday will open it up to everyone. To ensure that goes smoothly they are doing another 2 days of preview…nothing wrong with that…should be thanking them for their work not trying to flame them, and any how its only 50,000 SE preorders and CE people so chiill!
How do you feel about the way GOA is handling European players?
The fact that we still can’t register our codes and that you guys are giving Americans so many more benefits (PW, PW2, etc.) seems ridiculous. I hope we get some compensation.
Hey Mark, thanks for the preview weekend+. I’ve been fidgeting waiting to get my hands on trying Warhammer Online again.
By the way, that smily face at the top to the right of your page, is that a lair? =D
@driksna
ROFL… games don’t fail due to pre-order woes, they fail when not enough of the right people speak up about their experiences. I was a bit jealous I didn’t know about the PW myself but still doesn’t mean I’m canceling my pre-order.
I’m glad you guys are working on Mac stuff. EA announced last year at some Mac event they were committed to simultaneous development on PC and Mac of most all their titles. I was disappointed WAR wasn’t one of them…I had to buy a PC to game on. Again. Oh well.
I’m curious at how you and the playerbase continually complain about ToA. I hated ToA in its original form. However, I think the changes Mythic made over the years made ToA a good part of the game.
And you mention metrics, would the smite cleric nerf have happened with the new metrics? I’m going to continue to believe that the smite nerf was necessary because you could have a group and none of the clerics healed—which is a round-about way of me hinting that I think the healer mechanic here might yield the same dilemma. (On preview weekend, most healers weren’t healing…) I do love the new mechanics though, so I hope I’m wrong.
Awesome.
So, as an aspiring game developer I wanted to ask you what do you think it would take to become a next-gen MMORPG game developer. I mean by the looks of it most smaller MMORPGs fail and never launch, probably crushing lots of peoples dreams, so what would it take to get into one of the bigger companies to sort of “secure” your spot.
Mark,
If you’re ever looking for topics, I’d love to hear the thoughts/history/poop on Aliens Online. First MMO I ever played, and still quite a forward-thinking game. FPS MMO, two vastly different teams, tense gameplay, 100+ players in one mission. Good times. Thanks for em.
Mark
Thanks for addressing my comment personally. I do plan to play WAR on my Windows desktop PC, but I thought it was worth asking about my Macbook as well.
Al
P.S. WAAAAaaAAAAaaaAaaaaaaaAAaAAaaAGhggh
Mark,
I was very pleased to hear that the Ultima Online team had been moved to Mythic. I’m a very big fan of the work you guys do, and it has given me a new positive outlook for my favorite MMO. If possible, I’d like to hear you talk about UO and it’s future if you’ve got any information on that. =) Thanks in advance.
Well, I must say I am glad to see you are continuing to blog; it’s rare for a fanbase to get to have such open, up front communication with “the men behind the curtain” so to speak.
It’s also amazing to see how enthusiastic the devs and other members of the staff is. Refreshing, to say the least!
Anywho.. I did have a question.
With all the hullabaloo over on several of the warhammer fan-forums (most notably WHA), and the growing dissatisfaction of the EU portion of customers… how do you feel personally about how GOA is handling things? What is your take and your personal (not company) response to the EU customer’s feelings of… well… being second-rate customers?
Hey Mark,
One thing I really love about FPS Games is their pure variety of settings they have to make the game look worse/better than the graphics menu allows you to go. I hope WAR allows for a ton of graphics settings in like an advanced section complete with a warning or something so that players who barely meet the minimum requirements (or perhaps even those who don’t meet them at all) can have a great experience playing. Stuff like turning off shadows, making the performance-tweaks you guys do in big sieges to be forced-on all the time, lower quality animations, that sort of thing.
Thanks,
Labhoix
PS: Good luck with WAR, and you guys really did pay a lot of attention to the players in DAoC even if you made some mistakes – go with what your team thinks is right.
Mark,
As an old-school, yet retired DAoC player, thanks to your and your team for the work you’ve done on War. I’ve been playing in the CE betas, and I am certain that the wait was worth it now.
Thanks,
Dan
P.S. Don’t forget to give healers love!
Just found your blog.. you didn’t start it all that long ago and.. there, already a ton of stuff and comments to catch up with !
Anyway, I just wanted to drop a line thanking you, Mark, for being so open with the players base (also known as customer base). It is refreshing to see someone that speaks out (especially so close to the launch date) .
Double refreshing to see someone from any MMORPG taking heads on the topic of the other games in the ‘niche’ that are on the market, like AoC, including the 8000 lbs gorilla in the corner (WOW).
I am already a customer, and hope that WAR will be keeping me busy for years to come, but if I had been on the fence, your approach and willingness of speaking up would have made me fall on your side of the court
Thanks; I’ll be reading
~K
Mark
This is awesome stuff man. I’ve played several games and they all seemed distant…the “people” behind the game anyway. You and your staff with your posts on various fansites just give a great feeling to the community and game.
This blog is great. It’s great to see or read thoughts of someone responsible for something as large as a MMO.
Good stuff
A comment on US getting another PW adn EU players feeling left out would be really good. At the moment there are a lot of EU players feeling pissed off about it and taking it out on GOA.
Thanks for a great read and blog, personally I am not botehred about PW+ , but I am concerned over the amoutn of negativity it is generating in the EU. I’m sure you can find a way to reassure EU your not shitting on us from a great height and it is not a failure by GOA.
Hey Mark,
Long time DAoC player and fan. I know this has been covered before but I would like to know if there is any chance of DAoC 2 seeing the light of day if WAR is a success? I honestly think that the setting and 3 realm RvR are great ideas! Licensing the Warhammer franchise is great, but I think you have the best ideas in house just waiting to be tapped!
back at you, if you don;t think people have not and will not cancel for being excluded after preordering the same way you did , i’ll tell you now people did , i play on dragonblight and 30 some people cancelled just out our guild that was goign to try that preordered, If they treat others diffrent before release it will just be the same after
just to add yes 30 is not much, but it all adds up
*sipping a glass of champagne for you *… SKOL!!!
Mark ~
Can you tell me your thoughts on the Witch Hunter? Thanks and keep up the good work!
Great blog! I’ve read it top to bottom so far and I can’t wait to read more. You guys at Mythic have always been great to the communities that follow your games so keep at it and don’t stop!
Now everyone knows how many subs Blizzard has for WoW thanks to their great marketing, but how many did DAoC peak at? I remember reading about it a while back when DAoC, EQ, UO and AC were the big boys in the industry, but I can’t remember the number. If I remember right DAoC was right behind EQ at one point.
Anyway continue posting as much as possible.
Thanks for the many great years I had with DAoC and I plan on having just as many if not more with WAR.
You guys are doing a great job at Mythic and I’d like to express my appreciation for all of your hard work.
Opening up testing to PW players a couple of days before open beta really surprised me. It really was a shock and a great move to make the open beta launch more smooth and bug free. I’m sure you know as well as most of the community that when you open up to the masses you want a game as bug free as possible and this is a great way to accomplish that goal. Great decision.
And, on a final note, I’m finally free at last from that other MMO that has bored me to tears for 4 years.
Thanks again and keep up the great work!!
@ driksna – seems to me that you are getting your panties in a twist over nothing. So what I get a couple of extra days of Beta? My characters will still be wiped at the end of it, same as everyone elses. Most of us here are probably going to be playing WAR for at least 6 months to give it a good go and see how well it develops. Myself, personally, will be playing for a minimum of a year. When you start thinking about this kind of time investment, doesn’t getting pissy over 2 days of beta get kind of trivial? They can’t invite everyone because the obvious intended purpose of this extra Preview Weekend is to stress test the servers once again with the new patches before the absolutely massive influx of Open Beta players on Sunday night/Monday morning.
@ Mark Jacobs – thank you very much for all your community work and especially for things like this blog. The one thing that has kept me constantly amazed with WAR has been the openness of Mythic. I never thought I would ever see a games company with an actual soul… ^_^
A comment on US getting another PW adn EU players feeling left out would be really good. At the moment there are a lot of EU players feeling *unhappy* about it and taking it out on GOA.
Thanks for a great read and blog, personally I am not concerned about PW+ , but I am concerned over the amount of negativity it is generating in the EU. I’m sure you can find a way to reassure EU your not *dumping* on us from a great height and it is not a failure by GOA.
Edited for spelling and cursing =)
Thanks for PW+. I work shift work (2 weeks away / 2 weeks home) and missed all of CE closed beta. (cue violins!)
I fly out early on the 9th (Aussie time) for another 2 weeks.
You just increased my open beta time, and first look into WAR, from 1 day to 3 days.
Thank you
I’m sure it’s been asked before, but since we’re on the topic of questions… What class are you going to play MJ? Is there a side you favor, or are both destruction and order your beloved children?
Bed Time Story? Been waiting all day, not sure if I can sleep until we hear about “The three MMOs”
Mark,
I thought I’d share a little story with you between a friend and I on AIM:
“[23:29] Jon Coveney: imagine being an mmo developer
[23:29] Jon Coveney: everyone is always yelling at you
[23:29] Jon Coveney: and the people who DO love you are usually intolerable fanboys
[23:30] ItsZackYang: lol
[23:30] ItsZackYang: yes, but
[23:30] ItsZackYang: that’s pretty much God’s job description too.”
Well it seems my first comment got nuked by the auto-spam bot nuker. Apparently it’s doing it’s immitation of a Bright wizard. Meh!
Let’s try this again!
@Kelmain – That shot you linked I took for WarDB.
I have the original with an semi-side shot of Gotrek that I think highlights his ‘hawk a lot better.
If you want it. I’ll try and figure out a way to link it since the Spam Bot hates the link and has blocked my posts TWICE now.
Have I mentioned that WAR Needs Slayers to replace the Hammerer?
If we can have semi-naked tubby Marauders we should be able to have Slayers!
I hope this works this time.
*crosses fingers*
Let’s see if this will work.
http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=23a8e118237380f0ab1eab3e9fa335ca63d299816c14e75b
Very excited about WAR coming to Australia. Rumours have it that Internode in Melbourne will be hosting the Australian servers, can you confirm? I know the NA and AU/NZ clients will be connected so can we expect a simultaneous release with NA (ie. about 1am Monday morning >.<)?
Thoroughly enjoyed the read.
>> In truth though, we have come a long way since DAoC with our
>> metrics tools, surveys and forum work. If we had everything in
>> place for DAoC that we have in WAR, ToA would never have
>> happened.
It is nice to hear an admission of the fact that ToA was a serious egg laying. Has Mr. Jacobs or any other Mythic higher-up ever written a detailed post mortem about exactly how disastrous ToA was for DAoC?
It made my wife and I quit, and most of our raid alliance on Midgard/Percival (The Fist of the North alliance, for those who might recall). It was an utter disaster.
-Cambios
Blogging about Online Gaming and Virtual Worlds:
http://www.muckbeast.com
thanks very much for the comments on Warhammer Alliance about the EU/PW+ etc etc
Definitly plenty of sand used and hopefully it will cut down a lot on the usual nonsense posetd daily.
Thanks so much, hope you had a good night’s sleep.
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