State of The Game - Mark Jacobs

[Cylus]

http://www.somethingawful.com/flash/shmorky/babby.swf

Edit: I was going for teh funny. Sometimes I hit. Mostly I miss.

Hah, thank you for that.

[Jarachelle]

wat

[Nevermore]

I, for one, am happy Mark feels he has to take a stance. Shows he cares for the game which tells me there are many positive changes to come...

[Kardlonoc]

After reading through a good portion of the thread the main form of contention seems to be in scenarios VS rvr/pve and  problems with all three mostly concerning repetition. The increase rvr gains are a fine solution but i think a one solution that can realistically be applied in a few months is to add more variety to the scenarios that would appeal to more players in general. A "take the keep" scenario for instance with more players and more rewards that would last about 30 minutes. Also a "warzone" type scenario where you have to kill the npc general and his army while fighting off his npc army and enemy players, all the while protecting your own general. A death match scenario with low rewards and low time (like 5 minutes) might not alleviate the problem here but i think would be a good idea nonetheless.

[Takhomasac]

Whew, there was another one.  We're only on page 20.

I was worried that I would have to step in and submit a monologue waxing eloquent on the virtues of Mark Jacobs, Mythic, and the world in general to give Schild something to do.  Oh well, maybe when the thread slows to a bit more of a crawl.

[WindupAtheist]

I stole this smiley from eastsideboxing.com and I think f13 needs to steal it officially. It's turning out to be quite frequently appropriate lately.

[RUiN 427]

What the fuck are babbys?

http://www.somethingawful.com/flash/shmorky/babby.swf

Edit: I was going for teh funny. Sometimes I hit. Mostly I miss.

Dude, I am crying right now at my desk... co-workers are looking at me strangely. Too awesome.

[Stoz]

Ur a towel.

[gimpyone]

I think Schild needs the love letters, not Mark Jacobs.

[Nebu]

Now I know what my problem is... I haven't been addressing enough of my posts to people. 

Dear Schild,

We miss you!

Love, Nebu

[Kirth]

So I figured it out.

EA needs to buy funcom , merge it with mythic.then Take AoC's combat, graphics, and maybe player made structures and combine it with everything in WAR.

Conanhammer: Age of hyproibion adventure craft

[squirrel]

So I figured it out.

EA needs to buy funcom , merge it with mythic.then Take AoC's combat, graphics, and maybe player made structures and combine it with everything in WAR.

Conanhammer: Age of hyproibion adventure craft

Id settle for an optomized AoC graphcs engine...

[Paelos]

Dear Mark Jacobs,

<Insert kissass comment here>
<Insert 20 paragraph tirade here>
<Jack off at the idea you were taken seriously here>

Sincerely,
All the new assholes

[Kageru]

I must admit I was absolutely fascinated to see if they had a practical and workable answer to the issues of population imbalance. It seems obvious now that they didn't have anything of interest to offer as a balancing mechanic. However scenarios which are inherently population balanced conceal any realm imbalance, which might explain why they are so keen on keeping them as a premier part of the game. If incentives do force people into RvR and they realize the future involves being repeatedly routed by population and class imbalances I cannot see a high degree of retention.

Upcoming game mechanics fun involves seeing how they can make endgame RvR not look like an obvious and vicious grind. Followed by how you can expand the world when you already have the ultimate leaders of a faction (more so for alliance maybe) as the first level of progression. Adding additional battlefields is possible but not without even further diluting the player base which is already an issue. Add in the normal class balance issues and fanboys (of which warhammer has some of the most obsessive) feeling betrayed and it should be a very entertaining game to follow in the forums.

Not play mind you, but then it seems like the mechanics are fairly much designed to discourage you from signing on if you missed the surge at release.

[Nebu]

Not play mind you, but then it seems like the mechanics are fairly much designed to discourage you from signing on if you missed the surge at release.

I was berated when I said this early on.  The whole thing is a circular mess.   You need a decent group to do the PQ's. PQ's drop the best loot. Without people you can't find a decent group OR your new found group vanishes when their scenario pops OR a guild group is doing the PQ and is keeping their group closed.   Without critical mass, PQ's just become a ghost land for any that don't have a steady group to run with. 

Is this really the social structure they want to promote in a game that attracted many pre-built social groups?

[AW]

Dear Mark Jacobs,

<Insert kissass comment here>
<Insert 20 paragraph tirade here>
<Jack off at the idea you were taken seriously here>

Sincerely,
All the new assholes

How about a chart? Did I mention this NASDAQ is live!

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=15021.0

Keep checking back as the Warhammer brand runs; circles around Ultima Worlds projections.

 

[Righ]

Now AW has 7 posts that aren't denned. If he keeps this up he might get to 10%.

[schild]

Now AW has 7 posts that aren't denned. If he keeps this up he might get to 10%.

What on earth would make you encourage him?

[tolakram]

I think a better comparison chart might be this:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=world+of+warcraft%2C+warhammer+online%2C+age+of+conan&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=1

WoW is blue, AoC is yellow, WAR is red


WoW is the evil!  I have no opinion on the trends, I just like graphs.

edit:

Another one.

http://trends.google.com/trends?q=wotlk%2C+warhammer+online%2C+age+of+conan&ctab=0&geo=all&date=ytd&sort=1

WotLK is blue, AoC is yellow, WAR is red


I lied about not having comments.   My concerns:

AoC more popular initially with steep fall, WAR less popular but rapidly falling.
WotLK now surpassing WAR, but that's probably expected.

If you add DAOC to that chart and go back as far as the data goes (2004) you'll see that DAOC interest was just below what WAR interest is now.  That's my biggest concern, WAR seems to be stabilizing at the same level DAOC did as far as web searches go.

Where is the advertising?  WAR ads should be everywhere, lets bring some people in!

[BitWarrior]

Where is the advertising?  WAR ads should be everywhere, lets bring some people in!

This would be a mistake. Firstly, yes they have been advertising. However, I would not be surprised if they let their current contracts expire. The game has been revealed as flawed based on their initial delivery promise, and their retention rates are probably lower than expected. I don't have any real statistical data on it, but being that there hasn't been some announcement or even slight discussion about it on the Herald or from MJ on any forum, it can be safe to assume bragging rights they are not.

Once they feel the game is in a strong position, and EA feels they would like to throw additional dollars at it already, I'm sure we'll see more advertising. In the meantime, bringing people into a game which isn't as "sticky" as it probably should be is only going to hurt you in the long run.

[Righ]

Now AW has 7 posts that aren't denned. If he keeps this up he might get to 10%.

What on earth would make you encourage him?

I was trying to remind you to den the other 7.

[schild]

Now AW has 7 posts that aren't denned. If he keeps this up he might get to 10%.

What on earth would make you encourage him?

I was trying to remind you to den the other 7.

I'm good, thanks.

[raydeen]

Does any discussion about WAR really matter any more? WOW HAS ZOMBIES!!!!!!

[schild]

Does any discussion about WAR really matter any more? WOW HAS ZOMBIES!!!!!!

WAR had zombies at launch with more than 6 polygons. What's your point?

[raydeen]

Does any discussion about WAR really matter any more? WOW HAS ZOMBIES!!!!!!

WAR had zombies at launch with more than 6 polygons. What's your point?

Because now I can be a zombie and have a zombie army. :P

Edit: You've been living in this forum for the past 72 hours or so haven't you. Go look in the WoW forum. (I hope you have already)

[schild]

Does any discussion about WAR really matter any more? WOW HAS ZOMBIES!!!!!!

WAR had zombies at launch with more than 6 polygons. What's your point?

Because now I can be a zombie and have a zombie army. :P

Edit: You've been living in this forum for the past 72 hours or so haven't you. Go look in the WoW forum. (I hope you have already)

No no, I'm good. I saw it already.

[WindupAtheist]

WOO!

[Nebu]

Needs a new title update. 

[Seanzor]

WOO!

I've always loved that chart - it's goddamn funny, and it's somehow accurate enough that I can point to the loop in the 'fun' line and say, yeah, that's where I quit and never looked back (IPY aside).

[WindupAtheist]

Ok, I guess a thread this epic needs it's own.

[Sparky]

Funny stuff.  But f13 went fanboy over PotBS?  I must have blinked and missed it.

[raydeen]

Funny stuff.  But f13 went fanboy over PotBS?  I must have blinked and missed it.

I think it was for about 13 days or so. Not quite a fortnight.

[Montague]

Funny stuff.  But f13 went fanboy over PotBS?  I must have blinked and missed it.

I think it was for about 13 days or so. Not quite a fortnight.

Hellgate London should be in there somewhere as well.

[Lantyssa]

"It's not a worthless IP, it's big in Europe!"

Awesome.  WUA, you have the best charts.

[Morfiend]

"It's not a worthless IP, it's big in Europe!"

Wait... Isn't Warhammer lore just a big rip off of Warcraft?