WAR to be released...

[Draegan]

Looks like WAR has their own version of the WOW Armory:

http://realmwar.warhammeronline.com/realmwar/Index.war

If you're in the beta you can test it out.

[cevik]

You all just lost 25 posts because someone couldn't obey NDA. Don't be retarded. Stay in school.

As long as the rollback didn't affect my post count it's all good with me.

[FatuousTwat]

You all just lost 25 posts because someone couldn't obey NDA. Don't be retarded. Stay in school.

Is that some new form of currency? Or should I continue not caring?

[eldaec]

Looks like WAR has their own version of the WOW Armory:

http://realmwar.warhammeronline.com/realmwar/Index.war

If you're in the beta you can test it out.

I'm not in beta, but that looks like it's just the same thing as daoc had, a page that tracks rvr status, the guild scoreboards, and individual pvp achievements (that might be what you meant by a wow armory, I don't know what a wow armory is, but it sounds different?).

[Bungee]

It was long stated that WAR will have an improved version of the Herold/Herald.... thingy.

WOW STOLE IT FROM MYTHIC!!!!!!!!! 

[Numtini]

Honestly, I think this kind of a thing is now a standard for a top shelf MMO. And despite the best efforts of SOE, free of charge as part of your sub. Thank you Lum & Mythic.

[sam, an eggplant]

Doesn't EQ2 have something similar? I remember following a link there at some point.

I assume the removed posts came from the guy adding his two cents to cut n' paste from a website devoted to beta leaks. Nice job.

[Fordel]

DaoC had the Herald forever yea. One of the many things DaoC did right.

[UnSub]

It doesn't even need to be better than WoW. It just needs to NOT SUCK and have enough shit different from WoW to attract a decent number of people who want something a bit different. The problem is that apparently no one in the world besides Blizzard is capable of making an MMO that has NOT SUCK.

No.

I've highlighted the flaw in your argument: what is different 'enough' from WoW that a 'decent number' of people who want something 'different'? If you want to play something WoW-like, you play WoW. That's it. Game over. LOTRO gave it a shot, got enough subs to make some money, but aren't in WoW's league in terms of sub numbers.

Doing the same but different pretty much always sees the original dominate the copy.

What's more likely: that Blizzard's next MMO is going to be WoW 2 or Universe of Starcraft? Why do you think that would be?

[sam, an eggplant]

Blizzard already has a diku clone, and they only rip off (polish/perfect/whatever) successful games, and the only successful MMO that isn't a diku is EVE online, so I'm going to be all bold and predict that starcraft online will be an ineffably polished homage to EVE. Either that or Activision forces them to clone/polish/perfect/whatever ZT Online. In that case we're all just fucked.

[pants]

This situation seems oddly reminiscent of DAoC's release; at release much of Hibernia's art assets had yet to be finished and several classes needed major retooling or entire redesigns. It seems they've taken a different path this time with deciding to cut the content entirely, which is probably a better long term decision but is getting them a ton of flack right now. It's probably not a bad thing for them to complain now either, better now than at release.

The removal of the Choppa is definitely disappointing though.

I agree with everything you've said above.

Mark

I'm trying to work out if this has anything to do with man-dick or not...

[Tannhauser]

I played WAR up at Origins a few weeks ago, and I'm not in the beta so please don't dock me 25 posts.   

UI-Excellent, really good looking to me.  Loved the item boxes especially, great fonts.  Hear that AoC?
Avatars-Very good looking but they skate around the ground like they did in DAoC, minor annoyance
Terrain-Great visuals for the most part.  I got lost a few times in some forest.
Monsters-Looked good

I played a Elf Archmage (boring as hell, slow to level)
Human Fire Wizard (same fire wizard from DAoC, but killed stuff faster than the Spanish Flu)
Goblin Squig Herder (same as playing a Hunter from WoW you just get your squig at 1st level)

Overall my impression was a big fat 'meh'.  It's a shinier version of WoW to me.

But once the game opens I think it will be a lot better because I'll have my friends to group with and maybe do more than scratch the surface of this shiny game.  Plus it's beta.

Not playing a healer though, looks like a rough time leveling for them.
Just my opinion.

[HRose]

Looks like WAR has their own version of the WOW Armory:

http://realmwar.warhammeronline.com/realmwar/Index.war

I think it would be more correct saying they have their version of DAoC's Herald.

[Numtini]

Doesn't EQ2 have something similar? I remember following a link there at some point.

EQ2 has a portal similar to WoW's armory, but they put a lot of the features at a $3/month charge. As a result, not very many people use it. (I've honestly never heard of anyone who did.) And a lot of us actively resent it because they're trying to charge for something everyone else offers for free. On the other hand, I can at least look up a guild roster and that type of thing, so it's a site that I have used the free parts of.

[Draegan]

Looks like WAR has their own version of the WOW Armory:

http://realmwar.warhammeronline.com/realmwar/Index.war

I think it would be more correct saying they have their version of DAoC's Herald.

Eh, I didn't play DAOC so I stand corrected.  Could you look up individual players and check out their gear and spec etc?

[slog]

You all just lost 25 posts because someone couldn't obey NDA. Don't be retarded. Stay in school.

It's curious that you have decided to enforce a contract that you are not a party to.  I can't wait for all the reviews here to have a minimum score of 89%

[Lantyssa]

They have always been draconian about NDA breaches.  You act as if it is a new thing.

[sam, an eggplant]

They want developers to post here, and devs won't post on a site with NDA violations as it could be seen as condoning that behavior. Simple as that.

Also, it's scummy.

[amiable]

I think I was the person who started it,.  But I am not in the Beta and hence I am not subject to an NDA, I was just reporting what I read on a third party website so I didn't think I was running afoul of the NDA.  is there a point at which leaked information becomes common knowledge enough that we can discuss it?

In any event, I recognize that it is schilds call on what is appropriate or innappropriate, so I will try to be more careful in the future.

[slog]

They have always been draconian about NDA breaches.  You act as if it is a new thing.

Never paid attention before.  And "because we have always done it" just distracts from the question.

[slog]

I think I was the person who started it,.  But I am not in the Beta and hence I am not subject to an NDA, I was just reporting what I read on a third party website so I didn't think I was running afoul of the NDA.  is there a point at which leaked information becomes common knowledge enough that we can discuss it?

In any event, I recognize that it is schilds call on what is appropriate or inappropriate, so I will try to be more careful in the future.

I guess as previously mentioned, anything you post can be determined to be an NDA violation since the moderators do not have access to each individual contract was agreed to (or if there even is an NDA.)  It's a private website that isn't subject to Free Speech rights and so on.

[Triforcer]

They want developers to post here, and devs won't post on a site with NDA violations as it could be seen as condoning that behavior. Simple as that.

Also, it's scummy.

The corollary to this is:  only caring about NDAs where devs might conceivably visit here anyway.  Hence, the mixed signals coming from the WoW board. 

[sam, an eggplant]

Well yeah, but the WOTLK NDA violations are so incredibly widespread that it would be like ignoring a purple elephant.

[Triforcer]

Well yeah, but the WOTLK NDA violations are so incredibly widespread that it would be like ignoring a purple elephant.

I don't dispute that as a practical matter.  My point is that the concern derives from self-interest (getting devs to post here), and not any innate belief in the absolute sacredness of the NDA. 

[sam, an eggplant]

I think there's some truth to that, yes. Not that schild and co would break a NDA they personally signed, they aren't scumbunnies, but they would probably allow it to be linked from other sites otherwise.

[cevik]

It's my personal theory that Mark paid schild nuke the thread because we discussed WoW subscription numbers and Mark is trying to clean the internet of any discussion of WoW numbers so that when he tells us that 100k subscribers is better than WoW we'll agree.

Or something.

[Rasix]

Mark reads here. Mark would ask to have the information removed if he saw it.  So, we remove such information as a courtesy without him having to send PMs.  Other factors are present, which I am unable to discuss. 

As far as I know, no one from Blizzard has asked us to remove any WOTLK information nor have we any first hand breakages. I'm somewhat ambivalent on this case, due to the largest WoW sites posting insider alpha information and there being entire well known wikis chock full of NDA breaking material.   

Wish I could say more, but it just boils down to courtesy and respect.   We didn't get any bagels.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Read: Mods like being in the beta

[slog]

Mark reads here. Mark would ask to have the information removed if he saw it.  So, we remove such information as a courtesy without him having to send PMs.  Other factors are present, which I am unable to discuss. 

As far as I know, no one from Blizzard has asked us to remove any WOTLK information nor have we any first hand breakages. I'm somewhat ambivalent on this case, due to the largest WoW sites posting insider alpha information and there being entire well known wikis chock full of NDA breaking material.   

Wish I could say more, but it just boils down to courtesy and respect.   We didn't get any bagels.

You don't have to remove anything, even if he asks nicely.  Of course, you don't get beta slots...

[SnakeCharmer]

Read: Mods like being in the beta

 

You really don't know this place at all.

[Lum]

Could you look up individual players and check out their gear and spec etc?

We had the technical capability to publish that data (it was available to CSRs) but our players were almost unanimously opposed to it.

Blizzard has views on data/player privacy that I... somewhat disagree with, to put it mildly.

[Simond]

As Mark's reading here:
WoW dropped their NDA in March for a late 2004 launch.
WAR still has their NDA up, presumably for a late 2008 launch.
Does this mean WAR is less ready than WoW was at this relative point in time?

[WayAbvPar]

Mark reads here. Mark would ask to have the information removed if he saw it.  So, we remove such information as a courtesy without him having to send PMs.  Other factors are present, which I am unable to discuss. 

As far as I know, no one from Blizzard has asked us to remove any WOTLK information nor have we any first hand breakages. I'm somewhat ambivalent on this case, due to the largest WoW sites posting insider alpha information and there being entire well known wikis chock full of NDA breaking material.   

Wish I could say more, but it just boils down to courtesy and respect.   We didn't get any bagels.

You don't have to remove anything, even if he asks nicely.  Of course, you don't get beta slots...

As was mentioned before, it is a courtesy. We have always done it when we find NDA violations for any game. Plenty of places around the net to post and read if this horrible breach of free speech on a privately run website makes you moody.

[slog]

As Mark's reading here:
WoW dropped their NDA in March for a late 2004 launch.
WAR still has their NDA up, presumably for a late 2008 launch.
Does this mean WAR is less ready than WoW was at this relative point in time?

One of the Netdevil developers was talking about Auto Assault, Betas, and NDAs in a recent interview.  His "lesson learned" is that Beta tests for MMOs are little more than Demos and NDAs in beta usually mean your game isn't that good and probably shouldn't be in Beta in the first place.

[sam, an eggplant]

Well no, they're also useful as stress tests.

But really that's why I'm looking forward to WAR dropping the NDA so we can discuss how they conducted their beta, as I haven't seen anything like it before.