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On the day we signed the agreement to license Warhammer from Games Workshop, I promised them that we would create a great and glorious game, a truly next-generation MMORPG. Today, I have news to report; we are going to delay the release of WAR until Fall 2008.  While we do not expect this announcement to be met with fanfare and cheering crowds; the additional time will be spent hammering WAR into an even better game that it is today.  

During the most recent phase of beta testing, two things have become clear.  One was that our key innovations - Public Quests, Tome of Knowledge and Realm vs. Realm combat - were all coming along extremely well, as was the first stage of our innovative crafting system.  The second, that the game would benefit from additional iteration time as well as adding a layer of polish or two. Fortunately, as part of Electronic Arts, we are able to do just that.While I have no doubt that the community will experience a wide range of emotions over this decision, I urge you to remember one thing (and to keep the tar cold and the feathers on the birds), that our goal has never been to release a game by a certain date but to release a great Warhammer MMORPG.  We have not wavered from this goal and with the full support of Games Workshop, GOA and Electronic Arts we intend to release a glorious next-generation MMORPG.

WarCry: Since you will always have more of each than you can use at any given time, have any decisions been made regarding respecs of tactics and morale abilities? EA Mythic: Players will be able to re-spec their Mastery, which means they will be able to re-spec any of the tactics & morale abilities purchased in that system.Core tactics and morale abilities, along with those received from the Tome, are automatically granted via unlocks (gain a level, gain an ability). As a result, the major player choice is whether or not to slot them, not which tactics or morale abilities to purchase.Keep in mind the new Mastery system replaces the old point system for buying tactics & morale. We didn’t get remove the choice; we just moved it to another location.WarCry: As a company, you know first hand the challenges of population balance in a game with multiple factions. What have you done to make sure the playing field remains even in WAR?EA Mythic: We have a number of things in the hopper for dealing with this, ranging from Community-related initiatives to RvR-related items. This is definitely something we think about on a daily basis.WarCry: With the announcement of Mounts in game, will they do anything other than fast travel? EA Mythic: Mounts are primarily a form of travel in the game, as well as a visual status symbol of player achievement. There are no other major game play features beyond travel intended for mounts at the launch of WAR.

WarCry: What tools will be available to help guilds manage their teams?EA Mythic: We have an extremely robust set of Guild tools that will allow leaders and officers to efficiently manage and coordinate their members. These tools include a Calendar system, news feed, and an in-depth roster feature. These, plus the addition of the living guild system (your guild actually gains levels and benefits), make guilds an integral and rewarding part of the game.WarCry: With the three branches of mastery in game, could you describe how that works? IE Will a caster choose between Fire, Ice, and Earth magic, or are they radically different?EA Mythic: The Mastery system is not intended to focus on things such as resistance types. We try to keep resistances evenly mixed throughout most of the lines in order to give casters alternative spells to use in situations where they face an opponent with high resists against their primary magic type.
Mastery is more of a way to further define your role. For example, a Sorceress’ or Bright Wizard’s role is to unleash the pain via magic from a distance. Therefore their mastery paths allow a player to drill down on how they want to do this. For example, they may have lines that represent the following:

• Direct Damage - Focuses on really high, single-target damage
• DoT/Debuffs - Focuses on dealing damage over time & reducing enemies resistance to attack
• Area Effect - Focuses on dealing lower damage over a larger area & number of enemies

Greetings All!

Below is the State of the Game from Mark Jacobs, VP and General Manager for the Studio. You can also find the state of the game in the October Newsletter which has just started to go out, please note it may take a couple of days to get all of them to your in-boxes.

In 2005, when Mythic signed the licensing agreement for Warhammer, I promised Games Workshop that we would create a great and glorious game. When Electronic Arts acquired us a year later, I told them the same thing. Now, a year after that acquisition, nothing has changed: we still intend to deliver the next great MMORPG. As many of you may have heard, we have extended WAR’s development cycle until the 2nd quarter of 2008. The reason is simple; we will not release Warhammer Online until it is the game we set out to create two years ago.

Our goals for Warhammer Online are not easily met. The game includes many new and innovative ideas, a feature set that is going to blow players away, and, most importantly, the best RvR system in MMORPG gaming. These things take time to implement and test properly. During the last phase of beta testing, we received valuable feedback from our testers that will help make these features even better. When we looked at our options, two paths lay before us: 1) Ship the game on time with fewer features and less polish, or 2) Extend the development cycle and spend the needed time and money to make WAR great. We chose the latter path - to invest additional time and effort in implementation and polish to make WAR great. Fortunately, we have the resources and support of EA behind us to extend our development cycle; time that will be used to make sure the game is everything we want it to be. WAR is coming, and it will be glorious.

One of the “popular” topics of discussion regarding EA Mythic this past week has been the subject of layoffs within the studio. While we did let several people go from the Warhammer Online team, the number was *quite* small and their loss had no impact on our development schedule. These layoffs were part of our normal studio operations and a necessary step for EA Mythic to ensure that we have a focused and committed team working on WAR going forward.

On the Beta front, we will begin a new phase of testing in December, and we look forward to getting even more people involved in WAR by the end of the year. We are approaching a half a million registrants, and, to my knowledge, this could be the most ever signups for a Western MMORPG beta. I am very proud of this as it is a testament to the strength of the community, the popularity of the Warhammer license, and the outstanding work the team at EA Mythic is doing on the game. When we open the beta in Asia, we expect the numbers to continue to climb as we’d like to see one million players signed up to test the game. At that point, we will be well on our way to bringing about the second part of the double entendre of our motto as WAR really will be everywhere.

Over the next few months in Beta, our players will find all-new content to experience, careers to play and cities to siege. Our Capital City team continues to push the envelope by creating the next generation of living cities in MMORPGs and Altdorf is simply breathtaking. New Community systems will be in place and we look forward to getting many existing guilds into the beta to try them out.

In addition, we’ll be making changes to the RvR (open field RvR FTW!) and Server Rule Set Systems. These changes bring WAR a step closer to fulfilling the promise that “War is Everywhere” while ensuring a great play experience for those that do not choose to engage in RvR 24×7. This is another example of how EA Mythic talks to the community, listens to what they have to say, and takes action. We will continue this process over the next three quarters as we continue to develop, expand and improve WAR.

As I often quote from movies, one line particularly leaps to mind right now: “Creation is an act of sheer will,” said John Hammond in Jurassic Park. Unlike his creation in that film, however, what EA Mythic creates will be great and glorious, and nobody will get eaten by giant reptiles. That is, until we bring Lustria to life and then all bets are off.

As always, we thank you for your patronage, support and interest.

Mark Jacobs
VP and General Manager, EA Mythic
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