Warhammer: Another Server Closure?

Mythic has opened up free character transfers from another of its Warhammer Online servers, indicating that another server is to be closed down.

Players spread across dozens of servers were forced to transfer last month when Mythic closed down over forty Warhammer realms. Several aspects of the game, such as Public Quests, require that servers have a high population - merging two servers will ensure that players still experience high quality gameplay, but it also suggests that the number of Warhammer subscribers is severely lower than Mythic's initial prediction.

[Malfurion]

Oh dear, that can't be good news.

[AndyA]

Sounds like it's not doing as well as Mythic hoped.

[Leord]

It's quite sad. Think it could just be something to let people who were not happy with their rushed move move to their friends on other servers, or is it really another closure?

[Cogo]

To be fair. It isn't overly surprising.

[Maticus]

And I can't help feeling slightly smug about that, being a WoW fan. Mythic really was unbearable before the game came out, about how they were going to wipe the floor with every other MMO out there.

Here's an example, this is Mythic's Mark Jacobs in the run up to Warhammer's release, when asked about WoW vs Warhammer:

"I really like Blackpool, it's marvellous. Got a tower, you know. They sell fish and chips and it's got a golden mile, a whole mile of things to do. But you know what, I went on holiday to Blackpool 17 years in a row. Sometimes you just want to go to Vegas."

[Chris399]

I've played WOW for 3 years, have 6 fully leveled/ geared toons. The ration of game-play/ fun vs. reward exceeds WOW in every area.

There are:
- Public Quests
- Mounts available at 20 for a REASONABLE PRICE.
- Instances
- City Wide Raids that ANYONE can participate in.
- Balanced PVP (well the two new classes need a little tweaking).
- New bag slots available every 10 ranks.
- So many pieces of loot/ sets that AREN'T IMPOSSIBLE TO ATTAIN WHILE HAVING A FUNCTIONAL SOCIAL LIFE.
- Better graphics, by far.
- Instant Zoned travel available in the first hour of the game. No sitting and riding a mount across the world while Blizzard racks up your subscription time. How many dollars do you think the collective WOW userbase has contributed just from air-travel time alone?
- Deeper lore. WOW is a Warhammer knockoff that was born when Blizzard couldn't properly acquire the license (look it up).

Have you ever seen 2 full warbands of Order and Chaos (that's over 100 real live people) slugging it out on a battlefield? Spells and bodies flying? Well I have. That's Warhammer, and it's pretty awesome and it happens almost every day. And I haven't even reached T4 yet, which is where you go into massive instances (again, anyone can join) to take down the actual Lords and Ladies or Warhammer (the equivalent of Sylvannas, The Lich King, etc.), enslave them and drag them kicking and screaming back to your realm.

What's WOW got in the pipeline? More mounted instances. With giant Voltron robots. Oh, and underwater segments too. I'll pass thanks.

I could go on.

The only thing that WOW has going for it is that it's been around longer and has a bit more content as a result. You'd be surprised at the depth in WAR if you actually gave it a try. There are three separate story-lines/ campaigns for EACH side - Order/ Chaos. Not just a few lame starter quests and then the same grind for EVERY character you roll.

The fact that you probably haven't even played the game and are criticizing it makes you a little ignorant. Stop quoting developers and actually play the game.

And as #7 stated, the basis of the game lies in PVP/ RVR action. If the servers aren't populated enough, the game is broken. They're actually merging servers for a reason.

The only thing that you can be smug about is that WOW has more players and has more content (because it's been around longer - and Mythic added 2 new classes and two zones AFTER 3 MONTHS FOR NO COST). More isn't always better. The majority of North Americans are obese, that doesn't mean it's a more suitable or desirable lifestyle.

[Maticus]

I wasn't criticizing the game, just simply enjoying the fact that Mythic are having to eat their words.

[Maticus]

Oops, it wasn't Mark Jacobs who said it, it was Paul Barnett. That man gets my hackles up.

[Leord]

Oh noes! I had really high hopes that WAR would at least be a permanent MMO, even if it didn't beat WoW...

[Cogo]

It would be good with some serious competition to WoW, so Blizzard is forced to cater to fans without going lazy. Not saying they are, yet, but it usually happens eventually.

[Maticus]

It's never going to beat WoW, let's face it. Once upon a time I thought it had a chance, not now.

Now TOR, that's another story.

[Fyzzu]

I'm not sure if this is worrying or not. Think I've said it before, but this really isn't uncommon when it comes to MMOs...

[Cogo]

Well, it's usually a sign of closing it down, OR they are opening a new server with free transfers to it. This is usually negative.

[Dorjan]

Damn :(

[Maticus]

When WAR was being made, the developers came out and said themselves that when an MMO has to shut down servers, that's not a good sign. The fact that they've had to do this on more than one occasion proves that either the game is failing, or more likely that their egos got the better of them when they were buying server space.

[Elly]

I hope it was their egos and they opened far too many servers to begin with. I wouldn't like it to fail. We want more MMOs with decent communities, not less. If it were just WoW that would be very bad for MMO gamers.

[Maticus]

Oh yeah certainly, I mean WoW has picked up things from WAR and other games, so it's a good thing to have competition, it keeps developers on their toes :)

[JohnnyMann420]

...not closing the bloody thing.

I play WAR right now and will go back to WoW later.

I think any MMO-er out there should try out WAR. It is great, adds a lot of customization and definately has the best PVP (RvR) out there on the market....they really nailed this aspect.

Renoun gear and influence really adds to the ability to get good gear at whatever level you are.

Merging servers is a good thing for Mythic and the fans. They can always add more later and for right now they need their servers to be populated.

[ThatCanadianGuy]

Tsk tsk

[daw1cked]

'Finally' is all I can say.
It is really hard to find peeps online to RvR or PQ after 11 or 12 pm CST on most servers, especially during the week.

WAR vs WOW

Honestly, I think most WOW players refuse to give WAR a chance because they're afraid the time commitment required to level up your character but they are not aware that unlike WOW, leveling in WAR is fun even if it is your 5th character.
When I started my second character in WOW, I couldn't wait to get to lvl 60 (this was before burning crusade) because the quests were so dull and the only things that are fun are the top lvl instances and pvp ( and farming if you're Asian )

..It would be awesome if WAR had the graphics more like Lineage 2..