Warhammer in Decline?

Warhammer launched well. 750,000 people well. However, since that fateful announcement, various numbers have started to trickle in showing WAR may not be doing so well keeping those 750,000 logged in.

First off, Blizzard is spouting off:

While a number of World of Warcraft users dropped the widely popular MMO to play EA's recently released Warhammer Online, more than half of those gamers have already returned to Blizzard's market-leader.

Hmmmm... the market-leader downplaying the success of a competitor. Maybe we'll just throw this away.

Next, the ever-faithful Xfire provides a nice history track that shows WAR total play times declining among Xfire users. While not hard evidence that WAR may be in decline, Xfire declines were an early indicator during Age of Conan's post-launch collapse. However, some people will always try and use Xfire stats to make some noise.

The decline continues. Whether people like it or not. You can make unfounded claims all you want that Xfire is not representative but until someone cab provide empirical evidence Xfire isn't representative you're just waving your fanboi pom poms in the air.

I want WAR to succeed and I am worried about the trend line that continues its steady decline.

What is it going to take to turn this thing around?

- Scenarios have effectively destroyed open world RvR.
- The "magnet" abilities are destroying what RvR is happening.
- What meager open world RvR manages to survive the anemic number of open RvR players and magnet idiocy ends up being not worth it due to the inferior rewards for such activities.

WARHAMMER IS DYING A SLOW DEATH BECAUSE THE CENTRAL ACTIVITY AROUND WHICH WAR HAS BEEN DESIGNED, I.E. "WAR", IS NOT HAPPENING!

My take?

WAR is in decline. Why? Because it is not the game MANY players expected, on both sides of the fence. WAR is a good game, just not the best game in any category. WAR is destined for a core audience that enjoys the Realm vs Realm. No one will be sticking around for the other parts (partly because everyone is in Scenarios and therefore nothing else gets touched, but thats for another blog post).

Fail: Altdorf Falls on Averheim

I have been quiet for some time around here. My free time has been limited and I've chosen to spend it playing WAR. I have the basis for several blog posts regarding WAR's launch laid out in my head. I just haven't gotten to them. However, a situation on my server, Averheim, has prompted this post.

Altdorf, Order's capital city, fell into Contested at the hands of a 3 AM Sunday morning Destruction raid. In a matter of hours, Order went from sitting pretty, to completely annihilated. A feat yet to be accomplished anywhere in WAR. Sure, some other servers exploited there ways to Altdorf earlier in the week, but none had pushed to the King.

Now, Emperor Karl Franz did not fall to the Destruction zerg, but that isn't the point. The fact is, Mark Jacobs had just gotten done stating it was far too early for Altdorf to get thrown into a contested state. Mark Jacobs, as all MMO developers, underestimated the player base and was horribly wrong. There isn't an MMO out there that has proven the MMO player base wrong. Hardcore players ALWAYS finish first and ALWAYS push the end game months ahead of schedule.

I could talk about conspiracy theories as to how Destruction exploited their way through Tier 4. I could argue population imbalances until the cows come home. I could pretend I don't care, because I'm still Rank 22 on my Ironbreaker, which is a long way from being able to participate in the defense of Altdorf.

The fact is, Destruction on Averheim is down-right organized and efficient. The Alliance of guilds that took part in the attempt should be commended. It was well planned and well executed, and from all accounts, it was a damn bit easier than even they had thought. Kudos to them.

My brain hurts thinking about how easily this occurred. The majority of the attackers were not Rank 40, were definitely not geared up, and are still learning the game. Mythic should be flat out embarrassed that a group like this was able to zerg roll an entire server at 3 AM on a Sunday morning.

Saddest part, the free month isn't even up. What was originally planned to have taken a year, has occurred in weeks. Mythic is racing against the clock now. Good luck Mythic.

Fortunately, Mythic saved this from being an Epic fail. WAR's end game at least worked. Sorry Age of Conan, the Epic Fail crown is still yours to behold.

Blizthic

Rarely do I agree with Syncaine, but I can't help but laugh along with him on his recent post: Blizzard’s new focus for WoW, just as soon as Mythic finishes it.

PS. Sorry for my silence as of late, will hopefully get some time to post some WAR-related goodies soon.

Here. We. Go.

Now the Fun Begins is the title of Jack Thompson's e-mail announcing his official disbarment from practicing law in Florida.

In a four-page written order, the Florida Supreme Court today affirmed a referee's recommendation to permanently disbar controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson.

The action, which takes effect in 30 days, means that Thompson will no longer be licensed to practice law and may not apply for reinstatement. Ever.

And after reading the article, all I saw in my head was the Joker in The Dark Knight going "Here. We. Go.".

For some reason, I don't think this is the last we'll be hearing from Mr. Thompson. He just won't have the legal clout to back his idiocy up any longer. Essentially, he becomes like the rest of us on the Internet, no laws to hold his vitriol back. Not that he followed any laws in the first place.

Book Thoughts: Throne of Jade (Temeraire, Book 2)

Title: Throne of Jade
Author: Naomi Novik
Genre: Fantasy, Alternate History
Publisher: Del Rey (April 25, 2006)
Quick-Hit Thought: Good read for those interested, but slow pacing in the middle.

The phrase, “it’s all about the journey” perfectly describes Throne of Jade, book 2 in the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik. The book chronicles the journey to the far off lands of China by the dragon Tremeraire, his crew, and his Captain; Will Laurence. Once again, Novik does a wonderful job of weaving dragons into a period of history best known for ships, soldiers, and war. As in the first book, the strength of Throne of Jade lies in the detail of dragon interactions within society and the military, boosted by the fact that this book partly takes place in a very different Chinese society.

Unfortunately, getting to the immense and interesting nation of China takes some time and by the end of the book China feels wholly unexplored. While I do appreciate a more detailed account of the journey to China, via a sea-faring dragon carrier, I can’t help but admit I was longing for Novik’s “and a few weeks later” approach of the first book. There are definite flat spots in both action and pacing, with a tacked-on-feeling action sequence at the beginning of the book.

Fortunately, the plot is solid and ties together in the end. This makes up for the boring reading in the middle. It took me a while to get through that middle, but I feel rewarded for sticking it out. Throne of Jade introduces a wonderful new enemy into the mix outside of Britain’s current nemesis of Napolean and France.

The next book in the series, Black Powder War, picks up shortly after where Throne of Jade leaves off and I am ready to see it through to conclusion. If there is any sign of a good book, it is in the Throne of Jade’s ability to intrigue me enough to pick up and read the next in the series, just as book 1 brought me to Throne of Jade.