The good news is, the Colllector's Edition has been announced at least.

Hmm this is not good timing for the game. The Lich King will be shipping around the same time this year. Yeah, like that will help sales for Warhammer Online

Warhammer Online: The Wait Conts

Seriously man, when is the last time Blizzard released a game or expansion on time? =p There's no doubt whatsoever in my mind that WOTLK will be delayed to early 2009 at the soonest.

Certainly if Blizzard follows the same announce and release scheduling as Burning Crusade. Wrath of the Lich King will release in January of 2009.

I expect it to hit right on time. Giving Warhammer plenmty of time to cement itself. or fail horribly.

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"People sometimes say that ideas cannot be stamped out by force. The Albigensian Crusade proves them wrong. Ideas can be stamped out by the elimination of everyone who holds the ideas." - Quote :"Middle Ages" by Morris Bishop.

The sheer amount of shit you get with the Collectors Edition is fuckin crazy.

The Game Itself
2 pewter figures
A Graphic Novel (128 Page Hard-Cover Book detailing the events happening with each race prior to where the game's world story starts off)
The Artwork Book (224-page hardcover collection of original art from the game)
3 Bonus In-Game Items (one being an XP-gain modifier with 3 charges, another is a camp you can use to heal yourself, third is a ring...but which ring depends on where you pre-order from)
Open Beta Access
And a head start when the game goes live (Similar to what City of Heroes did)
12 bonus heads to select from during character creation
12 Additional Quests available In-Game with rewards AND special titles for completing them

For $79.99 thats quite a bit of stuff.

At the very least, EA Mythic has stated on numerous occasions that they'd rather delay the game in favor of having more time to work on it/making it better then releasing it early and full of bugs. So really, they're no different then Blizzard except they are willing to admit a game is going to be delayed where as Blizzard won't say anything about delays until the last possible second.

I'm still following WHO closely. I've said in the past that I'm not planning on leaving WoW forever for WHO when it comes out simply by reading all the info etc etc...BUT it is the only one of the next crop of MMOs that looks even remotely enticing to me.

And I'm still waiting for a Beta Invite...Game's Day Beta Keys aren't guaranteed invites sadly...

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I think despite any success Warhammer will have, it will be considered marginal and generally a "failure" in comparisons to other MMOs on the market right now. Everything I've heard about Warhammer right now is that it's not a really good game so I hope they can pull things together and hopefully have a shot at drawing in a crowd of players. GL.

One of the reasons I defend EA Mythic is because of how candid and honest they've been regarding WHO and their place in the MMO Market. Time and time again, they've stated they aren't trying to take Blizzard (or WoW) on head on nor are they going to try and 'Beat them' at their own game.

Blizzard is McDonalds and WoW is the Big Mac...but sooner or later, the Big Mac isn't enough to satisfy everyone.

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Frankly if it has improved and contains even some of the pvp features the DAOC had, it will be very cool IMO.

And Gwiber - once they finally pick a release date, we just need to figure out if that's the RIGHT release date that they'll actually follow. Burning Crusade was pushed back from its original date, as well as almost every other Blizz game/expansion.

What I see happening is WHO releasing in Late October/Early November, WotLK releasing in Late Dec/Early Jan (Just like TBC) and we already know that WotLK is being shipped without all the content because Tigole has said in a few interviews that Icecrown Glacier (the "End" raiding zone) won't be live with its release (similar to Black Temple's release months after TBC launch).

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How does this work? Especially with online orders, it takes 3-5 business days to even get to your house.

They can ship the game before the server go live, and with the preorder code you can log on. The beta client is patched to latest version anyway so you can use that also.

Digital download is the way of the future anyway.

I dunno, I doubt that. People still buy CDs and stuff. They prefer the tangible mediums and artwork and such. Lots of people love collectors editions. I don't see disc-based mediums on the PC dying off in the next 3 to 5 years. So if not then, when? I think consoles will likely be disc-based for the next 10 years at least.

As of right now, the info from EA Mythic says that the "Head Start" will actually be at least 2-3 days. I don't really see this as a bad thing honestly.

I think I'll end up buying the CE, its a pretty good value for what you get.

And yes, Digital Downloads really are the way to go now days so long as you can still get the discs in the mail or something with your purchase.

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The bottleneck is who will jump first with the next big thing in internet technologies to supply such a distribution. It has nothing to do with the media other than digital vs physical hard copy. Storage media is more than large enough now, and certainly avalable in more flavors than a DVD to allow people to make their own hard copies.

Collectors Editions can contain more digital features, which is obvious people will still pay for. Art books can be sold seperatly. OSTs can also be digitally downloaded or included in the software bundle. Most people don't really care about the silly fluff items like maps or whatever. Offer action figures or whatever else physical bullshit as something to buy on the side.

Digital medium will not eliminate box sales naturally, but it will continue to become a bigger and bigger source of distribution solely based on the fact it is more cost effective to offer it.

I'm a big fan of digital mediums, such as Steam, I think that MMO games were kind of the originators of it offering patches, updates, and expansions. Though I know there are roots way before that in simple games being offered as shareware etc. That isn't really comparable to modern days though, imo. (Hell, I haven't bought a PC game since Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and that was only because it was rumored to be uncrackable with it's protection. And it was. For a while. Oh, excepting WoW:Original and WoW:TBC of course.)

I think for PC based games this may be ok, but for consoles I don't think it'll ever happen, especially as the games on the main format now will be 25x2gigs. No one is going to DL a 30 gig game. They'll go grab a box copy and immediately load it up. Especially when many ISPs have consumption caps on bandwidth. What if 3 great games come out in a month and they're all 40 gigs a piece?

I think they're testing the grounds with PSN titles and Xbox Original titles, but I still think that physical media will always be the primary format in which gamers acquire games.

Any idea if shipping makes any difference on that head start or do they all pretty much arrive the same day?

It''s not and never has been, and no one wants to spend the money to improve it.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Until every carrier out there supplies FTTP, you won't see any improvement in the NI in this country. We will still be using cable for maximum bandwidth in 2025...

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"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -Henry Louis Mencken
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VEGETARIAN -Noun (vej-i-tair-ee-uhn): Ancient tribal slang for the village idiot who can't hunt, fish or ride.

It's a sad fucking thing when what holds us back from better internet is waiting for a bunch of old farts in corporate officers to die off and stop moneygrubbing over 95 year old copper line.

ha, very true. Ha. =)

I highly doubt it. As has been mentioned, the Beta Client will likely be patched to 1.0 after the Open Beta closes shortly before release. Since one of the bonuses of the CE is guaranteed Open Beta Access, likely what will happen is that you'll have to enter a promo code on your Warhammer Account (like you can do now under the Beta Center if you got a Beta Key from a Games Workshop Event) that will allow you to Update your Beta Client to the 1.0 Live Client hence you'll be able to be online days before release.

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It is like that in more than just the Internet. /cry

So I broke down and preordered the CE today. This is what the email I got from Gamestop (yes, I know they're the devil but I prefer them over Amazon or Bestbuy...who were the other two I could've done the preorder through) says about the "Head Start".



So instead of entering the code on the Beta Center like the Open Beta code, you actually enter this code on the EA Mythic Account Management site itself. This will enable you to go straight from Open Beta to Release without skipping a beat (well, you still have to start with new characters), however you will still need to go and enter the normal Retail Key off your box. I assume I'll just do this when I get the box in the mail, I did the super saving shipping cause I'm a cheap bastard.

On the Warhammer Alliance forums, one of the Mythic dev's basically put it this way.....Closed Beta > Open Beta > Servers down for a day or so > Head Start Program for CE pre-orders > Launch Day/Live Release

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I wonder how Amazon is giving out the Head Start codes. I didn't get mine.

Mark Jacobs posted something about this on the Warhammer Alliance forums...



So if you didn't get your codes I'd suggest getting a hold of EA's customer service and tell them what the issue is. Basically, if you preordered online you should have gotten the codes in an email...if you preordered in person they give you a "Rave" Card with the codes on it.

There's another reason I ordered through Gamestop rather then Amazon...I've had some bad experiences with them in the past when it comes to preorders this far out and I wouldn't trust them with this.

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Eh, I gave Amazon an email about it, wording it pretty specifically, and they returned this.

I am glad to take this opportunity to address you in this regard. Please accept
my sincere apology for the inconvenience that has caused.

I reviewed you inquiry with regard to the "Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Collector's Edition" preorder promotional claim code.

For your convenience, I have included this information for you below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your unique coupon code : XXXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX

Your unique coupon code : XXXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX

Your unique coupon code : XXXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXX

With numbers of course

3 codes? x_x I'm more confused now.

I ended up with 3 Codes also...

One is a promo code for 30 Days free subscription to Allakhazam.com, the second was the Open Beta Code, and the third was the Head Start code that I can't enter until EA opens up the Account Management website. The email from Gamestop says that the Code for the Bonus Items I can obtain in game will be in my CE box.

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Everything has been really quiet about Warhammer. I'm assuming this is due to AoC opening up soon. I'm curious to what will happen about a month after AoC's release. Will Warhammer be forgotten or will everyone say, "Ok, AoC didn't pull it off, time to start speculating Warhammer."

I'm wondering if it will just be Blizzard's year again. WotLK + SC2 + Accouncement of next MMO = Everyone else who?

I hate that everyone is throwing an MMO out on the market. It was easier when EQ was it and that's what everyone did. I don't mind playing what I like and making my own decisions but, I just don't have time to read, study, speculate, or afford to buy everything that catches my eye. When EQ was the deal, I remember trying DAoC, liked it a while, then came back. SWG, oh yeah, nah, came back, so forth and so on. Now it's what.... EQ2, WoW, Expansions, FFXI, AoC, WAR, Darkfall (LAUGH), EVE, StarTrek Online, KotOR speculation, EQClassic, Stargate, etc. I can't even begin to list the posts I see one FoH rallying people to try this game or that.

I wish they would go ahead and flood the market, make a bunch of sucky MMO's and then someone come and make something that just takes everyone by suprise.

Sorry.. i'm somehow turned this into a rant...



Take care,
Muli

This year is an interesting year in terms of MMOs thats for sure.

I think Mythic is keeping Warhammer on the downlow right now because they're working on the Focus Testing and don't really have anything new to spin. And I'm sure they're going to wait and see what happens with AoC over the next month before making any huge announcements (though the May newsletter is supposed to reveal the final high elf class and news about the next beta phase).

I'm not so sure WotLK will make it out this year. Likely we'll see it in Jan 09 like TBC. SC2 will be delayed forever, as is every Blizzard game. As for the next MMO...World of Diablocraft or Universe of Starcraft imho. As good of a company as Blizzard is and as good as their games have been, between Diablo/Warcraft/Starcraft they haven't had an original idea in a decade+. I see 09 being more their year personally.



Indeed...

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January still sounds incredibly optimistic to me for WOTLK. I'm guessing more like April-May 09. And I'm not even going to touch predicting SC2.

Taking pre-orders for the special edition and says October delivery.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/promotion.aspx?target=promotion4&language=en-CA

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Jake Rivers - Senex Legio
Get off my Lawn alliance

Pretty sure they did the exact same thing with Burning Crusade, heh. Took preorders for around Nov, then it came out in Feb. They want your reservation so they know you're buying from them and in some cases your reservation cash, they have no clue what the date is going to be because Blizzard always changes it.

They need a certain preorder volume to appease the banks and keep game financing flowing. That's my guess anyway.

Hey Cak..

What's the chances of Warhammer getting it's own category up top?

Thanks,
Muli